Mr. Hun Sen’s Curses And the Thai Bully

Op-Ed by Khmerization
13th February, 2010

“The Thai bully and its hegemonic ambition of expansionism will always be an obstacle and a hurdle to a peaceful and good neighbourly co-existence between the two nations. Only when Thailand gives up its hegemony and expansionist motives toward Cambodia, can a peaceful and good neighbourly co-existence between the two neighbours be realised and achieved.”

Mr. Hun Sen’s vitriolic diatribes against the prime minister of Thailand, Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, will undoubtedly reflect bad on the reputation of all Khmer people that we are a bunch of uncivilised and uneducated race. And his profane outbursts against another country’s head of government is inexcusable and cannot be justified as he is also a head of a government. By launching a scathing personal attack on the prime minister of Thailand, which we had an unresolved border conflicts with, will further complicate the matter and undoubtedly delay the resolution of the sensitive border issues.

Mr. Hun Sen’s tirades against Mr. Abhisit, which come in the forms of curses, have puzzled even the many Cambodian nationalists. His dare to Mr. Abhisit to swear in front of sacred objects that Thai troops did not invade Cambodia is acceptable if his language is not disturbingly un-diplomatic. The phrase such as “If you don’t tell the truth about Siem [Thai] troops’ invasion of Cambodia on 15 July [2008], let the magic objects break your neck, may you be shot, be hit by a car, may you be shocked by electricity or [may you be shot] by misfired guns”, cannot be justified when it comes from the mouth of a head of a government.

Mr. Hun Sen’s curses are also directed at Mr. Abhisit’s family as well. “Will Abhisit swear on having all his family members be killed and having them [perished] in a plane crash, if [he still claims] that Siamese troops did not invade Cambodia?”, he added.

He accused Thailand of not only invading Cambodian territory, but cheated on history as well. “Not only did Thailand actually invaded [Cambodia], it also invaded and cheated on history by changing the name of Preah Vihear temple to Phra Viharn”, he continued.

He chided Abhisit as the worst prime minister Thailand has ever had. “Among all of the Siem [Thai] PMs, nobody is as bad as Ah Neung [derogatory term for ‘this guy’], he said.

“Ah Nis [derogatory for “this guy”] is crazy, he is all confused, he deserves to be scolded at. This guy has no family honour”, he went on.

These sorts of language is unbecoming of a prime minister of a country. However, Mr. Hun Sen’s un-diplomatic outbursts and antics were borne out of his anger and frustration with the Thai objection of his scheduled visit to Cambodia’s Ta Moan Thom temple on 8th February. He feel humiliated that, as a prime minister of a sovereign country, he needs to ask a permission from a foreign country to visit his country’s temple. His frustration and humiliation led to these sorts of uncalled-for outbursts.

It is very diplomatic of Abhisit to keep his cool not to retaliate. On the surface, he did not retaliate in words, not because he didn’t want to, but because, deep down, he has a hidden motive to advance Thailand’s border agenda. This rationale is made based on the subsequent Thai military manoeuvres afterward. After Mr. Hun Sen’s antics, Mr. Abhisit stealthily ordered large deployments of Thai troops, numbering to 8000, according to some estimates, into the border areas in a provocation attempt to stir up Mr. Hun Sen into a real fire fight which Mr. Abhisit hopes to deliver a knock out military punch of Mr. Hun Sen in the same way Mr. Hun Sen landed him a verbal knock out punch.

In this dispute, due to military in-equilibrium, Mr. Hun Sen, with an unmatched military power to a Thai military might, has to resort to personal verbal antics and outbursts to fight back against the Thai bully and invasion.

Mr. Hun Sen’s vitriolic tirades against Mr. Abhisit serve no purpose for the Cambodian cause and will undoubtedly reflect on his already-tarnished personal integrity and gangster-like image. He risked becoming an international pariah in the eyes of the international community if he continues these sorts of uncivilised outbursts against the head of government of another country.

I am neither proud nor am I an apologist of Mr. Hun Sen’s un-diplomatic and obscene tirades against a head of government of a neighbouring country, but I can understand his anger and frustration. While I am indifferent to his crude styles, I, however, am particularly concerned about the international ramification of his obnoxious and unacceptable un-statesmanlike behaviours have on Cambodia and the Cambodian people generally.

While I abhor Mr. Hun Sen’s latest un-diplomatic language and his antics against Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, I unequivocally deplore the Thai bully and stand over tactics vis-à-vis Cambodia over border issues. The Thai bully and hegemonic ambition was the root cause of the present recurring Khmer-Thai border conflicts and Mr. Hun Sen’s latest rage.

The Thai blatant aggression, conducted with hegemonic and expansionist motives, can only be viewed with contempt. If Thailand is insatiable with the annexation of more than 10 Khmer provinces in the past, then Thailand, and Abhisit for that matter, will never cease their drives for more annexations of Khmer territories at present and into the future. Thailand’s insatiable appetite for the conquer of Cambodian territories is the root cause of all conflicts in the past and present between these two nations. The Thai bully and its hegemonic ambition of expansionism will always be an obstacle and a hurdle to a peaceful and good neighbourly co-existence between the two nations. Only when Thailand gives up its hegemony and expansionist motives toward Cambodia, can a peaceful and good neighbourly co-existence between the two neighbours be realised and achieved.