Expat’s Perspective in Cambodia: Florian Bohême, “Questioning Thai Democracy…”
- Chroniqueur
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Florian Bohême, after more than a decade in Cambodia—his second home—shares here an intimate and candid reflection on the border tensions shaking the region. Settled in Phnom Penh, a consular adviser and entrepreneur passionate about hospitality, the author observes the human tragedies: more than 200,000 displaced on each side, bombardments on sacred sites, and an escalation around the Preah Vihear temple that reopens historical wounds.
This crisis leads him to question the official Thai discourse about “giving voice to the people” in a country accustomed to coups d’état, even as Cambodia perseveres in its development despite the obstacles.
“So, a country that has more than 200,000 people displaced, that finds itself engaged—allegedly against its will—in a conflict on one of its borders, would have every opportunity to dissolve its Parliament and call general elections? A country that destroys, ‘by mistake,’ World Heritage-listed religious monuments—we remember Syria or Mali—would still find the time to ‘give voice back to the people,’ so they say.
Do not come and talk to me about democracy when that same country has experienced nearly twenty coups d’état in less than a hundred years. And yet, one would like to continue to make believe that the aggressor is the one on the other side. The one who also counts more than 200,000 displaced, the one who does not have an air force, the one who has no revenge to take except on himself in order to continue his development.
Cambodia has always accepted its fate. The Cambodians have always stood tall, even in their darkest hours. Always. In view of my public commitments, this message is probably not politically correct. But that is also the French spirit: to say what one thinks! We would also like our officials in Paris to do the same…
Everyone will have understood that I do not confuse political manipulations with the men and women who, whether in Cambodia or Thailand, are simply trying to live with dignity and peace. Choosing to emigrate, as I did more than ten years ago, also means accepting that a second nation becomes one’s own. That a second family is here, in Cambodia. Let it be said.