Y ounger generations might not know, and older generations might have even forgotten, that once upon a time, 35 years ago, the famous Thai band called Caravan held “For Peace” concerts at Angkor Wat and Phnom Penh, promoting good relations between Thailand and Cambodia.
Thirty-five years later, everything has crumbled. A significant number of people, both Thai and Cambodian, now view each other as enemies, filled with hatred and contempt.
From a Thai perspective, this is a failure of Thai soft power and a failure of both nations to peacefully resolve and prevent the escalation of border conflicts.
What will become of the various Thai businesses in Cambodia? Will Cambodian students in Thailand feel safe to continue their studies at Thai universities? And what will be the predicament of the approximately 500,000 Cambodian migrant workers?
I fear that the Thai-Cambodian relationship has regressed much further than 35 years, when the concerts were held, as I believe Caravan or other popular Thai bands wouldn’t dare hold concerts in Cambodia again for a long time. It’s almost unfathomable to remind ourselves that such goodwill concerts had taken place 35 years ago.
Regardless of whether tonight’s ceasefire agreement succeeds, Thai-Cambodian relations have regressed well beyond 35 years.
The historical relationship between two nations cannot always develop in a straight, upward line if the majority of people in both countries do not strive to be mindful of the troubled and bitter past, compromise, and reconcile to maintain neighbourly goodwill.
As a Thai, I am deeply saddened by the loss of lives and properties on both sides, and I fear that we have lost a generation of our peoples, Thais and Cambodians, to mutual hatred fueled by insatiable extreme ultranationalism.
Postscript: In a dark twist, Surachai Chantimatorn, a lead member of Caravan Band, who is now 77, posted the following statement on Facebook: “If you have to fight, then fight. And fight to the end. It’s easy to be good at talking but hard to follow it through.
______
