Man's dark side comes to the fore in Phnom Penh, a city beginning to rediscover itself after an inglorious past
Today we continue our journey east on highway NH6 which connects Siem Reap to the capital of Phnom Penh, the total distance being 315km. The ride on the narrow two-lane road was terrible with many potholes and speeding taxis that showed no regard whatsoever for motorcyclists. Between the NH67 (that we traversed last week) and now the NH6, I would have to say my ride in Cambodia so far had been disappointing and uninspiring.
We stopped in Kampong Thom, located midway between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, to spend the night in a homestay that also doubled as a daycare/school for kids and teenage children. A teacher there invited me to sit in the class and converse with the students in English.
We spoke about the histories of Thailand and Cambodia, the recent boom in tourism (led by Angkor Wat) and various pop culture topics _ music, movies and so forth. The students were especially interested in current trends and fashion and to my surprise none of them had access to the Internet or computer. Most of them had never even been to Siem Reap nor Phnom Penh and that is when it hit me how poor they were.
For the past two years Cambodia's economy has been booming yet, judging from what I've seen, the wealth clearly hasn't trickled down to the general masses but has remained confined to big cities among the country's elite.
The following day we continued on the NH6 to Phnom Penh. Approaching the city I couldn't believe all the Lexus and Hummer's I saw on the road; construction was in progress everywhere and clearly Phnom Penh was a city on the move. From the outskirts of the city we rode towards our hotel located downtown directly across from the Royal Palace.
On the way you could see a lot of old colonial architecture being renovated, the wat (temples) were gleaming and there were many modern restaurants all over the city. Driving along the riverfront you could swear it was the French Rivera, it looked just like Nice, St.Tropez or even Cannes. We passed the central market better known as Psar Thmei, an old dark-yellow Art Deco structure in the middle of the city. I had never seen a building like this in my life and was amazed to find it in Phnom Penh, a city full of surprises.
It was also hard to believe that only 33 years ago _ in 1975 _ the Khmer Rouge had forced a mass exodus of its residents after announcing that Phnom Penh was about to be bombed by the Americans and all residents must evacuate the city for their own safety.
Little did they know it was the beginning of one of the bloodiest revolutions in their history in which million of lives were lost in a genocide of unprecedented scale. The entire population was forced into slave labour in which the average man was made to work 15 hours a day. Any form of disobedience was dealt with execution. Cambodia was cut off from the outside world.
The arrival of Khmer Rouge rule is known as Year Zero. Our local guide, Suwat, was 13 at the time _ he told us the only thing on his mind then was having enough to eat and surviving day by day, and that half his family members perished during the reign of terror.
The following day we visited remnants of the Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Pol Pot. The Tuol Sleng Museum was formerly high school converted into a prison known as Security Prison 21 (S-21). From 1975-78 it served as the largest detention and torture centre in the entire country. It provided evidence to the crimes of the Khmer Rouge: former classrooms were converted into torture chambers, instruments of torture were left untouched, black & white photograph of prisoners were displayed throughout the corridor. Walking through the museum was very depressing; the fact that the prison was a former high school with playing fields and basketball courts only made things worse.
After Tuol Sleng we rode 15km. from central Phnom Penh to the killing fields of Choeung Ek. From 1975-78 roughly 17,000 prisoners detained and tortured at Tuol Sleng were sent here for extermination. The place was literally a slaughterhouse and fragments of human bone and cloth can still be found in the area.
To save bullets, the Khmer Rouge bludgeoned the prisoners to the blasting of music so people in the vicinity couldn't hear their cries and moans. The dead were then buried in mass graves.
I had heard and read many accounts of brutality by the Khmer Rouge and also watched the movie The Killing Fields many times. However, once you arrive at the actual scene, the magnitude of the horror hits you even harder. You get to see what human beings were capable of doing once consumed by the the dark side of their conscience.
Very rarely had I seen and experienced evil of this enormity. I asked myself was it necessary for the present Cambodian authorities to leave Tuol Sleng and the killing fields untouched, like the way I saw it? My conclusion was it was needed so history would not repeat itself. Some people may ask how can a genocide of this proportion possibly happen again in this day and age, it's 2008 for Christ sake! It doesn't take much to answer the question, just look at Darfur.
I left Phnom Penh with mixed feelings. A part of me was pleasantly surprised by a city that was truly rediscovering itself. Another part of me was horribly affected by the events that took placed there 30-odd years ago.
Next week we visit a promising orphanage and then continue our journey to the southern coast of Cambodia where more surprises await us.
z Dreamchaser II airs on Channel 3 every Monday at midnight.
To find out more, visit the web site www.dreamchaserthai.com.
zThe show raises funds for the Raks Thai Foundation/CARE.
Donations can be made to account number 056-239616-7 of the
Siam Commercial Bank's Aree Samphan branch.
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