After Thailand and Cambodia’s border conflict escalated in July 2025, both countries saw a surge in online nationalist sentiment and hate speech. Some youth from both countries are collaborating to build better understanding and empathy.
From September to October 2024, nearly a year prior to the conflict’s armed escalation, a research project titled “Beyond the Screen Cambodia-Thailand: Designing Connection Across Sides During Conflict Escalation” had already brought together 10 Thai youth and 10 Cambodian youth to participate as “listeners” in a Facilitative Listening Design (FLD) initiative. FLD is a participatory action research approach that turns listening into a catalyst for peace. The project was facilitated by a group including an NGO (Women Peace Makers, Cambodia), social enterprise (Wocation Ltd., Thailand), and two universities (Monash University, Australia and the University of Warwick, UK).
The youth would continue to maintain their connections, eventually co-authoring a book, forming the cross-border youth network Peace Developer, and holding onto their friendships even after the armed conflict broke out.
The listeners first met in September 2024 in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where they were trained in the FLD method and began plans to conduct in-depth conversations in their own countries. The next month, the listeners then gathered again in Chiang Mai, Thailand to collaboratively analyze and interpret what they had heard.
From their conversations with their peers, the listeners learned about the common sentiments on both sides: While some Thais saw cultural connections with Cambodia but viewed Cambodia through a “development hierarchy,” many Cambodians expressed exhaustion from being mocked and dismissed in online bashing.
Phasiree Thanasin, an initial project conception co-lead in Thailand through Wocation Ltd., and now an adviser to Peace Developer, said, “Some felt afraid or unsure. Then they met, they learned about each other, they spent time together and looked after one another. They also disagreed, got frustrated, and had to work things out together.” She added that she hopes that what the youth have built helps other people see that relationships across the conflict border are possible, and that the people on the other side are human too.
Raymond Hyma—another initial project conception co-lead and academic partner at Monash-Warwick, co-developer of FLD, and now adviser to Peace Developer— said that even though there was “considerable distrust and some ignorance” at the beginning, the youth ended up developing deep friendships with their peers on the other side.
Thai listener Rungrot Tatiyawongwiwat, now a member of the Peace Developer’s leadership team, pointed out that the listeners did not have to agree with each other or change sides. Instead, he said, what changed was their willingness to recognize that people on the other side could experience and understand the same conflict very differently. “I think our friendships, and even some of our less close relationships, played an important role in helping us to distinguish between political narratives and the ‘ordinary people’ living on either side of the border,” he said.
Tatiyawongwiwat said, “What made the group interesting was that we came from different regions and provinces in our respective countries, with different professional, educational and personal backgrounds.”
After collecting their data in their own communities throughout October 2024, the listeners came together to analyze and identify common themes in Chiang Mai. On their last day in the city, the facilitators told the listeners they would do their best to support any initiatives the listeners wanted to start in the future. The youth presented their idea of a Thai-Cambodian network, an idea that evolved into Peace Developer, a cross-border youth network that continues to run dialogues, digital campaigns, and creative educational programs. By using digital spaces for peace, the youth are reclaiming these same platforms often used to fuel conflict.
They began hosting a webinar series in January 2025 to bring together Cambodians and Thai to discuss topics online. This was quite rare at the time, as hostilities were worsening.
When the conflict broke out into violence along the border in July 2025, Peace Developer issued a statement calling for peace, saying “Our histories have shown us time and again: war solves nothing. It only leaves behind broken homes, destroyed schools, and dreams reduced to ashes.” Such a joint declaration from both sides was an anomaly at the time, when most communication had broken down between the two countries, even among groups already working together across the border.
Suyheang Kry— an initial project conception co-lead in Cambodia through Women Peace Makers, co-developer of FLD, and adviser to Peace Developer— said, “Yet, for me, the most impactful moments were what happened after the project ended. The moment they chose to establish their own cross-border network, Peace Developer; the moment they continued working together despite heightened tensions between the two countries.”
Still, the listeners’ collaboration faced challenges during the conflict. Fayanin, another Cambodian listener who is now a co-lead of Peace Developer, said that following the escalation, some participants “felt uncomfortable or uncertain about engaging in peacebuilding activities,” especially as tensions increased and discussions around peace and cross-border relations became more sensitive.
Tatiyawongwiwat said this discomfort needs to be respected. He said that during sensitive political situations, “people have different levels of comfort. Members need to step back when necessary and we have to respect that. This flexibility can make long-term planning difficult.”
In December 2025, the youth published a book titled, Between Likes and Loathing: A Cross-Border Inquiry into the Online Conflict Between Thailand and Cambodia, based on the findings from their research.
But traveling between the two countries became difficult. In December 2025, after publishing the book, the group planned to launch it in both Phnom Penh and Bangkok. However, in that moment, the situation between Thailand and Cambodia was again escalating. The Cambodian team planned to go to Thailand the same week and when they got to the airport, they were stopped by exit immigration who would not allow them to leave, saying that due to the escalation, their safety was in question.
Five Thai members, however, did manage to come to Phnom Penh and join the launch. Their presence at this time was quite surprising for the audience in Cambodia, but it was interpreted as a symbol of unity and it was very emotional for many Cambodians who joined. The group has since continued to meet in Malaysia and Vietnam.
Fayanin said, “As a result, the project team had to adapt to the situation, remain sensitive to the concerns of participants, and adjust the implementation of activities to ensure that youth could continue contributing to peacebuilding when conditions allowed.”
On June 15, 2026, the team of ‘Beyond the Screen’ accepted the Artful Integrators Award at the Participatory Design Conference in Milan, Italy, an international prize awarded to a group of people recognising collaboration and outstanding achievement in creative participatory design.
The ongoing conflict continues to present challenges. Fayanin said, “While their friendships and connections are being tested by the current situation, their commitment to peacebuilding has remained strong.” He added that for these young people, peace is not simply an idea discussed in a workshop, but it is “something they experience and choose to practice through their friendships, dialogue, and mutual understanding.”
Keywords: Thailand, Cambodia, conflict, border, youth, research, project, NGOs, peace, conflict, conflict resolution, listening, facilitative listening design, FLD
Tara Abhasakun is Peace News Network (PNN)'s managing editor. She is journalist based in Christchurch, New Zealand, and formerly in Bangkok, Thailand. She has reported on a range of human rights issues involving youth protests in Thailand, as well as arts and culture. Tara's work has appeared in several outlets, including Al Jazeera and South China Morning Post.
