Senate president Hun Sen has called for Cambodians to refrain from retaliating against what he called “unethical behaviour” by a group of Thai nationalists.
He shared a video clip which showed Thai marksmen using his image, and that of Ministry of National Defence spokesperson Maly Socheata, as paper targets. The images were emblazoned with the word “Wanted”.
In response to the video, he posed a question.
“Is this the behaviour of civilised people with morals, ethics and dignity?” he asked.
He advised Cambodians not to commit such vile acts, describing them as “inhuman and worse than animals”.
Hun Sen noted that some Khmer people had suggested they might retaliate by using images of the Thai King as targets, but explained that he did not support the idea.
“I told them that if you think they are wrong for doing this, don’t try to match their depravity, because such acts are inhuman and even worse than animals,” he said.
“I explained that the Thais did this with the intention of making me lose patience while the ceasefire is in a fragile state, or at the very least, to provoke some of our troops and people to respond in a way that could complicate the situation,” he added,
Hun Sen told Cambodian citizens that even though Cambodia is small, with a small population and a weak economy, “We must not be weak in terms of morals. We must continue to be a noble nation with high ethics”.
“If our Khmer brothers and sisters are hurt by Thailand or dislike Thailand, stop buying Thai goods for use and stop using Thai baht on Khmer soil from now on, to strengthen our nation’s financial independence,” he said.
He appealed for Cambodians not to take any actions that harm Thai companies or Thai people who are living, working and doing business in Cambodia, as he believes that most Thai people do not want to be enemies with the Cambodian people.
He suggested that some people in Thailand, including some Thai leaders, have misjudged Cambodia’s economy, believing that it would face difficulties after Thailand closed the border, due to a shortage of consumer goods.
“I should thank the Thai leaders again for hitting their own heads. Cambodia used to spend no less than $5 billion annually on Thai goods, and now that money can be used to buy local products. This creates a market for domestically produced goods and is an opportunity to strengthen Cambodia’s economy,” he said.
Thai people who used to sell goods to Cambodia should not be angry with Cambodians who are their major customers, because this is not Cambodia’s fault.
The former prime minister also reminded Khmer citizens near the Thai border to exchange their Thai baht for riel or dollars, because in the future, those holding baht will suffer heavy losses, as it could become a lever that Thailand uses to threaten Cambodia, just as it attempted to do the past with electricity, internet bandwidth and petroleum.
“Stopping the use of baht and switching to riel helps strengthen our national currency,” he said.
