Contested Religious Heritage in South East Asia: The Temple of Preah Vihear as a Cambodian World Heritage Site

The conflict between Cambodia and Thailand has ancient roots. In modern times and with the independence of Cambodia, the object of the claims at first sight is mostly based on the defining borders coinciding with the Temple of Preah Vihear. Several circumstances make this nomination a special case, in particular with regard to the formulation and evaluation of Outstanding Universal Value, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings of 1962 and 2013, the presence of an active conflict before and after the nomination and the presence of intangible cultural heritage elements included in the nomination dossier (mythology, religious rituals). The critical point of this nomination is the inscription of the site on the World Heritage List, although part of the buffer zone of the property is under the territorial sovereignty of Thailand. This chapter aims to offer a new reading of a dispute that appears to be limited to the definition of boundaries. However, upon closer analysis, religious heritage becomes the agent that provokes the competing cultural, religious and political narratives of the states involved.