Hence,as the regional balance of power shifted with the fallout between the Union of soviet Socialist Republics and China and the departure of the United States at the end of the Vietnam War the ruling elite needed to find a new guarantor of national security.
they breathed new life into the famous bamboo diplomacy, with the establishment of diplomatic relations with communist China in 1975 despite the latter previously being perceived as a threat to national security.
Together with China, Thailand, as a frontline state, fully engaged in the cambodian conflict providing arms and ammunition to the Khmer Rouge to battle against the advancing Vietnamese menace