Cambodia’s Minister of Culture told UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee that armed conflict along the Cambodia–Thailand border in July and December 2025 had severely damaged Preah Vihear Temple, a World Heritage property.
At the 48th session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in Busan, Republic of Korea, held from July 19 to 29, Minister of Culture and Fine Arts ភឿង សកុណា told the meeting that armed clashes in July and December 2025 had severely damaged the World Heritage property, affecting its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), integrity and authenticity. According to a Cambodian Ministry of Culture press release issued on July 22, the minister said the temple’s structures had suffered severe damage from direct attacks, while local communities remained displaced and unable to access normally the sacred site that forms part of their cultural, traditional, religious and identity heritage.
The minister thanked the World Heritage Centre, ICOMOS and all international partners for their continued support for Cambodia’s efforts to conserve and protect the Temple of Preah Vihear. Cambodia welcomed the international community’s attention to the temple following the 2025 armed border conflict, particularly the joint World Heritage Centre–ICOMOS advisory mission carried out in March 2026 at the invitation of the Royal Government of Cambodia.
The minister said that, with support from UNESCO’s Heritage Emergency Fund and other international partners, Cambodia had implemented several urgent measures. These included clearing cluster munitions and artillery fragments, creating 3D documentation of the temple, protecting vulnerable structures, and inventorying and documenting architectural fragments to support future conservation and restoration work.
The minister added that these efforts could not be fully achieved while threats to the site persisted. The Cambodian delegation drew the Committee’s attention to what it described as the continued presence of Thai military forces in areas around and near Preah Vihear Temple, and other unilateral activities affecting Khmer cultural heritage within Cambodia’s sovereign territory. It said these created a risk of further damage and reflected an intention to establish a fait accompli on the ground.
The minister called on Thailand to respect international law and seek a peaceful resolution of border issues through the Cambodia–Thailand Joint Boundary Commission, in line with the Joint Statement dated December 27, 2025. The Cambodian delegation requested that the World Heritage Committee continue closely monitoring the property, support urgent conservation and recovery work, and reaffirm the importance of respecting international conventions on the protection of cultural heritage.
ភឿង សកុណា stressed that the tragedy affecting Preah Vihear Temple reminded the international community that protecting World Heritage means protecting peace, dialogue and humanity’s shared responsibility.
By: ង៉ែត ពិសាន្ត
