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In the hills outside Battambang are the remains of many old temples from the Khmer period, such as Barseat, Wat Ek and Ba Nan. These can all be reached within a day's ride of Battambang.

Was built during the reign of King, Soriyak Varman I (1002-1050) and located on a hill at Ba Set village, Ta Pun commune in 15 kilometer distance from the provincial town. Ba Set temple adapts the architecture of 11 th century and built in 1036 and 1042. Next to the temple, there is a pond having 20 meter length 12 meter width and 10 meter depth. The pond is never dried, though in the dry season. In rainy season, the water level is higher than usual.

Cambodia’s second largest city lies in the heart of the Northwest and until the war years was the leading rice-producing province of the country. Battambang did not give way to the Khmer Rouge movement until after the fall of Phnom Penh, but it’s been in the center of the ongoing government Khmer Rouge conflict ever since the Vietnamese invasion in 1979 pushed the genocidal regime out of Phnom Penh and to the Northwest. Until the surrender deal of Ieng Sary (Khmer Rouge number three man based in Pailin),Battambang was the Khmer Rouge in the region. Earlier history saw Battambang flip-flopping back and forth between Thailand (called Siam before their 20th-century renaming) and Cambodia. Battambang is the main hub of the Northwest connecting the entire region with Phnom Penh and Thailand, and as such it’s a vital link for Cambodia. Battambang city is a peaceful and pleasant place these days. The main parts of the city are situated closed to the Sangker River, a tranquil, sma...

On the 28th of June 2008, the official Cambodia e-Visa website was removed without any prior notice and reasons given. If you are having any problems with your eVisa application, please post your comment here!. All corresponding emails to Cambodia e-Visa authorities has been removed or not active at this moment of time. This has caused major upset and distress with travelers. All travelers who are facing problems with the eVisa system is encouraged to leave their feedback here. The WeLoveCambodia.com Team (not to be confused with the authorities of Cambodia Government) is doing our best to update travelers and eVisa applicants on this matter. We are taking all the steps possible to rectify the issue. We truly apologize for this inconvenience.

All travellers to Cambodia can now apply Visa On-Arrival at both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh International Airport and all other border entry ports. The fee is USD20 per person (USD5 cheaper than e-Visa). The counter at the airports are fast and you can get your Visa without any hassle. Bring with you two passport-size pictures. Laos, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore citizens do not need a Visa to visit Cambodia.

Since the Cambodia e-Visa system involved in infringement, Cambodia e-Visa Blog received many negative comments regarding the current system. Among them complained not able to make payment, do not receive e-Visa after payment made or received e-Visa with wrong details. See what are they complaining about the current Cambodia e-Visa system below. I am a travel agent staff. I applied the Cambodia E-VISA for my clients on line. First time, I filled up the application for 5 people and wait for payment. But the Web didn’t work. So, I proceed open another new Web to apply an other 5-people. (I have 20 VISAs need to apply) After i finished and checked the info, It showed correct, so I payed. But when I check the aprroved VISA’s details, I find that the approved visa’s details are confused with that i filled up on the first time. That is say. the approved VISA’s details are all wrong(include the photo,name, passport No.etc). and i payed. Hello! Me and my friends are visiting Cambodia next wee...

Check and validate your Visa application before travel to Cambodia. This new service is brought to you by Cambodiaonarrival.com. It helps you to find the best way to apply your Travel Visa, the safer and quicker way! Plus, you get free travel guidebooks for both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. Apply Now!

Deported Uyghur Had Cambodian Visa A legal visitor in Cambodia was apparently swept up in a mass deportation to China. One of 20 ethnic Uyghur asylum-seekers deported from Cambodia to China as illegal migrants entered the country legally and on the advice of U.N. refugee officials, Radio Free Asia (RFA) has learned. Aikebaerjiang Tuniyaz, 27, left China in March 2009 after serving a one-year jail term in Liudawan prison in Urumqi for allegedly “leaking secret information abroad.” Tuniyaz, born in Aksu and a graduate of Shanghai Jiaotong University, spoke in 2007 with RFA’s Uyghur service about the shooting of a Uyghur man by Chinese security forces in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Tuniyaz entered Thailand in early 2009 and sought asylum through the Bangkok office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), where a staff member suggested he might expedite the process by approaching the UNHCR office in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, instead,...

Since the Cambodia e-Visa system involved in infringement, Cambodia e-Visa Blog received many negative comments regarding the current system. Among them complained not able to make payment, do not receive e-Visa after payment made or received e-Visa with wrong details. See what are they complaining about the current Cambodia e-Visa system below. I am a travel agent staff. I applied the Cambodia E-VISA for my clients on line. First time, I filled up the application for 5 people and wait for payment. But the Web didn’t work. So, I proceed open another new Web to apply an other 5-people. (I have 20 VISAs need to apply) After i finished and checked the info, It showed correct, so I payed. But when I check the aprroved VISA’s details, I find that the approved visa’s details are confused with that i filled up on the first time. That is say. the approved VISA’s details are all wrong(include the photo,name, passport No.etc). and i payed. Hello! Me and my friends are visiting Ca...

Cambodia will increase visa fees April 01, 2008 as follows: Tourist single-entry visa $30.00 (regular processing), Business single-entry visa $35.00 (regular processing). These fees, as well as the faster processing fees, have been updated on our website.

All visitors to Laos require valid Passports and need to obtain the Laos visa. Despite being a strongly regulated country, Laos has relaxed some of its rules about getting the entry visa. Recently, Laos authority has intended to boost tourism by allowing travelers to obtain visa stamp at their International Airport - Vientiane or at the overland border crossing points of Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge near Nongkai. 1. Holds return/onward ticket and all documents required for next destination, 2. Holds Certificate of Bank Statement (min. USD 400.-) or life insurance policy 3. Holds confirmed hotel reservation in Laos. 4. Pay visa stamp fees of USD 30 to the Immigration. Visitors who enter Laos through Huayxai -Chiangkong Border (Northern Thailand); through Dien Bien Phu, Cau Treo, Nam Can, Lao Bao border (Vietnam) need to get the Laos visa stamp from the Laos Embassy before entry (called visa code).

All foreign visitors are now able to obtain the Cambodia visa upon arrival at the airport. It is no longer necessary to get the visa stamp at the Cambodian Embassy before traveling as before. You are just required to prepare the following documents 1. A passport photocopy 2. 1 photos (3 x 4 cm) 3. US$ 20 Cash for tourist visa fee (Paid directly to the Immigration) The Cambodia Visa is issued officially at the following ports of entry: By Air 1. Pochentong Airport in Phnompenh 2. Siemreap Airport (Angkor Wat Region) By Land Travelers can travel to/from Cambodia by land through Aranyapathet-Poipet Border and Trat-Koh Kong Border of Thailand and Moc Bai - Bavet Border of Vietnam.

All visitors to Laos require valid Passports and need to obtain the Laos visa. Despite being a strongly regulated country, Laos has relaxed some of its rules about getting the entry visa. Recently, Laos authority has intended to boost tourism by allowing travelers to obtain visa stamp at their International Airport - Vientiane or at the overland border crossing points of Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge near Nongkai. 1. Holds return/onward ticket and all documents required for next destination, 2. Holds Certificate of Bank Statement (min. USD 400.-) or life insurance policy 3. Holds confirmed hotel reservation in Laos. 4. Pay visa stamp fees of USD 30 to the Immigration. Visitors who enter Laos through Huayxai -Chiangkong Border (Northern Thailand); through Dien Bien Phu, Cau Treo, Nam Can, Lao Bao border (Vietnam) need to get the Laos visa stamp from the Laos Embassy before entry (called visa code).

All visitors to Laos require valid Passports and need to obtain the Laos visa. Despite being a strongly regulated country, Laos has relaxed some of its rules about getting the entry visa. Recently, Laos authority has intended to boost tourism by allowing travelers to obtain visa stamp at their International Airport - Vientiane or at the overland border crossing points of Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge near Nongkai. 1. Holds return/onward ticket and all documents required for next destination, 2. Holds Certificate of Bank Statement (min. USD 400.-) or life insurance policy 3. Holds confirmed hotel reservation in Laos. 4. Pay visa stamp fees of USD 30 to the Immigration. Visitors who enter Laos through Huayxai -Chiangkong Border (Northern Thailand); through Dien Bien Phu, Cau Treo, Nam Can, Lao Bao border (Vietnam) need to get the Laos visa stamp from the Laos Embassy before entry (called visa code).

Garment workers plan to strike for higher pay Documentation Centre of Cambodia Urban Planning and Construction in cambodia unconscious motorbike driver in cambodia Cleaning up at the scene Cambodia courts inadequate to give justice to poor... Vietnamese Police Arrest Five For Selling 30 Babie... Caritas marks 20 years of service in Cambodia Cambodia Will Spend More Than US$400 Million to Cr... Cambodians Barred From Ta Moan Thom Cambodia media to carry aid to military at temple Cambodia asks for regional cooperation in drug fig... Quarrel over temple rekindled Vice chairwoman Chen Zhili visits Cambodia Female Khmer Rouge leader in Cambodia Revolutionary Army of Cambodia Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea Cambodian People's National Liberation Armed Force... Armed Forces of Democratic cambodia Armed Forces of Democratic Kampuchea Democratic Kampuchea Royalist protest in cambodia & King Norodom Sihano... International Lifestyles in Cambodia The Coronation Of ...

A TRADE union representing more than 80,000 garment workers plans to hold a three-day strike next month to demand a 40 percent increase in the minimum wage, despite pleas from the Ministry of Labour that it await the outcome of pending negotiations. In a letter sent Tuesday, Chea Mony, head of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTU), said the intent of the strike, which will run for three days starting July 13, will be to demand that the government raise the minimum wage for garment workers to “at least” US$70 per month. The current monthly minimum wage is $50. “All the workers should raise their voices in order to achieve a reasonable salary and better conditions for work,” he said in the letter, copies of which will soon be distributed to the 86,000 garment workers the union represents. Another aim of the strike will be to push for fair treatment of workers at the Tack Fat garment factory in Meanchey district. During a protest last month, so...

THE question, appearing on a history exam administered nationwide to Grade 12 students on Wednesday morning, was simple: Who were the leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime? But for those who have been pressing for a fuller, franker presentation of the Democratic Kampuchea period in Cambodian classrooms, its inclusion marked a significant step forward. Prior to this year, high school history tests drew from a government-approved textbook that gave short shrift to the regime and its history, omitting some of the most basic facts about it. “The government never included the names of the leaders in their textbook,” said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia.

THE government is set allow foreign citizens to own up to 80 percent of private units in co-owned buildings as part of a new sub-decree due to be approved within the next month, an official from the Land Ministry said Wednesday. “In one week or a month’s time, the government will approve a sub-decree for an 80 [percent] limit for property that a foreigner can own,” Nun Pheany, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, told the Post. The sub-decree is linked to the foreign property ownership law, which was passed earlier this year, she said. The law permits foreigners to own property above the ground floor of a building that is not within 30 kilometres of a border. Despite early drafts of the law stipulating that foreigners would be able to own only 49 percent of a complex, the final law passed left the exact proportion open-ended, stating: “A sub-decree shall determine the proportion and percentage of private units that can be o...

A police officer pockets a necklace from an unconscious motorbike driver before putting him into a waiting ambulance on the Cambodian-Japanese Friendship Bridge Tuesday. The man was knocked from his bike after unsuccessfully trying to overtake a car.

A police officer pockets a necklace from an unconscious motorbike driver before putting him into a waiting ambulance on the Cambodian-Japanese Friendship Bridge Tuesday. The man was knocked from his bike after unsuccessfully trying to overtake a car.

Cambodia has for years been rebuilding its institutions after decades of conflict and turmoil, including the Khmer Rouge "Killing Fields" rule, but its judiciary remains weak and prone to interference, critics say. Surya Subedi, United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia, said he was troubled by disputes over land and, in a reference to the government's tough stand on dissent, what he described as a narrowing of political space for debate. "I call on the Royal Government of Cambodia to introduce appropriate measures to enhance the independence and capacity of the judiciary to enable it to function as an institution capable of providing justice to all," Subedi told a news conference at the end of a 10-day fact-finding visit. In a drive to attract foreign investment, Cambodia has awarded big concessions to companies, most from China, Vietnam and South Korea, to run mines, power plants, farms and plantations for sugar, rice and...

Five suspects have been arrested in the southern province of Dong Nai, Vietnam, for allegedly buying and selling about 30 infants since 2007, according to Vietnam news agency on Thursday. The ring members made a confession to the police, saying that they had bought the infants at prices of 5 to 10 million VND (US$263 to US$526) each from several women with unwanted pregnancies in the southern provinces of Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Vinh Long, Soc Trang, An Giang, and Can Tho City as well as Ho Chi Minh City. Then, they resold the babies to a woman named Hoa at a profit of 3 to 7 million VND (US$157 to US$368) each. One of the ring member, who had worked as a prostitute and herself had had an unwanted pregnancy, sold her own twin infants for 8 million VND (US$421). In the confession, the suspects bought seven newborn babies from Nuong and Duc in the city of Vung Tau for 7.5 milllion VND (US$394) each and five more babies from Pham Van Nam in Dong Nai in 2...

Caritas Cambodia will spend US$16 million over the next five years to help develop communities in the country, its executive director said yesterday while celebrating the agency’s 20th anniversary. The Catholic Church’s social service arm will continue its work in the community and in disaster relief programs as well as rights-based approaches to gender equality and justice that it has launched over the past two decades, said Kim Ratana. Ratana addressed 500 people including government officials, Caritas staff and villagers at the June 15 ceremony. Participants, Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam An, guest of honor at the event, praised Caritas for its work. The government is grateful to Caritas for its efforts to reduce poverty in the country, with its projects to develop agriculture, education and health care, said An. Nheuk Savon, a 49-year-old farmer from Siem Reap province, said Caritas has been present in his village since 2002. “We received support to plant rice, r...

A high ranking official of the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology said that Cambodia will spend more than US$400 million starting in 2008 for ambitious developments to create a huge, first class irrigation system. “Mr. Lim Kean Hor, the Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology, said that more than one million hectares of rice fields in Cambodia are expected to be served with enough water when these projects will be completed towards the end of the newly starting fourth term of the royal government. Mr. Lim Kean Hor continued that the projects are now in the preliminary stages. After they are completed, it is expected they will deliver water to nearly 60% of the entire area of the present day rice fields. “At present, the Ministry of Water Resources plans to start building a big dam in the coming dry season with resources from Qatar at the Vaico River in Svay Rieng, worth more than US$200 million, which can deliver water to more than 300,000 hectares of rice fiel...

Thai soldiers continued to bar Cambodians from entering Ta Moan temple Wednesday, declining to take down two wire barricades they had earlier planned to remove, a military official said. Thai soldiers occupied the temple, in a complex on the border of Oddar Meanchey province, last week, as a continued standoff over Preah Vihear temple went unresolved. Both sides are expected to meet in Thailand Monday to diffuse the Preah Vihear standoff, but Cambodia will add Ta Moan Thom to its agenda, a government spokesman said Wednesday. Meanwhile, at least 50 Cambodian-Americans demonstrated in front of the Thai Embassy in Washington Monday, demanding the Thai government withdraw troops from areas surrounding Preah Vihear temple.

Cambodian journalists Wednesday announced they would answer a call for aid from soldiers stationed at a remote northern temple complex and travel there to distribute supplies. A group of journalists including the privately owned Cambodian Television Network said they would visit the Ta Moan temples in the north of the country soon to deliver food and other essentials to troops near the site that is disputed by Thailand. Cambodia's ill-equipped army has been heavily supported by various groups nationwide in its hurried stand against alleged Thai incursions, including journalists and social activists, politicians and prominent members of society since the temple standoffs started last month. Senior officials from Oddar Meanchey province, home to the Ta Moan Thom temples, appealed for assistance for soldiers and police this week to maintain their vigil. The Cambodian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that the temple complex was "indisputably inside Cambodia...

A senior Cambodian official said Wednesday that methamphetamines were an increasingly serious regional problem and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) should fight them together. Lou Ramin, secretary general of the National Authority for Combating Drugs, said Cambodia believed it had virtually eradicated marijuana and heroin trafficking, production and processing but methamphetamines were a much more invasive problem. 'People can make methamphetamines with very basic, easily acquired ingredients,' he said. 'We have had success, but policing against this drug is the biggest challenge we have ever faced because you can buy ingredients at a shop and makea it in a small place.' He said ASEAN anti-drug chiefs would meet soon to discuss ways to combat trafficking in the region. 'Cambodia is very proud of its achievements, but no country can fight this alone,' he said. Ramin was speaking after the release of an annual report on illicit drug ...

There is a war brewing on the border between Thailand and Cambodia. Thai soldiers have cordoned off the area around the controversial Preah Vihear temple from the outside world. There is no sign that troops have been withdrawn, as agreed earlier by both countries. Nor is there any sign of tourists being allowed to visit the ancient ruin, which recently made it onto UNESCO's world heritage list. The troops have taken their positions - the Cambodians are in the temple, the Thais surround it - and for the last two months each side has been closely watching the other.

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni (R) meets with Chen Zhili, vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress, in Phnom Penh Dec. 15, 2008. Chen Zhili arrived in Cambodia on Dec. 12 for a five-day visit.

The court hearing a bail appeal against a former female Khmer Rouge leader adjourned to a date to be set for its decision, a court official said Wednesday. Court media liaison officer Reach Sambath said the hearing involving former Democratic Kampuchea Social Affairs minister Ieng Thirith, would give a verdict at a date yet to be set. The day-long hearing heard three prosecution lawyers for victims argue that Thirith, 76, should not be released so close to national elections scheduled for July because it could cause public disorder. The defence argued that Thirith had a mental illness which was being made worse while she was jailed awaiting charges of human rights abuses. Thirith's sister, Khieu Ponnary, was married to the movement's leader Pol Pot but the marriage reportedly broke down over Ponnary's mental health problems. Ponnary died of natural causes in 2003. Former Khmer Rouge supreme leader Pol Pot died at home in 1998. Five former leaders face charges o...

The next priority was to consolidate into a national army the separate forces that were operating more or less autonomously in the various zones. The Khmer Rouge units were commanded by zonal secretaries who were simultaneously party and military officers, some of whom were said to have manifested "warlord characteristics." Troops from one zone frequently were sent to another zone to enforce discipline. It was such efforts to discipline zonal secretaries and their dissident or ideologically impure cadres that gave rise to the purges that were to decimate RAK ranks, to undermine the morale of the victorious army, and to generate the seeds of rebellion. As the Armed Forces of Democratic Kampuchea, the 68,000-member Khmer Rouge-dominated CPNLAF (Cambodian People's National Liberation Armed Forces) force that completed its conquest of Cambodia in April 1975 was renamed the RAK (Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea). This name was dating back to the peasant uprising that b...

As the Armed Forces of Democratic Kampuchea, the 68,000-member Khmer Rouge-dominated CPNLAF (Cambodian People's National Liberation Armed Forces) force that completed its conquest of Cambodia in April 1975was renamed the RAK (Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea). This name was dating back to the peasant uprising that broke out in the Samlot district of Batdambang Province in 1967. Under its long-time commander and then Minister of Defense Son Sen, the RAK had 230 battalions in 35 to 40 regiments and in 12 to 14 brigades. The command structure in units was based on three-person committees in which the political commissar ranked higher than the military commander and his deputy. Cambodia was divided into zones and special sectors by the RAK, the boundaries of which changed slightly over the years. Within these areas, the RAK's first task upon "liberation," as a calculated policy, was the peremptory execution of former FANK officers and of their families, without trial or fa...

As the Armed Forces of Democratic Kampuchea, the 68,000-member Khmer Rouge-dominated CPNLAF (Cambodian People's National Liberation Armed Forces) force that completed its conquest of Cambodia in April 1975 was renamed the RAK (Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea). This name was dating back to the peasant uprising that broke out in the Samlot district of Batdambang Province in 1967. Under its long-time commander and then Minister of Defense Son Sen, the RAK had 230 battalions in 35 to 40 regiments and in 12 to 14 brigades. The command structure in units was based on three-person committees in which the political commissar ranked higher than the military commander and his deputy. Cambodia was divided into zones and special sectors by the RAK, the boundaries of which changed slightly over the years. Within these areas, the RAK's first task upon "liberation," as a calculated policy, was the peremptory execution of former FANK officers and of their families, without trial or f...

As the Armed Forces of Democratic Kampuchea, the 68,000-member Khmer Rouge-dominated CPNLAF (Cambodian People's National Liberation Armed Forces) force that completed its conquest of Cambodia in April 1975[7] was renamed the RAK (Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea). This name was dating back to the peasant uprising that broke out in the Samlot district of Batdambang Province in 1967. Under its long-time commander and then Minister of Defense Son Sen, the RAK had 230 battalions in 35 to 40 regiments and in 12 to 14 brigades. The command structure in units was based on three-person committees in which the political commissar ranked higher than the military commander and his deputy. The next priority was to consolidate into a national army the separate forces that were operating more or less autonomously in the various zones. The Khmer Rouge units were commanded by zonal secretaries who were simultaneously party and military officers, some of whom were said to have manifested "warlo...

As the Armed Forces of Democratic Kampuchea, the 68,000-member Khmer Rouge-dominated CPNLAF (Cambodian People's National Liberation Armed Forces) force that completed its conquest of Cambodia in April 1975 was renamed the RAK (Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea). This name was dating back to the peasant uprising that broke out in the Samlot district of Batdambang Province in 1967. Under its long-time commander and then Minister of Defense Son Sen, the RAK had 230 battalions in 35 to 40 regiments and in 12 to 14 brigades. The command structure in units was based on three-person committees in which the political commissar ranked higher than the military commander and his deputy. Cambodia was divided into zones and special sectors by the RAK, the boundaries of which changed slightly over the years. Within these areas, the RAK's first task upon "liberation," as a calculated policy, was the peremptory execution of former FANK officers and of their families, without trial or f...

Most Khmers said that they loved the King, and seemed to have high hopes for the future. Therefore, it was a shame that the only people permitted to attend the festivities at the palace were a handful of dignitaries and foreign journalists. Citizens were forced to watch the closed affair on television. Even the attendance of opposition leader, Sam Rainsy, was up in the air. Many politicians blamed Sam Rainsy for King Norodom Sihanouk delaying his return to Cambodia, after his latest trip to Beijing. Some went so far as to blame him for the King's abdication. The King had often threatened to resign his post if the CPP, Cambodia's ruling political party, and the opposition could not come to an amicable compromise. Most recently, Sam Rainsy had sent a warning letter to the King, explaining that an anti-royalist protest awaited him in Phnom Penh, if he returned from China, as scheduled. The opposition leader claimed that the protests were arranged by the CPP, but were to be blamed...

Most Khmers said that they loved the King, and seemed to have high hopes for the future. Therefore, it was a shame that the only people permitted to attend the festivities at the palace were a handful of dignitaries and foreign journalists. Citizens were forced to watch the closed affair on television. Even the attendance of opposition leader, Sam Rainsy, was up in the air. Many politicians blamed Sam Rainsy for King Norodom Sihanouk delaying his return to Cambodia, after his latest trip to Beijing. Some went so far as to blame him for the King's abdication. The King had often threatened to resign his post if the CPP, Cambodia's ruling political party, and the opposition could not come to an amicable compromise. Most recently, Sam Rainsy had sent a warning letter to the King, explaining that an anti-royalist protest awaited him in Phnom Penh, if he returned from China, as scheduled. The opposition leader claimed that the protests were arranged by the CPP, but were to be blamed...

It was unfortunate, however, that the coronation of King Sihamoni was surrounded by speculation and debate, regarding his father's abdication. King Norodom Sihanouk, was the first Cambodian king, in recent memory, to quit his post, while still alive. As recently as two days before the coronation, the constitutionality of the King's abdication was still a subject of debate. A throne council was called, also a first in recent Cambodian history. The council chose Prince Norodom Sihamoni, a 51 year old ballet dancer, who had spent much of his life in Paris, to be the new King. His brother, Prince Norodom Ranarith, would have been the natural successor to their father. But Prince Ranarith, who is head of the FUNCINPEC, royalist political party, had often stated, that he had no desire to assume the position of king.

A relentless Cambodian sun played upon the highly-polished bayonets, affixed to the rifles of the military honor guard, standing at rigid attention. Anxiously, they awaited the arrival of Prince Norodom Sihamoni, who would soon be crowned the new king of Cambodia. The droning chant of Buddhist monks could be heard across the palace grounds, as history waited to be made. This would be the first coronation of a new Cambodian king, in more than 60 years, when Prince Norodom Sihamoni's father, King Norodom Sihanouk, ascended to the throne.

Unlike most monarchies, Cambodia’s monarchy isn’t necessarily hereditary and the King is not allowed to select his own heir. Instead, a new King is chosen by a Royal Council of the Throne, consisting of the president of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, the Chiefs of the orders of Mohanikay and Thammayut, and the First and Second Vice-President of the Assembly. The Royal Council meets within a week of the King’s death or abdication and selects a new King from a pool of candidates with royal blood. It has been suggested that Cambodia’s ability to peacefully appoint a new King shows that Cambodia’s government has stabilized incredibly from the situation the country was in during the 1970s.

Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk has abdicated, citing poor health, and asked the country to begin searching for his successor, the head of the National Assembly said Thursday. Sihanouk, 81, announced his retirement in a letter which his son, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, read to the legislature Thursday. "According to the statement that I have received and just read, His Majesty has already abdicated," Ranariddh told reporters, adding that the news was "very regrettable and shocking for all Cambodians who love him and regard him as sacred." Ranariddh said leaders of the ruling coalition planned "to beg" the king to stay on as monarch. He said he had been granted permission to visit his father and would leave for Beijing Friday to hear "the reason behind His Majesty's decision." Earlier, Ranariddh said Prime Minister Hun Sen and acting head of state and ruling party leader Chea Sim would also seek permission to visit the king, but ...

The ethnic minority representatives will appoint a spokesperson with the responsibility of alerting the UN authorities about their situation, said Um Mech, representative of the Kuoy who are living in Kampong Thom province, during a press conference of the 8th of August organised by the NGO Forum in Cambodia. “The investments from companies obtaining concessions in the rural areas aren’t really benefiting the ethnic minorities who live there”, did he say, bringing up the example of the Prasat Balin district (Kampong Thom province), where “companies don’t hire local labour, forcing villagers to work for Thai companies.” “It’s important for the donor countries to put pressure on the government, all the more so as an increasing number of foreign companies are asking for concessions in Cambodia”, continued Um Mech, deploring that the government had chosen to organise a day in honour of the ethnic minorities on the 29th of August in Pursat, while the world indigenous day takes place on the ...

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