News

Despite recent high-profile cases of monastic child sex abuse, the organisers of a national conference for monks have left the issue off of the agenda, a move met with criticism yesterday by child protection advocates.At a press conference to launch the 24th congress of Buddhist ...

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 ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has waded into the case of a man claiming to be a reincarnation of Buddha, ordering Cults and Religion Minister Min Khin to keep a close eye on the situation. Authorities say that Thean Vuthy, who dresses in white robes and sits ...

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 ...

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 ...

Monks and their supporters marching to Phnom Penh on a 10-day “Peace Walk,” as part of International Human Rights Day, said Wednesday that pagodas along the way have repeatedly tried to shut them out, and they have scuffled with police on at least one occasion. About ...

A land dispute between a development company and residents in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district boiled over late Friday night, with villagers setting fire to an excavator that they say company staff were using to raze a crematorium on the disputed plot of land. Villagers say ...

More than 1,000 villagers in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district have signed a petition pro­testing the removal of a crematorium that is currently on land slated for a large development project. According to a letter from the Council of Ministers addressed to the Ministry of Cults ...

Duong Tech, the owner of an import-export company, spent $150,000 on his chrome-rimmed Cadillac Escalade SUV. Then he shelled out an additional $10,000 at the Phnom Penh municipal transportation department for a license plate ending with the numbers “9999.” In Phnom Penh, custom-numbered license plates ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has accused the well-known monk and human rights advocate Loun Sovath of incitement for unspecified actions committed in Cambodia and abroad, according to court documents obtained Friday. The court documents, signed by Investigating Judge Duch Kim on Feb. 14, were sent ...