(Phnom Penh): Since the escalation that began on 7 December 2025, Cambodian civilians have been widely exposed to images, videos, and reports related to military actions near civilian areas. These have included reports of air activity close to residential zones, damage on religious and cultural sites, civilian displacement and refugee flight, and graphic footage circulating online following territorial advances. Some videos show uniformed personnel removing or cutting military insignia from the clothing of deceased Cambodian soldiers and engaging in mocking or celebratory behaviour at capture sites. Such footage circulated widely across social media platforms during the conflict period.

Regardless of their accuracy or origin, the speed and scale of circulation meant that these images and videos reached large civilian audiences in a short period of time. These are observable information patterns. For policy analysis, the central issue is how repeated exposure to violent or humiliating imagery affects civilian populations during an active conflict, especially to their mentality.

Military doctrine has long recognized that information and perception can shape behaviour. The United States Department of Defense defines psychological operations as planned efforts to convey selected information in order to influence emotions, reasoning, and behaviour. The shared principle is consistent: influence does not require direct combat. It can be produced through visibility, symbolism, and narrative.

Research on civilian mental health in conflict settings supports this understanding. Studies reviewed by the World Health Organization show that repeated exposure to violence, bombings, displacement, and graphic imagery is strongly associated with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress, even when civilians are not directly targeted. Psychological harm is cumulative and often extends beyond the period of active fighting.

Applied to the Thailand–Cambodia context, three elements are particularly relevant. First, the use of highly visible military assets increases fear beyond the immediate battlefield. Second, operations conducted close to civilian areas heighten uncertainty about safety and limits. Third, the rapid circulation of aggressive or humiliating imagery through digital platforms amplifies psychological pressure across a much wider population.

Together, these factors can weaken civilian morale, disrupt daily life, and shape public perception. These outcomes align with what security frameworks describe as psychological or cognitive effects of warfare, even if no actor publicly defines them as such. This analysis does not assume intent. It focuses on predictable consequences.

Author: PanhaCHEZDA
This article was originally published on Chaktomuk Insight.
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