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The Growing Toxicity of Thai-Cambodia Netizen Relations
www.khaosodenglish.com
The decision by Thai-owned Miss Grand International Competition to suddenly move the site of its contest from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to Bangkok, Thailand, with MGI big boss Mr Nawat Itsaragrisil citing substandard treatment by the Cambodian host deepens the existing bad blood between some Thais and Cambodians.
Nawat may have repeatedly stated that this is not about a feud between Thailand and Cambodia but the reality is that the relations between people to people, on some online platforms, have become toxic.
Some Cambodians accused Nawat and Thailand of lying, of tricking Cambodia into losing face and some Thai netizens felt the Cambodian counterpart were simply not committed to keep their words.
I am not going to get into the he-said-she-said feud here, both sides seem to have their own claims and counter claims. What’s more disturbing is the simmering hatred between some netizens of the two neighbouring countries.
Cambodians feel they are an older civilization and what is today known as Thailand not only copied and steal many cultural aspects from them and claim they are Thais, but also repeatedly invaded them and dominated them in the past. Thais (or Siamese as we are known back then) are portrayed and the villain who attacked Angkor and during the reign of Rama IV, the Thai King even ordered Angkor Wat to be disassemble it and have it moved to Bangkok only to discover that it was an impossible task back then.
Then there was the Thai support of the Khmer Rouge (in order to keep the communist Vietnamese at bay during the Cold War) and the burning of a part of the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh in 2003 after Cambodians fell for a widespread rumour that a well-known Thai actress has reportedly said Angkor Wat belongs to Thailand. Oh, and not to forget the legal and military fights for Preah Vihear Temple just 13 years ago, in 2011.
Basically, not a few Cambodians hate us, feel that we copy, steal, lie and invaded repeatedly and today, parts of Khmer-speaking northeastern were taken from them.
On the Thai side, Thai cultural supremacists believe the current lot of Cambodians had little to do with the great Angkor Empire which was lost into the jungle until the French rediscovered it during the colonial time.
Some Thais look down on Cambodia as underdeveloped, as a lackey of China, (wrongly) insist it’s common for people there to eat dogs – and that actually Thai culture, which partly evolved from Angkorian influence as improved upon the ancient Khmer culture to the point where it has been re-exported back to Cambodia and copied by Cambodians. While some ultra-nationalist Cambodians call Thailand “Lieland”, Thai cultural chauvinists and ultra-nationalists call Cambodia “Claimbodia”.
The toxic online exchanges between these Thais and Cambodians have been going on for years now and these hate speech and devaluing exchanges are leaving a very toxic digital footprint that could exacerbate the mutual animosity between the a good number of people between our two countries.
As a Thai, I feel ashamed the some of my fellow citizens falling lower and lower into hatred. Concerned Thais will have to recognize that this is a big problem facing Thai society, a time bomb waiting to explode.
Some my say these are just loonies, a minorities from two neighbouring countries and do not affect the G-to-G relations between the two government that will celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations next year, 2025. I say the mistrust is feeling of animosity is deeper than that and slowly spreading.
For example, earlier this week, a joint statement between the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) and the Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) were released saying they are “highly concerned” about the MGI incident. “We are worried that the unexpected situation my escalate into a wider conflict.”
Both organizations called for the media to report the incident with care and for social media users to “exercise discretion when receiving information about the disputes”.
Truth be told, the Miss Grand International feud is just the tip of a toxic iceberg that’s years in the making.
A few days before the MGI issue flares up, I watched an online report on one conservative Thai media (Top News Online, if you need to know), reporting that Thailand was among the 10 friendliest cities in the world 2024, according a survey by Con de Nast Traveller. The news clip started with a photo of Phnom Penh, with a caption and narration saying, “No sign of the Miracle Land”, a reference to Phnom Penh. This was totally uncalled and suggests the problem is much deeper and older than the MGI saga.
It’s time for the governments and the people of both countries to think about what to do instead of allowing the poisonous situations to destroy the relations between the people of the two countries.
www.khaosodenglish.com
The decision by Thai-owned Miss Grand International Competition to suddenly move the site of its contest from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to Bangkok, Thailand, with MGI big boss Mr Nawat Itsaragrisil citing substandard treatment by the Cambodian host deepens the existing bad blood between some Thais and Cambodians.
Nawat may have repeatedly stated that this is not about a feud between Thailand and Cambodia but the reality is that the relations between people to people, on some online platforms, have become toxic.
Some Cambodians accused Nawat and Thailand of lying, of tricking Cambodia into losing face and some Thai netizens felt the Cambodian counterpart were simply not committed to keep their words.
I am not going to get into the he-said-she-said feud here, both sides seem to have their own claims and counter claims. What’s more disturbing is the simmering hatred between some netizens of the two neighbouring countries.
Cambodians feel they are an older civilization and what is today known as Thailand not only copied and steal many cultural aspects from them and claim they are Thais, but also repeatedly invaded them and dominated them in the past. Thais (or Siamese as we are known back then) are portrayed and the villain who attacked Angkor and during the reign of Rama IV, the Thai King even ordered Angkor Wat to be disassemble it and have it moved to Bangkok only to discover that it was an impossible task back then.
Then there was the Thai support of the Khmer Rouge (in order to keep the communist Vietnamese at bay during the Cold War) and the burning of a part of the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh in 2003 after Cambodians fell for a widespread rumour that a well-known Thai actress has reportedly said Angkor Wat belongs to Thailand. Oh, and not to forget the legal and military fights for Preah Vihear Temple just 13 years ago, in 2011.
Basically, not a few Cambodians hate us, feel that we copy, steal, lie and invaded repeatedly and today, parts of Khmer-speaking northeastern were taken from them.
On the Thai side, Thai cultural supremacists believe the current lot of Cambodians had little to do with the great Angkor Empire which was lost into the jungle until the French rediscovered it during the colonial time.
Some Thais look down on Cambodia as underdeveloped, as a lackey of China, (wrongly) insist it’s common for people there to eat dogs – and that actually Thai culture, which partly evolved from Angkorian influence as improved upon the ancient Khmer culture to the point where it has been re-exported back to Cambodia and copied by Cambodians. While some ultra-nationalist Cambodians call Thailand “Lieland”, Thai cultural chauvinists and ultra-nationalists call Cambodia “Claimbodia”.
The toxic online exchanges between these Thais and Cambodians have been going on for years now and these hate speech and devaluing exchanges are leaving a very toxic digital footprint that could exacerbate the mutual animosity between the a good number of people between our two countries.
As a Thai, I feel ashamed the some of my fellow citizens falling lower and lower into hatred. Concerned Thais will have to recognize that this is a big problem facing Thai society, a time bomb waiting to explode.
Some my say these are just loonies, a minorities from two neighbouring countries and do not affect the G-to-G relations between the two government that will celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations next year, 2025. I say the mistrust is feeling of animosity is deeper than that and slowly spreading.
For example, earlier this week, a joint statement between the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) and the Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) were released saying they are “highly concerned” about the MGI incident. “We are worried that the unexpected situation my escalate into a wider conflict.”
Both organizations called for the media to report the incident with care and for social media users to “exercise discretion when receiving information about the disputes”.
Truth be told, the Miss Grand International feud is just the tip of a toxic iceberg that’s years in the making.
A few days before the MGI issue flares up, I watched an online report on one conservative Thai media (Top News Online, if you need to know), reporting that Thailand was among the 10 friendliest cities in the world 2024, according a survey by Con de Nast Traveller. The news clip started with a photo of Phnom Penh, with a caption and narration saying, “No sign of the Miracle Land”, a reference to Phnom Penh. This was totally uncalled and suggests the problem is much deeper and older than the MGI saga.
It’s time for the governments and the people of both countries to think about what to do instead of allowing the poisonous situations to destroy the relations between the people of the two countries.
