ASEAN Beat | Politics | Southeast Asia

Cambodia to Mark May 28 as the Beginning of its Border War With Thailand

The country’s ruling party is using an unnecessary conflict as a chance to build up its political myth.

The Win-Win Monument on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Aug. 5, 2019.

Each country commemorates its wars in its own way and Cambodia is no exception. And as shots continue to ring out across the disputed Thai border, authorities are prepping Cambodians to treat May 28 as a day of national remembrance, the start of last year’s armed conflict with Thailand.

At the Win-Win Memorial, built to remember the 30-year civil war that turned Cambodia into a failed state, murals focusing on the suffering, bravery, and solidarity of the Khmer people and their military during the 2025 undeclared border war are now being etched in stone.

The hero is Sgt. Suon Roan. He was killed inside a trench at Mom Bei – an area in the Dangrek Mountains where the Cambodian border meets Thailand and Laos – after Thai troops had allegedly crossed and opened fire.

“The day our heroic soldier was shot dead by Thai troops on May 28… That day is a reminder of invasion and illegal violations against Cambodia’s sovereignty, which the Cambodian people must remember,” said Hun Sen, the president of the Senate and the father of Prime Minister Hun Manet.

His death was the first in an unnecessary conflict that had its roots in organized crime and got way out of control amid poor diplomacy and shoddy politics from both sides. More than a million people would be displaced and many more troops would perish.

Of course, all the names of those killed in action deserve to be inscribed at the Win-Win Monument and authorities in Phnom Penh could follow an example set by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

It was here that designer Maya Lin, as an undergraduate architecture student, broke with tradition and inscribed all the names of America’s fallen soldiers chronologically rather than in alphabetical order. In doing so, their deaths mark the beginning and end of the Vietnam War.

That memorial is symbolism at its very best and resonates powerfully with visitors and veterans alike. It’s an idea that would not be out of place in Phnom Penh.

But there are issues with that. Cambodia still has not released a full casualty report from the conflict, which ended with the signing of a truce on December 27 and since then, the ceasefire has struggled to hold.

At least three shooting incidents have been reported........

© The Diplomat