OP-ED: The Clown Poses as the Crown: Anutin Is the Real Sick Man of Asia — Goes to France, Rejects French Map

It is worth bearing in mind that Thailand currently occupies Cambodian territory well beyond even its unilaterally drawn map. Thai claims over technicalities are no more than smokescreens and diversions from their activities on the ground; much like their recent bombardments of ancient temple sites like Preah Vihear and Ta Krobey and then justifying these attacks on the pretext that the sites were being used as military 'bunkers' by Cambodia! To add insult to injury Thailand's FM Sihasak recently told the Unesco envoy of his 'sadness' over the damages to the temples which Thai military attacked twice in the last two rounds of fighting! 

 

If Thailand indeed had legitimate case relating to which version of the map would offer more accuracy or justice then by all means take its grievances to appropriate independent international tribunals or courts. That the Thais have consistently eschewed those channels and peaceful means of settling disagreements with Cambodia speaks volumes of their actual contempt for civilised rules of engagement and international law and order. 

 

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THAILAND – In a development reported today by The Nation Thailand, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has officially declared that Thailand will no longer recognize the 1/200,000-scale French colonial maps that have long served as the legal foundation for border demarcation with Cambodia. The announcement follows his recent diplomatic visit to France, where he met with President Emmanuel Macron.

 

According to The Nation, Anutin now insists that Thailand will use its own self-produced 1/50,000-scale maps, declaring that the colonial-era 1/200,000-scale maps — the very standard Cambodia relies upon under international law — "no longer exist" for Thailand.

 

The contradiction is unmistakable. On May 25, Anutin told President Macron that Thailand would "strictly adhere" to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to resolve the maritime dispute with Cambodia. Yet one day later, he rejects the very French colonial cartography that underpins the land border treaties.

 

What Thailand fails to acknowledge is that Cambodia had already cleared the UNCLOS path weeks earlier. On May 12, Samdech Techo Hun Sen directed the Royal Government to invoke compulsory conciliation under UNCLOS after Thailand withdrew from the 2001 Memorandum of Understanding on maritime claims. Cambodia ratified UNCLOS in February 2024. Thailand is only now following Cambodia's lead on the sea — while abandoning international law on land.

 

 

This selective adherence is not diplomacy. It is strategic convenience. On maritime issues, Thailand embraces international mechanisms. On land issues, Thailand discards them. Border monitors have long warned that such inconsistency prolongs territorial disputes.

 

Cambodia's position remains clear: all land border disputes must be resolved peacefully under international law, existing treaties, and bilateral agreements. The Ministry of Interior has urged all Cambodians to stand behind Prime Minister Hun Manet as he navigates these provocations through diplomatic channels.

 

Anutin may have smiled alongside Macron in Paris. But his announcement today reveals a leadership that embraces international law when convenient and rejects it when not. When a leader travels to France only to reject France's own treaties, the conclusion is inescapable: Thailand's real sickness is a crisis of credibility. And the clown posing as the crown cannot hide behind self-drawn maps.

 

 

Reported by The Khmer Today