The conflict between Thailand and Cambodia has been ongoing for some time, and it has become increasingly abstract, to the point that it has completely overflowed with a very strong Southeast Asian regional cultural flavor. Recently, what has drawn the most attention is not the tanks or rockets, but the Thai side blaring ghostly sounds through loudspeakers at the border at night. At first glance, it seems very magical, but upon reflection, it is quite realistic. Southeast Asia is inherently a place where religion, folklore, and ghost narratives are deeply ingrained; if your goal is not extermination but rather to clear the battlefield and drive away residents, then this psychological deterrence is actually the lowest cost and least risky approach. Scaring people away is certainly better than having them blown up, and within the moral framework of modern warfare, this is a gray but "reasonable" choice. You could call it psychological warfare, or you could say it is to avoid civilian casualties; in any case, it results in no deaths or bloodshed while still creating ongoing pressure.

Cambodia reported this matter to the United Nations. To be honest, it's not surprising, but it does carry a hint of dark humor. The United Nations often struggles to mediate even real border conflicts, let alone rule on issues like whether "ghosts screaming at midnight counts as a violation." However, whether or not the complaint succeeds is not important; what matters is to first occupy the narrative and label the other side with tags like "harassing civilians" and "psychological intimidation" to accumulate leverage for future negotiations.

Thailand is actually quite clear about this; the ghost calling is just a means, the real moral leverage lies in the electric fraud parks. As long as the targets of the crackdown are consistently aimed at electric fraud, casinos, and gray-black industries—things that are universally detested—the international public opinion naturally stands on high ground. Fighting against electric fraud itself is politically correct. But there is only one prerequisite: it must be done with sufficient precision. Once there are images of civilian casualties or controlled laborers, the moral advantage will instantly backfire, and the "just action" will immediately be packaged as a pretext for military expansion.

So this conflict has not really resembled a traditional war from the very beginning; rather, it resembles an information war and a moral war cloaked in a military shell. The border friction is real, and the escalation of firepower is also real, but what both sides are truly competing over is not who has the stronger firepower, but who can tell the better story and who can occupy the position of "justice" in the international system and public opinion arena. The ghost calls are merely a highly regional characteristic and an extremely low-cost tactical symbol. In this era, artillery can only solve half of the problems; the other half is often left to the megaphones of public opinion, cameras, reports, and United Nations meeting rooms.