Social Media Fuels Thailand's Diplomatic Tensions With Cambodia and China
Toxic social media rhetoric is straining Thailand's diplomatic relations with Cambodia and China, with netizens in both countries driving government responses to disputes rather than formal diplomacy alone.
Diplomacy is no longer confined to diplomats and politicians. Increasingly, and for better or worse, people-to-people relations shape ties between two nations. It is not just face-to-face contact, but the use of social media that shapes the trajectory of relations between two nations.
Two examples are apparent in Thailand: relations with Cambodia and China.
The toxic tensions between Thailand and Cambodia are at least a year old, if not longer. They have left both governments needing to ensure that they are not seen as too soft on the other country following two brief undeclared wars last year. This, unfortunately, means that any normalisation of relations between Thailand and Cambodia is partly dictated by angry netizens in both countries.
As it stands, many social media users in both countries have been hurling hate speech—and even dehumanising speech—at one another on a daily basis.
Another diplomatic dispute this week saw the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok come under heavy criticism by nationalist Thai social media users for issuing a statement that, rightly or wrongly, Thai netizens interpreted as unfair and arrogant.
This came after a physical altercation between a Chinese woman and a female security guard at a Bangkok fan meet sparked an online uproar in both Thailand and China. The Chinese Embassy in Thailand called on the Thai authorities to investigate, but failed to acknowledge that the Chinese woman had first assaulted a Thai security guard, following her lengthy refusal to accept that she had jumped the queue. This was quickly followed by Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow ordering a probe, further fuelling rage among Thais who perceive the Chinese Embassy as behaving as if it can tell the Thai government whatever it likes while the Thai government complies subserviently.
The Chinese Embassy's statement never acknowledged that the Chinese woman in the orange shirt had jumped the queue and then kicked a Thai security guard. Nor did it include any apology or expression of regret over the woman's behaviour.
Instead, the embassy reached a swift conclusion on this case, in stark contrast to its stalling over issues such as the toxic pollution in the Kok River, the "fake Thai children" controversy, and the many "grey Chinese" cases that have become almost daily news. Furthermore, the Chinese ambassador previously urged Thais to stop using the term "grey Chinese".
Many Thais are already concerned that China may be attempting to turn Thailand into a de facto tributary state in which Beijing can directly interfere in matters it cares about. Recent examples include alleged attempts to pressure Thai media into censoring masks depicting President Xi Jinping worn by Thai protesters over the Kok River contamination, as well as efforts to pressure Thai organisers of a Taiwan film festival to remove the name of Taiwan's Ministry of Culture from promotional materials, without going through Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
