Revenge of Khmer King

"Mess with ancient Khmer Kings, and you're history" Thaksin is warned

Bayon bas-relief showing Cambodian army marching to the battle field. Khmer temples are filled with stone carving such as the one shown above. Khmer temples have been ransacked by successive invading Thai armies, some of these temples are currently located in Thailand, on lands once owned by Cambodia. (Photo: www.angkor-ruins.com)

Revenge of the Khmer Kings

The Associated Press
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, facing the worst political crisis of his career, is now employing magic to ward off bad luck that a critic said was being caused by ancient Cambodian kings.

Thaksin received a gift on Tuesday in Thailand's Surin province: a magical elephant prod to help him ward off bad luck.

"I will use this prod, along with spells and talismans, to control the fierce opponents who are trying to oust me," Thaksin said.

Danai Anantayo, vice president of Law Society of Thailand, told a large anti-Thaksin rally in Bangkok Tuesday that Thaksin had been cursed for holding a Cabinet meeting at a sacred Khmer temple in Surin.

The ancient Cambodian kings whose spirits guard the temple had put the curse on the prime minister, he said.

Asked about the alleged curse of the Cambodian kings, Cambodian government spokesman and Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith laughed. "You know the Thais have long thought of Cambodians as skilled magicians," he said.

(Additional reporting by Erik Wasson, The Cambodia Daily)