Wat Thmey Pagoda, The Killing Fields, Siem Reap.

Wat Thmey Pagoda, Siem Reap.

January 2020.

Back in 2015 my old travel buddy Wonderboy and I spent a day in Phnom Penh learning about Cambodia’s harrowing genocide years. First, we spent a few grim hours visiting Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, a Khmer Rouge detention and torture centre. Then, we headed out to the equally awful Cheoung Ek Killing Fields, where thousands of innocent Cambodians were finally put out of their misery.

Choeung Ek Killing Fields, Siem Reap.

It was one of the most depressing travel experiences of my life, but one that I knew I had to have in order to better understand the country and its people. I hadn’t been aware that Siem Reap had its own killing field site.

With a heavy heart, Sladja and I entered one January afternoon through the modest stone gate. After our disappointing experience at the War Remnant Museum, we were hoping that this place had done a better job of honouring those who lost their lives under the ruthless rule of The Khmer Rouge.

Wat Thmey Pagoda, Siem Reap.

Although often advertised as the Siem Reap Killing Fields, there’s no actual field to see anymore. Instead, the compound honours those who died here through a number of exhibits. They lie scattered around the grounds of Wat Thmey Pagoda, a modern temple home to a small community of Buddhist monks.

Wat Thmey Pagoda, Siem Reap.

Wat Thmey Pagoda, Siem Reap.

The pagoda itself is pretty enough but unremarkable, especially if you’ve been around Asia’s temple circuit. Most visitors to Wat Thmey come specifically for the genocide memorials, hence the prayer hall itself often gets ignored. And so it proved that day, as I ducked inside to find the place empty, save for a lone monk quietly reading.

One of Wat Thmey’s resident monks.

Initially, I was concerned that I might be intruding. But he seemed pleased to see me, lifting his head from the book he was reading to smile at me. Despite our incompatible tongues, he beckoned me over with another warm smile and even posed for a photograph. A lovely moment in an otherwise melancholic visit.

The Siem Reap Killing Fields.

Cambodian Genocide Photo Exhibition.

We kicked off our self-guided tour of the site’s genocide history with a modest but tastefully curated photo exhibition. Sadly, much like The War Remnant Museum, most of the photographs have no commentary or labels. Thus we weren’t blessed with a  whole lot of context.

The Siem Reap Killing Fields.

Nevertheless, unlike the War Remnant Museum, this is award-winning photography that definitely brings the horror of the times to life. Particularly those images of ragged, displaced children and soldiers digging graves in the rain.

The Sum Rithy Paintings.

On the back wall stands a disheartening collection of paintings. There are five in total and they tell the life story of Sum Rithy, apparently the only survivor of the Siem Reap Killing Fields. He was 21 when Khmer Rouge soldiers brought him here in 1976.

Wat Thmey Pagoda, Siem Reap.

The soldiers accused Sum Rithy of being a CIA spy before subjecting him to an appalling barrage of torture, including burning him with boiling porridge and forcing him to eat his own excrement. He survived due to the fact that he was a skilled motor mechanic, and therefore useful to one of the soldiers.

Mr. Sum Rithy.

Mr. Sun Rithy.

Sum Rithy is now in his 60s and spends a great deal of his time stationed at Wat Thmey Pagoda. He greets visitors, agrees to photographs and signs copies of his book, Surviving the Genocide in the Land of Angkor.

The Killing Well.

Outside the exhibition hall stands the Killing Well. I won’t go through what happened to people before the soldiers dumped their bodies into the well. In 1986 a local NGO organised a search mission, which resulted in the recovery of around sixty skeletons.

Wat Thmey Pagoda, Siem Reap.

A further twenty three bodies were found at a nearby mass grave. Some of the remains rest in a large, glass case next to the well. Chilling… depressing… insert other adjectives here.

Wat Thmey Pagoda, Siem Reap.

Memorial to the Siem Reap Killing Fields.

As with the Choeung Ek Killing Fields in Phnom Penh, the Siem Reap site features a haunting memorial stupa. Fitted with glass windows, it displays the skulls and bones of 890 victims. As I stood taking the scene in, I spied a few Khmer visitors dropping monetary tributes through slits in the glass.

Memorial to the Siem Reap Killing Fields.

On the way out, we stopped in our tracks at the sight of a horrifying photo board. The main image shows Pol Pot (front left) and his closest cadres riding the rail network in 1976. There was something about Pot’s calm and thoughtful expression that sent a shiver down my spine.

The infamous Khmer Rouge train carriage photo.

An accompanying blurb says the party staged the photo for propaganda purposes. Before long, these men would repurpose the rail system to transport thousands of Cambodians into forced labour camps.

Sladja and I spent days exploring the various genocide sites across Cambodia. On that particular day though we didn’t linger. Rather, we had seen enough and were keen to decamp for lunch. To a place where the music was soft and we could gather our thoughts over some healing coffee. And to once again thank our lucky stars that we will never have to experience anything remotely close to what the people of Cambodia went through in the 1970s.

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