I am ready to fight the Thais. All we wait for is an order from Prime Minister Hun Sen…We don’t want war – we want peace and development. But we need tourists, and while the Thais do this, the tourists do not come…Thais already have their own problems in their south…Why do they want an extra problem?
- Nhem En, a Cambodian People’s Party commune leader who is described as a “[f]ormer photographer at the Khmer Rouge’s infamous Toul Sleng torture centre”. He is quoted in Bronwyn Sloan, “Khmer Rouge veterans ‘ready to fight Thailand’”, The Bangkok Post, 28 July 2008.
As Erik Davis helpfully pointed out last time I mentioned “Khmer Rouge” fighters along the border — “it would be nice to see more precision on this”. Unfortunately I am not in a position to offer any extra details on the deployment of Khmer Rouge fighters. But I would, nonetheless, like to make two quick observations.
The first is that it is worth bearing in mind that not every former Khmer Rouge fighter is as old or worn-out as the label may imply. There are former combatants who are now in their thirties (and, perhaps, even younger). The widespread use of very young soldiers by the Khmer Rouge ensures that the teenagers of the 1980s and 1990s may still be fit (to fight?).
The second observation draws directly on the quoted text. It struck me that the comments attributed to Nhem En could have come straight out of Burma. The invocation of higher political authority, the aspiration towards “peace and development”, the desire for more tourists, the idle threat to outsiders…
It is all strangely familiar.
With a new foreign minister taking charge on the Thai side the hope is, of course, that a peaceful settlement can now be reached, and soon. But while the rhetoric stays this heated I guess nothing is totally out of the question…
8 responses so far ↓
1 Kulap // Jul 29, 2008 at 10:36 am
Nicholas–
Assuming this is the one that took all the famous head shots, that photographer is pretty well known. He was ten years old when he joined (for lack of a better term) the Khmer Rouge. They sent him to China to learn basic photography. He would still have been a young teenager when he did the photos, but I don’t think he was a soldier before that.
This was a rare article to note that Hun Sen defected from the Khmer Rouge. Typical, though peculiar, is that it doesn’t mention that Khmer Rouge troops, with Thai help, fought Hun Sen’s for more than ten years. Most of that time, he had the help of Vietnamese troops. (The NYT’s Seth Mydans seems to do a Khmer Rouge story about once a month–it’s his only Cambodia story–but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him mention the civil war or Vietnamese occupation.) A lot of these people in Anlong Veng must have relatives that were killed or wounded during that war. Seems to me that it’s newsworthy that they now appear to support the CPP so strongly.
2 Sidh S. // Jul 30, 2008 at 12:15 am
Finally the PPP call in the professionals to clean up the mess they caused. We had an amateur diplomat in Noppodol who was there solely because he is a PMThaksin’s ardent loyalist – and most probably only did his master’s bidding… (was it worth it I wonder, I heard a Hua-hin vendor refused to sell him congee – well, he can always eat in the hotels…)
It may be prove to be just another business transaction for PMThaksin, much like the one he pulled off with the Burmese Junta through EXIM bank (extended billions of Thai tax-payers money in loans for the Burmese to do business with ShinCorp – a case to be tried in the courts) – if we can find out who is the rumoured major investor in Cambodia’s Koh Kong island. It has all his “win-win” (for his businesses) trademark. PMHunsen gets Khao Phra Vihear listed and, in the ensuing event, turns a potential crisis into an election victory – and to add icing to the cake, according to Nicholas’ report, Cambodian unity. It is rumoured PMThaksin beat other potential investors to the Koh Kong contract…
If that is true, I think many Thais might prefer him in a Thai jail than pulling off deals along the Thai border while pulling the strings inside the Thai cabinet. At least, I hear that FMTej Bunnag is his own man (one actually prefered over PMThaksin’s proposal, a former ambassador to England) – so further business transactions through the foriegn ministry could be on hold…
3 manning sawwinner // Jul 30, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Rest easy, my Khmer friends, we Thais are not going to engage you in a fight. We love you as fellow human beings. As to former PM Thaksin, it is unfair to accuse him of any unproven wrongdoing. Any rumour that is negative about Mr. Thaksin seems to gain currency fast. Let’s be fair to him a little. I would like to stress again: we all are fellow human beings.
4 stima // Jul 30, 2008 at 7:56 pm
OH man! what a headache!
Come on, Thaksin is a billionaire, without the two billion dollar he is still a millionaire…. in addition to being a former PRIME MINISTER of thailand,,,,,
Then call him a traiter… for exchange his own country territories for bussiness… way unbelievable…. !
5 Sidh S. // Jul 30, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Khun Manning, I admit that it is only my suspicion – but one that is grounded in past blatant self-serving actions (examples of EXIM Bank load to Burma and also the change of laws/regulations to maximize the profitable sale of ShinCorp – all with enough evidences and grounds to be tried in court). The thing is, I can’t bring myself to believe that FMNoppodol and the whole Samak cabinet are not aware KhaoPhraVihear is a highly contentious issue – especially with the nationalist PAD protest country-wide. Various state agencies and academics have long adviced a joint listing. The process was carried out covertly without any wider participation – which in the end, has proven to be illegal…
It’s just too fishy not to be profitable for PMThaksin, the puppet master. It is likely that his prior meeting with PMHunsen was to discuss the deal – and the support of the Thai government (only cabinet in this case) for the listing was likely part of it. And most rumours concerning PMThaksin’s corruption and conflicts of interest through the years have proven to be true.
Frankly, I hope to be proven wrong rather than right – but PMThaksin is just… PMThaksin… and rather predictable (Maybe his soothsayer advised that Khao Phra Vihear must be listed for his ‘luck’ to improve? And this is complemented by countrywide merit making tours including to 1,000 monks at Dhammakaya on his birthday?)
Unless, ofcourse, you buy Khun Stima’s argument above that a billionaire like PMThaksin will not corrupt? One I haven’t heard since 2002…
6 manning sawwinner // Jul 31, 2008 at 6:14 pm
My dear Sidh S: There you go again with your occult rambling!
7 Sidh S. // Jul 31, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Khun Manning – a very old suspicion now proven and convicted by the court of law. No “occult rambling” here, only justice being served:
ฟ้าผ่า!ตระกูลชินวัตร สั่งจำคุก ‘พจมาน’ 3 ปี [31 ก.ค. 51 - 10:59] in:
http://www.thairath.co.th/onlineheadnews.html?id=98932
I welcome your comments/analysis on the case (and the long line of cases pending).
8 manning sawwinner // Aug 1, 2008 at 1:32 pm
My dear Sidh S: Don’t get so excited. You know that any cases brought against Thaksin and/or his family in any of the Thai courts are foredoomed. The verdicts are predetermined even before the judges sit down to pretend to deliberate on the cases. What Thaksin and his family should do is to seek refuge in another country while there is time to do so.
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