Disputed Lands – The Case of Preah Vihear

Situated on top of a 525m cliff in the Dangrek mountains of northern Cambodia is Prasat Preah Vihear. Straddling the border between Cambodia’s Preah Vihear province and Sisaket province in Thailand, the 11th century Angkorian temple lies on disputed ground. Over the past millenium, the temple has been located at times in both Cambodia and Thailand. A 1962 ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague stated that the temple was a part of Cambodia.

Access to the site was soon restricted by the civil war in Cambodia. With its position atop a remote clifftop, the temple was easily defensible. Long after the Cambodian plains below had been taken over by the Khmer Rouge, soldiers loyal to the Lon Nol government continued to hold Prasat Preah Vihear. In wasn’t until late May 1975, one month after Phnom Penh had fallen that the Khmer Rouge managed to gain control of the temple. It was reported as being the last place in Cambodia to fall under Khmer Rouge control.

After the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1978, Prasat Preah Vihear became one of the locations that the Khmer Rouge fled to. The continued guerilla war throughout the 1980s and 1990s meant that, save for a brief time in 1992, access to the temple was still restricted. It wasn’t until 1998 that access from the Thai side was possible, after the last remaining Khmer Rouge soldiers negotiated their surrender to the Cambodian government. Ironically, after being the last location to fall to the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, it was the last site that any significant numbers of Khmer Rouge fighters controlled at their final surrender. Access from the Cambodian side only became possible in 2003 after the completion of an access road.

In 2007 the process to have Prasat Preah Vihear listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site began. After Cambodia proposed the listing of the site, Thailand protested stating that it should be a joint proposal. Both countries were in full agreement that the site met the requirements for listing as a World Heritage site, and it was decided that Cambodia would submit the proposal and Thailand would back it. However, protests from opposition political parties in Thailand in June 2008 led to Thailand withdrawing its support of the nomination. In response to the protests, Cambodia closed the border and continued with the application process, and on July 8th UNESCO awarded World Heritage status to Prasat Preah Vihear.

A week later, on July 15th, tensions rose after three Thai nationals crossed the border and attempted to place a Thai flag in the temple grounds. Several dozen Thai soldiers were reported to have crossed the border, with one losing his leg to a landmine leftover from the Cambodian civil war. Over the next few days, more troops entered the temple, with as many as 1000 soldiers being stationed in the area. 400 Thai soldiers occupied a pagoda in the temple itself, claiming it as Thai territory. High-level talks the following week couldn’t resolve the dispute and more soldiers and heavy weapons moved to the area. In August, Cambodia claimed that a second Angkor-era temple complex, Ta Muan, was being occupied by Thailand, to which Thailand Fine Arts Department Director, Kriengkrai Sampatchalit, responded, saying that the temple ” is located just about 100 metres from the border on Thai soil”. (Note – I’ve been to that temple and it’s more like 10m from the border).

Talks later in the month saw an agreement to reduce troop levels at Prasat Preah Vihear ahead of a meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers. Tensions were raised again in October, with firefights between Thai and Cambodian forces that left a number of soldiers dead and wounded. The dispute is still unresolved, although both sides have agreed to seek peaceful solutions.

UPDATE – News the morning, April 4th is reporting more fighting with at least 3 dead.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 at 06:00. It is filed under Documentary, Travel and tagged with Cambodia, Preah Vihear, Thailand. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.