Cross‑border tensions push Thai firms to withdraw operations from Cambodia

Thai firms are not just talking about risk in Cambodia anymore — some are leaving, some are pausing, and some are rewriting their plans as if the market may stay broken for a w(bangkokpost.com)t. What looked like a temporary political shock is starting to harden into an investment problem. (bangkokpost.com) Major Cineplex is the clearest example because it did something irreversible. On February 20, 2026, the Thai cinema chain approved the sale of its entire 70% stake in Major (bangkokpost.com) vague warning — it was an exit. (market.sec.or.th) Thai President Foods, the maker of Mama noodles, took a different route but pointed in the same direction. It removed Cambodia from its 2026 revenue projection, said exports had dropped to zero because of the border closure, and said (bangkokpost.com) conditions to return on schedule. (bangkokpost.com) ### Why are they pulling back now? Because the ceasefire did not restore normal commerce. Bangkok Post described two pressures hitting Thai firms at once — an effective border closure that halted exports and(market.sec.or.th)and demand breaking at the same time. (bangkokpost.com) That second part matters more than it sounds. A border disruption can be rerouted around. A political boycott is harder, because it changes whether customers want to be seen buying your brand at all. That is why this is spilling from trade into retail and investment decisions. (bangkokpost.com) ### How bad is the trade hit? Pretty bad. Thailand’s Department of Foreign Trade said border trade with Cambodia in February 2026 fell to zero. On the Cambodian side, customs data showed bilateral trade in the first quarter totaled just under $700 million, down 39.4% from a year earlier. Imports from Thailand fell 42.4%, and Cambodian exports to Thailand fell 29%. (nationthailand.com) Those numbers tell you this is not just headline drama. The commercial pipe between the two countries is still running, but much less efficiently, and in Thailand’s border-trade data it effectively stopped for a period. (nationthailand.com) one policy memo. Traders have had to reroute cargo through Laos or by sea, which raises costs and slows delivery. Cambodianess noted that this has already pushed businesses to diversify sourcing and rethink supply chains. Basically, once companies build workarounds, some of that trade does not snap back quickly. (cambodianess.com) Sen’s rhetoric matters because investors hear it as a signal about how long this could drag on. He has publicly framed the border reopening issue as Thailand’s choice and said Cambodia could withstand a closure for “500 y(nationthailand.com)— don’t assume a quick normalization. (cambodianess.com) ### So what is the real stakes here? The immediate story is Thai firms retreating from Cambodia. The bigger story is that a border dispute has started to reprice the whole corridor. When companies sell assets, strike markets from forecasts, or idle factories(cambodianess.com). (bangkokpost.com) ### Bottom line? Cross-border business between Thailand and Cambodia is still possible, but it is no longer normal. And once firms start planning around that assumption, the economic relationship gets harder to rebuild even after the politics cool. (bangkokpo([cambodianess.com)s))