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 Click here for more pics It was a celebratory Sunday for Cambodians as they marked 20 years since their beloved former King returned from exile 20 years ago.
Norodom Sihanouk, who turned 89 Monday, spoke to tens of thousands of Cambodians from the palace in Phnom Penh, vowing to stay in the country despite his failing health.
“I have the great honor to inform our lovely compatriots that from now on, despite still having health problems and needing routine checkups by my Chinese medical team, I and my wife, the queen, have decided to stay forever with our compatriots inside our country,” he said.
The 20th anniversary of his return from exile is really on November 14th, but Cambodia wanted to coincide the celebrations with Sihanouk’s birthday.
Sihanouk originally was placed on the throne at age 18 by French colonialist officials. He stepped down for his father in 1953. Seven years later, Sihanouk became King again.
In 1970, he was removed from the throne in a US-backed coup by one of his generals, Lon Nol. He then sided with a communist guerrilla group, the future Khmer Rouge, which eventually turned against him and placed Sihanouk under house arrest once it came to power.
After the Khmer regime fell, the King fled for China, only to return in 1991. He abdicated in 2004 in favor of his son, the current King Norodom Sihamoni, due to health issues. Sihanouk has dealt with cancer, hypertension and diabetes, and was treated until this past Thursday in China.
Sources: AFP, AP
 See more photos of Sihanouk at Daylife.com The former King of Cambodia returned to his country Thursday after receiving medical treatment in Beijing for the past three months.
Norodom Sihanouk struggled down the stairs from the plane in Phnom Penh. Behind him was his wife, Monineath Sihanouk, and their son, Cambodia’s current King Norodom Sihamoni.
Sihanouk was greeted by Prime Minister Hun Sen and other Cambodian officials once he reached the bottom of the stairs. He held his hands up, which were pressed together, to all those gathered to welcome him home before entering a waiting car. That car took him to the royal palace.
Sihanouk’s personal secretary Prince Sisowath Thomico told the AFP that the former King intends to stay in Cambodia for “many months”.
He will certainly be present for the massive celebrations this weekend in the country. This Saturday will mark the coronation of King Norodom Sihamoni. Sunday will see Cambodians celebrate the 20th anniversary Sihanouk return from 20 years of exile following civil war, and Monday will mark his 89th birthday.
Although he stepped down from the throne in 2004 due to illness and old age, Sihanouk remains hugely popular in Cambodia. Tens of thousands are expecting to turn out this weekend.
Sihanouk has been suffering from numerous ailments such as cancer and diabetes.
Source: AFP
Every year in late November, Cambodia celebrates the water festival – a three day event that honors a victory by Cambodian naval forces during the 12th century reign of King Jayvarman VII, according to CNN, which cites the country’s tourism website.  REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea King Norodom Sihamoni presided over the festivities, as he does every year. It is a major time for the country. The people pray for good rice harvest, good rain and honor the full moon. There are even boat races involved. Millions of Cambodians take part.
So big the event, that the King pardoned 558 prisoners in the days leading up to the water festival.
Unfortunately for Cambodia, this year’s festival would be remembered with great sadness. A stampede on Monday, the final day of the celebrations, killed over 330 people. The tragedy occurred near the royal palace.
A cannon was shot to get people off a bridge. When that was fired, panic ensued and many people either fell into the water, or were electrocuted from the lights from the bridge – although the government denies there were any electrocutions.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is calling the deaths the “biggest tragedy” in his country since the Khmer Rouge massacres in the 1970s.
Source: CNN, Xinhua, Associated Press
November 9th marks Cambodia’s 57 years since receiving independence from France. On that day, the entire country celebrated with their King, Norodom Sihamoni, joining them for a three day festivity.
 AP Photo/Heng Sinith In the capital of Phnom Penh, tens of thousands of Cambodians turned out for the celebrations.
In the morning, King Sihamoni laid a wreath and lit the torch inside the Independence Monument to symbolize the country’s independence from colonial rule. That fire will last until Thursday.
The King inspected the military at the Monument and even greeted crowds of students eager to shake hands with their monarch.
Independence Day is celebrated with pride throughout Cambodia. It was under French rule for 90 years until 1953.
Source: Xinhua
King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia began his first state visit to Japan on Monday.
 AFP/Pool/Koichi Kamoshida He was welcomed at the Imperial Palace by Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. After the initial welcoming ceremony, the imperial couple took the King to the palace gardens, where he met with Crown Prince Naruhito, Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko.
Later in the evening, the imperial family hosted a banquet in honor of Sihamoni. During the dinner, the King said he hoped this visit will “help expand stability for the region and the world to develop further.”
This is the first time a Cambodian monarch has visited Japan since the country restored its monarchy back in 1993.
On Tuesday, King Sihamoni will meet with Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to talk about strengthen ties and understanding between the two nations.
Sources: AFP, Japan Times
 AP Photo/Heng Sinith On Sunday, the King of Cambodia presided over one of his Kingdom’s oldest rituals, the royal plowing ceremony. Every year, this royal rite marks the rice growing season and the monarch travels to rural villages to help the locals prepare for it. This year, the ceremony took place near Angkor Wat, the famed ancient temple.
King Norodom Sihamoni arrived in Reap province, about 200 miles north of Phnom Penh and was greeted by large crowds of villagers. He then toured Angkor Wat with a golden parasol hanging over him.
Prince Sisowath Vochiravuth, the grandson of King Norodom Sihanouk, and Princess Norodom Rasmei Pornita were acting as the main plowers at the ceremony. They were accompanied by Sou Phirin, the governor of Siem Reap province.
 AP Photo/Heng Sinith Two oxen are used for the plowing. As they do their work, court Brahims place white rice seeds in the ground behind them.
Afterward, the oxen are given seven trays of food, including rice, sesame, water, corn, beans, grass, and rice wine. The court astrologers then make a prediction on how well will the rice grow this year based on what and how much the oxen eat and drink.
Since the oxen ate only corn and beans, that meant this year will be a good year for the rice harvest.
This was the first time since 1967 that the plowing ceremony was held in Angkor Wat. This is because of the government wanted to draw more tourists to the landmark.
Source: crienglish.com, istockanalyst
Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni was officially accepted in the French Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-lettres this past Friday during a ceremony under the dome of the Institut de France. The King was installed as a foreign associate because of Cambodia’s link to France as well as its rich culture and history.
 canalacademic.com During the ceremony, academics such as Jean Leclant, the permanent secretary of the Academy, Franciscus Verellen, the director of the French School of Far East since 2004, and Azzedine Beschaouch, another foreign associate, gave speeches on the Khmer culture’s influence on France and the need to preserve that culture.
At the end, King Sihamoni delivered his speech in reply to what the men before him said.
“The veneration of the temples and the scrupulous respect of the high places of spirituality are an ancient tradition of our family. Upon entering, today in the temple of knowledge and consciousness, we reserve the first words to express our gratitude,” he said.
“We owe in large part to the prestige of our father. Taking the double challenge of truth and freedom, His Majesty Norodom Sihanouk has to be, in effect, the man of Bandung in 1955, and the host, in Phnom Penh, General de Gaulle in 1966. Along with our father who made history, we’ve learned to never give in to despair. Thus, when times were marked with iron tyranny, we know, definitively, that the dignity of the human condition lies in the refusal of servitude and rejecting paths of dishonor.”
With that, the King received a standing ovation.
The Academy of Inscriptions was founded in 1663 to serve the study of humanities. It is one the five academies of the Institut de France.
To learn more about the Academy, here’s a link: http://www.aibl.fr/us/sommaire/som.html
Cambodia’s ex-King Norodom Sihanouk claims he is showing progress in his fight against cancer, according to his website.
86 year-old Sihanouk said in a letter dated February 27 that after treatment, “today I went to hospital to have it checked with modern equipment (PET Scan) and saw that this cancer has shrunk.”
The former King has suffered from numerous cancers and ailments since 1993.
Last December, he said on his website that his Beijing doctors found a new cancer in his body.
Sihanouk has been living in China since July to receive treatment for his illnesses.
Despite no longer being the King, Sihanouk remains a major figure in Cambodia and often uses messages on his website to weigh in on matters affecting the country.
One of those matters is the long awaited Khmer Rouge trial. Sihanouk himself may be sought to give a testimony at the UN-backed genocide trial, according to local reports.
 The former King of Cambodia announced on his website that he is battling cancer for the third time. However, Norodom Sihanouk is optimistic, and believes he will beat the disease.
The 86 year old Sihanouk is being treated in China, and will not be returning to Cambodia in February as planned.
The former Cambodian King was once a giant in his country’s politics for sixty years. During that time, he saw Cambodia’s fight for independence from France, as well as the Khmer Rouge terror.
Sihanouk stepped down as King in 2004 due to health problems. He was succeeded by his son, Norodom Sihamoni.
Prince Norodom Ranariddh, a key leader in post-civil war Cambodia, has announced he is quitting politics after receiving a royal pardon on fraud charges and returning from self-imposed exile in Malaysia. 
A spokesman for the prince’s party – Funcinpec - said the prince told supporters he had spent enough time pursuing a political career and it was time to retire. He said Ranariddh had informed King Norodom Sihamoni, his half brother, about his decision.
Last week, Ranariddh returned from 18 months in exile in Malaysia after the king pardoned him for an embezzlement conviction.
Ranariddh is a son of retired King Norodom Sihanouk, from whom he inherited Funcinpec, a former armed Cambodian resistance movement. He then turned the party into a royalist political movement.
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