Wednesday, 15 July 2009
By Sam Rith and Joel Quenby
Phnom Penh Post
Controversial Web clip led to diplomatic note.
A THAI government Web site that had drawn the ire of Cambodian officials appeared to have been shut down at least temporarily Tuesday, one day after the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok delivered a diplomatic note to Thai officials accusing the site of spreading "false and misleading information about the loss of Thailand's territory to Cambodia".
The site, www.ilovethailand.org, included a video titled "Lost Territory", depicting the shrinking of the Siamese empire under various Thai rulers. Lost sections of the empire included parts of Siem Reap and Battambang provinces as well as the land on which Preah Vihear temple sits, according to the video.
Cambodian government officials and others criticised the video as misrepresenting history, which Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said Tuesday had prompted officials to issue the note asking for the video to be removed.
Unclear origins
Because private citizens could register with the site and post their own content to it, he said, it was unclear whether the video had been posted by a Thai government official.
Officials at the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh and at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
By Sam Rith and Joel Quenby
Phnom Penh Post
Controversial Web clip led to diplomatic note.
A THAI government Web site that had drawn the ire of Cambodian officials appeared to have been shut down at least temporarily Tuesday, one day after the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok delivered a diplomatic note to Thai officials accusing the site of spreading "false and misleading information about the loss of Thailand's territory to Cambodia".
The site, www.ilovethailand.org, included a video titled "Lost Territory", depicting the shrinking of the Siamese empire under various Thai rulers. Lost sections of the empire included parts of Siem Reap and Battambang provinces as well as the land on which Preah Vihear temple sits, according to the video.
Cambodian government officials and others criticised the video as misrepresenting history, which Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said Tuesday had prompted officials to issue the note asking for the video to be removed.
Unclear origins
Because private citizens could register with the site and post their own content to it, he said, it was unclear whether the video had been posted by a Thai government official.
Officials at the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh and at the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
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