Border patrol police were alerted about the explosives at about 10am by village headman Chinnakorn Sema.

They were found buried near a hut on land belonging to Kanchana Kaewsuwan, 48, sister of the village headman.

Kanchana told the soldiers and bomb squad personnel at the scene she was clearing the area with a hoe to construct a cattle pen when she unearthed the explosives, which were wrapped in plastic sheeting and buried about 20 centimetres deep.

She said she was startled to see the explosives and feared they would explode. She rarely visited the area and had no idea who had buried the munitions.

Meanwhile, a Province Administration Organisation official in Aranyaprathet district, Chaiyo Kanobworakul, sent a team to observe the incident, as the site was about 200 metres from his house.

Chaiyo is a local politician and core leader opposing the construction of a hazardous waste treatment plant in the district. His team said he wanted to know if his position on the issue could be related to the explosives.

The bomb squad collected the RPGs for further investigation.