Bun Rany Hun Sen’s “black magic” kills a Thai soldier?

Thai soldier died at Preah Vihear temple

Monday, August 4, 2008
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The Koh Santepheap newspaper reported that a Thai black-clad soldier, who was camped in Cambodian territory near the Preah Vihear temple area with several of his companions, died on Sunday. Bun Nak, the 44-year-old Thai solider is attached to Thai army unit No. 6, was born in Ubon Ratchathani province. He died at 04:00 AM in the Wat Keo Sekha Kiri Svarak pagoda for no known cause. The body of this Thai soldier was transported back to Thailand by Thai soldiers posted at the Wat Keo Sekha Kiri Svarak pagoda at around 6:00 AM on Sunday. The death of this Thai soldier created great fear among the invading Thai soldiers who have settled in Wat Keo Sekha Kiri Svarak pagoda, because the Thais believe that the power of Ta Dy spirit, the powerful Khmer general who defended Preah Vihear temple in the past, is showing his powerful strength to beat up these invading Siamese soldiers. Since their invasion of Cambodia in Preah Vihear temple, one Thai soldier lost his leg by stepping on a landmine, and now, another Thai soldier had also died.

Anti-Thai sentiment 'increases in Cambodia'

Monday, August 4, 2008

Phnom Penh (dpa) - Reports that a second sacred temple on the Thai- Cambodian border has been occupied by Thai troops has drawn an angry reaction from the public, Cambodian media reported Sunday.

Ta Muen Thom temple, at the border of Surin province and Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey, has been manned by Thai troops for more than five years, the chairman of the government's border committee, Var Kimhong, told locally broadcast Radio France Internationale (RFI).

However the nation's largest selling newspaper, Rasmei Kampuchea, as well as the French-funded RFI and US-funded Radio Free Asia began running reports of its alleged occupation Sunday.

Kimhong said there was no legal doubt Ta Muen Thom was Cambodian.

Public outrage has grown steadily since areas around Preah Vihear temple, which Cambodia says are sovereign and Thailand says are disputed, were occupied by Thai troops on July 15, days after it was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site against Thai wishes.

At a press conference held just before national elections last month, Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith declined to answer a question on whether troop build-ups had also occurred on the Thai border with Banteay Meanchey.

The Cambodian government has tried to dampen the nationalist sentiment sweeping the country and urged the public to allow bilateral diplomacy to work, or, failing that, UN mediation.

In 2003 an angry mob torched the Thai embassy and several businesses over a false story a Thai actress had claimed the nation's icon, Angkor Wat temple, was Thai - a serious setback for trade and diplomatic relations.

Claims published in the Thai media accusing Cambodia's First Lady Bun Rany, wife of Prime Minister Hun Sen, of leading a black magic ritual when she hosted a Buddhist ceremony attended by more than 1,000 people at Preah Vihear Friday have not helped.

To be accused of sorcery is regarded as a terrible insult by Cambodians, who regularly kill those accused of it.

Hun Sen's wife hosts huge Preah Vihear temple ritual

Saturday August 02, 2008
BANGKOK POST and DPA

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's wife Bun Rany yesterday hosted a huge ritual at the Preah Vihear temple to bless the country with good luck and to give it power against the backdrop of a dispute with Thailand over the area surrounding the temple.

The ceremony, chosen to coincide with a solar eclipse yesterday, was attended by about 1,000 people, including high-ranking officials, priests and experts in rituals. The ritual started at 9.30am.

Far from softening its stance on the temple after it was declared a World Heritage site by Unesco, angering Thailand, Cambodia is flaunting the site.

"We have all been preparing for Bun Rany's arrival. We have no security concerns because as a World Heritage site, the temple is a tourist destination, not a war zone," Preah Vihear Deputy Governor Ka Lean said by telephone.

Although Bun Rany is the wife of Prime Minister Hun Sen, she is a powerful political force in her own right.

Her presence was expected to boost the morale of Cambodian civilians and military on the border near the temple.

Thailand sent troops into what it maintains is disputed land, but Cambodia declared the area to be its sovereign territory more than two weeks ago in a move that severely strained diplomatic relations.

The Cambodian ritual at the Preah Vihear temple raised fears among many Thai people, who say it could bring bad luck to Thailand.

The anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) leaders last night led thousands of their supporters in a rival ritual to protect the country and block any ill-effects from the Cambodian one. Many Thais believe some Cambodians have expertise in black magic.

Thai people in Si Sa Ket and nearby provinces who heard about the Cambodian ritual at the Preah Vihear temple persuaded others to wear yellow, a colour they say will help the country stave off the effects of the ceremony.

One resident said that it was also a full moon last night and Cambodian people believe it was a sacred day - a good day for holding a ritual.

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)