Letters | What’s really at stake between Thailand and Cambodia

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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.

Make no mistake: this is as much about economic control as national pride. Cambodia’s fragile economy depends on Chinese-backed casinos and murky operations in places like Poipet and Sihanoukville. Legalised Thai casinos, if ever realised, would threaten this ecosystem.