Kuala Lampur, July 6 -- The leaked phone call between Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen - now President of the Cambodian Senate - has thrown regional diplomacy into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

What was intended as a private overture of trust between two ruling families has escalated into a diplomatic and political firestorm.

But beyond the theatrics, the content of the call revealed strategic anxieties and aspirations on both sides - ones that speak volumes about where Asean's fault lines may widen next.

What Cambodia really wants

The first half of the audio, as released and now transcribed by multiple international outlets, shows Hun Sen playing the role of a concerned...