This evening, the 1st Battalion of the Siamese Army allowed the ultra-nationalist group to use more than 400 loudspeakers (microphones) to blast noise at the people, as well as the authorities and the Cambodian border guards in Serengkang Village, O Bei Chon Commune, Poipet City, Banteay Meanchey Province. 


I can’t imagine how much the power of those loudspeakers will disturb the Khmer people. According to initial reports, when they turn on the loudspeakers at the same time, the sound can reach more than 150 decibels (DB), which can seriously damage the ears, shake the whole body, and be heard 30 km away. When they were transporting the loudspeakers, the level was about 95 decibels. The World Health Organization (WHO) and many other organizations consider noise from 85 dBA (A-weighted decibels) and above to be a level that can be harmful to hearing. In general, the sound of normal speech is between 40-65 dB.  Exposure to noise above 55-60 dB for a long time can begin to be considered a nuisance or a distraction, especially if it is an unwanted sound (such as the sound of a car or machinery).


Although such actions have been criticized by politicians and intellectuals in their own country as immoral, violating human rights, the naivety of the Siamese government and military, and not militarily beneficial. The only benefit gained from this immoral act is to satisfy the desires of extremists, especially those groups that draw popularity from the event. According to military rules, these groups should not be allowed to enter such military operations, but those above them who give orders and permission never care, no matter how much criticism they receive. 


 In fact, this kind of behavior, although the leader may have initiated it, is actually the one behind it, a group from the Devan dynasty who planned it to come out like this, and today, all the groups of microphone players from Bangkok, Ratchaburi and Kanchanaburi have gathered at the base to disturb the successful villagers in the sense of how to make them not bear it and leave the village. 


All of this is a war strategy to disturb the other side and has been used in the past in various ethnic wars. 


During the Vietnam War, the US military used Psychological operations (PSYOP) called Operation Wandering Soul in order to create fear in Vietnamese soldiers. Regarding this operation, I would like to steal the article by Mr. Saosekharith Huot to republish in full. 


 In the Ong Ya culture, there is a belief that the ghost of a dead person, whose body was not buried or buried properly, whose bones were scattered on the ground, the soul of the deceased would wander around the place where the bones were located, unable to return to the homeland. Seeing this, the US military organized a campaign called Operation Soul Wandering, which can be translated into Khmer as Operation Soul Wandering. This operation involved Vietnamese people being made to sound like ghosts, moaning and crying, and threatening anyone who dared to invade the territory where the ghosts were to go far away. The US military then played the sound on microphones, transported it in trucks into the jungle, and swatted flies over the jungle in an attempt to scare or frighten the Viet Cong soldiers who were believed to be hiding in the jungle. It is not known how many Viet Cong soldiers were affected by the psychological attacks in Operation Soul Wandering. There is no clear report on the effectiveness of this operation, but most Viet Cong continued operations as usual or fired back at the source of the sound, indicating that the operation was ineffective.


 In another example, on the border between the two Koreas, the South Korean side has set up microphones and sometimes used a microphone truck to play music so that North Koreans can hear and inspire North Koreans to question their own leaders and see and hear developments in South Korea. 


In the 2003 Iraq War, US forces used loud noises and loud music (such as heavy metal or rock) to force enemies to surrender or confess. 


And more recently, in the Russo-Ukrainian war, there are reports that both Ukraine and Russia have used loud noises and loudspeakers to force enemies to surrender or deliver coercive messages. 


In the case of the Siamese bandits, in addition to the loud noises, they will play the national anthem and patriotic songs. They may also screen a documentary called Camp 511 to show their kindness to Cambodia, especially the war generation and refugees in the region. They also plan to play negative images of Cambodia. 


 It should also be noted that PSYOPs are a key component of the Chak Pong Phuwaneth military campaign with Cambodia, which focuses on: 

• Social Media and Information Warfare: The use of social media and the internet to spread misinformation and disinformation, attack internal enemy unity, and influence global public opinion.

• Cognitive Domain Operations: Attempts to influence the thinking and understanding of a target audience through informational and psychological attacks.