The number of visitors to Preah Vihear temple, a World Heritage Site in Cambodia, increased rapidly in the past two months as military tensions between Cambodia and Thailand over the disputed border area eased.

Head of the Preah Vihear provincial Tourism Department Kong Vibol said about 7,000 tourists visited the temple in July and August, a rise of 218 percent from 2,200 recorded in the same period last year.

Kong Vibol attributed the rise to the more settled border situation.

Preah Vihear, a Hindu temple, was located at the top of a 525-metre high cliff in the Dangrek Mountains , about 500 kilometres northwest of the Cambodian capital.

Cambodia and Thailand have had a territorial dispute over land near Preah Vihear temple since UNESCO listed the temple as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008.

However, tensions have eased since Yingluck Shinawatra won a landslide victory in the general elections on July 3 to become new Prime Minister of Thailand, and the International Court of Justice ordered troops of the two countries to withdraw from the provisional demilitarized zone of about 17 kilometers around the temple./.