|
閱讀理解
While Thais and Cambodians share the same branch of Buddhism(佛教), many linguistic(語言的)and cultural traits(特點(diǎn)), the neighbours have had many slight quarrels over the countries, many of which were lined to the Angkor Wat temple．
For 500 years, from the early ninth century, Angkor Wat, was the capital of Khmer(Cambodian)Empire that stretched over much of modern Indo-China．The Thais captured it in 1431 and Cambodia became a battleground sandwiched(夾入中間)between Siam, as Thailand was called, and Vietnam．
France officially declared Cambodia a colony in 1867 but allowed Thailand control of two provinces, including Siem Reap, the home 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 broke out between the neighbours over possession of another temple, Preah Vihear, located on a border escarpment(懸崖)．The international court of justice at last sided with Cambodia in 1962．
During the rule of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in 1975-1979, and after its overthrow, there was little formal contact between the countries．
Relations were not normalized until after the UK-sponsored election in 1993 restored democracy to Cambodia．But several borders still remain disputed(爭(zhēng)議)．
| 
