Colonial Legacies And Modern Conflicting Situations: The Preah Vihear Temple Conflict in Thai-Cambodian Relations

Abstract

The process of drawing colonial boundaries in Southeast Asia created enduring ambiguities in territoriality that have persisted and contributed to interstate tensions during the post-independence period. This paper explores the Thailand-Cambodia dispute over the Preah Vihear Temple as a classic example of how imperial cartographic practices enabled modern warfare. In the discussion of the Franco-Siamese treaty negotiations, the International Court of Justice's adjudication, and the ensuing bilateral crises, the analysis reveals that the choices of the colonial era in the demarcation of territories created dependencies that have restricted current diplomatic choices. The analysis is based on the historical institutionalist approach, which identifies causal processes (from the expansion of imperialism in the nineteenth century to military conflicts in the twenty-first century). The evidence suggests that administrators of the French colonies were much more concerned with strategic and cultural factors when defining boundaries than with geographical accuracy, resulting in the creation of documentary reports that were ultimately utilized by future states, which, in turn, claimed the same sovereign maintenance. The process of turning the temple into a nationalist image is an example of broader trends, in which colonial interventions reorganized local spatial imaginaries, substituting zones of fluid frontier for linear division that cannot support the political structures already in place. Recent events, such as new military conflicts and diplomatic efforts within the ASEAN framework, are framed in this longue durée context. The article is relevant to post-colonial studies by showing how imperial legacies are not only a historical background but also active, constitutive forces that shape current political possibilities in formerly colonised countries.