Cambodian PM denies using Thai quota to study at West Point

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has denied viral claims that he attended the US Military Academy at West Point through a quota allocated to the Thai military, protesting that the allegation is false and based on a misunderstanding.

In a statement posted on his social media platforms, Hun Manet said the rumours resurfaced after he shared a message marking the 27th anniversary of his graduation from West Point on May 29, 1999.

“Some Thai citizens commented that I was accepted to study at the world famous US military academy through a quota allocated to the Thai military,” he wrote, adding that similar claims have circulated for years.

Hun Manet said he had previously ignored the allegation because he considered it unnecessary to respond, but has now decided to address it “once and for all” to end the misunderstanding.

He stressed that the United States allocates scholarships and cadet positions to foreign countries independently and that no country receiving a quota has the authority to transfer it to another.

The Cambodian premier, son of Cambodia’s strongman Hun Sen, also noted that his West Point degree clearly identifies him as a Cambodian cadet.

He explained that foreign cadets seeking admission to West Point must be nominated by their own country’s Ministry of Defence and endorsed by the US embassy in that country.

Hun Manet said he received a nomination from Cambodia’s Ministry of National Defence and an endorsement from the US Embassy in Cambodia in 1995.

“This clearly confirms that the quota under which I studied at West Point was one granted by the United States to Cambodia, not to Thailand as has been alleged,” he said.

He also challenged anyone seeking verification to contact Thailand’s Ministry of Defence, the US Embassy in Thailand or West Point directly, saying that he is confident that no evidence would support the false claim.

Hun Manet said he hoped his clarification would finally put an end to the allegation.

Wanwichit Boonprong, adviser to Thailand’s Defence Minister, claimed however that then-Thai Prime Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, also a former supreme commander and army commander-in-chief, had endorsed a proposal for Hun Manet to study at West Point under Thailand’s quota.

He said a foreigner who enrolls at the prestigious military academy must be an outstanding, top-grade military cadet from their country.

He noted, though, that when Hun Manet enrolled at West Point in 1995, it was only four years after the warring factions signed the Paris Peace Agreement, at the end of Cambodian–Vietnamese War and the Third Indochina War.

“After the agreement, Cambodia was still in a post-war situation after years of internal fighting. It did not have pre-cadet or cadet academies from which Hun Manet could graduate,” he said.