The origin of the name "Siem Reap" by Bora Touch

"Siem Reap is written as เสียมราฐ in Thai. I was once told by a teacher who taught Thai language to me that it means "conquered by Siam" in Thai." - Ponleu Cheu

Thank you for raising the issue and contribution.

The name "សៀមរាប" was given by a Royal Decree of King Ang Chan (r 1516-1566) to commemorate the King's victory over Ayuthya troops' occupation. សៀមរាប or Siem Reap, litterally means "flattened Siamese".

According to Siamese chronicles from Ayuthya to Bangkok, period of 1500-1839, the province was as always called Muang Nakhon Siem rab. For example, the so-called Ayuthya Chronicle stated that in 1595-1596 AD , "Muang Nakhon Siem rab was taken by assualt by the Governor of Khorat". According to Siamese chronicles, the province was taken at least three times, the first time was in 1259, second time was in 1595 and third time was in 1838. According to the Bangkok chronicle, សៀម Siamese troops constructed a citadel in Angkor; the construction started from January 1839 under General Phya Raja Subhavati (correct title was Chau phya Bodindr Deja, mistaken by Aymonier, Le Cambodge (1901) as Chau Khun Bodin).

Only after the construction of the citadel and in 1850s, did the name សៀមរាប/Siem Rab was slightly altered to เสียมราฐ/Siem Rath (Syama rastra "Siamese land"), "with the evident object" as a seasoned scholar/historian pointed out " of doing away with the unpleasant of the old name [Siem rab] conveyed of a Siamese defeat. But this [Siamese] attempt at tampering with history - or, at any rate, with time-honoured tradition - was just as inconsiderate and useless, as it was powerless to obliterate the fact", Lt.-colonel G.E. Gerini (1904) (Note, at the relevant times, Gerini was a top military advisor to King Chulankon and a founder of the Journal of the Siam Society, a scholarly journal, first published in 1906. Gerini's other works works: http://www.gissad.net/ )

The law code/Kram sruk (1615), the province was called "Srok Nokor".

Thai/Tai never called "their" country "Siem" សៀម. "Siam "as the official name of the country was only from the periods of 1851-1868, and 1946-1947, respectively. They had called it Muang Thai or Muang Tai.

The etymology of Siem/ សៀម is from Sanskrit śyāma ឝ្យាម which means dark, black or black, name of Siva's wife; in the ancient Hindu treatise Vishnu Purana, "Syama" refered to the name of a mountain to the Northwest of Gulf of Thailand. From pre-Angkor to Angkor periods - 1400s, according to inscriptions, the Khmer wrote/said "Syāṃ (ស្យាំ)" or "Syaṃ (ស្យំ)". From 1400s-present, we write/say "សៀម/Siem".

Regards
Bora Touch

'Bad history' not helping attitudes on both sides

Mon, Feb 14, 2011
The Nation/Asia News Network

While some national media are quick to cast Cambodians as people not to be trusted, locals in Si Sa Ket have a more complex view of their neighbours. This doesn't stop some national papers espousing archetypal bias towards Cambodians, though such popular misconceptions may backfire and hinder mending ties between the people of the two nations well into the future.

"Elderly people in the areas along the border who for long have been trading with their neighbour often remind their children and grandchildren that they have never trusted Cambodians because [Cambodians] are not predictable. 'They may be friends in the morning but by the evening become enemies'," wrote a columnist last Tuesday.

While some locals say they do not trust Cambodians and will demand cash upfront when trading with them, others say such stereotyping is simply wrong. "There's no absolutely good Thai or absolutely evil Cambodian and vice versa," Niphon Polsaet-rerk, a school teacher in Kantharalak, said yesterday.

What's more, some villagers are married to Cambodians and surely none would have done so if all Thais believe Cambodians are not to be trusted.

Looking at the Preah Vihear Conflict in the Light of History

Op-Ed by PIERRE-YVES CLAIS

La version francaise se trouve en fin du texte anglais

Reading the English-language press in Bangkok one is frequently surprised by the lack of objective reporting regarding the dispute over the Preah Vihear temple.

As a matter of fact, this Thai press is immensely unbalanced and will even go as far as to say that the Cambodians are the true troublemakers as well as the first to shoot.

A personal fondness I have for truth as well as the friendship I have for Cambodia both urge me to clarify some historic points between these two countries.

Toward the end of the ninth century people coming from Southern China started to establish themselves inside the Khmer Empire to the north of the Dangrek mountain range. They would be known as the Siamese and later on, the Thais.

They progressively strengthened themselves until the area they inhabited became the Thai Kingdom of Ayuthaya.

This Kingdom would destroy Angkor in two waves: Once in 1351 and another time in 1431, each time deporting a large part of the Khmer population and imposing its sovereignty over Cambodia, from which it annexed entire provinces in the years to come.

Like an "Atlantis in waiting," swallowed to the northwest by Siam and to the east by Vietnam, Cambodia was on its way to complete extinction.

Aware of the situation, King Ang Duong solicited in 1853 the intervention of France, which was at that time ruled by Napoleon III.

The Siamese were informed of the alliance about to be made between France and Cambodia and succeeded in making it fail. But in 1863, King Norodom eventually signed a protectorate treaty with France.

The English influence was strong in Siam, but the Franco-British agreement of July 14, 1884 had already recognized the Mekong Basin as a French-owned zone. This would not prevent the Siamese from cutting off the basin and advancing toward Laos.

In 1893, the French had had enough of these gradual advances and sent their warships up the Menam River to Bangkok. France thus blocked any trade from reaching the shores, which obliged the Siamese court to renounce all of their claims to the left bank of the Mekong River. Meanwhile, France kept the provinces of Chantaboun and Paknam as hostages. Some French naval troops occupied these regions until the Convention of 1904 gave back the Province of Koh Kong and Steung Treng to Cambodia. Other areas included Melou Prei and Tonle Repou, which were left by Siam to Laos and finally given back to Cambodia by France.

The Convention of 1904 led to the Treaty of 1907, which was drawn up by France and Siam, where in exchange for the return of the provinces of Trat, Chantaboun and the territory of Dan Sai, which is in the current province of Loei, King Chulalongkorn of Siam (Rama V) left the provinces of Battambang, Sisophon and Siem Reap to France, who gave them back to Cambodia.

When King Sisowath was finally able to go to Angkor and repossess a land that had always been undoubtedly Khmer, he declared that this was the biggest glory of his reign.

But the Siamese would not give up.

Taking advantage of the French defeat against Germany during World War II, the Siamese immediately violated the pact of non-aggression signed with France on June 12, 1940.

The Thai Prime Minister, Field Marshall Phibun Songkhram, organized a series of nationalist and anti-French demonstrations in Bangkok. Then, the border disputes multiplied in number along the banks of the Mekong. During daytime, the Thai air force, superior in number, bombed Vientiane, Sisophon and Battambang without any objection from abroad. The French air force attempted to strike back, but the damage inflicted was minimal.

In December 1940, Thailand then occupied the provinces of Pak-Lay and Bassac. At the beginning of January 1941, Bangkok men launched an offensive on Laos and Cambodia. The Franco-Indochinese resistance was in place, but the majority of the military units were overwhelmed by the better-equipped Thai forces (20 French tanks vs. 134 Thai tanks.)

The Thais quickly occupied Laos.

However, French resistance in Cambodia was more resilient. By Jan 16, France launched a large counter attack led by the 5th REI (a regiment belonging to the French Foreign Legion) on the villages of Yang Dang Khum and Phum Preav, where the fiercest fighting of the war took place.

The French counterattack was blocked and ended in a retreat, but the Thais could no longer pursue the French forces as their tanks had been nailed to the ground by the French anti-tank canons. For lack of means, these very canons had been pulled by buffaloes to the battlefield.

As the ground situation was critical for France, Admiral Decoux gave the green light to execute an operation against the Thai Navy. The order was given to the available French navy to attack the Gulf of Thailand. On the morning of Jan 17, 1941, "the Provisional Group" (a force assembled for that very occasion) attacked the Thai Navy at Koh Chang. Although the Thai ships were far superior in number, the operation of the French navy managed to bring home a comprehensive victory.

After the battle, a large part of the Thai navy was destroyed. But on January 24, the final air battle took place while a Thai air raid attacked Siem Reap Airport.

Japan intervened quickly in the conflict in favor of the Thais and imposed an armistice followed by a peace treaty causing France to relinquish the Cambodian provinces of Battambang, Siem Reap as well as the Lao provinces of Champassak and Sayaburi on May 9. These territories were more than 50,000 km squared in size and inhabited by 420,000 people.

These territories annexed from Cambodia were, however, handed back by Thailand on November 1947 under international pressure (Treaty of Washington).

But from 1953, although Cambodia had only just achieved its independence from France, Thai troops invaded Preah Vihear and hoisted their national flag above the temple. Nine years later in 1962, the clever mind of then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk paved the way for obtaining an international decision at the International Court of Justice in The Hague and the Thais were obliged to retreat from the Khmer temple.

Unfortunately, the respite would be short lived: War broke out shortly after and Preah Vihear was again in the mix, the temple being occupied by successive armies fighting each other.

A little while after the defeat of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, Thailand was submerged with Cambodian refugees and, to show to the world that it couldn't cope without international aid Thailand planned what could be considered a staged atrocity.

On the morning of Friday June 8, 1979,110 trucks parked in front of the Nong Chan Refugee Camp, which housed tens of thousands of Cambodian refugees.

Thai officials told the refugees that they were going to be transferred to another, better equipped camp. In reality, these survivors of the Khmer Rouge genocide were being sent back to hell.

Far away from Nong Chan, the site of Preah Vihear had been chosen with a precise goal: To seek revenge for the loss of the temple in 1962. With a high cliff covered in jungle and thousands of land mines laid around the temple, the outcome of the forced expulsion of those thousands of Cambodian refugees could be guessed easily.

The unfortunate refugees were taken out of the trucks under the constant threat of weapons. Horrible scenes took place. All night long, truckloads after truckload of Cambodians were pushed – after first being despoiled of all their possessions – like livestock between two rows of soldiers through a narrow passage. The soldiers used their weapons as sticks and shot at those who refused to file down the narrow passage.

Terrorized by the thought of stepping on one of the many mines, laid previously there by the Khmer Rouge, the refugees desperately attempted to stay on the track. But the Thais continuously pushed more refugees along the path and people were forced to walk through the minefields.

Both thirsty and hungry, the survivors of this atrocity needed three days to cross the immense mine field filled with decaying corpses and injured victims squirming in pain.

One estimates that over 45,000 Cambodians were forced out of Thailand in this manner. For several days, the refugees were transported into hell by a huge number of trucks that dumped them at Preah Vihear. It is still impossible to evaluate the number of casualties from this expulsion, as the Khmer Rouge who waited to greet the refugees did not keep records.

All too often this awful page of history is ignored, one retains only this "Amazing Thailand" image in today's tourist brochures.

The wrongdoings of the Thais against the Khmers should be remembered, not to set the two populations against each other but so that justice can at last be achieved.

Let it be said that Cambodians don't attack anyone. They know too well that the balance of power is not in their favor. Still they vow to defend their country through courage and determination-they have no other choice.

But Thailand has too many internal political problems not to try and exploit the myth of a "sacred national alliance" against its barbaric neighbors, and the deaths of the past will change nothing in it.

This historical tragedy is unfortunately far from over and there is no happy ending in sight.

The Americans dislike Prime Minister Hun Sen too much to pressure their Thai partners into a peaceful solution. And it is unlikely that the French will send their warships against Bangkok again...

Pierre-Yves Clais was a former UN peacekeeper in Cambodia (1992). He currently owns Terre Rouge Lodge with his wife in the Ratanakiri.
------------

Preah Vihear, le conflit au regard de l’Histoire.

Mardi, 23 Juin 2009

À la lecture de la presse anglophone de Bangkok, on est fréquemment surpris d’un manque patent de neutralité quant à l’affaire du temple de Préah Vihear.

Le parti de la Thaïlande y est pris sans nuance et l’on va jusqu’à affirmer que les Cambodgiens seraient les véritables fauteurs de troubles, tout comme les premiers à tirer…
Le souci de vérité tout comme l’amitié que j’ai pour le Cambodge me forcent ici à tenter de clarifier quelques points d’histoire concernant les rapports entre les deux pays.

Provenant de Chine méridionale, c’est vers la fin du IXe siècle que ceux qui allaient devenir les Siamois, puis les Thais, commencent à s’établir sur les marches septentrionales de l’empire khmer, au nord de la chaîne des Dangreks.Ils se renforcent progressivement jusqu’à devenir le Royaume Thaï d’Ayuthaya qui saccagera Angkor à deux reprises en 1351 et 1431, déportant chaque fois une grande partie de la population khmère et imposant sa suzeraineté sur le Cambodge, dont il annexera au fil du temps des provinces entières.

« Atlantide en sursis », avalé au Nord Ouest par le Siam et à l’Est par le Vietnam, le Cambodge allait tout bonnement disparaître. Conscient de cela, le roi Ang Duong sollicita en 1853 l'intervention de la France de Napoléon III. Mis au courant, les Siamois firent échouer ce traité d'alliance et c’est le fils d’Ang Duong, le Roi Norodom, qui signera finalement en 1863 ce traité de Protectorat avec la France.

L’influence des Anglais était forte sur le Siam, mais l’accord franco-britannique du 14 juillet 1884, avait reconnu comme « zone française » le bassin du Mékong, ce qui n’empêcha pas les Siamois de couper ledit bassin et de s’avancer à travers le Laos. Ces empiètements répétés conduisirent, en juillet 1893, une flottille française à remonter le Ménam jusqu’à Bangkok. La France fit alors le blocus des côtes, ce qui obligea la cour du Siam à renoncer à toute revendication sur la rive gauche du Mékong tandis que nous gardions en otage les provinces de Chantaboun et de Paknam. Des troupes de la marine occupèrent ces régions jusqu’à la Convention de 1904 qui rendait au Cambodge la province côtière de Koh Kong ainsi que celle de Steung Treng, assorties des régions de Melou Preï et Tonle Repou, territoires cédés par le Siam au Laos et réintégrés au Cambodge par la France.

Cette Convention de 1904 conduisit au Traité de 1907, où, contre retour au Siam des provinces de Trat, Chantaboun et du territoire de Dan Sai dans l’actuelle province de Loei, le Roi Chulalongkorn (Rama V) abandonnait à la France, qui les rétrocédait au Cambodge, les provinces de Battambang, de Sisophon et de Siem Reap.
Lorsque le Roi Sisowath pu finalement se rendre à Angkor reprendre possession de ces terres indubitablement khmères il déclara que c’était là « la plus grande gloire de son règne ».

Mais les Siamois ne renoncèrent jamais, profitant de la défaite française face à l’Allemagne lors de la seconde guerre mondiale, ils violent immédiatement le pacte de non-agression signé avec la France le 12 juin 1940.

Le Premier ministre thaïlandais Phibun organise alors une série de manifestations nationalistes et anti-françaises à Bangkok, puis des escarmouches frontalières se succèdent le long du Mékong. L’aviation thaïlandaise, supérieure en nombre, bombarde de jour Vientiane, Sisophon, et Battambang en toute impunité. Les forces aériennes françaises tentent des raids en représailles, mais les dégâts causés sont bien moindres. En décembre 1940, la Thaïlande occupe Pak-Lay et le Bassac.

Début janvier 1941, Bangkok lance une offensive sur le Laos et le Cambodge. La résistance franco-indochinoise est en place, mais la plupart des unités sont surpassées par les forces thaïlandaises, mieux équipées (20 chars côté français, 134 côté siamois). Les Thaïlandais occupent rapidement le Laos, alors qu’au Cambodge la résistance française est meilleure.

Le 16 janvier, la France lance une large contre-offensive menée par le 5e REI (Régiment Etranger d’Infanterie) sur les villages de Yang Dang Khum et de Phum Préav, où se déroulent les plus féroces combats de la guerre. La contre-attaque est bloquée et s’achève par une retraite, mais les Thaïlandais ne peuvent poursuivre les forces françaises, leurs blindés ayant été cloués au sol par les canons anti-char français (qui, faute de moyens adéquats, avaient été tractés sur place par des bœufs). Alors que la situation à terre est critique pour la France, l’amiral Decoux donne le feu vert pour exécuter une opération contre la marine thaïlandaise. L'ordre est donné aux navires de guerre disponibles d’attaquer dans le golfe de Thaïlande. Au matin du 17 janvier 1941, le « groupe occasionnel » attaque les navires thaïlandais à Koh Chang. Bien que la flotte ennemie la surclasse largement en nombre, l'opération de la marine française, s'achève par une victoire complète. À l'issue du combat, une bonne partie de la flotte de guerre thaïlandaise est détruite. Mais, le 24 janvier, la bataille aérienne finale a lieu lorsque l’aéroport de Siem Reap est atteint par un raid des bombardiers thaïlandais.

Le Japon intervient rapidement dans le conflit au profit des Thaïs, impose un armistice, puis un traité de paix, le 9 mai, par lequel la France abandonne les provinces cambodgiennes de Battambang et Siem Reap, ainsi que les provinces laotiennes de Champassak et Sayaburi, soit un territoire de plus de 50 000 km2 habité par 420 000 personnes.

Les territoires annexés au Cambodge ne seront restitués par la Thaïlande, sous pression internationale (traité de Washington), qu'en novembre 1947.

Mais dès 1953, alors que le Cambodge accède à peine à l’indépendance, des troupes thaïes investissent Préah Vihear, en chassent les fonctionnaires khmers et hissent leur drapeau national. Neuf ans plus tard, en 1962, l’habileté consommée du prince Sihanouk permit d’obtenir une décision internationale de justice et les Thaïs durent faire marche arrière, mais le répit allait être de courte durée, la guerre arrivait et Préah Vihear y serait engouffré.

Passons sur les occupations successives du site par les armées en conflit, la reddition des dernières troupes de Lon Nol aux Khmers rouges en mai 1975, le pire moment de son histoire fut un effroyable holocauste orchestré il y a trente ans par l’armée thaïlandaise elle-même !

Peu après la défaite des Khmers rouges en 1979, la Thaïlande fut submergée de réfugiés cambodgiens et pour démontrer au monde qu’elle ne pouvait seule sans argent gérer ce phénomène, elle planifia une atroce mise en scène. Au matin du vendredi 8 juin 1979, 110 bus se rangèrent devant le camp de Nong Chan qui abritait des dizaines de milliers de réfugiés cambodgiens. On leur déclara qu’ils allaient être transférés dans un camp plus à même de les recevoir et tous ces survivants du génocide Khmer rouge furent renvoyés en enfer…

Fort éloigné de Nong Chan, le site de Préah Vihear avait été choisi à dessein, on se vengeait de la perte du temple en 1962. Une falaise abrupte couverte de jungle, des mines par milliers, l’issue ne faisait pas de doute…

Comprenant ce qui allait se passer, les malheureux réfugiés durent être sortis des bus sous la menace des armes. Des scènes horribles eurent lieu : arrivés de nuit, bus après bus, les Cambodgiens furent poussés comme du bétail entre deux rangées de militaires sur un étroit chemin, non sans avoir été dépouillé de tout l’argent qu’ils possédaient. Les militaires maniaient leurs armes comme des bâtons et tiraient sur ceux qui refusaient de descendre le chemin. Terrorisés à l’idée de sauter sur les mines innombrables (posées par les Khmers rouges quatre ans auparavant), les réfugiés tentaient par tous les moyens de rester sur le chemin, mais plus haut, on poussait sans cesse de nouveaux malheureux et les gens étaient finalement forcés de marcher dans le champ de mines. Il fallut trois jours aux survivants pour traverser cette étendue de mort, de soif et de faim au milieu des cadavres en putréfaction et des blessés se tordant de douleur. On estime à quarante-cinq mille le nombre de Cambodgiens ainsi expulsés. Pendant plusieurs jours, ils furent convoyés en enfer par une noria de bus, mais il est impossible d’estimer le nombre des victimes, les Khmers rouges n’ont pas tenu de registre…

On ignore trop cette affreuse page d’histoire pour ne retenir que cette « Amazing Thailand » des brochures touristiques. Les torts des Thaïs à l’encontre des Khmers doivent être rappelés, non pour dresser à nouveau les peuples les uns contre les autres, mais pour que justice soit enfin rendue.

Les Cambodgiens n’agressent personne, ils sont trop conscients du déséquilibre des forces en présence, il n’y a de leur part que du courage et de la détermination à défendre leur pays, mais la Thaïlande a trop de problèmes intérieurs pour ne pas tenter d’exploiter le mythe de l’Union Sacrée contre la barbarie du voisin, les morts du passé n’y changeront rien.

Cette tragédie est malheureusement loin d’un heureux dénouement, les Américains détestent trop Hun Sen pour raisonner leurs partenaires thaïs, et quant aux Français, il est peu probable qu’ils enverront une fois de plus des canonnières devant Bangkok…

Pierre-Yves Clais
Ancien Casque Bleu au Cambodge (1992)