Khmer royal palace in Vietnamese lottery ticket

School of Vice: Throughout much of the Khmers' long history, and notably since the fall and decline of Angkor around 14th/15th century onward, the Siamese [Thais] have acquired the habit of insulting the Khmers for their perceived lack of intelligence. This is party the Siamese's way of rubbing salt on the injuries they wrought upon their hated next door neighbours and enemies, but also their way of overcoming and reversing the centuries-long grievances as well as internal inferiority complex that had been instilled in their psyche as a result of having lived under the shadow of the Khmer imperial rule. It is a habit the Thai people and rulers still retain and practise to this day. In South East Asia, no two countries or peoples could be more alike in cultural practices and customs, yet it would probably take some persuading to make many a Thai accept that what they wear, eat and write today can be traced back to their ancestors' time and contact with the far more developed and advanced Khmer civilisation that predated even Angkor. 

In the East, the Vietnamese have tended to employ the cat-and-mouse approach in dealing with their enemies. It is a core tactic that traditionally served them well in statecraft vis a vis the Chinese as inspired by imperial court advisors and scholars [the 'Nguyens'] and as imitated by many an 'ordinary' Vietnamese person today; a characteristic trait indexed by that very common surname: 'Nguyen'. 

It is said that the Champa people lost their land and country to Vietnam by virtue of their excessive, over-weening 'pride' or vanity alone - if nothing else! Yet, if this was true, then it would have been that well-honed deception and cunning of the Vietnamese that quickly exposed Champa's Achilles heels and exploited them to the full. Flattering their foes to deceive and offering beautiful Vietnamese women as tokens of good faith, the Champa kings and rulers [one envisages] could offer little by way of resistance to such charm offensives and against seemingly unquestionable acts of friendship and trust! The women weren't only exceptionally beautiful, but were also often picked from the Vietnamese imperial stock. Yet for all that, these women would have had little worth beyond what they could help to fulfill within their assigned narrow obligation as mere cogs in the wheel of state diplomacy whereby princesses or common prostitutes alike are treated as expendable utility tools without any worldly distinctions whatsoever! So having overcome the Chams in this way the same methods would be repeated against the Khmers of Kampuchea Krom [Mekong Delta/Southern Vietnam] and their compatriots in Cambodia to this day.

From the brief sketch above, one can see that both of Cambodia's dominant neighbours could hardly be expected to deviate too far from their respective accustomed approaches in their dealing with her: if they could insult or humiliate her, they would; and if they could deceive and strip her off all her precious assets, they would too! This is to be expected and a matter of course. The saddest thing is that it is not that these neighbours are prone to taking advantage of Cambodia and Cambodians time and time again but rather that there are some among the latter who think nothing of allowing themselves to be used again and again in return for their personal security and enrichment, of which the present docile and spineless Khmer monarchy and its worldly royal palace are a case in point. If these royals display such contempt for the honour, sacredness  and sanctity of this ancient Khmer institution, must Khmer people continue to respect and honour them blindly?  

In my view such individuals are worth far less than those Vietnamese women and prostitutes put to use by the Vietnamese rulers down the centuries. And that is no joke!