Peace, Photoshop and Poison Gas Psyops? Disinformation and the New Face of War in Southeast Asia

 

By Tim Garbutt

As the Weekend War of the Thai–Cambodian border conflict of July 2025 draws to a close with a midnight Monday ceasefire, it may be remembered less for the artillery strikes and air raids and more for the war of pixels that preceded them. 

While rocket salvos shattered schools and hospitals in Surin and Sisaket provinces, one image ricocheted around social media — a photo, shared by Cambodian PM Hun Manet’s wife, supposedly showing Thai forces deploying poison gas. It was fake. And yet it nearly triggered a continuation of the war.

The photo is clearly a civilian jet with a huge plume of pink smoke - as it's a photo of a USA Wildfire jet in California(!) using a standard flame-retardant chemical.

And if ASEAN nations seem to have stumbled on stockpiles and use of Landmines in the Weekend War (presumably UN/Ottawa/ICC follow up?) - all 10 nations are opposed to stockpiles and use of WMD chemical weapons, even tear gas - again with OPCW/ICC scrutiny. Although presumably White Phosphorous would be acceptable as a Poor Man's Napalm in the jungles and villages of South East Asia again?

Thailand quickly debunked the image, citing satellite records and internal logs from the 2nd Army Region. Experts called it a crude fabrication — a digital remix of Cold War-era Russian hype. Yet the damage was done. Within hours, the hashtag #ThaiGasAttack trended across Southeast Asia, provoking condemnation and outrage, even as actual shells began landing near Phanom Dong Rak Hospital near Surin.

What Cambodia labelled “retaliation,” Thailand called “premeditated escalation.” Eyewitness reports and drone footage suggest Cambodian forces fired first, targeting Thai positions near Ta Muen Thom temple. Thailand responded with artillery strikes and, eventually, F-16 air raids on Cambodian bunkers. 

But with both sides weaponizing information, the war’s opening salvo didn’t come from a gun — it came from a smartphone.

The Cost on the Ground

Within five days, over 300,000 civilians were displaced across both nations. Thai provinces like Surin, Ubon Ratchathani, and Buriram bore the brunt:

• Phanom Dong Rak Hospital in Surin took a direct hit from Cambodian rockets, forcing evacuation of 130+ patients.

• In Sisaket, a PTT petrol station was obliterated by Cambodian artillery, killing six and injuring ten.

• Thai counterstrikes hit Cambodian military convoys, but also damaged a Buddhist pagoda sheltering civilians.

Thai officials condemned these attacks as violations of the Geneva Conventions, while Cambodian spokespeople alleged Thai use of Cluster Munitions - claims later admitted and framed by Thailand as "proportional targeting."

Human Shields and Heritage Rhetoric

Both sides engaged in strategic psyops theatrics. Thai intelligence accused Cambodia of placing rocket batteries near schools and homes, using civilians as shields. Cambodia’s counter-narrative emphasized Thai strikes on temples and heritage sites. Ta Moan Thom and Preah Vihear temples — ancient Khmer landmarks straddling contested zones — became rhetorical battlegrounds.

Meanwhile, Cambodian conscription laws were quietly activated for 2026, signalling longer-term militarization. Thai tanks rolled into border districts like Kap Choeng, and opposition voices were stifled under emergency laws - the largest opposition party, Peoples Power, (previously Future Forward and Move Forward) seemingly singled out again for censure. Shades of UK censorship of Palestine Action group dissent, or military DNotices to tame media editors.

Even Martial Law was unilaterally and suddenly declared by the Thai Navy rather than Parliament or even the King under the Martial Law Act of 1914 (perhaps more far-reaching than 112 lese majeste coup laws), near the far away southern Khmer provinces near the holiday island of Chanthaburi. 

A dangerous precedent given the frequency of coups and military rule in Thailand - and the Thai Navy largely avoiding such military interference in democracy since the Manhattan Coup of 1951 and kidnapping the PM.

Even Surin's governor denied wartime disaster declarations, despite some evidence to the contrary and necessary clean up and reconstruction. Surin and Sisaket, some of Thailand's poorest regions, and far from the halls and malls of power in Bangkok, bearing the brunt of the Weekend War fighting with 130,000 civilians displaced.

The Air War and the Ceasefire Clock

As Thai F-16s bombed Cambodian artillery sites over 2 days, Cambodia claimed civilian roads were hit. Thailand insists targeting was precise. Regardless, the spectacle of air power triggered regional concern. The UN issued emergency statements, and US and Chinese diplomats joined ceasefire talks in Putrajaya, Malaysia, hosted by ASEAN Chair PM Anwar Ibrahim.

The outcome? A midnight Monday ceasefire, announced with cautious optimism. Hun Manet called the talks “productive,” while Thai PM Phumtham issued vague warnings that the crisis might still “escalate into full-scale conflict.”

Why the Poison Gas Image Mattered

Here’s the crux: disinformation isn’t just background noise. It’s strategic. The poison gas photo wasn’t a rogue meme — it was a psychological missile aimed at Thai credibility and a rallying cry for Cambodian domestic support.

Digital forensics traced the image to overseas troll farms, possibly coordinated to coincide with rocket launches. Thai officials denounced the move as a “war crime of falsehood,” (whatever that means) yet the narrative lingered. In border villages, whispers of gas attacks spread faster than truth.

And once fear takes root, policy shifts. Emergency teams deployed. Shelters filled. Borders tightened. A single photo redirected diplomatic energy, moved troops, and dominated headlines — proof that in modern conflict, perception is as potent as ordinance.

And amid the whiff of poison gas psyops and disinformation, questions will be asked, as the guns fall silent, as to why over 20 people on both sides, the vast majority civilians not soldiers, have died in this futile war for a few metres of empty jungle, 19C colonial maps and derelict temples?