Tourism industry fears coup: Border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia escalates

Thailand's Prime Minister Shinawatra angered her coalition through her closeness to Cambodian politicians. Now, there is a massive step toward distancing itself from the hostile neighbor. This also affects tourists.

Thailand has closed border crossings in six provinces in a bitter border dispute with neighboring Cambodia. This also affects tourists, who can no longer travel by land to the Angkor temple complex via the popular Aranyaprathet-Poipet border crossing. The only exceptions to this rule are students and people needing medical treatment, the military said.

The Federal Foreign Office urged travelers to avoid the border region if possible and to stay away from demonstrations and large gatherings, according to the latest security advice.

A border dispute over the exact course of the more than 800-kilometer-long border between the two Southeast Asian countries has been simmering since colonial times. The dispute recently escalated after a gun battle between soldiers from both countries at the end of May. A Cambodian soldier was killed. Cambodia responded by imposing, among other measures, an import ban on food, fuel, and gas from Thailand.

The conflict has already led to a serious government crisis in Thailand. It was triggered by a leaked audio recording of a telephone conversation between 38-year-old Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and the former long-time ruler and current Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen.

In it, the Prime Minister addressed the 72-year-old as "uncle" and described a high-ranking military officer in the border region as her "opponent." She also offered Hun Sen whatever he deemed necessary to consolidate her own position. This caused a great stir. Although Paetongtarn later apologized, the second-largest coalition party, Bhumjaithai, left the governing coalition in response.

Since then, there have been protests against the government in Thailand. Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of the prime minister and new elections. Meanwhile, fears of a new military coup are growing in the tourism industry, as the Bangkok Post newspaper reported.

"Political unrest should be resolved through democratic mechanisms, not through a coup like the one in 2014," said Ratchaporn Poolsawadee, vice president of the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT). At that time, the armed forces under General Prayut Chan-o-cha seized power – the military ruled until 2023. Since 1932, there have been about a dozen coups in Thailand.