LONDON: While Thais and Cambodians share the same branch of Buddhism many linguistic and cultural traits, the neighbours have had many spats over the centuries, many of which were linked to the Angkor Wat temple.

For 500 years, from the early ninth century, Angkor or Wat, was the capital of a Khmer (Cambodian) empire that stretched over much of modern Indo-China. The Thais captured it in 1431 and Cambodia became a battleground sandwiched between Siam, as Thailand was called, and Vietnam.

France officially declared Cambodia a colony in 1867 but granted Thailand control of two provinces, including Siem Reap, the home of Angkor Wat. Forty years later France regained the two provinces for Cambodia in a treaty with Bangkok.

After Cambodia declared its independence in 1953, a bitter dispute erupted between the neighbours over possession of another temple, Preah Vihear, located on a border escarpment. The international court of justice eventually sided with Cambodia in 1962.

During the regime of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in 1975-79, and after its overthrow, there was little formal contact between the countries.

Relations were not normalised until after the UN-sponsored election in 1993 restored democracy to Cambodia. But several borders still remain disputed.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.