Temple tantrums stalk Thai-Cambodia relations

By Nopporn Wong-Anan - Analysis

KHAO PRA VIHARN, Thailand (Reuters) - Five years after a row over the famed Angkor Wat temples turned violent, the ownership of another religious site is again inflaming passions in Thailand and Cambodia.

A volatile mix of politics and nationalism swirling around the Preah Vihear temple, perched on a disputed border where troops faced off for a sixth day on Sunday, has raised fears it may turn ugly, as in 2003 when a nationalist mob torched the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh.

The trigger for the latest temple tantrum was Preah Vihear's listing as a World Heritage site this month, a move that inspired pride and joy in Cambodia and a political uproar in Thailand.

Groups opposed to the Bangkok government, which backs former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 coup, have cranked up nationalist fervor over the temple, which Thais know as Khao Pra Viharn, to attack the administration.

"Preah Vihear has become a casualty of Thailand's political crisis," Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a foreign affairs lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, told Reuters.

The 11th century Preah Vihear complex, sitting on a remote and heavily landmined escarpment separating the two countries, has been a source of tension for decades.

Although easily accessible only from Thailand, it was bestowed on Cambodia in 1962 by the International Court of Justice in the Hague -- a ruling which still rankles with Thais.

"I have been crying since the listing of Khao Pra Viharn as a World Heritage site," said 49-year-old accountant Unchana Padungyat, who drove 600 km (370 miles) to join 2,000 Thai nationalists protesting near the temple.  Continued...