PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AFP) — Cambodia’s powerful former leader Hun Sen on Monday blasted a social media video of a man shooting at his image during a carnival in Thailand, amid simmering tensions over the nations’ disputed border.
In the video, which Hun Sen posted on social media alongside his statement, a man in a khaki uniform is seen raising an air rifle and firing at a paper target with the politician’s portrait, inside a carnival booth with hanging plushie prizes.
The former premier urged Cambodians not to respond in kind, calling the carnival game, with “WANTED” written above his picture, “disgraceful” and “immoral behavior.”
“Please do not take any actions that would affect Thai companies or Thai citizens who are living and working in Cambodia,” Hun Sen added.
“I still believe that the majority of Thai people do not want to be enemies of the Cambodian people.”
But he also called on Cambodians who are “hurt by or unhappy with Thailand” to stop purchasing goods from the country and using Thai currency.
Cambodia banned imports of Thai fruit, vegetables and fuel earlier this year, while its neighbor restricted border crossings, but Cambodian officials had not previously called for a boycott.
Thai media reported in August on a fair in Thailand’s southern Krabi province where patrons could shoot air guns at paper targets with Hun Sen’s portrait, similar to the ones in the video shared by him on Monday.
Territorial tensions between the two countries spiralled in July into the deadliest military clashes, killing more than 40 people.