To most casual bystanders, who aren’t Thai, it’s obvious Cambodia owns the temple. Not only was the temple built by the Khmer in Khmer style, it was also built on land that had always belonged to the Khmer until Thailand took it over in one of their incursions, into what is now Cambodia, a few hundred years ago.
Cassandra James, Associated Content
I ran into this commentary on the recent Cambodian-Thai spat and thought you guys might be interested.
According to CNN, Thailand has ordered its Ambassador to Cambodia to return home after it learned that deposed Thai ex-Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, had been named as an economic adviser to the Cambodian government. And, according to the Bangkok Post, the situation between Thailand and Cambodia is rapidly deteriorating, to the point that Thailand is now considering cancelling a memorandum of understanding on overlapping maritime boundaries in the Gulf of Thailand. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has also told the Foreign Ministry to take any steps necessary to downgrade dimplomatic relations with Cambodia. As this ‘tit for tat’ fight continues, how did this all happen and which country will back down first?
Preah Vihear Temple
To understand where the situation really began, you have to be aware of the ongoing dispute over an 11th century temple that sits squarely on land owned by Cambodia, but with the only access to the temple on land owned by Thailand. An agreement by Thailand saying Cambodia owned the land was made many years ago, so the Cambodians in all fairness probably felt the situation was solved. Things flared up again however last year, when Cambodia applied for the 11th century temple to be named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This sparked Thailand’s interest in the temple and a war of words, followed by a stand-off between the military of the two countries, occurred on the border of Thailand and Cambodia. To most casual bystanders, who aren’t Thai, it’s obvious Cambodia owns the temple. Not only was the temple built by the Khmer in Khmer style, it was also built on land that had always belonged to the Khmer until Thailand took it over in one of their incursions, into what is now Cambodia, a few hundred years ago. Ownership of the land went backwards and forwards, but has been held by Cambodia for much of the last century. Therefore, in the eyes of just about every international body, the temple belongs to Cambodia.Fast forward to 2006, when Thaksin Shinawatra the then Prime Minister of Thailand was kicked out of office in a bloodless coup. With talk of ‘immense corruption’ much of the country believed this to be the reason for the coup, only to find out later it was more likely as a result of Thaksin becoming too powerful, a fact the Thai military did not like.
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Cambodian performers play drums to celebrate at the ancient Hindu temple in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh July 7, 2009. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered Cambodians, including Buddhists, on Tuesday to honour the one year anniversary of the Preah Vihear Hindu temple’s listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a long-running source of Thai-Cambodian tension. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
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It was an error many might have made, and did, in fact, make. But Gunnar Bergstrom and his crew of Swedes from the Sweden-Kampuchea Friendship Association did not leave Cambodia in 1978 with any negative impressions of their hosts.
) and comes with word processing, music and color painting softwares as well as wireless internet. Did you notice the two ears? Those are the wireless network antenna. According to Bart, its battery is also very durable. It can last up to 2-3 hours, which, of course, puts many SONY and Apple laptops’ to shame.
12 years after Cambodia became a part of the French Indochina, the Banque de l’Indochine was established. A branch was set up in Phnom Penh, which became the note-issuing bank for all of Indochina from February 22, 1891 to December 31, 1951. It is in this period that Indochina’s currency, the Piastre, was introduced.
For many people, stereotypically, Britain is a land of beer, football and bad weather. Although the point about bad weather typically isn’t true, it was true when we were there. A week before the festival, Britain received some of the heaviest rains in years. Almost every British we met was complaining bitterly about it. According to them, normally it hardly rains in summer, but this year it did. That same week, many rivers began flooding, and cities near them started going under water. Although not flooded, Charlton Park wasn’t very lucky either. The one-week-long rain turned the park into a sea of mud. And when I said “a sea of mud,” I meant the most mud I had seen in life.
PHNOM PENH – Much international attention on Cambodia is focused on petroleum discoveries made by US supermajor Chevron offshore in the Gulf of Thailand. But the real prize is the overlapping claims area (OCA) further offshore to the west, an area long contested with Thailand.
“They created ecological problems for themselves and they either didn’t see it until it was too late or they couldn’t solve it even when they could see it,” said Roland Fletcher, an archaeologist working on the Greater Angkor Project.
The ‘Dengue Fever‘ I am talking here is nothing that dangerous. It is actually an LA-based Khmerican music band, which is transmitting itself through music and resulting in nothing worse than 1970s Cambodian surf-rock flashbacks… A no ordinary band, Dengue Fever was formed in 2001 by American rocker Ethan Holtzman and his brother Zac after Ethan was inspired by Cambodian rock-n-roll during a trip to Cambodia. The band was later joined by bassist Senon Williams, drummer Paul Smith and saxophonist David Ralicke. Somehow the charismatic force that holds this fantastic band together is a famous Cambodian singer, Chhom Nimol, whom the band recruited after scouring the scene in Long Beach , which is home to the largest Cambodian population outside Cambodia, for a front woman to interpret the Khmer-language songs that so compelled them.
Most mums are bent on feeding their kids nutritious food, and Hollywood beauty Angelina Jolie is not to be left behind, for the actress is feeding insects to her adopted son Maddox.
The leaked video shows Thandar Shwe, the daughter of junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe, wearing a staggering collection of diamond encrusted jewelry and extravagant clothing.
Hun Sen earlier this year acknowledged his government’s failure to reduce poverty, saying it will likely affect at least 28 percent of the population even in 2015. Cambodia’s population currently stands at 14 million.
