Opinion: Thailand-Cambodia, peace threatened by the spectre of conflict

Is Thailand seeking to provoke a war in order to obtain by force what it has failed to have recognised before international justice? The question is becoming increasingly acute as Bangkok steps up its military manoeuvres and provocations along the disputed border with Cambodia.

Thailand Lt Gen Boonsuya, Commander of the 1st Thai Army Zone

Yet international law has already ruled in Cambodia's favour in certain border areas. But it is precisely these areas that are subject to attacks, illegal incursions and worrying military deployments. Even after laborious peace processes, repeated hostile gestures and the stationing of troops along fragile border lines pose a serious threat to Cambodian sovereignty.

While the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United States are observing the situation as a momentary, isolated and almost controlled quarrel, it is becoming increasingly clear that this is no mere outburst of tension. This confrontation seems to be taking a turn for the worse.

We are entering a dangerous phase where the optimism of a slow but gradual path to peace could be extinguished. In its place, a spiral towards open confrontation threatens to emerge. A conflict from which there will be no winners or losers, only victims - the suffering people of Thailand and Cambodia - and potentially devastating regional and global repercussions.

- Youk ChhangDirector, Cambodia Documentation Centre