T he mega flood which inundated the whole southern city of Hat Yai at the end of November and killed at least 145 people so far reminded us how some friendly foreign states such as Japan and China quickly provided Thailand some relief and assistance. We are grateful.
On a much darker note, it demonstrates how degraded the relationship between some Cambodians and Thailand has become.
English-language Thai media, including Khaosod English, over the past ten days or so were inundated with disparaging comments from Cambodian Facebook users expressing a sense of schadenfreude upon reading about the deaths and suffering of residents of Hat Yai whom they do not know in person (and some pets).
Here are some ‘milder’ comments chosen to demonstrate how low some Cambodian netizens on Facebook have sunk:
FB user Molivaan Heng, originally from Phnom Penh, now living in Perth, Australia, reacted on Saturday, December 6, following a flood-related news item on Khaosod English.
“Good job Thailand 👏👏👏 Keep flooding, Cambodians will laugh so hard 😂😂😂 and I can’t wait to see the news like this.”
“Congratulations Thailand, hope it will happen again next year 😂,” wrote Rosat Sles, from Phnom Penh, on the same day.
“This is the first lot of floodwaters and the second lot will come to visit soon again I hope that Thai people will be happy for swimming in the second lot of floodwaters, I wish….,” Cambodian FB user Yem Thong commented yesterday.
“Happy day,” reacted another Cambodian reader of Khaosod English.
A Thai reader also reacted to these posts, by saying: “I’m tired of people who have no sense of right or wrong. They treat other people’s suffering as a joke, even though their own lives aren’t much better,” and tagged the United Nations.
While some have written to us, demanding Khaosod English to block FB users from Cambodia from commenting, we believe the fundamental right to free expression must be upheld, as much as possible. Also, we should not be in denial of what’s happening between Thailand and Cambodia.
Three days ago, a Thai reader of Khaosod English, Sean Teeratada Rongmaung, explained why these depraved comments should not be deleted, when he posted in Thai language:
“A message to all Thai people: there’s no need to respond to their comments—just leave them. Let foreigners see for themselves. Personally, I think we should just let them say whatever they want. The rest of the world will see the kind of things they choose to comment. It becomes their digital footprint from now on.”
Reading such comments from Cambodian Facebook users, one is reminded of how deep the hatred for Thais in general, they are harbouring. Only people who have lost a part of their humanity could publicly express sadistic glee upon reading about the suffering of strangers.
When you can laugh and rejoice in the deatts and suffering of strangers, you are losing a key trait that makes you human and humane – empathy.
While Cambodia has yet to face a loss of this magnitude since the 5-day undeclared war with Thailand in July, I fear some Thai ultra-nationalists may fare no better in laughing at the suffering of Cambodians if Cambodia were to face a natural calamity of such magnitude. Already Thai ultra-nationalists are branding Cambodia as Scambodia and a nation of dog-eaters, supporting the threat by a prominent ultra-nationalist Thai social media influencer Kan Jom Phalang to spray faeces into the Cambodian side of the border, and more.
Reading these sadistic and depraved comments one feels discouraged and is prone to believe there is no hope for Thailand and Cambodia to restore even a semblance of normal relations in the coming years. One must remember however that there are 17 million people in Cambodia (and roughly 70 million in Thailand).
If both sides have a million or two ultra-nationalists who feel delighted about the suffering of strangers, then they are still in the minority. We must remind ourselves of this and not allow these vocal and depraved people to poison and direct the course of Thai-Cambodian conflict towards a dead end.
Thais and Cambodians who believe in humanity and empathy cannot be idle and allow these extremists to hijack the future of Thai-Cambodia relations for years to come by hurling dehumanising speech at one another and fail to send a clear signal that such hateful and myopic reactions will do more harm to both countries and the people of both nations. Those still sane must try to redirect the conflict towards a more rational and empathetic direction.
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