Photo by Sigmankatie (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Choeung Ek Genocidal Center
Khmer Rouge killing site
Choeung Ek Genocidal Center in Phnom Penh was one of the Khmer Rouge killing sites across Cambodia. Thousands of people died at Choeung Ek from starvation, disease and execution. Many were brought from the nearby Tuol Sleng prison and interrogation center.
Audio guide
There is limited information at each exhibit. To get more details, use the audio guide with headset, available at the entrance. Type in the number of each exhibit to get more detailed information. The audio tour also contains stories told by people who survived Choeung Ek Genocidal Center.
The killing tools storage room
The killing tools storage room exhibits items used to kill prisoners. As bullets were too expensive, instruments such as knives, hatchets, hammers, bamboo sticks and iron axles were used.
The storage room also exhibits items used to restrain people like shackles and leg irons.
Truck stop
The truck stop is the place where prisoners arrived at Choeung Ek. Every day at 9 pm a truck carrying blindfolded and hand cuffed prisoners arrived from nearby Tuol Sleng prison and interrogation center.
Mass graves
When prisoners arrived at Choeung Ek, the graves had already been dug. Mass graves contained up to thousands of bodies. Sometimes people were forced to dig their own grave.
After heavy rain clothes worn by the executed can be seen stuck in the mud of a grave. The clothes appear on the surface after rain.
containing over 8,000 skulls
Stupa containing 8,000 skulls
Perhaps the most impressive and memorable site at the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center is a Buddhist commemorative stupa that contains over 8,000 human skulls.
Cabinets store skulls and bones of people killed at Choeung Ek. Holes in the skulls show the prisoners were killed with axes, hammers or hatches.
Please take off your shoes and hat before going inside.
The Killing Tree
A particularly gruesome place is the Chankiri Tree, better known as the Killing Tree. Babies and children were held by their legs and smashed with their heads against this tree.
Killing by the Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot wanted to turn Cambodia into an agrarian communist republic. Professional and educated people were killed. The country was purged from anyone who was suspected from having ties with the previous government or foreign governments. The regime targeted ethnic Vietnamese, Thai, Cham, Chinese as well as Christian priests and Buddhist monks.
Later on, when the regime became increasingly paranoid, the Khmer Rouge turned on its own and many party members were tortured and killed.
Small museum
Visit the small museum at Choeung Ek to learn more about the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot.
Liberated by the Vietnamese
In 1979 the Vietnamese army liberated Choeung Ek Genocidal Center. A place of horrors in the days of Pol Pot, today Choeung Ek is a tranquil place with trees and a lake.
Opening hours
Choeung Ek Genocidal Center opens daily from 7:30 am until 5:30 pm.
Location
The center is located in Roluos village, about 15 kilometers South of the Royal Palace of Phnom Penh and about 10 kilometers South of Tuol Sleng prison.
How to get there
Get there by taxi, tuk tuk or cyclo.
A one way tuk tuk ride from downtown will take around 40 minutes and cost 5 US$.
If you want to visit both the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center and Tuol Sleng Museum, you can charter a tuk tuk to visit both. Price would be about US$ 20, including waiting time.
Entrance fee
Tickets are US$ 6 per person.
An audio guide is US$ 3.
Please follow the dress code, meaning no short shorts or exposed back.
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