Insight Guides: Laos & Cambodia by Insight Guides

Author:Insight Guides
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, Asia, Laos, Cambodia
Publisher: APA
Published: 2014-02-18T05:00:00+00:00

Border Disputes with Thailand

Traditionally, Cambodians regard both their Vietnamese neighbours to the east and their Thai neighbours to the west with suspicion and even hostility. Despite their partially shared Mon-Khmer linguistic routes, the ethnic Khmer particularly distrust the Vietnamese, who they accuse of detaching and absorbing “Kampuchea Krom” – that is, “Lower Cambodia”, or the area now comprising Saigon and the Mekong Delta. Relations with neighbouring Thailand are better than with Vietnam, but still far from good. As far as Khmer nationalists are concerned, Thailand occupies three northern Khmer provinces, identified with Sisaket, Surin and Buriram. More significantly, Cambodians as a whole dislike Thailand’s sometime claims to Angkor Wat, spiritual heart of the Cambodian nation, and remain mindful that the Thais occupied western Cambodia, including Angkor Wat, Siem Reap and Battambang, by force during World War II. Another bone of contention is the status of Preah Vihear (click here), the Khmer temple on the very fringes of Thailand’s northeastern plateau. Awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962, this decision was only grudgingly accepted by Thailand, and tensions in the area remain strong. The most recent flare-up came as recently as 2011, when several soldiers from either side were killed and the temple was closed for a while to general access.

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