You probably have heard of the South China Sea disputes – a major flashpoint involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei. But the South China Sea isn’t the only dispute threatening to spark a war in Southeast Asia. There are plenty more contested borders on land as well.

Today, we’re going to talk about three other territorial disputes in the region – the kind of flashpoints that stay below the headlines until it’s too late. Stay tuned, because we’re ranking them in order: from the least likely to spark an actual shooting war to the highest risk of conflict. 

In fact, one of these disputes even flared into a full-blown shooting war in 2025 – and it could happen again at any time.