American Buddhist Net

Fri Aug 1, 2008
By Chor Sokunthea

PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia (Reuters) - The wife of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen led Buddhist monks and soldiers in prayers at a 900-year-old Hindu border temple on Friday amid a three-week military stand-off with Thailand.

With Thai troops and artillery dug in only meters away, Bun Rany thanked the soldiers, mostly battle-hardened ex-Khmer Rouge guerrillas, for resisting what Cambodia says is Thai encroachment on a disputed patch of land next to the ruins.

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by Chrann Chamroeun

July 22: An Australian man named Mario Alfredo Gonzalez, 42 became engaged in a fist fight with a female gasoline seller before trying to self-immolate after he filled his motorbike with gasoline and tried to leave without paying. The incident occurred at 8:30am in Village 1, Khsam commune, Kampong Chhnang district, Kampong Chhnang province. Police sources said Gonzalez could not provide identification because he had left his passport in Phnom Penh at the shop he rented his motorbike from. Police said they did not understand why he had refused to pay as he had 130,000 riels in his pocket. They also did not know why he had grabbed the bottle of gasoline and poured it over himself and attempted to set himself on fire. Police said they suspected he was on drugs.

By Andrew Symon

SINGAPORE - A face-off between troops from Thailand and Cambodia over contested territory immediately surrounding an ancient temple on their mutual border threatens to delay even longer the resolution of a more economically significant border dispute between the two sides.

Tension over the temple complex, known in Thailand as Preah Vihear, escalated this month when it was listed as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization national heritage site.

To the south, a 27,000 square kilometer area in the northern Gulf of Thailand known as the Overlapping Claims Area (OCA) and potentially rich in fossil fuel reserves has long been contested by the two countries.

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July 28th, 2008
by Sahil Nagpal

Phnom Penh - A rare wild gaur seriously gored a Cambodian fisherman, then injured two bystanders who had come to see what the fuss was about, before dropping dead, police said Monday.

Hin Sarun, the deputy police chief of Svay Chet district in Banteay Meanchey province on the north-western Thai border, said the rare but angry bovine emerged from scrub on Saturday and menaced a group of fishermen before seriously wounding angler Cheng Chat, 25.

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by Nguon Sovan and Chu Lap Yin

Fake and expired pharmaceuticals are pouring into rural areas, as their circulation declines in the capital due to urban dwellers’ increased knowledge of counterfeit medicines, health officials warned.

“There are about 500 pharmacies and numerous medicine booths in Phnom Penh. We have recently inspected those pharmacies and found only 3-4 fake medical items, which had been smuggled from Thailand and Vietnam,” Dr Veng Thai, director of the Phnom Penh Municipal Department of Health, told the Post.

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July 28th, 2008
By SETH MYDANS

CHBAR MORN, Cambodia — Prime Minister Hun Sen appeared headed for an expected election victory on Sunday after what experts said was the least violent political campaign in Cambodia’s recent history.

His overpowering control of the country’s political machinery has been buoyed by economic growth and a sense of stability, as well as by a surge of patriotism as Cambodia faces off against Thailand for sovereignty over a temple on their border.

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25 July 2008
by Patrick Falby

The austere existence of Buddhist monks is supposed to show Cambodians how to live. One thing monks have been forbidden to do, however, is show them how to vote.

That will change Sunday, when Cambodia’s Buddhist monks vote in their first general election since they led anti-government demonstrations a decade ago, when they were beaten and shot in the streets for protesting against Prime Minister Hun Sen’s victory.

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By KER MUNTHIT – 5 hours ago

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Thailand accused Cambodia of eyeing even more of its land and leaflets appeared in the Cambodian capital calling for a boycott of Thai goods, as a military standoff over disputed border territory entered a second week Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Cambodia asked the U.N. Security Council to intervene in the dispute over the 1.8 square miles of land near the ancient temple of Preah Vihear, warning that the two sides were at "an imminent state of war."

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Tuesday, 22 July, 2008, 01:35 AM Doha Time

PREAH VIHEAR: They may wear flip-flops, but most the Cambodian forces facing Thai troops at a border standoff are battle-tested former Khmer Rouge fighters, officers and soldiers said yesterday.

More than 500 Thai troops and well over 1,000 Cambodian soldiers have been stationed for a week around a small Buddhist pagoda on the slope of a mountain leading to the ruins of the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple.

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PHNOM PENH (AFP) — The austere existence of Buddhist monks is supposed to show Cambodians how to live. One thing monks have been forbidden to do, however, is show them how to vote.

That will change Sunday, when Cambodia's Buddhist monks vote in their first general election since they led anti-government demonstrations a decade ago, when they were beaten and shot in the streets for protesting against Prime Minister Hun Sen's victory.

After the demonstrations, which left at least two monks dead, Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong, head of the country's largest Buddhist sect, barred Cambodia's 54,000 Buddhist clergy from voting.

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By SETH MYDANS
Published: July 21, 2008

KANTHARALAK, Thailand — Hundreds of Thai and Cambodian soldiers faced off at the ruins of an ancient Hindu temple here for a sixth straight day on Sunday, in a modern-day echo of the age-old clash of empires across Indochina.

The temple, perched high on a bluff on a disputed patch of border, may be the prize. But the conflict has also created a secondary, more prosaic target: an embattled government in Bangkok, where the opposition is using the historical dispute and nationalist fervor as weapons.

The fires of nationalism have spread in both nations over the past few weeks. Old grievances have flared, and troops and heavy weapons have been mobilized in the mists above the jungle. Over the weekend, truckloads of reinforcements from each country were seen heading toward the temple, called Preah Vihear.

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Both nations to hold talks on dispute today

July 21, 2008

PREAH VIHEAR: Cambodia complained to the UN Security Council that Thai forces have violated its territory near a World Heritage Site temple, as more than 4,000 troops from the two sides were deployed in the border region Sunday.

The two countries are to hold talks today in Thailand aimed at resolving the dispute, but a Cambodian general said he had little hope they would succeed. Cambodia’s mission at the United Nations submitted a letter to the chairman of the Security Council and the chairman of the General Assembly to “draw their attention to the current situation on the Cambodian-Thai border,” Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said Sunday.

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Both sides urged to resolve issue in spirit of Asean solidarity

Sun, 20 Jul 2008

Preah Vihear, Cambodia - Preah Vihear local Sor Sarom went to the pagoda on the first day of Buddhist Lent as she always does, and found herself being held at gunpoint by a man dressed in black. "It brought all my memories of the Khmer Rouge back. I was terrified. He just came out of the shadows inside the temple," the 50-year-old said.

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Saturday 19 July 2008
By AFP

Cambodia and Thailand further increased their forces in the fifth day of a tense standoff on disputed land near an ancient Hindu temple on the border, officials said Saturday.

More than 500 Thai troops and well over 1,000 Cambodian soldiers are stationed around a small Buddhist pagoda on the slope of a mountain leading to the ruins of 11th century Preah Vihear temple.

"Now there are nearly 400 Thai troops stationed in the pagoda. I'm not sure how many are stationed in the jungle," said Brigadier Chea Keo, commander of Cambodian forces in the area.

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Friday, 11 July 2008

July 4: A woman died after being hacked eight times by a neighbor who accused her father of performing black magic, police said. Kep city police chief Has Sitha said Peth Suos, 44, a fisherman, had been arrested over the killing, which occurred at 7:45am in Kep village, Kep district. He said the victim, Chak Van, 20, was looking for her chickens on land owned by Peth Suos when the incident occurred. Chak Van tried to flee but was pursued and caught by Peth Suos, who chopped at her till she died. He was arrested when Chak Van’s father led police to the scene of the crime.

July 4: A student aged 15 has been arrested for the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in a coconut plantation at Monorom village, Prey Nup district, Sihanoukville municipality. District police chief Sam On said the naked body of Phnon Sorya was found the day after she was reported missing by her parents, who are farmers. The military police chief of security office 401 at the plantation, Kim Thon, said Khun Pich was arrested at 9:20am and had confessed to raping the girl and then by holding her head under water until she drowned.

July 7: A 64-year-old man was killed by his hoe-wielding 82-year-old neighbor after they argued over a temporary rainwater drain, in Kandal village, Batheay district, Kampong Cham province. Batheay district police chief Im Yon said Kim Him, 64, was digging the drain to make rainwater flow away from the front of his house when 82-year-old Eung Chin objected that it was causing erosion outside his residence. Kim Him continued digging and Eung Chin hit him on the head with a hoe, breaking his skull. Kim Him died later in hospital.

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07/18/2008
By SOPHENG CHEANG

...On Thursday night, 61 monks along with 13 nuns and lay people came to the Buddhist pagoda some 220 yards west of the Preah Vihear complex to celebrate the start of Buddhist Lent.

The Cambodian monks must remain on the temple grounds during the three-month period. The age-old practice is traditionally to prevent them from trampling new plants and insects.

About 50 Cambodian troops entered the pagoda hoping to stay the night to provide security for the monks and nuns, but the Thai soldiers moved to evict them, prompting the gun-pointing, Cambodian Brig. Gen. Chea Keo said.

Chea Keo said the incident lasted about 10 minutes before the Cambodians departed.

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Patrick Falby
AFP

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia backed off from talk of a Thai incursion Wednesday as troops from both sides held positions on the border near an ancient Hindu temple at the center of a territorial dispute.

Officials from both countries moved to resolve the disagreement peacefully a day after Cambodia said troops from Thailand had entered the country.

About 200 Thai troops and 380 Cambodian soldiers Wednesday were stationed at a Buddhist pagoda on the slope of a mountain leading to the ruins of the 11th?century Preah Vihear temple.

Asked if the incident amounted to a Thai invasion, Cambodia''s government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said, "I think it''s better to say this is some kind of misunderstanding," noting that the soldiers were interacting peacefully.

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Tuesday, 15 July 2008

About 40 Thai troops have crossed into Cambodian territory in the latest flare-up of a dispute over an ancient temple, Cambodian officials have said.

The head of the national authority for the Preah Vihear temple said there was a stand-off, but had been no shooting.

Thai military officials said soldiers had been deployed on Thai territory nearby "to protect our sovereignty".

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Written by Kay Kimsong
Friday, 11 July 2008

Cambodia urged to clear path for return of Khmer Krom activist Tim Sakhorn

The Khmer Krom Buddhist Monks’ Association and US-based Human Rights Watch have called on the Vietnamese authorities to lift any restrictions on the liberty of a monk who disappeared after being released from prison in Vietnam late last month.

Tim Sakhorn, 40, a member of the Khmer Krom minority that lives in southern Vietnam and Cambodia, was released from prison on June 28 after serving nearly nine months of a year-long sentence for “undermining national unity.”

...Following his release from prison, Sakhorn was taken by Vietnamese officials to his home village in An Giang province, where residents said he was presented with a plot of land and a big house in what was seen as an attempt to persuade him to remain in Vietnam. But after only a few hours at the village, residents said he was taken away and has not been seen since.

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Nopporn Wong-Anan , Reuters
Published: Tuesday, July 08, 2008

BANGKOK - Thailand's top court questioned on Tuesday the legality of Bangkok's support for a Cambodian bid to list a disputed Hindu temple as a World Heritage site, giving the opposition another weapon to attack the government.

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It'd be worth your while to read the Wikipedia entry on Tuol Sleng, both as a lesson in 20th-century Cambodian history and also in light of the current issue of government-sanctioned torture in American politics. Recall the recent revelation that torture techniques used at Guantanamo (and God knows where else!) are actually based on a 1950's Chinese communist manual for eliciting false confessions from detainees.

I had the good (?) fortune several years ago of visiting Tuol Sleng. The building is stark; it has been left as the Vietnamese found it in 1979. Sans corpses, of course. After just a few minutes of wandering the halls and looking at the pre- and post-execution photographs on the walls, I was crying like a baby outside on the grass. Robyn
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Friday, 04 July 2008
by Lyria Eastley

Veteran Cambodian painter Vann Nath opened his art gallery at the Kith Eng Restaurant in Phnom Penh to the public on July 1, unveiling paintings documenting his time at Tuol Sleng, the notorious Khmer Rouge prison.

...Nath was captured by the Khmer Rouge and taken to Tuol Sleng, also known as S-21, in December 1977. He was saved from almost certain execution in February 1978 after being commissioned to paint portraits of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot.

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By ROBERT TURNBULL
Published: July 6, 2008

SIEM REAP, Cambodia — There is no question that Angkor and its famed temples are among the world’s archaeological treasures, providing a window into the Cambodian dynasty that flourished there from the ninth century to the 15th century. But tourists who flock to the site in northwestern Cambodia say something is missing; few artifacts remain to help them imagine the customs and rituals of the ancient empire.

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Friday, 27 June 2008
Written by Tracey Shelton and Nguon Sovan

Passing motorists who glance at the building beside a quiet stretch of National Road 5 in Kampong Chhnang province are likely to assume it's just another farm house.

But a closer look reveals something eerie about the house, known according to local legend as "the house the ghost bought."

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June 29, 2008

A Thai court has temporarily blocked the government from supporting Cambodia's bid to have an 11th century temple near the Thai border declared a world landmark.

It ordered Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's administration to halt support for Cambodia's application to Unesco for the Preah Vihear temple to be designated a World Heritage Site.

A small amount of territory adjacent to the temple remains in dispute, and critics claim co-operation with Cambodia over the site application would jeopardise Thai claims to it.

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June 24, 2008

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodia shut a border gate leading from Thailand to an 11th-century temple claimed by both nations, an official said Tuesday, as Thai protesters gathered outside and opposition politicians in Thailand's Parliament accused the prime minister of yielding sovereignty over the site.

The closure of the border crossing at the Preah Vihear temple was the latest flare-up in a long-standing dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over ownership of the area.

Preah Vihear is located on the top of a cliff in the Dangrek Mountains, about 150 miles (245 kilometers) north of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. However, it is more easily accessible from Thailand than from Cambodia.

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