Meanwhile, in Jakarta, Rainsy's deputy Mu Sochua had held a press conference on November 6 to talk about the CNRP's plan to return to the Cambodian capital.

The Cambodian ambassador Hor Nam Bora, infuriated by Sochua's effrontery in exercising her right to free speech in a democracy, barged in and tried to cancel the event.

Sochua then left Jakarta for Malaysia, which temporarily detained her at Kuala Lumpur airport on November 7. But the newish government blinked and allowed her in, along with Rainsy who had come over from Paris, and the pair met local Malaysian MPs in a show of solidarity.

Now this is where things get seriously weird.

Rainsy was supposed to arrive in Jakarta from Kuala Lumpur on late Wednesday afternoon, November 13.

The exiled opposition leader even tweeted a photo of himself at Kuala Lumpur's international airport with a couple of colleagues - but he never turned up.

And for hours, no one - none of the activists, human rights advocates or Rainsy supporters in Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur, the last two bastions of democracy in increasingly authoritarian south east Asia - knew what exactly was going on.

More puzzling was that senior members of Indonesia's foreign ministry claimed to not know anything about Rainsy's case either and referred the matter to Indonesia's immigration department. After an hours-long delay, immigration blasted out a statement that Rainsy wasn't in the country and hadn't been denied entry, either.

But then late on Wednesday evening Malaysian Airlines released a statement to Reuters that blew the show up.

"Malaysia Airlines denied boarding of the said passenger [Sam Rainsy] under the instruction of the Indonesian authorities," the airline said.

Hor Nam Bora, the Cambodian Ambassador, had had a lengthy meeting at Indonesia's Foreign Ministry on November 8, two days after Sochua's visit.

It's not clear what was said in that meeting.

It is clear that five days later, Sam Rainsy did not arrive in Jakarta as planned.

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Human rights activist Darmawan Triwibowo says the "Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration's claim that they don't have anything to do with this is illogical at best".

"The fact that a country as big as Indonesia 'obeys' Hun Sen's request is not only disappointing but also worrying. It sets a bad precedent."

So who is telling the truth? Malaysian Airlines? Or the Indonesian government?

A fuller account of who decided what within the Indonesian government is required.

To top it all off, Rainsy tweeted late on Wednesday evening that he would arrive in Jakarta at 10.10am on Thursday morning (2.10pm AEDT). Critics of Rainsy question how genuine his commitment to return to Cambodia - where he faces a potentially lengthy prison sentence - actually is.

But Rainsy and Sochua have created a major headache for the governments of Malaysia and Indonesia, just by turning up.

Whether Indonesia allows Rainsy in on Thursday will be a measure of the country's commitment to free speech and democracy, or whether it prefers ASEAN's quiet-as-a-mouse approach to diplomacy - and the good graces of Hun Sen.