Visitors return to Preah Vihear

With the withdrawal of troops from the Preah Vihear temple, authorities have noted increased visitor numbers to the temple, a quarter of which are foreign visitors.

photo credit: duhangst

Tourists pour into Preah Vihear
Phnom Penh Post, 03 September 2009

Preah Vihear temple has seen a flood of tourists in the past few days, a trend officials are attributing to the drawdown of troops there that was completed over the weekend.

Om Phirom, chief of the temple’s Heritage Police, said Tuesday that there had been about 200 Cambodian tourists and 50 foreign tourists venturing to the World Heritage site daily for the past four days, adding that the foreigners included Chinese, Japanese and European visitors.

By comparison, he said, the temple received about 100 Cambodian and 50 foreign tourists each month during the 13-month standoff with Thailand over the disputed complex.