1. Abel Koster
May 20, 2011
TSEA Period 7
The Damages of Love for Angkor Wat
“My approach to Angkor Wat was to see as many of the main sites as
possible with the least crowds. I love to travel, but I enjoy a sense of
serenity and beauty when there aren’t that many people around me. I
was very excited on my way to see these great historical monuments! I
was sitting in the back of a fashioned Tuk-tuk when it first started to
impact me. Upon arrival I was shocked; shocked at the amount of
people I saw. There were tourists everywhere as well as tour guides
leading them around. Despite the number of people and the pricey
ticket I had to pay, I went inside. Only this time there were even more
people! Some running, some climbing on restricted areas; it was
chaos. Many monuments were destroyed or damaged whilst still
people were climbing over them. There wasn’t any sign of control or
even guards! Over all, this trip was ruined for me. I didn’t enjoy it at
all nor would I come back to that same state ever again” (John Smith
– Personal Account).
In its past, Cambodia has been devastated for numerous years by poverty, war,
and even genocide. Back then, Cambodia would of have never expected any form of
tourism in their country. However, after the Khmer Rouge was over, everything has
changed, for better and for worse. Cambodia became a popular tourist destination for
visitors all over the world because of its majestic Angkor Wat temples and
monuments. These temples once belonged to the ancient Khmer empire and
subsidized as its capitol that reigned over much of Southeast Asia. They were built to
function as religious shrines for Hindu gods as well as insignias that gleamed political
power over its domain ranging from Vietnam to the eastern parts of Burma. Ever
since the vicissitudes after the Pol Pot regime of 1979, The Angkor Wat and its
contiguous monuments were designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1992. After this,
tourists from all over the world flocked to see this world heritage site and so the
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2. tourist boom began. Unfortunately these temples and monuments aren’t left
unharmed. They are confronted with the issue of mass tourism and all of its
encompassed aspects. Firstly, Cambodia’s economy is on the line; in some ways it
aids the country but in most ways it does not. This also counts for the continuous
issues and benefits regarding the social aspects of tourism in Angkor wat. But the
most damaging and impactful problem yet is the environment and the everlasting toll
it has on Angkor Wat. It may seem that tourism brings social and economic benefits
to Cambodia, althoughin reality it is far too unsustainable because of its social issues,
economic complications and mostly its environmental damages.
To its credit, the Cambodian government and its affiliates have claimed that
tourism brings many social benefits to the nation. For starters tourism has the
capability to profoundly increase the socioeconomic development in Cambodia
(Chheang). This means that with the ever-increasing tourist population needs a
working force behind it to keep it running successfully. In other words, with tourism
comes a plethora of local population employment. According to research done by the
Japanese Institute of Developing Economies in Cambodia, tourism in Cambodia has
been responsible for a significant change in employment. In 2005 alone, tourism has
been accountable for an increase of 200,000 jobs (Chhaeng). In 2006, tourism allowed
for another 250,000 jobs (Chhaeng). When looking into the future, it is estimated that
by 2018, the employment number would increase by a staggering total of 1,120,000.
With this increasing amount of employment comes a variation of benefits. One such
benefit is keeping the youth from living a life of poverty and being forced into a life
of drugs and crime (Chhaeng). Another illustration of social benefits of tourism is its
cultural promotion. It is well known that tourism is a key facilitator in the cultural
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3. exchanges between hosts and guests. Because of tourism specifically in Cambodia,
Angkor Wat and Cambodia’s culture has been promoted to the rest of the world
(Cerrer). Also, the Angkor Wat monument plays an important role of the Khmer
culture, giving people a sense of pride and nationalism of their country (Franz). Apart
from that, tourism in all also encourages civic involvement and perhaps pride as well.
An example of a group attempting to make a positive and sustainable difference in
aiding the social perspective of tourism in Cambodia is UK manger of Siem Riep’s
Gecko’s Adventures (Smith). He specifically offers an alternative touristic eco-tour
that helps clean up trash at and around the monuments and temples (Smith).
Additionally they also train local guides to make sure that visitors know exactly how
to dress and behave; which is very important to Khmer culture (Smith). Tactlessly,
there are also quite few problems and issues ascertaining to the social aspect of
tourism in Cambodia.
Despite what has been previously said the fact that tourism may bring some
social benefits to Cambodia, the problems and issues should not be overlooked. When
looking at Cambodia’s wealth through its GDP of $818, it is clearly not that wealthy
when comparing it to the rest of the world. Cambodia is also in quite a state of
poverty when looking at its rural population (Chhaeng). Additionally, the gap
between the rich and the poor is continuing to prove troublesome amongst Cambodian
people (Chhaeng). It is in fact quite a hardship amongst these people whilst this is
affecting countless more. Another problem ascertaining to social impact of tourism in
Cambodia are, simply put, the tourists themselves. The main countries that tourists
originate from are Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and China (Chhaeng). With that being said,
a plethora of these tourists find it important emanate their high standard services and
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4. high-class mannerisms. With these ideals they often only intend on eating at foreign
owned restaurants and staying at foreign owned hotels and resorts. This proves to be a
problem because of the fact that these tourists are not investing their wealth in local
businesses and infrastructure (Chhaeng). Instead there tends to be a loss of traditional
values and culture because these restaurants are not promoting any form of local
culture. Many do not see the point in visiting other counties only to eat, sleep and
relax at places that do not hold and significance or promote any Cambodian culture.
These businesses that hold these tourists compete with local business and more often
than not, hold some sort of control because of their connections with the travel guide
services. On the topic of travel guide services, there tends to be quite an inequality
amongst their employers. In a speech made by Cambodia’s Prime Minister, Hun Sen,
he said, “…training schools were established; technical staff and employees have
been trained both at home and abroad (Hun Sen, 08 May 2003)”. Unfortunately a
problem has come forth dealing with the unequal amounts of females and male tour
guides. In Siem Reap alone there are a total of 2,988 registered tour guides. This
includes tour guides that do not have licenses and those who do. Out of that total, an
overwhelming 2,616 were male and 372 were female. This proves that there might be
some sort of sexist discrimination amongst the employees in the tourism industries.
As previously stated, social aspectsare undoubtedly not the sole affect of tourism.
The Cambodian government claims that tourism brings many economic benefits
to the nation. In 2003 merely 270,000 tourists travelled to Cambodia. And over the
year until today, Cambodia has gone through somewhat of a tourist boom after
UNESCO proclaimed Angkor Wat as being a World Heritage Site. Now, over 1
million tourists have visited Siem Reap in an ever-inclining number (Cameron).
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5. Economists have argued that the mass tourism present in Cambodia and Angkor Wat
is in fact helping Cambodia become, simply put, wealthier. In comparison with the
past, Cambodia has a rising economy with moderately high economic growth and
political stability because of tourism in general (Chhaeng). Income obtained from
Tourism generally helps to promote poverty diminution, economic growth, cultural
identity, as well as political authenticity in a nation struck by so many war casualties
and horrors (Chhaeng). Currently, Cambodia is the second largest income contributor
to the Cambodian economy after the garment industry (Chhaeng). In 2005 tourism
had brought in an income of $832 million, which was a total of 13% of Cambodia’s
GDP (Chhaeng). In 2006, tourism had profited a $1,594 million increase making it a
total of 16% of Cambodia’s GDP (Chhaeng). In 2008, the income from tourist alone
was $820 million making it 9% of the country’s GDP (Chhaeng). Lastly, it is
predicted that tourism will bring in an income of $1,705.7 million. These numbers are
in fact overwhelming, and respectfully so for income like this aids Cambodia and a
nation by diversifying and stabilizing the economy. It also provides the Cambodian
Government with a superfluous amount of tax revenues every single year by means of
accommodation as well as restaurant taxes, airport taxes, sales taxes, park entrance
fees etc. Also, as previously stated, these economic benefits create a higher
employment rate as well as local business opportunities (Chhaeng). These jobs
include a variety of careers directly related to tourism such as hotels and tour guide
services as well as food and housing construction jobs. There are in fact quite a few
negative economic impacts that tourism has on Cambodia.
Despite the fact that tourism may bring some economic benefits to Cambodia,
the truth of the matter is that tourism creates many more economic hardships than it
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6. solves. The main factors that are attributing to such hardships are mainly Cambodia’s
corruption and money inequality. The distribution of wealth is not equal, whilst the
poor always seem not gain any benefits from this economic development (Chhaeng).
The income dealt through the government is very often times mismanaged and put
into the pocket of the wrong greedy person. Corruption has proven to be a great issue
in Cambodia, specifically in its rural areas where control and authority is limited.
Additionally, Tom Fawthrop, a Southeast Asian affairs expert and British journalist,
stated that much of the country's tourism income is not properly used in aiding the
national sites and monuments due to corruption and mismanagement (Franz). It has
commonly and repetitively been said that tourism does in fact provide development
stimulation and prosperity as well as it improves living standards amongst the locals
most affected by the changes occurring. It is also said that hotel expansion has
provided new jobs opportunities for the locals (Fawthrop). Regrettably, this is not
entirely true fact for in reality the majority of poor farmers in Siem Reap have gained
no benefits or even improvements in living standards. It is quite the contrary because
the so-called economic changes that the government has promised has truly only
increased the value of land and food prices if anything (Fawthrop). The reason for this
is because of the fact that the rural locals are not able to compete with local
businesses and markets as well as being unable to cope with rising costs and ever-
increasing rent prices all due to tourism. Also, the people who selfishly benefit the
most out of their money mismanagement deriving from mass tourism are primarily
those involved in international hotels, foreign airlines, travel agencies and business
companies based in neighboring countries in Southeast Asia (Fawthrop). A
comparison had been made and it is the following; for every dollar of income
stemming from tourists visiting Cambodia, it is roughly estimated that 80 cents will of
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7. have leaked out of the country, while the remaining 20% of the income is most
voraciously taken by local mafia businesses or even the ruling elite (Fawtrop). This
clearly shows at what lever corruption is at amongst citizens in Cambodia. If any of
the money is properly brought back to the economy (or the government) Cambodia
would be facing a completely different situation as it is now. When looking at the
current situation, sadly not much of the income generated solely from tourism is
properly and deservingly benefiting the Cambodian general public. As a matter of
fact, this money is also not being used to help conserve the temples as well
(Fawthrop). Much of the money in being placed into the private sectors and used to
build fancy new scenic golf courses with a nice view of Angkor Wat. Not only does
this affect the economy it also effects the environment. As Tom Fawthrop sais
himself, “Only strong pressure from Cambodians concerned about the erosion of their
heritage in the name of development can stop the damage being inflicted by a free-
for-all scramble engendered by the mass tourist market”.
As of yet, this essay has made clear of the benefits and problems of the
socioeconomic spectrum of mass tourism in Cambodia. But those combined do not
even merely have as much impact as the environment does in the Angkor Wat
monuments and temples. There is a wide range of environmental effects on Angkor
Wat due to tourists. First in order is the water situation plaguing Siem Reap and
Angkor Wat along with its temples and monuments. The area in and around Siem
Reap has a water supply that is being polluted by hotels that are flushing untreated
sewage into the flood-prone Siem Reap River (Smith). A overabundance of both
foreign and local hotels deriving from a still increasing number of tourist that visit
Siem Reap is depleting gallons of groundwater from underneath surrounding urban
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8. areas (“Heritage site in peril: Angkor Wat is falling down”). This issue has the
potential to harm the delicate foundations underneath the huge area that is Angkor
Wat and quite possibly sink them into the ground, causing great magnitudes of
irreversible damage. A culture program specialist at UNESCO said, "There is a very
important balance between the sand and water on which the temple is built. And if
that balance is taken away then we might have trouble with collapse” (“Heritage site
in peril: Angkor Wat is falling down”). The magical temples and monuments aren’t
the only things in danger of collapse; in fact Siem Reap is also starting to collapse
under the pressure of increasing tourist rates. Its sewage and draining systems are
often damaged because of streets flooding into rivers during the rainy season (Franz).
With great water damage possibilities, the Cambodian government needs to find
alternative solutions to this problem because with such a huge area that needs to be
protected, comes the need for a complex water management system which in ancient
times, and even now, is provingto fail in quite a few places around the temples and
monuments (Franz). Water isn’t the only element posing a threat to the Angkor
Temples, pollution and littering is also among the long list of issues. Air pollution
coming from tour busses and cars being left on right outside of the temples is
damaging the quality of the ever so feeble sandstone built monuments. Not only that,
but because tourists have the freedom to walk as they please without much restricted
areas cause heavy foot traffic that is wearing the steps and pathways down leading to
more damage (Cerrer). At a very specific temple called the Bayon temples is where
the biggest impact can be physically seen. It seems to be under a lot of pressure
causing it to slowly crumble into a sinkhole caused by extraction of groundwater
underneath its foundations. If the Bayon temple and monuments do in fact crumble
into devastation then it would have a profound effect and serve as a signal as what
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9. could happen to the rest of the Angkor Wat. As of yet, there are no concerns of that
ordeal. It was said that around 500 years ago a failing irrigation system led to
countless water ordeals and forced the Khmer population and their rulers to abandon
the sprawling capitol of the Khmer empire. Unfortunately we are seeing a similar
situation forming itself not mainly because of irrigation but primarily due to mass
tourism, which is posing a threat day by day.
Mass tourism has indubitably affected the Angor Wat complex significantly in
many ways, both positive and mostly negative. The temples and monuments that
compose of Angkor Wat as a whole is the shining jewel of the Cambodia people; it is
even honored and revered that is has deserved to be on the national Cambodian Flag.
It has even been recognized as being the deathbed of King Suryavarman II to honor
the Hindu god Vishnu. The history of Angkor Wat has been and will be told in great
stories for centuries to come. When looking at tourism and how it is affecting Angkor
Wat, it is safe to say that even though tourism as whole subsidizes as social and
economic benefit to Cambodia, its protuberant difficulties profoundly prove its
unsustainability due to its prominent social factors, economic issues and mostly the
environmental complications. It would be shameful if Cambodia would be responsible
for the downfall of the symbol of their country. Hopefully the government and both
the private and public sectors soon takes actions in changing the tourism industry in
Cambodia, step by step to make a better future for its entire nation.
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