AKP Phnom Penh, December 08, 2025 --

The conservation building of the Gopura V Conservation and Restoration Project, implemented under Cambodia-India cooperation, as well as other essential conservation infrastructure at the vicinity of Preah Vihear Temple were damaged due to Thai armed attacks on Cambodia this morning, according to a press release from the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts.

Since the inscription of the Temple of Preah Vihear on the UNESCO World Heritage List on July 7, 2008, Thailand has repeatedly fabricated claims and provoked armed confrontations in and around the temple-most notably between 2008 and 2011, and again during the renewed hostilities of July 24-28, 2025. 

The most recent attack occurred following several consecutive days of deliberate Thai military provocations, including the incident on Dec. 7 at Prolean Thmar area within the Preah Vihear Temple Conservation Zone in Sra-em commune, Choam Ksan district–acts clearly intended to incite confrontation and undermine the Kuala Lumpur Peace Agreement.

The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts strongly condemns this renewed aggression, which has gravely obstructed ongoing conservation operations and forced the evacuation of officials, staff, guards, and conservation workers of the National Authority for Preah Vihear, as well as local residents.

The Ministry denounces this blatant violation of the Joint Declaration on Peace Deal between Cambodia and Thailand, signed by the Prime Ministers of both countries and facilitated and witnessed by U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Oct. 26, 2025 in Kuala Lumpur.

The Ministry calls on Thailand to immediately cease all hostilities, which threaten peace, stability, and regional cooperation, and to fully and sincerely comply with the ceasefire agreement, the Joint Declaration on Peace Deal, and all obligations under international law.

The Ministry further urges the international community to condemn Thailand's aggression against Cambodia's territorial integrity and the continuing destruction of the World Heritage Site of Preah Vihear-serious violations of the 1972 World Heritage Convention and the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. As a State Party to these instruments, Thailand must be held fully accountable for these grave breaches.

By Heng Panha