Two American tourists were arrested after taking topless photos at the Angkor Wat Temple in Cambodia, and have since been deported (via bus) to Thailand.
Lindsey Kate Adams, 22, and her sister Leslie Jan Adams, 20, were arrested at the Angkor Wat Temple after popping their tops off to make some topless memories. According to the Phnom Penh Post, the two sisters were charged with ‘for trafficking pornography and exposing sexual body parts’ and were charged $1 MILLION RIEL, which as it turns out is only $250. They also received 6-month suspended prison sentences and will not be allowed back into Cambodia for four years.
Then they were put on a bus and deported to Thailand. Because a bus is a totally normal way to deport someone.
Thankfully for them they pictures survived, so they’ll always have the mammaries…er, memories.
The Apsara Authority said yesterday that it is ramping up security and increasing printed warnings against desecrating temple ruins at the Angkor Archaeological Park after a second group of tourists – this time, two American women – were deported in less than two weeks for snapping partially nude photos at one of the historical sites.
Sisters Lindsey Kate Adams, 22, and Leslie Jan Adams, 20, were charged by the Siem Reap Court for trafficking pornography and exposing sexual body parts after they were caught on Friday morning with their pants down at the remote Preah Khan temple, according to a statement released by Apsara, which manages the temples. Photos of the incident circulated on social media.
Both received six-month suspended prison sentences, were fined 1 million riel ($250) and were banned from entering Cambodia for four years after Siem Reap provincial judge Kuy Soa handed down the verdict on Saturday. They were immediately deported after the hearing and sent by bus to Bangkok.
The incident comes on the heels of two photo scandals at the World Heritage Site, both of which have brought swift reactions from authorities. Three French nationals were deported after taking naked photographs on February 1, while on January 24, racy photos of a topless traditional dancer reclining on Angkorian ruins – the veracity of which are currently being investigated – surfaced on social media.
“Incidents like this have happened before but we stopped it in time and it’s very rare,” Apsara Authority spokeswoman Kerya Chau Sun said. “This is the first time we’ve had to deal with several situations like this in such a short time. I don’t understand what would drive people to do this.”
According to Chau Sun, Apsara has begun crafting flyers and signs cautioning tourists against acts that will desecrate the temple complex, the world’s largest religious monument.
So I’m not really sure how nudity is classified as ‘religious desecration’, but I’m also not from Cambodia and am not familiar with their laws and customs. And neither are these chicks, who should have fucking known better than to think it was a good idea to pop their tops off and take naked pics in front of a country’s most sacred religious monuments.
How would they possibly have thought this was a good idea? Someone please enlighten me.
Tip of the hat to DeathAndTaxesMag, and CambodiaExpatsOnline for finding and sharing this story.