Op-Ed By Khmerization
26th January, 2011
Groups of Thai ultra-nationalists have stepped up their pressures on the Thai government with big rallies around the country to force it to take a tough stance against Cambodia over border dispute that could degenerate and trigger into a larger military conflict. The Thai government, to a certain degree, has one way or the other tried to exploit the nationalistic fervour for its own political gains and to pacify the Thai ultra-nationalists by stepping up its war rhetoric against Cambodia, with PM Abhisit Vejjajiva giving an approval for a provocative military drill near the contentious temple of Preah Vihear.
Mr. Abhisit's belligerency and gamesmanship is a very dangerous provocation that could lead to irreparable damage to recently-acquired good relations with Cambodia and cause long-term ramifications. Thailand's war of words, coupled with misguided and blind nationalism bred by various Thai ultra-nationalist groups, has done nothing to calm down the already heightened border tensions. Mr. Abhisit seemed to have reversed the hard-earned trust and reverted to his bellicose attitude which is a recipe for renewed tensions and inevitable armed conflict.
Cambodia is a small and weak neighbour. It has to put up with the Thai bully for centuries. Cambodia's patience has its limits. It can only take so much insults and bullies. The Thai bully will surely turn Cambodia into a cornered dog. A cornered dog, win or lose, will fight back because it has nowhere to run.
For a peaceful and good neigbourly co-existence, Thailand must treat Cambodia with respect. Thailand must realise that it has to co-exist with Cambodia forever. Today, Thailand is big and strong. A century later, it might be small and weak. And that's when Thailand will feel the pain of insults and humiliations from its stronger neighbours.
One would hope that the Thai leaders from both sides of politics will realise that they cannot continue to exploit Thai ultra-nationalism, stoked by extremist groups within the Thai society with the aim of creating conflict with Cambodia. Don't turn Cambodia into a cornered dog because Mr. Hun Sen has said that he will not let Thailand live in peace if Thailand invaded Cambodia. "Even an ant will not let the elephant sleep in peace", Mr. Hun Sen said in reference to Cambodia's determination to fight back if Thailand ever invaded Cambodia. And below are some of the vitriolic rhetoric and determinations expressed by some angry Cambodians:
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Anonymous said...
If Cambodia allowed itself to be bullied by its neighbors, they will always bully Cambodia. The area is Cambodian territory, therefore Cambodia can do whatever it wants. Thailand can't just go around and say the area is disputed wherever Thailand wants to claim the land as its territory. Go to check the 1908 map agreed by Siam (Thailand) and France- the Cambodian colonial master at that time. Cambodia should send a strong message to Thailand that any Thai military bully or attacks will be met with fierce and swift retaliation.
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Anonymous said...
Thailand is fully aware of the violation, however, she could not careless of another nation's sovereignty, especially of Cambodia. The PAD (people's alliance for democracy) want the Thai government to mobilize the troops to attack Cambodia on every little unresolved issue. Obviously, PAD and Thailand are not interested in solving the problem in a civilized and peaceful diplomatic mean. Thailand wants to solve border issue with Cambodia by flexing her military muscles. This is predictable of Thailand. Thailand is drumming up for war. The childish and irresponsible behavior by Thailand is creating regional instability. She feels that a lot of the problems will be solved with Cambodia if it threatened Cambodia with war. By provoking or attacking Cambodia, Thailand hope to please the PAD, unite Thais, and maybe Cambodia might give in. Cambodia has been bullied by Thailand long enough, Cambodia cannot afford to ignore another threat from Thailand. So it would be in the best interest for Cambodia to defend her territorial sovereignty at any cost.
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26 January 2011
Anonymous said...
Thailand have never felt how war was like. We Cambodians have been there. Let the Thai taste the war if she wanted it. I am not in favor of war, but I can see Thai want war and we Khmer should prepare for it. Cambodia has now been equipped with hi-tech weapons from China, SAM (surface-to-air missiles), Missiles...you name it. The first time Thais invaded the area (on 15th July 2008) was easy for them because we have never prepared for war and Cambodia doesn't want any more war, so she kept all of her weapons in the military warehouses. NOW WEAPONS ARE ALREADY LOCKED IN AND LOADED AND OUT AGAIN. Flexing muscles doesn't mean anything, full scale combat does mean something, like Khmers did after the first fighting (on 15th October, 2008) Khmer troops took all the area back.
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Anonymous said...
Cambodia should stop negotiating with the dirty, greedy, and dishonest Thai government about the land around Preah Vihear temple. Enough is enough! Please, Samdech Hun Sen, take the Thai government to the world court to resolve this so called disputed area 4.60 square kilometers. The greedy Thai government and Thai people never satisfy their hunger to stealing Khmer territories! I hate Thai government and Thai people. I appeal to all Khmer people to stop buying Thai products.
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26 January 2011
Anonymous Singapore_Lion said...
Let Thailand attack first, they will get every civilized country against them and will have to retreat miserably. China will support Cambodia just as most of the ASEAN countries since Cambodia is acting peacefully and being bullied around by Thailand. France, the UK and most of the EU will also support us, just as Russia and the USA. Thailand will lose big and will appear as an aggressor and an invader. Diplomatically, it's the worst move ever for them, especially since they managed to secure Western support in the past decades. China is the major power in the region nowadays. They are getting closer and closer to Cambodia and will not let Thailand go away with an invasion if such a thing happened. The Thais might believe they will easily win but that's forgetting they would get the whole world against them!
26th January, 2011
Groups of Thai ultra-nationalists have stepped up their pressures on the Thai government with big rallies around the country to force it to take a tough stance against Cambodia over border dispute that could degenerate and trigger into a larger military conflict. The Thai government, to a certain degree, has one way or the other tried to exploit the nationalistic fervour for its own political gains and to pacify the Thai ultra-nationalists by stepping up its war rhetoric against Cambodia, with PM Abhisit Vejjajiva giving an approval for a provocative military drill near the contentious temple of Preah Vihear.
Mr. Abhisit's belligerency and gamesmanship is a very dangerous provocation that could lead to irreparable damage to recently-acquired good relations with Cambodia and cause long-term ramifications. Thailand's war of words, coupled with misguided and blind nationalism bred by various Thai ultra-nationalist groups, has done nothing to calm down the already heightened border tensions. Mr. Abhisit seemed to have reversed the hard-earned trust and reverted to his bellicose attitude which is a recipe for renewed tensions and inevitable armed conflict.
Cambodia is a small and weak neighbour. It has to put up with the Thai bully for centuries. Cambodia's patience has its limits. It can only take so much insults and bullies. The Thai bully will surely turn Cambodia into a cornered dog. A cornered dog, win or lose, will fight back because it has nowhere to run.
For a peaceful and good neigbourly co-existence, Thailand must treat Cambodia with respect. Thailand must realise that it has to co-exist with Cambodia forever. Today, Thailand is big and strong. A century later, it might be small and weak. And that's when Thailand will feel the pain of insults and humiliations from its stronger neighbours.
One would hope that the Thai leaders from both sides of politics will realise that they cannot continue to exploit Thai ultra-nationalism, stoked by extremist groups within the Thai society with the aim of creating conflict with Cambodia. Don't turn Cambodia into a cornered dog because Mr. Hun Sen has said that he will not let Thailand live in peace if Thailand invaded Cambodia. "Even an ant will not let the elephant sleep in peace", Mr. Hun Sen said in reference to Cambodia's determination to fight back if Thailand ever invaded Cambodia. And below are some of the vitriolic rhetoric and determinations expressed by some angry Cambodians:
----------------------
Anonymous said...
If Cambodia allowed itself to be bullied by its neighbors, they will always bully Cambodia. The area is Cambodian territory, therefore Cambodia can do whatever it wants. Thailand can't just go around and say the area is disputed wherever Thailand wants to claim the land as its territory. Go to check the 1908 map agreed by Siam (Thailand) and France- the Cambodian colonial master at that time. Cambodia should send a strong message to Thailand that any Thai military bully or attacks will be met with fierce and swift retaliation.
--------------------------------------
Anonymous said...
Thailand is fully aware of the violation, however, she could not careless of another nation's sovereignty, especially of Cambodia. The PAD (people's alliance for democracy) want the Thai government to mobilize the troops to attack Cambodia on every little unresolved issue. Obviously, PAD and Thailand are not interested in solving the problem in a civilized and peaceful diplomatic mean. Thailand wants to solve border issue with Cambodia by flexing her military muscles. This is predictable of Thailand. Thailand is drumming up for war. The childish and irresponsible behavior by Thailand is creating regional instability. She feels that a lot of the problems will be solved with Cambodia if it threatened Cambodia with war. By provoking or attacking Cambodia, Thailand hope to please the PAD, unite Thais, and maybe Cambodia might give in. Cambodia has been bullied by Thailand long enough, Cambodia cannot afford to ignore another threat from Thailand. So it would be in the best interest for Cambodia to defend her territorial sovereignty at any cost.
-----------------------------------
26 January 2011
Anonymous said...
Thailand have never felt how war was like. We Cambodians have been there. Let the Thai taste the war if she wanted it. I am not in favor of war, but I can see Thai want war and we Khmer should prepare for it. Cambodia has now been equipped with hi-tech weapons from China, SAM (surface-to-air missiles), Missiles...you name it. The first time Thais invaded the area (on 15th July 2008) was easy for them because we have never prepared for war and Cambodia doesn't want any more war, so she kept all of her weapons in the military warehouses. NOW WEAPONS ARE ALREADY LOCKED IN AND LOADED AND OUT AGAIN. Flexing muscles doesn't mean anything, full scale combat does mean something, like Khmers did after the first fighting (on 15th October, 2008) Khmer troops took all the area back.
--------------------------------------
Anonymous said...
Cambodia should stop negotiating with the dirty, greedy, and dishonest Thai government about the land around Preah Vihear temple. Enough is enough! Please, Samdech Hun Sen, take the Thai government to the world court to resolve this so called disputed area 4.60 square kilometers. The greedy Thai government and Thai people never satisfy their hunger to stealing Khmer territories! I hate Thai government and Thai people. I appeal to all Khmer people to stop buying Thai products.
----------------------------------
26 January 2011
Anonymous Singapore_Lion said...
Let Thailand attack first, they will get every civilized country against them and will have to retreat miserably. China will support Cambodia just as most of the ASEAN countries since Cambodia is acting peacefully and being bullied around by Thailand. France, the UK and most of the EU will also support us, just as Russia and the USA. Thailand will lose big and will appear as an aggressor and an invader. Diplomatically, it's the worst move ever for them, especially since they managed to secure Western support in the past decades. China is the major power in the region nowadays. They are getting closer and closer to Cambodia and will not let Thailand go away with an invasion if such a thing happened. The Thais might believe they will easily win but that's forgetting they would get the whole world against them!
2 comments:
Yes, I agree. Cambodia must be tough and not allow itself to be bullied by Thailand. Enough is enough! We must send a strong message to Thailand that we are prepared to fight to defend our territorial integrity at all cost. Preah Vihear area and Wat Keo Sekha Kirisvarak pagoda are Cambodian territories.
If we take into account of Thailand historical belligerene, we can see that Thailand always fine ways to have problems with the neighbors, whether, Malaysia, Burma, Laos, or Cambodia. When it comes to Cambodia, Thailand do not hesitate to mobilize troops to attack or invade over little issue. The main issue here is territory. Modern day Thailand territory is the success of centuries of off and on waring with Cambodia. Cambodia had lost so much of her territory because of this. Cambodia cannot be allowed to lose anymore territory. Cambodia attitude of peace and co-existence with Thailand is obviously unfruitful. Bigger and stronger Thailand views Cambodia as inferior nation. Nevertheless, Cambodia will not run anymore if Thailand want to cross that border with troops, tanks, or F-16. Cambodia will fight back at any cost necessary to push the invader out and maybe also taking the fight into the invader home. So Thailand needs to consider its action toward Cambodia very carefully.
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