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Existing studies of the Thai–Cambodian conflict over the Khmer temple of Preah Vihear tend to focus on the historical and legal dimensions of the contested claims and on Thailand's role. This article examines the conflict from within Cambodia, through the rhetoric of the Cambodian state elites and the views of residents of Preah Vihear province. The state has endeavoured to create and propogate a view that development projects in this province are an expression of Khmer pride as well as important for nation-building and border defence. Residents of the border region, however, view such nationalist discourse through their everyday experiences, giving local meaning to terms such as development, nation and heritage.

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Existing studies of the Cambodia-Thailand conflict over the Khmer temple of Preah Vihear tend to regard the temple as nationally significant to both countries. However, little is known about how the border temple complex has emerged from obscurity to symbolize the nation in Cambodian nationalist discourse. Therefore, this article seeks to examine the stakeholders, contexts, and specific political situations implicated in the emergence of the ancient temple as a site of national significance. It links the temple’s rise to national prominence in Cambodia to the broader context of Prince Norodom Sihanouk’s politics of postcolonial nation-building. I argue that Sihanouk had a strong stake in the temple and the conflict over it with Thailand. His investment in the project of nationalism in relation to the temple was an important resource in pursuing his wider political objectives in building the post-independence Cambodian nation.