FIERCE RHETORIC
The leak could put that relationship in jeopardy and will add to speculation in Thailand that Paetongtarn and the powerful Thai military are at odds on how to respond to the border crisis with Cambodia.
Cambodia’s rhetoric has become fiercer in the past week, with Hun Sen blaming Thai “extremists” and the Thai army for stoking tensions, saying Paetongtarn’s government was “unable to control its military the way our country can”.
The billionaire Shinawatra family has a troubled history with the army, with two of its governments ousted by generals in coups in 2006 and 2014.
Lieutenant General Boonsin Padklang, commander of Thailand’s Second Army Area overseeing the eastern border, on Wednesday told local media that Paetongtarn had called him to explain the leak.
“I don’t have any issue, I understand,” Boonsin said.
The weeks-long standoff followed a brief border skirmish on May 28 that left a Cambodian soldier dead. Both countries have called for calm while vowing to defend their sovereignty over contested stretches of a 820km land border, parts of which are undemarcated.
Attempts to settle the issue have failed, with Cambodia on Sunday delivering on its vow to seek resolution at the International Court of Justice, the jurisdiction of which Thailand says it does not recognise.
On Wednesday, Cambodia’s defence ministry said Thailand had again violated its sovereignty with drone flights, trench digging and troop deployments, which Bangkok rejected.
Thousands of Cambodians joined a state-organised march in the capital Phnom Penh on Wednesday to support the government, shouting slogans, waving national flags and holding portraits of Hun Manet and Hun Sen.
“Cambodia’s land! We won’t take others’ land, we keep our land!” some chanted.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/cambodia-thailand-tensions-leaked-call-paetongtarn-hun-sen-5189911
