Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
PRASAT PREAH VIHEAR: TEMPLE WARS
Much more than a simple archeological site,
Preah Vihear
has been the subject of a bitter
and often bloody tug-of-war between Thailand and Cambodia, as well as the setting for
several landmark moments in the Cambodian civil war - although despite the fierce fighting
that has regularly erupted around it, the temple itself has, almost miraculously, escaped
relatively unscathed (although you might notice a few bullet holes here and there).
The roots of the Thai - Cambodian
border conflict
date back over a century. The area was
under long-term Thai control until the intervention of the French authorities in Cambodia in
1907. Attempting to ratify the border between the two countries, the French produced a map
claiming the temple for Cambodia, despite an agreement that the border should run along
the watershed of the Dangrek Mountains - which would have placed the temple within Thai
territory. Following the withdrawal of the French from Cambodia in 1954, Thai forces
reoccupied the site in an attempt to assert their rights to the temple, forcing Prime Minister
Sihanouk to take the matter to the International Court of Justice in The Hague which, in a
fiercely contested ruling, finally awarded the site to Cambodia in 1962.
Thanks to its almost impregnable location, the temple played a surprisingly important role
during the
civil war
. In 1975, Khmer Rouge forces drove out remnants of the Khmer National
Armed Forces who had taken refuge in it - the last place in Cambodia to fall to them. In 1978,
Vietnamese forces recaptured the site from the Khmer Rouge - who then reoccupied the site
in 1993 and continued to control it before finally surrendering in 1998; their last major stand.
The temple was also the scene (in 1979) of a particularly brutal repatriation of Cambodian
refugees by the Thai military government during which more than forty thousand people
were driven back over the border. As many as three thousand died after being forced over the
cliff on which the temple stands and driven through the minefields below.
Following the end of the civil war, the old border dispute flared up again in 2008, when
Preah Vihear was awarded
UNESCO Heritage status
- which Thailand felt further reinforced
Cambodian claims to sole ownership of the temple, and which they continued to dispute.
Rising tensions ensued, followed by a series of increasingly violent clashes, with dozens of
military and civilian casualties on both sides, culminating in 2011 in an exchange of long-range
artillery fire. The case was again returned to the International Court of Justice in The Hague,
who (in November 2013) once again ruled in Cambodia's favour. Peace has subsequently
returned to the temple following the new ruling, with access now open from both sides of the
border, although the loss of the temple continues to rankle with many Thai nationalists and
offers easy political capital for Bangkok politicians seeking a popular national cause, meaning
that the possibility of future clashes cannot be ruled out entirely.
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project, and the vaulted galleries that surround the enclosure are some of the earliest
examples of their type in Angkorian architecture. Only the north gallery has
windows facing out; the windows of the other galleries look in on the enclosure. You
can climb through a hole in the western wall to get out onto the mountainside and
enjoy the well-earned view.
The Eastern Staircase
Offering an alternative, but much more strenuous, approach to (or descent from) the
site, the
Eastern Staircase
has recently been de-mined and opened to visitors. More
than two thousand steps lead through the forest using a mix of modern wooden steps
and (in places) the old stone staircase itself. The bottom of the staircase is east of the
ticket o
ce, along a signposted dirt road.
ARRIVAL AND INFORMATION PREAH VIHEAR
Access to Preah Vihear is now much easier than it was, with good new
roads
from Siem Reap (roughly 210km and 4hr away,
via either Koh Ker or Anlong Veng) and from Tbeng Meanchey (from where good roads run to Kompong Thom and Stung
Treng). Due to the steepness of the road up, cars, buses and tuk-tuks can't go further than the bottom of the hill below the
temple, where you'll need to transfer to a moto (unless, of course, you've come on one) or possibly the back of a pick-up truck
for the 5km ride up the hill ($7 return) - a 10min trip with fantastic views back over Cambodia. From the drop-off point at the
