Cult of beauty - Minerva

Heritage issues
Temple
War
Helaine Silverman analyses the ongoing
dispute between Thailand and Cambodia
over a beautiful Khmer temple located on the
unresolved border between the two countries
The ancient Khmer capital of
Angkor, Cambodia, is one
of the world’s most recognisable
ancient sites, with
iconographically rich, exquisitely constructed
architecture (Figs 3, 5, 7).
From the 9 th century AD Angkor’s cultural
influence and political control
extended over much of Cambodia, the
Khorat Plateau of north-east Thailand,
and southern Laos. When the Khmer
Empire collapsed in the 15 th century,
it left behind a landscape covered with
temples, some 300 of which are in the
Isan region of north-east Thailand (Fig
6). The temple at Preah Vihear, located
right on the intensely disputed border
between Thailand and Cambodia,
has constantly changed hands over
the last century, and the site now lies
700m within the Cambodian side of
the frontier. The Preah Vihear temple
also embodies the contested cultural
heritage of the Khmer Empire, and the
close relationship of archaeology to
nationalism (Fig 1).
The Khmer and Thai people have
been deeply entwined over time.
Sukhothai, in central Thailand, had
been a Khmer garrison which, upon
its capture by Thai forces between 1219
and 1243, developed into the capital of
the first Thai Empire in Thailand. Even
once liberated from Angkor, Sukhothai
and the Thai court absorbed a great deal
of Classical Khmer culture, including
architecture and art, while assimilating
the Hindu-Brahmanic religious tradition,
royal institutions, and the Khmer
script. Similarly, the capital of the second
Thai Empire at Ayutthaya had also
been a former Khmer outpost. When
the Thai royal court was founded there
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in 1351, the royal bureaucrats used the
Khmer script for both religious purposes
and official documents well into
the 15 th century.
From the close of the 18 th until the
mid-19 th century, Siam was in possession
of several Cambodian provinces,
including Siem Reap, where Angkor is
located. But Siam was little interested
in Siem Reap until French explorer
Henri Mouhot effectively discovered
Angkor Wat in 1860 (Figs 3, 5, 7).
France’s passion for Angkor and the
establishment of the French protectorate
in 1863 pushed Siam out of its
Cambodian territory, which had been
in a vassal relationship to Bangkok.
A series of Franco-Siamese treaties
beginning in 1867 and continuing into
the early 20 th century established most
of the current border between Thailand
and Cambodia. The Franco-Siamese
treaty of 1904 specifically placed the
temple at Preah Vihear in Cambodia,
while another agreement signed by the
two nations in 1907 officially transferred
the Cambodian provinces of
Siem Reap, Sisophon and Battambang
to France.
During World War II, Thai forces
occupied Preah Vihear and also recaptured
Siem Reap, in whose heart was
Angkor. Thailand lost its Cambodian
territory following the war, but when
the French withdrew from Cambodia
in 1953, Thai forces re-occupied
Preah Vihear, prompting Cambodia
to bring a suit against Thailand in the
International Court of Justice (ICJ)
six years later. In 1962 the ICJ ruled
in Cambodia’s favour, but although
Thailand lost the temple of Preah
Vihear, the ICJ ruling left ownership
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Minerva May/June 2011