Cambodia–Thailand economic conflict and the limits of geoeconomics in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Thailand’s attempts to use economic power to influence the outcome of its border conflict with Cambodia in 2025 largely failed, due to major changes in the Cambodian economy that have lessened its reliance on its richer neighbour. The conflict’s aftermath highlights how the growth and diversification of Southeast Asian economies increasingly precludes regional governments’ use of so-called ‘geoeconomic’ strategies against one another.