PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia — A ceasefire may have halted the intense border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand three months ago, yet the scars of battle remain etched into the ancient 11th-century Hindu temple perched atop a 525-meter (1,722-foot) cliff in the Dangrek Mountains.
This historic site has been a point of contention between the two Southeast Asian nations for decades, threatening the preservation of the Preah Vihear temple.
Constructed by the same Khmer Empire responsible for the iconic Angkor Wat, 160 kilometers (100 miles) to the southwest, this temple is dedicated to the Hindu deity Shiva. Recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008, it holds immense cultural significance for Cambodians.
While the Khmer Empire initially embraced Hinduism, it gradually transitioned to Buddhism, which is now Cambodia’s state religion.
Following two significant rounds of conflict last year, much of the temple has sustained damage, leading Cambodian authorities to express concerns about its structural integrity and potential collapse.
There’s lots of wreckage, but no tourists
Once a place where tourists marveled at intricate carvings and sweeping views over the Cambodian plains, the site now features scattered stone debris, artillery craters, and charred vegetation remnants.
“The temple has turned quiet, and its beauty looks so sorrowful because of the tragedy,” Hem Sinath, archaeologist and deputy director-general of the National Authority for Preah Vihear, told Associated Press journalists visiting earlier this month.
The site is closed to tourism due to unstable walls and concerns about the presence of unexploded ordnance. Areas are roped off and dotted with signs warning of land mines, a hazard Cambodians know well after decades of Civil War that ended in the late 1990s.
Conservation staff, groundskeepers, and troops remain stationed in and around the temple, from which Thai soldiers can be seen just across the border.
All five of the temple’s notable gateway pavilions were damaged, three almost beyond recognition, according to a damage assessment issued in January by Cambodia’s Culture Ministry. An ancient northern staircase previously restored by a U.S.-funded conservation project sustained severe hits from repeated bombardment.
A statement issued last week by Cambodia’s Culture Ministry said the temple had suffered damage in 142 locations during the fighting in July, and at 420 more during heavier and more sustained combat in December.
“Experts have predicted that during the upcoming rainy season, some structures on the verge of collapsing could finally fall,” Hem Sinath said.
No independent outside evaluations of the damage are available.
Cambodia charges temple was deliberately attacked
Information Minister Neth Pheaktra accused the Thai military of relying on false information to justify incursions and of deliberately damaging the temple.
“Preah Vihear temple belongs to all humankind. It is not an enemy of Thailand,” he wrote.
International law forbids attacks on important historical sites like the temple, but Thailand has argued that Cambodia militarized the complex, voiding its wartime protection, by installing weapons systems, storing ammunition, and using the site as a base for surveillance equipment.
This included a construction crane at the site, which the Thai army attacked after claiming it served as part of a military command and control system.
Thai Army spokesperson Maj. Gen. Winthai Suvaree has insisted that Thai forces directed their fire strictly at military targets.
Cambodia denies that its military ever used the temple, with its Culture Ministry writing in a statement that the temple is under civilian control and that any security forces present were there only to protect the cultural heritage site.
Each nation blames the other for starting the fighting that flared in July and December. Cambodia has reported that more than 640,000 people were displaced from border regions during the fighting, and almost 37,000 have yet to return to their homes.
The temple has been contested for decades
The temple, known as Phra Viharn to Thais, has been at the center of a long-standing boundary dispute since the 1950s. In 1962, the International Court of Justice ruled that the temple and the surrounding area of less than five square kilometers (two square miles) belong to Cambodia. The Court reaffirmed this ruling in 2013.
For years, it drew visitors from both sides of the border, with many foreign tourists arriving via Thailand before the border was closed.
Its designation by UNESCO as a Cambodian heritage site in 2008 rubbed salt into Thai wounds, and heightened nationalism stoked by domestic politics in Thailand contributed to sporadic armed conflict at the temple in 2008 and 2011.
Restoration will be a challenge
Restoring the temple will be a major challenge. Hem Sinath fears that weakened structures could collapse during the rainy season, which normally begins in late May or early June and continues through October.
India, China, and the United States have been involved in previous renovation efforts, but funding has been on hold since fighting broke out.
Hem Sinath said that new and urgent projects needed to keep the temple from deteriorating further are being hindered by concerns for safety and security while the ceasefire remains fragile.
“We have a plan; we want to do a repair — the sooner the better, but as you see, it depends on the situation along the border,” he said.
