Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Preah Vihear - A Mountain of Undeniable Fact

Thursday, July 17, 2008
Originally posted at M|O|N|G|K|O|L
My friend Ann Sovatha, a fellow Fulbright scholar and recent graduate in anthropology from Northern Illinois University, recently submitted the following commentary to the Phnom Penh Post.

I thought the piece was very interesting and contained a lot of heartbreaking but true facts about an event happening to the first batch of Cambodian refugees to Thailand less than thirty years ago. Personally, reading this reminded me of my uncle and his family, who were victims of this cruelty and remained scarred till this very moment. Shame on these evils!

នេះ​ហើយ​ឬ​ ភាព​មនុស្ស​ធម៌​របស់​ថៃ ដែល​យើង​ខ្មែរ​គួរ​តែ​ដឹង​គុណ?​ សូម​មិត្ត​អ្នក​អាន​មេត្តា​ប្រើ​វិចារណញ្ញាណ​ក្នុង​ការ​អាន​វិចារណកថា​នេះ​!
The dispute over the sovereignty of Preah Vihear temple has been in the headlines in recent days. The usual themes expressed regarding the dispute center on the loss of territory, burying the past, or correcting fake information. I share these sentiments. However, this dispute involves a much deeper issue that extends beyond these themes.

Many Cambodians have already buried more than enough of the past. Buddhism has taught Cambodians to forgive and forget to the point that they can even forget tragic events that involve the loss of thousands of lives. The point I want to make here, which has not surfaced in the news media, involves an event that happened on this disputed site less than three decades ago. If the Thais still remembered this event, they should be hesitant to discuss Preah Vihear temple site at all. This site should be the site of shame for them, rather than one of pride. The event I am talking about is the ‘forced repatriation’ of thousands of Cambodian refugees who sought refuge inside Thailand’s border after the Khmer Rouge period ended in 1979.

As a post-war generation Khmer, I did not experience these events, but in order to understand these extremely sad and heart-breaking events, one only needs to flip through a few pages of two books: “The Quality of Mercy: Cambodia, Holocaust and Modern Conscience” by William Shawcross (1984) and “To Destroy You Is No Loss” by Joan Criddle and Teeda Butt Mam (1987.)

When the Khmer Rouge were ousted in 1979, thousands of refugees fled the country to the West. These refugees settled in temporary camp sites along Cambodia-Thai border. Lacking support from the international community to handle this huge number of refugees, the Thais resolved to push them back into Cambodia. Shawcross provides a moving account of this event below:

“On the morning of Friday, June 8, 110 buses pulled up at the border site of Nong Chan, a few miles north of Aranyaprathet, where several thousand refugees were now camped in fields. Thai soldiers in the buses told the refugees they were being moved to another, better camp.

Some refugees seemed to believe what they were told and were happy enough to leave the squalid, overcrowded conditions of Nong Chan. Others were not; one woman, who had walked out of Cambodia to Nong Chan with her three children only a week before, said later that she was terrified when the Thai soldiers began to herd them into buses.” (pg. 88 )

In her first-hand account, Teeda Mam provided a perspective on what it was like to be one refugee inside one of those buses. After finding out that the bus was not going to Bangkok but back to Cambodian border, “each person, murmuring angrily or fighting back tears, tried to come to grips with catastrophe in his own way. Shocked disbelief showed on every face. … We had just come from hell and were being sentenced to return. We couldn’t believe our awful fate. Defeated, many wished only for a quick death.” (pg. 251)

She further wrote how cruel she felt being pushed back:

“Cruel as it was, we could understand the lie, but it was doubly cruel to push us back across in the north when arrangements had been made for returning us to the south. It seemed little short of cold-blooded, premeditated murder. The remote jungle had been chosen deliberately. The Thais wanted an international incident and we were to be it.” (pg. 251)

The Thais wanted to make a statement, which was that they could not handle the refugee crisis unless international aid was provided immediately. However, to make such a statement at a cost of thousands of lives was a rather inhumane one. How inhumane this statement was can be measured by what happened when these refugees arrived at the Preah Vihear site. Shawcross continued:

“Loaded with Cambodian refugees from temporary camp sites all over eastern Thailand, hundreds of buses converged on a mountainous region of the northeastern border near the temple of Preah Vihear, whose ownership had long been a source of bitter dispute between Thailand and Cambodia. They arrived, with military precision, after dark.

The border had been sealed off by Thai soldiers; the area was flooded with troops. The refugees were ordered, busload by busload, to walk back into Cambodia. They were told that there was a path down the mountains but that on the other side the Vietnamese army was waiting to welcome them. Thai soldiers also said, ‘Thai money will not be valid in Kampuchea; we ask you to make a voluntary contribution to our army.’” (pg. 89)

Teeda Mam also described the scene when her bus arrived at Preah Vihear site. She wrote:
“The buses lurched to a standstill. We were ordered out. People refused to budge until forced from their seats at gunpoint. If only we could hold out a little longer without going back across the border, perhaps the order would be rescinded. Everyone knew that shock waves from Thailand’s decision to return us were reverberating throughout the world. Thailand’s point had been made, and we did not want to be the victims of its strong message that help was needed immediately.

Camping on the Thai side of the border had been made impossible. Refugees, herded like cattle one busload at a time, were funneled between lines of soldiers to the summit of a steep ridge that marked the border, then pushed over. Wielding guns, Thai soldiers shouted, “Go down, Go down.” They began shooting at those who refused to start down the face of the cliff.” (pg. 251-252)

Shawcross added to the description, “The path down the mountains became steeper, the jungle thicker. Dozens, scores of people fell onto mines. Those with possessions had to abandon them to carry their children down.” (pg. 89) Once the refugees began to descend down the cliff, the scene became more horrific. Even after almost three decades, I believe those who descended down the cliff and survived still have a hard time coming to terms with that event. Teeda Mam described this unimaginable descent into hell:

“Below the ridge, we could hear people screaming and moaning. Those who had been forced over the border during the past two days stubbornly refused to move off the mountainside trails, yet the press of refugees from above kept pushing them farther down. The entire face of the hill had been heavily mined by the Khmer Rouge four years ago, and everyone was terrified to break a new trail in the five-mile-wide no-man’s-land. Occasionally, a mine exploded as the crowd pushed someone off the trail. Since everyone wanted to step only where they had seen others step, they slid cautiously downward only when forced from above by the pressure of others moving downhill. Descent proceeded at a snail’s pace.” (pg. 252)

Some of the refugees tried to buy their way out of this deadly descent. Shawcross wrote:

“One group of refugees desperately pooled whatever valuable they had left, filled two buckets with them and walked back up toward the Thai soldiers, carrying a white flag. The soldiers took the buckets and then opened fire on the refugees.” (pg. 89-90)

Teeda Mam confirms this cruel account:

“The Chinese gentleman and his party had pooled their Thai money in a red plastic bucket. Quietly, he offered it to the soldier, then asked to be pointed in a direction leading to freedom. The soldier accepted the bucket and motioned with his gun down a side path as he looked the other way. No sooner had the group started down this path, however, than the guard turned and raised the muzzle of his submachine gun. They fell like dominoes.” (pg. 253)

I believe that any sane person would be brought to tears by this account, but the story is worse when we realized that it continued for days. Shawcross further wrote:

“For days this operation went on. Altogether, between 43,000 and 45,000 people were pushed down the cliffs at Preah Vihear. It took three days to cross the mine field. Water was very hard to find. Some people had salt. Very few had food. The Thais had distributed at most a cup of rice per person before the buses were emptied.

One refugee who finally managed to escape back to Thailand told UNHCR officials: “The crowd was very dense. It was impossible to number the victims of the land mines. The wounded people were moaning. The most difficult part of the walk was near the dead bodies. Tears I thought had dried up long ago came back to my eyes-less because of the sight than from the thought that those innocent people had paid with their lives for their attempts to reach freedom in a world that was too selfish.”” (pg. 90)

For Teeda Mam, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge years, what happened at Preah Vihear even surpassed these terrible years. She wrote:

“I thought the nightmare I had lived through for years and the trauma of our escape had exposed me to all the suffering and horrors this world had to offer. I was wrong. Nothing had prepared us for this first night on the trail. Descent from the cliff was like being lowered into the jaws of hell.” (pg. 255)

What I intend to do with this article is not to provoke anger or revenge, as Buddhism, the religion Cambodians share with their Thai neighbors, has taught us that revenge is won by taking no revenge ‘pea rum-ngoab doy ka min chong pea.’ My intent is to point out the undeniable fact that terrible things happened at Preah Vihear site three decades ago that involved the loss of thousands of Cambodian lives. The fact that no one has raised these events in discussions of Preah Vihear in the media is shocking. In fact, many Cambodians, especially those of my generation who was born in the 1980s, are not even aware that this horrible event took place. What they were taught was about the Khmer Rouge period, but not about what happened at Preah Vihear. The events at Preah Vihear, which was inflicted by the Thais, cost the lives of many Cambodians. But unlike the Khmer Rouge leaders who are being tried now, Cambodians do not even ask who was responsible for the people who died at Preah Vihear. So the question is, how can the Thais take the pride in arguing for the sovereignty of this site when this should be a site of shame for what they did?

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Later on in the same year they would bomshell kouk Kyoung camp killing so many innocent Khmer refugees. The siam soldiers raped Khmer women, so the our para went to help. They tookmit as an axcuse and killed basically unarmed civilians. Never forget this.

mark thsi well Khmer.

Now it is time to stand up and fight and bleed them. If we can bleed the yuons we can do itto the fuckin siam. We rather fight to survive than bow our head dpown and perist. this is the path we have to choose. And this is how e have survived thus far on this planet, escaping the Cham, Mons, Karen fates. Letrs continue our ancestors path and struggle against infidel invaders.

Anonymous said...

Touching story......
Thanks for sharing .Good bless you .

Anonymous said...

What an idiot? First they used the French infidel to steal land from Thailand; then they expect a red carpet treatment from the Thai when they were in trouble.

If that doesn't proved that the monkeys in Cambodia is totally brainless, I don't know what will.

Anonymous said...

Ohn no, you fuckin robbers, we only escaped from one part of our land to another part, that is from the east to the west. it was our rightful lands. the refugee camps along the borders were located on our lands, you fuckin dumb idiot. Not the fucik siam land at all.

We will get them back, you fuckin chiphai robbers fron nan chao.

Anonymous said...

To all readers this is the truth story.
I never believe Thai people are so cruel until my parent told me the story
With the tear is running down from their eyes.
To my knowledge most Thai people are Buddhism but they kills and rapes Cambodian worst then the evil. I will tell this story to my kids and my grand kids in the future.

Anonymous said...

YES, they are the neighbor from hell.

Anonymous said...

That is right, and until you return the temple back to Issan Province, you will continue to live in hell forever.

Anonymous said...

Khmer brothers of all political persuasions,

We are being cornered. We got no choice but must fight to survive. Do you want to die like a sheep or fight to live ? The yuon andsiam don't give a fuck about the UN, ASEAN, we must rely on ourselves.

We must not let tehm rob and kill us anymore, let unite and fight to the last. If we fight we will survive, if we accept destiny we will go to the grave likethe chams, mons, karren.

Remember the siams used to be our slaves as the ankor carvings has shown.

Anonymous said...

This event happened also to my family.

they fled Cambodia and took refuge in The NONG CHAN camp. they were among the ten thousand Khmers refugees in the buses, expelled to Cambodia through Preah Vihear. They told the same agony they had gone through at that time and how the thai who pretend boudhist were as INHUMAN, HEARTLESS, FEROCIOUS MERCILESS, VICIOUS... as the KHMER ROUGE through their courtesy, their smile.

Anonymous said...

Go www.samrainsyparty.org
to listen to SRP DAILY RADIO PROGRAM
Samrek chhearm khmer ( patriot song by Sin Sisamouth) broadcasted on 06/1/2008
"Kgnom slap teuv heuy te prolung neuv
chhearm kngom srek hao
das as kolbott
oy pgneak krok leung
mok chuoy pra yutt
day kann avutt
kamchat sat treuv

denh chor chanray
ah chor sour pouch
ah chor kamhoch
vineas plearm teuv
tuk dey khmer yeung
tar pouch kone chao
doch chnes khmer treu
the reaksar

samrek chhearm khmer
nerk sneha cheart
krok leung prong preat
dos cheart khemara
krok leung, kone khmer
srok sre chamkar
chuoy veay prahar
chor bamplanh cheart...


From samrek chhearm khmer neark sneha cheart,

Anonymous said...

I was in the middle of the fighting @ Kook Kchoung Camp. I was lucky to escaped to New Camp (Norg Samitt?) when later we decided to go the Norg Chan we passed Kook Kchoung what I saw there is something I can never forget, burnt down camp with dead body everywhere you turn the tragic thing was people who hid themselves in a Well was also shot dead. The Siame never treat us Khmer humanly.

Anonymous said...

Dear all Khmers,
I was one of the refugees in Kao I Dang camp too. Just for your information, in the Kao I Dang refugee, there were three types of ratio provided by the UNHCR from 1980-1985. The ratio card is an identity to be recognized as a legal refugee. The three ratios are KD given in early 1980. The FC (food card) was given in 1983. Lastly, the RC (ratio card) was given in 1985. Any refugee without one of those cards is considered as illegal refuge. I came into the camp in late 1984 after the FC was given; I was an illegal refugee until around mid 1985 when I received the RC card, I then became legal refugee.

I did hear about the Preah Vihea event from many survivors (KD people). The event was true that the Thai treated Khmer refugees like animal. I also like to share other story about the evil Thai did to Khmer refugees in the Kao I Dang camp. After the FC ratio was given, there were many refugees kept entering the camp in hope that the UNHCR would give the ratio in another round. Finally, the UNHCR did give the ratio another round in mid 1985. But before we received the ratio, while we lived as an illegal refugee, we had to hide from the Thai (Hur Na and its black uniform soldiers) every weekend when the UN staffs were not in the camp. There was the big search for illegal refugees on the first weekend of Feb. 1985. There were many people deaths with the event. I never forget the actions of the Thai black uniform soldiers did to Khmer refugees. The Thai never respect Khmer. They always look down on Khmer.

Anonymous said...

Why should Thailand treated their temple and land robbers luxuriously? You monkeys are sick and needed a serious head examination.

Anonymous said...

yes, the thai are so cruel to khmer people. another observation my parents made when they were refugees in thailand in the aftermath of the KR atrocity in cambodia was they the thai were more cruel than the vietnamese (not to say khmer people are fond of vietnamese people, we're not that fond of them, given they always stole a lot of our lands and people as well like siem did during the dark ages), according to my parents. my parents were native of svay rieng adjacent to the vietnamese border, and they said they thought the vietnamese were bad because they grew up in the town of svay rieng in the '50s and early '60s. but when they came to thailand as refugees, they were shocked to see how thai people, especially, their military along the border treated khmer refugees worst than animals. they rape, they steal from them, they would shoot at them as they feel, and there weren't any law or justice to help protect the helpless khmer refugees along the borders. the thai were evil and they hated khmer people so much that they abuse and even killed lots and lots of helpless khmer refugees, who after having suffered under the KR regime, the vietnamese invasion of the late '70s and early '80s, and then suffered again under the cruel thai as refugees. if it weren't for the generosity of many western countries who rushed to aid the khmer refugees, i think the thai inhumane military along the borders with cambodia would have killed all khmer refugees already.

how can any khmer refugees forget this episode; it's one of the darkest period in most if not all khmer refugees' lives. how inhumane and abusive and evil the thai military did to khmer refugees. so, the recent dispute with thailand brought back a lot of sad memories the thai military did to us. as a result, all khmers have the rights to hate and despise the thai military which made thai people in general look bad as well for their unprofessional and inhumane treatment of the helpless khmer refugees at that time.

also, cambodian refugees who were lucky to come to the third countries i.e. the western or god countries as most khmer people like to call the western countries who helped khmer refugees, are very grateful and thankful for all western countries like the USA, the EU, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and some others for their generosity and their humanitarian works that saved numerous khmer people's lives. we, khmer people who live overseas now can all say the same here. and thank you god for helping khmer people at the time when we needed help the most like after the KR regime was toppled. this is why many cambodian people like myself are forever grateful to all western countries for giving khmer people god's love, and for doing god's work to help khmer refugees at that time and for given khmer people the opportunity that we otherwise would not have under the KR, the vietnamese occupation, and the thai military in refugee camps along the borders with cambodia. the khmer people of the world will always feel grateful for western generosity.

please, on behalf of khmer people who went through hell and back, i would like to invite all western countries e.g. the USA, the EU, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and so on to come invest in the cambodian economy and to please continue to help cambodia in the name of god and humanitarian. although cambodia cannot sale our beloved cambodia to foreigners, we would like to welcome all investment from all western countries who have always shown love, compassion, interest, generosity to the khmer people to come and do business and make cambodia an enjoyable, peaceful country for all to live, work, visit, do business, and so on. may god continue to bless cambodia and all khmer people. thank you.

Anonymous said...

One day, a hero will rise and lift the KHMERS up to their former glory!

Khmer united we stand!

This is the time when SIAM is going down.

Cambodian's old say said, we waiting for Thai to be daring on us now it comes the time.

They only thing we not expected is that they be chicken out. Now we are happy that they want war.

We afraid that they never want to start war with us. Now they asking for it.

Khmer from abroad,

Love to all Khmer.

Anonymous said...

Good, but while you wait, get your monkey's ass out of Issan Province.

srolanh khmer said...

When Siam shelled Kok Kyoung, they took my sister's life. The Siam's Artillery slid her throat and killed her instantly as she held her 3 months old daughter trying to run for cover. Her baby felt to the ground covered with blood of her dead mother.

"Bong Vong", I love you very much.

Anonymous said...

To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss.
Feel no sorry to get rid of one more Khmers.

Anonymous said...

12:01, what do you expect for being a criminal who steal lands and temple from Khmer people in Issan Province, bouquet of flower?

Anonymous said...

Heh 2:46 PM

Fuck You!

Anonymous said...

Wrong answer, stupid!

Anonymous said...

I was only 10 years old when my family plus 20 other Cambodians walked three days and night to Thailand refugee camp. We were robbed by Thai soldiers before we entered the refugee camps. The soldiers took jewelry, money and other form of expensive items from us all. The expensive items can be sold in the market for money.

Thus there were no tragedies like killing or raping, this show that Thai soldiers are cruel, shown no mercy in time of inhumane situation, unkind, unforgiving, and brutal.

In the refugee camp, they bully Cambodian refugees every morning by making young males do low crawl on the gravel around the administration office. By ordering these young men to do low crawl, it gave them power. This is a symbol and the power to feel like a superior race, adrenaline to be in control, and adrenaline to kill.

Ultimately I still remember all these things perpetrate by Thais as a symbol of uncontrollable hate. It is no different than the NAZI.

Anonymous said...

Khmers did not expect red carpet or bouquets of flowers from Thais, but according to (international) humanitarian law, Thai as well as other countries of the world has responsibility to provide minimum care for war refugees. Buddhism, the religion of Khmers and Thais also teaches people to take care of each other in time of need, not to kill each other. As human beings, we also have certain minimum moral not to kill each other. For all the reasons in the world, what Thais did to Khmer refugees at the time was not acceptable!

Anonymous said...

who the fuck are u calling monkeys, u dirty fucking thai. have u heard of evolution, fucking ignorant shit too stupid to knanything but not stupid enough to be a ladyboy, everyone knows u thais like ladyboys

Anonymous said...

ពិតជាសងេ្វគណាស់ដល់ជនរងគ្រោះខែ្មរ​ដែលត្រូវពួកទមិឡថៃបញ្ចូនពីជំរំជនភៀសខ្លួនណងចាន់​(១៩៧៩)មកទំលាក់ចោលនៅជាយដែន​ម្តុំភ្នំព្រះវិហារជាពិសេសអ្នកដែលបានស្លាប់ដោយសារពួកទាហានថៃទាំងនោះបាញ់សំលាប់​និងបង្ខំអោយជនភៀសខ្លួនទាំងនោះដើរឆ្លងកាត់ចំការមីន​បណ្តាលអោយស្លាប់រាប់មិនអស់។
នេះគ្រាន់តែជាសោកនាដកម្មមួយក្នុងចំណោមសោកនាដកម្មរាប់មិនអស់ដែលថៃបានប្រព្រឹត្តមកលើខែ្មរ។​តើខែ្មរត្រូវទាមទារយុត្តិធម​តាមរបៀបណា?

ពីជនរងគ្រោះម្នាក់