Phnom Penh, Cambodia

I had an 8 am start because I joined a tour to go to The Killing Fields - Choeung Ek Genocidal Center and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.  I had to meet the bus out on the Main Street so passed by The Okay Boutique Hotel which is very cool-

No garbage at this time of day-

There were a dozen of us on the tour- British, American and Australians.  It was a very sobering day and Cambodians have done a good job of putting everything out there- nothing is hidden or covered up.  They want the world to know what happened here from April 17,1975 to January 7,1979.  

We started at The Choeung Ek Genocidal Center-

a former Chinese cemetery where 17,000 people were killed.  There were 400+  killing fields in Cambodia run by the Democratic Kampuchea regime and 198 prisons.  Each killing field was an execution site for the Khmer Rouge.  Bone fragments turn up after rains-

People were usually executed as soon as they arrived.  300 people were killed daily.  If prisoners were detained, they were kept in very dark rooms so they could not see each other. 

There’s a monument for mothers and children-

Their favourite way to kill was with a blow to the head or by slitting the throat.  Bullets were too precious to use.  Babies heads were smashed against this tree-

Babies were killed to prevent revenge in the future.

The Sleng tree is highly poisonous and prisoners were forced to eat it’s fruit-

Tools such as shackles, leg irons, hatchets, knives, hoes, shovels and ox cart axles were used to kill-

DDT and other chemicals were used to cover up the smell of dead bodies so not to raise suspicions from neighbouring people and also to kill victims in the piles who were still alive.  

Prisoners had to dig their own graves. 

There is a 17 story stupa built in 1988-

On the ground floor are the victim’s clothes.  Floors 1-9 contains skulls-

Floors 10-17 hold different types of bones such as collar bones, ribs, hips, thighs, shins etc.  These are the bones belonging to the 8985 people who have been exhumed.

The stupa also holds weapons used to kill.

166 bodies without heads were found in this grave.  These bodies belonged to the Khmer Rouge-

450 bodies were found here-

43 mass graves remain untouched-

One of the mass graves where more than 100 naked women and children were found-

A loudspeaker was hung on this tree and noise blared from it to mask the moans of victims being executed-

Bones excavated in 1980-

Pieces of clothing that have come up after rains-

There’s a reflection area-

with instructions on how to fill out a note-

Our next stop was at S21 which was a former high school.  20,000 victims were imprisoned here and 12 people survived: 8 adults-

and 4 children-

There are 4 wings: A,B,C and D.  People were tortured and when they couldn’t give any more information they were sent to a killing field.  

There were rules of conduct.  They are brutal but number 6 would have been difficult-

Building A-

has 3 stories divided into 20 cells.  There are 10 cells on the first floor where high officials were interrogated and tortured.  There are 5 larger cells on both the second and third floors used for the same thing.

Each room contained individual prisoners.  There are shackles on the beds and the box was their toilet box-

Plaques outside the rooms list some of the prisoners who were contained in the rooms-

Blood was splattered on the ceiling-

When the Vietnamese liberated the country January 7, 1979, they sent in photographers to document everything-

There are 14 graves of people found in Building A buried on a former volleyball court-

In front are large water containers used for torture-

Prisoners that have been identified are on memorial plaques-

There’s a large monument in the middle of the area-

The gallows-

were also used for torture-

In Building B there are pictures showing the celebrations in the street-

on the same day the Khmer showed up-

and started wreaking havoc sending people to the country to work-

There are many pictures of Khmer soldiers-

and of prisoners who wear numbers-

Murdered victims-

Building C is covered with wire to prevent suicides-

Inside are small rooms where prisoners were kept-

Further along are even smaller rooms-

Building D contains more pictures of victims and weapons used to torture-

Prisoners were water boarded-

More skulls-

Only 5 Khmer were put on trial and only 1 went to jail-

Case 002-

Others accused-

I was doing okay until I met Bou Meng who was one of the 12 survivors.  He is in his 90s and comes to S21 everyday-

He has written a book about his experiences-

Four children survived by hiding under a pile of clothes for a few days.  Norng Chan Phal was one of them-

Meeting him was when the reality of what I was seeing hit me.  I was glad to be close to the end of the tour.

I learned a lot about the ruler Pol Pot, which means Political Potential.  He is responsible for these atrocities.  The population of Cambodia in 1975 was 8 million.  2.5-3 million people were slaughtered in 4 years.  

Pol Pot came from a wealthy farming family.  He became a monk, then went to Paris to study.  He became involved with other Communists and became a leader in France.  At this time, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia were colonized by the French. 

While Pol Pot was in France, the king of Cambodia, King Norodom Sihanouk wanted independence from France.  He ended up abdicating and went to the UN for help to remove French control.  Finally in 1953 independence from France was granted in a peaceful manner.  

Pol Pot returned to Cambodia from France and joined other communists to form a communist party to compete with the king. The first vote with a communist party on the ballot was in 1955 and the king won.  Some communists joined the king but some didn’t give up. 

In 1965 the Vietnam war was on.  Ho Chi Min was supported by communists including China and Russia.  They were in the north of Vietnam.  The U.S. was involved in the war to prevent the spread of communism.  They supported the south of Vietnam.

Cambodia was neutral but then all of a sudden the King changed to communism.  Laos and Cambodia were lobbied by both the west and the left.  Because the King went communist the US dropped 3 million tonnes of bombs on Cambodia and 800,000 were killed.

In 1970 there was a coup and King Lon Nol was removed.  He was angry so joined Pol Pot and they formed the Khmer Rouge which ruled from 1975-1979.  The US bombed more so the Khmer killed anyone they thought were spies of the US.

The Khmer wanted a classless, agrarian society. They stopped everything productive and sent city dwellers to the country to work on farms.  People were malnourished so starved to death.  No machines were allowed.  Educated people were killed because they were smart enough to possibly start a coup.  The Khmer soldiers were very young, uneducated and gullible.  They all wore black with a red scarf.  

Pol Pot tried to isolate Cambodia from the rest of the world.  Vietnam invaded in 1978 and in 1979 Cambodia was liberated.  

From 1983-1985 Vietnam ruled Cambodia and then in 1989 sanctions were put in place to force Vietnam out.  In 1993 there was a free election.  The Cambodian People’s Party won and they formed the new government.  Pol Pot died in 1998 before he went to trial.  

Only the top 5 Khmer Rouge leaders went to trial and the trials just ended in 2022.  Only one of the 5 is alive today and he is in prison.  The citizens have adopted a state of forgiveness, just like Rwanda.  I guess that’s the only way to move forward.  

Today at temples there are many offerings given up to the murdered.  

May 20 is Memorial Day and celebrated every year to remember the dead.

Today in Cambodia the government is a democracy with a king like in the U.K.  Four things run the economy:  real estate, agriculture, textiles and tourism.  Education is free from Grades 1-12 but one must pay for university.  There is no public health care and only federal employees get pensions.  Khmer is the name of their language.  90% of the population are Buddhists.  When a girl is getting married, her dowry is paid by her grandparents.

Finally I had a good guide and learned a lot.  He even suggested a good lupper spot close to my hotel where I had cashew and mango chicken and coconut water which were both very good.  I had lunch with two lovely Brits who are travelling until May during their Gap year then will start university studying archaeology.  

I went for a swim and then went to a close by restaurant for some oysters.  Uncle Nico loved oysters and we couldn’t go by a restaurant that had them without stopping in for a dozen-

Tomorrow afternoon I fly to Da Nang Vietnam to spend 6 days in Hoi An!  I’ll have to say goodbye to my cute orange room-

I’m looking forward to Vietnam!