Cambodia's Hun Sen Threatens Ban on Thai Goods

Cambodia’s former prime minister Hun Sen has called for citizens to boycott Thai goods if Thailand continues to close checkpoints to the country, according to a Bangkok Post report on Friday.

In a Facebook message, Hun Sen – now the head of the Senate but still the country’s most influential powerbroker, despite his son Hun Manet taking over as PM – said he would ask the government to impose a ban if Bangkok insists on keeping the checkpoints shut (and hurting their economy).

Thailand has shortened working hours at checkpoints and closed some passes in a bid to force Phnom Penh to force its soldiers back from the frontier.

Hun Sen asked Cambodians not to target the Thai embassy, Thai companies or Thai people in Cambodia, saying the border flare-up stemmed from “a habit of the Thai government that it can’t control the army like our country.”

These actions stem from a desire by Hun Sen to clarify the status of parts of the two countries’ 817km border that are still subject to dispute and yet to be formally demarcated, some of which have ancient temples dating back to eras when Khmers controlled larger territory.

A large number of troops from both sides massed near the Chong Bok area in Ubon Ratchathani province near Thailand’s northeastern border with Cambodia and Laos last weekend, but leaders on both sides have been careful to try to prevent conflict and nationalist sentiment from getting out of hand.

In January 2003, thousands of Cambodian “students” set fire to the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh and rioted in the city after it was alleged that a Thai actress suggested Cambodia’s ancient temple, Angkor Wat, belonged to Thailand.

There has also been a long territorial conflict between the two countries over Preah Vihear Temple and its adjacent area, which flared in 2008. Politicians on both sides have been accused of fanning these issues for short or longer-term motives.

Read the full report: The Bangkok Post.