Hun, Sen, Abhisit

Absolutely Bangkok has an interesting post on Abhisit vs Hun Sen:

Headaches at Hua Hin’s ASEAN gathering. A Thaksin rift mars the Asean solidarity. The host, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, cancels a press conference mid-summit and no bilateral meeting with Cambodia. Well, ignoring the simple fact that he had been installed by a de facto judicial coup and that his power is not necessarily based on strictly democratic principles, the Thai premier had taken the freedom to lecture his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen about the dos and don’ts of democratic principles, regional solidarity and moral leadership.

The issue at stake is simple: Hun Sen thinks that not only his good “eternal friend” Thaksin Shinawatra is a victim of “unfair Thai politics.” Hun Sen sees himself a a victim of Thailand. Everybody in the world knows, we were recently reminded by his ambassador to Thailand, that the Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia. And as the enemy of my enemy is my friend, Thaksin will always be welcome in Hun Sen’s Cambodia. An extradition treaty does not apply to the political offender Thaksin.

BP: Give the whole thing a read, particularly readers' e-mails. It basically sums up BP's view of things, although BP is still not sure that would score it as a draw. It really seems that Hun Sen has the upper hand with the Democrats on the defensive. There is a different story about what has happened with Chavalit, Hun Sen, and Thaksin and that is really for another post.

Am unsure on how much influence foreign relations has on poll numbers, but in the ABAC poll a few months back on Thaksin vs Abhisit, one category that Thaksin was leading strongly was "Influence with neighboring countries (71 vs 25)". This is hardly surprising given the ongoing tensions between Cambodia and Thailand.

BP heard the quotemeister, Thitinan, interviewed on Channel 3's Rueng Den Yen Nee news program today and he was talking about Hun Sen still remembering (now) Foreign Minister Kasit's attacks on Hun Sen last year (see previous posts here and here). Given Kasit is the Foreign Minister and directly attacked Hun Sen last year, it is hardly surprising that Hun Sen is putting in the knife now when he can.