BANGKOK -- Armed clashes have broken out between Thailand and Cambodia in long-disputed border areas, rapidly escalating months-long tensions.

But the fiery bout in Southeast Asia also marks a test for Washington's waning influence in a region viewed as a crucial theater in a geopolitical competition between the United States and China. "This crisis represents a critical test of American and Chinese influence in Southeast Asia,

Thailand and Cambodia exchanged heavy artillery fire for a second day on Friday as their worst fighting in over a decade intensified and spread to new areas.

Fighting between Thailand and Cambodia over disputed border areas has entered a second day, leaving at least 15 dead and displacing more than 60,000 people.

Thailand and Cambodia exchanged heavy artillery fire for a second day on Friday as border fighting intensified and spread, while Cambodia's leader said Thailand had agreed to a Malaysian ceasefire proposal but then backed down.

Of course, trouble at the 508-mile (817 km) shared border is nothing new. For over a century, Thailand and Cambodia have contested sovereignty at various undemarcated points in the thick jungle punctuated with culturally-significant temples albeit with scant strategic or economic value.

Thai and Cambodian soldiers have clashed along the two countries' border in a major escalation of a festering dispute over territory that killed least 14 people, mostly civilians.

Thailand favours bilateral negotiation rather than third-party mediation to resolve its military conflict with Cambodia, two Thai officials said, as fighting along their disputed border continued unabated.

A personal feud between two of Southeast Asia’s political titans is inflaming the worst violence on the Thailand-Cambodia border in more than a decade.

The first clash on Thursday morning took place near the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple along the border of Thailand's Surin province and Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province, the AP reported.