Mounting tensions between Cambodia and Thailand over their overlapping border area surrounding the Preah Vihear temple could be used by those in power to unite Thais and lower Thailand's internal political temperature.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's ultimatum on Monday for Thai troops to immediately withdraw from the disputed temple area dealt a personal blow to Foreign Minister Sompong Amornvivat who was visiting Phnom Penh for talks with the Cambodian leader.
If there hadn't been a crackdown on anti-government demonstrators, Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat and his deputy Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who has already resigned, would have led the Thai delegation to Cambodia in place of Mr Sompong.
On Oct 9, Gen Chavalit, who has done many favours for Mr Hun Sen and other Cambodian leaders in the past, said he had already discussed on the phone solutions to the border disputes with the Cambodian prime minister.
"I spoke to both Hun Sen and Gen Tea Banh, the defence minister, that we'd better forget all the issues, turn back the clock to July 15 and start it all over again," Gen Chavalit said.
He apparently wished to see both sides return to the point where Thai troops had not approached the Preah Vihear temple and the adjacent 4.6 sq km overlapping area. That implied the withdrawal of Thai troops from the area.
"I have made all the arrangements and we are only waiting for Prime Minister Somchai to strike a deal with them," Gen Chavalit said. All the arrangements collapsed when he resigned from his post following the Oct 7 crackdown on unarmed demonstrators.
"Cambodia may be trying to raise the stakes on the issue for international backing as it has repeatedly tried to advance its claim on the border area," said Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd, the Thai Army spokesman.
The government's fatal crackdown on demonstrators on Oct 7 has intensified calls for Army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda to intervene and bring down the Somchai administration.
But the calls have made Gen Anupong uncomfortable as he realises that post-coup issues would be too heavy for him to deal with, not to mention the risks involved in trying to overthrow an elected government.
In response to Mr Hun Sen's ultimatum, Gen Anupong and the other Armed Forces chiefs held an urgent meeting with Supreme Commander Songkitti Chakkabatr yesterday.
They resolved not to pull out Thai troops from the overlapping area in Thailand's northeastern province of Si Sa Ket, and plan more troop deployments there to protect the country's sovereignty.
A war with Cambodia would encourage Thais to turn away from internal divisions and unite them to fight the external enemy. But the threat that the Thai government may be left to fight on two fronts simultaneously, Cambodia and the PAD supporters, cannot be ruled out either.
source bangkok post
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