When sparks fly in the world of politics, there are few people as adept at fanning the flames as Sondhi Limthongkul. This past Monday, Bangkok’s Government House was the stage for yet another dramatic scene, as the former leader of the high-profile yellow-shirt movement arrived with a determined entourage. The goal? To demand that the Thai government scrap the controversial 2001 memorandum of understanding (MoU) with neighboring Cambodia, or brace for fiery demonstrations. Sondhi, a name synonymous with political activism in Thailand, helmed the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) during its most fervent years. This time around, his target was an agreement signed under the Thaksin Shinawatra administration, which he believes gave away more than it bargained for. He claimed that this MoU allowed Cambodia to draw marine boundaries within Thai territory—a notion that, according to Sondhi, was never sanctioned by the Thai parliament. “It’s a matter of territorial integrity,”…
