Ubon Chamber warns 15 years needed to restore Thai–Cambodian border trust
Ubon Chamber warns nationalism and mistrust on Thai–Cambodian border may take 10–15 years to heal, hurting economy and daily life.
The senior chairman of the Ubon Ratchathani Chamber of Commerce said on Sunday that nationalism and mistrust between Thai and Cambodian people along the lower northeastern border have intensified into outright hostility, and it could take up to 15 years to restore trust between the two sides.
Monkol Julathat, senior chairman of the Ubon Chamber of Commerce, said the ongoing border conflicts and restrictions on crossings have left people along Ubon Ratchathani’s border with Cambodia with minimal interaction.
Worse still, he noted, rising nationalism has fuelled mutual suspicion and deepened hostility. He estimated it would take up to 15 years to rebuild good relations and trust between communities on both sides of the Ubon Ratchathani border.
He explained that even before the border clashes, interaction and trade were limited because the frontier areas were designated as national parks.
Currently, he said, relations have deteriorated further, and frequent sightings of spy drones have caused Thais to distrust Cambodians even more. Monkol warned that this sense of mistrust and hostility could spread to all border provinces in the lower Northeast.
He added that the border fighting has slowed the economy not only in Ubon Ratchathani’s border districts but also across the province and the wider northeastern region. People are spending less on daily needs, and many bank debtors have sought debt moratoriums to conserve cash for living expenses.
