From conflict to shared prosperity

THAI-CAMBODIAN TIES

- DAVID JAY GREEN

A file photo dated June 1, 2015, shows brisk cross-border trade between Thailand and Cambodia, before fighting erupted in 2025. BLOOMBERG

(BLOOMBERG)

The news from the front line, the border between Cambodia and Thailand, has a depressing familiarity. Another ceasefire is agreed upon, but it is accompanied by hostile statements from officials of both governments, and, in the past, such statements have led to aggressive action by one or both military forces. This opens the door to armed combat. People are killed or injured, property and infrastructure damaged, and people's livelihoods disrupted. We need to break this cycle; we need real peace.

Formally, the fighting is over which country owns what territory at their border. There has been a focus on who controls the ancient ruins, such as Prasat Preah Vihear. This Unesco World Heritage site is one of several Khmer Hindu ruins that lie in or near the disputed border between Cambodia and Thailand. Anyone who has visited Angkor Wat, Cambodia's world-famous 12th-century Hindu temple, or Thailand's equally spectacular ancient capital of Ayutthaya, can appreciate the potential of the disputed ruins.

If peace were established and the sites were properly developed, expanded tourism would provide greater employment opportunities and income for the surrounding communities.