A Cambodian court was continuing to question an Australian man today after police allegedly discovered three Angkor-era statues in his hotel room which they accuse him of planning to remove from the country.

Chief prosecutor of Siem Reap provincial court, So Vat, said court authorities were trying to ascertain the strength of charges that may be laid against Steven Doyle, 36, after he was arrested on Friday when a cleaner allegedly discovered three statues weighing around 30 kilograms in total in his hotel room and tipped off police.

"What charges depends on his intent. The court continues to question him now about where the stones came from and what he was going to do with them," So Vat said.

Doyle faces between six months and eight years in prison for intent to traffic the ancient artefacts if convicted, So Vat said.

He said Doyle may also face an additional case from the Ministry of Culture, which can demand compensation equal to the value of the artefacts or jail in lieu of payment. The value and exact age of the artefacts was not immediately clear.

The northern city of Siem Reap is the gateway to the Angkor Wat temple complex.

Combating looting from the temples, most of which date back to around the 12th and 13th centuries, to feed an international artefact trade in ancient Khmer art has proved a major challenge for the Cambodian government.

Police said Doyle had initially said he bought the carvings from a Cambodian dealer, but later changed his story and admitted he had collected them from Angkor himself.

Groups trying to protect Cambodian culture from looters have long called on the government to show it can get tough on smugglers and enforce the laws to their fullest extent.

Under Cambodian law Doyle can be held for up to six months in pre-trial detention while the prosecution builds a case.

DPA