Cambodian soldiers were posted on monuments at Preah Vihear temple in June 2008. Months later, a flare-up of tensions with Thailand over ownership of the temple left some of them dead. Photo by Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP© Getty Images.

Preah Vihear Temple is a Khmer temple that sits atop a spectacular 1,700 foot cliff along Cambodia's northern border with Thailand. It also sits on one of the hottest points of tension between the two countries. A century long dispute about the border and ownership of the temple is boiling over.

In 1962 a ruling by the International Court of Justice in The
Hague awarded ownership to Cambodia. Thailand's government reacted
angrily but by the mid-1960s it looked like the two countries would
peacefully accept the new ruling. Then, decades of civil war made this
region one of the most dangerous on earth.

In July 2008, Preah Vihear was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. By mid-October a clash between Thai and Cambodian troops stationed at the site left several soldiers dead. Both countries are bracing themselves for the worst. Cambodia plans to increase its military budget to $500 million, a figure that represents 25 percent of government spending and an increase of 70 percent over the preceding year, according to a New York Times report .

What a tragedy that just as Preah Vihear makes the grade as a world class site to be protected it falls victim to its own importance. I shudder at the site of military equipment and troops perched on the ruins and hope the powder keg can be defused.

The political fuss at Preah Vihear also diverts attention from a huge problem in the region, which is protecting cultural heritage from looting for the antiquities trade. The thousands of headless buddhas and asparas one can see at Angkor and other popular monuments are just the tip of the iceberg. According to Heritage Watch, a nonprofit organization founded in response to an increase in looting in Cambodia, the problem has now extended into numerous prehistoric settlements and graveyards that pepper the countryside. According to a study of reported looting incidents conducted by Heritage Watch, it appears that many looted items are smuggled into Thailand across the same northern border that Preah Vihear sits on. They then proceed to Bangkok.

The Khmer and English versions of an education anti-looting comic book perpared by Heritage Watch. Courtesy of Heritage Watch.

Heritage Watch is fighting the war to protect cultural patrimony on all fronts. Among their efforts was designing a comic book called "Wrath of the Phantom Army." It provides a context for Cambodians to understand the value of the past. If only groups like Heritage Watch could get as big an increase in their budgets as the generals. Imagine what they could do.

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