Thaksin...a wedge between Hun Sen and Abhisit

The uncanny stance taken by Cambodia's PM Hun Sen at the ASEAN Summit in Thailand certainly raises many an eye-brows in the regional grouping. Prior to his allegience of friendship with Thaksin (outside Thai PM), Hun Sen had not made any public proclamation of the ties between them. Not only had Hun Sen not behaved well as the guest in a host country, but he has taken the additional step of creating a wedge between himself and the Thai PM Abhisit Vijjajiva at a meeting that is meant to be a dialogue among neighbours. Whether or not Hun Sen words are just rhetoric and his pronoucement to offer Thaksin the job as his country's economic adviser is a theatrical act to capture the awe of his audience, it certainly undermines the attempt by the regional group to promote a united front of Southeast Asian nations.
What's the motivation behind this whole episode could perhaps be seen in the context of the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand. The undulating terrain between the two countries are known to be havens for smugglers of all trades. Both countries from the economic standpoint are at different levels of playing field, and indeed the Thai army is better equipped than the Cambodians. But, one must not forget the ruthlessness and ferocity of the Cambodians during the regime of the Khmer Rouge. Certainly in a jungle warfare, military hardware may not always give the ground troops an upper hand, from the lessons learnt during the US-Vietnam War and even now in the war in Afghanistan and in Pakistan against the Talibans and others.

Pride takes on a high price in Asian culture. Both Hun Sen and Abhisit may find it difficult to come together for a handshake after the latter remarks about Thaksin. Now ASEAN has not only Mynammar (with its infamous human rights track record) as a thorn in their flesh, but the row between Cambodia and Thailand as a fish bone in its throat.

Earthquakes, underground nuclear tests

The recent slew of underground movements of tectonic plates should indeed raise eyebrows from geologists to turn their attention to the war mongers, who have been testing nuclear bombs underground over the past years. While I only attended Geo101, my suspicion is that the tectonic movements could have been accelerated and exacerbated by these tests. Indeed, Indonesia which bore the brunt of the plate movements, which inflicted untold hardships and misery on its people, is not responsible for any of these underground test but still there is room for experts to take a closer look at the occurrences.

Today, Iran is anxiously trying to join the ranks of the nuclear powers with North Korea competing and behaving like the antics of two spoilt kids trying to rush for a toy. In the context of the unnerving soil movements seen globally, from Taiwan across to Japan, down to Indonesia and the Mediterranean, we have to circumspect in doing what we think others can't see - underground. The ramification of one country's actions is taking a toll on another, with the loss of many innocent lives.

It is timely that a multi-disciplinary team of experts should dwell on this matter, and an organization like the United Nations should assemble it team of learned individuals to put the matter under the microscope. Alas, if we don't do something, we may all end up as - who knows - just nothing as the world disappears into dust.