The border clash was deliberately provoked by the Thai Patriot Network

Villagers are evacuated from the border near the Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, some 500 km northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Feb. 5, 2011.[Xinhua]

Thai domestic turmoil behind border clash

February 9, 2011
By John Sexton
China.org.cn

At least eight Cambodians and two Thais have died in four days of border clashes around the ruins of an 11th century Hindu temple. Thailand contests a 1962 World Court ruling that the Preah Vihear site is on Cambodian territory. But the recent flare-up has more to do with Thailand's polarized domestic politics than disputed territory.

The border clash was deliberately provoked by the Thai Patriot Network (TPN), a splinter group from the extreme right wing People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). Mass mobilizations by the mainly middle-class Yellow Shirts of the PAD have overthrown two governments in the last 5 years.

In December, seven TPN supporters, including an MP from Thailand's ruling Democratic Party, were arrested after walking into Cambodian territory. A Phnom Penh court later jailed TPN leader Veera Somkwamit and his secretary for spying, but released the other five. The Yellow Shirts and their allies from the TPN and the Santi Asoke Buddhist sect brought their supporters back onto the streets of Bangkok to demand a tough response from the Thai government.

The rightists aim to derail elections that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva promised to call before the end of 2011. Abhisit made the promise after using the army to disperse demonstrators from Thailand's Red Shirt opposition, the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), who had demanded immediate elections. Nearly 100 protesters were killed last May, including UDD security chief Khattiya Sawasdiphol who was shot in the head by a sniper while being interviewed by the New York Times.