Opinion: Weaponizing the Wounded: Exposing Thailand’s Strategic Lies

Opinion: Weaponizing the Wounded: Exposing Thailand’s Strategic Lies

Khmer Times | Once again, Thailand is recklessly playing with fire—deploying blame and deception as tools of aggression in a desperate bid to rewrite the truth on the Cambodia–Thailand border.

The recent landmine explosion that injured five more Thai soldiers near the Cambodia–Thailand frontier is now being cynically weaponized by Bangkok to escalate tensions, distort reality, and justify illegal actions in disputed territories. Thailand’s reaction—downgrading diplomatic ties with Cambodia—is not the conduct of a responsible neighbor. It is the behavior of a regime exploiting tragedy to conceal its own violations of international norms and strategic missteps.

Aggressor Playing Victim

There is no credible evidence—none—that Cambodia has planted any new landmines. Yet Thailand continues to perpetuate this manufactured falsehood to international audiences in a blatant disinformation campaign. Cambodia, unlike Thailand, is a proud signatory of the Ottawa Convention, and has destroyed over one million mines since the end of its civil war. Our government works transparently with international bodies such as the UN, ICRC, CMAC, and donor countries to rid our soil of these deadly legacies.

Thailand, by contrast, has refused transparency and accountability. It has offered no investigation, no forensic evidence, and no international collaboration—only loud accusations and unilateral escalation. When facts are inconvenient, fiction becomes their weapon of choice.

A Pattern of Provocation

Make no mistake: this is not an isolated episode. Thailand is now systematically weaponizing landmine injuries as political tools to justify unauthorized military and demining operations in clearly Cambodian territory. It is a deliberate strategy: infiltrate another country’s land, suffer the consequences of decades-old remnants of war—many laid by multiple actors, including Thailand—and then turn the injury into international outrage against Cambodia. This is not diplomacy. It is deception.

Worse still, Thailand’s moves are accompanied by coercive diplomatic blackmail—such as the expulsion of a Cambodian diplomat and the recalling of its own envoy. These are not signs of a country seeking truth or cooperation. These are tactics of provocation, designed to distract the public from Thailand’s own failures and to test Cambodia’s resolve.

Violating International Norms

Thailand’s unilateral demining activities in disputed zones, without bilateral agreement, represent a premeditated violation of Cambodia’s sovereignty and international law. These actions directly undermine the principles of peaceful resolution upheld by ASEAN and the broader international community.

If Thailand truly seeks peace and transparency and lasting solution on the borders disputes, why has it rejected Cambodia’s repeated calls for joint the International Court of Justice?

A Call to the International Community

Cambodia calls on the international community, particularly ASEAN partners and global mine action organizations, to see through this political theatre. The Thai military’s narrative is collapsing under the weight of its own contradictions. How can Cambodia be blamed for mines that were planted decades ago—many by Thai forces themselves—during a period of regional conflict?

We must ask the hard questions: Why is Thailand acting unilaterally in contested border regions? Why is Thailand using its injured soldiers as pawns in a geopolitical game? Why does Thailand continue to dodge international mechanisms for truth and accountability?

Silence in the face of this aggression will only embolden future violations—not just against Cambodia, but against the shared principles that govern peaceful relations between nations.

Cambodia remains firmly committed to peace, to sovereignty, and to regional stability. We will not be provoked into rash action—but we will not tolerate fabricated accusations, military encroachment, or violations of our territorial integrity.
Thailand’s dirty strategy will fail.

Truth, sovereignty, and justice remain firmly on Cambodia’s side—and no propaganda campaign, however loud, can bury that.

Roth Santepheap is a geopolitical analyst based in Phnom Penh. The views expressed are his own.