Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, Chairman of the Progressive Movement and former leader of the Future Forward Party, discussed the ongoing Thai-Cambodian border conflict during an interview on the “55 Years Nation Exclusive Talk: Breaking Through Thailand’s Crisis” programme on Friday. The discussion was moderated by three editors-in-chief from Nation Group.
Thanathorn explained that Cambodia’s strategy was to gain an advantage on the global stage through international courts and bodies such as the United Nations General Assembly or the Security Council.
“What Cambodia wants is to provoke violence. The Thai government and military must remain patient and avoid falling into their trap. If we do fall into it and conflict arises, leading to casualties, Cambodia will gain legitimacy on the world stage,” he said.
Thanathorn emphasised that while he was not concerned about the backroom dealings behind the conflict, he was far more worried about the public-facing actions. He stressed that the key issue was how the situation could be resolved and return to normal. He recommended using the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) to facilitate negotiations for a swift resolution.
“Here lies the real concern for me. It’s not the behind-the-scenes issues, but the public-facing ones, where a tough stance is being taken to resolve domestic political problems. What the country needs is to de-escalate tensions and engage in dialogue, so that Cambodia doesn’t have an excuse to take this to the international stage, where we would be at a disadvantage,” Thanathorn remarked.