Thai-Cambodian Crisis Has Given the Thai Military a Boost

Thai-Cambodian Crisis Has Given the Thai Military a Boost

Despite a fragile July ceasefire, this year’s Thai-Cambodian border crisis enhanced the Thai military’s informal authority over governmental decision-making powers, providing a stimulus for severely weakening Thai civilian control.  Civil-military relations refer to the distribution of decision-making authority between military and civilian elites in five decision-making areas: elite recruitment (filling political leadership roles), public polic…

Understanding the Thai-Cambodian Border Dispute

The Thai-Cambodian border dispute has lasted for decades but things always seem to heat up around one key place which is the ancient Preah Vihear Temple. Sitting on a steep cliff in the Dangrek Mountains, this centuries-old Hindu temple has seen more legal battles than peaceful pilgrimages. Though it has been standing for over a thousand years, the real fight over it only became global in 1962 when the International Court of Justice ruled that t…