What's really at stake between Thailand and Cambodia
letters@scmp.com or filling in
this Google form . Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification
The recent escalation at the
Thai-Cambodian border , marked by deadly clashes, air strikes and the evacuation of over 130,000 civilians, is a grave reminder that Southeast Asia's unresolved tensions are never just over lines on a map.
This crisis began with a leaked phone call between Thailand's
now-suspended Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Cambodia's former leader Hun Sen. But what may have started as a breach of diplomatic etiquette has become a calculated crisis, weaponised by elites for strategic ends.
Hun Sen, still a dominant political actor despite stepping down, chose to release the call at a moment of growing scrutiny over Cambodia's complicity in
transnational criminal networks , notably cyber scams and human trafficking.
On the Thai side, political instability has deepened. Paetongtarn's suspension and the threat to her coalition created a power vacuum ripe for external provocation and sidelined a reformist agenda, including the
controversial casino bill that could threaten powerful business interests on both sides of the border.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
9 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
How Singapore's economic architect Goh Keng Swee shaped its state-linked giants
The First Fools: B-Sides of Lee Kuan Yew's A-Team is a new anthology about Singapore's founding leaders. In this excerpt, author Aaron Low spotlights Goh Keng Swee – widely remembered as Singapore's first finance minister and economic architect – whose lesser-known role as one of the country's most influential businessmen saw him create a network of state-linked firms that helped define Brand Singapore. Advertisement Entrepreneurs start businesses for many reasons. Some do it because of the firm belief that they can change the world around them, like Jeff Bezos, who foresaw how the internet would transform the way people bought books. Others are problem solvers such as Jack Ma, who created Alibaba to empower small Chinese firms and compete in the new digital economy. Then there are those like Microsoft's Bill Gates and Paul Allen, who turn their expertise into ventures and look to profit from their innate skills. But Goh was different. He believed in business as a means to an end, one that was for the greater good. Influenced by Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, Goh endorsed the idea that the invisible hand of business can produce goods and services efficiently, create jobs, and benefit the economy as a whole. But to do so, capitalism had to be tempered and guided wisely to avoid its excesses. There was another, more pressing, motivation: a deep desire to sustain Singapore's fragile independence and keep the idea of a nation alive. His form of capitalism, as his former protégé and top civil servant Philip Yeo said, was tinged with a large dose of socialism. Goh Keng Swee in 1948. He would go on to become Singapore's first finance minister and later the country's deputy prime minister. Photo: Handout 'He runs the company efficiently and properly, borrows money and hires people. He is no different from a businessman. But the key difference is that Dr Goh is a state capitalist. The businessman makes profit for himself; Dr Goh did it for the public good,' said Yeo.
South China Morning Post
10 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
How Singapore's economic architect Goh Keng Swee shaped its state-linked giants
The First Fools: B-Sides of Lee Kuan Yew's A-Team is a new anthology about Singapore's founding leaders. In this excerpt, author Aaron Low spotlights Goh Keng Swee – widely remembered as Singapore's first finance minister and economic architect – whose lesser-known role as one of the country's most influential businessmen saw him create a network of state-linked firms that helped define Brand Singapore. Advertisement Entrepreneurs start businesses for many reasons. Some do it because of the firm belief that they can change the world around them, like Jeff Bezos, who foresaw how the internet would transform the way people bought books. Others are problem solvers such as Jack Ma, who created Alibaba to empower small Chinese firms and compete in the new digital economy. Then there are those like Microsoft's Bill Gates and Paul Allen, who turn their expertise into ventures and look to profit from their innate skills. But Goh was different. He believed in business as a means to an end, one that was for the greater good. Influenced by Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, Goh endorsed the idea that the invisible hand of business can produce goods and services efficiently, create jobs, and benefit the economy as a whole. But to do so, capitalism had to be tempered and guided wisely to avoid its excesses. There was another, more pressing, motivation: a deep desire to sustain Singapore's fragile independence and keep the idea of a nation alive. His form of capitalism, as his former protégé and top civil servant Philip Yeo said, was tinged with a large dose of socialism. Goh Keng Swee in 1948. He would go on to become Singapore's first finance minister and later the country's deputy prime minister. Photo: Handout 'He runs the company efficiently and properly, borrows money and hires people. He is no different from a businessman. But the key difference is that Dr Goh is a state capitalist. The businessman makes profit for himself; Dr Goh did it for the public good,' said Yeo.
South China Morning Post
11 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
What Singlish words and phrases going mainstream tell us about Singaporean identity
Ten years ago, the English-language world witnessed a small milestone in a larger jubilee. At Singapore's 50th National Day celebrations on August 9, 2015, the unthinkable came to pass. In the National Day parade section themed 'Identity – Uniquely Singapore', alongside floats of Singaporean food, there were props depicting words from Singapore English, also known as Singlish, such as the particles 'lah' and 'leh' and phrases including ' blur like sotong '. Lee Hsien Loong , Singapore's prime minister at the time, posted on his Facebook account a week after: 'I'm glad that at 50, we are less 'blur like sotong', and more confident and comfortable with everything that makes us Singaporean.' This was not trivial. Such official endorsement was particularly significant in light of Singapore's official language policy and planning, which includes the annual Speak Good English Movement (SGEM) that, since 2000, has explicitly discouraged the use of Singlish in favour of 'Good English'. Library personnel set up standees that promote the use of correct spoken English in a library in 2006 in Singapore. The Speak Good English Movement, launched in 2000, discouraged the use of Singlish in favour of 'Good English'. Photo: AP The following year saw another milestone, this time extending beyond the nation's shores.
