This temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, the destroyer, has been in the midst of conflicts for the past many years.  It has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, and rightly so.

It all started with an ownership battle between Thailand and Cambodia as early as in 1958, and this put an end to their diplomatic relations. Finally, Cambodia won, but the scars still remain.

Preah Vihear was part of two Cambodian civil wars; one in May 1975 and the other in December 1998.  Even the cement bunkers and bullet holes from those times still remain around the temple complex, as witnesses to the agony the temple has been put through.

In the 12^th and 13^th centuries, the Khmer Empire covered most of the land that Thailand sits on today. Although, many of the Khmer temples are in Thailand, in the north-eastern province that boarders Cambodia, Preah Vihear has always been the most contentious.

It was the French that marked the Thai-Cambodian border in the year 1904 and composed a map.  They used the watershed on the Dangrek Mountain range as the line of segregation.  Thailand argues that Preah Vihear is clearly on the Thai side of the divided line; however, the temple is shown on the Cambodian side in the map.

It was in 2007, that this old dispute was ruffled again, when Cambodia decided to propose giving Preah Vihear the distinction of being a World Heritage Site.  Thailand brought to the fore some unresolved disputes pertaining to a piece of land outside the temple compound, and Cambodia agreed to redraw the map, leaving that land to Thailand.

However, this decision could prove inconvenient for Cambodia, as rumors are rife that there are plans of building a hotel-casino complex on that land, with perhaps a cable car to take the gamblers to the temple.

Amidst all these disputes, gods reign in all their glory, in Preah Vihear, looking down with amusement at human nature, which is never satisfied.

MegaFoo