No More Sex Organs at Cambodia Angkor Temples!

PHNOM PENH - Recently, temple managers have announced if foreign companies and journalists wishing to take photographs in and around Cambodia’s Angkor temples complex must have prior authorisation. Worryingly for casual visitors, this new rule can reportedly also apply to tourists who look like they are planning to profit from their photos or videos.

As released by scmp.com, a statement from the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap (Apsara) said, companies and journalists who want to shoot photographs in the Angkor Archaeological Park which contains the Angkor Wat complex and Bayon Temple must in future apply for permission at Apsara headquarters. They must also be accompanied by a security guard.

A spokesman for Apsara was quoted as saying that “some people have taken pictures and used them for films and books and leaflets that very badly affect the Angkor site”. Asked for examples of these over the phone by newspaper The Cambodia Daily, he said he couldn’t offer any, as his mobile was low on power.

Perhaps coincidentally, a new code of conduct has just been posted around the temple complex, which, following a recent upsurge in foreigners stripping off for photos, includes a stern warning of criminal punishment for anyone found exposing sex organs.