--- description: The U.N.'s highest court handed down its verdict on a land dispute between Thailand and Cambodia on Monday, ruling that most of the Preah Vihear... title: Disputed Preah Vihear Land Is Cambodian, Court Rules image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2bb8fc40046861fe/698a963a011682d0ed98c2b9/temple-edit.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) # Disputed Preah Vihear Land Is Cambodian, Court Rules by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Nov 12, 2013 9:38 AM CUT  Cambodian Buddhist monks walk at Preah Vihear temple near the Cambodia-Thailand border in Preah Vihear province, some 400 kilometers north of Phnom Penh on November 12, 2013\. Cambodia welcomed and Thailand accepted a UN ruling on November 11, awarding most of the disputed border land around an ancient temple to Cambodia, an issue which sparked deadly clashes in the past. AFP PHOTO/ TANG CHHIN SOTHY (Photo credit should read TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP/Getty Images) Cambodian Buddhist monks walk at Preah Vihear temple near the Cambodia-Thailand border in Preah Vihear province, some 400 kilometers north of Phnom Penh on November 12, 2013\. Cambodia welcomed and Thailand accepted a UN ruling on November 11, awarding most of the disputed border land around an ancient temple to Cambodia, an issue which sparked deadly clashes in the past. AFP PHOTO/ TANG CHHIN SOTHY (Photo credit should read TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP/Getty Images)AFP/Getty Images—2013 AFP by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Nov 12, 2013 9:38 AM CUT The U.N.’s highest court handed down its verdict on a land dispute between Thailand and Cambodia on Monday, ruling that most of the Preah Vihear area bordering the two nations belongs to Cambodia. Both countries welcomed the ruling, the BBC [reports](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24897805 "undefined"). In 1962, the International Court of Justice ruled that an ancient Hindu temple in the province was Cambodian. But both countries continued to lay claim to the surrounding land, which led to frequent clashes in recent years. In 2011, fighting in the region left some 20 people dead and thousands of others displaced. On Monday, a panel of judges awarded Cambodia sovereignty over the province, with the exception of a hill known as Pheu Makhua, which the court said it had no jurisdiction to rule on. \[[BBC](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24897805 "undefined")\] Disputed Preah Vihear Land Is Cambodian, Court Rules ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7147947/disputed-preah-vihear-land-is-cambodian-court-rules/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7147947/disputed-preah-vihear-land-is-cambodian-court-rules/"},"headline":"Disputed Preah Vihear Land Is Cambodian, Court Rules","datePublished":"2013-11-12T09:38:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-16T12:31:12.112Z","description":"The U.N.'s highest court handed down its verdict on a land dispute between Thailand and Cambodia on Monday, ruling that most of the Preah Vihear...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7147947/disputed-preah-vihear-land-is-cambodian-court-rules/","keywords":["Pakistan","Taliban","Malala"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2bb8fc40046861fe/698a963a011682d0ed98c2b9/temple-edit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2bb8fc40046861fe/698a963a011682d0ed98c2b9/temple-edit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"CAMBODIA-THAILAND-ICJ-JUSTICE","caption":"CAMBODIA-THAILAND-ICJ-JUSTICE","creditText":"AFP/Getty Images—2013 AFP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7147947/disputed-preah-vihear-land-is-cambodian-court-rules/","name":"Disputed Preah Vihear Land Is Cambodian, Court Rules"}}]}] ```