Friday, August 01, 2008

Cambodian PM's wife prays at disputed Hindu temple

Bun Rany, wife of Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen, lights a candle during a Buddhism prayer ceremony for peace called Krong Pealy at Preah Vihaer temple compound atop Dang Reak mountain 245km (152 miles) north of Phnom Penh August 01 , 2008. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Fri Aug 1, 2008

By Chor Sokunthea

PREAH VIHEAR, Cambodia (Reuters) - The wife of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen led Buddhist monks and soldiers in prayers at a 900-year-old Hindu border temple on Friday amid a three-week military stand-off with Thailand.

With Thai troops and artillery dug in only meters away, Bun Rany thanked the soldiers, mostly battle-hardened ex-Khmer Rouge guerrillas, for resisting what Cambodia says is Thai encroachment on a disputed patch of land next to the ruins.

"The first lady called on the ancestral spirits to defend Preah Vihear and chase away the enemy," Min Khin, chairman of the Southeast Asian nation's Festival Committee, told reporters after the ceremony, shrouded in early morning mist.

Preah Vihear sits on top of a jungle-clad escarpment that forms a natural boundary between Thailand and Cambodia, and has been a bone of contention between the two countries for decades.

The International Court of Justice in the Hague awarded the site to Cambodia in 1962, a ruling that has rankled in Thailand ever since, although it did not rule on ownership of the 1.8 square miles of scrub at the centre of the latest spat.

The trigger for the latest row came from Bangkok's backing of Cambodia's bid to have the temple listed as a World Heritage site, support that was seized on by nationalist street protesters bent on overthrowing the Thai government.

With a general election campaign underway in Cambodia at the time, it quickly escalated into a serious confrontation, with hundreds of troops and artillery sent to both sides of the border. In some places, the two sides are only a few yards apart.

Both foreign ministers vowed on Monday to resolve the stand-off peacefully and pull back troops, although nothing has changed on the ground, with Bangkok and Phnom Penh reluctant to redeploy in case they are painted as weak.

Bun Rany's high-profile visit, flying in by helicopter and a heavily armed security detail, suggests her husband, a wily former Khmer Rouge soldier who won a landslide victory in Sunday's election, is in no mood to compromise.

A group claiming Preah Vihear for Thailand described the ceremony as a black-magic ritual meant to bring bad luck, one newspaper reported.

Preah Vihear is not the only temple to have hit relations between the two countries.

In 2003, a nationalist mob torched the Thai embassy and several Thai businesses in Phnom Penh after erroneously reported comments from a Thai soap opera star that Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat actually belonged to Thailand.

(Additional reporting by Ek Madra in Phnom Penh and Nopporn Wong-Anan in Bangkok; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by David Fogarty)

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Call on Khmere ancestors?
What did they do for the people?

Anonymous said...

My elderly Khmers time and again said:

"Bangkok Rolom, Saigon Roleay, Battambang Kchat Kchay, Sabay Nokor Wat (Angkor Wat)"

Maybe it is time for Bangkok to collapse, Saigonin Vietnam to melt, Battambang to be deserted, BUT Happiness On the Angkor Land.

In My life, I have recognized that some words of mouth actually come true.If so it is a great destruction to the Siams one day.

Anonymous said...

3:25 PM

Maybe it't time for Phnom Penh to collapse and Angkor Wat destroyed by our military might.

Anonymous said...

Never you Siamese. Tell me what is your military mighty? Cambodia can borrow a nuclear bomb from North Korea. Small one is enough for Bangkok.

Phnom Penh & Battambang had already collapse in past - except Bangkok.

Anonymous said...

Hi Siams,

Mind your words, you see know that fighting wiil result in damage in both sides. If you try to provoke the war, you will be hanged like Karadzic now facing trial in The Netherlands.

And if live in the glasshouse you should not throw stones. Your country is now in uprising situation, Muslims in the south keep watching you all the time and attack you any time.

Bang Kok Govt. is shaky, more riots will stir up your society.

Prevent your own village, don't try envade our land.

Bullshit!!! Ah Siams!

Anonymous said...

Bangkok Rolom, Saigon Roleay, non Saigon at raleay te trov tha Kamroechae kchat kchach bane trov Pipros Lok Sdach loeurn bbane lourk dey thouli aoy Vietnam tang pi you mourng hei Trov sour tha akkeck mohesey samdach Dech Cho madech pourquoi elle n'a pas organisé du coté de Vietnam aussi . Je ne suis ni LON NOL NI QUI QUE SE SOIT je suis juste un citoyen KAM KROEU CHEA A bien regarder Samdach Ta a beaucoup beaucoup fait de mal a son pays . Le Cambodge aurait du etre une place forte sur le plan financier et vivre en paix , hélas Samdach Ta n'avait qu'une idée depuis son accesion au trone son nombril critiquer un tel un tel ect Voila les faits Je ne suis ni Lon Noliste ni pol potist ni vitnohile ni thailandophile ni américanophile ect ni ni ni je suis un khmerophile DECU

Anonymous said...

Pas foux, si tu es Khmerophile, tu ne dit pas comme ca. eh bien tu es vietnam.

Anonymous said...

Yet another political scheme, which was choreographed and orchestrated and played by Hun Sen's advisors by sending the First Lady to distract attention from all the allegations of electoral fraud.

Anonymous said...

It is good gesture to hear that HUN SEN has no mood to compromise.

HUN SEN go!
Dechho go!

Don't just have your title for nothing!!!

Anonymous said...

My beloved Khmers!

I am almost undeniably thankful to our beloved devilish first lady for calling on our suffocating and dying ancestral spirits to defend Preach Vihear and chase away the enemy, Siam, but why not Youn?

Forgive me for my mental insanity and dementia...Why? Oh why did she call on our ancestral spirits during the first day that Siam arrogantly stationing inside our shriking soil?

Anonymous said...

the good libs but evil spirited.

Anonymous said...

TEVODA Chhnam CHOUT brings clear conscience and a NATIONAL SPIRIT OF UNION of being "the owner of the land", solidarity between Khmer and Khmer people in this most critical and life threatening to their nation. For them to be able to institute a sovereign peace that will free Khmer people from foreign occupation and allows them to eternally live in the sovereignty, independent, prosperity on their own ancestor's land according to their culture and tradition.

Anonymous said...

it should be solidarity among Khmers because we more than two Khmers.

Anonymous said...

泰国和柬埔寨应该好好保护你们的关系。不然的话最后你们两个都是失败者。泰国敢打柬埔寨我们中国就保护柬埔寨。世界第3大战可能在柬埔寨发生。泰国有美国。柬埔寨有中国。呵呵呵,,,

Anonymous said...

泰国和柬埔寨应该好好保护你们的关系。不然的话最后你们两个都是失败者。泰国敢打柬埔寨我们中国就保护柬埔寨。世界第3大战可能在柬埔寨发生。泰国有美国。柬埔寨有中国。呵呵呵,,,

Anonymous said...

what the HEll ON earth she's doing ? is she pray for PISETH PEAKLIKA or for HUN SEN to success kill more jounalist and detroy Khmer faster .

Anonymous said...

Does anyone one what she prayed for?

Anonymous said...

She's an evil-minded and wicked woman.

Anonymous said...

Forgive me for my mental insanity and dementia...Why?

Writing improvement:
Based on the above sentence, you only need to elect one word as your word of choice. In this case, you have "mental," "insanity," and "dementia." For instance, forgive me for my insanity? Why?

Suffice to say, "sanity" is more than adequate for your choice of word.

Anonymous said...

NA, you can't elect a word, but you can select the right word.

Anonymous said...

Did someone just said he wanted to elect a word to be his English teacher?

Anonymous said...

Never mind we were not born with English as our mother tongue.

Anonymous said...

Menteuse=Liar
It's clear that SIHANOUK+HO+MAO haven't any religion.

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=sVLTFmWX4VE

Anonymous said...

L'ex-Khmer rouge reste maître du CambodgeOuest-France, France
- 30 juil. 2008
- 30 juil. 2008
Né en 1952 dans une famille de paysans, Hun Sen quitte l'école et s'engage à 18 ans au sein des Khmers rouges. En 1970, la guerre civile entre pro-chinois

Anonymous said...

My beloved 9:15PM!

Thank you every much for languistically corecting and enlightening my poorest English. Since I am once again openly and unashamedly confessing that I am blessfully illiterate, therefore I am personally thankful, because English is not primarily my native language.

Why? Oh, why am I saying,"Forgive me for my mental insanity"? According my dull comprehension of Khmer's mentality and Khmeritude, if you are acknowledgeably hateful of your selfish leaders( Sihanouk...Hun Sen) and unregrettfully speaking nothing, but only absolutely true, then you are mentally insanse!

Anonymous said...

chey yo yuon.....chey yo....keep voting for yuon...uuuuuuuuuuu..will be yuon soon....

Anonymous said...

Your dying monkey king, who is the grand grand son of the traitor king Shakri who killed king Taksin, the great thai king or chinese origin, who defeated the Burmese, can't even take control of the three south muslim provinces. He will die in week if the our brothers in south get independence from this stupid monkey king (see youtube).

By the way, I went to Bangkok during his birth day, and I saw lot of people dumping their brand new yellow shirt in the toilets. One of the prostitutes there used the shirt to clean after her good time with farangs like me. Wake up dying king! Most Thais of chinese origin, like Mr. Taksin, don't like you because you ancestors killed their ancestor.

Anonymous said...

10:56pM, fuck up man!!!!!!!!!! You are bull shit!

Anonymous said...

The bitch worship evil Tep Vong.

Anonymous said...

10:56 PM

This SOB is a disturbance. Yes, you're real insane SOB. You need help.

Anonymous said...

All thais will be died tomorrow if they are not wishing the peace in Preah Vihear area.

Anonymous said...

MEE GEISHA YUON PUT JOY MRAY