Why are Thailand and Cambodia fighting? Here's a quick guide
Thailand
exchanged fire for a second day on Friday after months of rising tension over the shared border between the two Southeast Asian countries.
At least 16 people have been killed on the Thai side since the fighting started, and in Cambodia, at least one death has been reported. Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the disputed area.
The border tensions have already contributed to a political crisis in Thailand: On July 1st, a Thai court
suspended the prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra
, because of comments she made about the dispute, which goes back decades.
This conflict may prove to be a diplomatic opportunity for
China
. It is the largest trading partner for both Thailand and Cambodia, and has increased its influence in the region at a time when governments in Southeast Asia are becoming wary of the United States.
READ MORE
What happened at the border Thursday?
Each nation accused the other of firing first.
The Thai army said Cambodia had fired rockets into civilian areas in four Thai provinces, prompting Thailand to send F-16 fighter jets to strike targets in Cambodia.
Cambodian officials said Thai soldiers had opened fire on Cambodian troops first, at Prasat Ta Muen Thom, a temple claimed by both nations. They said Cambodian forces returned fire about 15 minutes later.
On Friday, gunshots and artillery fire rang out throughout the day, and civilians on both sides of the border ran for shelter.
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At least 16 dead as Thailand and Cambodia border clashes continue
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More than 131,000 people in Thailand have evacuated, according to Thailand's Health Ministry. In Cambodia, at least one death has been reported, and hundreds of people fled their homes in wagons pulled by tractors.
Why was Thailand's prime minister suspended?
In June, Paetongtarn spoke by phone to Hun Sen, Cambodia's de facto leader, to discuss the escalating border tensions. Hun Sen has close ties to her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister of Thailand and the leader of a powerful political dynasty, as well as one of the country's richest men.
Hun Sen posted a recording of their call
, in which Paetongtarn seemed to disparage Thailand's powerful military and take a deferential tone. She called Hun Sen 'uncle' and told him that she would 'arrange' anything he wanted.
In response, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Bangkok to express their outrage. Although Paetongtarn apologised, she has faced pressure to resign.
In early July,
a Thai court suspended her
.
Why is the ownership of an ancient temple so important?
The ownership of Prasat Ta Muen Thom, an ancient temple on the Thai side of the border, is disputed by the two countries. Hun Sen claimed in a social media post that a Thai military commander had 'started this war' by ordering the closure of the temple Wednesday and opening fire on Cambodian troops the next day.
Thailand has accused Cambodia of starting the conflict.
The temple is in the Surin region of Thailand, and people there speak Khmer as well as Thai – highlighting the cultural overlap with Cambodia, where Khmer is the official language. The province is known for ruins from the Khmer empire, which lasted from the ninth to the 15th century. One such ruin is Prasat Ta Muen Thom.
How old is the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia?
The two countries have had occasional military clashes and nationalist rivalries for hundreds of years. The border disputes can be traced back to a 1907 map created during French colonial rule in Cambodia. The two countries interpret the map differently.
Military fighting has broken out intermittently since 2008, but the last time a major clash turned deadly was in 2011.
– This article originally appeared in
The New York Times
.
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Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Is the White House ready to demand an end to Netanyahu's campaign of starvation in Gaza?
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Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
10% for Bushmills, 15% for Jameson: Businesses struggle with the North-South tariff gap
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Opens in new window ] The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) is critical of the deal struck by the European Union. The US market accounts for almost €2 billion in Irish food and drink exports – around 11 per cent in total. According to the IFA's chief economist, Tadgh Buckley, if different tariff rates materialise it could give dairy producers in the North a clear edge. He believes that Northern Ireland-based dairy suppliers to the US market could take advantage of their lower-tariff advantage. 'A difference in rates between the EU and the UK would give them a capacity to adjust their price points against Irish dairy products in the US market and remain at similar margins,' he said. With the 10 per cent over the Border, do you set up a subsidiary in the North? Is that a loophole? I don't know — Seamus McMahon Lakeland Dairies currently supplies butter to the US market under the Vital Farms brand, and it is thought that 50 per cent of Lakeland's milk comes from farmers in the North. 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Brehon already collaborates with the Two Stacks whiskey company in Newry – operating a 'casemates' programme. This involves producing beer in whiskey casks to make 'whiskey-aged porter'. [ Bracing for a trade war: the Irish whiskey, cheese and sweet makers sweating Trump's tariff plans Opens in new window ] 'They supply a blend of whiskey products to markets around the world including America – maybe we end up collaborating more with them,' says McMahon. 'Do we produce it with them and avail of the 10 per cent? It's not something we have spoken a lot about yet – but it is something we will have to consider.' McMahon says Brehon has invested too much time and money in the US market to simply walk away. It accounts for around 20 per cent of all the brewery's sales. But there is little doubt that the 15 per cent is a painful blow. 'We operate on 25 per cent margins and are competing with beers from all around the world – 15 per cent is more than half your profits whatever way you look at it.' He is also considering teaming up with a brewery based in the US and producing some beer there. Separately, as an experienced dairy farmer, he too notes the incentive now on offer for companies connected to the industry to consider shifting North. His relationship with Baileys is a case in point. Owned by British drinks giant Diageo, it is another all-Ireland operator. Milk from farmers on both sides of the Border is used in its cream liqueur – which is produced in Dublin and at its global supply facility in Mallusk, Co Antrim. Should Diageo want to, it certainly has options to shift some of that production. Seamus McMahon runs a dairy farm in Co Monaghan as well as a microbrewery. Photograph: Philip Fitzpatrick Whatever about dairy and beer, whiskey producers in the Republic – and the farmers who supply them with barley – are faced with an even bigger challenge, says the IFA's Buckley. The Irish whiskey industry is not dissimilar to its dairy industry in that the production process can be split across the two jurisdictions. Whiskey can be distilled in one location but bonded and bottled in another. In other words, it can be distilled in Dundalk, only to spend much of its life maturing in a warehouse in Newry. Or vice versa. Unlike butter, which already had a tariff rate of 16 per cent at the turn of the year, Irish whiskey enjoyed the zero-for-zero regime that had done so much to boost its presence in the US. Buckley says how country of origin is defined for whiskey and dairy production will be critical to determining the impact on the IFA's members – and there is still a lack of clarity around that. Stephen Kelly is chief executive of Manufacturing Northern Ireland, the representative body that has had to guide its members through the Brexit mess of recent years and now Trump's tariffs. He does not believe there will be a huge shift North but the better tariff rate applied to goods entering the US from that part of Ireland could certainly affect some investment decisions. 'A 5 per cent difference is not going to see companies in the Republic closing a multimillion-euro operation and moving to the North,' Kelly says. 'Five per cent is essentially a currency differential – we have seen the dollar move 5 per cent in the past week alone. Instead, what you might see is companies in the South acquiring some assets in Northern Ireland.' He doesn't expect individual companies to close operations on the basis of these tariffs – rates that could be around for three weeks or three-and-a-half years. Kelly describes the behaviour of US buyers over recent months as 'constipated'. The uncertainty around exact tariff rates has meant that investment and purchasing decisions have been stalled. He says, at the very least, there is now an element of clarity on tariff rates – whatever that is worth given Trump's at times erratic behaviour. In Magherafelt, Co Derry, Bloc Blinds – which designs and builds window blinds for the lucrative US consumer market – had been adjusting operations in advance of the trade agreements. Cormac Diamond, Bloc Blinds: 'The stability that will hopefully come with [the US trade agreements] will give consumers more confidence' It was fully ready to shift some additional production to a plant it acquired in Fort Worth, Texas, last year. The apparent end of trade hostilities means managing director Cormac Diamond can now plan with greater conviction. 'As we are operating in the consumer goods sector in the UK, European and US markets, the stability that will hopefully come with this will give consumers more confidence,' Diamond says. 'The next big thing is the high likelihood that US interest rates will reduce and drive a boom in consumer spending. The increased consumer demand from this will hopefully offset any of the tariff challenges facing us in the US and also for exports from the UK and EU to the US.' One thing noted by all of the above is that the deal struck by the EU and the US last week is just a framework agreement. While it offers apparent certainty after months of Trumpian chaos, there is still work to be done by negotiators. The spirits industry here remains hopeful that a carveout may yet happen and that trading on a zero-for-zero basis may some day return. And there are questions about the agreement's longevity. Who can say whether Trump will change his mind again and reopen hostilities with Brussels? As McMahon puts it: 'We are going to keep going anyway – you can't pull back. There is a regime there that might be gone in three years – common sense could still prevail, like it did with Brexit.' The world waits to see whether the good old days of relatively free trade with the US will return. Meanwhile, those with businesses on the Border will see what they can claw back with the sort of ingenuity that has typified that region for decades.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Keir Starmer and Donald Trump looked ready to put a ring on it. No wonder Melania stayed at home
The bromance between Keir Starmer and Donald Trump is quite something to behold. The American president's swooning over his latest love object is more than matched by the British prime minister's puppy-love simpering. 'I like him a lot,' Trump declared to the world from the Oval Office in January. 'He's a very nice guy,' he expounded in February. Starmer gushed back: 'I like and respect him'. READ MORE By last weekend, they seemed ready to put a ring on it in Scotland as they flew together, first on the president's Marine One helicopter, then on his Air Force One jet. To the disappointment of millions of voyeurs, the pair refrained from holding hands as they disembarked for dinner-á-deux in Aberdeen. 'I like this man a lot,' Trump reiterated for the benefit of slow learners. They've even started making dates in public. After Trump hosted him at his Scottish golf club, Starmer proposed taking the American to a football match next time. Any wonder Melania stayed at home? 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If George W Bush wants to invade Iraq without fear of being arrested on visiting Ireland and being sent for trial to The Hague, sure, whatever it takes. Uncle Sam wants to direct rendition flights or soldiers through Shannon Airport? Be our guest. Most obliging of you, says the US, turning its rivers green and rolling out the red carpet for the Taoiseach on Paddy's Day. This country is in no position to scoff at Starmer's antics. Though, admittedly, it is tempting, especially after that London Times caricature of three dancing Joe Bidens dressed as leprechauns with swinging pints of stout when the last US president visited here in 2023. There may have been sour grapes involved. Britain had spectacularly lost the ancestry tug-o'-war between Biden's three-parts English and five-parts Irish genealogy. As if to rub it in, the former president claimed his mother had once slept on a hotel floor after being told the British queen had previously stayed in the same room and fondly recalled his Auntie Gertie assuring him: 'Your father is not a bad man. He's just English'. [ Politics 'Clear understanding' 15% tariff max will be applied by US to pharma exports Opens in new window ] 'I think he'll be very happy with this,' Trump said what he thought Starmer's reaction would be to the EU-US tariff deal. Photograph: Jane Barlow/ Pool/ AFP via Getty Images 'You're welcome to him,' droves of English Twitter (as X was known) users retweeted. Not all of us over here wanted him. Joey's Irishness was full of blarney, no matter how sincerely he meant it. Everywhere he went, he delivered his single transferable speech about his Irish moral values. Then he went back to United States and sent 'ironclad support' to Israel for its onslaught on Gaza along with killing machinery to do the job. On his last Paddy's Day visit as Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar was skating on thin ice in the Oval Office to the soundtrack of calls back home for the visit to be cancelled. Britain has adopted Ireland's old role, sycophantically courting an American president with some of its blood in his veins. While the short game may prove profitable for Starmer, there will be long-term repercussions. The British prime minister has been trying to establish Brexited Britain as a European superpower, allying with France. That requires him to ride two horses simultaneously. Trump despises the EU, falsely claiming its sole raison d'être is to 'rip off' the US. He would be sorely miffed if he thought Starmer was two-timing him with Emanuel Macron. And Trump can be a vindictive former friend. See Elon Musk, Jeffrey Epstein, Rupert Murdoch, et al. In Turnberry last weekend, RTÉ's London correspondent Tommy Meskill asked Trump if he planned to visit Ireland. 'I will. I love Doonbeg,' he said, name-checking his golf resort for any potential paying customers who were watching. 'I'll go.' Right back at you Britain – you're welcome to him.
