Analysis
Jonathan Head
BBC News, Phnom Penh
Cambodia's awful history has offered few figures of authority who engender respect, let alone affection. So it is perhaps fitting that so much of the population has joined the hushed lines snaking past the gilded sarcophagus of former King Sihanouk, a man whose tortuous career was inextricably entwined with the fate of his country.
Quietly, a few people have let it be known they would have pointed out some of Sihanouk's glaring flaws at another time, but not when there is such a powerful public appetite to think fondly of the "Papa King", as he styled himself. Every public comment I have heard talks of his devotion to the country, and of the many good things he did for Cambodia.
But how good were they? Appointed king by the French colonial authorities at the age of 18 in 1941, Sihanouk proved to be a masterful tactician as he confounded their expectations and drove a successful campaign for Cambodian independence in 1955. He then abdicated from the throne, and went on to become prime minister, and then chief of state. He had unchallenged power for more than a decade.
He used it to push through modernisation projects for his country. But many of these proved impractical, and many more were never properly implemented. He tolerated no opposition and harshly repressed anti-government movements, until being ousted by a coup in 1970. He always believed he was indispensible, and some believe this led to his fateful decision to ally himself with the Khmer Rouge, in the early 1970s and in the 1980s.
He was a complex character of many contradictions. The journalist Philip Short has summed him up thus: "An improbable mixture of rage and self-pity, acid and honey, brutality and sarcasm, passion and wit."
9 comments:
We ask the King Sihamoni to require France to restore its protectorate over the kingdom of Cambdge to protect its sovereignty against the political ambitions of neighboring and China. Only France can really protect the sovereignty of camdoge to day as in 1991 with the Paris agreement to bring peace to Cambodia.
We must write a new page in the secular history between France and Cambodia.
I don't feel any thing toward the death of the king, bcus when i was in Cambodia during the 60s and 70s i was alot of destructions and killing. My family and had lost a lot of family members during that time due to the war and the khmer rouge regime. I blamed all of these on the king. But the only I admired him is that he ran the country without corruption, and he helped the poor when he was in power. Othere than that I don't think there was any thing better.
Without Corruption during the Sihanouk?
The corruption within the current Cambodian governemtn rank 156 of 167.
1964-1969 Cambodia ranked between 86-91 rank aomg 146 based on World Bank 1969 et.l and CIA book 1970, Stat. of world affiars. Thailand ranked 54-60 and south VN rank the 79-85.
If Cambodia is presently an independent state, it is all right to respect this King Sihanouk like that.
But Cambodia is on its way to become a Vietnam province or on its way to be dominated by the Vietnamese majority because of Sihanouk's erratic ideas.
Chkuot Ma Nor Kor !! So we will keep on suffering because we cannot differentiate between the good guy and the bad guy - the rescuer and the invader, ...
Sihanouk is Vietnam and its puppet's hero, not Khmer hero.
Without Sihanouk, the Khmer Rouge could not seize the power and kill Khmer people and Vietnam could not control and apply its Vietnamization of Cambodia.
Sihanouk is largely a traitor.
The last paragraph above was perfectly described who sihanouk is.Read the last red written above.....In my opinion he was a "CLOWN KING" in the Khmer folklure called YeeKe/La korn, Sihanouk unstable's mind king,he didn't have any focus on the country well being during the late 60s-to late 70s,revenges and killing those challenged his authority led to atrocity caused 2millions plus lives of khmer's innocent.
Kmenhwatt
Thank god, we are now free from this evil khmers killer. He is not a god-kingta, but a murderer. Because of him 3million innocents dead including 20 of my relatives, plus millions more are suffering until these present days. So, to hell son of an evil man!, we are freeeeeee forever. He doesn't deserve such respect, but doing so, is to collect more donated money for the Hun dynasty, to gain more power to continue to corrupt, to rob and steal from the poor and national communities to benefit both himself and the VC to continue to protect him and his clan like as always. So, this is what CPP are good at, lying, decieving and manipulation. Well done! but how long? time will come for you too, since you are a thief of the nation. Hun said 'thanks to a kingta lop lop, i am now a king' sick headed
I totally agree with the above comments and the analyze, except 7:01 PM suggesting to seek French protectorate.
I feel sorry for the people in Cambodia who are foolish by the acts and fake admiration being heralded by the CPP and Hanoi for their own benefit. I look at the weak King, his mother, royal family and the clown government officials, they are all actors and prisoners of the circumstance. They have no dignity, pride and judgement.
It's a pity they all born to be Kohn Jieh Keh (slave) in spirit and trade their soul with the materials and fake status. They will have to face the consequences eventually and be remembered by the real history, not their reinvented history.
Most of the time in life we made our choice, and the choice will affect everything around us. Let their illusion and wild imagination take them to join the other evils in hell.
Yeay Tep
His majesty the King Ta Lout cannot do nothing he had to support the winner North Vietnam not the loser South Vietnam. You have to remember the South Vietnamese who occupy Khmer Krom and kept expand into Cambodian territory, South Vietnamese Thieve Ky who constantly invade Cambodia and prosecute our Khmer Krom (please look at the map made by Youn Thieve Ky). King Ta Lout did not give much financial support to North Vietnam but a little bit moral support because North will win the war and one day American will leave Vietnam and only Cambodia who live forever with Vietnam so he had to make friend rather than foe toward Vietnam in order to save our nation. King Ta Lout knew both North and South Vietnamese are the same no matter he support other side. America never ever has the true friend in the world, American support only the winner as left Lon Nol when Lon Lol need American the most for an example.
King Ta Lout policy want to be a neutral but American and Soviet did not allow that why he choose Khmer instead of American and Soviet. Khmer mean in those days must survive between those two storms.
The minority of Khmer Rough, Khmer Republican, Khmer Communist Max Lenin, Khmer Thai, Khmer Youn, Khmer all other ideology were not big issue because most of Khmer behind King Ta Lout policy anyway but King Ta knew that the country just got independent so the youth and intellectual were flourish so they want this and that they have all sort of ideas, they want to follow American model, Communist model, neutralist model, democracy model so King Ta Lout offered alternative model was neutral democracy, everyone can challenge everyone by gradually learn how to use ballot box instead of war.
King Ta Lout did not killed intellectual instead he gave so many scholarship to a lot of poor Cambodian to have better education in French, USA, German but those people ate the head of their owner anyway.
By contrast Lon Nol was uneducated, not a politician, poor health and corrupt mind, no clear policy and try to wipe out Vietnamese in three day in Cambodia instead he wipe out 500, 000 Khmer and let Pol Pot finish 2.5 million while he enjoy peaceful beach front house at Hawaii. Lon Nol regime exiled and killed his opponent too, he created Happee gangster to terrorise the population that why the regime had no support and almost forgotten and only a few opportunist that still support his regime. All infrastructure created by King Ta Lout were destroyed by Lon Nol and finish it off by Pol Pot and Hun Sen.
I knew like many other Khmer family and your family got killed by the event but it did not blind you from the true, you have to learn how accept the Karma that you created and learn how to respect 14.5 million Cambodian are mourning their King Ta Lout and they are got respect from King Ta Lout in return as well.
Khmers these days are stupid. Mourned the criminal who killed 2 Millions of his own people. Those people are out sync with the reality.
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