Him Phuon

PHI0009

ហ៊ឹម ភួន

Him

Phuon

Alive

Male

[Present age 55 years old]

13040603 Preh Vihear Province Koulen district Sray

1975????

No

Yes

Him Phuon, male, 55 years old, lives in Koh Ker village, Srayang commune, Koulen district, Preah Vihear province.

Phuon៌s wife៌s name is Seng Puon. They have three children.

Phuon, one of four, was born in Koh Ker village. Phuon៌s father៌s name is Phal and his mother៌s is Sun. He did not go to school because there was no school. After the coup d៌etat in 1970 the village fell into civil war between Lon Nol and the KR.

After the KR came to power in April 1975, the KR forced the villagers to live and work in cooperatives and all private property was collected and put in the cooperatives. Phuon was assigned to work in a mobile brigade unit and ordered to carry earth and work in the rice fields. The KR did not provide enough food for the villagers. The KR allowed children to study for only one hour per day in the shade of a tree.

In 1977, the KR sent Phuon to carry earth in Koulen district and then, the KR assigned him to a sugar production team. He remembers seeing the KR kill a couple who fell in love with each other; they were accused of committing a moral offense. Phuon said that the temple was abandoned by the KR and he never visited it during the KR regime.

After 1979, Phuon returned to Koh Ker village and worked in the rice fields with his parents. At that time the Vietnamese were near the Temple. In 1983, the villagers fled from the village because the KR and the Vietnamese often fired against each other in the village. Some followed the KR to Dangrek Mountain and others followed the Vietnamese to Svay Leu district, Siem Reap province. In 1986, the Vietnamese and local authorities took the people to Koh Ker village and built the houses for them. However, the civil war still continued, and the villagers faced a very difficult situation. They fled from the village once again in 1988.

The villagers returned to the village permanently after the KR integrated with the Cambodian government in 1999. Now, the villagers are concerned about the development projects of the Apsara Authority in the Koh Ker area and about how its plans will affect their current living conditions.

10. Hip Phoeu, female, 49 years old, lives in Koh Ker village, Srayang commune, Koulen district, Preah Vihear province

Phoeu៌s husband៌s name is Dim Doeun. Pheou has 7 sons.

Phoeu៌s father៌s name is Hip, and her mother is Rim Phach. Phoeu has five sisters and four brothers and is the oldest in her family. Phoeu said there was a Buddhist pagoda in Koh Ker village. However, the pagoda was closed soon after the coup d៌etat in 1970. When the KR came to power in 1975, Phoeu was assigned to a child unit in the village. She went to school during the regime. However, she was forced to cut small trees to produce fertilizer and to work in the rice fields. Phoeu and the other children were offered only two meals of thin rice porridge per day. At that time, Than was the chief of Koulen district. Hang was head of Preah Vihear region (103).

In 1977, Phoeun and the other children were sent to carry earth at Veal Peou៌s dam worksite in Koulen district. Phoeu was at the worksite for a few months but was sent back to the child unit in her home village because she was too small to carry earth.

When the Vietnamese arrived in Cambodia in 1979, Phoeu returned to live with her family. At that time, the Vietnamese arrested and imprisoned several villagers including her father-in-law; they were accused of being KR spies. Unfortunately, her father-in-law and three others died when the prison compound flooded.

In 1983, Phoeu and several other families followed the KR to Dangrek Mountain. She settled near Preah Pralay, Trapeang Prasat. Her husband became a KR soldier in Division 612. In Hoeun and Van Kosal were the leaders of the division.

When the KR integrated with the Cambodian government in 1999, Phoeu and others returned to Koh Ker village. After that, Phoeu and her family worked in the rice fields. However, her family and other villagers are facing land issues with the Apsara Authority in charge of the Koh Ker temple and its area conservation project.

11. Khuon Chuon, male, 56 years old, lives in Koh Ker village, Srayang commune, Koulen district, Preah Vihear province

Chuon៌s wife៌s name is Song Hum. They have three daughters and four sons.

Chuon was born in Koh Ker village. His father is Khuon, and his mother is Chhem. He has nine siblings (three died during civil war). Chuon did not go to school when he was young because there was no school building near his village. After the coup d៌etat in March 1970, the Koh Ker village fell into civil war, and there was bombardment near the village.

After the KR came to power in 1975, Chuon was assigned to a mobile brigade unit in Koulen district. There were hundreds of young men and women in the unit. At that time, Chuon was forced to carry earth from early morning until midnight. The KR gave people only thin rice porridge two times per day. Than and Dul were the leaders of the unit.

After the KR collapsed in 1979, Chuon returned to Koh Ker village and lived with his family. The Vietnamese often accused villagers of being connected to the KR. They arrested, imprisoned, and tortured them. In 1981 some villagers followed the KR to Dangrek Mountain. There, the villagers were in Ta Hoeun៌s division. Ta Mok was the highest leader at Dangrek Mountain. Others fled to live in a village within Svay Leu district, Siem Reap province.

All of villagers returned Koh Ker village after the KR integrated with the Cambodian government in 1999. Chuon says that today the villagers are not happy about the Apsara authority which is in charge of the Koh Ker area because they are banned from continuing to clear their farms, cut down forests, and build any new houses in the area.

© DC-Cam