From Cambodian cassava being blocked for sale in Thailand to a ban on Thai fuel flowing the other way, a border spat stoked by nationalists on both sides has left more than 1 million Cambodians working in Thailand exposed to a damaging fallout.
Over 5,000 Cambodian workers returned each day last week, fearing border closures and a growing nationalist enmity inside Thailand, Cambodian officials have said.
On Monday, Hun Manet, Cambodia’s prime minister and the scion of the Hun Sen dynasty, which has dominated the country for over three decades, visited a temporary camp at a border area pagoda in Preah Vihear province in support of returned migrant workers.
“Cambodia doesn’t want to see war break out because we’re used to swimming across it,” Hun Manet posted on his Facebook page. “But we can’t stand to be abused.”
The row began in late May after a Cambodian soldier was shot dead by Thai troops in a firefight that Bangkok said was triggered by an incursion on Thai soil – a claim denied by Cambodia.
Since then, leaders of the two countries have traded allegations, closed borders and stopped the flow of certain goods, while citizens in both nations urge boycotts and trade insults online.
