‘Don’t let your tail be tucked between your legs,’ Anutin warns Cambodia

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Wednesday hit back angrily at Cambodian media claims that he had shed “crocodile tears” for war, warning Phnom Penh not to “let its tail be tucked between its legs when the crocodile bites.”

Reaction to Khmer Times commentary

Anutin was responding to an opinion piece published the same day in the Khmer Times, titled “Crocodile Tears: When a Leader Weeps for War, Not Peace.”

The commentary followed Anutin’s emotional visit to Thai soldiers injured in a landmine explosion in Si Sa Ket province, near the Thai-Cambodian border.

The article’s author, Roth Santepheap, described the moment as “staged with perfect media timing” and accused Anutin of using grief as “a calculated face of leadership propaganda.”

The piece criticised the prime minister for following his tearful display with “anger, accusations, and defiance,” citing his declaration that “peace is over,” his announcement to scrap the Kuala Lumpur Peace Declaration, and his vow to take unilateral action.

It concluded that Anutin’s “crocodile tears” were intended to “conceal a policy of confrontation” and to exploit the tragedy for political gain while appealing to ultranationalist sentiments.

Anutin’s sharp response

Speaking during a visit to flood victims in Ayutthaya, Anutin told reporters:

“No comment. My tears are not crocodile’s tears. But wait and see — when this crocodile bites, don’t let your tail be tucked between your legs.”

The prime minister reiterated that Monday’s landmine blast in Si Sa Ket had rendered the peace accord signed in Malaysia on October 26 void, saying the mines were planted on Thai soil and not by Thai troops.

“Thai armed forces do not use such landmines,” he said. “Checks using geological-based technology confirmed that the four landmines were planted after the joint declaration between myself and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet was signed.”

Anutin said that, apart from the mine that injured four soldiers, three additional mines were discovered nearby.

“This declaration became void because one of the signing parties failed to implement it,” he added.

Anutin also said he did not need to contact Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim or US President Donald Trump about the abrogation of the peace accord, as “they could already see it from reports.”

He further announced that his government "has no intention to continue" the two memoranda of understanding concerning land border demarcation and maritime disputes — known as MoU 43 and MoU 44.