April 8, 2017
The temple offers a spectacular view from atop an escarpment that has been ruled by the world court as Cambodian territory. (‘Bangkok Post’)
The ancient cliff-top temple that Cambodia and Thailand have fought over for more than a century, Preah Vihear, has proven to be an unlikely hit with Japanese tourists.
Japanese tourists make up the largest proportion of foreign visitors to the UNESCO World Heritage site even though Japan ranks only seventh as a source market for Cambodia as a whole.
Of the 23,823 foreign tourists who visited the site in 2016, 8,306 were Japanese, according to Cambodia’s state-run Preah Vihear Authority, which runs the off-the-beaten-track temple complex.
That is more than the combined figure for Chinese (3,563), French (2,658), and Thai (775) visitors; the second-, third-, and fourth-ranked visitors to the site.
Sathol Miura, a travel agent who caters to Japanese tourists, attributed the temple’s popularity among them to their tendency to “want to go and see something which is new to them.”
Kim Sedara, president of Preah Vihear Authority, said Japanese tourists seem to like visiting natural and historic places that feed their sense of adventure; “thus, Preah Vihear is fit to get their interest as it combines these sorts of things.”
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