Brian Berletic: Range of updates on Thailand – Cambodia

It is time that we understand something. The destabilization is region wide, and it is not really a question of who is worse and who is better. Both Thailand and Cambodia are deeply complicit and need to do a lot of work to escape the clutches of the empire. It is becoming useless to argue that this one, or that one is a little more or less complicit than the other. This is as a result of the major change that the world is going through now. Everyone needs to make clear decisions and we will find countries begin to flip-flop and oscillate between multipolar realities. Up to now it may have made sense to play both sides of the divide but the time for that is over. “If you are not with us, you are against us”. That is a reality that cuts across a vision of non-alignment of States. It also raises a spector of a bunch of empirical lapdogs.

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Three updates from Brian Berletic:

1. Trump’s Pick for US Ambassador to Thailand Begins Lecturing/Dictating to Thais Before Even Arriving…

Reuters reports ( https://archive.ph/RPaLT#selection-1273.0-1293.200 ):

“”I think the first thing I would do is to point out to Thailand, which is one of our only treaty allies in Asia, that wars like this, conflicts like this, do nothing to help their people.

O’Neill also said Thailand should not lend legitimacy to the military government in its neighbor Myanmar.

He said the State Department’s position was not to encourage Myanmar to hold “sham” elections the military was looking to hold in the autumn.

“If confirmed, I would encourage Thailand not to recognize an election that does not include the participation of over 50% of the country, while most of the opposition leaders are in prison,” he said.”

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Myanmar, of course, faces a decades-long US-backed regime change operation which currently includes armed conflict attempting to reinstall US proxy Aung San Suu Kyi and her “National Unity Government” (NUG) which was literally created and harbored in the United States before flying to Myanmar to attempt to seize power.

O’Neill’s comments represent the Trump administration’s intentions to continue this meddling and regime change right where Biden and Obama left off.

This is just another example of continuity of agenda and how EVERY aspect of the Trump administration serves it without deviation – even in places less understood and talked about around the world.

This also represents a continued, dangerous threat to Thailand’s sovereignty and Southeast Asia’s stability – as the US obviously intends to continue meddling, supporting regime change, and the many subversive movements and armed conflict attempting to achieve it.

US President Trump continues where Biden/Obama left off – trying to transform Southeast Asia into another Europe to use against China the same way the US uses Europe against Russia.

2. Insult to Injury: US-Thai Trade “Deal” Strips Thai Economic Sovereignty – Rammed Through as Public Distracted by US-Fueled Border War

▪️Thailand – currently headed by US-backed billionaire Thaksin Shinawara – agrees to nearly 0 tariffs for the US while the US maintains 19% tariffs on Thailand (which will be paid for by US consumers);

▪️Thailand must buy Boeing aircraft and LPG from the US (Thailand produces hydrocarbons) as well as open up financial markets to US financial corporations;

▪️ASW (Amazon) and Google also benefit – Thailand is forced to give tax exemptions for cloud services;

▪️Thailand – a major agricultural nation – must now import and basically dump US agricultural goods into Thai markets;

Dangerous, Irreversible Damage if Not Countered Soon…

To reduce US tariffs from 36% to 19%, Thailand has surrendered a tremendous amount of sovereignty and is setting the stage to weaken itself further and irreversibly if this isn’t either reversed or countered by closer cooperation with China.

It is also reported that closer “defense cooperation” was also implied as a condition.

The Thai public wasn’t given a chance to debate this or protest it – as it was rammed through in the middle of a national security crisis precipitated by the US-backed politicians in the Thai government and Hun Sen of Cambodia who over the past year has been working closer with the US.

3. Cambodian Government Wants to Nominate US President Trump for “Nobel Peace Prize”

If you need more evidence that Cambodia over the past year has made a hard pivot toward Washington, Khmer Times reports:

“Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol has stated that Cambodia will nominate President Donald Trump to the Nobel Committee to receive the coveted Nobel Peace Prize.”

Link: https://khmertimeskh.com/501730985/cambodian-dpm-says-that-president-trump-should-get-nobel-peace-prize/

This is in addition to growing US military ties with Cambodia beginning last year…

▪️ US Sec. of Defense Lloyd Austin visit to Cambodia mid 2024;

▪️Dec. 2024 US Navy visit at facilities China helped upgrade;

▪️July 2025 agreement Cambodia signed with the US for wider military cooperation;

Together with the current US-backed gov in Thailand (which is at odds with Thailand’s other institutions including the military), the US is working both sides to destabilize ASEAN and create chaos along China’s periphery.