Thailand has imposed sweeping travel restrictions on individuals and vehicles heading into Cambodia, as diplomatic tensions between the neighbouring countries continue to escalate.
The ban, announced on Monday, applies to all land border crossings from several Thai provinces as well as foreign tourists attempting to fly from Thailand to the Cambodian resort town of Siem Reap. The Thai military said the measures “matched the current security situation”.
Relations between Thailand and Cambodia are now at their lowest point in more than a decade, following deadly armed clashes in May that left one Cambodian soldier dead. Since then, both sides have issued tit-for-tat punitive measures. Cambodia has banned a wide range of Thai imports, from agricultural produce and electricity to internet services and popular television dramas.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said the travel curbs were part of a broader strategy to crack down on criminal scam operations based in Cambodia, and included plans to suspend internet access used by Cambodian security agencies.
There will also be no flights for foreign tourists to Siem Reap from Thailand, Paetongtarn declared, echoing similar restrictions previously imposed on Myanmar over cross-border cyber scams.
Some exemptions to the travel ban may be allowed on humanitarian grounds, such as for medical patients or students, but will be decided by officials at individual checkpoints.
The dispute has sparked a political storm in Bangkok after a leaked phone conversation emerged between Paetongtarn and Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen. In the recording, Paetongtarn referred to Hun Sen as “uncle” and urged him to ignore a Thai military commander who, she said, “just wanted to look cool”.
Critics say the remarks undermined Thailand’s powerful military. Since the leak, one of Pheu Thai’s coalition partners has withdrawn from government, leaving Paetongtarn’s administration facing growing internal pressure.
The Thailand-Cambodia border conflict traces its roots back over a century, to the colonial-era demarcation drawn during France’s occupation of Cambodia.
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