Royal oxen signal worry for Cambodian rice farmers

May 12, 2009

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodia's royal oxen performed an ancient ceremony to predict the country's agriculture fortunes -- and raised fears of a low rice harvest by refusing to eat any of the grain.

King Norodom Sihamoni presided over the ceremony in a park outside the palace where thousands of people watched royal astrologers observing the animals' behaviour.

After a symbolic ploughing of a portion of the field, a pair of royal oxen were led to seven dishes -- rice, corn, beans, sesame, grass, water and alcohol -- laid out on trays.



They were seen eating only beans and corn, allowing the palace's chief astrologer Kang Ken to declare that this year "beans and corn harvests will be bountiful."

The astrologer did not spell out to the crowd what it meant for the rice harvest -- but he later told reporters that it would be only about 30 percent of the expected amount.

"I am extremely worried. As the oxen did not eat the rice, I fear that I cannot have (a) good harvest of rice," said farmer Vong Sak, 53, after the ceremony, which marks the start of Cambodia's planting season.

While still taken seriously by many rural Cambodians in this deeply superstitious country, ploughing ceremony predictions have been called into question in recent years.

Prime Minister Hun Sen, who did not attend the ceremony, rebuked the royal astrologers for failing to predict deadly floods in 2001 that claimed 59 lives.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved

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Muzzled opposition in front of the National Assembly (Photo: SRP)

Jun 26, 2009
By Sam Campbell
Asia Times (Hong Kong)


PHNOM PENH - Science fiction author Philip K Dick once explained reality as "that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away". As sensible as this may sound, it is a definition unlikely to take hold in Cambodia, where recent events have shown the government's tendency to obstinately dismiss anything but the most convenient information.

The denials have come from the highest ranks of government to the lowest rungs of social entertainment and conscripted the judicial system to fend off criticism. Experts and economists say the government backlash risks driving away the vital foreign investment and international aid the country now desperately needs to keep the economy afloat.




The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have both predicted a 0.5% contraction in Cambodia's 2009 gross domestic product (GDP), while the independent Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) estimated an even sharper 3% drop. The government sees things differently and announced last month a beaming 6% GDP growth projection, down only slightly from its 7% projection in April.

That optimistic spin, economists and experts say, is totally out of whack with Cambodia's on-the-ground economic realities, as well as regional and global trends. The crucial garment industry, usually the country's main export engine, saw exports plummet 25% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2009. The foreign revenue-generating tourism sector is equally troubled, with air arrivals in the first four months of 2009 down 16% over the same period last year.

The kingdom's rapid economic growth - GDP increases were measured in double digits for several years - seems to have made officials reluctant to concede that the downturn is having serious effects in Cambodia.

Indeed, Prime Minister Hun Sen's economic lieutenants have been slow to acknowledge the impact of the global crisis on Cambodia's until recently rising fortunes, opting instead to discredit or clamp down on critical news and assessments.

Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon said in early June that a US$6.6 million training program and a $1 million micro-loans program would be adequate to mitigate the 60,000 garment factory workers who recently lost their jobs - a claim greeted with skepticism from economic analysts. Keat Chhon did not respond to an Asia Times Online request for an interview about the programs.

Hun Sen has responded to downcast projections with a characteristic sharp tongue. When the EIU this year rated Cambodia among global countries at high risk of political instability due to the economic crisis, the strongman leader questioned the report's "political orientation" and said the experts that compiled it wore "glasses with prescriptions too strong for their eyes".

In an April 6 speech, the premier went further, claiming that the report was "a political attempt to stop the flow of investments". Meanwhile, Cambodia's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hor Nambora, dismissed the report as based on "sketchy and unconvincing" evidence. In a letter to the EIU, he called the report "perverse" and "insulting".

"Your scare-mongering allegations are highly dangerous, as they could be construed as actively inciting unrest," wrote Hor Nambora, son of Cambodia's veteran Foreign Minister Hor Namhong. "They also happen to be a gross distortion and misrepresentation of Cambodia's true position, and there can be no justification for these claims."

He also upbraided the EIU for having "arrogantly dismissed" Hun Sen's vow that Cambodia would maintain its economic growth this year: "You seem to have ignored this reassurance from the highest possible level, preferring to rely on your own evidence."

Comedic criticism

The government's protestations peaked in early June following a May 30 concert organized by rights organizations to bring attention to the thorny issue of corruption.

At the so-called "Clean Hands Concert", newly appointed United States ambassador Carol Rodley called corruption one of the main obstacles to socio-economic development in the country, claiming the scourge "costs Cambodia up to $500 million per year in terms of forgone state revenue that could otherwise be spent on public services in education and health care and jobs for Cambodian youth".

She claimed that the sum was "equivalent to the cost of constructing 20,000 six-room school buildings or the ability to pay every civil servant in Cambodia an additional US$260 per month". Her arithmetic, however, was not well received by the government.

"The Royal Government of Cambodia absolutely refutes the politically motivated and unsubstantiated allegation made by the United States diplomat in contradiction of the good relations between Cambodia and the United States Government," read a stern letter the Cambodian Foreign Ministry sent to the US Embassy.

Cambodia's UK ambassador Hor Nambora again entered the fray, saying Rodley seemed to have allied herself "with the discredited views of the international pressure group Global Witness which continually engages in virulent and malicious campaigns against the Royal Government of Cambodia". Global Witness has long been an irritating antagonist to Hun Sen's administration, once labeling its leaders as a "kleptocratic elite".

Pointing to a conspiracy to undermine the government is becoming a common theme when responding to critics of the government. The eventual aims of this unnamed group of conspirators - which encompasses such diverse organizations as environmental watchdogs like Global Witness, economic think-tanks such as the EIU and human-rights groups - is unclear.

One conspiracy theory was put forth publicly by Chy Koy, a performer with the popular Koy comedy troupe. Although Koy had performed at the Clean Hands anti-graft concert, he appeared on June 6 on a Cambodian People's Party-owned television station to ridicule anti-corruption NGOs (non-governmental organizations) as money hungry fabricators of non-existent corruption.

"Some NGOs accuse the government of being corrupt without thinking about its achievements," he explained to the local press after the parody. "You can say that the government is corrupt if nothing had developed in our country, but the government is working and everything is developing." Although Cambodia is officially one of the world's least-developed countries, the comedian claimed: "Now we have everything. Some families have two SUVs, some have three."

The Koy performance was followed - again on CPP-controlled TV - on June 13 by the Krem comedy troupe, which portrayed NGOs and journalists as conspiring to stage fake forced evictions - another bete noir of the Cambodian government. The well-documented and sometimes violent evictions of impoverished communities, according to Krem's sketch, are merely an invented tool to enable greedy foreigners to indulge their appetites for luxury hotels and local women.

With official denials and social satire fending off criticism on one front, another battle was playing out in a very different sphere: home decoration.

In what many viewed as one of the most peculiar assaults on free speech so far this year,
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The Banyan Tree: Untangling Cambodian History

by Bruce Sharp

The banyan tree grows throughout Cambodia. It may reach a height of over 100 feet, and as it grows, new roots descend from its branches, pushing into the ground and forming new trunks. The roots grow relentlessly; many of the ancient temples of Angkor have toppled as these roots have become embedded in the cracks and crevices between their massive stones. A single tree might have dozens of trunks, and it is often impossible to tell which is the original.

This is Cambodia today: a thousand intertwined branches, a thousand stories woven together, a thousand currents of history swirling in different directions. To understand Cambodia in the present, it is necessary to look at Cambodia in the past.

Part One: The Seeds

In the early 1960s, to much of the outside world, Cambodia seemed to be an insignificant country. For Americans, it was known only as the site of the magnificent temples of Angkor Wat: a small, quiet nation sharing a border with Vietnam.

Vietnam, by contrast, was well known to Americans. The cold war was raging, and in the eyes of the American public the front line of that war was clearly marked by the boundary between the communists in the north, and the noncommunists in the South. South Vietnam was perceived as the first domino; Cambodia was merely the next. The subtleties of history, the blurred lines of political fact and fiction were lost in the analogy.

If the Americans knew little about Cambodia, it is probably also true that the Cambodians knew little about America. The leader of Cambodia, however, fully understood what the American presence in Vietnam meant. Prince Norodom Sihanouk had led Cambodia since its independence from France in 1953. Formerly the King, he had abdicated the throne in 1955 to run in elections for head of state, and he had survived on the political stage through a mixture of political acumen and ruthlessness. As American involvement in Vietnam deepened, Sihanouk realized that maintaining his rule would require a delicate balancing act. He could not afford to make enemies of either the Americans or the Vietnamese communists.

When the Vietcong began to use areas inside Cambodia as a sanctuary from which to launch guerrilla attacks into South Vietnam, Sihanouk's position became increasingly precarious. Keeping the Vietnamese out by force was scarcely an option; his own army consisted of fewer than 30,000 poorly equipped troops. In comparison, by the end of 1964 the Vietnamese communists were fielding an army of roughly 180,000. Sihanouk's reluctance to move against the Vietnamese was strengthened by his conviction that the communists would eventually be victorious.



To further complicate matters, Sihanouk's autocratic style of governing was beginning to alienate the more well-educated elements of Khmer society. The opposition from the left was particularly vocal, and Sihanouk began to rely more and more on repression to quell dissent. That repression was largely orchestrated by one of the most pro-American members of Sihanouk's government, General Lon Nol.

The leftists in Cambodia had originally concentrated on a political struggle against Sihanouk. By 1967, however, as it became clear that political opposition was both futile and increasingly dangerous, the Cambodian communists began to focus on armed struggle. They did not, however, constitute as serious threat to Sihanouk's regime. Even as late as 1969, the communists -- or, as Sihanouk derisively called them, the Khmer Rouge -- were estimated to have only about 2500 troops.

Though the Khmer Rouge were only a minor threat, the war in Vietnam was rapidly becoming a major one. The presence of the sanctuaries was a source of constant frustration for the Americans. At first, with rare and relatively minor exceptions, American forces did not pursue guerrillas beyond the border. Later, however, American commanders began to believe that the Cambodian sanctuaries were crucial for Vietnamese logistics, and that they also served as the headquarters for the communist war efforts throughout Vietnam. In February 1969, General Creighton Abrams, the commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, requested permission to attack Vietnamese troops inside Cambodia. President Richard Nixon quickly agreed, and on March 18, 1969, American B-52s launched the first of many secret bombing raids over Cambodia. Sihanouk had, in fact, confidentially told an American ambassador that he would not object if American forces engaged in "hot pursuit" of Vietnamese forces in unpopulated areas of Cambodia. But the extent of the attacks would later become a source of bitter recriminations. Former American Secretary of State Henry Kissinger would claim that Sihanouk was "...inviting this sort of pressure as a means of evicting these invading forces" from Khmer territory. Sihanouk himself would dispute that contention: "I did not know about the B-52 bombing in 1969... the question of a big B-52 campaign was never raised." In the end, the castigations of the politicians scarcely mattered. The war had come to Cambodia.

One year after the bombing began, Sihanouk made a mistake that would ultimately set the stage for disaster. Demonstrations protesting the Vietnamese presence in Cambodia broke out in Phnom Penh, the capital, while Sihanouk was vacationing in Paris. Although he was still fairly popular in rural areas, many Cambodians were losing patience with Sihanouk; they resented the corruption of his regime and his repression of dissent. Misjudging the extent of the discontent, Sihanouk declined to return to Cambodia. He left Paris and continued on to Moscow, and on March 18, 1970 -- one year to the day after the first U.S. bombing strike -- he was overthrown in a coup led by Lon Nol and Prince Sirik Matak. Sirik Matak quickly faded into the background. Lon Nol was the real power, and his regime was instantly recognized by Washington; the Americans surmised, correctly, that Lon Nol would permit more aggressive moves against the sanctuaries. The Khmer Rouge, meanwhile, saw an opportunity to turn Sihanouk's ouster to their advantage. If the Prince could be persuaded to ally himself with his former enemies, the rebels would gain significant popular support. Determined to avenge his betrayal by Lon Nol, Sihanouk acquiesced. On March 23, he announced that he would join the Khmer Rouge in a bid to overthrow the new government. The battle lines were drawn


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Sculptures - Khmer Civilization

Sculptures

The stone carving skill of the ancient Khmer was basically inherited from the Indian civilization, however, it was later evolved into its own unique Khmer style. The Khmer sculptures were carved from stone with great craftsmanship and many of them represent the Hindu deities such as Shiva, Vishnu, Brahmans, the elephant god Ganesha and many other gods and goddesses, as well as Hindu mythical monsters such as the serpent naga, the demon kala, the giant makara, and the mythical lions. Some large sculptures even portray the epics of the Hindu myths such as Mahabharata and Ramayana.






In later centuries, the Buddha statues appeared and enshrined in many temples. The most astounding Buddha statues are found in Angkor Thom (Bayon) where the magnificent statues of four-faced Bodhisattava Avalokiteshvara, the lord Buddha, were sculptured on fifty towers.

Although each sculpture bears the common characteristics of the supernatural being it represents as described in the epics or myths, its details reveal the personal imagination of its sculptor. The good examples can be seen in the 2000 sculptures of Apsara in Angkor Wat; the Apsara are the female devatas (angels), and each Apsara was beautifully carved with her own supple posture, personal decorations and unique ornaments.

In addition, some sculptures depict the important events such as the war against its foreign invaders while some reveal the everyday life of the Khmer people such as the relief carvings of Angkor Thom.


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Life of the Local Khmer People

The stone inscriptions found in the Angkor's region are mostly concerned with the religious related topics and rarely speak anything about the ordinary life of the local Khmer people. Only the stone carvings on the relief of Angkor Thom do portray some glimpses of the daily life in those days, however, most of our knowledge about the life of the Khmer laymen interestingly come from the Chinese Chronicle written by Zhou Daguan who was a Chinese ambassador of Yuan Dynasty. He visited the Angkor Empire in 1296 and traveled widely inside the kingdom for a year before his return. Residing with the local people in various circumstances, Zhou Daguan described quite an accurate picture about the life and activities of the laymen and enable us to project our imagination.



Zhou Daguan wrote that both men and women are breast-naked and barefooted with a piece of cloth wrapping around their waists. Ordinary females have no hair ornaments, but may wear golden rings on the fingers and bracelets on the arms. Beautiful women are always sent into the court to serve the king or his royal family....All trades in Khmer are carried out by women. In the market place, there is no shop, and the female vendors sell their goods and products on the mats which are spread on the ground. The space in the market is not free, and the rent must be paid to the officials.... the Khmer people do not have any table and chair in their house, and neither have the bowl nor the bucket. They cook their food in the earthen pots which are used for boiling rice and for preparing soup. The ladle sticks are made up from the coconut shells and the soup is served in a tiny bowl made up from the woven leaves by which the soup does not leak from the bowl.

In addition to Zhou Daguan's description, the relief carvings of Bayon add further views to the lively scene of the market. Many people walk to and fro; two bulls can be seen to pull an oxcart, some people carry their goods on the head, the dignitary on a palanquin carried by the servants, and some people ride on the horses. In the carving, well-dressed foreigners can be seen to walk among the local people.

As the palaces and the houses in the Angkor Empire were mainly made up on unendurable materials such as woods and thatched leaves, they left no traces to the present day, except the various Khmer temples which were built from bricks and stones. During those days, we can imagine the Angkor's capital such that the remarkable Khmer temples like Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom must be surrounded by the wooden houses, some with tiles on the roof while some only with thatch-leaves, and the people carried out their life in the market place. However, all these scenes had long been faded away; only the temples and the memory remain.



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Khmer Society

-To glimpse into the Khmer Society, we can understand that the top of the hierarchy should have been the god-king or deva-raja, surrounded by his tutors who were brahmins, and also by the members of his royal family. The priests residing in the temples were also powerful as they seem to own many lands and the paddy fields.

The stone inscription found in many temples gave some glimpses to the donors whose names were written with the titles. These donors could have been the noblemen or the dignitaries of the Khmer's ruling class responsible for the administrative and judiciary tasks, however, their titles were unfamiliar to the historians and the hierarchical ranks were not known, thus it is difficult to draw a complete table of hierarchy for the Angkor Empire.



Since the economy of the Khmer civilization was based mainly on agriculture, the majority of the people should have been the peasants or the farmers living in the villages. It was not clearly certain that there were any small landowners in the kingdom since most inscriptions often referred to large landowners of the elite class or of the temples.

The lowest hierarchy of the Khmer civilization should have been the slaves. Interestingly, there were two types of slaves in the kingdom which are worth mentioning and distinguished. As previously discussed in the chapter of "inscription", some of the Khmer stone inscriptions were found to list the names of slaves who belonged to the temples. Since their names were carefully crafted and enshrined in the holy place, they could not have been the low class slaves as its word "slave" implied. The historians believed that they were actually the temple servants and the priests who were "the slaves only to the gods", and not to any human being. In reality then, the "actual slaves" were mostly the captives from the neighboring countries, however, it was found that the Khmer people themselves could fall into the lowest status of being a "slave" if they failed to pay their rents or loans to the upper ruling class.



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Lineage - Khmer Civilization

Lineage

Unlike other civilizations, it seems that there was no clear-cut rule or regulation about who should succeed the throne when the king passed away. Throughout the history of Angkor Empire, the royal brethrens of the same mother or different mothers often struggled for power, and the crown was taken by force.



It was found that the right to the throne was followed through the maternal line. The designated crowned prince was often challenged by his brothers or by the other princes of different lineage. In many instances, the throne was succeeded after the bloodshed battles. In order to prove their rights and to acquire supports, the candidates often proclaimed that they were descendants of either Brahmin Kaundinya and princess Soma or Kambu and Mera, as these two legendary couples were believed by the ancient Khmers as their ancestors.

These incidences may not be surprising, if we traced back into the history further, the same practice had also been found since the time of Funan as written in the Chinese Chronicle.



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Religion - Khmer Civilization

Since the ancient time, the Khmers had accepted the two great religions from India, i.e. Hinduism and Buddhism, by which the former one was more popular. Hinduism had played an important role in Khmer civilization as the Angkor monarchs adopted its concept of deva-raja, or "god-king", by which the king was revered as an incarnation of the god Shiva, a supreme Hindu deity who was regarded as a protector.

Most temples in the Angkor Empire were dedicated to either god Shiva or god Vishnu. Believed to be the holy house of the supreme gods, the temples were carefully built with fine arts, and the materials used are those of everlasting stones. Many impressive sculptures of great craftsmanship were enshrined

.

The second religion being revered by the Khmers was Buddhism of Mahayana sect which came into the region quite at same time as Hinduism, however, Buddhism was less prominent.

Both Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism played an important role as the political, religious and philosophical pillars of Khmer Civilization by which the king was revered as the god-king or deva-raja. This ideology enabled the king to rule over the country as an absolute monarch with sovereign spirituality over his people, and thus enhanced the unity of the kingdom. Successive kings were able to mobilize large manpower to serve the army, to maintain extensive irrigation system and to build numerous massive temples.

Not until the 13th century, Theravada Buddhism was introduced to the Khmer from Sri Lanka and became more prominent in the royal court as well as in the local people. The teaching of Theravada Buddhism directly crashed with the original belief of the Khmer people as it taught the people to seek self enlightenment and abandoned the worldly things. With this teaching, the attitudes of the people towards its Hindu gods as well as the god-king changed, and thus led to the gradual weakening of the empire which eventually collapsed in the first half of 15th century.

The Khmer people seem to be the obedient students, as they did not raise doubts about the riligious teaching of the original doctrines. We can see in Khmer history that the religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism were not divided into the different sub-sects in the land of Khmer, as they were so in some other civilizations.

In addition to Hinduism and Buddhism, the Khmer people also had their own indigenous beliefs such as the local deities, ancestral spirits, as well as the evil spirits. There are no inscriptions or manuscripts to describe these beliefs, however, it can be found to be prevalent in modern Cambodia, especially in the remote villages. These beliefs are passed on from one generation to another through the words of mouth.



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Religion - Khmer Civilization

Since the ancient time, the Khmers had accepted the two great religions from India, i.e. Hinduism and Buddhism, by which the former one was more popular. Hinduism had played an important role in Khmer civilization as the Angkor monarchs adopted its concept of deva-raja, or "god-king", by which the king was revered as an incarnation of the god Shiva, a supreme Hindu deity who was regarded as a protector.

Most temples in the Angkor Empire were dedicated to either god Shiva or god Vishnu. Believed to be the holy house of the supreme gods, the temples were carefully built with fine arts, and the materials used are those of everlasting stones. Many impressive sculptures of great craftsmanship were enshrined

.

The second religion being revered by the Khmers was Buddhism of Mahayana sect which came into the region quite at same time as Hinduism, however, Buddhism was less prominent.

Both Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism played an important role as the political, religious and philosophical pillars of Khmer Civilization by which the king was revered as the god-king or deva-raja. This ideology enabled the king to rule over the country as an absolute monarch with sovereign spirituality over his people, and thus enhanced the unity of the kingdom. Successive kings were able to mobilize large manpower to serve the army, to maintain extensive irrigation system and to build numerous massive temples.

Not until the 13th century, Theravada Buddhism was introduced to the Khmer from Sri Lanka and became more prominent in the royal court as well as in the local people. The teaching of Theravada Buddhism directly crashed with the original belief of the Khmer people as it taught the people to seek self enlightenment and abandoned the worldly things. With this teaching, the attitudes of the people towards its Hindu gods as well as the god-king changed, and thus led to the gradual weakening of the empire which eventually collapsed in the first half of 15th century.

The Khmer people seem to be the obedient students, as they did not raise doubts about the riligious teaching of the original doctrines. We can see in Khmer history that the religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism were not divided into the different sub-sects in the land of Khmer, as they were so in some other civilizations.

In addition to Hinduism and Buddhism, the Khmer people also had their own indigenous beliefs such as the local deities, ancestral spirits, as well as the evil spirits. There are no inscriptions or manuscripts to describe these beliefs, however, it can be found to be prevalent in modern Cambodia, especially in the remote villages. These beliefs are passed on from one generation to another through the words of mouth.



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Khmer Inscription and Language

The earliest written language to have been found in the region is in Sanskrit, an Indian sacred language. The writings were carved in stones which could be dated back to 5th and 6th century, which show a strong influence of the Indian culture over the indigenous people.

Sometimes later, the Khmer Language seems to appear with many of its characters and words derived from Sanskrit. An oldest stone inscription written in Khmer language were found to be carved in 612 A.D. as its text said.

The contents of these stone inscriptions which were housed in the temples were mostly concern with religions, its ritual and philosophy, Indian epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata, Kings' salutations and some poetic verses. Some of these stone inscriptions also list the assets which were owned by the temples and by the dignitaries as well as the different objects needed for ritual ceremonies. Although these assets and objects had long been disappeared, these listings served as another jigsaw in our quest for knowledge of the Angkor. Little things had been said about the ordinary life of the local people, however, these stone inscriptions had helped us to retrace the history of Khmer and to understand its political and cultural structure.

Around 1,200 stone inscriptions written in Sanskrit and Khmer had been discovered.

The inscriptions were careful engraved on the stone with a great work of real arts in order to show high respects to the gods of the temples. This could lead us to imagine that the Khmers were devout to their gods in whom they revered as their protector, and god's blessing would bring them prosperity.

Many Angkor temples had been found to contain the stone inscriptions in both languages - Sanskrit and Khmer, however, their contents could be differentiated into two distinct characteristics although both of them served for a religious purpose. Those inscriptions written in Sanskrit addressed more or less directly to the gods in term of religious prayers and rituals. Sanskrit is the sacred language of India and was maintained in the original form by the Khmers so that its value to their gods would not be deviated by any form of translation.

Generally, the Khmer inscription had its own distinction and the content was mostly a listing of assets, covering from paddy fields, cattle, objects and furniture, as well as the names of slaves which were owned by the temples. In many instances, some of the stone inscriptions were placed in the shrine by donors who could be the dignitaries or the elites of Khmer ruling class. These inscriptions could be varied, ranging from the listing of assets to some poetic verses.

According to Zhou Daguan in the Chinese annals, the ancient Khmers knew how to write on the latina leaves as well as by chalks on the animal's skin. Unfortunately, these materials seem to have been decayed over the past centuries due to damp weathers and insects.

It is hard to believe that such a high civilization of Khmer with a well-developed writing system would barely have any literature. Only three Khmer literatures are known since they were preserved in the stone inscription. Many literatures and other Khmer manuscripts, being written on unendurable materials other than on stone, are believed to have been lost with time, and some may have been survived until present day as local folklores.


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Influence of Indian Civilization

This Cambodia Tours section covers the trip to Angkor Wat and other Khmer Temples with sightseeing in Phnompenh to Cheung Ek Killing Field and genocidal Tuol Sleng Museum.


DAY 1: Arrive Siem Reap (Angkor Wat)
Arrive at Siem Reap Airport in Cambodia, meet with your guide and transfer to the hotel; then visit the South Gate of Angkor Thom, Bayon, Baphoun, Terrace of Elephants & Terrace of the Leper King. Afternoon tour to Ta Prohm and Angkor Wat, and see the sunset view at Phnom Bakheng. Overnight in Siem Reap.

DAY 2: Siem Reap - Phnom Penh
Morning transfer to the speed boat to Phnom Penh. See scenic views of the Cambodian rural life along the riverbank (optional by air). Upon arrival, transfer to the hotel. Afternoon tour to the Silver Pagoda, the Royal Palace and the National Museum of Khmer Arts. Overnight in Phnom Penh.

DAY 3: Phnom Penh
Morning tour to Choeung Ek Killing Fields and the Toul Sleng Museum of Genocidal crime. Afternoon city tour for shopping at Russian Market or Central Market. Overnight in Phnom Penh.

DAY 4: Phnom Penh Departure
Additional sightseeing until transfer to the airport for your departure flight.

The civilization in the Indian Subcontinent had been highly developed since ancient time. When trades became flourished between the East and the West, the Indian traders sailed to this region to establish Indian trading posts in order to collect goods and products during the off monsoon season. These traders brought with them their civilization, cultures, philosophy and religions, which were mostly appreciated and adopted by the less developed indigenous people.

The Indian post was somewhat unlike the "colony" during the colonial period, as it was rarely meant to involve in politics of the native land. The Indians were concerned mainly in trading and in collecting goods from the local to sell in distant lands.

The excavation at Eo Oc, a Funanese main port lying in South Vietnam today, revealed that the region was one of the prominent transitory points between the West and the East, and the trading connection between the two distant continents was well established. The unearthed artifacts at Eo Oc disclosed those goods originated from as far as the Roman Empire in the West and the Chinese civilization in the Far East.

During those days, the indigenous people were far less civilized than the Indian travelers and it was not surprising to find that they accepted many aspects from their foreign folks by which they deemed to be better and beneficial. One of these aspects were the religious and cultural elements of the Indian civilization. The natives adopted Hinduism as their religion and its gods Shiva and Vishnu were revered as their supreme gods. It was also found that the Brahmins, a learned caste of India, were invited into the royal courts to help in administration during the Funan period (1st century - 613 A.D) which was a predecessor of the Khmer civilization. In addition to the religious belief, the natives also learned the engineering skills such as the irrigation system as well as stone carving from the Indian Brahmins.

The extensive activities of Indian trading in the region seem to have ceased after the fall of the Roman Empire in 5th century, however, its relics were passed on to the next generations.

When the Khmer civilization evolved in early 9th century, the Khmer inherited several elements from its predecessor as well as those from the Indian civilization. Its first king Jayavarman II crowned himself as a deva-raja or "god-king" in 802 A.D, and his regime was more or less a replica of the successful Indian monarchy. Numerous impressive temples and monuments were built throughout the empire in successive centuries in order to praise the Hindu gods. These monuments are collectively known to us as the Angkor Temples (or Khmer temples), and the most famous ones are the Angkor Wat and the Angkor Thom (Bayon), both of which resided on the vast plain of Siemreap in Cambodia.

The process through which the Indian civilization had asserted a great influence upon another civilization was termed by the historians as "Indianization". However, the Khmer had never been fully Indianized as the term suggested. Although the Khmer adopted many aspects of Indian cultural and religious elements, the way of Indian life did not penetrate deeply into the root of Khmer civilization which was consisted of the laymen who still maintained their own way of life-style.



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Khmer Society History of Cambodia

To glimpse into the Khmer Society, we can understand that the top of the hierarchy should have been the god-king or deva-raja, surrounded by his tutors who were brahmins, and also by the members of his royal family. The priests residing in the temples were also powerful as they seem to own many lands and the paddy fields.

The stone inscription found in many temples gave some glimpses to the donors whose names were written with the titles. These donors could have been the noblemen or the dignitaries of the Khmer's ruling class responsible for the administrative and judiciary tasks, however, their titles were unfamiliar to the historians and the hierarchical ranks were not known, thus it is difficult to draw a complete table of hierarchy for the Angkor Empire.




Since the economy of the Khmer civilization was based mainly on agriculture, the majority of the people should have been the peasants or the farmers living in the villages. It was not clearly certain that there were any small landowners in the kingdom since most inscriptions often referred to large landowners of the elite class or of the temples.

The lowest hierarchy of the Khmer civilization should have been the slaves. Interestingly, there were two types of slaves in the kingdom which are worth mentioning and distinguished. As previously discussed in the chapter of "inscription", some of the Khmer stone inscriptions were found to list the names of slaves who belonged to the temples. Since their names were carefully crafted and enshrined in the holy place, they could not have been the low class slaves as its word "slave" implied. The historians believed that they were actually the temple servants and the priests who were "the slaves only to the gods", and not to any human being. In reality then, the "actual slaves" were mostly the captives from the neighboring countries, however, it was found that the Khmer people themselves could fall into the lowest status of being a "slave" if they failed to pay their rents or loans to the upper ruling class.
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Cambodia history by Asianinfo.org

The Funan Kingdom, believed to have started around the first century BC, is the first known kingdom of Cambodia. The kingdom was strongly influenced by Indian culture by shaping the culture, art and political system.

An alphabetical system, religions and architectural styles were also Indian contributions to the Funan Kingdom. There is archeological evidence of a commercial society in the Mekong Delta that prospered from the 1st to 6th centuries.

Returning from abroad, a Khmer prince declared himself the ruler of a new kingdom during the 9th century. Known as Jayavarman II, he started a cult that honored Shiva, a Hindu god, as a devaraja (god-king) which then linked the king to Shiva.

He also began the great achievements in architecture and sculpture while his successors built an immense irrigation system around Angkor.. His successors (26 from the early 9th to the early 15th century), built a tremendous number of temples - of which there are over a thousand sites and stone inscriptions (on temple walls).

By the 12th century, Cambodia had spread into other areas, now known as Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Malaysia (the peninsula). There is actually still evidence of Khmer inhabitance in Thailand and Laos to this day.

The 13th and 14th centuries were not as successful for Cambodia, some believe it was due to the increased power of (and wars with) Thai kingdoms that had at one time paid homage to Angkor. Others believe it was due to the induction of Theravada Buddhism, which was totally contrary to the Cambodian societal structure at that time. After this time historical records are rather sketchy at best regarding Cambodia and it is considered the "Dark Ages" of Cambodian history.

Cambodia was ravaged by Vietnamese and Thai invasions and wars up until the 19th century, when new dynasties in these countries fought over control of Cambodia. The war, that began in the 1830's almost destroyed Cambodia. King Norodom signed a treaty that enabled the French to be a protectorate, thus effectively stopping the Viet-Thai war within. For the next 90 years, France in essence ruled over Cambodia.

Although officially they were just advisors, it was known that the French had final say on all topics of interest. Although the French built roadways and made other improvements regarding trade and transportation, they sadly neglected the Cambodian educational system, which is still not effective to this day.

In 1953, Cambodia managed to gain their independence in spite of World War II and the First Indochina War. Their independence was obtained through the political savvy of King Sihanouk. Wanting to be released from the pressures of the monarchy, Sihanouk abdicated the throne and became a full time politician.

He started a political faction called the People's Socialist Community (Sangkum Reastr Niyum) which then won by a landslide in the 1955 national elections. In part the success was due to his popularity, but also from police brutality at the polling stations.

In 1960, when his father died he was named head of state (up until then he'd been the prime minister). Although he had remained neutral in a struggle between the US and USSR regarding tensions in Vietnam, he changed his position in 1965 and eliminated diplomatic relations with the US.

At the same time he allowed the Communist Vietnamese access to Cambodian soil to set up bases. With the Cambodian economy becoming unstable, Sihanouk decided to renew his relations with the US, who were secretly planning on bombing Cambodian areas suspected of housing Vietnamese Communists.

While Sihanouk was abroad in 1970, he was ousted from power and fled to China. General Lon Nol, the prime minister, had hoped for US aid, but the US was occupied with Vietnamese troubles and didn't help. In the meantime, since his army was ill-equipped, they couldn't stop an invasion by the South Vietnamese, searching for North Vietnamese.

To add to Lon Nol's problems, Sihanouk had been persuaded to set up a government while in exile, called the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge became a thorn in Lon Nol's side along with the Vietnamese until the Khmer regime collapsed. Another contributing factor to the collapse was the repeated US bombing of the Cambodian countryside. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge was able to take over Phnom Penh and shortly thereafter, the North Vietnamese were occupying South Vietnam.

The Khmer Rouge felt antipathy toward Cambodians living in urban areas and forced them to the countryside where they were forced to work in various forms of agriculture. Leading the Khmer Rouge was a man by the name of Saloth Sar, better known as Pol Pot. The government, Democratic Kampochea (DK), was run in part by rural Cambodians who were illiterate, but had fought along with the Khmer Rouge in the war.

The derision and ill-treatment felt towards the former city dwellers was slightly better than the treatment of anyone intellectual, religious, and those who were believed to be against the regime - their punishment was death. During Pol Pot's (Khmer Rouge's) regime over twenty percent of Cambodia's population was murdered.

The Khmer Rouge's plan to attack Vietnam and other areas backfired when the Vietnamese surprised Cambodia with an attack of over 100,000 troops. They were accompanied by Cambodian Communist rebels and managed to invade Phnom Penh, which had been vacated by the Khmer Rouge the day before.

The Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot among them, fled to the Thai-Cambodian border, where they were given asylum by the Thai government, which was unfriendly to Vietnam.

The Vietnamese established a regime in Cambodia that included many members of the Khmer Rouge as well as Cambodians who had fled to Vietnam before 1975. Not to be swayed, the Khmer Rouge and it's followers created a government that was hostile to Vietnam while in exile, also known as DK.

The UN upheld this government in exile, with the support given to it by the US, China and Thailand. With more ensuing conflicts between the two governments, many of Cambodia's finest along with the general population, totaling over half a million people, resettled in other countries.

By the end of 1989, the Cold War had ended which had the Vietnamese exiting Cambodia. Without financial support from the Soviets, the Vietnamese couldn't keep their troops in the country.

This withdrawal made things difficult for Cambodians, especially the prime minister, Hun Sen. The Khmer Rouge had not disappeared, but had made their presence known and were threatening military action. Since Cambodia was without much needed foreign aid, they discarded socialism and tried to get investors interested in the country.

Another major change was in the country's name, it was changed to the State of Cambodia (SOC), while the KPRP (who currently ruled Cambodia) changed their name to the Cambodian People's Party. An attempt to have a free-market economy just increased the gap between the rich and the poor with many government officials becoming millionaires.

In 1991, the UN, Cambodia, and other interested parties came to an agreement to end the Cambodian conflict. A United Nations Transitional Authority (UNTAC) and a Supreme National Council (SNC) were formed and were comprised of members from different factions within Cambodia. The agreement in Paris and the UN protectorate started competitive politics in Cambodia, something they hadn't seen for about 40 years.

In May 1993, UNTAC sponsored an election for the national assembly, which ended up ousting the military regime. The Cambodians wanted a royalist party, FUNCINPEC, but Hun Sen, who won the second largest number of seats, refused to give up his power. Fortunately a compromise was reached and a government was formed with two prime ministers, FUNCINPEC had the first prime minister, Prince Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen became the second prime minister.

A name change for the country was in order, so in 1993 Cambodia became known as the Kingdom of Cambodia and Sihanouk became the king once again after ratifying a new constitution which re-established the monarchy. After these changes were made, the UN no longer accepted the DK as the ruling party, thus causing them (the DK) to lose their seat and power in the UN.

The tentative compromise between the FUNCINPEC and the CPP fell apart in 1997 when Prince Ranariddh was overseas. Hun Sen took advantage of the Prince's absence and organized a violent takeover to replace him. He replaced Prince Ranariddh with another member of the FUNCINPEC, but this time with one who was more easily manipulated and compliant. In spite of this takeover, the elections of 1998 were carried out, but not without foreign observations.

Although it was stated the voting was fair, the CPP hassled it's opposition and following the elections many were put in jail while a few others were killed. Once again, the results were not accepted, but this time it was Prince Ranariddh who opposed it. Yet again another compromise was reached with Hun Sen as the only prime minister and with Prince Ranariddh as the president of the national assembly.

Things are stabilizing in Cambodia, but not without the help and support of foreign aid. With the outside world's interest waning, it's help is steadily decreasing, hich is discouraging any hopes for economic advancement and democracy.
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A Short History of Cambodia

The intention of this short history of Cambodia is to help those who are unfamiliar with Cambodia, to understand its history of civil unrest and the power struggle to control Cambodia which has resulted in much political instability. The conflict has cost millions of lives, and has left Cambodian people living with an uncertain future.

We all tend to focus on our own problems, and sometimes we do not want to get involved in other's affairs, as long as we can live in peace and comfort. For this reason, in addition to geographical distance, some people may know of Cambodia but probably do not know very much about its internal conflicts. Cambodia once was a huge empire at the peak of civilization in Southeast Asia, but now it has shrunk to a small country. Today, even the monuments of Angkor Wat that used to stand and testify to the greatness of Cambodia's culture and the national symbol are in ruin. An ancestral prophecy predicted that one day the unfortunate Khmer people will be forced to choose between being “eaten by tigers or swallowed by crocodiles.” Today we are seeing that prophecy fulfilled in the most tragic way possible. The Cambodian people are on the brink of extinction, dying a slow death, murdered in the name of dominant power in the region.

Building the road to tranquility for Cambodia might be impossible as long as China and Vietnam persist in dominating Cambodia for their own benefits. On the other hand from the past to the present the Cambodian leaders fail to make a compromise to share power with others in a democratic way, and most importantly the Cambodians themselves show inability of forgiving each other and the willingness to accept national reconciliation.

First, it is necessary to establish an understanding of Cambodia's background and her people. The name of the country has been changed many times in the past three decades. Today the country is known as Cambodia in English or Cambodge in French, and the people are called Cambodians. However, the Cambodian people prefer to be called Khmer which means “hill" (referring to the greatness and unity) as it is their original name. The country is known to Khmers as Kampuchea or Srok Khmer rather than Cambodia. On the contrary, Cambodia is well known to the world community.

The vast majority of Khmer people themselves belong to the Mon-Khmer ethnic group. The Khmer people are a mixture of various ethnic groups that have intermarried throughout the centuries. The Khmer civilization was dominated by the Hindu-Buddhist, kingdoms of Funan, and Chenla. In the late 6th and early 7th centuries, the Chenla kingdom established sovereignty over the Funan kingdom. Under the leadership of King Jaya-warman II and Suya-warman II, they built their capital in the Angkor region between the 9th and 12th centuries. The Khmer people are so proud of their ancestors that built one of the world's greatest monuments. Angkor Wat is sometimes called the eighth wonder of the world. Angkor Wat is a group of temples that consists of elaborately carved stone of pyramids and towers.



Throughout history, Cambodia has endured numerous civil wars and battles against its neighboring countries such as Thailand and Vietnam. Nonetheless, Cambodia also wanted to be a dominant state. In 1113, King Suya-warman II annexed the Champa kingdom to vassal status when the Cham (Muslim Cham) king did not want to cooperate in the campaign against the Vietnamese state farther north. Khmer leaders have always been in conflict about how to rule the country. Their domestic hostility with one another led to an accession of weak rulers that left Khmers exposed to threats from their neighbors.

From the 13th to the end of the 14th century, the repeated Thai incursions compelled Khmers to abandon their capital city of Angkor Wat, and Khmers were forced into slavery. Four hundred years later, it was recaptured. Then, the Angkor region was named as Siem Reap Province to remind all Khmers of how their ancestors suffered defeat by the Thais. Siem Reap means “Khmers living under Thai's repression.” With Japan backing them in 1940, the Thais seized Cambodia's north-western provinces.

In the early 17th century, King Chey Cheatha II wanted to build up friendship with Vietnam by marrying a Vietnamese princess. The Vietnamese rulers demanded the right for Vietnamese to settle in Kampuchea Krom. Kampuchea Krom is the lower part of Cambodia that lies along the Mekong River which once was Funan kingdom, and now is a large part of South Vietnam. Upon his wife's request, King Chey Cheatha II also allowed Vietnamese troops to be stationed in the Khmer town of Pery Nokor. Soon, Pery Nokor became the South Vietnamese's capital city of Saigon. King Chey Cheatha II was viewed by most Khmers as a traitor for his role in giving Cambodia's land for a Vietnamese wife.

For generations, Khmers are reminded not to forget Kampuchea Krom and the "Tek Te Ong" (grandfather tea). The grandfather tea is the name for the way the Vietnamese tortured and killed Khmers. They buried and burned them alive, using their heads as stoves to make tea. There is a saying, "the relationship between Vietnamese and Khmers is like mixing oil with water,” and Khmers should not abandon this lesson, for the Vietnamese will not give up their hypocrisy.

Historically, all Khmers leaders have always found ways to save Cambodia from being erased from the world map by either internal conflict or invasions. In 1841-1859, King Ang Duong pleaded with the French to save Cambodia from being absorbed by Vietnam and Thailand.

Under the leadership of King Norodom (Prince Norodom Sihanuk's forefather) in 1864, the political stability was restored with the establishment of a French Protectorate that lasted until after World War II. During World War II, the Japanese occupied Cambodia but left the French administration intact.

It was for an economic reason that in 1884, the French forced King Norodom at gun point to make Cambodia its colony. Instead of saving Cambodia from being swallowed up by Vietnam and Thailand, the French sliced up Khmer lands such as Kampuchea Krom and handed it over to Cambodia's former enemies. The French also brought Vietnamese settlers to take over the Khmer administration and economy.

In 1941 the French installed 18-year-old Prince Norodom Sihanuk on the Cambodian throne, so they could have influence over this young Prince. Unfortunately, Prince Sihanuk gave up his throne and united with other Khmer activists, agreeing that Cambodia should be freed from French colonization.

In 1954, Cambodia had claimed its independence from France and became a neutral and peaceful country. However, this peace was short lived. Between 1967 and early 1969, Prince Sihanuk struggled to keep the U.S -Vietnam war from engulfing Cambodia. The United States asked Sihanuk if he would allow the United States military to be stationed in Cambodia, to drive out the North (Communist) Vietnamese who had stayed inside Cambodia escaping the U.S bombardment. In return, the United States would help rebuild Cambodia but Sihanuk refused to cooperate.

On March18, 1970, General Lon Nol toppled Prince Sihanuk while the Prince was on foreign visits. Lon Nol accused Sihanuk of being aligned with communist China and North Vietnam, whereas Sihanuk accused Lon Nol of being power and money thirsty. "To survive, Lon Nol turned Cambodia's neutrality into anti-communism and Cambodia suddenly found herself trapped in an expanding war, both civil and foreign. Two months after Sihanuk was ousted, "the United States and South Vietnam invaded Cambodia to help Lon Nol" to drive out the North Vietnamese and Khmer communist revolutionaries known as Khmer Rouge.

On April17, 1975, the United States and its backed regime in Phnom Penh were defeated and the Khmer Rouge came to power. The Cambodians were hoping that they would again enjoy peace but that hope was completely dashed. People were evacuated from cities and personal rights were taken away. Even Prince Sihanuk himself, who joined the revolution after he was ousted in hope of regaining his one-man rule, was placed under house arrest.

During the so called "reign of terror", thousands of Cambodians were executed. They were killed either by starvation, illness or even political persecution if they were suspected to be linked with the Vietnamese, CIA or KGB. Some were probably killed by social class vengeance (poor against rich), or by Vietnamese agents, who wanted to undermine the Khmer Rouge government in an attempt to overthrow the regime. One thing was clear though, if people opposed "Ongka" (the authority of organization) they would face the death penalty. Many Cambodian leaders and the other leaders were also held responsible for the killings, but the Khmer Rouge was singled out because it was in charge. Years of misery were ended by Vietnam invasion. Nonetheless, all Cambodian governments in the past have perpetrated, in one way or another, some form of crimes against their own people where only the magnitude of the crimes varied.

For decades, Cambodia and Vietnam have been in dispute over land and borders. Vietnam is perceived by many Cambodians as a country that envies Cambodia's resources and prosperity. Just days after the Democratic Kampuchea (Khmer Rouge) government was formed in April 1975, Vietnam invaded Cambodia's sea and captured two islands, which were believed to be Cambodia's oil resources. Under the United Nations agreement, however, Vietnam was forced to retreat within 24 hours. In late 1977, Vietnam invaded the north-eastern part of Cambodia and demanded that land. At the same time, a group of pro-Vietnamese within the Democratic Kampuchea government attempted a coup, but it was crushed and the remaining plotters defected to Vietnam. For the sake of saving Cambodia from the "killing fields", Vietnam invaded Cambodia and installed those defectors as its puppet government. Ever since, Vietnam has been using the "genocidal Khmer Rouge" as an instrument for its 'fait-accompli' in Cambodia.

Most Cambodians appreciate this regime for bringing the Vietnamese to revive them. But after the military presence for 13 years and the relentless flow of Vietnamese settlers, they fear the "Vietnamization of Cambodia" through intermarriages, so that one day Cambodia may become a second Kampuchea Krom. Vietnamese leaders are thought to have a doctrine called “The Federation of Indochina.” This federation consists of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos but Vietnam is in charge. Today, Laos is being Vietnamized because there is no anti-Vietnamese movement.

Due to the Khmer Rouge and its coalition's resistance, Vietnam failed to achieve its goals in Cambodia. This forced Vietnam to withdraw its troops from Cambodia in September 1989, so that the trade embargo could be lifted. Should the trade embargo be lifted and Hanoi opens its country to free enterprise, then Vietnam is bound to acquire a large degree of influence over Cambodia's economics this time, rather than political and military influence.

The socialists have always wanted to dominate Cambodia, whereas the capitalists feared the expansion of communism in the region. The struggle to have veto power, added with the Cambodian leaders who always wanted to have absolute authority has left Cambodia in crisis. Cambodia also became the site of weapon testing for the super powers. Sometimes it is hard to comprehend the super powers' policy on Cambodia.

Despite the fact that the Khmer Rouge was a foe of the West, the United States itself and ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) countries pretended that they were not dealing with the Khmer Rouge in the early day of invasion, but they were supporting the rest of its coalitions in their struggle against the Vietnamese. Today the West and the world community have changed their course. They consider the Khmer Rouge as a menace to both the region and Cambodia. It is feared that the brutal regime may again come to power. Without the existence of the Khmer Rouge, in a way, Cambodia would have ceased to exist. Despite of the Khmer Rouge slaughtering thousands of Cambodians, it is still viewed by many Cambodian peasants and intellectuals as a patriotic force that is standing up to any perceived Vietnamese encroachment or colonization.

China has played the biggest role in Cambodian conflict. All along, China has been the Khmer Rouge's best friend and main supporter in both politics and weaponry. But since the collapse of communism in Europe and the Soviet Union, China fears this collapse will spread to both China and Vietnam. This has led to the normalization of relationship between Bejing and Hanoi, even though Hanoi is the main enemy of the Khmer Rouge. It is obvious that China adheres to double standards in the region because it wants a stake in the political future of Cambodia.

For years, Cambodians have been waiting for an end to their suffering and search for peace. In order for the prospect of peace to come into light, Cambodia has once again turned to the international community for help. Since 1981, Prince Norodom Sihanuk has pleaded with the world to place Cambodia under the protection of the UN trusteeship. His efforts bored fruit when the International Peace Conference on Cambodia convened in Paris on October 23, 1991. A historic day was made in Paris when the peace accord was signed by all Cambodian warring factions and 17 other countries, including Canada. The Paris Agreement provides for the formation of the Supreme National Council (SNC) as the unique legitimate body and source of authority in Cambodia during the transitional period, the verification of the withdrawal of foreign forces in all categories from Cambodia and their non-return, the total disarmament of all Cambodian parties' arm forces, the repatriation of Cambodian refugees from Thailand, and the organization of a free and fair election, to enable the Cambodian people to exercise their sacred right of self-determination.

The UN was to ensure the implementation of the Paris Agreement. This is the biggest UN operation ever undertaken. The operation is known as UNTAC (United Nation Transitional Authority in Cambodia). During the mission, UNTAC failed to achieve some of its mandates. The lack of impartiality in implementing the provisions of the treaty was one of the reasons for its failure. UNTAC and the Cambodian factions accused each other of failing to adhere to the treaty. There was also much controversy about the election process. When it comes to voting rights, UNTAC helped millions of illegal Vietnamese immigrants to register.

Nevertheless, UNTAC can not solve all Cambodian problems because they are internal matter. In spite of difficulties and accusations, UNTAC was able to hold the election from May 23 to 28 1993, in hope of bringing peace to Cambodia. However, peace seems to fade away when the losers do not accept their defeat but instead threaten to renew fighting and demand an autonomous zone. The impact of civil unrest and political upheaval are tremendous. It has weakened Cambodian unity, confidentiality and has caused them to undergo great torment. Millions of lives have been lost and the country has become a world of widows and orphans. Many families have been uprooted, torn apart and scattered around the globe, or displaced. Some have to live without freedom in refugee camps that are fenced by barbed wire, while people in the homeland are living in poverty.

Due to the prolonged fighting, the industrial and agricultural production is limited. The country's main roads and bridges are cut off and demolished. The cities have no electricity, running water or sewage systems. Cambodia is on the verge of epidemic disaster because there is an inadequate health care system. Whether there is peace or not, Cambodians are facing life with deadly land mines. It is estimated about 4 million mines are thickly sewn in the new killing field.

Definitely, Cambodians believe that in order to survive the plague of civil unrest for the past 23 years, Cambodia has to observe a policy of strict neutrality in its sovereign state. Otherwise, the true peace, freedom and democracy of Cambodia will still seem remote. The question is, will the new leaders be able to solve the internal conflict and prevent Khmer land from being absorbed by neighboring countries, or will those leaders just want power? For the future of the country, the Khmer leaders and people must sort out their differences.

Lasting peace for Cambodia also depends on the sincerity of the super powers, Vietnam and Khmer leaders. If Khmer leaders are only the puppets of outside powers, the riches of the country will be looted, the frontiers will disappear and Cambodia will cease to exist. Cambodia must not allow itself to become a 'side show ' again for the power that-be, and it is only the Khmer people themselves who can prevent this. Today, considering how intolerable the situation is, how surely it will bring about the extermination of the Khmer race in the short or long term. The logical answer to the Cambodia's conflict can be nothing but a dream, unless the foreign powers implicated in the devastating war are in Cambodia directly. Otherwise, grant the supremely unlucky Khmer people the right to self-determination.

First and foremost, Khmers have to help themselves and find ways to get along with their compatriots before the rest of the world can help them. Khmers also should not be obsessed with their past but instead live for the future. Otherwise, the tenuous peace that they are enjoying right now may soon become only a memory of the past. It is hard to forgive the perpetrators but revenge is not always the solution either. We hope that this short history of Cambodia has provided readers with a brief understanding of Cambodia's conflict.

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