Cambodia's military budget has been spotlighted by the clashes over the 10th century Preah Vihear temple straddling the border with Thailand. After the site was listed by Unesco as a Cambodian World Heritage site over Thai objections, Thai and Cambodian troops have been confronting each other close to the temple, with periodic shootings and soldiers on both sides killed.

One of the prime minister's advisers admitted it was unusual for an army to depend on private sector subsidies.

Insisting on anonymity, the adviser said: 'No other country is doing this, but we think we see it as the art of management when we don't have enough defence budget.'

Mong Reththy, an agribusiness millionaire and a senator of the ruling Cambodian People's Party said, of his business' participation in the scheme: 'We are rebuilding the military. Thailand has a strong army with a big budget. We are happy to send supplies to our soldiers on the frontline. We donate rice, noodles, motorcycles, gasoline and some buildings for shelter.'

In 2010, the Cambodian defence budget stands at US$274 million, a 23 per cent increase on 2009 but still dwarfed by the US$4 billion Thai military budget. Cambodian military spending accounts for 14 per cent of the total budget, compared to 1.7 per cent on rural development.

But corruption is rife among the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, according to the UN Centre for Human Rights in Phnom Penh. Much of the regular military procurement turns up in Phnom Penh's Toek Kla blackmarket.

One government minister, who also insisted on anonymity, said: 'We have a chronic mismanagement of the military budget, and the ordinary soldiers are the ones that suffer most.'

Tycoon Mong Reththy offered assurances that his company's sponsorship support ends up in the right hands . 'We don't deliver our aid to the commanders, we only hand it over to the ordinary soldiers,' he said.

British NGO Global Witness, well known for documenting Cambodian army protection of illegal logging, has criticised business patronage of the Cambodian military.

Gavin Hayman, the UK-based campaign director for the group, said: 'It is unacceptable for private companies to be financing a military renowned for its corruption and involvement in illegal activities and human rights abuses.'

At one time Global Witness experts based in Phnom Penh assisted the government in monitoring violations of a ban on logging, but the relationship soon turned sour. Hun Sen was angered by their reports and expelled them from the country.

Global Witness' 2009 report, 'Country for Sale', described how the Try Pheap Company allegedly used the armed forces to guard one of its mines in Stung Treng province.

The list of military sponsors includes a sugar cane plantation belonging to casino owner Ly Yong Phat in Kompong Speu province. The Phnom Penh Post reported that soldiers from the army's battalion 313 recently were called in by Ly Yong Phat to intervene in a dispute with angry villagers who claimed the company had illegally grabbed their land as part of its sugar plantation.

When challenged on whether it was ethical for a national army to provide soldiers for hire for commercial gain, Mong Reththy responded: 'I think if there is illegal business going on, then that company will try to take advantage, but I will never do this. I am helping the military, but I do not get any personal benefit.'

Two sponsoring corporations are strongly linked to foreign countries. Pheapimex Company, owned by an ethnic Chinese Cambodian, sponsors army division region 6, and has a partnership in a plantation agribusiness with Chinese company Wushishan. Another military sponsor is Metphone, owned by the Vietnamese military.

'The existence of a strong patronage system between the military and private business is not new,' says Hayman. 'But what is different and shocking is that it has now become official government policy. This represents an appalling breach of governance standards.'

Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan said Global Witness' opinions were 'baseless'.

Uneven odds

The 2010 Cambodian defence budget is US$274 million

But that is dwarfed by the Thai military budget, which is, in billions of US dollars: $4b