The Invisible Hostages
How Thailand Builds Its Economy on the Backs of the "Enemy"
Look at the skyline of Bangkok. Look at the massive fishing fleets in the Gulf. Look at the rubber plantations in the south.
They are owned by Thai tycoons, but they are built by Cambodian hands.
While the Thai government bombs schools in Battambang and calls Cambodia a "threat," they are simultaneously relying on over a million Cambodian workers to keep their economy alive. This is the ultimate hypocrisy of the conflict: They attack our nation, but they cannot survive without our people.
I. THE DEPORTATION WEAPON
Why is this relevant to the war? Because the Thai government uses these human beings as hostages.
Every time the border dispute heats up, Bangkok plays a cruel card: they threaten "Mass Deportation." They launch police crackdowns, arrest undocumented workers, and create a climate of fear.
It is a blackmail tactic. They say to Phnom Penh: "Give us the land/oil, or we will send 2 million unemployed people back to your border overnight and crash your economy."
II. THE MODERN SLAVERY
While Thai nationalists laugh at Cambodians on Facebook, they are happy to eat the fish caught by Cambodian slaves on Thai boats.
International Human Rights groups have documented for years that the Thai fishing and construction industries are rife with abuse. Cambodian workers are often underpaid, overworked, and denied legal rights. They are the invisible engine of Thailand's prosperity, treated with contempt by the very society they help build.
III. THE ECONOMIC REALITY
If every Cambodian worker went home tomorrow, the Thai economy would collapse. Their construction sites would go silent. Their fishing boats would stay in the harbor. Their harvest would rot in the fields.
IV. CONCLUSION: RESPECT THE BUILDERS
We say to the Thai government: You cannot bomb a people and exploit them at the same time.
If Cambodia is truly your enemy, then stop using our labor to build your malls and catch your food. But if you need us—and you do—then treat our people, and our borders, with the respect they deserve.