Analysis
What’s behind the Thailand-Cambodia conflict and Suharto’s canonization
As is often the case in Asia's history, the U.S. happens to be the lynchpin between these two events.
Southeast Asia is in turmoil once again following two news stories that dominated the region on Monday.
The first is that Bangkok has suspended the implementation of the peace agreement with Cambodia, which had been mediated by U.S. President Trump on October 26, after two Thai soldiers were wounded by a mine in the disputed border area.
The second is that an Asian dictator, a close friend of all U.S. presidents and the CIA, has been declared a national hero: General and former President Suharto, who died in 2008. He was in power for 32 years and was directly responsible for the massacre of communists which, starting at the end of 1965, was carried out by the Indonesian army under his command against the PKI, the largest communist party on the planet after those of the Soviet Union and China. At least 500,000 civilians paid the price, many of whom were only suspected of communist sympathies.
As is often the case in Asia's history, the U.S. happens to be the lynchpin between these two events. When Cambodia and Thailand signed the ceasefire agreement in Kuala Lumpur last month, Trump used the ASEAN summit stage to give plaudits to himself – as he had also done in May for India and Pakistan – boasting of the “eight wars my administration has ended in eight months,” a feat that has “never happened before.”
But beyond the bombastic rhetoric and the spectacle, the deal seemed very fragile from the start. The Kuala Lumpur Peace Agreement, as Trump had dubbed it, was concluded after an initial ceasefire in July following a five-day war between the two kingdoms, and had been described by Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow as only “a path toward peace,” not exactly what Trump was trying to cast it as. Phnom Penh had been the more enthusiastic of the two, because Cambodia, unlike Thailand, has always sought to internationalize the border crisis that has pitted the two countries against each other for years.
In reality, just as had happened in July when the two countries agreed to a ceasefire brokered by Malaysia (the current chair of ASEAN), both countries were motivated more by the fear of U.S. tariffs than by the prospect of a lasting peace. And while Trump did have an influence – using both encouragements and threats – the Chinese also contributed to that first ceasefire. Nothing gets done in Southeast Asia by ignoring Beijing.
So, it took only a single mine blowing up to prompt new Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to say that “everything must be stopped.”
It is unlikely that a Trump tweet will be enough to remedy this unstable situation, which is complicated by a subtle but not insignificant factor: the presence of illegal hubs on the Cambodian side of the border. These are veritable centers of digital fraud associated with casinos that have sprung up like mushrooms in recent years, including the Prince Group, a conglomerate which was just hit with sanctions by the United States.
Regarding Suharto, the decision to honor him as a national hero has been controversial for months. The controversy began when the current president, Prabowo Subianto, who married one of Suharto's daughters, made it clear that he wanted to set aside a place in national history for the anti-communist champion and mass murderer. Prabowo owed his own quick (and suspicious) ascent through the military ranks to Suharto, and he was a regular among the Suharto family’s inner circle, where the money from the surrounding clientelist and nepotistic economy circulated.
The former dictator has thus been listed alongside nine other national heroes, including the former democratic president Wahid “Gusdur” and the trade unionist Marsinah, a woman killed in 1993 after she went to her factory to inquire about layoffs. She was raped and tortured, and her remains were found next to the factory days later. It defies belief that three such different figures now appear in the same category: two worth remembering, and one to be ashamed of.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/thailandia-cambogia-salta-la-pace-di-trump-e-suharto-e-onorato-da-eroe on 2025-11-10