Cambodia, Thailand military standoff causes water pollution around Preah Vihear Temple

Thai troops moving into the disputed area on 18th July.

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The military standoff between Cambodia and Thailand around the Preah Vihear Temple has caused water pollution there, posing a hazard to monks and civilians living in the area, local newspaper the Cambodia Daily said Friday.

Pheng Nayim, a doctor at the Institute Pasteur du Cambodge in Phnom Penh, told the newspaper that she had tested water that allegedly came from three locations on the mountain and had concluded that the pollution levels were dangerously high.

"The water had an increased level of arsenic and was also polluted by the extra human waste as a result of more military and other people in the area," Pheng Nayim was quoted as saying.

If the monks or the people living there use this water, it could cause them to get illnesses such as typhoid and dysentery, she added.

The Preah Vihear temple straddles the Cambodian-Thai border atop the Dangrek Mountain and was listed as a World Heritage Site on July 7 by UNESCO's World Heritage Committee.

The area has become the focal point of a military standoff between Thai and Cambodian troops in recent weeks after the flare-up of a long-dormant territorial dispute.

Editor: Gao