KI-Media note: As can be seen on the third photo below, the Bangkok Post reporter noted that a portion of the temple was damaged during Cambodia Civil War. For this situation to occur, it simply means that the temple was under Cambodian control during all this time and the current occupation of the temple by Thai troops is merely an aggression on Cambodian territories, is it not?
Small yet elegant Ta Muen Thom sanctuary in Surin’s Phanom Dong Rak district. Both Thailand and Cambodia have claimed ownership over the 13th century temple, which is on the overlapping border. An ownership dispute caused the Thai Fine Arts Department to abandon the site in 2001. PHOTO: SANITSUDA EKACHAI
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE✦ Ta Muen Tot chapel, built during the reign of King Jayavarman VII, on the Ta Muen complex. Also known as ‘arokhayasala’, the structure once served as a hospital.
✦ A ‘soam sutra’ drain, which siphoned sacred water during a Hindu ceremony from one of Ta Muen Thom chapels.
✦ Ta Muen chapel is a rest house for travellers. Like Ta Muen Tot, restoration on the Bayon-styled structure, is completed.
✦ This file photo shows a Thai military ranger standing guard at Ta Muen Thom temple. The site is open to visitors from both sides except when the border dispute heats up.
Traces of damage left behind from the Cambodian Civil War on Ta Muen Thom’s delicately carved sandstones.
Deputy Director-General of the Fine Arts Department Bovornvate Rungrujee hopes there is a chance to resume restoration work at the ancient site.Thai-Cambodia impasse hinders restoration work
Archaeologists and historians hope an agreement over the long-standing border and ownership dispute can be reached so restoration work at Ta Muen Thom sanctuary can resume
16/09/2010
Bangkok Post
For some, Ta Muen Thom sanctuary in Surin's Phanom Dong Rak district is a testament of a shared heritage between Thailand and Cambodia. For others, however, it is an attestation of long-standing antagonism of the two rivalry neighbours.
Whatever it is, the monumental Khmer-styled sanctuary opposite Oddar Meanchey province in Cambodia has become one of the first casualties of territorial disputes between the two neighbouring countries, which each have aggressively claimed ownership over the ancient site located in the so-called Ta Muen complex, incorporating two other nearby ruins, Ta Muen Tot - also an overlapping site - and Ta Muen chapel.
The Thai Fine Arts Department registered the whole complex as a national archaeological site in 1935 and later began restoration work on the three ruins, which had sustained a great deal of damage from shells during the Cambodian Civil War. Ta Muen, which was an ancient rest house for travellers during the reign of King Jayavarman VII, and Ta Muen Tot, an arokhayasala (hospital) built in the same era, both received proper restoration. However, territory tensions forced the Thai Fine Arts Department to abandon the Ta Muen Thom sanctuary in 2001, leaving the restoration work incomplete, as advised by the security agencies and the Ministry of Foreign Ministry, in response to protests by Phnom Penh that argued the site was on Cambodian soil.
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