BANGKOK — A long-simmering border feud between Thailand’s U.S.-trained military and Cambodia’s Chinese-assisted troops escalated in recent days into economic boycotts, frontier closures, disputed claims over Hindu temples and a leaked high-level phone call that has some Thais calling for their prime minister’s resignation.
At stake is Thailand’s political stability and the survival of a fragile, rival-packed coalition government that is sensitive to accusations of being soft on neighboring rival Cambodia.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra apologized Thursday after critics said she made her country look weak in an overly conciliatory phone call with a top Cambodian political leader in which they discussed a May 28 border skirmish.
Ms. Paetongtarn, scrambling to save her ruling coalition after a major political party pulled out over the controversy, said the comments revealed in the leaked 17-minute call to Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen were a negotiation tactic and that her goal was to bring peace between the countries.
Mr. Hun Sen, who posted the taped audio online this week, said he recorded the conversation to “avoid any misunderstanding.”
Ms. Paetongtarn and her Pheu Thai Party are under pressure to get tougher with Cambodia from the right-leaning Royal Thai Army and from nationalists who were longtime foes of her father, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The military said in a statement Thursday that it would like the people to “maintain confidence in the Royal Thai Army’s steadfast commitment to the constitutional monarchy and its readiness to execute its constitutional mandate of protecting national sovereignty through established legal frameworks and institutional mechanisms.”
The trouble began last month when Thai armed forces shot dead one Cambodian soldier in the jungle and scrubland known as the Emerald Triangle, where eastern Thailand, northern Cambodia and southern Laos meet.
The Thai-Cambodian border includes a no-man’s zone that is not officially demarcated, attracting human and wildlife traffickers, illegal loggers, smugglers, fugitives and other criminals.
In the leaked June 15 call, Ms. Paetongtarn can be heard calling Mr. Hun Sen — who is a longtime family friend — “uncle,” and telling him that she did not want him “to listen to the opposing side, especially since the [Thai] Second Army Region commander is entirely from the opposition.
“[The commander] just wants to appear cool or impressive. He may say things that are not beneficial to the country,” she told Mr. Hun Sen.
Lt. Gen. Boonsin Paadklang is the commander of the Second Army Region that covers northeastern Thailand, including the disputed border area where gunfire erupted.
Lt. Gen. Boonsin had expressed his troops’ robustness and readiness to defend Thailand, which reportedly angered Mr. Hun Sen.
Ms. Paetongtarn now says the call “was part of an effort to defuse the situation.”
Thailand’s Interior Minister Anutin Bhumjai pointed to Ms. Paetongtarn’s sensational statements in the leaked phone call and announced he and his Bhumjai Thai Party would leave the coalition.
Mr. Anutin was already widely expected to drop out of the government in frustration that he might be demoted to a lower ministry during an upcoming cabinet reshuffle.
His walkout yanked the BJP’s 77 politicians out of parliament, leaving Ms. Paetongtarn and the Pheu Thai Party with a slim majority atop a vulnerable coalition, amid calls for fresh elections.
The border dispute, meanwhile, will continue to haunt Ms. Paetongtarn’s relationship with Mr. Hun Sen and his son, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.
Ms. Paetongtarn’s father, Thaksin Shinawatra, was a twice-elected, coup-toppled prime minister who has been close friends for many years with Mr. Hun Sen, Cambodia’s authoritarian former prime minister.
After falling in a bloodless 2006 military putsch, Mr. Thaksin fled overseas to avoid several years in prison for corruption convictions.
Mr. Hun Sen helped him in 2009 by appointing Mr. Thaksin as an “adviser,” giving the billionaire the aura of being a key player in Southeast Asia’s murky, treacherous, lucrative politics.
Mr. Hun Sen reaffirmed “32 years of friendship” after Mr. Thaksin voluntarily returned to Thailand after 15 years in self-exile.
Mr. Thaksin told reporters that his cordial relations with Mr. Hun Sen meant, “Instead of shooting each other, we can just play takraw [Thai kickball] with each other in the evening.”
Many Thais perceive that chummy friendship as the reason Mr. Thaksin and his prime ministerial daughter are allegedly soft on Cambodia.
Last year, the duo was criticized as too lenient towards Cambodia during a border dispute in the resource-rich Gulf of Thailand.
Natthaphong Rueangpanyawut, the Thai leader of the popular opposition People’s Party, wrote: “Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister’s father, has communicated that there is nothing to worry about, because he can use his personal relationships to alleviate the situation with Cambodia’s leaders.
“However, Thaksin’s words amounted to pouring gasoline on a fire, because Cambodia’s leaders do not want to be seen as deal-making with Thailand’s leaders, and so they have now acted even more aggressively, corresponding with the sense of nationalism in Cambodia,” Mr. Natthaphong said.
Some opposition groups may be hoping that by poking the government about its response to Cambodia, it will weaken the coalition and possibly cause its collapse.
“Right-wing opponents of the Shinawatras, in particular, are using the issue of Thai-Cambodian border issues to attack the Paetongtarn government,” Paul Chambers, a visiting fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, said in an interview.
“This issue could become increasingly productive for the right-wing opposition,” Mr. Chambers said.
Thai media describe Mr. Thaksin as the “de facto boss of the Pheu Thai Party,” which is officially led by his daughter, who leads an uneasy coalition that includes pro-military parties.
Some people blamed Cambodia for hyping the dispute to score domestic political points.
“Cambodia always does this when it has internal problems, economic trouble, or upcoming elections,” former Thai foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai said at a forum.
“They stir up border tensions to create a nationalist distraction.”
Bangkok’s squabbling coalition may make Thailand appear weak and confused, and give Phnom Penh the impression that this is an ideal time to finally grab some disputed land, he said.
“Cambodia may sense this is the right moment — Thailand’s politics are unstable, cabinet reshuffles are pending, and the bureaucracy has been idling for months,” Mr. Surakiart said, according to the Bangkok Post.
Cambodia began escalating pressure against Bangkok days ago by boycotting electricity and disconnecting broadband internet cables supplied by Thailand, switching to importing electricity from Vietnam, and utilizing Phnom Penh’s internet providers.
Mr. Hun Manet said when he heard about Thai “extremist groups” demanding Thailand stop exporting electricity and broadband internet to Cambodia, he decided to act first.
Thailand is worried about Cambodian plans to reinforce troops at the border, and those fears may have resulted in some Thais trying to deter such a move by threatening that electricity and internet could be cut in retaliation, the Thai News Room site reported.
When asked about the possibility of Thailand cutting off electricity and internet to Cambodia, Ms. Paetongtarn replied, “It is only a preparatory measure, and we have no plans to execute it.”
The next day, however, Cambodia blocked imported Thai fruit, vegetables and other agricultural products at border crossings where they arrive by truck.
Cambodia’s Culture Ministry “immediately suspended” the showing of Thai movies in theaters or on television.
Cambodia said these boycotts were in response to Thailand’s closure of several border gates, which disrupted crossings for thousands of Thais and Cambodians daily in vehicles and on foot, resulting in business losses and other problems on both sides.
Bangkok said it closed and shortened the border crossing schedules to maintain security after the Emerald Triangle shooting and the movement of Cambodian troops.
At a Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission session on June 15, Cambodia rejected Thailand’s plea to keep their border talks confidential between the two nations and not internationalize the crisis.
Instead, Phnom Penh snubbed Bangkok and took Cambodia’s claim to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which earlier twice ruled in Cambodia’s favor on a nearby chunk of border land that included the 1,000-year-old Hindu and Buddhist temple ruins at Preah Vihear, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The latest shooting flared near Preah Vihear, at the Chong Bok border crossing.
Thai troops said Cambodian soldiers “encroached” into a disputed area at Chong Bok, and dug a 2,100-foot-long trench, visible in overhead photographs displayed by the Thai government.
After the two sides ended their shooting and began negotiations, the Cambodians filled in their trench and ordered their troops to retreat to their usual positions along the border, Thai officials said.
When Cambodia announced it would take its case to the ICJ, the U.N. judicial arm, Mr. Hun Manet, said:
“Let’s not fall for the incitement of a handful of extremist groups in Cambodia and Thailand, and let’s not fall into the problem of confrontation by armed forces of the two countries.”
Bangkok has ignored the ICJ’s two previous judgements, which have no real power of enforcement but can be used to advise the U.N. about international law, sanctions and other options to take against an errant nation.
