EYE WORLD
Letter from Bangkokfrom Our Own Correspondent
AS everyone familiar with the
m
afia knows, wars between families are the most bitter – especially when they were once allies, and money and pride are at stake.
We don’t know for sure if it was the push by billionaire ex-Thai PM (and still current political godfather) Thaksin Shinawatra to legalise gambling here that riled the ruling Hun family next door in Cambodia. (Such a move could well throttle their casino and money laundering golden geese.) But we do suspect the five days of military clashes that left dozens dead and injured last month might have been about more than old claims to an outlying jungle border area marked by crumbling stone temples.