No more posing nude at Angkor Wat; authorities restrict photo and video shooting
Notices at Cambodian temple complex warn of criminal sanction for ‘exposing sex organs’ after surge in foreign visitors stripping off, while new rule requires prior consent for filming and photo taking for profit - affecting media and reportedly casual visitors too - writes Adam Nebbs
Foreign companies and journalists wishing to take photographs in and around Cambodia’s Angkor temples complex must have prior authorisation, temple managers have announced. 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”.
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.
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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”.
