‘Porn’ Dancing May Land 10 Tourists In Cambodian Prison

A group of 10 tourists in Cambodia are learning the hard way that the definition of “porn” in that country is significantly different than in western countries. The group, which includes five British nationals, two Canadians and one individual each from New Zealand, the Netherlands and Norway, now sits behind bars. They each face up to a year in Cambodian prison on charges of “producing pornography” after they were arrested following a pub crawl that featured “sexy dancing.” The party, billed as a “Let’s Get Wet” event, took place in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province, home to the historic Angkor Wat temple which is not only Cambodia’s top tourist attraction, but a venerated national monument in the country. Spanning 401 acres on a site that spreads over 15 miles, the 900-year-old Angkor Wat temple is the largest religious structure in the world. In all, Cambodian authorities arrested 87 western tourists at the “Let’s Get Wet” party, freeing 77 of them after “educating” them as to standards of behavior in Cambodia. But the remaining 10 were slapped with porn-producing charges on Sunday, and have entered not guilty pleas, according to a report by the English-language Cambodian newspaper Khmer Times. “The charges are very serious for them,”  Sourng Sophea, the Cambodian attorney representing the group, told the paper. “They should not be charged with producing pornography for what they did. Their actions were only wrong from the perspective of Khmer ethics.”  Sophea said that the westerners did not take part in sexual activity or even nudity during the party, but simply danced with each other in a “sexy” way.  “When police arrived, [the tourists] were wearing underwear and bras as they drank,”  Sophea said. “The charge of producing pornography is a little too harsh. Now, they are in prison and this is too much.” But Cambodia’s Minister of Tourism, Thong Khon, was unsympathetic to the foreigners’ plight.  “The law bans this kind of thing and maybe they were warned in advance,” Khon said. “Siem Reap is a heritage site.” The strict approach on the part of Cambodian authorities may stem from a pair of incidents at Angkor Wat in 2015, when on successive weekends three French tourists were deported after admitting that they took nude photos of each other inside the temple complex—and then two American women were also deported for allegedly taking “nude” pictures at Angkor Wat temple. “They lowered their pants to their knees and took pictures of their buttocks,” a Cambodian police official said of the two Americans. The three French tourists, all men, received a six-month suspended prison sentence, and were barred from re-entering Cambodia after being kicked out of the country. Pictures released by Cambodian police of what they say were activities at the party may be viewed at this link, and at this link. But the family of one of the arrested tourists claimed that the pictures were actually taken five years earlier, not at last week’s party, according to a report by Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper. Pictured: A Cambodian prison.