Opinion | A new Thai temple bears a likeness to Angkor Wat, and Cambodian internet users are not hap
“The recent news of the construction of a replica of Angkor Wat in Thailand has sparked an outcry among Cambodians,” reported the Khmer Times. “Pictures of the Thai construction, which is almost entirely an imitation of the iconic Angkor Wat, were shared on social media, and Cambodians had no holds barred in making their dissatisfaction and concern over the issue known online.”
Internet users argued that “due to Angkor Wat’s status as a World Heritage Site, according to international law, the temple cannot be replicated”, the report continued.
Angkor Wat not enough? Theme park planned near ancient Cambodian site
Sihanakhon was indeed inspected by the authorities, albeit Thai ones. “Officials inspected the Sihanakhon complex project at Wat Phu Man Fah in Nang Rong district of Buriram on Wednesday after Cambodians took to social media criticising it as an attempt to build a second Angkor Wat,” reported the Bangkok Post, Thailand’s major English-language newspaper, on July 7.
“Temple abbot Somsak Sungwarajitto told the visiting delegation led by provincial cultural office chief Khattiya Chaimanee that the project was born of his imagination and vision. He rejected the suggestion it was a replica of Angkor Wat or any other site,” it said.
Construction of the Thai temple complex began in 2020 on about 32 hectares of “temple ground”. The Khmer Times reported that it is expected to take about seven or eight years to complete.
After the inspection, Khattiya reportedly said that Sihanakhon reflected “a combination of several famous sites – such as Prasat Hin Phimai, in Nakhon Ratchasima, Prasat Hin Phanom Rung, in Buriram, and Borobudur, in Central Java, Indonesia”, while a Buriram-based archaeologist, Sommart Pholkerd, told the Bangkok Post that Thailand’s northeastern region not only shared a border with Cambodia but also similar cultural influences and these were often reflected in religious structures.
“The issue should be seen from a cultural perspective, instead of a political one,” reported the Bangkok Post.
However, cultural and political tensions between Cambodia and Thailand have long been complicated when it comes to temples, as illustrated by the persistent Preah Vihear dispute. Another Unesco site, the temple, which stands on the border between the two Southeast Asian nations, was the focus of a decades-long row over its sovereignty.
In 1962, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared the temple to be Cambodian but did not rule on the area around it. In 2008, the temple was listed as a World Heritage Site, evoking what one academic paper about the rift described as “emotional protests on the Thai side”, causing the conflict to flare up “once again with artillery and gunfire, which killed soldiers on both sides”. In 2013, the ICJ ruled that Cambodia should have sovereignty over most of the disputed land, and access to Preah Vihear is now blocked from the Thai side.Which might have been the end of the matter had Thailand not built a miniature model of Preah Vihear on its side of the border, in 2016. “A scaled-down replica of the ancient Preah Vihear temple, announced with fanfare last week as a tourist drawcard, is likely to be demolished to prevent harming relations with Cambodia,” reported the Bangkok Post in May 2016. It never opened to visitors.
Thankfully, the shots being fired over Sihanakhon have all been online rather than from actual guns, and could soon be silenced rationally and in person. Imagine that! On August 25, the Khmer Times reported that Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture planned to send a team to “check on” the new Thai temple. “This comes after Cambodia requested Thailand provide blueprints and information related to the construction of the temple,” the article continues.
Why is everyone so obsessed with Bali?
After studying Sihanakhon’s floor plan, Vong Sotheara, director of the department of history at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, told the Khmer Times that “Cambodia should study more about this construction”, adding that while “the floor layout of Angkor Wat is similar as well as the towers, the decoration of the towers is in an older style than the period when Angkor Wat was built”.
He added that “every nation in the world today has a national identity to be proud of and protect which unifies its people”. Without doubt, Angkor Wat is a symbol of Cambodia and a site of which its people should feel justifiably proud. Without a similar history and cultural significance, Sihanakhon is unlikely to hold a candle to Angkor, whatever the new kid on the block looks like.
Monkey raids on Bali prompt villagers to take action
Human and animal inhabitants of the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali have been hard hit by the coronavirus, so much so that some of the latter have started stealing from some of the former.
With both food and tourists (a source of food) in short supply, the macaques of Sangeh Monkey Forest, to the west of Ubud, have taken to leaving the sanctuary they live in and raiding villagers’ homes, according to the Associated Press. “Worried that the sporadic sorties will escalate into an all-out monkey assault on the village, residents have been taking fruit, peanuts and other food to the Sangeh Monkey Forest to try to placate the primates,” the AP report said.Before the pandemic, Sangeh welcomed about 6,000 visitors a month, and without the fees they paid for admission, the sanctuary is finding it hard to keep its monkeys sated.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tK%2FMqWWcp51kuqKzwLOgp52jZL2wv9NmpJqfka%2B2r7GOramarpWhfKK%2B06KapZ1faH51g5htcGiZnpy4sL6MsJitZaSaurG4xGaaqKipmK61edOhmKKkkaOxbr%2FPmqmkq12Yrq6uzp2gmqY%3D