Cambodia to Begin Military Conscription Amid Thai Border Dispute, PM Says
Cambodia will begin military conscription next year, Prime Minister Hun Manet announced yesterday, as part of an effort to fortify the country's defenses in the context of the current border dispute with Thailand.
Speaking at a ceremony at the Royal Gendarmerie Training Center in central Kampong Chhnang province, the Cambodian leader said that he had agreed in principle to activate the dormant Law on Compulsory Military Service, which was passed in 2006 but has never been enforced.
The law requires all Cambodian men between the ages of 18 and 30 to serve in the military for 18 months. (Service by women is optional.)
If approved, Cambodia would become the sixth Southeast Asian nation, after Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar, to maintain compulsory military service – although the terms and exemptions differ widely between these nations.
In his announcement yesterday, Hun Manet directly linked the decision to the growing border tensions with Thailand.
'This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess, and set our targets to reform our military,' Hun Manet said in the speech, the AFP news agency reported.
Hun Manet added that there would be a number of amendments to the law, including one to extend the 18 months' service outlined in the original legislation to 24 months. He also pledged to 'look at increasing' Cambodia's defense budget, although he stated that his intentions were defensive.
'We need to modernise military equipment, strengthen and evaluate the troops and military capabilities, and monitor and increase the budget in military operations and development,' he said, as per Kiri Post. 'We should start to think and check the budget arrangements for this sector, meaning that we strengthen our capabilities, not to destroy other countries but to defend our territorial integrity and security.'
Tensions over Cambodia and Thailand's maritime and land borders have simmered since the beginning of this year, but have intensified markedly since an armed clash on an undemarcated stretch of the border on May 28. Since then, bilateral relations have dipped to their lowest point since the dispute over Preah Vihear temple in 2008-2011. Most land border crossings have since been closed, while Cambodia has ceased fuel imports and cut internet and phone connections with Thailand.
The dispute has also spiralled into a domestic political crisis in Thailand, where Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended from office pending an ethics probe over a leaked phone call with Manet's father, former Prime Minister Hun Sen, in mid-June. If found guilty, she could be removed from office. Thailand, in turn, has accused Cambodia of harboring transnational crime, including online scamming operations. Last week, Thai authorities raided properties belonging to Kok An, a prominent tycoon and senator for Hun Manet's Cambodian People's Party, who has strong ties to the border town of Poipet, a hotbed of casinos and online scamming operations.
Thai authorities have accused Kok An, 71, of running a massive call center scam operation targeting Thai citizens, and have issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of money laundering and involvement in a transnational criminal organization.
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