7th January 2009, Phnom Penh

On the 7th January, myself and 3 others - they will be introduced in the next few posts - hired a Tuk Tuk for the day and visited the city. Our first stop was the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek.

Between 1975 & 1979, Cambodia was controlled by the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot. During this period, they instigated a genocide on the People. One to Two million people died during these 4 years. The Killing happened in camps around the country. One of these is Choeung Ek. This is not a detention camp but where prisoners where brought to be killed and buried in mass graves. This was repeated through out the country. The Killing Fields of Cambodia.

21,000 were killed in this camp. The savagery of the killings surpassed the horrors of the Holocaust. The Khmer Rouge, to save the cost of a bullet, hacked & stabbed there victims to death. The screams where drowned out by loud music from loudspeakers. I will spare any more the details.

Choeung Ek is now a memorial to these horrors. At the centre of this camp, is a glass tower which houses the remains of 8000 skulls.




There is to me an absolute tragedy that this was allowed to happen 30 years after the Holocaust.

The 7th January is a national holiday in Cambodia. On the 25th December 1978 the Vietnamise Army invaded Cambodia to remove the Khmer Rouge regime. The Regime fell on the 7th January 1979. The 7th is 'Victory Over The Genocide Day' and this year is the 30th anniverssary.

The Guest House is near a main square where a large concert was held to celebrate this occasion. As the concert progressed, there was not much clapping for a celebration. We met a Cambodian staff member from the Guest House and asked him a why so. He replied that they feel sad and not joyful. I think we where fooled by the name of the day and this is seen by the population as more a day to remember the victims. So lets remember.


This was the past. Earlier in the day we met the future playing in the same square.