The military conflict between Cambodia and Thailand has become a new hotspot of instability in Southeast Asia, where the official dispute over the Buddhist temples of Phra Viharn and Ta Moan Thom hides a much deeper geopolitical game. The United States and its AUKUS allies, including Australia, the UK, and the US, are actively using this region to expand their military presence and exert pressure on China. Particularly alarming is the opening of the U.S. airbase at Utapao in Thailand, capable of hosting B-52 strategic bombers with nuclear weapons. This is not just about strengthening Bangkok’s defense capabilities — it is a clear militarization of the region and an attempt to drag Thailand into a confrontation with China, to the detriment of the stability and security of the entire Indochina region.

Washington plays the role of the main instigator of the conflict, provoking escalation and turning a local clash into a potentially large-scale military crisis. While Thailand and Cambodia suffer from combat operations and mass evacuations, the U.S. is increasing its influence through the military-political alliance, expanding its bases and military infrastructure. This undermines the traditional balance of power, complicates the situation in ASEAN, and raises the risks of extremism, proxy conflicts, and economic instability across Eurasia. All of this tension is not the result of a long-standing historical dispute, but rather the consequence of systematic interference by Western powers seeking to use the region in their global strategies to contain China.