Smuggled chicken discovery hints at Cambodian shortages amid Thai border conflict

Plastic bags stuffed with rotting chicken from a smugglers’ boat washed ashore in Thailand have hinted at shortages inside Cambodia, as formal trade between the neighbours collapses due to the border conflict and illicit cargo flows surge instead. While demand appears high for smuggled Thai oil, fruit, meat and consumer items like soap, the Cambodian public is maintaining a boycott of Thai businesses in a nationalist kickback that reveals the depth of the enmity now staining relations between the neighbours and erstwhile trading partners. The two countries blame each other for reviving a dormant dispute last year over where their 800km (500-mile) border lies. Bloody clashes that started in July killed scores of soldiers and civilians on both sides, resulting in the land border being closed to goods and people. A fragile ceasefire has just about held but the land border remains closed despite recent overtures from Cambodia to reopen it. With both nations pinched by the global fuel crisis, Thai authorities say sea smuggling, including fuel, has spiked, prompting more naval patrols. Last Sunday, a putrid smell emanating from the mangrove-covered shoreline in the Hat Lek area of Trat – Thailand’s eastern coastal province closest to Cambodia and a sea route for smugglers – gave clues to the growing needs inside Cambodia. Navy officers found rotting chicken had spilled from a boat that ran aground a week earlier as smugglers attempted to escape a Thai marine patrol. Five Cambodian boats were stopped by the patrol a week earlier in what authorities called a “significant smuggling operation” that intercepted hundreds boxes of contraband chicken, fruit and even cannabis destined for Cambodia. Six suspects were arrested after jumping overboard in a botched escape bid, the navy said, adding that the suspects were couriers who were each paid just 2,000 baht (US$62) for the trip. “Most of the seized goods were everyday consumer products and daily necessities,” Captain Wutthichat Ratcharattanarak, deputy director of the Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre in Trat, told reporters. “We suspect that the situation over there [Cambodia] must be quite difficult.” This week, Cambodian customs reported a near 40 per cent slump in cross-border trade with Thailand to about US$700 million in the first three months of this year, compared with last year. The government has promised jobs to hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who have returned home since the conflict from Thailand, where wages in restaurants, building sites and on fishing boats are double or triple the domestic rate. That means Cambodia has faced a slump in remittances, which appears likely to continue as it seeks new overseas labour markets for its workers. In addition to the border row, Cambodia’s economy is taking a pummelling from the oil crisis, which has pushed pump prices up by about 25 per cent and forced the government to spend tens of millions of dollars on importing fuel. Thailand’s economy has also been affected by the Iran war and the throttling of the Strait of Hormuz. Still, ordinary Cambodians enraged by what they say is Thai aggression over a border drawn by French colonialists have made their feelings known by boycotting Thai products and brands. At the Aeon Mall – Cambodia’s largest – a giant space was missing last month on the outside hoarding where the “Major Cineplex” signage used to be. It closed down in Cambodia earlier this year as audiences shrivelled in the wake of the war, determined to not be seen supporting Thailand’s leading cinema brand. It has reopened as the Sabay Cinema – a locally owned takeover. Cambodians have even turned away from their favourite Mama noodle brand, Thailand’s market-leading snack, in favour of local alternatives, as well as Made-in-Thailand milk. Vietnamese firm Vinamilk appears to have moved into the gap. Even Cafe Amazon, the once ubiquitous Thai brand, has shut most of its stores in Cambodia or stripped back streetside advertising as a consumer backlash bites into sales. Outside an Amazon in Phnom Penh – its distinctive parakeet logo covered by a board – Apich Leang, 35, told This Week in Asia last month that if customers went there “we give them bad looks”. “I stopped eating Mama even, which is hard as it is my favourite brand. But we don’t hate Thai people, we just have to support our economy and country in any way we can.” The rupture between the neighbours now means government and news websites are blocked without a VPN on both sides, while Thais and Cambodians bait each other online over the origin of cultural symbols, from clothing to temples. But in a time of bigger global crisis, some are questioning the wisdom of local squabbles with neighbours they will have to do business with. “It’s a waste of time,” said Seng, a barman who gave only one name. “Countries that go to war normally do it because they have no other ways to help fix the problems of their people.”

Smuggled chicken discovery hints at Cambodian shortages amid Thai border conflict

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The Cambodian public is maintaining a boycott of Thai businesses even if the country’s economy is reeling from the global fuel crisis

The Cambodian public is maintaining a boycott of Thai businesses even if the country’s economy is reeling from the global fuel crisis