Culmination of centuries of badly-twisted ties

July 24, 2025: The history of Thailand and Cambodia is not only stormy but also perverted.

Imperial and colonial conflicts led to everlasting territorial disputes. Then modern-day global politics further complicated bilateral relations, with the Khmer Rouge, Vietnamese invasion, refugees and etc put Thailand in a very awkward position, in other words lose-lose situation regardless of who Bangkok supported. Thailand returned the favour with the Shinawatras, who developed a strong bond with Cambodia’s political elites but finally became a government that unavoidably had conflict of interest when it came to their former hosts on the other side of the border.

The current military showdown has resulted from all of the above. Things went wrong throughout history, have gone more wrong recently and at this rate can go extremely wrong in the future because even attempts to rectify it will clash.