In this episode, the Global Nomad visits Phnom Penh and explores the history of Cambodia of the mid twentieth century. He describes the rise of the Khmer Rouge and the despotic rule of Pol Pot in graphic detail ending with the breathtaking story of Nrong Chan Phal, a child survivor of the brutal S-21 prison. Phnom Penh today is much like the Bangkok of forty years ago. The similarities are unmistakable. In the Thai language, the word Bangkok means the city of angels. In the Cambodian language, Phnom Penh means the city of Brahma’s four faces. Brahma, of course, is the Hindu god of creation.
Bangkok is situated on the Chao Phraya River with numerous canals. It is home to some distinctly British-style buildings. Phnom Penh is located on the mighty Mekong River and has some fine buildings with exquisite French architecture. The cityscapes of both are dotted with soaring spires of Buddhist temples and pagodas. Both cities have friendly people, excellent food, and a vibrant nightlife, a little naughty, of course. Once known as the pearl of Asia, Phnom Penh was considered as one of the loveliest French-built cities in Indochina in the 1920s. Shockingly, in this peaceful Buddhist Cambodia, comes along the cruelest granddaddy of all dictators, Pol Pot, who in a span of 3 years, 8 months, and 20 days during 1975–1979, brutally killed 3 million of his own people—men, women, and children. All Cambodians remember these figures, 3 million people in 3 years, 8 months and 20 days! In the January of 1979 nine-year-old Nong Chan Phal was found hiding in a pile of dirty laundry in the large kitchen of the totally evacuated, ghost town of the Prison by the liberating Vietnamese soldiers. He was cold and emaciated, but his spirit was high. His tale is a story of resilience and courage, of hope and the human spirit, of endurance and sheer luck.
