Ministry of Cult and Religion

Government denials over the rumored development of the Buddhist Institute have reached the highest levels, with the prime minister penning a letter to the king to assure him the land is not for sale. In a letter addressed to King Norodom Sihamoni dated October 6 and ...

Despite being hemmed in by construction on all sides as NagaWorld expands its casino empire in Phnom Penh, the Buddhist Institute will not be sold off or rented out, Cults and Religion Minister Min Khin told a National Assembly commission on Thursday. In May, the institute’s ...

Kandal province’s Tuol Reachea pagoda has been ordered shut for a week after authorities yesterday broke into the living quarters of Thean Vuthy, a man who claims to be the next Buddha, and found jewellery and other “irregular” items. The joint force from the Ministry of ...

Staff from the Ministry of Cults and Religion seized promotional material from a man claiming to be a Buddhist “god” on Sunday in Kandal province, officials said yesterday. The operation was conducted at Reachea pagoda, where Thean Vuthy had been promoting himself as the fifth and ...

Although foreigners have long paid a fee to enter Phnom Penh’s Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has announced that the days of apparently free entry to the notorious Khmer Rouge prison are finished and the charge will now be ...

The activist Independent Monk Network has called on the Ministry of Cult and Religion to release paperwork proving that an agreement it struck with NagaCorp to help construct an electricity substation at Phnom Penh’s Buddhist Institute does not involve the selling of any of the ...

A group of about 100 people, including 50 or so monks, attempted to march yesterday to protest outside Phnom Penh’s Buddhist Institute, but were thwarted by droves of military police and district security guards on Sisowath Quay. No violence occurred as Independent Monk Network leader But ...

Responding to reported fears among staff that the destruction of a wall at Phnom Penh’s Buddhist Institute could herald the piecemeal sale of the grounds to adjacent casino operator NagaCorp, the government yesterday chalked the alarm up to a simple misunderstanding. According to the Ministry of ...

Construction work at the site of Phnom Penh’s Buddhist Institute by Hong Kong-listed casino operator NagaCorp has caused concern among staff that the large development is driving away students. In recent days, a wall separating the institute from Hun Sen Park in Chamkarmon district’s Tonle Bassac ...

A deputy district governor and a land tycoon are allegedly attempting to seize land deemed sacred by about 700 monks and residents who gathered yesterday in protest outside the unfinished Wat Kohbodhivong in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district. Banner-wielding participants said that tycoon Chheang Paksour and ...

Cambodia on Monday called on all religious leaders to help stop violence against children by making their followers fully aware of children’s rights, officials said. “We urge all religious leaders to use their religious texts and teachings to stop parents from using violence against children and ...

Kandal provincial authorities and officials from multiple ministries are investigating the apparent theft of historical artefacts from a stupa at Oudong Mountain said to contain some remains of Buddha himself. Relevant authorities were tight-lipped yesterday about which objects were missing, but a local news outlet reported ...