Killing Fields, Phnom Penh

The loudspeakers at Choeung Ek were there for a reason. The Khmer Rouge hung them from the trees surrounding the execution site and played revolutionary music at high volume to cover the sounds of what was happening inside. That detail, recovered from survivor testimony and guard confessions, sits with you long after you leave. Choeung Ek was chosen as an execution site partly because it was already a cemetery used by the local Chinese community, partly because it was far enough from central Phnom Penh to avoid detection, and partly because the Khmer Rouge operating Tuol Sleng prison wanted bodies buried away from the facility to reduce the risk of disease. The planners were methodical about this.

Visiting these sites is not comfortable and is not meant to be. But it is worth doing carefully, with time and some preparation.

Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre

Located about 17 kilometers southwest of central Phnom Penh, Choeung Ek is the most visited of the approximately 300 Killing Fields sites that operated across Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge period from 1975 to 1979. Between 1977 and 1979, at least 8,895 victims were exhumed here from mass graves after the Vietnamese army liberated the country in January 1979. The Khmer Rouge kept meticulous records, and those records survived them.

At least 129 mass graves have been identified at Choeung Ek; 86 remain deliberately unexhumed. The site is in a tropical climate, and decades of rain cycles continue to bring fragments of bone and cloth to the surface. Staff members collect them regularly. During wet season after heavy rain, you may notice these on the pathways.

The large glass stupa at the centre of the site holds the remains of more than 5,000 victims arranged in tiers behind panels. A wooden sign at the base of the “Killing Tree,” a large chankiri tree, marks where Khmer Rouge guards killed infants and small children. Hundreds of coloured bracelets adorn it, left by visitors. It is the most difficult thing at the site to look at.

Admission is $6, which includes the audio guide (available in 14 languages). The $3 admission without the audio guide is a false economy; the guide is essential for understanding what you are looking at and is one of the best produced audio tours in Southeast Asia. The site is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Go early: it is cooler and less crowded before 9 a.m. Cash only at the entrance.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21)

The standard itinerary pairs Choeung Ek with S-21, the former Tuol Svay Prey High School in central Phnom Penh that the Khmer Rouge converted into the Santebal secret police detention centre in 1975. Between 17,000 and 20,000 people were imprisoned here. Fewer than a dozen survived. The physical evidence has been preserved largely as it was found in 1979: the metal bed frames in the individual cells, the photographs of prisoners taken on arrival (the Khmer Rouge photographed nearly every prisoner as a bureaucratic record), the tiled former classrooms divided into tiny individual brick cells.

Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children 8 to 10, and free for those under 10. The museum advises the content is not suitable for children under 14 and I would agree. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. On-site tickets only; no advance booking required.

The question of sequencing matters. Most visitors do S-21 in the morning and Choeung Ek in the afternoon. Some guides recommend the reverse. Given that Choeung Ek is the actual execution site and S-21 is the prison from which victims were transported to it, doing S-21 first follows the historical logic. But both are heavy, and combining them in a single day leaves little capacity for anything else. Consider giving yourself two days: one for each site, with an afternoon in between to simply sit by the river and process.

The Royal Palace and the National Museum

The Royal Palace complex is the right antidote to the genocide sites, not because it erases what you have seen but because it shows the Khmer civilization that the Khmer Rouge tried to destroy. The Silver Pagoda, within the palace compound, is named for its floor of 5,000 solid silver tiles weighing roughly a ton each. The compound is open to visitors from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (closed midday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.); admission is around $10. Modest dress is required and sarongs can be borrowed at the gate.

The National Museum on the north side of the palace grounds has Cambodia’s finest collection of Khmer sculpture, including pieces from Angkor Wat that were removed to Phnom Penh for safekeeping. Admission is $10; open daily 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Where to Eat

Friends the Restaurant (also known as Romdeng’s sister NGO restaurant, Friends International) on Street 13 near the National Museum remains one of the best meals in Phnom Penh and one of the most thoughtfully run restaurants in Southeast Asia. The menu covers Cambodian street food elevated and plated properly; the profits train and employ former street youth. Budget around $10 to $15 per person for a full meal.

Romdeng, also run by Friends International, specializes in rural Cambodian cuisine including the dishes the Khmer Rouge-era urban population lost access to: tarantulas, red tree ants with beef, fish amok cooked in coconut milk. The restaurant sits in a French colonial villa in the BKK1 district; book ahead for dinner.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club on Sisowath Quay (the riverside) occupies a 1920s French colonial building above the Tonle Sap confluence. The food is serviceable Western fare, but the rooftop terrace at sunset with a view across the water is worth the price of a drink. It has been a gathering point for journalists covering Southeast Asia since the 1970s.

For street food, Psar Thmei (the Central Market), housed in a spectacular 1937 Art Deco building, has a food hall inside with cheap noodle soups, baguettes with pate (the French colonial food legacy runs deep in Phnom Penh), and fresh juice stalls. Baguettes here cost roughly 2,000 riel, about $0.50.

Where to Stay

The Raffles Hotel Le Royal in the BKK1 district is the city’s grand colonial hotel, built in 1929, with a pool and rates from around $200 per night. It is expensive by Cambodian standards and worth it for the setting and the service if you can stretch to it.

The Rosewood Phnom Penh, opened in 2021 in the Vattanac Capital tower, is the city’s most contemporary luxury option with river views from upper floors and rates from $180 to $300 per night.

For mid-range options, the BKK1 (Boeung Keng Kang 1) neighbourhood is the right base: safe, walkable, full of restaurants and cafes, and about a $5 tuk-tuk ride from the riverside. Good guest houses and small boutique hotels here run $30 to $70 per night.

Mad Monkey Hostel near the riverside has a pool, a sociable bar, and dorm beds from around $8 per night. The riverside area has more foot traffic and noise than BKK1 but is convenient for the FCC and the Sisowath Quay night market.

Getting Around and Practical Notes

Tuk-tuks and PassApp (Cambodia’s equivalent of Grab) cover the city cheaply. A tuk-tuk from central Phnom Penh to Choeung Ek typically costs $10 to $15 return, including a wait while you visit. Negotiate before you get in, or use PassApp for metered pricing with no negotiation required.

The genocide sites require that visitors dress modestly. Lightweight trousers or a knee-length skirt and covered shoulders are appropriate. Neither S-21 nor Choeung Ek permits photography in the most sensitive areas; follow the signs. Bring water: both sites are largely outdoors in heat that routinely reaches 35 degrees Celsius in the dry season (November to April).

The most useful thing to do before arriving is to read Philip Short’s biography of Pol Pot or watch the 1984 film “The Killing Fields” (directed by Roland Joffe, based on journalist Sydney Schanberg’s account). Both give the context that makes the sites legible rather than just overwhelming.

Phnom Penh is an easier city to navigate than its reputation suggests. The streets are chaotic but the underlying city grid, laid out under the French protectorate, is logical. The riverside is lovely in the early morning before the heat builds. Budget at minimum three days for the city; four if you want to visit the sites without rushing and still have time to see the palace, the museum, and the market.