Hun Sen only hurting himself with his vitriol

December 19, 2009
The Nation

"No other Asean leader in the grouping's long history has ever called for the destruction of a neighbouring government. This is beyond everything we have experienced" - ASEAN expert

"... while Hun Sen has been criticising Thailand's "dictatorial" treatment of Thaksin, no one in Cambodia has dared to tell the Phnom Penh leader that his mad-dog diplomacy is way out of control"

Conflict between the two neighbours unlike anything Asean has seen

With their respective strategies already standing in stark contrast, Abhisit Vejjajiva and Hun Sen can only drift even farther apart in a diplomatic showdown unseen in the history of Asean.

Certainly, Hun Sen's latest swipes at the Bangkok government, which he practically cursed to burn in hell, will not help.

The Cambodian leader has crossed every line that existed. Starting with appointing a convicted Thai politician as his country's economic adviser, he then expelled a Thai diplomat and arrested another Thai citizen after apparently tapping their phones, taunted Abhisit on a daily basis, called for an uprising by the red shirts and claimed Thailand was set to breach Cambodian sovereignty in a bid to destroy Thaksin Shinawatra.

Abhisit, on the other hand, has not crossed a single line. The recall of the Thai ambassador was an appropriate response after Phnom Penh slapped Bangkok in the face with Thaksin's appointment. In the ensuing war of words, most of the salvos have been fired from Cambodia.

The latest attacks have confirmed Hun Sen's growing hatred. He suggested ties could never be normalised until the Democrat Party is out of power, followed by an unmistakable call for political upheaval in Thailand.

Asean has never experienced anything like it, and every day Hun Sen provides the regional grouping with a new test of its resolve not to get too close to the fray.

"The dispute is one thing, but the most important thing is that the incident not pose a risk to Asean solidarity," Tommy Koh, chairman of the grouping's task force, was quoted as saying by Xinhua News Agency.

He said Asean members had attempted to broker a resolution to the conflict.

"I've asked my colleagues how they would have felt if [a neighbouring country] had done to us what Hun Sen did to Thailand," said one Asean diplomat even before the Thai-Cambodian conflict deteriorated into a spy farce and relations sank to new lows.

An expert on Asean affairs said: "No other Asean leader in the grouping's long history has ever called for the destruction of a neighbouring government. This is beyond everything we have experienced."

The expert believes Thailand and Abhisit will continue to be on the defensive, not because there is nothing else they can do, but because Hun Sen seems to be hurting himself as much as the Thai government.

Speaking at a scholarship ceremony at the National Institute of Education in Phnom Penh on Wednesday, Hun Sen held forth on the diplomatic fallout that has followed in the wake of fugitive Thaksin's recent visits to Cambodia.

"I will wait to see the establishment of a new government in Thailand, so that they will send back their ambassador," Hun Sen said. "You accuse us of abusing the Thai justice system, but you forget to mention that you are invading Cambodian territory."

Hun Sen also defended the arrest of Sivarak Chutipong, a 31-year-old Thai engineer who received a prison sentence for leaking Thaksin's flight schedule to the Thai Embassy last month and was subsequently pardoned last week. He claimed that if Sivarak had not been arrested in time, "then for sure at this time, at this hour, Thaksin would be dead or jailed in a Thai prison".

One piece of irony is that, according to the Asean expert, while Hun Sen has been criticising Thailand's "dictatorial" treatment of Thaksin, no one in Cambodia has dared to tell the Phnom Penh leader that his mad-dog diplomacy is way out of control.

Except, that is, for usually unheeded opposition voices. Sam Rainsy Party spokesman Yim Sovann accused Hun Sen of playing political games in his dealings with Thailand and questioned the necessity of Thaksin's controversial appointment as a government economic adviser.

Yim Sovann also observed what should be obvious to Hun Sen: Thaksin has yet to give one single piece of economic advice to Cambodia.

The ousted Thai leader did speak to officials at the Council for the Development of Cambodia on Wednesday about tourism and foreign investment, but Yim Sovann said the ousted Thai leader's counsel had thus far not been particularly revelatory.

"I have ... noticed that what Thaksin advises the government of Cambodia is not different from what our Cambodian economic experts and what our MPs from the opposition party advise," he said.

Most observers are certain about one thing: it is not friendship that made Thaksin travel to Cambodia and give it economic advice or made Hun Sen stick his neck out for the Thai fugitive. This marriage is seemingly based purely on political and business interests, meaning it could turn sour at any time.

If that happens, Thaksin should be afraid. In fact, he should be very afraid.