First, insulting sandals are exported to VN by a Khmer seller, next they are produced in Thailand, now authorities blame them on SRP, what's next?

Angkor Wat Sandals Prompt Political Jibes

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
24 January 2008

The emergence in Vietnam of commercial footwear with the picture of Ankor Wat on the padding has sparked a round of political finger-pointing between provincial authorities and the opposition party.

The sandals, which have an outline of Angkor Wat’s famous spires and Khmer writing, appeared at a market in Tai Ninh, Vietnam, across the border from Svay Rieng province, and Cambodian authorities have blamed the opposition Sam Rainsy Party for their production.

“It’s not Vietnam who marketed the shoes, but it’s probably from the opposition or any group who would raise it up in order to...stir up controversy,” said Leuk Chamreoun, deputy chief of the Svay Rieng provincial police.

Sam Rainsy called the allegations “ridiculous.”

“How can the party be so powerful that it reaches Vietnam?” he said. “No one believes this.”

Angkor Wat, a cultural touchstone for many Cambodians, has in the past stirred nationalistic violence.

In 2003, rumors that a Thai actress made disparaging remarks about Angkor Wat sparked citywide riots in Phnom Penh that left the Thai Embassy burned and gutted and Thai businesses looted and destroyed.

Cambodia in contact with VN to investigate the case of sandals bearing Angkor Wat pictures

Thursday, January 24, 2008
Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

On 23 January, a high-ranking official from the ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the general consul of Cambodia in Vietnam is in contact with the Vietnamese ministry of Foreign Affairs to investigate and find the producers of sandals bearing the pictures of Angkor on its soles.

Long Visalo, secretary of state of the ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that such use of Cambodia’s effigy is tantamount to looking down of the Khmer race that cannot be accepted. He added that the Vietnamese ministry of Foreign Affairs is conducting its research, and that it is checking along the Cambodian-Vietnamese border, as well as the Vietnamese-Chinese border.

The printing of the Angkor Wat pictures on the sandals sold in Vietnamese market, led to a strong reaction from Cambodia which considers Angkor Wat as the national effigy. Both Cambodian officials and Cambodian political parties are affected by the printing of the Angkor Wat pictures on the soles of sandals sold at a market in Vietnam. A report from the Svay Rieng department of information indicated that it suspects that these shoes were produce in Thailand before they were brought over to sell in Vietnam.

Reactions came after these sandals bearing the pictures of Angkor Wat were found on sale at the Go Dau market, located in Tai Ninh province, Vietnam. The Svay Rieng police and the Vietnamese Tai Ninh police bought all the shoes from the sellers, and brought them over to the Svay Rieng police station.

Svay Rieng police suspects the sandals bearing Angkor Wat picture on the soles are made in Thailand even though they are sold exclusively in Vietnam

In spite of all indications pointing to Vietnam, Svay Rieng police suspects that these shoes were made in Thailand instead (Photo: Anonymous)

Sandals with Angkor Wat pictures printed on the soles caused uproar in Cambodia

Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper (Mouthpiece of Hun Sen’s regime)
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The sales of sandals bearing the picture of Angkor Wat on the soles in markets in Vietnam led to an uproar in Cambodia which considers these shoes as an insult on Cambodian renown.

Kem Sokha’s Human Rights Party issued a statement on 21 January regarding the production and the sales of sandals bearing the picture of Angkor Wat. The HRP stated: “ The HRP received an extremely shameful and hurtful information when we saw the picture of Angkor Wat – which represents Cambodia’s soul, our national heritage – printed on the soles of sandals sold all over the place at the Bavet market, Svay rieng province.”

“The HRP considers this as a new action taken by the shoe company to hurt Cambodian renown, and to look down on the current Cambodian government, this is a violation of the Cambodian culture and customs. The HRP strongly condemns this shoe company and asks that the Cambodian government, and in particular, the Svay Rieng province authority, to conduct its search and investigate immediately to find out which country this company produced their sandals at, in order to take appropriate measures to stop their productions, and to demand a public apology, as well as levying a fine to pay for compensation to the Cambodian people.”

The department of information in the province of Svay Rieng also conducted its investigation on the sales of these sandals in the Vietnamese province bordering with Cambodia. Based on the information provided to the Ministry of Information on 21 January, Kep Samoeun, the director of the Svay Rieng province department of information, indicated that based on an investigation performed by Chhouk Bandit, the Chantrea district governor, and by Prach Rim, the provincial police commissioner, these sandals are sold at a store located inside the Go Dau market, in the Ben Cau district, Tay Ninh province, Vietnam.

The Vietnamese police commissioner of the Tay Ninh province, the police authority in the Tay Ninh province, and the Ben Cau district police authority, indicated that the Vietnamese sandals seller at the Go Dau market claimed that he bought them from Cambodians who took them across the border from Svay Rieng province to sell in Vietnam, and every week, the stock of shoes was re-supplied. The Svay Rieng police force and the Tay Ninh police force bought all the sandals from the merchant and brought them over to the Svay Rieng police station.

The Vietnamese Tay Ninh provincial police authority and the Ben Cau district police force are still looking for sellers of these sandals in the Go Dau market. In every market in Svay Rieng province, no sandals bearing the Angkor Wat picture are being sold. The director of the Svay Rieng information department said that the provincial police department suspects that these shoes came from Thailand.