At least 30 percent of the small brick ancient temples in Siem Reap province are decaying over the course of the rainy season, an Angkor Conservation official said on Thursday.
Rain, fungus and trees growing on the temples are all contributing to their deterioration, causing bricks to fall off the structures, said Keo Saravuth, Angkor Conservation bureau chief.
He accused the Apsara Authority of failing to pay attention to these small temples because they are not the main monuments visited by tourists.
“It’s not only the red brick temples—the foundations of some ancient [stone] temples are also affected, and we should protect all of them,” Keo Saravuth said.
He said the most affected temples include the 9th-century Bath Chum, built of brick, as well as 12th-century Banteay Thom and Ta Prohm, both stone temples.
They have been seriously damaged by the environment, and no measures have been put in place, he said.
Eventually, they could crumble altogether, he added.
The government of India earlier this year agreed to renovate Ta Prohm, a tourist favorite that has purposely been left largely to nature to give visitors the sensation of awe that the first modern French explorers experienced when they stumbled on the Angkor temples in the middle of the then-dense jungle.
But the trees’ roots are destroying the stone, Keo Saravuth said. “The Apsara Authority should cut the trees out of the temples and install wooden supports to keep the temples intact,” he said.
Apsara Authority Deputy Director General Ros Barath said Thursday that it is common for bricks to fall off the red brick temples because they are so old.
Bath Chum, he said, has already been renovated, but continues to deteriorate. The authority needs time to formulate a proper, step-by-step plan to protect all the imperiled temples, he said.
In addition, the authority is hampered by a lack of resources.
“There are a lot of temples and we have only 40 workers to look after them,” Ros Barath said.
