Really, the end of the road

Phra Wihan is on the Thai-Cambodia border. In 1966, the World Court awarded it to Cambodia, opining that, as a Khmer-style ruin, it should go to Cambodia. Never mind that Thailand is lousy with Khmer ruins. They are everywhere. Laos has even got one. Anyway, it seems that back during the Indochinese period, the French decided that they would just jut out the border they were drawing with Thailand to include Phra Wihan in their SE Asian empire. And, for whatever reason, the World Court agreed with that drawing.

Never mind that it sits on a 600 meter cliff and the only sensible approach to the place is from Thailand.

So anyway, it's at the end of the road, as Thailand basically said 'we like good roads. It's clear you Cambodians don't. So we're going to build a decent road right up to the stupid, World Court-ordered border so that our citizens, and the Nervigs, can roll right up and visit.'

From the road, you walk down a rocky slope, pass through a razor-wire topped fence, and into Cambodia. Because you are basically on the top of a huge cliff, you don't need to pass through border control, because where the hell are you going to go, besides to see the ruins, then right back out to the Thai side?

The Thais, by the way, LOVE this place. They come by the busload. Luckily for us, there was just one bus load when we were there, so we were relatively unmolested by other bothersome tourists. Tourists, I hate running into them at tourist sites that I am touring. Check out the fat Thai guy. A rare site.


The steps. Always with the steps with these people. Khmers, they hated flatness. Had to have stairs everywhere. That's a fact. You can look it up.


Phra Wihan is on three levels. Each level was shrouded in clouds as we approached, and would slowly emerge from the mist the closer we got. It was very cool.