This study examines the role of Thai state agencies and the mass movement led by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in the dispute over the Preah Vihear temple located close to the Thai-Cambodian border. It also evaluates the long-term repercussions of the PAD's uncivil action within the context of Thailand's post-Cold War policy towards its neighbours in general and Cambodia in particular.

The ending of the Cold War and of the war in Cambodia in the late 1980s opened up opportunities for a new era of economic development and cooperation in Southeast Asia. Thailand positioned herself as a centre of economic cooperation in the region. Policies promoted by various state agencies reshaped the relationship between Thailand and Cambodia from enmity to economic interdependence. Thailand's support for Cambodia's proposal to list the Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site arose from Thailand's cross-border tourism strategy.

The relationship between Thailand and Cambodia deteriorated greatly in mid-2008 when the PAD raised a protest against the proposed listing, claiming that it was linked to business deals by the former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in Cambodia, and that it would sacrifice Thai ownership of a disputed area around the temple.

However, the PAD's allegation overlooks the fact that the bilateral cooperation over the listing was pursued consistently by three Thai governments and various bureaucratic agencies in an attempt to turn the once disputed monument into a symbol of friendship and cooperation between the two countries. For the first time in Southeast Asia two formerly antagonistic states were employing economic and cultural methods to settle a territorial dispute.

The ultra-nationalist movement launched by PAD not only derailed this essay in cooperation but also worked directly against Thailand's post-Cold War strategy in the region. Instead of becoming a symbol of friendship, the temple became a symbol of hatred between Thailand and Cambodia. The success of the PAD's campaign is due in part to the support which PAD received from various civic groups and institutions.