A Long-Dead Cambodian King Is Back — and He Looks Familiar

A statue of the 16th-century ruler Sdech Kan in Prey Veng, Cambodia. At least seven statues of the once-obscure king have gone up in recent years, all with faces resembling Prime Minister Hun Sen’s. CreditQuinn Ryan Mattingly for The New York Times

Mr. Hun Sen at a November ceremony in Phnom Penh, the capital, marking Cambodia’s Independence Day. In recent years he has tended to conflate the state with his personal rule.

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Mr. Hun Sen paid for the restoration of this pagoda in Prey Nokor Knung, which a pro-government historian says is the site of Sdech Kan’s capital. “My understanding, based on my research, is that he thinks he is Sdech Kan,” one monk said of Mr. Hun Sen.;CreditQuinn Ryan Mattingly for The New York Times  

A Long-Dead Cambodian King Is Back — and He Looks Familiar

New York Times | 6 December 2017