The Thai military has reportedly destroyed the conservation building of the Preah Vihear Temple’s Gopura V Conservation and Restoration Project, a Cambodia-India cooperation project, along with other conservation infrastructure in the temple area, according to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts.
The ministry issued a statement, saying that the Thai military had opened fire in and around the temple sites at approximately 7am, after they had attacked Cambodian territory in the An Ses area, and at Ta Mone Thom Temple and other locations along the border, with heavy weapons from 5am.
According to the ministry, since Preah Vihear Temple was listed as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008, the Thai side has created pretexts and instigated armed conflicts in the Preah Vihear temple area multiple times between 2008 and 2011, and reignited conflict on July 24-28, 2025.
It believes that this attack was intended to provoke conflict, with the aim of destroying the Kuala Lumpur Peace Agreement.
“The ministry condemns the renewed provocation in the Preah Vihear Temple area, which has caused serious difficulties to the conservation efforts of Preah Vihear Temple and the evacuation of officials, staff and workers of the Preah Vihear National Authority, as well as local residents,” said the statement.
The ministry strongly condemned the violation of the Joint Declaration on the Peace Agreement between Cambodia and Thailand, which was signed by the prime ministers of both countries, facilitated and witnessed by US President Donald Trump and Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on October 26.
The ministry called on Thailand to immediately cease all hostilities and adhere to the ceasefire agreement and the Joint Statement on the Peace Agreement. It also appealed to the international community to condemn the aggressive actions of the Thai side against Cambodia’s territorial integrity and the continued destruction of the World Heritage Site of Preah Vihear Temple.
Damaging the heritage site violates the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage and the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, which all state parties to these conventions must strictly observe.
The ministry demanded that Thailand “take full responsibility for this reckless violation”.
