Call It Ta Kwai Or Ta Krabey, the Disputed Ancient Temple Became a Latest Casualty of the Needless Thai-Cambodian War
T he latest news is that, after three days of fighting, the disputed Ta Kwai Temple (Cambodians call it Ta Krabey Temple, BTW) has been severely damaged due to the Thai–Cambodian clashes.
Cambodia claims that the Thai army has targeted Angkorian temples along the border and while Thailand admits doing so, it accuses Cambodia of stationing troops inside the temple, thus making it a legitimate target under international law.
So what exactly were they fighting for? For Ta Kwai Temple? Because if you value and care about the temple, you Cambodia shouldn’t be stationing troops inside, while Thai soldiers shouldn’t be shooting at the temple simply because Cambodian soldiers were inside.
Yet both sides didn’t care whether the shelling would destroy it or not.
If you want Ta Kwai Temple (or Ta Krabey Temple) so badly, how can both sides keep firing there like this?
No—neither of the two armies is truly fighting for the Temple, but for their extreme nationalist ego, endlessly arguing because each side insists that the temple belongs only, and only, to their country.
I do not think both the Cambodian and Thai governments truly value the temple because one side stationed armed soldiers inside the temple while the other is willing to fire into the temple to “retake” it.
P.S. A Thai official at the Fine Arts Department told the local media that the public “do not need to worry” because they have restored some historic sites in the same condition, or worse. One wonders if he would dare make such a same remark about the Emerald Buddha Temple, Wat Pho or Prasart Phanom Rung.
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