Phnom Penh in Pictures

The remnants of French colonialism still sit on the banks of the Mekong in Phnom Penh. While still fairly safe for tourists; corruption is commonplace as is child prostitution. However, this is a side of the city I never saw. I assume you have to go looking for it. The French were never as interested in Cambodia as they were in Vietnam. When they left, they left little infrastructure and access to education.

Most tourists go to Phnom Penh to learn about the Khmer Rouge and their reign on the country. Many people I talked to had been unaware of the atrocities that happened during the regime. The Khmer Rouge were the community party in Cambodia. They began working in the rural areas in the 1960s and eventually civil war broke out in the early 1970s. In 1975, Pol Pot declared "Year Zero" and began implemented his policies on a much larger-scale. Most Cambodians had no idea who was in charge of the 'revolution' until 1977.

The Khmer Rouge desired a purely agrarian society. All peasants were praised as the 'Old People.' Conversely, monks, government officials, doctors, and intellectuals were labeled as the 'New People' and forced to work in labor camps outside of the city. City dwellers were seen as enemies to communism. Even those who wore glasses were killed as suspected intellectuals.

In the pictures below, there are images from the national palaces in the capital. The others are from S-21, a high-school turned prison on the outskirts of the city. Those convicted at Tuol Sleng, S-21, were sent to the killing fields at Choeung Ek. You won't see any pictures from the killing fields because sometimes it's important not to stay behind your camera lens.