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Cyberwarfare continues between Cambodia and Thailand despite ceasefire
Although a ceasefire has brought an end to five days of deadly military conflict along the Cambodia-Thailand border, a digital battle continues to rage. Cyberattacks, misinformation, and online harassment have replaced artillery fire, as both sides engage in psychological and informational warfare.
The recent military clashes, driven by territorial disputes, left 40 dead and forced over 300,000 people to flee their homes. Despite the ceasefire, government websites, media accounts, and social platforms have become battlegrounds for hackers and propagandists.
According to Thai government spokesperson Jirayu Huangsab, more than 500 million cyberattacks have been detected in recent days. These include distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks and mass spamming campaigns that have temporarily disabled several Thai government sites.
“This is psychological warfare,” stated Pen Bona, spokesperson for the Cambodian government. He accused Thai media, including official outlets, of spreading fake news to manipulate global opinion. Thai officials have responded with similar accusations, blaming Cambodian users and media for disseminating misleading content.
One viral example included altered images of airstrikes, such as a photo actually showing a firefighting aircraft in Los Angeles falsely labeled as a Cambodian attack. Another involved a manipulated image of former Cambodian PM Hun Sen posted by Thai hackers on a Cambodian educational institute’s website.
Media personalities and political figures have also become targets. Suspended Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s Facebook page was flooded with coordinated comments mocking her stance on the conflict. Meanwhile, Thai government websites were defaced with obscenities, and Cambodian online pages were altered with offensive imagery.
Experts warn that this digital battle is reflective of modern conflicts. "The entire spectrum of informational disorder—disinformation, fake news, conspiracy theories—is now being deployed," said Jessada Salathong, a mass communication professor at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. He emphasized that in the current age, anyone can pose as media, escalating the information war.