No face at all? On September 17th, as soon as Deng Xijun, the Chinese special envoy, returned home from the mediation of the Thai-Cambodian border, 300 Thai military police illegally crossed the border with weapons and anti-riot equipment, causing friction with 200 Cambodian citizens who gathered at the border to protest, resulting in 28 Cambodian citizens being injured.

Meanwhile, Thailand directly issued a 30-day ¡°customer-by-customer¡± order demanding that all ¡°non-military personnel¡±, including monks and civilians, be evacuated from the disputed area, otherwise Thailand would take further action, with guns almost in the head.

So, did China's mediation really fail? If Cambodia doesn't accept the "eviction order", does the war between Thailand and Cambodia really have to be fought?

The Holy Land becomes a showroom.

The superficial article of this conflict revolves around the 4.6 square kilometers of land around Preah Vihear Temple. The historical ownership of this land is unresolved, but now it has completely evolved from a thorny issue left over from history into a performance stage serving political purposes. The heavy weapons deployed by both sides have correspondingly become the most eye-catching props in this "armed performance".

At the beginning of July, the Thai Constitutional Court suspended former Prime Minister Petonthan's office, and domestic political turmoil resumed. For the military-backed Prime Minister Putin's government, the "show muscle" on the border, showing toughness to the outside, is undoubtedly a classic scenario for transferring domestic political crisis and consolidating power.

The show started when the Thai military began to set up barbed wire on a large scale in August. This continuous barbed wire is not so much an indestructible fortification as a "stage set". Its core function is "marking" rather than "defense", and it is a gesture performance to declare sovereignty, clearly drawing the boundary of the stage.

Next, a variety of "artifacts" appeared. Thailand's "Slang" wheeled armored vehicles with main battle tanks, Cambodia's multi-powered rocket artillery units, these heavy weapons deployment, their deterrent value and propaganda value far greater than the real war value.

However, the cost of this ¡°show¡± is terrible. Border trade is almost stagnant, with the total ratio dropping by more than 97% in the same period. Thailand¡¯s diesel and motorcycle accessories exports fell by more than 90%, and Cambodia¡¯s agricultural exports dropped by 70%. For illusory political capital, both countries suffered a real economic loss of blood, which is undoubtedly a kind of fire-burning.

Who cares about international rules?

When domestic political calculations are overwhelming, the mediation of international law, regional organizations and extraterritorial powers has become tools that can be selectively used or ignored. The existing international order is particularly fragile in this conflict, and the law has become a "buffet" where everyone can get what they need.

Cambodia, on the one hand, tightly grabbed the historic judgment of the International Court of Justice in 1962 to convict Berweijah and again applied to the International Court of Justice in June for arbitration on the four territories, while Thailand insisted that the 1907 treaty was fundamental and publicly stated that it did not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice over such territorial disputes.

Both sides have chosen only the legal basis in their favour, international law has lost its due fairness and binding power, and the regional coordination mechanism that has been entrusted to the high hopes has almost failed.

In July, under the mediation of the rotating presidency of Malaysia, the two sides once reached a ceasefire agreement, but the agreement failed, as Thailand's military operation in August was blurred. The ASEAN military observatory, which was originally scheduled to return to the border, was also forced to delay the trip. This undoubtedly exposes the lack of ASEAN coordination capabilities, the so-called regional security mechanisms have figured out.

The game between the great powers has provided more space for speculation in the conflict. The U.S. statement is merely ¡°strict attention¡±, this negative gesture is no different than a deliberate worsening of the situation. Russia has taken the opportunity to intervene and provide modern upgrade services for T-55 tanks to Cambodia, its commercial and geopolitical considerations are obvious.

China's mediation efforts are the most concrete and sincere. Special Envoy Deng Xijun met with Thai Deputy Defense Minister and other high-level officials in Bangkok, reiterated the importance of peaceful dialogue, and put forward constructive plans such as setting up a demilitarized zone and providing satellite remote sensing technology to support demarcation under the framework of Lanzhou-Mekong cooperation.

However, in response to this goodwill, Thailand quickly issued a 30-day "passenger order" after his departure, this almost undisguised rejection made Thailand's goodwill attitude seem unusually embarrassing.

Meanwhile, the bottom line of the conflict is also being pulled down.In September, the Cambodian Mining Operations Administration publicly accused Thailand of using international prohibited cluster ammunition in the conflict, although Thailand firmly denies this, but allegations of violating international humanitarian law as a weapon of public opinion warfare itself have made the nature of the dispute worse.

Human life should not be used as a bargaining chip

When the horns of conflict sound, the first to be sacrificed is always ordinary people. They are both the direct victims of suffering and the emotional fuel mobilized by the government for national emotions and political legitimacy.

More than 300,000 border residents have been forced into the whirlwind, leaving the country. Thailand has forcibly evacuated about 160,000 people from seven villages in the territory, while about 140,000 people have been displaced in the Cambodian province of Odom.

A Cambodian farmer faced the camera with a voice filled with powerlessness and sadness: ¡°We are like the bowls on the chessboard,¡± he said, speaking to the hearts of all those who were stranded. The rubber farmer on the other side of Thailand looked openly at the forests that were turned into banned areas, and the livelihoods were rooted.

The government¡¯s ¡°care¡± has also been strongly manipulated, with the Cambodian government providing approximately $125 a month to border residents, which is more like a humanitarian aid, more like a mobilization fund to maintain the ¡°front¡± morality.

Civilians were even pushed directly to the forefront of the conflict. In mid-September, about 200 Cambodian citizens and Buddhist monks were organized to try to dismantle the newly set up barbed wire fence in Sa Kaeo Province by the Thai military. They only had stones and slingshots in their hands, but they were faced with tear gas and rubber bullets from Thai riot police.

In the end, 28 Cambodian people were injured, including underage children, while five Thai soldiers were injured in the chaos, and one was even in danger of blindness. In a blink of an eye, these bloody pictures have become excellent materials for their respective domestic media to accuse each other of atrocities and incite national hatred.

conclusion

When the wailing of civilians, the tranquility of the land, and the dignity of the rules, are all relegated to pawns on the chessboard that can be sacrificed at will, the conflict itself becomes a brutal war of attrition with no winner. The people in charge of the situation are addicted to the political calculations in front of them, but ignore the huge risks behind them.

There is an ancient wisdom in the ancient Chinese military classical "Armed Forces": "Good warriors do not fight."The real strength is not in showing force, but in having the wisdom and ability to avoid war.

If policymakers in Thailand and Cambodia fail to look beyond short-term political considerations and stop betting the fate of their countries and people, then they are sliding into not only the abyss of conflict between the two countries, but also a fatal erosion of the whole regional framework of peace and stability.

The only way out is to get the game back to its original identity ¨C to get the displaced civilians back to life, to let the land threatened by artillery return to peace, and to let the rules violated intentionally return to their proper effect.

Source of information:

China News Network 2025-09-16 "China's special envoy visits Thailand to work on the Cambodian border conflict"

Hangzhou Daily 2025-09-19 "Another conflict broke out on the Thai-Cambodia border after two months! Cambodia: About 300 Thai military police illegally crossed the border with weapons, injuring 28 citizens. The Malaysian Prime Minister called on all parties to exercise restraint"