The 1181 step staircase leads up the Dangrek mountain range and to the Than Temple sitting right at the summit. It boasts panoramic views over the national frontier and Thailand stretching beneath.
Initially, the wooden staircase was built to transport supplies up the mountain peak for Cambodian troops patrolling the area under a long running border dispute with neighbouring Thailand. The latest part Cambodian–Thai border dispute started in June 2008, though for almost a century the area adjacent the 11th century temple of Preah Vihear in the Dangrek mountains and divided between Preah Vihear province in Cambodia and Sisaket province in Thailand was a subject of heated arguments. In 2011, at the UNESCO World Heritage convention in Paris proposal of Cambodia's management of the temple was accepted and now Preah Vihear can be visited only from Cambodia's side.
As far as the neighbouring Than Temple is concerned, a visit there is easily combined with a tour to O’Teuk Chaol waterfall and Ta Krabey Temple.
Military Frontier Becomes Cambodia's Attraction
News in Asia
An unexpected tourist attraction emerged in O’Teuk Chaol village in Oddar Meanchey province – a wooden staircase built in August 2017 to transport supplies to soldiers on guard at the frontier with Thailand now draws hordes of tourists.