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)

S2 Ep1: Les Khmers Rouges: Double Lives in Sihanouk's Golden Era

S2 Ep1: Les Khmers Rouges: Double Lives in Sihanouk's Golden Era

How does the Communist Party of Kampuchea form? How does Saloth Sar become a married man and teacher? What are the consequences of Sihanouk’s neutral foreign policy? Time Period Covered 1955-1960 ...

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S1 Ep15: Season One Recap - Cambodian History from Angkor to Independence

S1 Ep15: Season One Recap - Cambodian History from Angkor to Independence

This bonus episode is for those who would like to remind themselves of the topics covered in the first season of the podcast, or for new listeners who might want a simple overview of Cambodian history...

5 Jun 20211h 6min

S1 Ep14: The End of French Indochina: Dien Bien Phu, Geneva and “Citizen Sihanouk”

S1 Ep14: The End of French Indochina: Dien Bien Phu, Geneva and “Citizen Sihanouk”

How does the First Indochina War end? What do the Geneva Accords mean for Cambodia? Who wins the 1955 Cambodian general election? Time Period Covered December 1953 – July 1955 Cambodia faces Vie...

17 Apr 20212h 37min

S1 Ep13: Sihanouk’s Royal Crusade for Cambodian Independence

S1 Ep13: Sihanouk’s Royal Crusade for Cambodian Independence

How does Cambodian Independence day originate in November 1953? What does the First Indochina War look like in Cambodia? How does a young Pol Pot 'join the maquis'? Time Period Covered January – Dece...

16 Jan 20211h 37min

S1 Ep12: Pol Pot in Paris and the Khmer Issarak – Part Two

S1 Ep12: Pol Pot in Paris and the Khmer Issarak – Part Two

How did the First Indochina War become part of the Cold War? When did the Khmer students studying in Paris become communists? What influenced Saloth Sar to become a revolutionary? Time Period Covered...

9 Nov 20202h 35min

S1 Ep12: Interview: ‘Extraordinary Justice at the Khmer Rouge Tribunals’ with Dr Craig Etcheson

S1 Ep12: Interview: ‘Extraordinary Justice at the Khmer Rouge Tribunals’ with Dr Craig Etcheson

Craig Etcheson is currently visiting scientist at Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health, and he was a founder of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, he has been studying the Khmer Rouge regime f...

20 Sep 202051min

S1 Ep11: Pol Pot in Paris and the Khmer Issarak - Part One

S1 Ep11: Pol Pot in Paris and the Khmer Issarak - Part One

What does the anti-colonial scene look like in Cambodia? Who are the Khmer Issarak and how do nationalists and young Cambodian students relate to this movement as well as the growing war in Vietnam wi...

22 Aug 20202h 5min

S1 Ep10: Cambodia in the Second World War: Son Ngoc Thanh, Japan and a Brief Independence

S1 Ep10: Cambodia in the Second World War: Son Ngoc Thanh, Japan and a Brief Independence

What is the Umbrella Revolt in Cambodia? How do nationalists like Son Ngoc Thanh react to the rise of Imperial Japan? What are the circumstances surrounding the choice of Norodom Sihanouk as the new C...

11 Jun 20202h 45min

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