#cambodiathailand-conflict

#cambodiathailand-conflict

The military claims the increase reflects growing trust in the institution. Ahead of an annual draft, it has sought to use social media to engage young men, inviting them to join the military family, protect Thailand's border, while making jokes about dating and unrequited love.

"I think Phnom Penh has become far more confident in its own voice. A few years ago, much of the retail and lifestyle scene felt either NGO-adjacent or heavily expat-driven. Now there's a noticeable shift toward Cambodian-led creative businesses that are designing for a more discerning local audience."

This month, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet wrote to French President Emmanuel Macron, saying that Phnom Penh would also welcome expertise and advisory support from the former colonial power. "The prime minister firmly believes that France's continued engagement will serve the shared objective of achieving a just and lasting solution, allowing the Cambodian and Thai peoples to live side by side in peace, security, good neighborliness and prosperity for generations to come," Cambodia's Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

For Thai national Khaochat Mankong, 2026 was meant to be the biggest year of her life. After filing the necessary paperwork with the United States embassy in Bangkok, Khaochat, 27, was poised to start a new life with her American husband in California. Last week, Khaochat watched those plans evaporate in an instant as US President Donald Trump's administration announced an indefinite pause on the processing of immigrant visa applications from 75 countries, including Thailand.

The announcement of a "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" between Brussels and Hanoi last week places the EU side by side with China, the United States, and Russia as one of Vietnam's top-tier diplomatic relationships. Vietnamese President Luong Cuong described it as a "historical milestone underlining the great achievements that the two sides have made," during a meeting with the head of the European Council, Antonio Costa, in Hanoi.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro said on Thursday that ASEAN has not endorsed the three phases of the elections that were held in Myanmar, which concluded last weekend. Lazaro was speaking after hosting ASEAN's first major ministerial meetings this year in the central Philippines city of Cebu, where the Myanmar crisis was high on the agenda. Asked in a news conference if the bloc did not recognise the elections, Lazaro said yes, as of now.

The security threat from terrorist groups, especially TTP but also ISIS-K residing in Afghanistan, has been increasing, which made 2025 the deadliest year in a decade for Pakistan in terms of casualties from such violence. The surge in cross-border terror attacks from Afghan soil since the Taliban returned to power has been confirmed by successive reports of the UN Security Council's sanctions monitoring team.

Just a few days before the president of Indonesia was supposed to go to Washington for the first meeting of the so-called "Board of Peace," a council created and chaired by US President Donald Trump, the spokesperson for the Indonesian military made a controversial announcement. Army spokesperson Donny Pramono said Indonesia was ready to deploy as many as 1,000 soldiers to Gaza by April, and could increase that to 8,000 by the end of June this year.