Hun Sen, Hun Manet fuelling border tensions for succession, says Thai general
Thai general says Hun Sen–Hun Manet are lighting the Thai–Cambodian border fire to build profiles and secure succession — and it will ruin both father and son
Lt Gen Wanchana Sawasdee, an adviser at the National Defence Studies Institute under the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, posted on Facebook on Saturday (December 13) under the title: “War builds a profile, but in the end it ruins both father and son.”
In the post, he wrote:
While Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping purge corruption to strengthen the “state”, Hun Sen purges rivals to strengthen the “family”.
The difference is clearest when we look at two major “military operations” associated with him:
A profile-building war (Khao Phra Wihan, 2008–2011)
Do you remember the Thai–Cambodian border dispute over Preah Vihear Temple? Looking back, it felt more like an “apprenticeship” than anything else.
At the time, Hun Manet — Hun Sen’s eldest son — had just graduated from West Point. He had the degree, but lacked the “jungle warrior” experience recognised by Cambodia’s older generation of generals.
Hun Sen used the border clashes as a stage to introduce his son as a “defender of the nation”.
Even though they lost militarily, the confrontation was not truly about seizing territory — it was about “building a résumé” to pave the way for Manet’s rise to a senior military command, ensuring the gun barrels would remain firmly in the hands of the Hun family.
A war for succession (2023–present)
While Putin has waged a full-scale war to seize territory in Ukraine, Hun Sen’s latest “war” has been an operation to consolidate total control at home.
The political purge ahead of the 2023 power transfer was a military-style operation in another guise. This was not about national security, but “career security”.
The goal was to clear the board so his son could inherit the premiership without opposition. But that effort has proved futile: today, Manet has effectively vanished from the clash dynamic, as the father who tried to “build” him has stepped in to command the game himself.
This only underscores Manet’s inexperience in governing and highlights Hun Sen’s push to protect his own interests as the confrontation nears its end — perhaps the final chapter in the Hun family’s grip on Cambodia.
In short, this endgame will cost the father, the son, and power itself.
