The Prince and Preah Vihear

SUBHATRA BHUMIPRABHAS

SPECIAL TO THE NATION

 On 30 January 1929, Prince Damrong Rajanupab arrived at

Preah Vihear as head of an official expedition from the Siamese court

of King Prajadhipok (Rama VII). There to welcome him was the

French commissioner for the Cambodian province along with

the archaeologist Henri Parmentier, who was to act as

guide for the expedition's trip up Panom Dongrek mountain to see

its famed centuries-old Hindu temple.

 The prince and the commissioner exchanged speeches of

friendship at a cheerful reception attended by the entourage of high-

ranking Siamese noblemen, before listening to a lecture on Preah

Vihear Temple given by the French archaeologist. Fluttering above

this happy scene was the flag of France.

 "This is recorded history - a history that must not be forgotten

by Thai students," said historian Charnvit Kasetsiri, at a talk titled

"The Contested Temple" given recently at the Foreign

Correspondents' Club of Thailand.

 "Prince Damrong accepted that Preah Vihear belonged to

French Indochina," noted Charnvit, as he showed photographs of the prince and French commissioner posing together

beneath the French flag. But the history that most Thai students are

taught focuses on the loss of territory, he added, citing a Thai textbook for Grade 6 students.

 "It asks us to remember the loss of territories beginning with

Penang and ending with Preah Vihear Temple. But by ignoring

Prince Damrong's visit in 1929, it effectively tells us to forget about

the truth.

 "This is history infected with nationalism."

 Charnvit went on to show how the "infection" reaches beyond

schoolbooks and into tourism - a brochure welcoming tourists to

Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai talks about the "Losses of Territories

and Survival of Siam", while Samut Prakan's Muang Boran [Ancient

City] contains a replica of Preah Vihear.

 Nationalism and tourism go together, he concluded. 

The current case of Preah Vihear reflects the kind of "selective history" that stirs nationalistic feeling and leads to war-mongering threats to take back "lost territory", he said.

 Following Prince Damrong's visit, Preah Vihear was left in

peace for over a decade. Then, in 1940 the government of Field

Marshal Plaek Pibulsongkram added the Hindu temple to its list

of Thai archaeological sites.

 Though the addition was announced in the pages of the

Royal Gazette, there is no evidence that Cambodia's French rulers

noticed it. In 1954, the year after Cambodia won independence,

Pibul sent Thai troops to occupy the area around the Preah Vihear

site. But Thai history tends to ignore this event, preferring to

focus on the claim made by King Sihanouk at the International

Court of Justice in 1959, which in 1962 awarded the temple to

Cambodia.

 Charnvit, now 67, recalled how nationalism was working on him 

the day he heard of the "loss of territory" brought by the court's

judgement.

 "It was a shock because all the news, all the PR from the military government, told us we were winning for sure," he said.

 "We believed that Preah Vihear belonged to us. I was a 21-year-old student. I was so angry. I marched with about a hundred Thammasat

University students up Rajdamnoen Avenue. I had a photo of King Sihanouk, which I tore apart, threw down on the street and trampled."

Finally, Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, leader of the military

government at the time, made an appearance on television to say the

government had no choice but to accept the ruling of the court.

Now, after almost half a century, the version of history that tells

of the "loss" of Preah Vihear has been brought up to stir nationalism in Thailand once again, with nationalists saying they refuse to

accept the International Court's 1962 judgement.

 Bad history creates false perceptions and false perceptions lead

to  conflict between neighbours, the historian said.

 "Our history texts must be revised and corrected to reflect the truth. Only that way will we be able to live together peacefully in this age of regionalism and globalisation."