Kept secret for many years, the Khmer Rouge air­port is locat­ed near Kam­pong Chh­nang and Ton­le Sap Lake in a green val­ley bor­dered in the west by Cambodia’s Car­damom Moun­tains. Now aban­doned, the air­port site cov­ers 300 hectares and fea­tures two mas­sive 2.4 km-long run­ways flanked by two giant moats, a con­trol tow­er, admin­is­tra­tive build­ings, a quar­ry, a for­mer prison camp, sev­en enor­mous cis­terns, and tun­nel-pris­ons. Con­struc­tion began on the air­port in 1976 under the super­vi­sion of Chi­nese engi­neers, but was aban­doned in 1979.

<figcaption>Aero­port centre</figcaption>

Dur­ing the Khmer Rouge era, the site was used to purge and ​“reed­u­cate” the Kam­puchea Demo­c­ra­t­ic Army (ARK). It became a con­cen­tra­tion camp where tens of thou­sands of peo­ple died. While exact fig­ures are unknown due to the secre­cy of the loca­tion, the esti­mates range from 10,000 to 350,000 souls who died from star­va­tion, exhaus­tion, or were killed in the tun­nel-prison com­plex­es and then buried in mass graves. Today, green rice fields cov­er the once blood-soaked earth.

<img alt="Romduol flower" src="https://www.secretindochina.com/upload-images/programmes/pol-pot-airport/cardamom-1578063441.jpg" />
<figcaption>Rom­duol flower</figcaption>

On the way to Bat­tam­bang, Phnom Penh or Phat San­day – Secret Indochina’s float­ing house project – you have the option to dis­cov­er this clan­des­tine Khmer Rouge site. Meet a local fam­i­ly and learn about the local area, then start your tour of the site with the quar­ry, con­tin­u­ing on to the air­port, run­way and west­ern moat. End your vis­it with a walk down the south­ern hill towards the entrance of a tunnel-prison.

<figcaption>Pol Pot Air­port tank</figcaption>

<img alt="Pol Pot Airport quarry" src="https://www.secretindochina.com/upload-images/programmes/pol-pot-airport/Pol-pot-airport-quarry-1578363922.jpg" />
<figcaption>Pol Pot Air­port quarry</figcaption>