Cambodian customs chief pushes back against calls to boycott Thai goods

Cambodia’s director general of customs, Kun Nhim, has rejected appeals from some Cambodian citizens who are urging a nationwide boycott of Thai products. The campaign has been circulating on social media following recent border clashes and has been publicly supported by Hun Sina, the sister of former prime minister Hun Sen.
Speaking at the third Cambodia customs forum on November 14, Kun Nhim said the customs department follows state policy and does not act based on emotion or online pressure. He said Cambodia is a member of the World Trade Organization and of ASEAN, which means legitimate Thai goods that are not on the government’s restricted list remain legal to import.
He explained that the only items currently banned are the four categories of strategic goods that the government restricted earlier this year. Everything else can still enter the market. The challenge, he added, is that the Cambodia-Thailand border remains closed, so even those who want to import cannot do so except through limited tax channels.
Kun Nhim said market demand ultimately decides how much Thai merchandise enters the country. If consumers stop buying or reduce purchases, importers will scale back on their own. He stressed that personal sentiment is separate from legal principles because no regulation forces Cambodians to buy or avoid Thai goods, apart from items formally prohibited by the state.
The boycott movement emerged after tensions escalated on May 28 and again on June 24, eventually leading to a five-day conflict in July. Cambodians began refusing Thai imports, while Thailand also halted imports from Cambodia.
On July 16, Cambodia’s customs authority banned the import of vegetables, fruit, fuel, and gas from Thailand. Senate president Hun Sen then announced a halt to strategic imports, including electricity, internet, fuel, and gas, and also ended the broadcasting of Thai films in Cambodia.
Despite those measures, some goods linked to well-connected companies continued moving across the border. Steel from a company owned by Tea Banh reportedly entered through Koh Kong, while hides transported through Thailand from India reached Cambodia via Banteay Meanchey through a business associated with Hun Sen’s son.
Development researcher Meas Nee said the tit for tat boycotts amount to a long-term economic loss for both countries. He warned that Cambodia’s economy is not yet strong enough to sustain a broad boycott. After rejecting Thai goods, many Cambodians simply shifted to Vietnamese products.
Trade figures show Cambodia exported nearly 600 million dollars of goods to Thailand this year, a decline of 10.7 percent. Thai exports to Cambodia totaled more than 2.3 billion dollars, down 7.6 percent.