S3: Interview: Explaining The 2025 Thai Cambodian Border Crisis with Sebastian Strangio

S3: Interview: Explaining The 2025 Thai Cambodian Border Crisis with Sebastian Strangio

In this episode, I talk with journalist and author Sebastian Strangio about the border tensions between Cambodia and Thailand that have escalated in July 2025. Sebastian is the Southeast Asia editor at The Diplomat and one of the region’s leading journalists. He’s a former reporter at the Phnom Penh Post, and the author of Hun Sen’s Cambodia (re-released as Cambodia: From Pol Pot to Hun Sen and Beyond) and In the Dragon’s Shadow, a study of China’s growing influence in Southeast Asia.

We start with the political figure who has shaped Cambodia for decades, Hun Sen, and trace how his rise from Khmer Rouge defector to Prime Minister led to the creation of a powerful political dynasty. We then look at the handover of power to his son, Hun Manet, and what that has meant for Cambodian politics in the last two years.

From there, we shift focus to Thailand and explore the structure of Thai politics today. Who holds power? How have coups and party shifts shaped its modern system? And how does that compare to Cambodia’s more centralized model? This helps us understand one of the key triggers of the current crisis: a leaked phone call between Hun Sen and former Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

We then move into the border dispute itself. We look at the long history of territorial claims, colonial-era maps, and temple flashpoints like Preah Vihear and Ta Moan. And we ask how this latest confrontation fits into broader patterns of nationalism, political theatre, and regional rivalry. Finally, we explore what role public opinion and media narratives are playing on both sides of the border.

Episoder(51)

S3 Ep7: How to Get Out of a War in Indochina - Nixon, Mao, and the Balance of Power

S3 Ep7: How to Get Out of a War in Indochina - Nixon, Mao, and the Balance of Power

Time Period Covered: 1971 – 1973How do you get out of a war without losing it?What did Nixon’s opening to China have to do with Vietnam?And how much of “peace” in 1972 was about diplomacy, and how muc...

16 Feb 2h

S3: Interview: Maoism, the Three Ghosts, and the Khmer Rouge with Matt Galway

S3: Interview: Maoism, the Three Ghosts, and the Khmer Rouge with Matt Galway

In this extended interview, I’m joined by historian Matt Galway, author of Global Maoism, to unpack the intellectual, ideological, and historical foundations of Maoism and Cambodian communism.We begin...

19 Jan 1h 31min

S3 Ep6: 1972 - Life (and Death) in the Liberated Zones: Regrets for the Khmer Soul and M13

S3 Ep6: 1972 - Life (and Death) in the Liberated Zones: Regrets for the Khmer Soul and M13

Check out my visit to M13 at YouTube or https://www.patreon.com/Time Period Covered: 1971 - 1972Why would someone join the Khmer Rouge?How would people view the parts of the country that were now bein...

4 Jan 1h 38min

S3: Interview: The Super Great Leap Forward and the Khmer Rouge Prison System with Henri Locard

S3: Interview: The Super Great Leap Forward and the Khmer Rouge Prison System with Henri Locard

This episode is a follow-up to the two-hour discussion I had with historian Henri Locard. The video of that full conversation is available for free on Patreon right here (or just go to https://www.pat...

22 Okt 20251h 18min

S3: Interview: Who Killed Haing Ngor? With Patricia Nunan

S3: Interview: Who Killed Haing Ngor? With Patricia Nunan

You've seen The Killing Fields, you probably know that Haing Ngor, who played Dith Pran in the film won an oscar. You might also know that he was murdered in Los Angeles. But the version of that story...

17 Okt 202534min

S3: Bonus: A Recount of My Interview With an Ex-Khmer Rouge Doctor

S3: Bonus: A Recount of My Interview With an Ex-Khmer Rouge Doctor

This is an episode that could be listened to if you’d like, or if you’d prefer to watch it (without ads!) then head to https://patreon.com/shadowsofutopia and watch it for free, no sign ups, no obliga...

30 Sep 20251h 30min

S3: Interview: Witness to the end of the Second Indochina Wars with Jim Laurie

S3: Interview: Witness to the end of the Second Indochina Wars with Jim Laurie

In this bonus podcast episode, I’ve invited veteran journalist Jim Laurie to reflect on a lifetime spent amid global upheaval. From the Nixon incursion into Cambodia to the oblivious tranquility of Ph...

30 Aug 202548min

S3 Ep5: Chenla II: Lon Nol Strikes Out

S3 Ep5: Chenla II: Lon Nol Strikes Out

What was the political fallout from Lon Nol's Stroke? How did race and religion become such a key theme of his regime? What led to the worst military defeat of the Cambodian Civil War? Time Period ...

11 Aug 20251h 37min

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