From weed parlours to citizenship, the unexpected fallout from a jungle border bust-up
And this improbable-seeming chain reaction of patriotism, intrigue and self-interest is not spent yet.
Cambodian strongman and former prime minister Hun Sen, not one to let a crisis go to waste, appears to be using the border tensions with Thailand to further entrench the power of his long-ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP).
On Monday, his son, Hun Manet, the current prime minister, announced the government would activate a dormant law requiring men aged 18 to 30 to serve a stint in the military. He also flagged an increase in defence spending, not only on human resources, but 'equipment modernisation'.
Cambodia is one of the poorest nations in the world. Luckily, it can count China as its No.1 ticket holder.
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The CPP is framing the military build-up as prudence in the face of aggression from a more powerful neighbour. And while this may be a good pitch to patriotic citizens, the policies are also beneficial to the Hun family and the CPP, which, despite their grip on Cambodia, figure it can always be tighter.
'The armed forces are certainly not an independent, neutral body,' says Gordon Conochie, an author on Cambodian democracy and an analyst at La Trobe University.
'They are used as a way of bringing people into the controlling sphere of the CPP through jobs and financial inducements. That's why you've got more than 3000 generals. It's a way of the CPP rewarding loyalty and rewarding people who do a service for them.'
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News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Thailand says over 100,000 civilians flee clashes with Cambodia
More than 100,000 people have fled the bloodiest border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia in a decade, Bangkok said Friday, as the death toll rose and international powers urged a halt to hostilities. A long-running border dispute erupted into intense fighting with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on Thursday, and the UN Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis later Friday. The Thai interior ministry said more than 100,000 people from four border provinces had been moved to nearly 300 temporary shelters, while the kingdom's health ministry announced that the death toll had risen to 14 -- 13 civilians and one soldier. In the Cambodian town of Samraong, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the border, AFP journalists reported hearing distant artillery fire on Friday morning. As the guns started up, some families packed their children and belongings into vehicles and sped away. "I live very close to the border. We are scared because they began shooting again at about 6:00 am," Pro Bak, 41, told AFP. He was taking his wife and children to a Buddhist temple to seek refuge. "I don't know when we could return home," he said. AFP journalists also saw soldiers rushing to man rocket launchers and speeding off towards the frontier. - Calls for calm - The fighting marks a dramatic escalation in a long-running dispute between the neighbours -- both popular destinations for millions of foreign tourists -- over their shared 800-kilometre (500-mile) frontier. Dozens of kilometres in several areas are contested and fighting broke out between 2008 and 2011, leaving at least 28 people dead and tens of thousands displaced. A UN court ruling in 2013 settled the matter for over a decade, but the current crisis erupted in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a new clash. Fighting on Thursday was focused on six locations, according to the Thai army, including around two ancient temples. Ground troops backed up by tanks battled for control of territory, while Cambodia fired rockets and shells into Thailand and the Thais scrambled F-16 jets to hit military targets across the border. Both sides blamed each other for firing first, while Thailand accused Cambodia of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital hit by shells and a petrol station hit by at least one rocket. Thursday's clashes came hours after Thailand expelled the Cambodian ambassador and recalled its own envoy after five members of a Thai military patrol were wounded by a landmine. Cambodia downgraded ties to "the lowest level" on Thursday, pulling out all but one of its diplomats and expelling their Thai equivalents from Phnom Penh. At the request of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, the UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the deadly clashes, diplomatic sources told AFP. The United States urged an "immediate" end to the conflict, while Cambodia's former colonial ruler France made a similar call. The EU and China -- a close ally of Phnom Penh -- said they were "deeply concerned" about the clashes, calling for dialogue.
ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
Fighting continues over Thai, Cambodia border
Fighting appears to be continuing between Thai and Cambodian troops over a border dispute. Thailand has used jets to bomb Cambodian positions while Cambodia has fired artillery shells and rockets into Thailand. The border dispute has reportedly claimed the lives of at least 11 people. Cambodia's government also alleges that its civilians have been targeted by Thai forces.
ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
Fighting continues on Thailand-Cambodia border as world leaders call for peace
Thai and Cambodian soldiers are continuing to clash along the border between their countries in a major escalation that has so far left at least 14 people dead, mostly Thai civilians. The two sides fired small arms, artillery and rockets, and Thailand also launched air strikes in the bloodiest military battles in more than a decade between the two South-East Asian neighbours. The conflict presents "a big headache" for South-East Asia, a leading expert says, with questions remaining over how the two countries and the region will respond. Fighting took place in at least six areas on Thursday, according to Thai Defence Ministry spokesperson Surasant Kongsiri, a day after a land mine explosion along the border wounded five Thai soldiers. The incident led Bangkok to withdraw its ambassador from Cambodia and expel Cambodia's envoy to Thailand. Cambodia fired rockets and artillery shells into Thailand and the Thai military scrambled F-16 jets to carry out air strikes. In Bangkok, the Public Health Ministry said a Thai soldier and 13 civilians, including children, were killed while 14 soldiers and 32 other civilians were injured. Most of the causalities were caused by a rocket strike near a petrol station in Sisaket province. Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsuthin condemned what he said were the attacks on civilians and a hospital as violations of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions. "We urge the Cambodian government to immediately halt these war criminal actions, and return to respecting the principles of peaceful coexistence," he said. On Friday, Cambodia's chief official in Oddar Meanchey province, General Khov Ly, said clashes resumed early in the morning near the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple. Associated Press reporters near the border could hear sounds of artillery from early morning hours. The official also said that at least four civilians were wounded in Thursday's fighting there and that more than 4,000 people had been displaced from their villages along the border to evacuation centres. It was the first account of any casualties from the Cambodian side. The escalation represents a rare instance of military conflict between member countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), though Thailand has tangled with Cambodia before over the border and has had sporadic skirmishes with western neighbour Myanmar. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged both sides "to exercise maximum restraint and address any issues through dialogue", according to UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq. Thailand and Cambodia have blamed each other for the clashes, alleging that civilians were being targeted. The fighting is the latest chapter in a long-running spat over an area known as the Emerald Triangle, where the borders of both countries and Laos meet. The decades-old squabble flared into bloody clashes more than 15 years ago and again in May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a firefight. Praphas Intaracheun, a 53-year-old gardener from Sisaket, told AFP that he was refuelling at another petrol station about 300 metres from the one that was hit on Thursday. A 30-bed hospital in the town of Phanom Dong Rak in Surin province, just 15 kilometres from the border, was hit by shells which shattered windows and collapsed part of a roof. The facility was partially evacuated on Wednesday night as a precaution. Fighting was focused on six locations, the Thai army said, with ground troops and tanks battling Cambodian forces for control of territory. Six Thai air force jets were deployed, hitting two "Cambodian military targets on the ground", according to Thai military deputy spokesperson Ritcha Suksuwanon. AFP journalists met Cambodians fleeing their villages near the Thai border to escape the fighting. "We dare not to stay. They were fighting so bad that my house was shaking," Say Vuthy said. "We already dug a bunker but we dared not stay because we were scared that they will keep fighting at night." In Cambodia, several hundred villagers moved from their homes near the border to about 30 kilometres deeper inside Oddar Meanchey province. Many made the journey with entire families and most of their possessions on home-made tractors, before settling down with hammocks and makeshift shelters. From the encampment near the town of Samrong, a 45-year-old mother of four, Tep Savouen, said it all started about 8am. "Suddenly I heard a loud noise," she told the AP. "My son told me it might be thunder and I thought 'Is it thunder or is it loud, more like a gun?′ At that time I was very scared." Director of the Asia-Pacific program at policy think tank Chatham House, Ben Bland, said that domestic politics and public opinion were key driving factors in the conflict. "We know that a lot of temples that are on the border are really important, symbolically and culturally, for people in Cambodia," Mr Bland said. "We know Cambodia has been invaded in the past. It's gone through decades of conflict. Thailand is also a proud country and has a very messy domestic politics right now. So, I think to a certain extent, this has been driven by politics and sustained by … some nationalist opinion in both countries." Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said the government was "prepared to intensify our self-defence measures if Cambodia persists in its armed aggression and violations upon Thailand's sovereignty". In the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, Defence Ministry spokesperson Lieutenant General Maly Socheata said his country deployed armed force because "it has no choice but to defend its territory against Thai threats". The spokesperson insisted the Cambodian "attacks are focused on the military places, not on any other place". Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet wrote to the UN Security Council asking for an urgent meeting "to stop Thailand's aggression". The council scheduled an emergency closed meeting at 3pm in New York on Friday. Mr Bland said the violence was "really concerning" but both countries had shown the ability to de-escalate tensions in the past. "There's more of a risk that it becomes a protracted diplomatic and economic battle between the two, and I think that would potentially have knock-on effects economically," Mr Bland said. "It just creates another point of tension for South-East Asian nations when they're already facing the impacts of the civil war in Myanmar, US-China tensions and Trump's tariffs. "It's another big headache for the region, but it's still early days." Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim posted on X that he had spoken to both Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thailand's acting prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai. Malaysia is the current chair of ASEAN. "I appealed directly to both leaders for an immediate ceasefire to prevent further hostilities and to create space for peaceful dialogue and diplomatic resolution," Mr Anwar posted. "I welcome the positive signals and willingness shown by both Bangkok and Phnom Penh to consider this path forward." The United States, European Union, France and China, a close ally of Phnom Penh, all called for peace. "We are deeply concerned over the current developments [and] hope both sides can properly resolve issues through dialogue and consultations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said. Mr Bland said China ought to play a part in bringing about peace. "It has extensive economic links with both countries … it clearly has huge interests in one neighbour and one close partner not being at loggerheads with each other," he said. "China's approach to conflict is often mitigation rather than mediation or resolution. So I think they'll be standing on the sidelines for now. But really if China does aspire to a bigger role in regional global security, which they often talk about rhetorically, this is the sort of case where you might expect or even hope that they would play some sort of bigger role, but we will have to see for now." The Australian government has urged travellers to reconsider the need to travel to border areas in both Cambodia and Thailand because of the conflict. ABC/wires
