Kuala Lampur, July 2 -- As the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) approaches on July 9-11 in Kuala Lumpur, the political earthquake shaking Thailand cannot be ignored-yet must not be mishandled. The recent leaked audio of a confidential exchange between Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and the President of the Cambodian Senate has precipitated a constitutional suspension of the Thai premiership. With dynastic overtones, cross-border political intrigue, and rising nationalist sentiments in both Thailand and Cambodia, the situation has escalated into one of the region's most diplomatically combustible dilemmas.

Yet ARF is neither a court of arbitration nor a chamber of political therapy. It is a delicate forum of preventive diplomacy. An...