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North Cambodia

Oddar Meanchey Province ឧត្តរមានជ័យ

The northern border province — the Dangrek escarpment, the last Khmer Rouge stronghold at Anlong Veng, and a difficult recent history that is only now being interpreted.

Where it sits

Oddar Meanchey runs along the Thai border in the far north, with the Dangrek mountains forming the frontier. It is one of Cambodia’s newer provinces, carved out in the 1990s, and one of the least developed.

What to see

Anlong Veng is the province’s significant site and a sobering one. It was the final Khmer Rouge stronghold, held until 1998, and the house of the military commander Ta Mok still stands beside the reservoir. Pol Pot’s cremation site, marked by a simple rusted shelter, is up on the Dangrek escarpment nearby.

These places are being developed as historical sites with interpretation, and they matter for understanding how the conflict actually ended — a process that runs directly into the “win-win” policy commemorated by the memorial in Phnom Penh.

The escarpment itself gives long views out over the Cambodian plain, and the Choam border crossing into Thailand is close by.

Practicalities

Facilities are basic. Most visitors come on a day trip from Siem Reap, which is around three hours away.

Oddar Meanchey on the map

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