Kamping Poy

My tuk tuk driver from the other day also took my to Kamping Poy. After I walked around the monument and snapped photos of the murals which told the history of the forced labor union that was used to build the Kamping Poy Dam, my driver told me that he was drafted to work on the dam when he was 16 years old. He told me that his parents had been local police for the previous government before the Khmer Rouge and therefor his family was considered an enemy. His entire family was killed and he said that he should not be alive but survived because he continuously changed his name in order to hide from the regime. This man was so friendly and generous to me and it left me wondering: How can Cambodian's be so genuine, kind and welcoming when they have been so mistreated by others?

The Khmer Rouge ordered the people to abandon the city of Battambang.

They were forced to create a new village.

Men and women were drafted into an agricultural labor force.

Young couples were forced to marry in mass ceremonies.

The Khmer Rouge emptied the hospitals.

The Khmer Rouge confiscated all the peoples bicycles.

Men and women were systematically chosen to be killed as an example to others. The Khmer Rouge told them that "If we keep you, it is no gain, if we kill you, it is no gain".

People were forced to work from dawn til dusk.

Children ages 3-9 were taken from their parents.

The people were forced to build the Kamping Poy Dam.

10,000 people perished due to the forced labor.