US Sisters Caught With Their Pants Down At Cambodia Sacred Angkor Temple

Everyone takes photos when visiting iconic sites while on vacation, but usually people are a little more discreet, unlike these two U.S. sisters who were literally caught with their pants down, mooning while taking a photo.

According to the Apsara Authority, they will now be increasing their security measures and printing more warnings against desecrating the Angkor Archaeological Park in Cambodia. For the second time in less than two weeks, authorities have found it necessary to deport tourist groups and this time it is the two sisters, caught taking partially nude photos at one of the sites.

In latest case of foreigners exposing themselves at Angkor park, US sisters literally caught with their pants down: https://t.co/Xe5MHqiOKE

— Ben Woods (@phnomben) February 9, 2015

After being caught Friday taking a photo with their pants down at the remote Preah Khan temple, Lindsey Kate Adams, 22 and Leslie Jan Adams, 20 have been charged in the Siem Reap Court on trafficking pornography and exposing sexual body parts. Apparently photos taken of the incident are currently doing the rounds on the social media.

It could have been worse, however. Both sisters received six-month suspended prison sentences, so they luckily won’t be doing any time for being caught with their pants down. However, on top of this they were fined 1 million riel ($250) and have been banned from entering Cambodia for four years.

These two American sisters were deported from Cambodia for dropping their pants at Angkor Wat http://t.co/SNHKH9w21y pic.twitter.com/L6ONxL6itU

— Mashable (@mashable) February 10, 2015

After the Siem Reap provincial judge Kuy Soa handed down the verdict Saturday, both sisters were immediately deported and sent by bus to Bangkok.

Unfortunately this is not the first incident of this nature to happen at the UNESCO World Heritage Site. There have been two other scandalous photo incidents and in both cases, there were prompt and swift reactions by authorities.

Yahoo News reports one of these incidents involved a group of French tourists who were caught with their pants down taking nude photographs at one of the historic sites on February 1. The other, which happened on January 24, involved some photos taken of a topless traditional dancer, posing on the Angkorian ruins. In the latter case, details are still being investigated but regrettably the photos did do the rounds on the social media.

American sisters deported from Cambodia for getting naked at Angkor: http://t.co/Upnc677Vna pic.twitter.com/UlvSthTAtt

— CNN International (@cnni) February 10, 2015

According to Kerya Chau Sun, a spokeswoman for the Apsara Authority, this type of incident is rare, and they are surprised there have been so many situations of this nature in such a short time.

“Incidents like this have happened before but we stopped it in time and it’s very rare.”

“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.”

Chau Sun reaffirmed that flyers and signs warning tourists against acts of this nature are currently being created, saying that originally they were only planning to print a few warnings. However, she said due to the magnitude of the situation they now have to place more flyers around the archaeological park.

The Phnom Phen Post said the Angkor temple complex is well known as being the world’s largest religious monument and the organization was originally worried that all the flyers would “destroy the beauty of the site” but now it seems it is necessary to plaster the warnings everywhere.

Apsara will also be adding more security, especially in the secluded zones such as the one visited by the two sisters. Chau Sun said at present they employ 1,000 guards to patrol the 40,000 hectare site but will be adding more.

“We have already increased security but it looks like we need to amplify it more when it seems that some people don’t care about how they offend Cambodian culture.”

A cultural specialist with UNESCO, Philippe Delanghe told the media that the U.S. sisters’ actions were “appalling.”

“Angkor is still very much a sacred site and people go there to pray every day and this is something that should never occur.”

“I think for the future Apsara and the government will consider different and more severe measures like maybe increasing sentences.”

Delanghe did think it was strange that there is such an upsurge in naked photo shoots at the site, however, but that security seemed to be working well.

“It is indeed very strange but we definitely don’t think it has anything to do with security because the fact that these girls were caught immediately is a sign that Apsara is doing its job.”

“Frankly, we don’t understand why they’re doing this, maybe the girls copied the others, but whatever it is, it’s disrespectful.”

The Angkor Complex remains a popular tourist site, which apparently brought in around $59.3 million in revenue last year, with more than 2 million foreigners visiting the site. However one of the Siem Reap tour guides, Khieu Thy, explained that taking a photo is hurtful to the Khmer culture and sets a bad example. Tourists must now realize it is best not to get caught with their pants down at historic sites such as Angkor.

In other news about U.S. tourists, one young man got into trouble on a trip to Spain. The Inquisitr reported recently on the story of Benjamin Miller, 20, from Georgia who was badly gored by a bull in a Spanish bull festival.

[Image: Preah Khan temple Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Janhannes]