Last week's official visit by Cambodian army chief Lt Gen Hun Manet, the son of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, has cemented military ties between the two countries and ushered in a new era, with both sides vowing not to let the border conflict dampen bilateral relations.
Lt Gen Hun Manet, who is also the deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, has been widely known to many Thais for quite a long time, especially in his capacity as commander of both the Cambodian army's anti-terrorism unit, and as the 911 special warfare unit during the 2011 Thai-Cambodian border standoff.
According to some media reports, Lt Gen Hun Manet ventured near the Thai-Cambodian border during the incident.
In the middle of last year, he was promoted as the top commander of the Cambodian army. Last week's visit from April 1-2, was his first in his capacity as army chief.
He came as the guest of army chief Apirat Kongsompong, who went to Cambodia on Jan 29-31. It was also Gen Apirat's first visit to a neighbouring country since he was promoted as army commander.
Lt Gen Hun Manet and Gen Apirat, however, met for the first time at a meeting of Asean army commanders in Malaysia on Nov 27-29 last year.
"We've known each other for a long time. He's my younger friend," said the 59-year-old Thai army commander when he welcomed his 41-year-old Cambodian counterpart last week.
Lt Gen Hun Manet led a delegation of about 20 Cambodian military officials in last week's visit, in which he toured the Thai army's education and special warfare units.
Aside from Gen Apirat, Lt Gen Hun Manet also met Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon.
At the meeting, both sides affirmed their intentions to not let the Thai-Cambodian border dispute spoil bilateral relations, and to tighten cooperation under existing mechanisms to resolve any border issues that may arise in the future in a peaceful manner, according to Defence Ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tantravanich.
Thailand pledged to support the development of the Thai-Cambodian border, step up cooperation with Cambodian security units at all levels and expressed its hope to expand the cooperation to include Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, he added.
Lt Gen Hun Manet said that he would relay the pledges and messages he received to the Cambodian government.
He said he expected the Cambodian government to promptly respond to Thailand's calls for tighter cooperation to resolving the ongoing border disputes -- including the cross-border haze problem.
Gen Apirat insisted he has a strong relationship and maintains active communication with Lt Gen Hun Manet, before adding that Asean army commanders keep in regular contact with one another via a group chat in the Line chat application.
Prominent political scientist Panitan Wattanayagorn said Lt Gen Hun Manet is one of the most interesting Cambodian military officials to observe, especially now that he is in control of the Cambodian army.
Despite their differences, the Thai and Cambodian armies have a cordial relationship, and the links between Gen Apirat and Lt Gen Hun Manet are as "solid" as the ties between Hun Sen and Gen Prawit, said Mr Panitan.
"Lt Gen Hun Manet is expected to take his father's place -- Prime Minister Hun Sen -- when he decides to step down," said Mr Panitan.
Gen Prawit also retains close connection with his Cambodian counterpart, Gen Tea Banh, he said.
A security source, meanwhile, said it is important to note that Cambodia decided to terminate the Cambodian-US "Angkor Sentinel" military drill in 2017, while scaling up its participation in the "Dragon Gold" exercise with China.
Lt Gen Hun Manet's recent visit to Russia's army is also interesting to watch, as it could also be construed as a move to break away from the US while turning to China and Russia instead, said the source.
The Cambodian army relies mainly on military hardware supplied by China, while some media reports believed that it may be contemplating to purchase weapons from Russia too, the source added.
As for Thai-Cambodian relations, the source said that despite the firm military cooperation, the Preah Vihear dispute remains a sore point and both sides continue to maintain the presence of their security forces in the disputed area.
"The issue is very sensitive and both sides are inclined to avoid the subject. It seems there is no way to come to any agreement [on Preah Vihear], so it's best to leave it as it is," said the source.
There are protocols in place to guarantee a prompt intervention if an incident regarding the border suddenly erupts, he said.
One of the mechanisms is the setting up of a joint cooperation centre, where Thai and Cambodian soldiers come together to iron out any pretexts that could aggravate tension.
The source said although bilateral relations on many levels may appear cordial, troops on the ground from both sides are staying put and are on the lookout for any spat that might lead to a flare-up of the border conflict.