Thailand does not bite, are you sure?

Hun Sen's latest emotional outburst against Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajive and Foreign Minister Kasit Pironya was not unexpected, it's just part of the political game he's playing, and there is no need for either Mr Abhisit and Mr Kasit to respond.

Just as it seemed last month’s unfortunate diplomatic row over deposed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was finally taking a back seat, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has seen fit to reopen the wound with comments that could provoke a new round of bickering.

Mr Hun Sen’s latest diatribe against Prime Minister Abhisit and Foreign Minister Kasit in his speech at a provincial ceremony on Monday, although not at all surprising for a man of his character, was totally undiplomatic, hostile and unbecoming of a government leader.

He was quoted to have said: “I am not the enemy of the Thai people…But the prime minister and foreign minister, these two people look down on Cambodia extremely…Cambodia will have no happiness as long as this group is in power in Thailand…”

Mr Hun Sen’s sudden burst of anger at Prime Minister Abhisit and Foreign Minister Kasit stemmed from the Thai government’s threat to suspend all economic aid to Cambodia in retaliation for Phnom Penh’s appointment of Thaksin as its economic adviser and its refusal to allow the fugitive politician's extradition to Thailand to face imprisonment.

“I told Abhisit that I and my people felt hurt when (we) heard you talk about halting aid and loans,” he reportedly told his Cambodian audience.

But was the aid issue the only and real cause of the Cambodian leader’s latest outburst against his Thai counterpart? Or is he still playing the Thaksin card and trying to paint the Abhisit government in a negative light in the eyes of the international community and the Thai public? He has sent out a clear message that if Thai-Cambodian relations are to be normalised, then both Mr Abhisit and Mr Kasit must go.

His latest, unprovoked remarks leave no room for doubt about Mr Hun Sen’s deep contempt and dislike for both Mr Abhisit and Mr Kasit and that he wants them out of power in Thailand.

But he has stopped short of saying publicly just who he wants to see in the same seat of power. Was he too shy to name his “eternal friend”, Thaksin?

Since Mr Hun Sen is free to say anything he wants in his home country, and the media in Cambodia is not free to criticise him, it would not serve Thailand’s best interests, or the good relations between the Thai and Cambodian peoples, for the Bangkok government to respond in kind to Mr Hun Sen’s irresponsible and childish diatribe.

Mr Abhisit and Mr Kasit should remain calm and quiet. They need to heed the old Thai saying: "When a dog bites you, do not bite back."