The burning of the Thai Embassy and sacking of Thai businesses in Phnom Penh is

of course very worrying, but points to the fact that all too often events proceed

in Cambodia at the pace of "one step forward, two steps back".

The Thais are right to express concern and I hope Cambodia can rationalize its relationship

with its own "Big Brother".

It may also show just how delicate the whole political structure is in Cambodia with

elections approaching this year. The mob was not prevented from looting and burning

and the powers that be could not decide who was responsible.

This is not acceptable in a fledgling democracy, and they must get their act together.

Sam Rainsy, Hun Sen and Ranariddh (and other political leaders, BLP etc) should have

an urgent meeting and throw their partisan concerns away for the overall betterment

of Cambodia.

- John P Renouf Sydney, Australia