Demonstration of support in Preah Vihear: standoff between the CUF and the municipality

Two teacher’s and worker’s organisations want to put pressure on Thailand. The authorities fear law and order problems in Phnom Penh.

The organisers of the peaceful demonstration of Sunday 17^th of August still haven’t obtained the permission from the authorities. However, 30,000 leaflets have already been distributed in the streets of Phnom Penh, following the initiative of the Cambodian Union Federation (CUF).

On Wednesday 13^th of August, the secretary of the CUF, composed of the Cambodian Independent Teacher’s Association and the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, has stated that the goal of the demonstration was to protest against the invasion of the site by the Thais.
The leaflet invites all the teachers, officials, employees and workers from the textile industry, but also citizens, taxi drivers and motodops to join the procession at 7.30am on Sunday, in front of the former National Assembly.

“Through these actions we want to put pressure on our Thai partner”, explains the CUF president, Rong Chhun. According to him, if nothing happens after the third round of negotiations on Monday 18^th of August, the Cambodian Government will have to ask for the intervention of the UN.

Meanwhile, the Phnom Penh municipality has requested the CUF to change the demonstration into a meeting which would be held in its offices or at a press conference. The municipality fears a repeat of the events of 2003 which ended with a fire at the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh. A reluctance which Rong Chhun dismisses, inviting the authorities to join the peaceful march.

But the union trader considers that: “The municipality doesn’t have the right to forbid the demonstration”. He has brought the case in front of the Ministry of Interior. The Ministry spokesman, General Khieu Sophak, has, just like the municipal authorities, asked both organisations “to remain calm and to let the government do its work”. On Friday morning around 11am, the latter has received a letter from the municipality stating that the final decision hadn’t been taken yet.

For the time being, the CUF president still wants the demonstration to take place on Sunday. In other words, Rong Chhun isn’t asking for the permission to hold the demonstration, he only announces his intention to do so to the authorities, in conformance with the constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia. It must be said that this demonstration is happening quite late, while the conflict lasts for several weeks already.

Source: Cambodge Soir

UN, not magic, needed to solve Preah Vihear

Written by Moeun Chhean Nariddh

Dear Editor, Early this month, The Nation newspaper in Bangkok reported that many Thai residents in Si Sa Ket province, which borders Cambodia, wore yellow to help protect Thailand from black-magic spells cast by Khmer “ wizards” who met at Preah Vihear Temple during the solar eclipse earlier this month. On August 1, Bun Rany, the wife of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, led Buddhist monks and soldiers to the ancient Hindu temple to call upon their ancestors to protect the temple. While the Thai astrologers considered the solemnly organised prayer at the temple Cambodia’s way to cast magic spells on Thailand, the use of magic by Cambodians has prevailed for centuries. According to the Khmer-language book The Tale of Ancient History, in 1502 under the reign of King Chan Raja there was a Khmer warrior named Moeung who fearlessly fought against Siam, as Thailand was known in the past. Unable to bear Siamese colonial dominance, the Khmer king ordered his men to kill the Siamese king’s son who was controlling Cambodia. The Siamese king found out and sent troops to arrest King Chan Raja and his court. But Chan Raja’s lady-in-waiting, Pen, escaped with army chief Moeung, his wife and four children. The Siamese prepared a massive attack. But Chan Raja’s son, Prince Chey Ahcha, had neither enough troops nor weapons to fight them. When asked if he could think of any tactics to win, Meoung told Prince Chey Ahcha an odd plan: to recruit a ghost army. He ordered his men to dig a deep rectangular hole and to plant spears and swords at the bottom. “ Please use every effort in this battle to liberate Cambodia from the enemy,” he told his troops. “ If within seven days after I die you hear a thunder-like cheering, we will win.” Upon that Moeung jumped into the grave and impaled himself. His wife and two sons followed, killing themselves too. Exactly seven days later, the cheering of the ghost army came from every direction as  Chey Ahcha’s army advanced to stop the invading Siamese troops near Battambang. “ The ghost army went to the front to display their might and made the Siamese troops dizzy, gave them stomach aches and made them vomit,” the book says. “ Chey Ahcha’s army killed all the Siamese soldiers.” After victory Chey Ahcha was crowned King Preah Chey Chehsda of Cambodia. He ordered a ceremony to commemorate the spirit of his army chief, who earned the title “ Neak Ta Khlaing Moeung” . During Cambodia’s civil war between the 1970s and early 1990s, many Khmer soldiers would also seek supernatural protection in the forms of tattoos, magic kerchiefs and magic words written in Pali or Sanskrit, the currently dead languages used during the Angkorean period. Nevertheless, the use of magic could probably give only spiritual strength for believers and might not provide any real solutions. While the prayer at the temple was a good religious, non-violent approach, Cambodia may need to negotiate more with Thailand to solve the border disputes. It probably needs intervention by the United Nations Security Council if the bilateral talks stall. Moeun Chhean Nariddh Phnom Penh

Tourist visits double at Preah Vihear

The Phnom Penh Post Written by Khouth Sophakchakrya

THE presence of machine guns and rocket launchers hasn’t kept proud Cambodians from making a pilgrimage to Preah Vihear to pay their respects to the mythic 11th-century temple and its new hoard of guardians. Thai and Cambodian soldiers remain locked in what looks set to be a prolonged standoff in and around the temple’s grounds. But domestic tourism to the site has more than doubled since its UNESCO World Heritage listing on  July 7, said Pheng Sameoun, assistant to the general director of the Preah Vihear National Authority. “ Since Thai troops entered the temple, there have been fewer foreign tourists, but the number of locals visiting has doubled,” Pheng Sameoun told the Post on Sunday. According to Pheng Sameoun, the dispute has stirred such a torrent of interest in the temple that, if the surrounding infrastructure  such as roads were developed considerably, it could come to rival the Angkor Wat temple complex as the leading domestic holiday destination among Cambodians. Chheang Solina, 22-year-old Phnom Penh high school student, said she was shocked last Sunday when she saw Thai and Cambodian soldiers occupying the temple, but was reinvigorated walking through its corridors. “ When I arrived at the top of the temple, and breathed in the fresh air, I had a feeling of great pride to be born as a Khmer,” she said. She added that she was happy because the Naga statues seemed to eat the Thai troops. Bad roads and high transportation costs didn’t stop Seng Vireak, 19, and his family from making the daylong trip from the capital, bearing food and supplies to hand out. Khmers living overseas have joined the wave, making the trip from Europe or the United States to set foot on the temple, whose symbolic value seems to appreciate every day troops occupy it. Many were seen making donations of money to monks and soldiers living there.

First-time author pens historical novel about Preah Vihear

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Titthara May

Twenty-six year old legal officer wrote the book in his spare time in a bid to educate his countrymen about the history of the temple HENG CHIVOAN Taing Ratana inspects the book he wrote detailing the history of the Preah Vihear temple. In light of the current military standoff over Preah Vihear temple, Taing Ratana, a 26-year-old legal officer for the secretariat of the Constitutional Council and part-time author, could be forgiven for expecting better-than-average sales for his first book. Bes Dong Phnom Dang Rek (The Heart of the Dang Rek Mountains), which is to be published next month, is a novel-cum-history book which sets out the recent history of the hotly contested ancient Hindu temple, including a fictionalised account of the international lawsuit that resulted in Cambodia’s sovereignty over the temple being recognised in 1962. “ Most Khmer people don’t want to read about history,” said Taing Ratana. “ If I wrote a history book, people would be less interested. So I changed it into an historical novel [that] details the genesis of the lawsuit until success at the Hague in June 1962.” Newspaper sales are currently up across the Kingdom as Cambodians eagerly follow events on the Preah Vihear frontline but the author says the idea for the book arose in 2001 while he was a first-year law student and became interested in the history of the temple. He began writing the book in February 2002 and completed it in June 2004. After the anti-Thai riots in 2003, Taing Ratana decided not to seek a publisher for his manuscript because “ I didn’t want to change history, I didn’t want myself, by writing the book, to trouble history, and I didn’t want readers to be angry with other nations after reading it” . “ Most Khmer people don’t want to read about history.” “ I just want readers to learn something and love our ancient culture,” he said. With UNESCO’s recent listing of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site, however, his friends began encouraging him to publish the work, which begins with the 1954 conflict between Cambodia and Thailand and the legal machinations that followed in the International Court of Justice in the Hague. “ I want all Cambodians and the younger generation to know in more detail about the Preah Vihear lawsuit and what went on during that time,” he said, adding that he planned to donate most of the first edition of 1,000 copies to libraries and schools. Khmer Writers Association vice chairman You Bo said that the novel was a very interesting book, with meaning and structure that makes the reader want to continue to turn pages.

Funds pour into Preah Vihear

The Phnom Penh Post Written by Brendan Brady and Thet Sambath

Charities and individual donations add up to nearly US$1 million for soldiers involved in the protracted standoff with Thai troops over disputed territory around the World Heritage Site HENG CHIVOAN Revellers at Phnom Penh’s Olympic Stadium celebrate UNESCO’s listing of the Preah Vihear temple. THE patriotic fervour over the Preah Vihear temple standoff has incited an unprecedented flow of personal donations towards the national cause, a philanthropic outpouring which is both a symbolic display of solidarity and a useful supplement to shore up gaps in the country’s shrunken military budget. Through media-established funds alone, Cambodians have to date donated an estimated US$830,000 to buy food, medicine and other necessities for soldiers and villagers at Preah Vihear temple, according to figures from fund raising organisations set up after the border dispute began. What started with contributions from local journalists deployed to Preah Vihear has erupted into a countrywide phenomenon with everyone from rural villagers to Okhnas making their mark through both modest and high-profile offerings. “ The soldiers are defending our heritage, so it is my obligation to help them,” said Chan Dara, who added that he is just one of many farmers in Pailin to make a $5 donation. Battambang resident Ung Phoeung said his cash donation both “ showed love for my people” and, more practically, helped Cambodian soldiers who might “ lack food and equipment” . ‘A war supported by the people’ Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, told the Post on August 4 that while the government had earmarked adequate funding for the defence ministry at the beginning of the fiscal year, the additional donations for soldiers demonstrated that “ this is a war supported by the people, and when the country has war, people have a duty to assist their nation” . CTN reporter Soy Sopheap said a fund established by a group of broadcast and print media journalists to support soldiers deployed at the temple had so far raised nearly $100,000. Television networks have established support funds using local celebrities in day-long telethon fundraisers. CTN has collected $330,000 in donations, of which $190,000 has been committed to troops at Preah Vihear and Anlong Veng in the form of supplies, said its director Tok Kimsay. “ The response from the people has been very strong. Even beggars have come to CTN to make contributions,” he said. Donations gathered by Bayon TV have reached $400,000, of which $30,000 has been already committed, according to Huot Kheang Veng, assistant to the network’s director. The network is deliberating on the use of the remaining funds. “ The military has their own budget and they have enough, but this is a sign of people’s hearts,” Huot Kheang Veng said. Anlong Veng is teeming with troops from both sides but, without an iconic prize like Preah Vihear temple hanging in the balance, the district has remained out of the media spotlight. “ I see most donations go to Preah Vihear temple only. We are confronting Thai soldiers also, but without the same support,” said Nuon Nov, deputy commander of Military Region 4, which includes Anlong Veng.

Cambodia: Thai PM plans to visit Preah Vihear area

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) — Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is scheduled to visit the area near the Preah Vihear Temple in the eponymous Cambodian province, English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodia Daily Friday quoted official as saying.

“ He has a plan to visit the Preah Vihear area, not the Preah Vihear Temple,” said Cambodian Information Minister and government spokesman Khieu Kanharith, adding that specifics on the visit are yet unavailable.

“ We will welcome (Samak) if he visits there,” he said.

Meanwhile, Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Cambodian Council of Ministers, said that Samak needs to inform the Cambodian government before visiting the disputed area near the temple.

He dismissed the possibility of the visit on Saturday, because Samak is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

Cambodia and Thailand will hold the second foreign ministers’ meeting in Thailand on Aug. 18 to seek peaceful solution to the 25-day-long military standoff over border dispute.

On July 15, Thai troops went into the border area to fetch three trespassers who had intended to claim Thai sovereignty over the Preah Vihear Temple. The troops stationed there ever since, thus triggering the military stalemate.

In the following days, both sides gradually increased their military personnel to a thousand-strong at the border area to showoff their determination for territorial sovereignty.

During the time, Thai troops occupied one pagoda and one temple that the Cambodian government claimed should belong to its kingdom.

The Preah Vihear Temple straddles the Cambodian-Thai border atop the Dangrek Mountain and was listed as a World Heritage Site on July 7 by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.

In 1962, the International Court of Justice decided that the 11-century temple and the land around belongs to Cambodia, which rankled the Thais and has led to continuous disputes in late years.

Fanning the poisonous airs of nationalism

By H.D.S. Greenway

THERE IS nothing like a disputed place to bring incendiary nationalism to the boil. The mother of all examples is Jerusalem. Much of the energy of Europe was taken up in trying to wrest it from Muslims from the 11th to the 14th centuries. Today we are told there will be no progress in settling the 100-year dispute between Jews and Arabs in the Palestinian territories this year because of disagreements over the holy city.

But nations can face off over less exalted territory. Think of the predawn assault by Spanish commandos in July 2002, to force Moroccan soldiers off an uninhabited rock in the Mediterranean. Secretary of State Colin Powell got on the phone to calm the situation, and no one got hurt. The Spanish call the islet “ Perejil,” while the Moroccans call it “ Leila,” and both think it’s theirs.

A lot of people got hurt when Britain and Argentina went to war over the Falklands in 1982, islands that the Argentines call “ Malvinas.” It is said that Britain could have resettled the entire population of the Falklands in Scotland for less money than the war cost, but, of course, it had become a matter of national pride, which Argentina lost.

The latest such face-off comes between Thailand and Cambodia over the ancient Khmer temples of Preah Vihear, recently named by UNESCO as a “ world heritage site.”

The temple complex was built between the ninth and 11th centuries, during the heyday of the Khmer empire, before the Thais pushed down in force from China into Southeast Asia. But the Thais soon asserted sovereignty over Preah Vihear, as well as the better known temples of Angkor Wat.

The coming of European colonialism put the squeeze on Thailand, from the British in Burma, and the French in Cambodia and Laos. Thailand maintained its independence, the only country in Southeast Asia to do so, but French Cambodia gained control over both temples.

Preah Vihear is physically more attached to Thailand on the edge of a 1,640-foot cliff overlooking Cambodia. In 1904 the French and the Siamese, as the Thais were then called, convened a boundary commission that seemed to set the border on the watershed, which would have put Preah Vihear inside Thailand. But a subsequent French map in 1907 put Preah Vihear inside Cambodia.

When France fell to the Germans in 1940, Thailand saw a chance to seize western Cambodia. The Vichy French colonial government, which had made a deal to let Japan use its territory against China, reacted militarily and a short war with Thailand followed in January 1941 – a tiny sideshow to the Second World War that was rapidly unfolding. An inconclusive land battle, involving French and colonial “ Tirailleurs,” was followed by a naval encounter in the Gulf of Siam, which the French decisively won. The French dropped a couple of bombs on Bangkok, too.

The Japanese stepped in to arbitrate, and gave much of western Cambodia to Thailand, which took pieces of British territory, too. But the eventual Allied victory in 1945 forced Thailand to disgorge its French and British territories, and Preah Vihear returned to Cambodia.

No sooner had the French given up their Indochina empire in 1954, however, than the Thais moved back into Preah Vihear. They stayed for seven years until an independent Cambodia took Thailand to the International Court of Justice at The Hague in 1962.

Cambodia’s case was ably argued by former secretary of state Dean Acheson, and the court ruled in Cambodia’s favor. It seems, however, that the court decision left ambiguous the fate of 1.8 square miles around the temple, and it is over that bit that Thai and Cambodian troops faced one another this summer. The poisonous airs of nationalism were fanned by ambitious politicians in both countries.

The International Court of Justices decision was based on geography and maps, and not over whose culture the temples belong in, but there is no earthly reason that Preah Vihear shouldn’t belong to Cambodia with an open border for tourists to reach it from the more accessible Thai side – except for the fact that national passions can usually be counted upon to rise above reason.

Source: The Boston Globe

Cambodia, Thailand military standoff causes water pollution around Preah Vihear Temple

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) — The military standoff between Cambodia and Thailand around the Preah Vihear Temple has caused water pollution there, posing a hazard to monks and civilians living in the area, local newspaper the Cambodia Daily said Friday.

Pheng Nayim, a doctor at the Institute Pasteur du Cambodge in Phnom Penh, told the newspaper that she had tested water that allegedly came from three locations on the mountain and had concluded that the pollution levels were dangerously high.

“ The water had an increased level of arsenic and was also polluted by the extra human waste as a result of more military and other people in the area,” Pheng Nayim was quoted as saying.

If the monks or the people living there use this water, it could cause them to get illnesses such as typhoid and dysentery, she added.

The Preah Vihear temple straddles the Cambodian-Thai border atop the Dangrek Mountain and was listed as a World Heritage Site on July 7 by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee.

The area has become the focal point of a military standoff between Thai and Cambodian troops in recent weeks after the flare-up of a long-dormant territorial dispute.

Source: Xinhuo

រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី​ការ​បរទេស​ខ្មែរ​ថៃ​ជួប​ប្រជុំ​គ្នា​ដើម្បី​ដោះស្រាយ​ជម្លោះ

កិច្ចប្រជុំ​កម្រិត​ខ្ពស់​ថ្នាក់​រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី​ការ​បរទេស​នៃ​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​ និង​ប្រទេស​ថៃ គឺ​បាន​ចាប់ផ្តើម​ហើយ​នៅ​ថ្ងៃ​ច័ន្ទ​នេះ នៅ​ឯ​ទីក្រុង​សៀមរាប​នៃ​ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រ​កម្ពុជា ដើម្បី​រក​ការដោះស្រាយ​ភាព​តានតឹង​ផ្នែក​យោធា​នៅ​តំបន់​បា្រសាទ​ព្រះវិហារ​ នោះ ។

តំណាង​ភាគី​កម្ពុជា​គឺ​មាន​មន្ត្រី​ចំនួន​១៧​រូប ដែល​ដឹកនាំ​ដោយ​លោក ហោ ណាំហុង ឧប​នាយក​រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី​ការ​បរទេស ។ ចំណែក​ឯ​សមភាគី​ថៃ​មាន​មន្ត្រី​ចំនួន​១៦​រូប ដែល​ដឹកនាំ​ដោយ​លោក ទេព ប៊ុនណាក ដែល​ជា​រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី​ការ​បរទេស​ថៃ​ទើប​ឡើង​កាន់​តំណែង​ថ្មី ។

សេចក្តី​រាយការណ៍​ពី​អ្នក​យក​ព័ត៌មាន​វិទ្យុ​អាស៊ីសេរី​ពី​កិច្ចប្រជុំ​ នៅ​ឯ​ខេត្ត​សៀមរាប​នោះ គឺ​លោក ម៉ាយ៉ារិទ្ធិ បាន​ឲ្យ​ដឹង​ថា​នៅ​ក្នុង​កិច្ចប្រជុំ​នា​ថ្ងៃ​នេះ​ភាគី​កម្ពុជា​បាន​លើក​យក​ បញ្ហា​ដែល​ថៃ​បាន​រំលោភ​អធិបតេយ្យ​កម្ពុជា ចំណែក​ឯ​ថៃ​វិញ​បាន​លើក​យក​ចំណុច​តំបន់​ត្រួត​ស៊ី​គ្នា​នៅ​ព្រំដែន​ថៃ​-​ កម្ពុជា ។

សូម​ជម្រាប​ថា​កិច្ច​ពិភាក្សា​ថ្នាក់​រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី​ការ​បរទេស​នេះ​បាន​ ធ្វើ​ឡើង​បន្ទាប់ពី​ជំនួប​ប្រជុំ​មួយ​រវាង​មន្ត្រី​ជាន់ខ្ពស់​យោធា​កម្ពុជា​ -​ថៃ​បាន​បរាជ័យ កាលពី​ថ្ងៃ​ច័ន្ទ​ដើម​សប្តាហ៍​មុន ។ ហើយ​កិច្ចប្រជុំ​ថ្ងៃ​នេះ​ដែរ​ក៏​បាន​ធ្វើឡើង​បន្ទាប់ពី​នាយក​រដ្ឋមន្ត្រី​ នៃ​ប្រទេស​ទាំង​ពីរ គឺ​លោក ហ៊ុន សែន និង​លោក សាម៉ាក់ ស៊ុនថរាវ៉េទ បាន​ពិភាក្សា​ជាមួយ​គ្នា​តាម​ទូរស័ព្ទ​កាលពី​រសៀល​ថ្ងៃ​ព្រហស្បតិ៍​សប្តាហ៍​ មុន​នោះ​ដែរ ។

រហូត​មក​ទល់​ម៉ោង ៧:៣០​នាទី​ថ្ងៃ​ដដែល​នេះ កិច្ចពិភាក្សា​គឺ​នៅ​មិន​ទាន់​បាន​ដឹង​លទ្ធផល​នៅ​ឡើយ​ទេ ៕

ប្រភព ៖ វិទ្យុអាស៊ីសេរី