THAILAND’S BITTER MANGOES STICKY RICE
The Thai prefer, and even demand, bilateral engagement over multilateral talks and agreements because, through bilateral diplomacy, they are more free to bully, coerce, and/or manipulate a weaker opponent as they see fit without the risk of outside criticism or interference if the dealings are patently unfair to the other side. Cambodia does not have a military superiority over the Thai, though in this border conflict, they have international opinion on their side, including even neutral higher court legal judgments. Therefore, the Thai can only truly prevail over Cambodia’s sovereignty over these border areas through bilateral engagements behind closed doors, where their bullying is not observable to the outside world (or at least it looks like a mutual agreement, despite its unfairness.)
Thailand has failed to achieve this type of bilateral engagement, and so it has entertained multilateral negotiations and acquiesced to multilaterally drawn agreements, like the most recent cease fire in Kuala Lumpur. However, this ceasefire gets them no more closer to their desired end state of control over areas they believe are rightfully theirs. Notably, these areas have always been under Khmer/Cambodian control for centuries, and they remain under Cambodian control today. But for certain brief periods, the Thai were able to seize these areas, and in both instances, they were forced by Western governments (first France and then the United States) to return these areas to Cambodia. Thailand continues to see these instances as examples of Thai power being inappropriately checked by colonialism, which they reject.
This leaves us with the current situation, where bilateral diplomacy does not appear to be working and multilateral diplomacy will not facilitate their end state, so military action is their only means of securing their objectives. This is no longer an equation of how to meet the Thailand’s conditions for peace; this is whether Cambodia and the international community are willing to concede territory for peace, and if Cambodia concedes (or is compelled to accept the loss of territory along its borders), what will be the next demand for peace?
Cambodia and the international community should no longer consider this conflict as exclusively a matter of security concerns regarding this border; rather, this is a conflict that carries great risk to the survival of the Cambodian state.
Youk Chhang
Director, Documentation Center of Cambodia
December 23, 2025
