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Thai Arrested for Insulting Angkor Wat

Written By vibykhmer on Monday, August 10, 2009 | 10:43 PM


The arrested Thai citizen sitting in front of the toilet adorned concrete depiction of Angkor Wat as a stepping stone (All photos: DAP-news)
The arrested man with the picture of Angkor Wat removed from the front of his toilet

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
10 August 2009


A Thai citizen was arrested in Poipet Monday for allegedly insulting Angkor Wat.

Banteay Meanchey provincial police arrested the man after he carved the shape of Angkor Wat in the concrete in front of a public toilet in the border town.

His act constituted “looking down” on Angkor Wat and was “against the will of Cambodian people,” a police official said, a penal crime under Cambodian law.

The suspect has not yet been sent to the court.

In 2003, rumors of Thai insults of Angkor Wat were enough to spark a night of riots and looting that destroyed the Thai Embassy and numerous Thai businesses in the capital.

The arrest also comes as Cambodia and Thailand are seeking to resolve a long-running military standoff along the northern border.

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