Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen said he had long ago thrown away the honorary degrees presented by three Thai institutions. He said the certificates were not worth keeping and were never a source of pride.
Hun Sen made the remarks on his official Telegram channel on August 22 after seeing that another Thai institution had announced it was revoking a degree.
He said the three institutions awarded him degrees in 2001, 2006 and 2019. He repeated that he had discarded them long ago because he saw no value in keeping them.
Hun Sen said his knowledge came from Cambodia’s people and schools rather than from a certificate or a Thai institution.
He said the institutions had approached him about the degrees and he had not asked for them. Comparing the dates with his national appointments, he argued the awards did nothing for him because they followed the milestones he cited.
Hun Sen recalled that he became foreign minister in 1979 aged 27, deputy prime minister and foreign minister in 1981 aged 29, and prime minister in 1985 aged 32.
He said the institutions might be embarrassed to reread the assessments of his record that accompanied the offers. He said he would have his office publish them as a reminder and that the past could not be rewritten. He added that the institutions had made the offers, the decision whether to accept was his, and he had not accepted every offer.
Preah Sihanouk Provincial Television, by ង៉ែត ពិសាន្ត
