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At the height of its power, in the 12th century, the kingdom of Angkor controlled a large part of what is now Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Laos and Vietnam.

The Angkor kings oversaw a building program between the 9th and 16th centuries that even today is breathtaking in scale and audacity.

Angkor Wat is the biggest and most famous of these monuments but hundreds of others also survived.

No-one can say definitively why Angkor collapsed and there have been many contradictory theories over the years. However current research, being carried out by a joint French-Australian-Cambodian team, gives a very strong clue.

Based at the University of Sydney, the Greater Angkor Project uses the latest technology such as radar remote-sensing data from NASA and aerial surveys using ultralights and helicopters.

The team has painstakingly compiled a detailed map which reveals that Angkor was the largest pre-industrial urban settlement known to man, stretching for over 1,000 square kilometres. It was the size of Los Angeles, and totally dependent on an elaborate irrigation scheme.

As Sydney University archaeologist Damien Evans explains to correspondent Eric Campbell, Angkor was a completely artificial landscape, stripped bare of forest cover and totally remodelled, even to the extent of moving entire rivers.

Apart from the question of why such a sophisticated civilisation died out, Campbell investigates another enduring mystery of modern day Cambodia – where does all the money go?

Eight years ago the rights to sell tickets to visit Angkor Wat and the other temples were sold off by the Cambodian government to a private businessman. Of the millions of dollars raked in from tourists only a small proportion comes back to the heritage park.

This is unfortunately typical of a country that is now judged to be one of the most corrupt in the world. Even some of the locals call it Scambodia.

Dawn over Ankor Wat

00:00

CAMPBELL:   For almost a thousand years, dawn has revealed the awesome grandeur of Angkor Wat.

00:08

It’s one of dozens of temples that were unknown to the West until the 19th Century.  And it’s taken until now to unravel their past.

00:21

Damien and Don prep for the take-off

Don: We’ll come here to pick this up, the north channel …

Damien: Right and just follow it up straight up through this mined area here.

00:30

CAMPBELL:  Damien Evans is an archaeologist from Sydney University on a real-life quest to find the lost world.

00:38

His interest is not in the temples that tourists visit, but in the society that built them.

00:50

Ultralight takes off

DAMIEN:  There’s nowhere else in the world I’d rather work as an archaeologist except here. This is an absolute treasure trove for archaeologists.

00:59

Aerials from ultralight

Music

01:05

CAMPBELL:  Working with pilot and Vietnam veteran Don Cooney, he’s been mapping the traces of a civilisation that can now only be understood from above.

01:19

Damien in ultralight

Damien:  See this linear embankment here? This is some Angkorean feature as well that’s  stretching off there.

01:30

Music

01:36

Aerials from ultralight

CAMPBELL:  The Greater Angkor Project has been trying to solve two of archaeology’s greatest mysteries.

What kind of kingdom built temples of the majesty of Angkor Wat and why did it simply disappear?

It’s taken much of the past ten years to collect the data, matching hi-tech imaging from space with aerial surveys.

01:42

Music

02:02

Damien and Don in ultralight

Don: I’m just gonna do a turn here and come over that grove of trees in the north east corner, and go down low and follow the Siem Reap south.

02:09

CAMPBELL:  What he and his colleagues have found is startling.

This rural province was once the world’s greatest civilisation -- a city of perhaps a million people covering a thousand square kilometres.

02:19

Aerials

Small mounds and gullies trace a vast network of temples, moats and villages, all connected by a sophisticated system of canals and reservoirs.

Almost every flight on the ultralight reveals a new clue of what once lay below.

02:38

Music

02:54

Ankor Wat

CAMPBELL:  Thanks to their work, Angkor is now known to have been the largest city in the pre-industrial world.

But as Europe entered its Renaissance, Angkor vanished.

An urban complex the size of Los Angeles was swallowed up by the jungle.

03:04

DAMIEN:  Basically what we’re trying to is to shed some light on the reasons why Angkor declined, in around about the 15th or 16th century. We think that it had something to do with the water management system here which created environmental problems which they weren’t able to deal with.

03:20

Damien. Super: 
Damien Evans
University of Sydney

My part of the project is basically a process of going up in the ultralight and surveying the ground from the air, going back to the office, using remote sensing data like aerial photographs and satellite imagery to map all of the features that I see on the ground, things like canals, and then to head out on the ground and verify them.

03:35

Damien walks

CAMPBELL:  It’s a painstaking job, surveying remote sites that have been covered with forest, cleared for small farms or even laid with mines.

But each day is a revelation.

03:56

Damien and Campbell at temple site

DAMIEN:  What we’re standing on right now would have been a temple site around about a thousand years ago probably in this area.

And so this sort of elevated area here is actually the central temple mound and this depressed area here which is a little bit wetter than the surrounding landscape you can see actually goes around in a ring. That’s actually a classic temple configuration, a moat and mound configuration, which tells us there would have been a temple here during the Angkor period around a thousand years ago.

04:08

CAMPBELL:  But you’d have no idea just walking in what it was, would you?

DAMIEN:  No, unless you really knew how to read the landscape this kind of thing is particularly hard to discover from the ground. Looking at this from the air, particularly from in radar imagery, this sticks out like a beacon.

04:34

CAMPBELL:  And just a little probing brings a tangible link to the people who lived here.

04:48

CAMPBELL:  So what are we looking for?

DAMIEN: Little fragments of anything, of ceramics, of brick or sandstone, right there actually, that there is a fragment of a brick, a bit of fired clay that would have been used in a temple wall.

CAMPBELL:  Do you ever have Eureka moments, where you think wow, I’ve really discovered something really important?

DAMIEN:  Basically every time you come across one of these that hasn’t been documented before is a Eureka moment in some ways.

04:52

Damien

So there’s a lot still to be found and yeah it’s quite amazing to find a temple site even though you know it’s just a termite mound in this case!

05:18

Ankor Wat

Music

05:24

CAMPBELL:  For six centuries, Angkor was both the military and technological superpower of its day.

05:35

Music

05:41

Ankor Wat friezes

CAMPBELL:  The kings not only commanded vast armies and built giant monuments to their gods, they also developed the most complex irrigation system the world had ever seen, stripping the landscape and diverting rivers for a vast hydraulic city.

05:47

Damien and Campbell walk to canal

DAMIEN:  What we’re on here now is basically the main bank of a canal which stretches 20 kilometres from the centre of Angkor to the Kulen Hills in the north  and was probably at one stage the main conduit for water from the watershed in those hills to the centre of Angkor. It would have filled the moats, the huge reservoirs in the middle of Angkor. All of that water would have come down through here. They would have used a lot of this ah vegetation for firewood and basically stripped the landscape bare.

06:02

Monks at Ankor Wat

CAMPBELL:  In the end, it couldn’t be sustained.  The canals and reservoirs silted and collapsed along with the communities. Nature, as always, had the last word.

06:37

DAMIEN:   One of the recurring themes that we see in the

06:51

Damien

history of Angkor is a sort of blind faith in technology and development, so what we see is building huge reservoirs and irrigation systems in one particular area, and after that system has failed, instead of rethinking the way in which they did things, basically what they did is they just moved to another area and rebuilt it on a grander scale.

06:55

CAMPBELL:  It seems the same mistakes are being repeated in Cambodia today.

07:19

Siem Reap building

While decades of war closed the area to visitors, the peace and stability of recent years has seen an upsurge of development around Angkor Wat.

07:30

It’s now the first port of call for most of the two million plus tourists who visit Cambodia each year.

07:38

The old fishing village of Siem Reap, has become a sprawling city of hotels, resorts, restaurants and golf courses.

07:49

Aerials. Siem Reap hotels

Music

07:56

CAMPBELL:  Twelve years ago there was just one hotel here. Now there are more than a hundred, with even bigger commercial projects taking form at breakneck speed.

08:03

Music

08:13

Damien. Super: 
Damien Evans
University of Sydney

DAMIEN:  People in contemporary society are facing some of the same issues we think that people in the Angkor period faced. water shortages, massive deforestation and clearance of land.

08:19

Siem Reap development

CAMPBELL:  Once again the water is being diverted to support development and provide for an expanding population. While wells were once ten metres deep, some now have to be sunk 90 metres to find water.

08:36

River

Not so long ago, the town’s river was clean enough to swim in. Today, it’s like an open sewer.

08:52

Ankor Wat

It’s impossible not to be awed by what the Angkor kings built over centuries. It’s a complex of astonishing art,  engineering and religious expression. Fast forward to Cambodia today and it’s a different story. Many who now rule the nation see this ancient heritage in terms of short term profit. And there are a lot of fat fingers in the Angkor Wat pie.

09:05

Campbell greets Sok Kong

Many of those fingers belong to this man, Sok Kong.

He’s a close friend

09:34

and financial backer of Prime Minister Hun Sen and owns one of the country’s biggest business conglomerates, Sokimex.  He’s also one of the new kings of Angkor.

09:39

Tourists at complex entrance

Thanks to a secretive deal with Hun Sen and his government, the company has the exclusive right to collect the money from ticket sales.

09:54

Every time a tourist buys a ticket to see the temples, the money goes first to Sok Kong.

10:05

Sok Kong

CAMPBELL:  There was controversy as you know when you were given the concession, people saying that it should have been put to public tender, and that every year there should be another public tender. Is there any justification in that criticism?

SOK KONG:   I think that the criticism is jealousy.

10:12

We get a very small income but the government gets a big proportion and then the government prospers, that’s good. And the people say this and that, it’s up to them, that’s their problem.

10:31

CAMPBELL:  Do you know the exact profit do you make from Angkor each year and how much the government makes?

10:46

SOK: I haven’t thought about that. They’re figures I need to get and I can get the answers in the afternoon. 

10:50

Tourists at Ankor Wat

CAMPBELL:  Sokimex was awarded  the ticket concession in 1999 for a paltry million dollars a year. That’s all Cambodia was getting for its main heritage and tourism site.

11:07

Well after a local and international outcry, including from the IMF, the deal was revised to give more for conservation. But it’s since been renewed twice without public tender, without competition and in total secrecy -- the kind of deal that makes some people call this country “Scambodia”.

11:21

Son Chhay

CAMPBELL:   Is that almost a fair description now of what’s happening?

SON CHHAY:  Very fair to say that! We might say worse than that. Some of them even say mafia state.

11:39

Son Chhay walks

CAMPBELL: Son Chhay is an opposition MP whose family fled to Australia from the Khmer Rouge.

Enjoying the safety net of dual citizenship, he’s more willing than most to voice concerns about high-level corruption.

11:50

SON CHHAY:  They think they own this country -- their family and friends own this country.

12:03

Son Chhay

They can do anything, any time, without having to consult with anyone. I believe that now some of these senior members of the government, they now own billions of dollars.

12:09

Tourists at Ankor Wat

CAMPBELL:  Sok Kong says it makes sense for his company to run the ticketing, as few other Cambodian businesses have the capital or expertise.

12:22

SOK KONG:  A few companies get jealous, but those companies don’t have money.

12:32

Sok Kong

They bid for the contract but they couldn’t get it. What do you think? Would you give it to the one with money or the one without money?

The government has to be sure that the one who wins the tender is credible.

12:35

Sok Lak at well/Family

CAMPBELL:  As in the days of empire, the benefits are mostly for the rich elite. Despite having Cambodia’s greatest resource, Siem Reap is Cambodia’s third poorest province.

12:59

Sok Lak cooking

Sok Lak has ten brothers and sisters and only three can afford to go to school.

13:15

SOK LAK:   My father is sick and my mum stays home and looks after the grandchildren, and does the cooking.

13:24

Sok Lak

Sometimes we don’t have money to go to school and we don’t have money to buy rice and food Sometimes we borrow money from the neighbours.

13:35

Children with butterfly nets

Music

13:52

CAMPBELL:  This is the only way Sok Lak can try to help her family buy food.

A few times a week after school, the village children head to the forest next to Angkor Wat to catch butterflies to sell in town.

13:58

Butterflies/ Kids catch butterflies

Music

14:11

SOK LAK:  I can catch twenty butterflies and sell them for 2,000 riel.

14:24

Sok Lak

But sometimes I only sell them for 1,000 or 2,000 riel. Then I give it to my mum. I don’t keep it.

14:31

CAMPBELL:  The money amounts to less than a dollar, and even this is charity.

A local restaurant pays for the butterflies to help the families.

But it’s better than nothing, and Sok Lak is grateful for the chance to help out.

14:51

SOK LAK:  When I get that money I pass it to my mum and she’s happy.

14:58

Hotel air balloon

CAMPBELL:  It’s government cronies like Sok Kong who’ve enjoyed the benefits of the tourism boom.

He’s been given exclusive access to valuable tourist sites around the country.

But he maintains he’s done nothing underhand to get them.

15:07

Sok Kong

CAMPBELL:  There must be times though when politicians ask for money, when  they ask for bribes, or a share of the profits, I mean this is a developing country.

15:24

What do you do in those situations?

SOK KONG:   At the moment… I can’t say that it’s not… there is…But we give support to schools, hospitals, temples and the Red Cross. But if it’s for supporting politicians, we won’t help.

15:31

CAMPBELL:  But are you saying you’ve never paid a bribe in Cambodia?

15:52

SOK KONG:   Well for other companies, I wouldn’t know, but for my company, it can’t happen.

15:55

CAMPBELL:  Have you ever been asked to pay a bribe to a politician?

SOK KONG: I think, like I said before --we don’t need to bribe, we need to do what is right. We didn’t used to have money, but  now we do -- why do we need to bribe?

16:02

Siem Reap nightlife

CAMPBELL:  Anyone who’s done business in Cambodia might find that a remarkable statement.

The business watch dog, Transparency International, rates Cambodia as the most corrupt country in Asia after Burma and the twelfth most corrupt country in the world.

16:25

Ankor Wat

Music

16:43

Tourists at Ankor Wat

CAMPBELL:  Son Chhay believes Sokimex and the government get close to sixty million dollars a year from the tickets, and says it’s impossible to verify the sales figures.

16:46

Son Chhay

SON CHHAY:  There’s no record of how many tourists are buying ticket each day, there’s no record whatsoever, I checked that.

16:59

Sok Kong in office

CAMPBELL:  But according to Sok Kong, Angkor hardly brings him any money at all.

After our interview, his office told us Sokimex made only one and a half million dollars a year from the deal after costs and taxes were deducted.

17:07

Tourists at Ankor Wat

It seems a remarkably low return, given more than two million people come to the temple sites each year.

17:24

Visitors may not be aware of how little of their money is actually spent on the environment they’re visiting.

17:33

Entrance to Ankor Wat

CAMPBELL:   Of the $20 I’ve just paid for a one day pass, less than seven dollars will actually go towards managing and conserving the park. The rest of the money will be split between Sokimex, the government -- and rumour has it --politicians. 

17:40

Don and Damien in ultralight

And politicians, along with corrupt bureaucrats, are even cashing in on the land around it.

18:00

Aerials over forests

Music

18:05

CAMPBELL:  These forests in the mountains north of Siem Reap are the source for the city’s water, and are supposed to be protected.

Illegal loggers are busy stripping them bare.

Without trees, the rain that should replenish the groundwater simply runs off and evaporates.

18:11

Don and Damien in ultralight

Damien:  They’re digging the hell out of that over there, that’s some serious sand-mining going on.

Don:  Yeah sure is.

Damien:  I guess it’s for all the concrete in town eh?

Don:  Yeah.

18:27

DAMIEN:  What they did in the Angkor era was created a completely artificial landscape. And so what they did is they became completely dependent on this system, basically Once they’d reconfigured the natural landscape

18:39

Damien

into this very artificial system they had to devote enormous amounts of resources to maintaining and developing and to fixing problems that developed within it.

18:52

Aerial over Ankor Wat

Music

19:00

Don and Damien land

CAMPBELL:  Like the Angkor empire before it, Siem Reap is growing ever larger with no thought it might one day be unsustainable.

As the lessons of the past are forgotten, Cambodia may be heading for a new disaster … one that won’t take centuries, but just a few short years of untrammelled greed.

19:05

Credits: 

Reporter : Eric Campbell

Camera: David Leland

Producer : Marianne Leitch

Editor :  Garth Thomas

19:33