The long-simmering conflict between Thailand and Cambodia over the demarcation of their 817km border has exploded in 2025, with batteries of air strikes and heavy artillery that have killed more than 40 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.

But what are the root causes of the conflict? In this epic edition of Bangkok Post’s “Deeper Dive” podcast, Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Professor of International Relations at the Faculty of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, explains that the resentments date back a thousand years, the disputed border is a coloniallegacy and the hostilities are intertwined with both Thai and Cambodian domestic politics.

Casinos polarise opinion. They’re legal in parts of north America and Europe but mostly illegal in the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia – including Thailand. But that could be changing.

The legalisation of casinos is part of the Entertainment Complex bill in the Thai parliament. The draft bill states that a casino can take no more than 10% of an integrated complex that also includes components such as a hotel, a shoppingmall, an amusement park, bars and restaurants. These complexes must be in specific tourist zones such as Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket and Chiang Mai. For Thai nationals, access to the casino is heavily restricted, with possible requirements to pay a 5,000 baht entrance fee and prove bank deposits of up to 50 million baht. Earnings are subject to a 17% tax and there would be strict screening, monitoring and oversight to prevent crimes such as money laundering.

Advocates say these family-friendly complexes can significantly raise revenues from tourism spending, providing a new reason for visitors to enter the country. Thedisadvantages, opponents say, are a likely increase in crime and gambling addiction, and even general moral decay.

On this episode of Deeper Dive, Dave Kendall speaks with an expert in the field of building entertainment complexes with casinos in countries where they were previously illegal: Bo Bernhard, Vice President of Economic Development at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

US President Donald Trump has cut off mostof America’s foreign aid programmes, directly affecting Thailand and its neighbours. The affected projects range from hospitals and refugee support to earthquake relief and clean energy, and people have already died as a result.Which projects have been shut down, how is the humanitarian community coping and what hope is there for the future?

Dave Kendall speaks to Phil Robertson, the former deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch and the current Director of Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates Consultancy.