<strong>This Khmer Krom Monk Was NOT beaten to death or poisoned by Vietnamese – The Family &amp; Fellow Monks Say</strong>

Maltreatment by the Vietnamese against the Khmer Krom people is a sensitive topic among Cambodians. Against this backdrop, viral posts claimed that a Khmer Krom Buddhist monk was killed by being beaten or poisoned by the Vietnamese. The claim had been widely shared by Khmer-speaking social media users. However, the family of the deceased monk and another fellow monk clarified that the venerable died due to chronicle illness.

Social Media Claim

Viral Facebook claims in early November said that the Vietnamese people had killed a Khmer Krom Buddhist monk after beating him to death or poisoning him. The claim also urged Khmer people living in Kampuchea Krom (southern Vietnam today) to be cautious and alert.

The claim had been widely shared by Khmer-speaking social media users, along with a lot of comments and reactions.

Below is the capture of the claim posted on Facebook on November 01, saying, “a patriotic Khmer Krom monk was killed by beaten or poisoned in water or food by Vietnamese. Be cautious!”

The Facebook user later updated the claim by omitting the term “Yuon” (Vietnamese) from the original caption. Below is the capture of the claim after the correction

The same claim was also circulated by another Facebook page on November 02. Then, it got many shares, comments, and reactions.

Fact Check

Fact Crescendo Cambodia began an investigation by reviewing reactions and comments from Facebook users related to the deceased monk and by talking to family members and fellow monks.

By reviewing comments that reacted to the claim, we found some Facebook users who claimed themselves as family members of the Buddhist monk. One of them is a Facebook user called Thach Khemara, who claims to be the elder brother of the monk in the photo of the claim.

The social media user requested the claimant to delete the information because his family was unhappy with false claims of this nature.

Thach Khemara – Brother of the deceased monk

In his personal Facebook account, Thach Khemara posted the information about his younger brother’s death and prayed for his soul to rest in peace.

Speaking to Factcrescendo Cambodia, Thach Khemera dismissed the claim on social media, saying his brother had not been maltreated by any Vietnamese.

Thach Khemera, 27, clarified to Factcrescndo Cambodia that his younger brother Thach Nasy, 24, is one of his four siblings living in Preah Trapaing province (Tra Vinh province).

He added that his late brother, Thach Nasy, who was in monkhood in Boromnimit pagoda, was hospitalised in the provincial city after he coughed out blood from his mouth and nose during a class.

Unfortunately, Thach Nasy passed away, despite the best efforts of a team of medics, due to a critical condition of chronic illness. Khemara said that the medics told him his brother had succumbed to a critical disease in the stomach, and then the heart stopped working.

After the claim went viral, Khemara’s family and groups of Khmer Krom Buddhist monks in his community were questioned by the local Vietnamese police, leaving a big concern and trouble for them.

Please listen to a full interview with Thach Khemara, who agreed to speak to Fact Crescendo here.

Thac Sophat – A fellow Monk

Another Facebook username Thach Sophat (ថាច់ សុផាត), also commented in reaction to the claim above. Sophat asked the claimant to correct the caption because it was posted by someone who had no exact event information.

Talking to Fact Crescendo Cambodia, Thac Sophat said venerable Thach Nasy is his fellow monk living in the same pagoda and studying in the same class.

Venerable Thach Sophat also dismissed the social media claim, saying the caption was false. Please listen to the full interview with the venerable Thach Sophat here.

In his personal Facebook account, we found Sophat shared the information about the death of the venerable Thach Nasy. The report was initially posted by Facebook user Nhan Thach on the same day the venerable Thach Nasy died.

The information said that venerable Thach Nasy died aged 24 on October 31 due to illness after being hospitalised after he coughed out with blood in his mouth and nose during a class.

We have also contacted the health authorities to get the exact reasons behind the death of Khmer Krom Buddhist monk venerable Thac Nasy, and we hope to update this article with their version.

Conclusion

During our investigation, the Factcrescendo Cambodia team found the viral posts linking Vietnamese involvement to the death of Khmer Krom Buddhist monk venerable Thac Nasy to be misleading. The monk passed away in the afternoon of October 31 after he coughed blood from his mouth and nose during a class. The family of the deceased monk and fellow monks clarified that his death is related to chronicle illness, which the monk had not been aware of earlier.