PREAH VIHEAR: On Tuesday, 19 April, the Preah Vihear Authority held the groundbreaking ceremony for conservation work on risky Preah Vihear temple structures to preserve the temple’s structural integrity and improve its safety for visiting tourists.

Preah Vihear Temple is more than 1,000 years old and is located in Choam Ksan district, Preah Vihear province. Currently, the Preah Vihear National Authority has set up pillars at some or monumental entrance towers, also known as gopuras, that could endanger the temple’s structural integrity. The technical conservation team has placed support structures at all identified high-risk structures within the Preah Vihear temple complex, including at five sandstone pillars on the second gopura, one girder on the third gopura, and against the beam structure at the 4th gopura, in three separate locations.

The National Authority would like to point out that "the work being done at these high-risk sites has been studied by the technical staff of the Preah Vihear National Authority, through the recommendation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) made during the 7th Plenary Session of the International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Area of Angkor (ICC-Preah Vihear).

With this conservation work, the team expects to reduce the current high risk and maintain the stability of the temple structure, so that visitors will be protected and safe in the future.

The Preah Vihear Temple is an ancient Hindu temple built during the period of the Khmer Empire. The temple is located on a 525-meter-high mountain in the Dangrek Mountains of Preah Vihear Province. Preah Vihear Temple was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on 7 July 2008.

The temple was previously badly damaged during the fighting that broke out between Cambodian and Thai troops over the seizure of Preah Vihear Temple in 2011.