Thailand rejects Cambodia’s “ASEAN police” accusation

Thailand has lashed out at Cambodia for accusing it of trying to act as an “ASEAN police force”, saying that it has never sought such a role and has no intention of interfering in the internal affairs of other countries.

Air Chief Marshal Prapas Sornchaidee, director of the Joint Information Centre (JIC) on the Thailand-Cambodia situation, said Thailand would not turn a blind eye to transnational crimes that harm Thai people, or those in other ASEAN countries and around the world.

He was responding to speeches by Cambodian speakers at the Fifth Phnom Penh Forum on “ASEAN Centrality amid Strategic Rivalry and Global Uncertainty” on August 13, during which Thailand was accused of undermining ASEAN centrality by trying to act as an ASEAN police force.

Thailand was also accused of using the fight against online scams as a pretext to encroach on Cambodian territory.

Prapas said it was important to distinguish facts from accusations, stressing that sovereignty, scam operations and the situation in Myanmar were three separate issues that should not be conflated to suggest that Thailand had ulterior motives.

“Sovereignty is one issue, scammers are a matter of transnational crime and Myanmar is a matter of diplomatic processes and ASEAN mechanisms,” he said, adding that Cambodia should focus on facts rather than political rhetoric when making such accusations.

“Thailand has never declared itself the police of ASEAN and we respect the sovereignty of all ASEAN member states,” he said.

He also stressed, however, that online scams and related crimes could not be regarded as the internal affairs of any one country because victims are found around the world. These include fraud, money laundering, human trafficking, forced labour and various forms of transnational crime.

Therefore, he said, efforts to dismantle such networks should not be considered interference in the affairs of another country, but rather a shared responsibility of the international community.

At the Phnom Penh forum, Yang Peou, secretary-general of the Royal Academy of Cambodia (RAC), accused Thailand of seriously undermining ASEAN centrality through its narrative of tackling online scams, claiming that it was intended to justify an invasion of Cambodian territory, according to the Phnom Penh Post.

Yang also cited the recent visit by Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing to Thailand as another example of what he described as Bangkok undermining trust within ASEAN by disregarding the bloc’s five-point consensus on Myanmar.