This article argues ASEAN's non-intervention agreement in its member countries internal politics as this is not as reflected in Cambodia's case. It mentions that ASEAN has repeatedly intervened in Cambodia's internal political conflicts from 1979 to 1999, often with powerful and destructive effects. ASEAN's role in maintaining Khmer Rouge occupancy of Cambodia's UN seat, constructing a new coalition government in exile and manipulating Khmer refugee camps. The article also argues for an analysis recognising the political nature of intervention, and seeks to explain both the creation of non-intervention norms and specific violations of them as attempts by ASEAN elites to maintain their own illiberal, capitalist regimes against domestic and international political threats.