Four Chinese Nationals for Alleged ‘Drilling’ at Angkor Wat Complex

via VOA Cambodia, 09 May 2018:

The body that oversees the ancient Angkor Wat Temple Complex in Cambodia has said it detained four Chinese nationals this week for alleged drilling at the site.

Long Kosal, the Apsara Authority’s spokesman, said that the men were construction workers employed by a Chinese company that was contracted to study the restoration of the site’s waterways, but they did not inform the authorities before they started drilling at the site.

“They are working on waterway restoration from the Mekong River to the Tonle Sap Lake, but they did not contact the Apsara Authority or sent in the request in order to set the location to measure the Tonle Sap Lake. They just came and drilled,” he said.

Source: Four Chinese Nationals for Alleged ‘Drilling’ at Angkor Wat Complex | VOA Cambodia

Excavation of Angkor ponds set for after KNY

via Khmer Times, 12 April 2018:

The Apsara Authority to excavate the northern and southern ponds of Angkor Wat.

Source: Excavation of Angkor ponds set for after KNY – Khmer Times

Big budget Angkor Wat film proposed

via Khmer Times, 9 Feb 2018: What, you mean Tomb Raider doesn’t count?

Deputy Prime Minister says that the Ministry of Culture should produce a big budget film documenting the Angkor temples.

Source: Big budget Angkor Wat film proposed – Khmer Times

Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict Grants Enhanced Protection to Angkor

via Unesco, 30 Nov 2017:

At the request of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, meeting at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris from 29 to 30 November 2017, granted “enhanced protection” status to Angkor, a cultural World Heritage site. Enhanced protection is a mechanism established by the 1999 Second Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (“the 1954 Hague Convention”) aimed at ensuring full and effective protection of specifically designated cultural property during international or non-international armed conflicts. Angkor joins twelve other properties in Azerbaijan, Belgium, Cyprus, Georgia, Italy, Lithuania and Mali that benefit from high-level immunity and rigorous legal protection ensuring that they cannot be targeted, attacked or used for military purposes.

Source: Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict Grants Enhanced Protection to Angkor

Food vendors cleared from Angkor Wat lawns

via Khmer Times, 10 October 2017:

The Apsara Authority bans food vendors from setting up on the grass in front of Angkor Wat.

Source: Food vendors cleared from Angkor Wat lawns – Khmer Times

Angkor Wat’s floating bridge a hit with tourists

via Khmer Times, 08 September 2017:

A floating bridge made of polythene air bags is attracting local tourists to Angkor Wat, as the original bridge undergoes repairs.

Source: Floating on the moat – Khmer Times

See Angkor Wat and Borobudur in Lego

via Channel NewsAsia, 27 July 2017: A new exhibition in Singapore features Lego versions of World Heritage Sites, including Southeast Asian ones like Angkor Wat, Borobudur and the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Brick by brick: New Lego exhibition gathers together World Heritage Sites

Source: Brick by brick: New Lego exhibition gathers together World Heritage Sites – Channel NewsAsia

Floating bridge to Angkor Wat temple opens to foreign tourists

Today, 26 May 2017: The temporary floating causeway to Angkor Wat is officially open to tourists, while the main causeway is being restored over the next few years.

PHNOM PENH — A floating bridge opened for use by foreign tourists and local visitors at Cambodia’s famed Angkor Wat on Thursday (May 25), enabling them to reach the ancient temple while the original stone bridge undergoes renovation by Cambodian and Japanese experts.

Source: Floating bridge to Angkor Wat temple opens to foreign tourists | TODAYonline

Land of fabled temple | New Straits Times | Malaysia General Business Sports and Lifestyle News

New Straits Times, 15 April 2017: A travel story on the many popular temple sites to visit in Angkor.

THREE decades of friendship! Now that’s something to celebrate. And to mark the milestone, my friend Mathini Raman and I decided to embark on an adventure together, one that we’ll never forget.

Source: Land of fabled temple | New Straits Times | Malaysia General Business Sports and Lifestyle News

The household archaeology of Angkor Wat

Dr Alison Carter’s article for the Khmer Times on her work on household archaeology at Angkor Wat.

Household Archaeology at Angkor Wat
Khmer Times, 07 July 2016

When you picture Angkor Wat, you might think of the imposing and elegant temple surrounded by a thick forest of trees. However, archaeologists now know that when Angkor Wat was built, it was surrounded by a series of mounds that are likely places where people lived.

Angkor Wat is just one temple in the Angkorian Empire, the heart of which covered an area of 1,000 square kilometers and may have contained a population of as many as 750,000 people. Investigating the question of where Angkorian people lived is one focus of the Greater Angkor Project (GAP), a collaborative research program between the University of Sydney and the APSARA Authority, directed by Dr. Roland Fletcher.

One way to begin understanding the lives of the non-elite members of Angkor is by excavating their households. Through excavations of their living spaces, archaeologists can understand the daily practices of people in the past. This kind of work can also tell us more about the variation between different households, communities and settlements, as well as the differences between elites and non-elites. In this way, we can come to understand Angkorian society from the ground up.

Full story here.