AKP Preah Vihear, September 16, 2026 --

The scale of damage to Cambodia's 11th-century Temple of Preah Vihear has been revealed, with hundreds of locations inside the UNESCO World Heritage site reportedly hit during fighting with Thailand in 2025.

Visible signs of the fighting at the temple include broken sandstone, damaged carvings, and destabilised structures, while unexploded ordnance remains a threat to conservation workers and visitors.

The National Authority for Preah Vihear has conducted assessments, with verification and technical input from international experts and a UNESCO advisory panel mission, identifying hundreds of impact locations across the ancient sanctuary, raising concerns over the temple's restoration and preservation.

According to Cambodian authorities, the damage occurred during two major periods of fighting last year. The first period was from July 24 to 28, when heavy shelling reportedly struck 142 locations within the temple complex. A second round of fighting and bombardment from Dec. 7 to 27 caused damage at an additional 420 locations.

Kong Puthikar, director general of the National Authority for Preah Vihear, told reporters that "data collected by demining and technical teams indicated that artillery shells ranging from 81 millimeters to 155 millimeters, as well as aerial bombs, had struck major pavilions and causeways within the complex."

Puthikar added that two areas undergoing restoration with support from the United States and India were also severely damaged.

He said that the explosions shattered ancient sandstone walls, dislodged historic inscriptions, and damaged bas-relief carvings and sections of the temple's stone structures.

With support from the Heritage Emergency Fund and the ALIPH Fund, experts have stabilised 23 severely damaged locations, cataloged and documented 65,738 broken stone and artistic fragments, restored an ancient drainage system, and completed comprehensive, three-dimensional digital documentation of the site.

The documentation will support future conservation and restoration work, according to the authority, and follows recommendations made by the international advisory mission.

On Sept. 10, a Kyodo News reporter and photographer were among the more than 40 Cambodian and foreign journalists who visited the temple, the first time a media group had been permitted to do so since the second round of fighting in December of last year.

However, the temple remains closed to tourists, as authorities say the site has yet to be fully secured.

Cambodian Mine Action Center experts guided the journalists through areas affected by the fighting and pointed out locations where damage and remnants of the conflict were visible.

Thailand's Joint Information Centre has recently alleged that Cambodian forces used areas around Preah Vihear Temple for military purposes.On Sept. 12, JIC Director Prapas Sornchaidee alleged that Thailand had evidence indicating that Cambodian forces had used the temple area as a military stronghold. Cambodia has rejected the allegation.

When asked about military positions in the area, a heritage guard, who requested anonymity, said, "There were a few small positions used as shelters during Thai military shelling and bombardment. Otherwise, the guards risked being killed."

The competing claims underscore the challenge of distinguishing the temple's role as a cultural heritage site from the security issues in the border region, which has repeatedly been affected by armed conflict.

Preah Vihear Temple was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2008 for its outstanding universal value as a masterpiece of Khmer architecture.

The property consists of a series of sanctuaries linked by pavements and staircases along an approximately 800-meter-long axis.

The dispute over Preah Vihear has deep historical roots in the demarcation of the Cambodia-Siam frontier in the early 20th century.

The legal dispute eventually reached the International Court of Justice in The Hague after Cambodia filed proceedings against Thailand in 1959.In 1962, the ICJ ruled that the temple was situated in territory under Cambodian sovereignty.

The court also ruled that Thailand was obliged to withdraw its military, police and other forces from the temple and its vicinity on Cambodian territory.Tensions surrounding Preah Vihear resurfaced after its 2008 designation as a World Heritage Site.

Subsequently, armed clashes took place between Cambodian and Thai forces in the frontier area, including around the temple.

At its 48th session in Busan, South Korea, in late July, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee considered concerns about the vulnerability of cultural heritage sites affected by armed conflict, emphasizing the need to protect cultural heritage and prevent its destruction during hostilities.

Heng Ratana, director general of the Cambodian Mine Action Center, which specializes in demining operations in Cambodia and abroad, said "Cambodia would need roughly $1 billion and at least 10 years to clear explosive remnants of war and unexploded ordnance resulting from the two periods of fighting in 2025."

Despite the Dec. 27, 2025, ceasefire, the possibility of renewed armed conflict remains, not only around the temple, but also along the 800-kilometer border between Cambodia and Thailand.

Mr. Puy Kea, President of the Club of Cambodian Journalists

By Puy Kea
President of the Club of Cambodian Journalists
(Views expressed are personal.)