The Jakarta Post
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsCambodian villagers' lives upended by Angkor Wat protection plan
Houses will be flattened as the Cambodian government clears 10,000 families living within the Angkor Wat temple complex.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
This photo taken on January 16, 2023 shows a girl sitting on a bed as she waits for a military truck to pick up her belonging at the Angkor Wat temple area in Siem Reap province. (AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)
O
n a white canvas, Chan Vichet painted an image of the Hindu deity Shiva, oblivious to the clanging sound of Cambodian soldiers loading the remnants of his neighbour's demolished home onto a truck.
The artist has worked on the fringe of the Angkor Wat temple complex for seven years, making a living selling paintings inspired by the jungle and ancient ruins to tourists.
Now his home and gallery will be flattened as the Cambodian government clears 10,000 families living within the sprawling UNESCO world heritage site, and many of those facing eviction are unhappy.
"Since I heard about the relocation plan, I have felt numb," Chan Vichet told AFP.
"I have to force myself to work to fund my family's livelihood, but I don't have full concentration or creativity."
Authorities say they are acting to protect the ruins by moving squatters whose informal settlements are damaging the local environment by producing rubbish and overusing water resources.
Once their home is demolished, Chan Vichet and his family will move 25 kilometres away to Run Ta Ek -- a new community on former rice paddies that are currently still a construction site.
More from The Weekender
A passport to the kingdom of the sick
A breast cancer diagnosis, a journey to the kingdom of the sick and a determination to describe what lies there without metaphor, euphemism or the word “fight.”
The weight of time
Richard Mille’s newest ultralight timepiece pares down haute horlogerie to its mechanical necessities, proving that sophistication often comes from knowing what to leave out.
At this wellness retreat, your poo is everybody’s business
Ayurvedagram promises balance through ancient Ayurvedic practices. For four days, I surrendered my schedule, my modesty and, almost, my digestive tract.
