Three Thai soldiers and two Thai police officers were briefly detained in Oddar Meanchey province on Monday morning after one of them pulled out a fake handgun at a market near the border, an official said.
Ham Phearun, chief of police in Banteay Ampil district, said the five Thai men—four of them cadets in their early 20s—walked through the Chup Koki market in search of fresh vegetables to bring back across the border, about 1 km away.
When one of them drew a black plastic pistol made to look like a Glock, vendors at the market panicked and called police, who apprehended the men and took them to a border police station for questioning, Mr. Phearun said.
“We briefly arrested five Thai border officers and told them to never bring a weapon to a Cambodian market and cause chaos among our market vendors,” he said, adding that the men were freed after about 20 minutes.
Mr. Phearun, who was not involved in questioning the men, said he did not know what compelled them to bring a fake gun to the market, or whether it was confiscated.
