To Visit Anlong Veng is to take in a slice of
recent Cambodian history, which most Khmers would rather forget
about. Almost everyone over the age of 40 will have horrific tales.
Few Khmers will talk easily about what happen to them. Many were
victims of the atrocities and others were drafted into the Army
without realizing the implications of what they were getting into.
Resistance was fruitless as dissenters were removed
to detention camps and the inevitable brutality, torture and certain
death. The "lucky" ones were those who we slaughtered in
their home villages. Few escaped. Those who did get away to Thailand
were held in huge refugee camps. Only women and young children were
looked after. Adult males or even teenage boys were left to fend for
themselves with no food or water.
A close friend told me of the day that the Khmer
Rouge rounded up the villagers into the Pagoda and shot virtually
everyone. My friend escaped to Thailand by was given no help or
support; he had to call upon the Christian Church to help. He was
lucky; as many refugees were forced back across the border and were
murdered by the Khmer Rouge either by bullet, perished by starvation
or were victims of the millions of landmines.
Tamoks House
The Legacy of Landmines will not go away for a long
time as the mine clearance teams work slowly and methodically. It
will take many tens of years for the Cambodian country to be totally safe again.
At the end of 2007
the long awaited Khmer Rouge trials commenced. Tamok the 2nd in
command, died in prison in July 2006 and most of the others are
now in thier 70s and 80s. If found guilty they are
likely spend the rest of their lives in jail.
Anlong Veng is now a peaceful town with few signs of
its awful past. There is a minor tourist industry related to the
recent history. The old KR headquarters of Tamok, Pol Pots right
hand man (who is still in jail in Phnom Penh awaiting trial for
genocide) The Old hilltop house of Tamok has now been turned into a
small hill station resort; with views comparable from those at Preah
Vihear .
A short walk from here lies the grave of Pol Pot. He died in 1998
from natural causes; probably a heart attack brought on by Malaria.
This is a crude grave indeed; which says a lot for what people
really thought about him! No stone mausoleum or grand funerary
temple here; just a rusty shelter over his ashes which have the
appearance of a rubbish heap!