Sawt Falasteen - Thai family mourns soldier son killed just before truce

His funeral rites began Wednesday as Buddhist monks blessed his body with sacred chants, his remains in a shimmering silver coffin draped with Thailand's ensign and flanked by his neatly folded uniform.

"He was brave -- brave until the very last moment of his life," said his sister, 26-year-old Hormchan Krajangthong, her voice breaking with emotion.

"He gave his blood and body for our king and country," she told AFP in the village of Nong Yang Pong Sadao, just 27 kilometres (17 miles) from the border with Cambodia.

Five days of clashes over ancient temples on the frontier killed at least 43 people on both sides, sending more than 300,000 fleeing as the countries battled with jets, artillery and ground troops.

A truce deal took effect at midnight Monday and has broadly held despite scattered skirmishes. But it was not soon enough to save 22-year-old Theerayuth.

He was killed by a shrapnel blast in Sisaket province late Monday -- after the truce was agreed, but before it began -- in one of the final artillery exchanges of the conflict.

Theerayuth joined the Thai military just last year and was assigned the role of ammunition bearer.

"He wanted to be a soldier since he was little," said his 60-year-old father, Kimdaeng Krajangthong, his eyes red and glassy. "I'm both proud and heartbroken."

- 'Don't worry about me' -

When shelling began, his family fled their Buriram province home for an evacuation centre, but Theerayuth was called up to the front.

As he boarded the military truck bound for the border, his mother Tin Krajangthong, 61, gave him a patch of her sarong to tuck in his uniform pocket -- a talisman to shield him from harm.

His regular calls from the front line reassured them. Even when they stopped on Friday night amid increasing strikes, his family did not worry -- assuming his silence was a safety precaution.

"The last time we spoke, my brother told me and our parents, 'Don't worry about me. I'm safe'," his sister Hormchan said.

The blow of grief only came after the guns fell silent.

On Tuesday morning, Hormchan received a call from an unknown number -- her brother's commanding officer.

"He said my brother was gone," she told AFP. "I couldn't believe it."

"Everyone at the evacuation centre was in shock."

Now Theerayuth's mother stands beside his coffin -- gently knocking it in a Thai custom meant to call back a departed spirit one last time, or let a soul know loved ones are still near.

Thailand and Cambodia will spend the coming days tallying losses from the fighting -- the deadliest to engulf their border in years.

After two more days of funeral ceremonies, Theerayuth's body will be cremated according to Buddhist tradition, his family's own personal loss sealed.

As the monks began their chants on Wednesday, his father clasped his hands.

"I pray my son goes to heaven," he said. "And if there's another life, may he get to be our son again."

R.Shaban--SF-PST