Thailand-Cambodia border crisis traces roots ‘to pre-colonial Southeast Asia” • FRANCE 24 English

We can now bring bring in Petra Alderman, manager of the Syarch Southeast Asia Center at the London School of Economics. Thank you so much for joining us on the program today. Why has the situation escalated so quickly? Thank you very much for having me. Yes, I mean the report has already mentioned that the current flare updates back to the 28th of May when the situation um escalated or flared up again after you know many many years of being dormant and that was because the Thai sold uh sorry the Cambodian soldier was um killed in an exchange of fire and these skirmishes happen regularly but the most recent one has lasted since May and that’s been a tit for tat approach by both sides. What hasn’t really helped has been a deterioration between relations not just between the two c the two countries on the level of the nations but also between the leaders and their families. So I think that has complicated the situation further. I want to talk about that in just a second but if you could talk about the root cause of this current problem. Yes. I mean this goes way back in the history actually it goes back to pre-colonial Southeast Asia. So before the western colonial powers extended their interest to Southeast Asia, there was nothing like a you know a concept of the boarded nation states. Southeast Asia was organized around larger cities and some smaller villages and towns that were in a very kind of loose tributary system. Um now that changed obviously with the um the the onset of the western or European specifically col col colonization into the area and the two dominant um powers in the mainland Southeast Asia at least were um the British and the French and actually it was those two powers that introduced the modern concept of geography mapping and charting the territory into Southeast Asia. And it was these two countries that actually also drew the first kind of maps that showed how um the territories of what is today Thailand and Cambodia actually looks like. Now, it’s important to say that um Thailand was never um formally colonized by any of these countries, but there was already a tension between Thailand and French back in the day about delineating which territory belongs to what is today Cambodia and what is um today Thailand. And the map that was drew in 1907 is actually the map that has been causing a lot of tensions between the two two countries to this day. And that was a colonial map drawn by French. Now yesterday uh Thai soldiers were injured in in a mine explosion. But why does Bangkok thinks these mines were were placed recently? That’s a very good question. I mean there has been a lot of um tit fortat um response and blaming of one another. It is actually quite difficult to know at the moment you know who started um the fires first, who who did what. Um the question of minds is also quite contentious between the countries and given the long-standing nature of the conflict it is actually quite difficult to know um you know um where the truth actually lies and what happened when and what was the exact sequence of events and what does this current situation have to do with why Thailand’s current prime minister Shinowatra is on suspension? Yeah, that’s a very good question. And so as I mentioned earlier, the um the the current flare up actually escalated in late May and there has been um obviously numerous attempts by both sides to try and try and deescalate the conflict. Um however that hasn’t happened and what was worse um the Thai prime minister Pedonat had a phone call with um Hunen who is um no longer the the prime minister but he was the long-term prime minister of Cambodia and now he’s the um president of the Senate. It was a private phone call in mid June where they tried to iron out the the situation and try and deescalate. What happened after the phone call however was that Hunen released the phone call on his Facebook page which actually caused a lot of trouble for Peton Tan domestically. She was seen as cowtowing to Hun Hunen saying that you know she would do anything to to resolve the situation would actually concede anything to Hunen. So she was not really seen as coming from a very strong position. She was also seen as um criticizing the army general who oversees the border area which in a country like Thailand that is prone to freak and military course is never a good thing. So following this um leaked phone call, Pedontown came under a lot of pressure in Thailand both um from the political opposition but also from the public and as a result of this um she was also or she started facing legal challenges. So the constitutional court in the country was petitioned to investigate peton pan um for breaches of ethical conduct based on that particular call and the court decided um to take on that um charge and to investigate and as a result of that the court also um decided to to suspend her for the time being. So at the moment that is being um investigated she’s suspended. So Thailand now has an acting prime minister. Yeah, I saw that. She even called Cambodia’s former leader um uncle on the phone call. So that of course rubbed people the wrong way in Thailand. Thank you very much, Met Alderman, for joining us on the program today.

Border disputes are long-standing issues that have caused periodic tensions between the two neighbors. Thailand and Cambodia share more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) of land border. The contesting claims stem largely from a 1907 map drawn under French colonial rule that was used to separate Cambodia from Thailand. Cambodia has been using the map as a reference to claim territory, while Thailand has argued the map is inaccurate. For in-depth analysis and a deeper historical perspective, FRANCE 24’s Delano D’Souza welcomes Dr Petra Alderman, Author, Researcher, Policy Advisor, and Manager of the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
#Thailand #Cambodia #BorderCrisis

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26 comments

  2. Dear Sir

    Cambodia need ICJ., there is no reason that Cambodia starts to fight . Thai is the one who starts the fire first. Now our schools near the border such as Poit pet . Odormean chey.,preach vihear province ls are closed .

    Thanks

  3. For centuries, the Khmer and the Siamese have been engaged in territorial wars, which have sometimes given victory to the Khmer, sometimes to the Siamese throughout history. Colonization attempted to define negotiated borders on the basis of compromise. The Thais still tend to consider Cambodia as a vassal region of the ancient kingdom of Siam. In recent years, the specificities of Khmer culture have even been questioned, being for the Thai authorities only a Thai subculture.

  4. Thailand strongly condemns the Cambodian government’s actions as a violation of international law, ASEAN principles, and the spirit of peaceful coexistence. Cambodia’s actions not only trample on Thailand’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, but also undermine the stability and peace of the Southeast Asian region.

    Thailand calls on Cambodia to immediately cease its actions that violate Thailand’s sovereignty, withdraw its forces from the conflict zone, and cooperate in peaceful negotiations under the framework of international law. If Cambodia continues to challenge such actions, Thailand reserves the right to take diplomatic, economic, and legal countermeasures to protect its national interests to the fullest extent.

    Thailand does not seek conflict, but will not allow any country to irresponsibly violate its rights.

  6. Let me tell what’s actually happen step by step

    1.There is a disputed area at the border. let’s call it Area 1, which both countries say they are the owner, so they had signed the Mou many years ago for no one to touch that area, it’s like a buffer zone.

    2.Cambodian soldiers violated the Mou by digging the trench at Area 1 for 650 meters, which 150 meters is in Thailand’s territory. Thai soldiers did the patrol and found out so they asked why the Cambodia soldier did that, the Cambodian soldier started the shooting, the Thai soldiers fought back, then 2 Cambodian soldiers died.

    3.Cambodian government said the area 1 is their land before signing the Mou, said Thai soldiers start shooting first and said 2 Cambodian soldiers died and want to seek the justice by going to ICJ about Area 1 and also about 3 historic temples, let’s call the area of those temples as Area 2, 3, 4

    4.The point is Area 2, 3, 4 are in Thailand’s territory, they are not even in disputed area. But because of the incompetent of Thai government who did nothing and say nothing, now world news said sometime like it’s conflict between Thailand and Cambodia about the historic temples, which has nothing to do with what actually had happen at the beginning.

    5.Cambodian soldiers now moved back to the original point after Thai military take control of the border crossing points and reduce time for the opening, so less Thai people can go to the Casino in Cambodia, mean Casino in Cambodia will earn less money from Thai customers.

    6.Later on Cambodian government said they didn’t move back, just adjusted the army.

    7.Thailand reduce time for opening the border, this was aim for people who cross the border for gambling in Cambodian and also the scammers, the truck for food, vegetable, fruits, fuel are free to cross, also the Cambodian students who come to schools in Thailand for free education also can cross.

    8.Cambodia ban the vegetable,fruits from Thailand. Also they gonna cut the electricity and internet from Thailand.

    9.both countries now close the borders.

    10. Phone call leaked, Thai PM said she will do anything that Hun sen (the final leader of Cambodia, father of Cambodia PM) want, said the General 2 of Thai military (who guarding at the border) is the the opposite side. It’s well known that her family are closed friends with Hun sen family. They have many business in Cambodia. Her father( ex Thai PM) and Aunt (also ex Thai PM) used to stay at Hun sen’s house, Hun sen showed the bedroom on his Facebook.
    11. Cambodian soldiers put landmines in Thailand’s territory, many Thais soldiers got injured and lost their legs.
    12. Thailand closed the border and the temples and call Thai ambassador back, and send Cambodian ambassador back.
    13. Thai soldiers put the fence to prevent Cambodian soldiers to put the landmines
    14. Cambodian soldiers start open the fired first, they aim at innocent civilian Thais at the hospital, gas station, 7-11, 12 Thai civilians are killed and many are injured.
    15. Thai soldiers fight back with F-16 but aim only at military base, not Cambodian civilian.

    Some People ask why Thailand won’t go to ICJ, it’s because the areas that Cambodia want to send to ICJ are not disputed land but it’s already in Thailand’s territory, so what will Thailand gain from this? They are all already belong to Thailand, even If Thailand win, it’s not like Thailand will gain more land, but for Cambodia, if they win, they will gain more land so they have nothing to lose, so why Thailand have to play the game that Cambodia want?

    Some people talk about using different map, there is no evidence that Siam sign that 1:200,000 map with France, the original treaty that Siam sign with France use natural watershed that can easily to see from normal eyes and are used around the world, it’s the same as using river to divide as it’s a natural landscape. And there were already concrete pole 1-73 to divided land made by Siam – France for other area that don’t have watershed. Thailand use map 1:50,000 because it’s newer technology which are more accurate than 1:200,000. Both 1:200,000 and 1:50,000 map are add later on, but the original treaty is using natural watershed to divide the countries, which are used around the world, but Cambodia don’t want to except it.

    Thailand used to lose Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia, the reason Thailand lost the case of Preah vihear temple is because there are photo of French who went to that temple with their flag so ICJ think it’s mean the temple belong to France ,Siamese came with no flag. Other historic temples that Cambodia want to send to ICJ now belong to Thailand even before Cambodia became a country (got independent from France) and Thailand have all documents about it.

  9. The root cause is greed. And chaos in Thailand and the military is using this time of chaos to unite the country behind hatred for Cambodia and invading a small smaller country to steal land.

  10. Cambodia did not start this war.
    We only fought back to protect our land, our people, and our Khmer heritage.

  11. Hun Sen should be at home with his grandchildren, but Hun Sen stripped the rank of Tiaban, the direct commander of the military. Then Hun Sen wore a rank and a military uniform to meet the border officers. Hun Sen ordered it as a true war criminal, choosing to attack Thai hospitals, villagers' houses, and shops with many people. On the day of the incident, he was sitting and giving orders in a room, hiding from the conflict zone. But there are many clips showing that weapons were fired in areas where Cambodians were near the area of heavy weapons clashes. He set up humans as shields. And Hun Sen has also threatened to be able to fire heavy weapons at Bangkok, turning the conflict area into the Gaza Strip. Cambodia often uses such disgusting threats against Thailand regularly, both creating the image of AI and seizing and attacking Bangkok, which is a large city. Cambodia has no standards for careful use of heavy weapons. Cambodia claims that the soldiers of the dead, but they rushed to cremate the soldiers before allowing the international community to come and see the firing location. We, the people, can only ask Cambodia one question: Who fired the BM21 into the houses of the Thai villagers and into the Thai hospital? That alone is clear enough.

  12. 2:39 She didn't know the details so dodged the question with ambiguous response. Why do we know? it's easy. Because it's on our side which already clear for so long. Soldier patrol regularly in this area without issue before this. Not to mention that Cambodia still has this old Soviet personal mine in their arsenal. These new mine are in good shape. Plot with new leaves cover. Khmer is khmer. They never changed. Same old dirty like Khmer Rouge in their play book.

  13. please lets me tell the truth about this issue. The country that started this war first was Thailand. Cambodia only wanted to defend its country. Thailand started the war first because they wanted Ta Moan and Ta Krabey temples, which in fact have been Khmer temples for a long time

  14. My ear is aching while the woman is explaining, her voice is struggling, her trought is rumbling, clogged, she is having an hard time of speaking continiously

  18. Cambodia wanted a peaceful resolution by having a third party oversee the border dispute. Thailand was afraid to go to the international court because they were afraid they would lose, instead they op for a military strategy because they know Cambodia is far weaker than them militarily. Cambodia agreed to a ceasefire but Thailand rejected it. Thailand is bullying a far weaker developing country who has no other choice but to defend themselves.

  19. We often hear that the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia stems from an old colonial-era map drawn by the French. But if you dig deeper, it becomes clear that the real tensions between the two countries have little to do with that map — it’s more of a convenient excuse.

    In reality, there are deeper, more self-serving political motives at play. For example, Hun Sen and his family have long-standing interests in the Cambodian gambling industry, which generates significant income for them. Now that Thailand is considering legalizing casinos, it’s not just about tourism — it’s about economic rivalry and protecting entrenched interests.

    This is just one piece of a broader picture. There are multiple undercurrents of competition, influence, and power preservation between elites on both sides. What we’re really seeing is a power struggle between political heavyweights, masked as a dispute over a historic monument. The border issue makes headlines — but the real story is rarely told.

  25. Thailand lies the world about Cambodia Thailand please stop acting as victim so cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap

  26. Thai king and Taksin’s family have the conspiracies that caused to escalate this fighting in orders to gain more land from Cambodia.

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