A decades-old border dispute between the Southeast Asian neighbours erupted into military clashes several times this year, with the latest round of fighting in December killing dozens of people and displacing more than a million.

Some of the 18 soldiers — who were captured by Thailand and held for five months as prisoners of war — smiled, waved and gestured with their palms pressed together to cheering crowds through bus windows in the border province of Pailin, and later in Phnom Penh.

Hundreds of well-wishers lined the streets of the capital, hollering and waving national flags, as a caravan of mini-buses shuttled the returned men and teary-eyed relatives through the city, video from Cambodian state television showed.

One woman in the crowd, Im Sivorn, 53, told AFP their homecoming was like a gift for the new year.

“As a Cambodian, I am very happy to welcome these 18 heroic soldiers back in the country,” she said.

The 18 men, each wearing a Cambodian football jersey, met Prime Minister Hun Manet and his wife, Pich Chanmony, later on Wednesday, according to a post of the premier’s Facebook page.

“Even though it is a bit late, we have never left brothers behind,” Hun Manet wrote in the post.

Kroch Ya, the wife of one of the soldiers captured in late July, said she was “really, really happy” to have her husband home.

“I hugged him. They are all fine,” she told AFP.

Cambodia’s defence ministry said the soldiers were “released and safely returned to the motherland” through a border crossing on Wednesday morning after being detained for 155 days.

Thailand’s foreign ministry said they were repatriated “as a demonstration of goodwill and confidence-building”, according to a statement.

Phnom Penh said it was hopeful their release would contribute to “building mutual trust”.