CAMBODGE 1

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The tragedy of Cambodia's infamous past is that it was a result of outside force, compounded by weak leadership, that permitted the atrocities of the 1970's to occur. In a case of paranoid whimsy Prime Minister Sihanouk committed his country to its nebulous take on communism because he thought the USA planned to assassinate him. His 'Peoples Socialist Communist Party' was no such thing yet its name was implication enough for the North Vietnamese to assume sanctuary on Cambodian soil. This, coupled with the CIA threat from across the border, and Sihanouk casually acquiesced ( Film making was his passion anyway).
This was not enough. Sensing indifference to his political responsibilities and becoming increasingly aware of the military's desire to align itself with the American cause, there occurred a rural based insurgency forcing Sihanouk to back sanctions against a strain of Left wing thinking on which he must have assumed placated. It was too little too late. Alarmed by the Vietnamese incursions and fearful of losing the money America had been providing in aid, General Lol Nom took the Prime Minister’s vacation in France as an opportunity to depose the leadership and seize power for himself. Sentenced to death Sihanouk's response can be seen as the defining moment in Cambodian history. In exile he set up the Khmer Rouge, a beast that would be used to commit genocide on an unfathomable scale. What then followed was an example of geopolitics gone mad. Out of need rather than desire the Khmer Rouge formed an alliance with the North Vietnamese in a bid to overthrow Lol Nom's United Sates sanctioned regime. American funds had found their way into the wrong pockets resulting in corruption and scandal driving all neutrals towards the leftist Khmer Rouge. So in effect both America and Vietnam had created an environment where the Red Khmer's could flourish and with Sihanouk in exile it was left to Pol Pot to assume leadership and implement his particular brand of communism. After forcing out Lol Noms regime the Khmer Rouge turned their attention to expelling the Vietnamese and set Cambodia on course to it's bloodiest period of history. Ironically it was Vietnam who were finally forced to end it all in 1978 and after the death of some 2 million people through war and famine the whole thing is a tragedy of epic proportion.

Heading east from Koh Kong to Sihanoukville is a bit like driving from Bodmin to Bristol. The initial part of the journey takes you through a rugged countryside no more spectacular than Dartmoor, only with more trees. After navigating several river crossings on primitive rafts you hit a flat plateau surrounded by hills formed in very much the same way as much of Somerset. Only the heat reminds you that you that nothing could be further from the truth.

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