Latest news with #Cambodian-Thai
Otago Daily Times
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Longer the power, stupider the man
Cambodian President Hun Sen used to be ruthless but clever; now he's just stupid. PHOTO: REUTERS Leading an entire country for a few years is a steep learning curve, but it's useful experience. Being in power for a dozen years makes most leaders arrogant and careless, but some remain more or less functional. Being in power for more than 30 years just makes you stupid. Consider Cambodia's Hun Sen and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Hun Sen began as a Khmer Rouge commander and went on to rule Cambodia effectively as an absolute dictator for 36 years. (He is by far the country's richest man and his personal guard rivals the national army in size.) He passed the prime ministership on to his son Hun Manet two years ago, but he really still rules. There is an old history of military confrontations between Thailand and Cambodia, but relations have been stable since Hun Sen came to power. In fact, there were close links between him and the Shinawatra family that has dominated democratic politics in Thailand for half of this century. So when there was a shoot-out on the Cambodian-Thai border a couple of weeks ago the Thai prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, got on the phone to calm things down with Hun Sen. (She called him "uncle" because her father and the Cambodian leader had been so close.) Only one Cambodian soldier was killed in the incident, but who wants a war? She criticised the Thai regional commander, who she said "just wanted to look tough," and added that if Hun Sen wanted anything she would "take care of it." This is how grown-ups in power manage random incidents that can cause serious trouble: apologise (whether your side was in the wrong or not), lay on the flattery, give everybody an off-ramp. And keep it as private as possible. Instead, Hun Sen put the entire 17-minute conversation on his website. Its effect, and most likely his purpose, was to humiliate Prime Minister Shinawatra and stir up outrage among Thai ultra-nationalists. We can probably therefore assume that he was acting in league with aforesaid ultra-nationalists, but he's crazy to believe that they are reliable allies. Hun Sen may be calculating that a small military confrontation with Thailand will help his son to consolidate his hold on power. However, it's just as likely that the Thai hard-liners would exploit a brief victorious war (Thais outnumber Cambodians four-to-one) to legitimise their intended coup. Hun Sen used to be ruthless but clever; now he's just stupid. He's taking an unnecessary risk for a doubtful outcome. But the uncomfortable truth is that at least half the wars on this planet start for reasons no more profound than this. Which brings us to the truly counterproductive behaviour of Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Like Hun Sen, Iran's Supreme Leader has been in power for 36 years. At least half the Iranian population would be glad to see him gone, but during his early years he was an effective ruler. Now he is an isolated old man of 86 who simply does not grasp the plight of his nation. Donald Trump gave Iran's leaders an unintended opening with his over-the-top boasting about the damage that one day of US air strikes did to the country. The American and world media were already questioning his claims that the three nuclear enrichment sites at Fordo, Natanz and Esfahan were "totally obliterated", and Trump had doubled down on them. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who knows his way around the diplomatic world, humbly admitted the American strikes had done "excessive and serious damage." The country is virtually defenceless against American and Israeli airstrikes: why would Iran give them any reason to believe that they had to go back and finish the job? But Ayatollah Ali Khamanei was living in Cloud Cuckoo Land. In a video statement on 26 June, he insisted that the American air strikes "did not achieve anything" and further threatened to give the United States "another slap" (referring to the Iranian missile attack on an American base in Qatar in retaliation for the US air strikes). Khamenei seemed unaware that no damage had been done to American lives or military assets. He didn't even seem to know that Iran's surviving military leaders, hoping to avoid a game of tit-tor-tat in which they would be utterly outmatched, had informed US authorities in advance of when the missiles would be launched and on what trajectories. Trump went berserk at Khamenei's speech. "You got beat to hell," he raged, and declared that he had been about to end sanctions against Iran but the Ayatollah's speech changed his mind. That's probably untrue, but Khamenei is too old to be left in office. As Trump himself will probably be before his presidential term is finished. • Gwynne Dyer is an independent London journalist.
Winnipeg Free Press
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
The political blunders of aging leaders
Leading an entire country for a few years is a steep learning curve, but it's useful experience. Being in power for a dozen years makes most leaders arrogant and careless, but some remain more or less functional. Being in power for more than 30 years just makes you stupid. Consider Cambodia's Hun Sen and Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Hun Sen began as a Khmer Rouge commander and went on to rule Cambodia effectively as an absolute dictator for 36 years. (He is by far the country's richest man and his personal guard rivals the national army in size.) He passed the prime ministership on to his son, Hun Manet, two years ago, but he really still rules. There is an old history of military confrontations between Thailand and Cambodia, but relations have been stable since Hun Sen came to power. In fact, there were close links between him and the Shinawatra family that has dominated democratic politics in Thailand for half of this century. So when there was a shootout on the Cambodian-Thai border a couple of weeks ago, the Thai prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, got on the phone to calm things down with Hun Sen. (She called him 'uncle' because her father and the Cambodian leader had been so close.) Only one Cambodian soldier was killed in the incident, but who wants a war? She criticized the Thai regional commander, who she said 'just wanted to look tough,' and added that if Hun Sen wanted anything she would 'take care of it.' This is how grown-ups in power manage random incidents that can cause serious trouble: apologize (whether your side was in the wrong or not), lay on the flattery, give everybody an off-ramp. And keep it as private as possible. Instead, Hun Sen put the entire 17-minute conversation on his website. Its effect, and most likely his purpose, was to humiliate Shinawatra and stir up outrage among Thai ultra-nationalists. We can probably therefore assume that he was acting in league with aforesaid ultra- nationalists, but he's crazy to believe that they are reliable allies. Hun Sen may be calculating that a small military confrontation with Thailand will help his son consolidate his hold on power. However, it's just as likely that the Thai hardliners would exploit a brief victorious war (Thais outnumber Cambodians four to one) to legitimize their intended coup. Hun Sen used to be ruthless but clever; now he's just stupid. He's taking an unnecessary risk for a doubtful outcome. But the uncomfortable truth is that at least half the wars on this planet start for reasons no more profound than this. Which brings us to the truly counterproductive behaviour of Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Like Hun Sen, Iran's supreme leader has been in power for 36 years. At least half the Iranian population would be glad to see him gone, but during his early years he was an effective ruler. Now he is an isolated old man of 86 who simply does not grasp the plight of his nation. U.S. President Donald Trump gave Iran's leaders an unintended opening with his over-the-top boasting about the damage that one day of U.S. air strikes did to the country. The American and world media were already questioning his claims that the three nuclear enrichment sites at Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan were 'totally obliterated,' and Trump had doubled down on them. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who knows his way around the diplomatic world, humbly admitted the American strikes had done 'excessive and serious damage.' The country is virtually defenceless against American and Israeli airstrikes: why would Iran give them any reason to believe that they had to go back and finish the job? But Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was living in Cloud Cuckoo Land. In a video statement on June 26, he insisted that the American air strikes 'did not achieve anything' and further threatened to give the United States 'another slap' (referring to the Iranian missile attack on an American base in Qatar in retaliation for the U.S. air strikes). Khamenei seemed unaware that no damage had been done to American lives or military assets. He didn't even seem to know that Iran's surviving military leaders, hoping to avoid a game of tit-tor-tat in which they would be utterly outmatched, had informed U.S. authorities in advance of when their missiles would be launched and on what trajectories. Trump went berserk at Khamenei's speech. 'You got beat to hell,' he raged, and declared that he had been about to end sanctions against Iran but the Ayatollah's speech changed his mind. That's probably untrue, but Khamenei is too old to be left in office. As Trump himself will probably be before his presidential term is finished. Gwynne Dyer's new book is Intervention Earth: Life-Saving Ideas from the World's Climate Engineers.
Bangkok Post
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
Too long in power a bad idea for leaders
Leading an entire country for a few years is a steep learning curve, but it's useful experience. Being in power for a dozen years makes most leaders arrogant and careless, but some remain more or less functional. Being in power for more than 30 years just makes you stupid. Consider Cambodia's Hun Sen and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Hun Sen began as a Khmer Rouge commander and went on to rule Cambodia effectively as an absolute dictator for 36 years. (He is by far the country's richest man, and his personal guard rivals the national army in size.) He passed the prime ministership on to his son Hun Manet two years ago, but he really still rules. There is an old history of military confrontations between Thailand and Cambodia, but relations have been stable since Hun Sen came to power. In fact, there were close links between him and the Shinawatra family that has dominated democratic politics in Thailand for half of this century. So when there was a shoot-out on the Cambodian-Thai border a couple of weeks ago, the Thai prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, got on the phone to calm things down with Hun Sen. (She called him "uncle" because her father and the Cambodian leader had been so close.) One Cambodian soldier was killed in the incident, but who wants a war? She criticised the Thai regional commander, who she said "just wanted to look tough", and added that if Hun Sen wanted anything, she would "take care of it". This is how grown-ups in power manage random incidents that can cause serious trouble: apologise (whether your side was in the wrong or not), lay on the flattery, give everybody an off-ramp. And keep it as private as possible. Instead, Hun Sen reportedly had the entire 17-minute conversation put on a website. Its effect, and most likely his purpose, was to humiliate Prime Minister Paetongtarn and stir up outrage among Thai ultranationalists. We can probably therefore assume that he was acting in league with the aforesaid ultra-nationalists, but he's crazy to believe that they are reliable allies. Hun Sen may be calculating that a small military confrontation with Thailand will help his son to consolidate his hold on power. However, it's just as likely that the Thai hardliners would exploit a brief victorious war (Thais outnumber Cambodians by around four-to-one) to legitimise their intended coup d'etat. Hun Sen used to be ruthless but clever. He's taking an unnecessary risk for a doubtful outcome. But the uncomfortable truth is that at least half the wars on this planet start for reasons no more profound than this. Which brings us to the truly counterproductive behaviour of Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Like Hun Sen, Iran's Supreme Leader has been in power for 36 years. At least half the Iranian population would be glad to see him gone, but during his early years he was an effective ruler. Now he is an isolated old man of 86 who simply does not grasp the plight of his nation. Donald Trump gave Iran's leaders an unintended opening with his over-the-top boasting about the damage that one day of US air strikes did to the country. The American and world media were already questioning his claims that the three nuclear enrichment sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan were "totally obliterated", and Mr Trump had doubled down on them. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who knows his way around the diplomatic world, humbly admitted the American strikes had done "excessive and serious damage". The country is virtually defenceless against American and Israeli airstrikes: why would Iran give them any reason to believe that they had to go back and finish the job? But Ayatollah Ali Khamanei was living in Cloud Cuckoo Land. In a video statement on June 26, he insisted that the American air strikes "did not achieve anything" and further threatened to give the United States "another slap" (referring to the Iranian missile attack on an American base in Qatar in retaliation for the US air strikes). Mr Trump went berserk at Ayatollah Khamenei's speech. "You got beat to hell," he raged, and declared that he had been about to end sanctions against Iran, but the Ayatollah's speech changed his mind. That's probably untrue, but Khamenei is too old to be left in office. As Mr Trump himself will probably be before his presidential term is finished. Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries. His latest book is 'Intervention Earth: Life-Saving Ideas from the World's Climate Engineers'. Last year's book, 'The Shortest History of War', is also still available.
The Star
29-06-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Thai-Cambodia border closed to cargo traffic
The Poipet border crossing, which Thai authorities closed on June 23. PHNOM PENH: The General Department of Immigration (GDI) has announced that it will not permit any type of cargo transport to enter, exit, or transit through any international border checkpoints or regional checkpoints along the Cambodian-Thai border. In a statement issued on Sunday (June 29), the GDI explained that the ban will be enforced in accordance with a directive from Prime Minister Hun Manet, who was responding to measures imposed by the Thai side on June 7 and again on June 23. 'This measure will remain in effect until the Thai side fully reopens all international and regional border checkpoints, which Thailand unilaterally closed, to resume normal operations as they were before June 7, 2025,' said the statement. Cambodia previously banned the import of Thai fruit and vegetables and suspended the import of oil and gas from Thailand. The measures were taken by the Cambodian leadership in response to various threats from Thailand. On June 23, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra ordered Thai authorities to close border crossings in seven provinces, except for medical patients and students, citing the need to combat online scam operations and cross-border crimes. On Sunday (June 29), Burapha Armed Forces requested that their immigration office in Sa Kaeo province allow cargo transport to enter and exit Cambodia through certain border checkpoints. However, Prime Minister Hun Manet instructed the Thai side to request the military – or whoever has the actual authority – to reopen the borders that have been unilaterally closed or restricted since June 7. "If Thai authorities and Thai citizens wish to see the Cambodian-Thai border checkpoints reopened, there is no need to request Cambodia. "Please request those with real authority in Thailand, whether the military or others, to restore the border checkpoints to their normal state as before June 7, and provide clear assurances that there will be no further unilateral closures or openings. "That will resolve the matter. Everything will return to normal operations as before," he said, via social media. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
Straits Times
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Cambodia closes off cargo traffic from crossing border with Thailand
Thai police officers and a soldier standing guard at the Chong Jom border checkpoint along the border between Thailand and Cambodia on June 11. PHOTO: EPA-EFE Cambodia's General Department of Immigration announced that it will not permit any type of cargo transport to enter, exit, or transit through any international border checkpoints or regional checkpoints along the Cambodian-Thai border. In a statement issued on June 29, the department said the ban will be enforced in accordance with a directive from Prime Minister Hun Manet, who was responding to measures imposed by Thailand on June 7 and again on June 23. 'This measure will remain in effect until the Thai side fully reopens all international and regional border checkpoints, which Thailand unilaterally closed, to resume normal operations as they were before June 7, 2025,' said the statement. Cambodia previously banned the import of Thai fruit and vegetables and suspended the import of oil and gas from Thailand. The measures were taken by the Cambodian leadership in response to various threats from Thailand. On June 23, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra ordered Thai authorities to close border crossings in seven provinces, except for medical patients and students, citing the need to combat online scam operations and cross-border crimes. Following the announcement by Cambodia, Thailand's Burapha Task Force, which oversees the Thai-Cambodian border, requested that their immigration office in Sa Kaeo province allow cargo transport to enter and exit Cambodia through certain border checkpoints. However, Mr Hun Manet instructed the Thai side to request the military – or whoever has the actual authority – to reopen the borders that have been unilaterally closed or restricted since June 7. 'If Thai authorities and Thai citizens wish to see the Cambodian-Thai border checkpoints reopened, there is no need to request Cambodia. 'Please request those with real authority in Thailand, whether the military or others, to restore the border checkpoints to their normal state as before June 7, and provide clear assurances that there will be no further unilateral closures or openings. That will resolve the matter. Everything will return to normal operations as before,' he said on social media. THE PHNOM PENH POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
