AFP
ANLONG VENG, Cambodia: It has barely been two weeks since former Khmer Rouge commander Ta Mok died, but already plans are afoot to turn his burial site in a former rebel stronghold into a macabre tourist attraction.
Ta Mok, known as “The Butcher” for his ruthlessness, is buried in Anlong Veng in remote northern Cambodia, near where Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot was unceremoniously cremated under a pile of garbage and rubber tires in 1998.
Ta Mok briefly led the Khmer Rouge during its final days, and was awaiting trial for his role in one of 20th century’s worst genocides when he died aged 80 on July 21 in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.
His body was transferred to Anlong Veng, where he was buried in a pagoda at the foot of the Dangrek mountains after a Buddhist funeral attended by relatives and former followers.
“Pol Pot and Ta Mok have been accused of killing many people, so tourists may want to see how former Khmer Rouge leaders lived and to see houses and the site where Pol Pot was cremated,” said Hean Sophorn, a tourism official based in Anlong Veng.
Not everyone agrees. Youk Chhang, director of Documentation Center of Cambodia, which collects evidence of Khmer Rouge atrocities, said the memory of the Khmer Rouge should not be commercialized.
“Those are memories of the nation and should be preserved in a historical way,” he said. “Memory should not be put on sale.”
Up to two million people were executed or died of starvation and overwork between 1975 and 1979 when the ultra-left Khmer Rouge forced millions into the countryside in their attempt to create an agrarian utopia.
Ta Mok was the only rebel who refused to surrender or strike a deal with the government after the Khmer Rouge disintegrated following Pol Pot’s death. He was arrested a year later along the Thai border, and has been in prison since.
After many years of stalled negotiations, a United Nations-backed trial of the former Khmer Rouge leaders finally got underway in July this year.
But up in Anlong Veng—the final stronghold of the Khmer Rouge—locals are hoping to make a profit from the poverty-stricken country’s grim past.
“When more and more tourists visit here, there will be a big increase in the economy and the living standards of the villagers in this area will be better,” Hean Sophorn said.
The government has been planning since 2000 to transform Anlong Veng into a showcase of the communist regime’s final days. Tourism officials are looking at some 38 sites in the isolated mountains.
Among the anticipated attractions are a munitions warehouse, homes belonging to Khmer Rouge cadre, and the fenced-off area where Pol Pot spent his last months under house arrest after being captured and put on trial by Ta Mok.
Ta Mok, known as “The Butcher” for his ruthlessness, is buried in Anlong Veng in remote northern Cambodia, near where Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot was unceremoniously cremated under a pile of garbage and rubber tires in 1998.
Ta Mok briefly led the Khmer Rouge during its final days, and was awaiting trial for his role in one of 20th century’s worst genocides when he died aged 80 on July 21 in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh.
His body was transferred to Anlong Veng, where he was buried in a pagoda at the foot of the Dangrek mountains after a Buddhist funeral attended by relatives and former followers.
“Pol Pot and Ta Mok have been accused of killing many people, so tourists may want to see how former Khmer Rouge leaders lived and to see houses and the site where Pol Pot was cremated,” said Hean Sophorn, a tourism official based in Anlong Veng.
Not everyone agrees. Youk Chhang, director of Documentation Center of Cambodia, which collects evidence of Khmer Rouge atrocities, said the memory of the Khmer Rouge should not be commercialized.
“Those are memories of the nation and should be preserved in a historical way,” he said. “Memory should not be put on sale.”
Up to two million people were executed or died of starvation and overwork between 1975 and 1979 when the ultra-left Khmer Rouge forced millions into the countryside in their attempt to create an agrarian utopia.
Ta Mok was the only rebel who refused to surrender or strike a deal with the government after the Khmer Rouge disintegrated following Pol Pot’s death. He was arrested a year later along the Thai border, and has been in prison since.
After many years of stalled negotiations, a United Nations-backed trial of the former Khmer Rouge leaders finally got underway in July this year.
But up in Anlong Veng—the final stronghold of the Khmer Rouge—locals are hoping to make a profit from the poverty-stricken country’s grim past.
“When more and more tourists visit here, there will be a big increase in the economy and the living standards of the villagers in this area will be better,” Hean Sophorn said.
The government has been planning since 2000 to transform Anlong Veng into a showcase of the communist regime’s final days. Tourism officials are looking at some 38 sites in the isolated mountains.
Among the anticipated attractions are a munitions warehouse, homes belonging to Khmer Rouge cadre, and the fenced-off area where Pol Pot spent his last months under house arrest after being captured and put on trial by Ta Mok.
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