Preah Vihear temple has access roads from all directions

Preah Vihear: The bird's eye view to the left is the plains of Cambodia where the staircases will be constructed leading up to the temple.

everyday.com
10th March, 2009
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

Preah Vihear temple have access roads from all directions after a temporary paved road has been completed recently. The access roads to Preah Vihear temple will be upgraded, complete with vehicle parking lots.

Mr. Hang Soth, secretary-general of the Preah Vihear Authority, told Reaksmei Kampuchea that, other than constructing an access paved road, the Bayon foundation is in the process of constructing a "reception centre" at the foot of the mountain. He said also that, to the east, the Autority had ordered the constructions of staricases leading to the temple.

The staircases will be built along the ancient stairways and will be cconstructed by using natural rocks. The construction will take a long time to complete, therefore the Authority has ordered the construction of a temporary concrete stairways for temporary usage.

The old staircases, 3,000 in total which was constructed from woods, have deteriorated badly. The new staircases to be built, will be built at the T-junction at the foot of the mountain to the temple. It is 1418 metres in length but the access road to the temple will be widened to 7 metres wide, paved with concrete and complete with a parking lot capable of housing 50 vehicles.

Along these ancient staircases, there will be a plan to build an elephant track for tourist rides.

Thailand won’t allow Cambodia to build roads leading to Preah Vihear temple

Everyday.com
19th November, 2008
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

Mr. Ros Chantraboth, vice-president of the Royal Cambodian Academy, said in a seminar in Phnom Penh on Tuesday that the Veal Entry area is located inside Khmer territory and is an important route to Preah Vihear temple, so he thinks that Thailand will not easily allow Cambodia to build roads along this stretch of lands to connect to Preah Vihear temple. He said that Thailand will use all pretexts to cause disputes with Cambodia in order to obstruct the construction of this important route.

Mr. Ros said that the reasons of his claims were based on his observations that since Thailand sent its troops to occupy the Khmer territories Thailand has always claimed that the Veal Entry areas belong to Thailand. He added that, in every negotiation, Thailand has never abided by the agreements.

Regarding the maps, Mr Ros said that Cambodia has consistently used only one map, and that is the internationally-recognised map, which Thailand has also recognised and which was a map that Cambodia has used successfully in the 19962 court case which seen the return of the Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia.

He added that, the problem in the negotiation is that Thailand has used a map unilaterally drawn by Thailand for the negotiations.

He added that, in hindsight, Cambodia was under the influence or the pressures of the Cold War because Thailand has allied itself with the South East Asian Treaty Organisation (SEATO) led by America. Cambodia was not aligned and was neutral and Thailand has used American influence to produce new maps which has caused the problems in the Preah Vihear areas until today.//