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Japan Today
27-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
Cambodia-Thailand conflict: Monks, dancers and volunteers offer respite as violence escalates
Thai Buddhist monks who fled clashes between Thai and Cambodian soldiers take shelter in Surin province, Thailand, Saturday, July 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit) By Jintamas Saksornchai, Sopheng Cheang, Anton L. Delgado and Grant Peck Long-festering tensions over border territory have escalated into armed conflict between Cambodia and Thailand, leading to dozens of deaths on both sides and displacing tens of thousands of people. Neither side is prepared to claim responsibility for the first volley on Thursday, and they each blame the other for the continuing skirmishes. While regional and international allies and organizations have called for a ceasefire, scant attempts at mediation had resulted in no peace talks as of early Sunday. It's a grim situation, but there is some light amid the darkness. On both sides of the border, some people are working around the destruction, intent on creating a safe space or finding normalcy. A temple in Thailand's northeastern province of Surin has something most of the country's 27,000 active Buddhist monasteries do not: a concrete bunker to shelter from bombs and shelling. The temple, which asked not to be identified by name because of safety concerns, is about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border with Cambodia. The temple's abbot, Phut Analayo, said the decision to build a bunker was made shortly after a brief armed clash between Thai and Cambodian soldiers in May inflamed cross-border relations, culminating in the current fighting. Phut Analayo said donations paid for materials and equipment for the bunker, and the temple's monks and nearby villagers built it in four or five days. Construction was speedy because the bunker is made from large precast concrete drainage pipes a little over a meter (yard) in diameter, protected by mounds of earth, metal frames and sheeting. It's divided into two tubular rooms, each about four meters (yards) long, and wired with electricity. There's a kitchen with a kettle, an electric rice cooker and basic cookware. It's a tight fit, but because most of the nearby residents have fled to safer areas, there is enough space for the temple's six monks and the dozen or so villagers who sleep there every night. 'When we need to use the bathroom, we have to wait to make sure if things are quiet. If it's quiet out there, we will go out,' Phut Analayo said. He said his temple has ceased religious activities for now but that the remaining monks stayed out of concern for the monastery and the people it serves. 'If I leave, the people who rely on us will lose their spirit," he said. 'I'm scared too, but I'll just stay here for now, when I can.' Thai monasteries frequently serve as sanctuaries for stray dogs, and the more than 10 living at the temple are seemingly unbothered by the crisis. "If I leave them behind, how will they live? What will they eat? So I have to stay to take care of them. Every life loves their lives all the same,' Phut Analayo said. Learning ballroom dancing is how some senior citizens in northeastern Thailand usually spend their leisure hours, but the latest border conflict has motivated them to try to help some of the thousands of people displaced by the fighting. About a dozen members of the Ballroom Dance for Health of the Elderly of Surin Province club went Saturday to a shelter housing about 1,000 evacuees, where they handed out clothes, toiletries, blankets and pillows. Retired civil servant Chadaporn Duchanee, the ballroom teacher, initiated the project. On Friday, she gathered with friends at her home to fill small yellow plastic bowls with toiletries and other goods to give to the evacuees. The 62-year-old posted on Facebook about the donation she made on Thursday, and her pupils proved happy to participate, too. 'We want to help, said Chadaporn. 'Everyone left in a hurry, without bringing their belongings, just trying to escape the line of fire, so they fled empty handed,' Prapha Sanpote, a 75-year-old member of Chadaporn's donation team, said she hopes the conflict is resolved quickly. 'Our people couldn't go home. They have to leave home, and it's not just the home they had to leave,' he said. 'It's their belongings, their cattle, or their pet dogs, because they left without anything. How will those animals live? Everything is affected.' It looks just like your typical roadside stall found commonly all over Southeast Asia, but this one seems exceptionally well-provisioned. Also, it's not selling anything, even though there are boxes of bottled water, plastic bags filled with fruit and vegetables and the occasional packet of instant noodles. It is there to solicit donations of food and other essentials to give to evacuees escaping fighting along the border. It also gives handouts to members of the armed forces headed in the other direction, toward the front lines. This pop-up operation is at the border of Siem Reap, home to Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple complex, and Oddar Meanchey province, which is an active combat zone. It's a one-stop shop on a key road that convoys of police and military vehicles roar along with sirens blaring. Chhar Sin, a 28-year-old self-described youth volunteer, mans the stall, which is located in her home Srey Snam district. 'We're used to seeing people bustling around, we're not surprised by that,' she said, between handing out parcels to eager hands. But even here, 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the border with Thailand, she senses people don't feel safe, as the streets seem emptier than usual. She and other volunteers, are spending the weekend collecting supplies from ordinary Cambodians to dole out to the less fortunate. Families drive by on tractors to donate vegetables, while others swing by on motorbikes carrying bananas, dragon fruit and rambutans. 'For today and tomorrow, we are standing here waiting to give gifts to the people who are displaced from war zones and are seeking safety,' Chhar Sin said Saturday. 'We will provide them with food because they have nothing, and some of them come with only a few clothes and a hat.' When she woke up Saturday morning, Kim Muny, made the decision not to open her convenience store, but instead cook rice for members of the Cambodian military and fleeing civilians. 'Cambodians have a kind heart. When we heard that soldiers and displaced people needed help, we decided to help with an open heart,' said the 45-year-old after donating parcels of rice wrapped in banana leaves at the stall. 'We know our soldiers don't have time to cook, so we will do it for them.' Alone in a mostly evacuated pagoda, Tho Thoross began a Buddhist chant to express gratitude for all that is good in life. The 38-year-old Tho Thoross is one of the last monks in the city of Samrong, the provincial capital of Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province, which is on the front line of the cross-border fighting. Most civilians have fled the town, spooked by the sounds of artillery and what they suspect was a Thai military drone hovering above them. All but seven of the 40 monks at the monastery have left. As chief monk of Wat Prasat Samrong Thom, Tho Thoross ordered more than a dozen of the temple's novices — young monks in training — to evacuate to displacement camps farther from the border with Thailand, which is 40 kilometers (25 miles) away. The temple is the largest in the town of Samrong, as well as the oldest, dating back over a century. Its distance from the border does not keep it protected from artillery and aerial attacks, but it nonetheless is considered a relatively safe place. Most Cambodians and Thais are Buddhists. Nine monks from other temples that felt more insecure are also staying at Wat Prasat Samrong Thom. In the Buddhist tradition, temples are community centers and almost always places of sanctuary, and on Thursday, several displaced villagers stopped by briefly on their way to a government-arranged safety zone. Tho Thoross provided them with food. He said the latest fighting is '10 times bigger' than prolonged clashes over similar issues in 2008 and 2011, when the clashes were confined to certain areas. 'But today, the fighting is happening everywhere along the border.' said Tho Thoross, who has lived in Oddar Meanchey for nearly three decades. 'As a Buddhist monk living in a province bordering Thailand, I would like to call on both sides to work together to find a solution that is a win-win solution for all,' he declared Saturday. Sopheng Cheang and Delgado reported from Samrong, Cambodia; Peck reported from Bangkok. Associated Press video journalist Tian Macleod Ji in Surin, Thailand contributed to this report. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Time of India
13-07-2025
- General
- Time of India
Bamiyan-style 80ft tall Buddha statue at Thai temple in Sarnath damaged in lightning strike
1 2 3 4 Varanasi: Some parts of the top of an 80-foot-tall Bamiyan-style Buddha statue, installed on the Thai temple campus in Sarnath in memory of the statue destroyed by Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, were damaged in a lightning strike in the early hours of Sunday. The temple said it would ensure repair of the damaged statue in a month. Thai temple caretaker Bhikkhu Mangliko said on Sunday that lightning struck the statue of Lord Buddha at the Thai Buddhist Temple in Sarnath, causing some damage. The broken part was preserved and the sculptors who were called in assured that it would be repaired within a month, he added. The district witnessed massive lightning on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday. The region saw 67 mm of rainfall as recorded by the Indian Meteorological Department. Lightning struck the top part of the statue around 4:30 am and some parts of the statue fell to the ground. At the Thai Buddhist temple in Sarnath, built in 1933, the Buddha statue was sculpted in the style of the two giant Buddha statues in Afghanistan, carved on Bamiyan cliffs in the 1st century. Replica of the Bamiyan Buddha statue was constructed at the Thai temple between 2001 and 2011. The 80ft statue depicts Lord Buddha in a standing posture. Despite a lightning conductor installed behind it, the damages were caused.
Hindustan Times
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
IBC to host conference on Sunday to mark 90th birth anniversary of 14th Dalai Lama
New Delhi, Scholars, researchers and eminent spiritual leaders will gather in Delhi on Sunday for a day-long conference in commemoration of the 90th birth anniversary of the 14th Dalai Lama during which relevance of Buddha Dharma and relationship between traditional practices and scientific evidence will be among subjects of discussion. IBC to host conference on Sunday to mark 90th birth anniversary of 14th Dalai Lama The conference will be hosted by the International Buddhist Confederation . The conference to be held at Ashoka Hotel here will also be attended by the supreme hierarchy of international and national Buddhist monks, according a statement issued by the organisers. "In commemoration of the 90th birth anniversary of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, IBC, is organising a day-long conference of Buddhist scholars, researchers, practitioners and eminent spiritual leaders who have closely interacted with His Holiness over several years to deliberate on some of the profound questions and find answers in the knowledge, wisdom and experience of His Holiness," it said. The 90th birth anniversary of the 14th Dalai Lama was celebrated on July 6 in Himachal Pradesh's Dharamshala. "A devout practitioner of Buddha Dharma, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is a symbol of global peace, underscoring the primacy of inner transformation. According to his teachings, true spirituality is encapsulated in an ethical way of life one rooted in doing good, refraining from harm, and cultivating wisdom," the statement said. To elaborate on his views, the discussions during the conference will include subjects such as 'Relevance of Buddha Dharma in the 21st Century' and 'Future of Tibetan Buddhism and the Preservation of its Culture'. To further the conversation on Buddhist wisdom, philosophy and modern science, the subject of 'Quantum Physics, Neurosciences and Buddhism' establishing a relationship between traditional practices and scientific evidence will also form part of the discussions, it said. The panelists will include Most Venerable Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, an eminent and distinguished scholar, teacher and philosopher, former Prime Minister of the Central Tibetan Administration, and a key advisor and confidant to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the statement said. Most Ven. Phrarat Vajarasuttiwong Dhammalongkornvibhusit Arayawangso of Thailand, an internationally respected Thai Buddhist monk and senior member of Thailand's Supreme Sangha Council will also attend the conference among others, the IBC said. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Bangkok Post
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
Thailand rejects Cambodia's Angkor Wat copy claim at Unesco meet
Thailand has strongly refuted Cambodia's claim that the design of Wat Phu Man Fah, a Buddhist temple in Buri Ram, is an unethical imitation of the famed Angkor Wat. A diplomatic row erupted during the fifth day of the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee, held to review the conservation status of heritage sites across Asia-Pacific region Cambodia's Minister of Culture and Fine Arts, Phoeurng Sackona, raised concerns during the session on Thursday. She claimed Thailand's Wat Phu Man Fah was a blatant and unethical copy of Angkor Wat, alleging that the temple undermines the site's Outstanding Universal Value and sets a dangerous precedent for other World Heritage Sites. She called on Unesco and its advisory bodies to formally investigate the matter. Sihasak Phuangketkeow, head of Thailand's delegation, firmly rejected the accusation. He expressed disappointment and surprise at the remarks made by the head of Cambodia's delegation. He asserted that the issue was inappropriately raised in the World Heritage forum dedicated to cultural preservation. He said the accusation was politically motivated. 'Thailand firmly believes that cultural heritage should foster mutual understanding and cooperation — not division," said Mr Sihasak. He insisted that Wat Phu Man Fah is a Buddhist temple that was inspired by traditional Thai Buddhist architectural styles drawn from many historic sites across Thailand, and was not a replica of Angkor Wat as alleged. He said Thailand is open to bilateral discussions with Cambodia on the matter, in line with the commitment of both countries' leaders to strengthen neighbourly relations. A joint working group has already been proposed by both governments to address this issue, he added. According to Thai officials, the Thai delegation acknowledged reports that Cambodia had attempted to lobby other member states and push the issue within Unesco and the World Heritage Committee, but failed to garner support. Most committee members viewed the matter as more appropriate for bilateral discussion than international debate.
Bangkok Post
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Bangkok Post
Premier opts for forgiveness
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has responded with a message of forgiveness following provocative remarks made by Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen during a livestream amid recent tensions between the two nations. Neither Ms Paetongtarn nor her father, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has issued a formal rebuttal to Hun Sen's comments. Rather than addressing the content of Hun Sen's remarks directly, Ms Paetongtarn took to Instagram to share a reflective teaching from the late Mae Chee Sansanee Sthirasuta, a revered Thai Buddhist nun. "Forgive. If you have the opportunity to do so ... then please do. Whether they are aware of your forgiveness or not, the lightness, clarity, and ease already arise within your own heart," she wrote. The message, shared at the same time Hun Sen was broadcasting live, was widely interpreted as a calm response, reinforcing a message of peace amid rising rhetoric. In his livestream, Hun Sen alleged that Thaksin was not genuinely ill during his visit to Cambodia in February 2024, and that the former premier had worn medical devices merely for the sake of photographs. "I flew to Bangkok to visit Thaksin. He was not ill at all," Hun Sen said. "But when it came time to take photos, he asked for props -- a neck brace, an arm brace -- to appear unwell. As soon as the photos were done, he removed them and went to dine. That's not illness, that's theatre. Thai people already have suspicions. I'm only confirming what many have thought, because both Thaksin and his daughter, Paetongtarn, are acting in bad faith." Hun Sen further claimed that Ms Paetongtarn was fully aware that her father was not genuinely unwell, yet she still took part in deceiving the Constitutional Court. He also stated that Phnom Penh governor, Khuong Sreng, could serve as a witness to the staged illness, along with several Thais who were present at the time. Hun Sen also claimed that his 30-year friendship with Thaksin had collapsed due to actions taken by Ms Paetongtarn. He accused her of having made disparaging comments, which he said had effectively ended their longstanding personal and political relationship. The Thai government has not officially responded to these claims. However, officials have continued to stress the importance of diplomacy, restraint, and maintaining peaceful bilateral relations with Cambodia, particularly in light of recent border tensions. Hun Sen also asserted that Thailand owes him a debt of gratitude for once sheltering members of the Shinawatra family. "You must understand that Cambodia is not unintelligent; we know your politics well," he said, seeming to directly comment on Thailand's leadership. Hun Sen further stated he would elaborate more in the coming days, adding, "Even when you planned to remove [Bhumjaithai Party leader] Anutin Charnvirakul from his posts as deputy prime minister and interior minister, you told me. If you can betray your own citizens, why would you not dare betray me? Of course, you would." Indicating that he warned Ms Paetongtarn about the potential repercussions of acting against Mr Anutin, Hun Sen then threatened to reveal details of his discussions with the Shinawatra family. Addressing Thaksin, Hun Sen said, "Take good care of your daughter. Your child is a prime minister, but so am I" (referring to his son Hun Manet). He added, "Don't misunderstand who I am. I do not owe a debt to Thailand; that is a matter between states. It is your people that owe me a debt of gratitude." Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Phumtham Wechayachai said on Friday that he paid little attention to such remarks, noting that Hun Sen often makes inconsistent statements. He said Hun Sen is engaging in information and psychological warfare, aimed at undermining the credibility of the Thai government.
