Written by Brendan Brady
The Phnom Penh Post
As the border row drags on between Cambodia and Thailand, competing bloggers from both sides are taking their causes online
THE click of a mouse has become the newest weapon in the nationalistic battle over Preah Vihear temple, with Wikipedia - the popular, user-edited online encyclopedia - being bombarded by entries from Thais and Cambodians waging a propaganda tug-of-war.
Since the July 7 listing of the Preah Vihear temple as a UNESCO World Heritage site, hundreds of contributors have modified its entry, asserting their homeland's sovereignty over the ruins.
Ownership of the temple was given to Cambodia by the World Court in 1962, but many on the Thai side of the border have demanded a re-look at the issue.
Online, temple ownership can switch back-and-forth in a matter of minutes, Wikipedia's history shows.
The debate has focused on the temple's moniker - Prasat Preah Vihear, as transliterated from Khmer, or Prasat Khao Phra Viharn, as transliterated from Thai, giving birth to an entire chapter on the temple's nomenclature.
While the website's overseers are expected to rise above the fray and regulate bickering without censoring content disputes, site administrator Brian McNiel explained that both sides are digging up newspaper articles and government or court documents to bolster their arguments.
"The idealistic hope is that, over time, warring factions will find credible sources to back up their assertions, and the contested article will improve," McNiel told the Post.
Advocates have besieged other online forums as well, including the popular social network Facebook.com, where groups have attempted to mobilise support under banners such as "Prasat (Temple) Preah Vihear Belongs to Cambodia!!!" and "Preah Vihear Thailand's Territory."
Darts are flying through the blogosphere too, where emotional polemics frequently devolve into name-calling. Posts stray from the border dispute to broader historical grievances - with Cambodians recalling Thailand's harsh treatment of refugees fleeing the Khmer Rouge and Thais describing their neighbour as a long-time basket case.
THE click of a mouse has become the newest weapon in the nationalistic battle over Preah Vihear temple, with Wikipedia - the popular, user-edited online encyclopedia - being bombarded by entries from Thais and Cambodians waging a propaganda tug-of-war.
Since the July 7 listing of the Preah Vihear temple as a UNESCO World Heritage site, hundreds of contributors have modified its entry, asserting their homeland's sovereignty over the ruins.
Ownership of the temple was given to Cambodia by the World Court in 1962, but many on the Thai side of the border have demanded a re-look at the issue.
Online, temple ownership can switch back-and-forth in a matter of minutes, Wikipedia's history shows.
The debate has focused on the temple's moniker - Prasat Preah Vihear, as transliterated from Khmer, or Prasat Khao Phra Viharn, as transliterated from Thai, giving birth to an entire chapter on the temple's nomenclature.
While the website's overseers are expected to rise above the fray and regulate bickering without censoring content disputes, site administrator Brian McNiel explained that both sides are digging up newspaper articles and government or court documents to bolster their arguments.
"The idealistic hope is that, over time, warring factions will find credible sources to back up their assertions, and the contested article will improve," McNiel told the Post.
Advocates have besieged other online forums as well, including the popular social network Facebook.com, where groups have attempted to mobilise support under banners such as "Prasat (Temple) Preah Vihear Belongs to Cambodia!!!" and "Preah Vihear Thailand's Territory."
Darts are flying through the blogosphere too, where emotional polemics frequently devolve into name-calling. Posts stray from the border dispute to broader historical grievances - with Cambodians recalling Thailand's harsh treatment of refugees fleeing the Khmer Rouge and Thais describing their neighbour as a long-time basket case.
4 comments:
of course, why not use the internet to relay information all over the world. thanks for the modern technology. god bless cambodia.
wikipedia site is great; it's like an online encyclopedia, full of information about all things and everything. it's the world's library online. plus, the operators there seem to update information on a regular basis which is good thing. god bless.
Guys,
Be careful about the wikipedia. Anybody can edit the information there. I just did to correct a wrong statement written by some guy saying wrong thing about Preah Vihear in favour of the Thais. If you don't believe me, go and edit some for yourself.
Strangely this story was published on the Ka-set website (in french and in english) on August 4th. Is the post running out of ideas already?
Here is the link:
http://ka-set.info/vu-sur-la-toile/dernier-site-vu-sur-la-toile/cambodge-internet-web-wikipedia-preah-vihear-temple-thailande-080731.html
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