Hun Sen, President of the Cambodian Senate, on 8 October reposted on Facebook a commentary by Thai political scholar Surachart Bamrunsuk. The article criticizes the Thai government for instrumentalizing the Cambodia–Thailand dispute in its domestic political mobilization, and warns that persisting with verbal attacks in place of diplomatic negotiation could damage the country's international image.
Hun Sen said that, after going through the article, he informally translated it into Khmer in order to share it with people in both Cambodia and Thailand and let them think and judge for themselves. He stressed that he would not offer additional comments on its content.
Surachart has long studied national security, military strategy and international relations. In the article, he points out that the electoral victory of Thailand's Bhumjaithai Party was driven mainly by local political forces and networks of political families, with nationalist sentiment serving only as an additional boost rather than a decisive factor.
The article also criticizes the stance of the Thai Prime Minister and the Thai Foreign Minister on Cambodia, arguing that the Thai side has not shown sufficient willingness to resolve the dispute through negotiation and has instead pursued what amounts to "market-style diplomacy," dominated by criticism and attack.
Surachart warned that if Thailand continues to drag its domestic political struggles into the diplomatic arena and use nationalism to rally support, it will not only fail to resolve practical problems but may also deepen the international community's negative impression that Bangkok is threatening Cambodia's security and encroaching on Cambodian territory, leaving Thailand in an unfavorable position in global opinion.