Controversy!

Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple has just been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I keep hearing rumors about worrisome events surrounding the inscription, but it's hard to get accurate news in my town. Apparently, Thailand and Cambodia have been disputing the temple, which is on the border of the two countries, for years. Of course, Cambodians, including the former king, claim the temple belongs to Cambodia. Many Thais say the temple belongs to Thailand. The Thai foreign minister who signed off on Cambodia's application for inscription has resigned due to this disagreement. Rumor is, the border between Thailand and Cambodia in the area near the temple was closed off for a while. I'm not sure if it's open now or even if it was ever closed.

Cambodians don't tend to express strong opinions around me, but if I ask them to explain the Preah Vihear situation, they immediately make nationalistic noises. They tell me that Preah Vihear temple definitely belongs to Cambodia and the Thais have no right to it. I've also seen fervent text messages that declare the temple for Cambodia. (Due to the poor quality of the roads that access the temple, however, I don't know many Cambodians who have actually visited it.) I think I'll get a chance to see it with my own eyes sometime this summer, and I can't decide if I should hope for the situation to have settled down by then or to still be seething...