AKP Phnom Penh, December 25, 2025 --  

The Ministry of Cult and Religion has expressed its strong condemnation of the brutal act of the Thai military in destroying a statue of Preah Vishnu in the An Ses area of Preah Vihear province in the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Cambodia. 

“This action deeply hurts the feelings of religious believers around the world because the public highly reveres this statue, and it is also part of the common cultural heritage of humanity,” the Ministry stressed in a statement released this evening. “We ask all believers around the world and the international community to condemn the irreligious actions of the Thai military.”

Furthermore, the Ministry added, the Thai military continued to attack Cambodian territory, using small arms, heavy weapons, drones, fighter jets, toxic gas, cluster munitions, and naval warships. They shot and shelled indiscriminately with extreme brutality, causing the deaths and injuries of innocent Cambodian civilians. Homes, schools, hospitals, monasteries, roads, bridges, ancient temples, and religious statues were destroyed. Additionally, schoolchildren, the elderly, men, and women were forced to flee to safety displacement sites without prior preparation.

The Ministry of Cult and Religion thus called on the Thai side to immediately cease all hostilities and the destruction of all statues of human worship, and to return to respecting the ceasefire agreement, the Kuala Lumpur Joint Declaration on Peace Agreement, and all obligations under international law in a strict, honest, and genuine manner, and to adhere to the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law as well as existing treaties, conventions, and agreements, and to oppose the use of armed force, with a view to finding a fair, just, and lasting solution.

By C. Nika