Test stack img Thailand-Cambodia border row was escalating.
Cambodia and Thailand fail to rise above nationalist narratives, says former foreign correspondent Nirmal Ghosh.
Cyclo drivers prepare to share donated food and supplies from a cyclo community pantry with people working along the streets during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, July 19, 2021. Picture taken July 19, 2021. REUTERS/Cindy Liu
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SINGAPORE: In a rare breach of diplomatic norms, Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen on Wednesday (Jun 18) released a recording of a private phone call with Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on social media, escalating political tensions surrounding a long-running border dispute.
In the 17-minute audio, Ms Paetongtarn refers to Mr Hun Sen as “uncle” and urges him to ignore the Thai general overseeing the army in the border area whom she described as being on “the opposite side”. The remark has fuelled speculation about her relationship with the military, a politically sensitive issue given the army’s role in ousting members of her family from power – her father Thaksin in 2006 and his sister Yingluck in 2014.
