BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand's military said it is ready to launch a "high-level operation" to counter any violation of its sovereignty, in the strongest words yet in a simmering border dispute with Cambodia that re-erupted with a deadly clash last week.

Thailand’s top army official designated commanders of two task forces to oversee border crossings with Cambodia as tensions simmer following a skirmish in late May.

Tensions have escalated between Thailand and Cambodia following the death of a Cambodian soldier in May during a brief exchange of gunfire in a disputed border area. The two Southeast Asian neighbours have contested sovereignty over various undemarcated points along their 817km land border for over a century.