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Code of Conduct video to teach tourists how to behave at Angkor Wat

This article is more than 12 months old

Cambodian authorities are so fed up with the behaviour of foreign tourists at the sacred grounds of Angkor Wat that they've released a code of conduct video to educate them.

 

 

Uploaded on Dec 3, the video shows a Khmer King riding on an elephant through the temple's grounds. The king stopped when he spotted foreign tourists walking around the complex, disregarding respect for the sacred complex.

According to the Telegraph, the video is designed to show tourists the types of behaviour that are considered unacceptable, reiterating the stern rules which bans activities such as smoking, giving to begging children and taking selfies with monks.

PHOTO: YOUTUBE SCREENGRAB

Angkor Wat was erected in the 12th century and is the world's largest religious monument and a prime attraction of the country, seeing over 2 million visitors annually, according to The Phnom Penh Post.

It is still a temple and is used by Buddhist monks today.

However, Cambodian authorities were forced to take measures following the ban on nudity within the complex in May this year, which was sparked by a rising trend of foreigners stripping naked at the archeological sight.

In January this year, a Chinese model had posed topless amid the ruins. A month after that, three French men posed naked at the Banteay Kdei temple.

Now, even companies and journalists who want to shoot photographs within the Angkor Archaelogical Park must apply for permission and be accompanied by a security guard, reported the South China Morning Post.

A spokesman for APSARA, the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap, 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”.

And it is not only the site that has been victim to this crazy topless trend.

The most recent was a group of tourists who stripped upon reaching the summit of Mount Kinabalu. Some even went as far as to urinate in the nude.

PHOTO: TWITTER/ EMIL KAMINSKI
PHOTO: TWITTER/ EMIL KAMINSKI
PHOTO: TWITTER/ EMIL KAMINSKI

Locals were enraged at the blatant disrespect towards the mountain which they regard as the resting place of their ancestors.

Sabah state deputy chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan believed the indecent act had angered the spirits of the mountain.

He blamed the travellers for the magnitude-5.9 earthquake that struck Mount Kinabalu on June 5,  which killed 18 people, including 10 Singaporeans, and left hundreds more stranded.

Sources: South China Morning Post, Telegraph, The Phnom Penh Post

nudityAngkor WatCambodiaTourismcode of conductvideo