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.
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S3: (Bonus) A Brief History of the Thai Cambodian Border Dispute
Hello everyone, I've put together a quick look at the long history of the Thai Cambodia border dispute to compliment what I'm sure many of you are reading and watching in newspapers and on television.
The escalation is far from good, and I hope it simmers down back to - as I'll discuss - a normal state of not-quite-peaceful.
I cover the history from 900 CE to 2025, and everything from the 1794 retrocession of Battambang, the Franco-Thai War, Sihanouks ICJ case in 1962, Khmer Rouge border clashes and spies, to the more recent disputes about Preah Vihear.
Much of this is based off of a recent bonus episode I made for Patreon, so for those that have listened to that, apologies for some of the overlap.
www.shadowsofutopia.com/support
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S3 Ep4: The Khmer Republic: Chenla One
How did the Khmer Republic try to take back control of Cambodia?
Time Period Covered: June 1970 - January 1971
In this episode, we follow the Lon Nol government as it attempts to prove that the Khmer Republic can fight and win. After the initial chaos of the coup and the brief U.S. incursion, Cambodia’s leaders launch their first large-scale offensive: Operation Chenla I. We look at how the Cambodians, with American and South Vietnamese support, attempt to open Route 6, retake lost territory, and secure the Lon Nol strategy.
Please see this link for Chenla Offensive Visuals and Maps: https://www.shadowsofutopia.com/episodes/the-khmer-republic-chenla-one
Sources:
Wilfred Deac The Road to the Killing Fields
Craig Etcheson The Rise and Demise of Democratic Kampuchea
Sat Sutsakhan The Khmer Republic at War
Various New York Times Articles June 1970
CBS News September 4 1970
Ros Sereysothea (song)
David Chandler The Tragedy of Cambodian History
Henry Kamm Report From a Stricken Land
Haing Ngor Surival in the Killing Fields
Presidential Briefings 1970 (CIA reading room)
Lon Nol - Nixon Correspondance (Office of the Historian)
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S3 Ep4: Was Phnom Penh a Ghost Town In Democratic Kampuchea? Patreon Bonus
Lachlan answers a common question about the Khmer Rouge regime:
"What happened to the cities after the evacuation in 1975?"
as well as another question about the terrible practicalities of life once the country was liberated in 1979:
"How did people get their houses back once the Khmer Rouge were gone?"
Please consider donating just $2 a month via Patreon or making a one time donation with PayPal
Head to https://www.patreon.com/c/shadowsofutopia
or www.shadowsofutopia.com/support
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S3 Ep3: Pol Pot Rises
Why was Duch released from prison on April 3rd, 1970?
How did Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge transition from small guerrilla enclaves to administering huge areas of Cambodia?
What exactly was “Independence Mastery,” and why was it so central to the Khmer Rouge mindset?
Time Period Covered: April 1970 – July 1971
In this episode, we pivot from Lon Nol’s takeover to the Cambodian communist perspective, exploring how Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge navigated the chaotic months following the coup. We follow Duch’s unexpected release from prison, track Pol Pot’s return journey from Beijing and Hanoi, and see how the Khmer Rouge began absorbing millions of Cambodians into so-called “liberated zones.” Along the way, we delve into the principle of Independence Mastery, the uneasy alliance with the Vietnamese, and the early precursor to S-21 known as M-13. We also uncover the paranoid mindset driving the Khmer Rouge’s suspicion of outside influence, including alleged assassination plots and forced confessions, shadows of the horror to come.
Remember, if you can, to please support the show at www.shadowsofutopia.com/support.
Sources:
Chandler - Tragedy of Cambodian History and Voices From S21
Short - Pol Pot
Kiernan - How Pol Pot Came To Power
ECCC Archives - Duch Trial 2009
Heder - Cambodian Communism and the Vietnamese Model
Edwards - Cambodge
Harris - Buddhism Under Pol Pot
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