Sunday, August 1, 2010

Temple Row Sours Thai-Cambodian Ties—Again

Saturday, July 31, 2010
By MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR / IPS

BANGKOK - Thailand’s tempestuous relationship with its eastern neighbor Cambodia looks set to worsen, fueled by the latest round of anger over the future of a 10th-century Hindu Khmer temple perched atop a steep cliff along the two countries’ border.

By Friday, Bangkok and Phnom Penh were both claiming victory following a decision by the UN-backed World Heritage Committee (WHC) to postpone until next year a decision about a management plan for the temple, a World Heritage Site listed by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Cambodia had an edge going into this week’s WHC’s meeting in Brasilia, after the much poorer and less powerful Southeast Asian nation had succeeded in getting the committee to recognize Preah Vihear as one of its own UNESCO heritage sites at a 2008 meeting in Quebec.
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