14 DAY TRIAL // Google is no stranger to controversy. If it isn't Google Books that's getting the company in trouble, it's Street View. And every once in a while, a seemingly innocent product, Google Maps, also puts Google in the middle of the worst type of arguments, politically charged border disputes. Last year, it was India that had a bone to pick with Google, now it's Cambodia which is more than unhappy with the current border lines with Thailand in Google Maps and Earth.
This is just the latest development in a decades old dispute, one that's not about to end any time soon, between Cambodia and Thailand over the frontier in the Preah Vihear region. The border line was settled by an international court in 1962, but the decision has always been contested by Thailand. The current situation between the two countries is tense for several other reasons and Google Maps was likely chosen as scapegoat in Cambodia's latest swing at its neighboring country.
The country issued a letter addressed to Google in which it blasted the company for allegedly showing a border line which is not in concordance with the international accepted frontier. "(The map) is devoid of truth and reality, and professionally irresponsible, if not pretentious," Svay Sitha, secretary of state of the Cambodia's Council of Ministers, wrote in the letter, according to Reuters. "We therefore request that you withdraw the already disseminated, very wrong and not internationally recognised map and replace it," the letter added.
The heart of the issue is an 11 century Khmer, Preah Vihear temple which was recognized as belonging to Cambodia by the international court. However, the border around the temple has never been properly settled with both countries arguing their alleged rights. The current international version of Google Maps shows the temple inside Cambodia. This isn't the first time Google has been in the middle of a border dispute. Last year, the company was criticized by India after an apparent bug showed the name of several locations claimed by India with their Chinese script names.
