Cambodian-Thai border crisis

This perhaps is not the most spicy issue to start of my blogging with. However, it's a bit of a personal link to my previous blog (http://bethanyshondark.blogspot.com). I spent 3 months of the summer of 2007 in Cambodia, and the seven years before that dreaming about waking up in Phnom Penh. There's a part of me that has always, and will always, be transfixed by Cambodia.

It's never nice to see it in the news. In the mainstream media Cambodia only makes the front pages as a joke, like the couple who cut their home in half instead of going through the hassle of a divorce proceeding.

Lately, however, the story has turned serious. There has been a significant border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over an ancient Temple which straddles the border. This is not the first time that Thailand has claimed ownership over Cambodia's Angkorian history. This is just the first time in a while that it's lead to gunfire.

When I was in Bangkok at the Royal Palace I overheard a government trained tour guide showing a model of the Angkor Wat temple complex (found in Siem Reap, Cambodia). He explained that true ownership was Thai. This temple complex is highlighted on the Cambodian flag, and this period of history is one of the only bright spots in the darkness of the Khmer people's past. This dispute isn't just over a temple, it's over pride.

In 1962, the World Court awarded ownership of the Preah Vihear temple complex to Cambodia. The most accessible entrance is via the Thai border, the Cambodian government has allowed tourists and worshipers to come across the border without passports or visas. The financial benefits of this temple have been almost exclusively enjoyed by the Thais, who control tourism of the site (hotels, buses, restaurants).

So why are there suddenly troops amassing over the borders, and shots being fired, almost 50 years after the Cambodian government was awarded ownership? Recently, the site was deemed a World Heritage Site by the UN's cultural body. It's been a nasty reminder to the Thais that while they control tourism to the site, the Cambodians still own the site, and the ownership of the entire Angkorian empire's prestige.

Last week, two Cambodian soldiers were killed and over a dozen Thai solders were taken as POWs. A handful of soldiers on both sides of the border were injured.

Where are all the stories about this crisis being filed from? Bangkok.

• Why won't the media venture a guess as to who fired the first shot?
• Why are there stories about the hardships of the Thai tourism industry, but not about the deaths of two Cambodian men?

And most importantly, why is Thailand dragging their feet on border talks while simultaneously telling their citizens to get out of Cambodia ASAP, regardless of business transactions they might currently have in progress?

Thailand is having serious issues with its government. Their Prime Minister was just forced to step down (who was replaced by a man who is already under investigation), their beloved King isn't getting any younger, and they are having serious issues with Muslim separatists in the south. Is a nationalist war of aggression something that can distract Thai citizens from the forces threatening to tear their country apart in the middle of a worldwide recession?

Hopefully we won't find out.