INTELLIGENCE HANDBOOK FOR SPECIAL OPERATIONS CAMBODIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01444R000100130001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 246
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 24, 1998
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 1, 1970
• Content Type: CH

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DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
vro%.l c16
No Foreign Dissem
Intelligence Handbook
For
Cambodia
'"ARCITMAI,' RECORD 'PLEASE RETURN AGENCY ARCHIVES, -BLDG A-1,1
25X1
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LA)
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WARNING
This document contains information affecting the national
defense of the United States, within the meaning of Title
18, sections 793 and 794, of the US Code as amended.
Its transmission or revelation of its contents to or re-
ceipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
GROUP 1
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and
declauiflcallon
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_.[
No Foreign Dissem
Intelligence Handbook
For
Cambodia
No Foreign Dissem
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I - CAMBODIA
FOREWORD
This Handbook I I, one of a series,
provides basic information on Cambodia. Unlike earlier
Handbooks, which appeared in a bound format, this document
is publ shed looseleaf to permit its updating in a rapidly
changing Southeast Asian scene. The Handbook consists of
three Parts. As the situation may require, supplemental
chapters may be prepared or other materials added. The
component chapters incorporated in this printing are:
Part I THE SETTING
Chapter I 2i.story of Cambodia
Part II 1 -1 ENVIRONMENT
Chapter I The Land
Chapter II The People
Chapter III The Economy
Chapter IV Transportation
Chapter V Telecommunications
Part III INTERNAL SECURITY
Chapter I Armed Forces
Chapter II Police and Intelligence Services
Chapter III Subversion and Insurgency
Each Chapter is described by its respective Table
of Contents which includes references to appropriate
maps, tables and photographs. A Reading List is included,
when relevant, after each Chapter. An Historical Chro-
nology and a Recommended Films list are found in an
Appendix.
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The Handbook was produced by CIA and, with the excep-
tion of the Armed Forces chapter which was coordinated
with DIA, has not been coordinated outside the Agency. A
variety of classified and open sources was used in its
production. NIS publications provided general background,
updated to reflect changes which have taken place since
Sihanouk's fall from power and the outbreak of war in Cam-
bodia. Component chapters were written by Agency special-
ists in the fields of economics, geography, medicine,
population, telecommunications, and transportation. The
chapters on history, armed forces, police and intelligence
insurgency were written by
25X1 and coordinated with current
intelligence an area des specialists. The several
classifications of the component chapters (SECRET or
SECRET/NOFORN) derive from the intelligence materials
used in their preparation. The overall classification of
the Handbook is SECRET/NOFORN.
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 Tobacco products
izer Tourism
11 Hydroelectric facility
;dense to moderately open)
:ad land, predominantly rice
)ps, chiefly rubber
nd
il inland fishing area
KRATIE
Sambor
1' Sandan
' Samboc
oKratie
Muong
?May
? Chan
Thanh
V,IETVNAM
CAMBODIA
International boundary F--> Railroad
Province boundary Road
O* National capital Trail
Kratie Province capital Airfield
Principal port
Populated places
O Over 30,000
o 10,000 to 30,000
? Under 10,000
Spot elevations in feet
Scale 1:1,740,000
25 50
Statute Mlles
25 50
?3022 ? Duc Lap
Dak Song
Lac
Thien ?
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The remnant of the once vast and powerful Khmer Empire,
Cambodia is the oldest state of the Indochinese peninsula.
Its history -- much of it lost in legend -- reaches back to
the ancient kingdom of Funan, which arose during the first
century of the Christian era. Today one of the smallest
countries of Southeast Asia, Cambodia is acutely conscious
of the fact that some seven centuries ago her suzerainty
extended across the breadth of Southeast Asia from the
South China Sea to the Bay of Bengal. The country has
witnessed a long history of Thai and Vietnamese encroach-
ments, and it was only the establishment of the French pro-
tectorate in 1863 that prevented the final dissolution of
Cambodia as a nation.
Of all.the prehistoric peoples who lived in the land
now known as Cambodia, only the descendents of the Chams
and the primitive Khmer Loeu tribes have survived. Many
diverse peoples contended for the fertile lands that form
the Mekong River valley and the central plain of present-
day Cambodia. By the first century A.D., the Khmer people
were an already racially mixed group from the north, sharing
the Mekong with the Indianized Funanese and the Cham. The
Funanese had overcome the other tribes by the third century
A.D., and the area became known as Funan. During the fourth
century, an Indian Brahman ruled the country, bringing Hindu
influence to bear on its customs, legal code, architecture
and alphabet, which is still to be seen ia modified forms.
The Khmer state of Chen-la, located farther north on
the Mekong, was the chief vassal state of Funan. By the
middle of the sixth century, it controlled and eventually
annexed Funan. From 535 to 802, the Khmer were consoli-
dated into a powerful empire which eventually extended its
hegemony over all of present-day Cambodia and much of Thai-
land, Vietnam, and Laos. The northern boundaries reached
Yunnan province of southern China. It was during this
period that the name "Cambodia" was derived. According to
legend, the founder of the Khmer Dynasty was Kambu Svayam-
bhuva; his subjects were called "Kambuja", sons of Kambu,
hence the French "Cambodge" and the English Cambodia.
This is the king to whom Cambodian monarchs trace their
lineage.
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Figure 1. Ankor Wat, largest of the Angkor temples. Central
tower rises over 220 feet. Surrounding moat has maximum width
of 660 feet.
Cambodia reached its zenith during the Angkorean or
Kambujan Era (802 - 1432). Parts of Burma were added to
the empire, and great political, economic and cultural a-
chievements were recorded. The magnificent monuments of
Angkor Thom, the capital city, and the temple complex of
Angkor Wat were remarkable accomplishments. Paved avenues,
waterways, and irrigation systems were laid out. Scholars,
artists, and religious teachers traveled to the cultural
centers of India. The ancient kings, greatest of whom was
Jayavarman VII, who reigned from 1181 to 1201, acted as
patrons of learning and the arts. The remarkable empire
arose and peaked while Europe was passing through the
Dark Ages. Present-day Cambodians recall its glories with
the same sense of pride that modern Italians feel for an-
cient Rome.
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-Gauhat,
INDIA
Cambodia
KHMER EMPIRE
1290 A.D.
1760 A.D.
Present international
boundary
0 100 200 300 Miles
MITI I 0 100 200 300 Kilometers
Lashio
Mandalay
?a:li
,K'un-min
dpn
ar? harJi
Batfamfaans
Kuei-yang
?
Stung
R AU
Liu-Chou
NORTH NOIJr' 1Vlong Cai
VIET aiPhong Hai k'01,
hanhG UT F /-
LOuatsgp ~ang Hoa tl h 1r HAI11A1V
wt~
Kompong Sonl
(Sihanoukville)
GULF OF
THAILAND
CHINA
sprat",
Island
Or' 0 aNAMES AND BOUNDgRV REPRES NTATION INDONESIA
(j~ rj V RARE NOT NECESSARILY AVTHO i'I'ATIVS
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__ MIMI=
Figure 2. Angkor Wat, built during early 12th century
by Suryavarman II.
The Empire began to disintegrate after the death of
Jayavarman VII. An important contributing factor, start-
ing in the 11th century, was the change from Brahmanism
to the passive new religion of Theravada Buddhism which
called for a peaceful environment, incompatible within an
overextended empire whose societal system was based upon
slaves captured in war. Never more than a loose political
structure even at its height, the Khmer Empire faced in-
creasing pressure from other maturing peoples. The land
was racked by constant dynastic strife and repeated Thai
invasions, during which thousands of artists and scholars
were carried off to slavery. The last sacking and aban-
donment of the capital city, Angkor, in 1432, is considered
the turning point in Cambodian history. Too close to the
Thai border, Angkor never again would be a capital. In
time, jungle overran the great temples and monuments that
were too costly to maintain, and knowledge of Angkor grad-
ually faded from Cambodian consciousness.
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Figure 3. Sentry gate at Angkor Thom.
The 400-year period between abandonment of Angkor and
the advent of the French protectorate, one of gradual decay,
was marked by defensive struggle against Thailand and Annam.
Unlike the experience of Vietnam, there was little contact
with European merchants and missionaries. In its efforts
to survive, the royal court was forced to move from place
to place, to play off one antagonist against another, and
to relinquish choice territory.
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Figure 4. Entrance at Preah Khan temple.
In the face of increased Thai and Vietnamese pressure,
the Cambodian king sought French protection, little real-
izing that the treaty of 1863 which made his country a
French protectorate would lead to complete French domina-
tion. The treaty gave the French exclusive control over
Cambodian foreign affairs, the right to defend Cambodia,
and installed a French Resident Superior as executive.
The 1884 Conventions reduced the country to semi-colo-
nial status and, in 1887, Cambodia's colonial status
became official when it was made a part of the French
Indochina Union with Cochin China, Annam, Tonkin, Laos
and the French leasehold of Kwang-chow-wan.
French colonial rule both preserved and modified tra-
ditional Cambodian society. Cambodia was protected against
Thai/Vietnamese conquest and her identity was preserved
within the structure of the French Indochina Union. The
status and dignity of the monarchy was restored, and
languishing arts and crafts were revived and made known
to the world. French policies changed the character of
Cambodian society. For example, liberal immigration laws
encouraged Chinese and Vietnamese to enter the country and
intermarry with Cambodians. Capitalizing on the Cambodian
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traditional distaste for commerce, the Chinese were able to
take over many vital functions as merchant brokers, bankers
and owners of transport operations and plantations. The
Vietnamese gravitated toward shopkeeping, artisanry and
clerking in the civil service and French business establish-
ments. The French brought Cambodia into the modern world by
abolishing slavery and hereditary bondage, establishing sec-
ular schools for both sexes, laying the foundation for a
modern bureaucracy, and introducing Western concepts of art,
science, law and government. Phnom Penh was laid out on a
spacious scale and provided with aeport, a road network was
created, and a railroad was built, linking Phnom Penh with
the Thai border. These Western innovations scarcely touched
the peasantry, some eighty percent of the population, who
continued to cultivate small family holdings of ten acres
or less. They had a direct impact only upon the upper
socio-economic levels in the urban areas which formed the
pivotal segment that absorbed, adapted and disseminated
Western ideas and led the independence movement to its
successful culmination.
For all their benefits, the French retarded Cambodian
development by running the country themselves and by pro-
viding the Cambodians with limited administrative and tech-
nical training and experience. The classical education
given the elite left them unprepared to handle the prac-
tical problems of managing a country. Even today there is
a shortage of Cambodians equipped to cope with government
administration, economic development, and technical ser-
vices. Chinese still dominate commerce; most engineers,
technicians, and craftsmen are Vietnamese; and foreign ad-
visors are needed to assist in operating complicated ma-
chinery.
After the death of King Sisowath Monivong in 1941, the
French by-passed his sons, feeling that they were too in-
dependence minded. For the throne, they selected instead
his 18 year old grandson, Prince Norodom Sihanouk. The
French thought Sihanouk would be easy to manipulate, little
imagining that he would develop a serious interest in
governing Cambodia, would promulgate its constitution in
1947, and would father its independence from France in late
1953.
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After the French defeat in Europe, the Japanese received
permission from the Vichy government to send troops to Hanoi
and Saigon. The Thai, taking advantage of French weakness,
attempted to acquire Cambodian and Laotian territory and
invaded Cambodia in January 1941. The Japanese eventually
intervened and forced the French to sign a treaty giving
Thailand a part of northwestern Cambodia. The French main-
tained nominal control of Indochina until the spring of
1945 when an unexpected Japanese coup de force removed the
entire Vichy French colonial administration. At Japanese
suggestion, King Sihanouk proclaimed Cambodia's indepen-
dence on March 12, but this independence was only nominal
since Cambodia was linked with the Japanese Greater East
Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. This brief taste of freedom
from French control laid the basis for the anti-French
movements that characterized Cambodian politics during the
first decade following World War II.
The French resumed control in Cambodia after the Japan-
ese surrender, but now Sihanouk began the negotiations de-
signed to achieve a greater degree of independence for the
country. In February 1946 the French protectorate was re-
placed by a new arrangement under which Cambodia was rec-
ognized as an autonomous kingdom within the French Union,
but with the French retaining considerable control. A
Constituent Assembly was elected in September 1946 and in
May 1947 the Constitution was promulgated. Both houses of
the Cambodian legislature were convened in early 1948 and
parliamentary government began. Unfortunately, political
instability emerged almost immediately, with several na-
tionalistic groups opposing both French rule and Sihanouk's
government. To prevent complete chaos, Sihanouk dissolved
the National Assembly in September 1948 and, with the
assistance of several ministers, ruled alone for the next
two years. Following the September 1951 elections, another
period of unstable parliamentary government ensued. In
June 1952 Sihanouk again assumed direct rule, exercising
this power until February 1955.
While he ruled, Sihanouk concentrated on gaining in-
dependence from the French and, in November 1949, obtained
a new treaty that gave Cambodia more powers and made her
an Associated State within the French Union. Sihanouk
became impatient with what he considered French procras-
tination and began a public campaign against French rule
in April 1953. In June he went into voluntary exile in
Thailand, refusing to return to the capital until given
French assurances of complete independence for Cambodia.
The French, mired down in their struggle with the Viet
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Minh, announced in July their willingness to grant indepen-
dence to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Subsequent negotia-
tions produced several important concessions whereby France
relinquished practically all the rights and powers it had
retained in Cambodia since the treaty of 1949. The last of
these concessions was signed in November 1953, and Sihan-
ouk returned to the capital in triumph to proclaim Cam-
bodia's independence on November 9. International recogni-
tion of Cambodia's independence was accorded by the Final
Declaration at the Geneva Conference on Indochina on July
21, 1954. At Geneva, it was Sihanouk's diplomatic skill
and stubborness that led to the inclusion of a separate
agreement providing for the withdrawal from Cambodia by
October 20, 1954 of all Viet Minh forces and French units,
except for a training mission. Unlike Vietnam and Laos,
Cambodia emerged from the Geneva agreements with no loss
of territory.
A nationwide referendum was held in February 1955 as
an expression of support for Sihanouk's policies and rule
for the previous two and one-half years. Although he re-
ceived over 99 percent of the vote, Sihanouk abdicated
the throne in March in favor of his parents so he could
engage more freely in political activity. He immediately
began building his own personal political vehicle, the
Sangkum (officially, the Sangkum Reastr Niyum or People's
Socialist Community). The new National Assembly elected
in September was composed entirely of Sangkum members.
When his father died in 1960, Sihanouk refused the throne
and, instead, consolidated his position by creating and
assuming the office of Chief of State which held all the
powers of the vacant throne.
Diplomatic relations were maintained exclusively with
the Western powers during the early stages of independence,
and Sihanouk seriously considered aligning himself with the
West. He was strongly influenced by Nehru, however, and
gradually developed a policy of neutralism. His first
international declaration of nonalignment was at the Afro-
Asian Conference at Bandung in April 1955. The National
Assembly supported his policy in a vote taken later in the
year. Sihanouk's foreign policy was keyed to securing
international guarantees, or at least assurances of respect,
for Cambodia's territorial integrity. Diplomatic relations
with the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, and Poland were
established in 1956. Chinese Communist economic aid was
accepted in 1956 and formal recognition of Communist China
was finally announced in mid-1958.
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Figure 5. Prince Norodom Sihanouk, former
King and former Chief of State of Cambodia.
February 1970.
Relations with Thailand and South Vietnam gradually
deteriorated after Cambodian independence. With a cen-
turies-old background of mutual suspicion and conflict,
matters became worse with sporadic emotional flare-ups
over border incidents, disputed territory, and alleged
Thai and Vietnamese support to Cambodian subversive
groups. Sihanouk broke relations with Thailand in Oc-
tober 1961 and with South Vietnam in August 1963.
In 1963 Cambodia's foreign policy was altered to fol-
low an increasingly pro-Communist line. Sihanouk became
convinced that the Communists were going to win an early
and decisive victory in South Vietnam and that Communist
China eventually would exercise a dominant influence in
Southeast Asia. He abruptly terminated all United States
economic and military aid programs in November 1963
(since 1955 the U.S. had been the key source of such aid,
having extended some $309.6 million in economic aid and
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Figure 6. The Khmer-Soviet Friendship
Hospital, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Com-
pleted in 1961.
some $83.7 million in military assistance). Sihanouk then
began relying more heavily on France, Communist China and
the Soviet Union for assistance, primarily military. They
assumed the former U.S. role and increased both their ec-
onomic and military assistance, to the distress of the many
who preferred the United States and who found that the com-
bined assistance from France, China and the Soviet Union
scarcely approached what the U.S. had given. At the same
time Sihanouk instituted a number of economic "reforms"
involving the nationalization of banking and other drastic
measures to help compensate for the loss of U.S. economic
assistance -- reforms that had disastrous economic consequen-
ces. They alienated the elite and made Sihanouk personally
responsible for the economic troubles to come.
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Figure 7. Anti-U.S. demonstration at American
Embassy, March 1964. Note U.S. AID police van.
Sihanouk became increasingly a spokesman for the Chi-
nese Communists, possibly in the hope that the Chinese
would be able to control the North Vietnamese and keep
them from eventually overrunning Cambodia. He supported
the Communist line on most major international issues and
strongly criticized American policy, particularly in South-
east Asia. Relations with the United States finally were
broken in May 1965 and were not resumed until July 1969.
Sihanouk may have decided to resume relations because of
his concern over the large Vietnamese Communist troop
concentrations in Cambodia and because he needed some-
thing to help balance off China and the Vietnamese Com-
munists.
Sihanouk continued to maintain very close ties with
France and there were correct, if not cordial, relations
with a number of other non-Communist countries. Many of
the elite objected to the pro-Communist slant of Sihan-
ouk's brand of neutrality, but also recognized that it
had kept them out of war, allowing them a period of sta-
bility in a turbulent region.
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Figure 8. Prince Norodom Sihanouk reviewing Chinese
16th National Anniversary parade from atop the Tien-
An-Men gate in Peking with Mao Tse-Tung, P'en Chen,
and Liu Shao-Ch'i. October 1965.
Until his ouster in March 1970, Sihanouk was consid-
ered the personification of Cambodia.. He had successfully
guided the country to independence with a minimum of blood-
shed and turmoil, and had managed through guile and hard
work to keep the country intact and at peace through a
prolonged period of regional instability and war. He a-
droitly managed to keep the contending royal and personal
factions in line, and dominated the entire political scene.
All questions of significance were decided by him, either
in his role as Chief of State or as head of the Sangkum.
Although there was peace, a number of problems beset
the nation. The economy was deteriorating. Insurgent
activity, which began in early 1967 in western Cambodia,
was slowly spreading. The Vietnamese Communists were in-
creasing their various uses of Cambodian territory. The
Cambodians suffered many casualties, caused by retaliatory
South Vietnamese and U.S. bombing and shelling.
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Figure 9. Chinese-Communist built plywood factory
at Dey Eth. Completed in 1961.
Figure 10. Soviet Ship unloading military weapons for
Cambodian forces. Probable MIG-17 related crates on
the dock. April 1964.
13
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Figure 11. Japanese built and run Technical Agriculture
Center at Mongkol Borey. August 1965.
Figure 12. Prince Sihanouk and Charles De Gaulle at parade
of racing boats on the Mekong. August 1966.
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Figure 13. Prime Minister Lon Nol, First Deputy Prime Minister
Sisowath Sirik Matak, and Yem Sambaur at a government rally.
April 1970.
In August 1969 Sihanouk asked General Lon Nol, the
Minister of National Defense, to form a new government,
primarily to tackle economic problems. Lon Nol chose
Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak, who had long opposed Sihan-
ouk's policies, to be his deputy. Sihanouk soon became
irritated by Matak's determined and successful attempts
to curtail some of his powers. In early January, after
losing an apparent political ploy to bring down the Cab-
inet which had allied with the National Assembly against
him, Sihanouk left for medical treatment in France.
Until the present government was formed last August,
there was no leader to rally anti-Sihanouk sentiment.
Previously, by counterbalancing the conservatives and
the leftists, Sihanouk had been able to keep his opponents
divided. The leftist forces, in effect, had been purged
by Sihanouk since 1967 and no longer provided him the
maneuvering room which he had enjoyed in previous political
clashes. Many factors contributed to Sihanouk's ouster.
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Lon Nol and Sirik Matak, and other members of the elite,
apparently decided that Sihanouk had been too accommodat-
ing toward the Vietnamese Communists, and grew alarmed over
the increasing Communist use of Cambodia as a sanctuary,
staging area and supply route. Another common criticism
was the widespread corruption that existed in Sihanouk's
entourage. Finally, Sihanouk had dominated Cambodia for
17 years, and many were fed up with him and his autocrat-
ic and flamboyant ways.
The anti-Sihanouk forces now found strong leaders in
Sirik Matak and Lon Nol. They evidently believed that
Sihanouk would try to unseat them when he returned, and
decided to move against him. The two leaders used the
mounting anti-Vietnamese sentiment in Cambodia as the
means to bring him down. They instigated demonstrations
against the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong embassies, in
violation of Sihanouk's policy of not pushing the Com-
munists too far. The demonstrations got out of hand and
the embassies were sacked. In his vehement denunciation
of the government and the demonstrations, Sihanouk suc-
ceeded only in consolidating the rapidly increasing op-
position to him and his policies.
On March 18, 1970 both houses of the Cambodian leg-
islature met at the government's request and voted to
withdraw confidence in Sihanouk as Chief of State. Na-
tional Assembly President, Cheng Heng, was appointed the
acting Chief of State, pending elections.
Sihanouk was about to leave Moscow for Peking when
he learned that he had been ousted. (Sihanouk had been
attempting to persuade the Soviets to persuade the North
Vietnamese to reduce their strength in Cambodia, but
failed in Moscow and seemed unlikely to succeed on the
same task in Peking.) Enraged and humiliated, he flew
on to Peking, where he decided to attempt a return to
power with Communist support -- readily offered by the
Chinese and North Vietnamese.
In speeches on March 23 and May 5, Sihanouk announced
that he had "dissolved" the Lon Nol government, the
Council of the Kingdom, and the National Assembly. He
also announced the formation and establishment of a Royal
Government of National Union (RGNU) headed by Penn Nouth,
one of his most loyal advisors. His government-in-exile
is nominally under the direction of his new political
organization, the National United Front of Cambodia
(FUNK), of which he is chairman. The formation of a
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national liberation army was also announced, and he asked
the people to take to the jungle to carry out the struggle
against the Lon Nol government and the "U.S. imperialists."
He promised arms and ammunition to his supporters.
In Phnom Penh, meanwhile, Lon Nol and Sirik Matak an-
nounced that Cambodia would follow the same neutralist
policies. The Vietnamese Communists, however, began in-
creasing military pressure on the new regime, forcing it
to call upon non-Communist countries, including the U.S.,
for military assistance. Relations with Thailand and
South Vietnam were quickly established, and on April 30th
South Vietnam and the United States launched a 60-day of-
fensive into the Communist strongholds in Cambodia.
Figure 14. President Nguyen Van Thieu of South Vietnam
meeting with Sirik Matak, Cheng Heng, and Lon Nol.
July 1970.
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1. Abercrombie, Thomas J. "Cambodia, Indochina's 'Neutral'
Corner," National Geographic, 126:4, October 1964.
2. American University. Area Handbook for Cambodia. (DA
Pam. 550-50), October 179U-97.
3. Armstrong, John P. Sihanouk Speaks. New York: Walker,
1964.
4. CIA. NIS 43A, Cambodia. "Characteristics of the People,"
sec 42, April 1-
5. CIA. NIS 43A, Cambodia. "General Survey," July 1967. S.
6. CIA. NIS 43A, Cambodia. "Political Dynamics," sec 53,
October 1955. S/NFD.
7. Gordon, Bernard K. and Anne V. Cyr. Cambodia and South-
east Asian Regionalism. McLean, Va.: RAC, .
8. Hay, Stephen N.,ed. A Guide to Books on Southeast Asian
History, 1961-66. Santa Barbara, Cal., 1969.
9. Lancaster, Donald. The Emancipation of French Indo-
China. London: Oxford University Press, 1961.
10. Leifer, Michael. Cambodia: The Search for Security.
New York: Praeger, 1967.
11. Smith, Roger M. Cambodia's Foreign Policy. Ithaca,
N. Y.: Cornell University Press, 1965.
12. Steinberg, David J. et al. Cambodia, Its Peoples, Its
Society, Its Culture. New Haven: HRAF, Rev. Ed., 1959.
13. United Nations, Economic Commission For Asia in the Far
East. Cambodia: A Select Bibliography. Bangkok, 1967.
14. Williams, Maslyn. The Land In Between, The Cambodian
Dilemma. New York: Morrow, 1970.
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CAMBODIA
CHAPTER I - THE LAND
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Introduction
Drainage
Climate
Vegetation
Regions
1
1.
Tonle Sap
- Mekong Del
ta Lowland
9
2.
Transition
al Plains
13
3.
Eastern Hi
ghlands
16
4.
Southweste
rn Highlands
19
2N(1
Coastal Lo
wland
22
1.
Gene
ral
24
2.
Edible Pla
ntlife
25
3.
Fauna
35
a. Food
35
b. Hazard
s
37
4.
Water
44
Table 1
Reading
-- Mean Pr
ecipitation
Photographs
(Abbreviated Titles)
Figure No.
1 Savanna with scattered trees
2 Secondary forest
3 Virgin rain forest
4 Mangrove swamp
5 Rubber plantation in Transitional Plains
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Figure No. Page
6 Coastal ricelands 8
7 Land adjacent to SE end of Tonle Sap 10
8 Rice paddies near Sisophon, NW of Tonle Sap 11
9 Ripening rice crop west of Tonle Sap it
10
Forested phnoms, southern part Transitional
Plains
13
11
Savanna in Transitional Plains, south of
Chaine des Dangrek
14
12
Savanna in Transitional Plains, east of
Mekong (March)
14
13
Eastern Highlands forest cleared for
cultivation
17
14
Forest growth near Labansiek, Eastern
Highlands
18
15
Typical terrain in Mondolkiri Province
18
16
Southern end Chaine de 1'Elephant; coastal
plain at right
20
17
Open coniferous forest, Chaine de l'Elephant
21
18
Narrow sandy beach near Ream
23
19
Coast on Baie de Kompong Som near
Kompong Som (Sihanoukville)
23
.20
Breadfruit
25
21
Breadfruit
26
22
Mango
27
23
Papaya
27
24
Bamboo utensils
28
25
Rattan palm
29
26
Nipa palm
30
27
Fiddlehead fern
30
28
Pandanus tree or screw pine
31
29
Pandanus tree or screw pine
32
30
Cassava
33
31
Taro
33
32
Yam
34
33
Cobra
38
34
Krait
39
35
Russell's viper
39
36
Portuguese man-of-war
41
37
Sea urchin
42
38
Obtaining water from a vine
45
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SECRET
No Foreign Dissem
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE
SUBJECT: ERRATA (November 1970) INTELLIGENCE HANDBOOK FOR
25X1 CAMBODIA - 25X1
PART II
Chapter I - The Land
Pages i and ii: Figures 3 and 6 are transposed: 3
should read "Coastal ricelands"; 6
should read "Virgin rain forest"
Pages 6 and 8 : Switch captions for Figures 3 and 6
Page 45 Figure improperly oriented; view by
turning book counter-clockwise
Page 51 Item 8 - Excape should read "Escape"
Chapter IV - Transportation
Page i Figure 6 should read "Wet season
view of Route 19"
Page 6 Figure 6 caption should read "Wet
season view of Route 19."
Page ii Figure 38 should read "Airfield at
Buong Long"
Figure 39 should read "Airfield at
Virachei"
Page 39 Figure 38 caption should read "Air-
field at Buong Long."
Page 40 Figure 39 caption should read "Air-
field at Virachei."
Chapter V - Telecommunications
Page 3 A portion of the original text, under-
scored below, was omitted from the
first paragraph under C. Broadcasting
SECRET
No Foreign Dissem
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SECRET
No Foreign Dissem
That paragraph should read:
For general domestic broadcasting, Cambodia has one
radio station (known as Chaine Nationale) located in
the Phnom Penh area and a rebroadcast station located
in Battambang. "Chaine Nationale" uses two Philips
transmitters which were purchased in Aril 1964 to re-
lace two older transmitters obtained from Communist
China. Since 1967, t e modern Philips transmitters
s ort-
a 120-kilowatt (kw) medium wave set and a 50-kw
wave set) have been broadcasting the national network
ro rams and the two Chinese transmitters (a 15-kw s ort-
wave set and a 20-kw medium wave set) have been used for
international broadcasting..
Chapter I - Armed Forces
References to Military Regions (MR's) which appear
in this Chapter (and in the APPENDIX under the
title MILITARY REGIONS/PROVINCES) should be cor-
rected as follows:
Page 2 Footnote should read "From 1968
to May 1970 there were six MR's.
By about May 1970, MR VI had been
dissolved, and by August MR V was
operating out of Phnom Penh on a
skeleton staff basis."
Figure 2 (following page 2) - Delete foot-
note "dissolved mid 1970" and
reference to "HQ. Stung Treng" in
box titled Military Region V.
APPENDIX Military Re Regions V and VI (Dis-
so, ve should readRITitary
Region V
SECRET
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CHAPTER I -- THE LAND
(January 1970
Cambodia is a compact country of about 67,000 square
miles, slightly smaller in area than the State of Wash-
ington. It extends about 360 miles from west to east
(102?20'E to 107?40'E) and about 280 miles from north to
south (14?35'N to 10?25'N). The straight-line distance
from the capital, Phnom Penh, to the nearest point on
the South Vietnam border is only about 40 miles. Cam-
bodia's boundaries extend approximately 1,600 miles --
with Thailand on the west and northwest, Laos on the
northeast, and South Vietnam on the east, southeast, and
south. To the southwest, an irregular coastline of some
400 miles provides access to the Gulf of Thailand.
Each of Cambodia's several terrain regions has hys-
ical features
. The Tonle Sap-Mekong Delta
e1 n 1), e political and economic heart of
the nation, is low-lying and intensively cultivated
plain which surrounds the Tonle Sap (Great Lake)* and
extends along the Mekong Delta to the South Vietnam
border. Ninety percent of Cambodia's people live in
this region. The Transitional Plains (Region 2), adjoin
Region 1, extending westward and northward to t e Thai
frontier and eastward across the Mekong. This thinly
forested, sparsely populated, and better drained region
contains scattered hills. The Transitional Plains merge
in the east with the generally heavily forested and
sparsely peopled Eastern Highlands (Region 3) along the
South Vietnam and Laos borders. Vietnamese Communist
forces, operating in the neighboring highlands of South
Vietnam, use this upland region for sanctuary and their
* In this study the term Tonle Sap refers only to the
lake of that name; the stream through which Tonle Sap
waters are discharged into the Mekong River is desig-
nated the Tonle Sap River.
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supply routes crisscross parts of the region. The South-
western Highlands (Region 4), a rugged, densely forested,
and largely uninhabited mountainous tract, occupy much of
the land between the Tonle Sap and the Gulf of Thailand.
The region is largely unknown and contains the most
extensive stand of virgin rain forest in Indochina. The
Coastal Lowland (Region 5), a heavily wooded and moder-
ately populated coastal strip of varying width, is isolated
from the rest of the country by the mountains of the South-
western Highlands.
B. Drainage
Rivers on the seaward slopes of the mountains in the
Southwestern Highlands drain into the Gulf of Thailand;
elsewhere, streams empty into either the Tonle Sap drain-
age system or the Mekong River. From October to June the
Tonle Sap waters empty into the Mekong; this flow is
reversed during the rainy season (mid-May--early October).
The floodwaters of the Mekong surge northwestward into
the Tonle Sap, extending its area from a dry-season
minimum of some 1,200 square miles to a rainy-season
maximum of more than 3,000 square miles. Maximum depths
in the lake increase from about 7 feet to more than 35
feet. During the rainy season, streams that may be only
trickles in the dry months become torrential and laden
with silt. The small ponds of the Tonle Sap-Mekong
Delta Lowland that are not swallowed by the expanding
waters of the Tonle Sap may coalesce to form large lakes.
C. Climate
Cambodia's climate is characterized by a monsoonal
circulation with marked seasonal changes in prevailing
wind direction. From mid-May into early October, gen-
erally strong winds flow out of the southwest. Cloud-
iness is variable, precipitation is slight, and humid-
ity is low. Between the monsoon seasons the weather is
transitional; winds are variable in both intensity and
direction.
Temperatures are high throughout the year. Mean
daily temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit (at six weather
stations) range from maximums of from 96 to 74, and
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minimums of from 77 to 59. During the spring transi-
tional season, however -- just before the onset of the
southwest monsoon rains -- temperatures are generally
a few degrees higher than during other seasons. At this
time they reach the middle 90's in the lowlands, but
rarely exceed 100 degrees. Lowest temperatures occur
during the period of least precipitation (November to
March). In the lowlands they may rise only into the
middle or upper 80's; upland temperatures are some-
what lower. Daily minimum temperatures in both low-
lands and uplands are generally 15 to 20 degrees lower
than maximums.
Rainfall varies considerably throughout the country
-- from upwards of 200 inches annually on some parts of
the coast (Bokor -- 182 inches annually) and seaward
slopes of the Southwestern Highlands, which receive the
brunt of the rain-laden winds of the southwest monsoon,
to as little as 50 inches in the rain shadow* on the
lowlands north and east of the Southwestern Highlands
(Table 2). A climatic station on the coast near Kam-
pot, for example, has recorded more than 80 inches of
rain in a single month, while Phnom Penh, in the rain
shadow, receives a mean yearly rainfall of only 54.8
inches. Stations farther north in the plains, away
from the rain shadow, receive somewhat greater yearly
rainfall, generally between 70 and 80 inches. The
southwestern slopes of the Eastern Highlands receive
well over 100 inches of rain annually, while slopes
facing the northeast receive considerably less.
Although it may rain at any time, between 70 and
80 percent of the total annual rainfall coincides
with the southwest monsoon; during January and Feb-
ruary -- the driest months of the year -- precipitation
may be reduced to only a trace. The torrential down-
pours of the southwest monsoon are preceded by the "mango
rains"** -- the scattered and generally light showers
* A rain shadow is an area that receives relatively
light rainfall because a terrain feature shelters it
from prevailing rainbearing winds.
** So called because they create almost overnight
growth of plants, including mangos, in the forests.
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that break the dry spell in late March or early April.
Thunderstorm activity -- including violent rains, gusty
winds, lightning, and hail -- peaks early during the
southwest monsoon, and then tapers off with less fre-
quent and less intense storms continuing into October.
Such storms most commonly occur in late afternoon or
early evening, seldom in the morning.
25X1
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Figure 1. Savanna with scattered trees. This
type of vegetation prevails on the plains between
the Tonle Sap-Mekong Delta Lowland and the
fringing mountains.
Figure 2. Secondary forest. This densely tangled
undergrowth quickly sprouts after slash-and-burn
plots have been abandoned.
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Figure 3. Virgin rain
blanketforest.
manyeof thelseawardn-
sely canopied growths
slopes of the Southwestern Highlands. uTherfloors of
such forests bear surprisingly little .
6
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Figure 4. Mangrove swamps defy penetration by man.
7
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Figure S. Rubber plantation in Transitional Plain; near
South Vietnam border.
Figure 6. Coastal ricelands.
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Andaung
Pech
Cambodia
VEGETATION
Broadleaf evergreen forest
Savanna and open deciduous forest
Swamp forest (mangrove and nipa palm)
Marsh vegetation and grassland
Dryland crops
Tree crops, chiefly rubber
Wetland rice
Statute Miles
25 50
Kilometers
SOUTH CHINA
SEA
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D. Vegetation
About 80 percent of Cambodia is forested. Vege-
tation includes stunted deciduous trees scattered in
the savannas of the plains, jungles of secondary broad-
leaf evergreen growths interspersed with patches cleared
for slash-and-burn farming in the eastern and south-
western mountains, towering virgin rain forests on the
more remote seaward slopes of the southwestern mountains,
ribbons of impenetrable mangrove forests along more
sheltered coastal stretches, and rubber trees on the
large plantations in the eastern uplands and on the
southeastern parts of the plains. Most of the non-
forested area is cultivated -- principally by pro-
ducers of wetland rice in the Mekong Delta and around
the shores of the Tonle Sap.
B. Regions
1. Tonle Sap-Mekong Delta Lowland
The heavily populated Tonle Sap-Mekong Delta
Lowland is characterized by low elevations -- con-
siderably less than 50 feet above sea level -- and
poor drainage. Up to one-third of the region is in-
undated to various depths during the rainy season, and
a smaller area is under water at all times. Only on
its fringes does an occasional low hill break the mon-
otony of the horizon.
Immediately adjacent to the Tonle Sap is a wide
belt of water-resistant forest; interspersed with mud-
flats and patches of marsh grass, this belt is inun-
dated during the rainy season. Elsewhere on the plain
around the Tonle Sap and throughout the Mekong Delta,
rice paddies -- mixed with tracts of tall grass and
reeds, thinly wooded stands, and fields of dry crops
-- dominate the landscape. Individual ricefields,
which range up to 5 acres in size, are separated from
each other by earthen dikes that are up to 2 feet high
and 2 feet wide. Rice is planted soon after the ar-
rival of the monsoon rains and is harvested in Novem-
ber or December, when it has attained a height of about
4 feet. Water depths in the ricefields may exceed 1
foot during the growing season; they diminish toward
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the end of the rainy season, and the fields are dry by
the time the crop is harvested. After the harvest, most
fields are left fallow with stubble, and soils become
desiccated. A few of the fields in the delta, however,
are planted to dry crops -- mostly maize -- after the
rice crop has been gathered, and they are then harvested
prior to the beginning of the next rainy season.
Figure 7. Land adjacent to Tonle Sap during rainy season.
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Figure 8. Rice paddies near Sisophon, northwest of Tonle
Sap.
Figure 9. Ripening rice crop near Battambang, west
of Tonle Sap.
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-~~704,1r
r. ti1un o
Warin
Paks /( r f
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K H O R A T PLATEAU
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TRANSITIO L. PLAINS
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TERRAIN REGIONS
t7
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? National capital
Long
Spot elevations in feet
DON SON
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NOT NECESSARILY 1UTHORITATWIF
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2. Transitional Plains
This thinly settled region is characterized by
terrain and vegetation that are transitional between
the low-lying, poorly drained, and intensively cul-
tivated Tonle Sap-Mekong Delta Lowland and the often
rugged and densely forested mountains of the east and
southwest. The terrain is flat to undulating, with
prevailing elevations several hundred feet above sea
level. It is interrupted in places, however, by densely
forested hills (called phnoms) that may rise steeply
to 1,000 feet above the adjacent plain. Such hills
vary in shape and size. Some are sharp pinnacles no
more than a mile in diameter; others are flat-topped
mesas that extend for several miles. Some of the
limestone hills between Battambang (Region 1) and
the Thai border are honeycombed with 25X1
25X1
Figure 10. Densely forested phnoms in southern part
of Transitional Plains.
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Figure 11. Savanna with scattered deciduous trees
in Transitional Plains south of the Chatne des
Dangrek.
Figure 12. Savanna in Transitional Plains east
of the Mekong during latter part of dry season
(March).
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Savanna, with grass up to 5 feet high, forms the pre-
vailing vegetation. Deciduous trees and shrubs are scat-
tered. In places, the trees are closely spaced and have
continuous canopies; elsewhere, they may be hundreds of
feet apart. They shed their leaves for varying periods
from mid-November to mid-March; during the last weeks of
this period the landscape is parched -- trees are leaf-
less, grass is brown, and hundreds of fires burn across
the savanna. The fires are ignited by farmers to per-
mit the growth of new, more palatable grasses for their
cattle. In addition, the fires roast such edible animal
life as rodents, tortoises, and lizards and provide a
source of food. The smoke enshrouds the region until
the "mango rains" arrive in late March or early April
to clear the air and revitalize the dormant vegetation.
Broadleaf evergreen forests prevail on the scattered
hills of the region and along stream valleys, where
they form jungled ribbons that meander across the
savanna. The savanna also is broken by densely forested
spurs of the peripheral uplands that jut fingerlike in-
to it. A few cultivated tracts, planted mostly to rice,
are concentrated near the rivers.
More than 200 miles of the northern boundary of
this region is formed by the Chaine des Dangrek, which
also forms part of the Thailand-Cambodia border. A
southward-facing, heavily dissected cliff covered with
dense evergreen forest rises steeply some 600 to 1,800
feet above the adjacent Cambodian plains. The range
slopes more gradually northward to the Khorat Plateau
of northeast Thailand. Only one (dry-season) road
crosses it, but the cart tracks that traverse the
water gaps may be jeepable in the dry season.
Unlike the Tonle Sap-Mekong Delta Lowland, little
flooding occurs in this region to deter cross-country
movement by wheeled vehicles. Soggy ground, however,
which prevails locally during part of the rainy season,
may limit such movement to vehicles with 4-wheel drive.
The restrictions imposed by the vegetation on the cross-
country vehicular travel vary seasonally. Grass and
shrubs, which form no more than a thin stubble cover by
the end of the dry season and readily permit such travel,
may reach heights of several feet by the end of the
rainy season and discourage movement by all wheeled vehi-
cles. Numerous densely jungled stream valleys would
further hinder vehicular travel at all seasons. Foot,
travel would be little affected at any time by weather
or vegetation.
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3. Eastern Highlands
The lightly populated Eastern Highlands, part of
a vast dissected plateau region that extends into neigh-
boring Laos and South Vietnam, consist of three blocks
of mountainous or hilly terrain separated one from
another by broad rolling river valleys of the west-
ward-flowing Se San and Srepok. The headwaters of both
rivers rise in the adjoining uplands of South Vietnam,
and their courses have served as supply routes, via
Cambodia, of Communist forces across the border. In
the north -- between the Laotian border and the Se San --
terrain is higher and more rugged than in the rest of
the region with steep slopes rising from narrow valleys
to peaks up to nearly 5,000 feet in elevation. Else-
where, terrain is characterized by rounded hills with
generally moderate slopes. The highest peak (Phnom
Nam Lyr, a Communist base in the southeastern part of
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the region, 2 miles from the South Vietnam border) is
3,537
feet above sea level; few summits are more than 2,000
above adjacent valley floors.
feet
Vegetation is varied. There are extensive tracts of
open deciduous forests and grasslands, particularly in
Mondolkiri Province, in the southern half of the region.
Broadleaf evergreen forests prevails at higher elevations
and comprises a patchwork of tracts in different stages
of growth. Plots cleared for slash-and-burn cultivation
form enclaves within jungles of secondary growths, which
may attain heights of more than 100 feet, are character-
ized by their often impentrable undergrowths of vines,
rattans, palms, bamboos, and assorted woody and herba-
ceous ground plants. The undergrowth of the deciduous
forests, in contrast, most commonly consists of tall
grass and scattered shrubs.
Figure 13. Eastern Highlands forest cleared
for cultivation.
Although the grass may be too high during much of
the year for wheeled vehicles, the hills of Mondolkiri
Province are suitable for most cross-country movement,
as are the more open stands of deciduous forest on the
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lower, drier slopes of the region. Elsewhere, generally
dense vegetation and some steep slopes would bar all ve-
hicular movement. Cross-country foot movement is possible
in any part of the region, but the steep slopes along the
Laotian frontier may make such movement extremely arduous.
Communist personnel have traversed this area en route to
South Vietnam, stopping at several rest areas along the
way. Dense vegetation -- particularly the extensive
tracts of secondary forest -- would be the major deterrent
to foot travel in most of the rest-of the region.
Figure 14. Forest growth near Labansiek in Eastern
Highlands. White plots are slash-and-burn clearings.
Figure 15. Typical rolling, grassy terrain in Mondolkiri
Province.
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4. Southwestern Highlands
The remote and little-known Southwestern High-
lands comprise two distinct upland blocks. In the north
the rugged and largely uninhabited Chaine des Cardamomes
trends southeast-northwest for nearly 150 miles. Several
peaks top 5,000 feet; Phnom Aural (5,810 feet) at the
eastern end of the chain is the highest point in Cam-
bodia. No major passes cross the chain. In the south-
east the lower, less,rugged, but equally sparsely
peopled Chaine de 1'Elephant is alined generally north-
south for some 75 miles. This chain is halved by a
broad pass at an elevation well under 1,000 feet. The
pass is traversed by the US-financed Khmer-American
Friendship Highway, which links the port of Sihanouk-
ville with Phnom Penh. No major road taps any other
part of the Southwestern Highlands.
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Figure 16. Southern end of Chafne de l'E16phant, with
narrow coastal plain at right.
Much of the Cardamomes, particularly the rain-
drenched seaward slopes, is blanketed with virgin
rain forest. Heavily buttressed trees up to 3 1/2 feet
in diameter tower to heights of more than 150 feet.
Canopies are dense, little sunlight reaches the forest
floor, and undergrowth is sparse. Elsewhere in the
Cardamomes and throughout most of the Chaine de 1'
fl6phant, lower but more profuse secondary growths
similar to those of the Eastern Highlands prevail.
Open forests of pine and other conifers occupy some
of the higher slopes, deciduous forests fringe in-
terior margins of the region, fields of wetland rice
are sprinkled along the lower sectors of some of the
broader valleys, and slash-and-burn fields are scat-
tered throughout the secondary forest.
25X1
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Figure 17. Open coniferous forest in Chaine de 1'
E16phant.
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5. Coastal Lowland
Cambodia's coastline varies; only between Kampot
and the South Vietnam border does the Coastal Lowland
merge with the interior plains. Transportation into
the is relatively well developed in this sec-
25X1 Around the Baie de Kompong Som the
low an s extend inland for 25 miles or more. Elsewhere,
mountains may extend almost to the sea. At the south-
ern end of the Chafne de 11El6phant, for example, the
lowland is only a mile or so wide. West of the Baie
de Kompong Som, it is narrow and interrupted by nu-
merous hilly spurs of the Chafne des Cardamomes.
Settlement is more dense than in the Southwestern
Highlands. Villages extend along the more hospitable
segments of the shore, frequently where rivers flow
into the sea. Between the Baie de Kompong Som and
the Thai border, the region is remote and untapped by
roads, and communication with the rest of the country
is blocked by the neighboring mountains. Several large
and numerous small islands lie a few miles offshore.
Most are hilly, densely forested, and sparsely in-
habited. The larger islands have well-sheltered coves
25X1 with sandy beaches 25X1
The vegetation of the Coastal Lowland is a con-
tinuation of that of the adjacent slopes of the South-
western Highlands -- a mixture of virgin and secondary
broadleaf evergreen forests interspersed with small
cultivated patches. Only in the east, where the
Coastal Lowland merges with the interior plains, do
cultivated fields prevail. Some coastal vegetation
is distinctive. Where the shores are well protected
from the winds -- at the heads of bays and along
tidal estuaries -- nearly impenetrable evergreen man-
grove forests occupy coastal strips that are up to
several hundred yards wide. These growths, charac-
terized by a dense network of trunks and aerial roots,
are inundated up to several feet at high tide. Com-
monly associated with the mangrove forests along their
inland margins are equally dense growths of nipa palms
-- trees with horizontal trunks buried in the mud,
from which closely spaced fronds grow vertically to
heights of 20 feet. The nipas have usually been thin-
ned out near populated areas, as the fronds are used
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for roofing material. Along less sheltered coastal
stretches, particularly between the Baie de Kompong Som
and the South Vietnam border, the broadleaf evergreen
forests prevalent in the interior extend to the sea or
may back narrow sandy beaches sprinkled with coconut
palms and pinelike casuarina trees.
Figure 18. Narrow sandy beach near Ream.
Figure 19. Sector of coast on Baie de Kompong Som near
Kompong Som.
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Because roads are lacking and waterways are numerous,
small shallow-draft boats provide the best means of trans-
port into the forested lowlands, The rivers are navi-
gable only to the mountains, however, and would not pro-
vide through routes into the interior. The dense forests
and soggy soils throughout the Coastal Lowland would
preclude vehicular and foot cross-country movement.
Travel between villages is mostly along the coasts by
small native boats.
1. General
Plant food and various forms
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2. Edible Plantlife
Although an abundance of edible plantlife,
cultivated and wild, is present in most parts of Cambodia,
individuals unfamiliar with tropical plants may have dif-
ficulty in distinguishing poisonous and nonpoisonous spe-
cies. Among the more plentiful and edible fruits are the
breadfruit, jackfruit, durian, mango, mangosteen, papaya,
rambutan, and banana. Most of these fruits ripen during
the rainy season:
Figure 20. Breadfruit.
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Figure 21. Breadfruit.
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Figure 22.
Mango.
Papaya (Carlca papaya)
Figure 23. Papaya.
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Tender, young bamboo shoots are an excellent source
of food, and may be combined with other foods in salads,
stews, or soups. The tough outer shields encasing the
shoots must be removed before cooking. The stalk of
the mature bamboo can be used to fashion cooking and
eating utensils. The shoots of the climbing rattan
palm are edible, as are those of various other trees
and shrubs. The young unopened buds of wild sugar-
cane are edible if cooked, and the stems, roots, and
young shoots can be peeled and consumed raw. Seeds
of coniferous trees -- most common at higher ele-
vations -- are tasty, nutritious, and easy to extract
if the cones are heated.
Figure 24. Bamboo utensils.
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Figure 25. Rattan palm.
Along the sandy beaches and on some of the interior
plains, palms are a good source of food. In addition
to the fruit they produce (coconuts and dates), the soft
interiors of the trunks of many palms can be eaten when
boiled or roasted. Picking the fruit of the coconut
palm may pose a problem, however, because of the height
of the tree, and the removal of the husk and the opening
of the shell may be difficult for one who does not have
a heavy knife. The seeds (dates) of the nipa palm --
found along coastal inlets adjacent to the mangrove
forests -- are edible. Young seeds, which ripen in
the rainy season, should be boiled for a few minutes;
mature seeds are usually too hard to eat.
The inner bark and terminal buds of many other
trees also are edible, and the inner bark of conif-
erous trees is a particularly good source of sus-
tenance. A wide variety of edible ferns abounds in
moist shady places and, although low in food value,
when eaten with other foods would help to sustain life.
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Figure 27. Fiddlehead fern.
30
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The pandanus tree (screw pine), which grows in sandy
coastal areas and in moist interior locations, produces
pineapplelike clusters of fruit. This fruit, including
the seeds, may be eaten raw when it is yellow and
breaking apart; when unripe it should be wrapped in
leaves and roasted.
Figure 28. Pandanus tree or screw
pine.
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Figure 29. Pandanus tree or screw pine.
A number of plants in moist, forested areas have
edible -- and often tasty -- tuberous roots. They
include arrowroot, cassava, taro, and yams. None
should be eaten raw because they may contain toxic
ingredients that are removed only by cooking. Cas-
sava, for example, contains poisonous hydrocyanic
acid. The tubers should be cut into thin slices,
crushed, and cooked in several changes of water.
Various types of fungi such as mushrooms, puffballs,
and wood fungi also grow in damp wooded areas -- on
the ground, on decaying trees, or on termite mounds.
Many are edible, but all should be avoided since some
are poisonous and all are low in food value.
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Figure
30.
Cassava.
Figure 31. Taro
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Figure 32. Yam.
When traveling through forested areas, one should
look for edible plants in clearings, such as along
streams or in burned or cutover places. In the moun-
tains, where shifting agriculture is practiced, many
food plants continue to grow wild after the cultivated
plots are abandoned. Few plant foods are found in
areas of dense underbrush, and they are not likely to
be abundant in the drier open forests or grasslands.
There is no foolproof method to determine whether
or not a plant will be harmful when eaten, but certain
rules may be applied. In general, it is safe to try
plants that are eaten by birds and mammals, partic-
ularly by members of the ape family. Anything with an
unusually bitter, soapy, or otherwise disagreeable
taste may be harmful, and plants with milky juices
should be avoided entirely. Plants that are bristly
or scratch the tongue should not be eaten; they will
probably do the same to the digestive tract. A
strange plant should never be eaten in large quantity
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until a small portion has been tested; small amounts
of poisonous food are not likely to prove dangerous.
In addition to wild plants, cultivated varieties
may provide sources of food. Rice is planted in May
or June and harvested late in the year. The ripened
grain can be eaten raw but, if possible, should be
cooked into a broth. A variety of fruits and veg-
etables are usually grown in and around villages.
3. Fauna
a) Food
Although many areas of Cambodia are teeming
with a variety of wildlife, the abundance of game is
not readily apparent to the casual traveler. While
large animals such as elephants, tigers, or wild buf-
falo are especially furtive, they should be avoided
anyway because of their potential danger. Small game
such as squirrels, rabbits, badgers, civets, monkeys,
or wild fowl are more likely to be encountered. For
those who are not equipped with firearms, however,
obtaining game -- large or small -- will be a problem.
Unless an individual is well versed in the preparation
and use of traps and snares, any time spent in their
construction is likely to prove futile. Subsisting
off more easily obtained plant life and lower forms
of animal life is recommended.
Fish and other marine life are more readily
obtained than game and are an especially nutritious
food source. The Tonle Sap and other smaller lakes,
streams, roadside ditches, and even rice paddies
abound with a wide variety of fish, crustaceans, mol-
lusks, snails, turtles, and frogs. Fish can be caught
with the equipment included in standard survival kits
or by improving tackle from odds and ends of such
personal equipment as wire or pins or from such plant
life as bamboo or saplings. When shallow streams are
dammed with rocks or mud, the fish can be easily
caught in makeshift scoops or nets. Fish are easiest
to catch at the end of the rainy season when they are
trapped in pools left behind by receding waters. As
the waters of the wet-season Tonle Sap recede, hundreds
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of fishermen erect bamboo weirs to trap the fish as they
swim back to the sanctuary of the dry-season lake.
A variety of saltwater fish, most of them edible,
abounds in Cambodia's coastal waters. Several species
have poisonous flesh, however, and should not be eaten.
Such fish usually can be identified by their heavy
parrotlike beaks, thick lips, absence of scales, or
separated dorsal spines unconnected by membrane; most
inhabit shallow waters around islands or reefs. Oysters
found growing in clumps, colonies, or mounds and exposed
at low tide should be considered poisonous.
All land snakes are edible. Even poisonous species
can be eaten if the venom sacs are removed by cutting
off the head. Care must be taken not to get the venom
into any skin lesion. The meat of all sea snakes should
be avoided. Various species of edible lizards -- some
of them ranging up to several feet long -- are found
in all regions of the country. They are most likely to
be seen along tracks, roads, or riverbanks, but some
types live in burrows or termite mounds and others are
tree climbers.
Birds are abundant, the seasonally inundated forest
of the Tonle Sap being a particularly popular nesting
place. All species -- and their eggs -- are edible.
The best places to hunt for birds or mammals are in
forest clearings and along trails, roads, streams, and
lakeshores, where they come to in search of food and water.
They are least likely to be encountered in densely forested
tracts. The possibilities of sighting game vary seasonally,
especially in the grasslands and open forests, where
the tall grass may obscure animals during the rainy season.
During the dry season, in contrast, much of the grass
cover is burned off, and the desiccation of many of the
watering places forces animals to congregate near those
that remain. Leaf fall in the deciduous forests also
enhances sighting possibilities in the dry season. If
personnel are armed, they should lie in wait for animals
at watering places during the early morning or at dusk.
Because many animals and fish carry dangerous in-
testinal parasites, all meat should be cleaned and cooked
thoroughly before eating. Because meat spoils rapidly
under tropical conditions, it should be eaten within 24
hours after cooking. If thin slices of meat are smoked
or sun dried, they will keep indefinitely.
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Insects are an easily accessible source of emergency
food for the psychologically prepared traveler. Grass-
hoppers, termites, and the larvae of many insects
(usually found in rotten logs or bamboo, in the ground,
or under the bark of dead trees) are edible and nourishing.
Such food can be eaten raw without ill effects, but if
cooked may be more appealing to the squeamish.
Hazards
A number of large animals, including the elephant,
rhinoceros, wild boar, wild dog, wild buffalo, tiger,
leopard, panther, and bear, are potential hazards to man.
None are likely to be encountered, however, unless a
traveler traverses game trails or lingers near watering
places. Even if encountered, none are likely to attack
a human unless cornered, injured, or surprised -- as,
for example, when a mother is with her young. To evade
such hazards one need only avoid camping near trails,
watering sites, or obvious feeding and bedding areas
and keep a small fire going at night -- when such
animals are most active.
Four varieties of snakes in Cambodia are potentially
deadly: the cobra; its larger and more menacing relative,
the king cobra; the banded krait; and the Russell's viper.
Several species of kraits, vipers, and sea snakes also
are present, but in general their bites are painful at
worst and dangerous only to those who are allergic to
the particular venom. Even deadly snakes are not a
serious menace because, being timid, they will disappear
at the slightest disturbance. An attack is unlikely
unless the snake is stumbled over accidentally but
precautions should be taken.
One should be particularly careful when moving
around slash, fallen trees or limbs, brush piles, or
other deadfall. Snakes also may seclude themselves
in ratholes (common in dikes separating rice paddies)
or in earthen mounds such as anthills or termite mounds.
When traversing rocky terrain, the traveler should
look, if possible, before placing his hands on rocks
or ledges above his head or before stepping down into
shadowed rock crevices. Since snakes generally are
most active at night, one should be doubly cautious
after sundown when moving about places favored by
snakes. When camping, clothes and equipment should
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be hung on tree limbs rather than being placed on the
ground. Similarly, it is good practice to sleep in a ham-
mock or on an improvised sleeping platform. Because the
venom may act on the body in a matter of minutes, all
snakebites must be treated as quickly as possible (one
should always assume that the offender is poisonous).
Pain is not an accurate indicator of the seriousness of
a bite. The bite of the cobra, for example, is not
initially painful.
Figure 33. Cobra. Typical combat attitude --
raised head and spread hood -- is most recog-
nizable characteristic.
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Figure 34. Krait. Alternate black and yellow
bands and ridged backbone identify this poi-
sonous snake.
Figure 35. Russell's viper. Note thick body and distinctive
chainlike markings on hack.
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Crocodiles may be encountered in coastal swamps and
in the deltaic distributaries of the Mekong. They have
surprising speed and agility when stalking their prey in
water and should be avoided.
A variety of stinging jellyfish -- including the
highly poisonous Portuguese man-of-war may be found
floating in the waters of the Gulf of Thailand. All
such "fish" have stinging units in their tentacles but,
except for the man-of-war, their stings are not poi-
sonous. Sea urchins are common in shallow, coral-laden
waters. Their sharp venomous spines can inflict pain-
ful wounds on a shoeless wader. unlucky enough to step
on one. Venomous sea life such as the scorpion fish,
stonefish, toadfish, zebra fish, and stingray also
frequent coral reefs and shallow inshore waters. They
lie motionless on the bottom among rocks or chunks of
coral or burrow into the bottom. Difficult to see,
they may easily he stepped on by one not exercising
extreme caution. All are equipped with venomous spines
which can inflict painful wounds. Other potentially
dangerous or troublesome aquatic animals include the
barracuda, electric ray, shark, moray eel, and conger
eel.
Small pests are probably the greatest threat to
the well-being of a traveler. Various biting and
stinging insects, leeches, ticks, ants, and spiders
abound in Cambodia and are particularly bothersome
during the rainy season. Some are serious hazards.
Several of the innumerable mosquito species in the
country, for instance, transmit malaria, dengue fever,
filariasis, and other infections. Although the in-
cidence of malaria has been reduced since the inception
of control and eradication programs in 1962, personnel
should take precautions against the bites of malaria-
carrying insects. Malaria-bearing mosquitoes are
most prevalent in poorly drained, sunny, lowland regions,
but breed in mountain streams and much of the South-
western Highlands is malaria-infested. A traveler in
mosquito-infested areas, in addition to taking malaria-
suppressant drugs, should use insect repellent and
wear suitable clothing and netting to keep exposed
skin to a minimum, particularly after sundown. The
transmission period of malaria reaches a peak during
the rainy season when breeding places are most abun-
dant.
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Figure 36. Portuguese man-of-war. A
sting from this jellyfish can be extrem-
ely painful.
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Figure 37. Sea urchin. The sharp spines can in-
flict painful wounds.
Flies, which abound in the rainy season, vary greatly
in size and in the discomfort they can cause. Some are
vicious biters. Since various species may produce
secondary infections by depositing their larvae in skin
lesions such as abrasions, bites, or rashes, all skin
lesions should be kept clean and covered with clean
material. Near villages, flies may be mechanical vectors
(carriers) of intestinal, skin, or eye diseases. Pro-
tective measures used against mosquitoes are generally
effective against flies.
Rats and other rodents are likely to be infested
with fleas and lice, which in turn may carry several
diseases, including typhus and plague. The use of
louse powder, exposure of clothing to direct sunlight
for a few hours, and frequent washing of the body
in hot soapy water are good precautions against such
pests. Sandfleas, which may be encountered near bodies
of water, can cause great discomfort.
Bloodsucking land leeches may infest the grass-
lands and the ferny undergrowth in the forests during
the rainy season. They cling to the vegetation and
eagerly attach themselves to passersby. It is dif-
ficult to keep them from the body because of their
ability to pass through small openings - - even through
coarse stockings or the eyelets of laced shoes. Their
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bites generally are painless but may cause discomfort and
loss of blood. Leeches often are discovered only by a
thorough examination of the body; in leech-infested coun-
try, such examinations should be frequent. Leeches should
be removed carefully to avoid secondary infection by
applying a burning cigarette or some dehydrating sub-
stance such as salt, alcohol, iodine, tobacco juice, or
dry ashes. If the leech is pulled off by force the
wound may become infected. Another variety of leech
which infests streams and other water bodies can be a
menace to one seeking a refreshing dip.
Ticks, common in wooded and grassy areas, are car-
riers of scrub typhus and may cause secondary infections
if improperly removed from the skin. Having jaws, they
are more difficult to remove than leeches but, like
leeches, sometimes can be dislodged by being touched
with lighted cigarettes; they also may be removed by
being painted with iodine or covered with vaseline or
a similar viscous substance. If other methods fail,
a sterile instrument should be used to extract them,
the area of broken skin being treated with antibiotic
ointment to prevent secondary infection.
Ants, a particular nuisance, may be seen swarming
over the forest floor or on forest vegetation. One
should be especially careful not to brush against ant-
infested bamboo lest dozens of infuriated stinging
insects swarm down his back. A nocturnal visit from
hundreds of ants is not unlikely for one camping in
the forest; a liberal spraying of DDT inside the tent
or around the sleeping area is an effective deterrent
to such invasions.
Scorpions, although less numerous than other pests,
may be encountered. Normally found under stones, in
tree trunks, or in soil crevices, they may come into
camping sites and seek out sleeping bags or such items
of clothing as shoes. To guard against their stings,
sleeping platforms should be improvised and clothing
should not be left on the ground. The scorpion's
sting is extremely painful and can incapacitate a man
for several days. Bites or stings from other pests
may be painful, but their effect normally does not
last as long unless the individual is allergic.
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 Approved For Release 2007/03/08: CIA-RDP80-01444R000100130001-4
4. Water
25X1 1
I During the latter part of the dry season,
however, local shortages may occur, particularly on
the plains north of the Tonle Sap. Even if stream
valleys appear dry, they may yield drinking water if
one digs into spots where the drainage from surrounding
slopes tends to concentrate.
Water may be located by studying vegetation patterns
or the movements of birds and animals. For example, a
line of trees in grasslands may mark a water source.
Most birds fly to water at least once a day and game
trails eventually lead to water. At the beginning of
their evening flights, bats always fly to a place where
water is available.
Most water sources are polluted and carry diseases
such as dysentery, cholera, or typhoid; blood flukes
and various types of worms also may be transmitted
through drinking water. The most dangerous sources are
slow-moving bodies of water downriver from villages,
whereas the safest drinking water is in clear, fast-
moving mountain streams. All water, however -- even
from such streams or from municipal-treated sources --
should be considered contaminated and should be purified
by using chemicals such as halazone or iodine, or by
boiling for 1 minute plus 1 additional minute for each
1,000 feet of elevation.
Rainwater can be collected by devising a makeshift
container from available clothing or equipment; a
poncho serves as an ideal catchment. The leaves, stems,
and roots of many succulent plants and the stems of
many vines, climbing rattans, and bamboo contain
water that can be drunk safely without treatment. Vines
and rattans should be cut into 2- or 3-foot lengths and
allowed to drip. Water can be drained from large
bamboo shafts by cutting into each segment just above
the joint. Nipa palms and young banana trees may yield
water if their trunks are gashed. Tips of the aerial
roots of the pandanus tree also may contain water. The
flower stalks of all palms contain a drinkable sugary
sap, and the green nuts of the coconut palm yield a
fluid that can be drunk in quantity without harmful ef-
fect.
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 Approved For Release 2007/03/08: CIA-RDP80-01444R000100130001-4
S-E-C-R.-E-T
Figure 38. Obtaining water from a vine.
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 Approved For Release 2007/03/08: CIA-RDP80-01444R000100130001-4
S-E-C-R-E-T
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 Approved For Release 2007/03/08: CIA-RDP80-01444R000100130001-4
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 Approved For Release 2007/03/08: CIA-RDP80-01444R000100130001-4
S-E-C-R-E-T
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 Approved For Release 2007/03/08: CIA-RDP80-01444R000100130001-4
S-E-C-R-E-T
READING LIST
1. Air Force. Survival, AF Manual 64-3, Training Ed,
1962. U.
2. CIA. NIS 42/43, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, North
Vietnam, South Vietnam, sec 23, "Weather and Climate,"
Oct OUO.
3. CIA. NIS 43, Indochina, sec 21, "Military Geography,"
May 1954. C.
4. CIA. NIS 43A, Indochina, sec 22, "Coasts and Landing
Beaches," Sep 1961. CTNFD.
S. CIA. NIS 43A, Indochina, sec 24, "Topography," Jun
1967. C.
6. CIA. NIS 43A, Indochina, sec 45, "Health and Sanitation,"
Dec 1966. C.
7. Craighead, F. C. and J. J., How to Survive on Land
and Sea, Annapolis: US Naval Institute, 1962. U.
10. Joint Army-Navy Intelligence Study. JANIS 70:
Indochina, Military Geography, Oct 19TT_.___C.
11. Navy, Fleet Intelligence Center, Pacific. J.E.S.T.
Jungle Survival, Apr 1967. U.
12. Navy, Fleet Intelligence Center, Pacific. SERE Guide
to Southeast Asia, Feb 1967. S.
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 Approved For Release 2007/03/08: CIA-RDP80-01444R000100130001-4
SECRET/NOFORN
25X1
I - CAtIBODIA
Page
A.
General
1
B.
Social Structure
3
C.
Religion
4
D.
Language
6
F.
Education
7
F.
Settlement Patterns and Housing
8
C.
Ceremonies and Holidays
12
II.
Ethnic Groups
1. Khmer
14
2. Chinese
18
3. Vietnamese
25
4. Khmer Locu
30
5. Chain-Malay
s
46
Figure No.
Photo,
(Abbreviat
grap~hs
eles)
1 Buddhist pa
goda in Ph
nom Penh
5
2 Vietnamese
Phnom Penh
Buddhist p
agoda on outskirts of
5
3 Buddhist mo
and Queen
nks during
coronation of King
6
4 Compact set
Penh
tlement on
outskirts of Phnom
9
5 Floating vi
llage on T
onle Sap
10
6 Floating fi
of Phnom Pe
shing vill
nh
age on Mekong south
10
SECRET/NOFORN
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 Approved For Release 2007/03/08: CIA-RDP80-01444R000100130001-4
SECRET/NOFORN
Figure No. Page
7 Khmer peasant house 11
8 Relatively well constructed Khmer houses 11
9 Old man waits for Sihanouk to pass by 16
10 Khmer men 17
11 Khmer family 17
12 Khmer villagers wearing various types of
apparel 18
13 Rural Chinese family in village near Phnom
Penh 21
14 Chinese students preparing for demonstra-
tion 24
15 Chinese shops and houses in town 24
16 Vietnamese woman in detention camp 27
17 Market scene in Phnom Penh 30
18 Khmer Loeu tribesman 36
19 Khmer Loeu tribesman smoking pipe 37
20 Khmer Loeu youths 38
21 Khmer Loeu hunter 38
22 Rhade man dressed in native loincloth and
shirt 39
23 Rhade women dressed in native attire 40
24 Slash-and-burn agricultural land 40
25 Khmer Loeu tribal peoples engaged in na-
tive crafts 41
26 Kui girl with crude cotton gin 41
27 Kui woman carrying water 42
28 Khmer Loeu village 43
29 Headman's house in Jarai village 43
30 Khmer Loeu tribal dwellings in Mondolkiri 44
31 Rhade village in Mondolkiri Province 44
32 Cham-Malays 48
33 Vietnamese and Cham-Malay merchants 48
SECRET/NOFORN
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 Approved For Release 2007/03/08: CIA-RDP80-01444R000100130001-4
SECRET/NOFORN
CAMBODIA
CHAPTER II - THE PEOPLE
(September 1970)
The last Cambodian census, taken in 1962, enumerated
5,728,930 people in the country. As of 1 July 1970, the
US Census Bureau estimated the population at 6,848,000.
Cambodia, in general, is lightly populated with its over-
all density of 100 persons per square mile far less than
the 160 per square mile for all of Southeast Asia. Den-
sity varies considerably throughout the country with the
vast majority of the people living in the Mekong delta or
in the lowlands surrounding the Tonle Sap. Density approa-
ches 500 persons per square mile in the area of Kandal
Province around Phnom Penh while elsewhere in the delta,
densities are in the 200 to 300 range.* Density becomes
progressively lighter away from the Tonle Sap-Mekong
drainage system. The uplands in the east and southwest
are very lightly peopled, and much of the Cardamomes
Mountains in the southwest is virtually uninhabited.
Cambodia's population is overwhelmingly rural, with
most people living in small villages of from 100 to 300
population. The only significant exception is Phnom
Penh whose population has swelled to more than 1,500,000
as refugees have swarmed there to escape the unrest in
the countryside. There are only 12 other urban centers
with populations of more than 10,000. Combined, they
comprise about three percent of Cambodia's total pop-
ulation and include:
In comparsion, the Red River delta of North Vietnam
and the Indonesian island of Java -- among the most
densely populated areas in the world -- support some
1,500 persons per square mile.
SECRET/NOFORN
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 Approved For Release 2007/03/08: CIA-RDP80-01444R000100130001-4
SECRET/NOFORN
Battambang 43,000 Kompong Chhnang 15,000
Kompong Cham 40,000 Siem Reap 15,000
Kompong Som 17,000 Svay Rieng 14,000
Kratie 17,000 Prey Veng 13,000
Pursat 16,000 Kompong Thom 12,000
Kampot 15,000 Takeo 10,000
Cambodia's population is more ethnically homogeneous
than those of other Southeast Asian countries. According
to 1962 census data, Khmers (ethnic Cambodians) comprised
some 93 percent of the total; Vietnamese, 3.8 percent;
Chinese, 2.8 percent. "Others" included only 5,764 per-
sons, or about .1 percent of the total. Such figures,
however, are misleading and assume more homogeneity of
the population than actually exists. The census does not
enumerate, for example, either the 80,000 Muslim Cham-
Malays or the approximately 50,000 primitive Khmer Loeu
(Upland Khmer) tribesmen who occupy Cambodia's mountain-
ous frontiers. A more current and realistic estimate of
the country's ethnic composition follows:
Community
Khmer
5,950,000
86.9
Chinese
425,000
6.2
Vietnamese*
225,000
3.3
Cham-Malay
80,000
1.2
Khmer Loeu
50,000
.7
Other (Lao, Thai,
Burman, European)
118,000
1.7
6,848,000
100.0
11 Except for P-Shom Penh, estimates do not consider changes
occasioned by movement of refugees from rural areas into
the towns since April 1970.
*_*'_Estimate considers large-scale exodus of Vietnamese to
South Vietnam, as of late July 1970.
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 Approved For Release 2007/03/08: CIA-RDP8O-01444ROO0100130001-4
SECRET/NOFORN
In about one-half of the urban centers, Khmers are out-
numbered by the combined Vietnamese and Chinese communities,
but in Phnom Penh the percentage of Khmers has increased
greatly during the past three decades. A mid-1960's esti-
mate of the capital's racial composition placed the Khmer-
Vietnamese-Chinese balance at two-third's Khmer with the
remainder split between Chinese and Vietnamese. Elsewhere,
the Chinese probably comprise between one-fourth and one-
third of the populations of most major cities. Ethnic
groups are well segregated from one another in the urban
centers while the smaller towns and villages are usually
better integrated and more homogeneous. Social ties in the
cities are relatively weak and pagodas do not function as
unifying forces as they do in rural areas.
National unity in Cambodia has been enhanced by (1) com-
mon homage to the royal family which occupies the apex of
the social and political pyramid, (2) common devotion to
Theravada Buddhism, the state religion, (3) a common language
with only slight dialectic variations, and (4) a continuity
of physical geography with rugged tracts found only in the
fringes of the country. There are, however, two fissures in
Khmer society -- (1) the separation of Khmer from non-Khmer
and (2) educated from non-educated.
Lines separating the traditional social classes are being
increasingly blurred and social mobility enhanced, particular-
ly among the urban population. (Those of royal descent that
form the upper class, to be sure, remain a closed group.)
In Phnom Penh, persons now can more readily advance their
socio-economic status through education, occupational achieve-
ment, or even -- to a limited degree -- through religious
piety. Movement up the socio-economic ladder, however, is
impeded by an insufficient number of positions to absorb those
with educational preparation. As a consequence, government
and business offfices are overstaffed with educated employees
performing menial chores. Other qualified individuals are
employed in unskilled jobs such as pedicab drivers or dock
workers. The strata of urban middle-class businessmen, pro-
fessionals, clerks, teachers and traders has been comprised
of a disproportionate number of Chinese and Vietnamese. The
Khmers, however, continue to predominate in Government ser-
vice where few Chinese or Vietnamese are found. The lower
strata of urban society -- manual laborers and small shop-
keepers -- are comprised largely of Khmer and Vietnamese
migrants from the countryside. Many of these seasonal
migrants return to their villages as the rice planting season
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approaches.
While the more stratified social system of the urban
centers becomes more mobile, its rural counterpart remains
simple and egalitarian. Despite increasing contact with the
outside world as peasants flow to and from the cities, the
rural pattern remains substantially intact. All but a hand-
ful of the people are peasant farmers; there are no wealthy
landlords and few impoverished peasants; wealth is not im-
portant in determining social rank. Only the village head-
man and lay leader of the ubiquitous village pagoda stand
above the otherwise unstructured village society. Although
enhanced opportunities to advance through education are ad-
ding a new dimension to the conventional rural structure,
social distinctions remain unimportant. Unlike most other
Southeast Asian countries, extended family relationships
do not serve as a major cohesive force in the rural village.
The individual family, however, is the basic unit of rural
society. Kinship ties are not strong and the individual is
not completely submerged to community-wide interests.
Therefore, there is no compelling urge to remain in the vil-
lage and many individuals, particularly the young, drift
away to settle permanently in urban centers.
C. Religion
Theravada Buddhism is the state religion of Cambodia
and nearly all of the Khmer population profess its tenets.
The Cambodian constitution, however, guarantees religious
freedom and sizeable minorities practice other faiths. The
Vietnamese and about three percent of the Chinese profess
the Mahayana Buddhism that prevails in their homelands.
Most of the Chinese cling to the mixture of Confucianism,
Taoism, and ancestor worship that is shared by most other
Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. Nearly all Cham-Malays
are devout Muslims while most Khmer Loeu remain animists.
Only the few French people remaining in the country and a
number of converted Vietnamese and Khmer Loeu profess Christ-
ianity; nearly all are Roman Catholics.
The doctrines of Buddhism which underlie most Khmer values
and attitudes provide a code for daily lives and enhance na-
tional unity. There are more than 2,700 pagodas in the country
-- one in nearly every village -- and more than 65,000 per-
manent bonzes (monks). Despite its pervasion into most as-
pects of Khmer society, the role and influence of Buddhism
has diminished in the past few decades, particularly in the
urban areas.
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Figure 1. Buddhist pagoda in Phnom Penh. Such
structures are ubiquitous throughout the city
and countryside.
Figure 2. Vietnamese Buddhist pagoda on out-
skirts of Phnom Penh. Note apparent Moorish
influence on archways along front of building.
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Figure 3. Buddhist monks during coronation
of King and Queen. Monks shave their heads,
wear saffron-colored robes, and generally go
bare-footed. 1956.
D. Language
Khmer has been the national language of Cambodia since
1953, when it replaced French. A language of the Mon-Khmer
family, it is spoken not only by the Khmers but as a second
language, with varying degrees of proficiency, by the minor-
ity groups. As they become more and more assimilated, in-
creasing numbers of these minorities are using it as a first
language. Only the more remotely located Khmer Loeu tribes
of the Eastern Highlands are unfamiliar with Khmer. Many
of the minorities are conversant in more than two languages.
The Chinese, for example, may speak one of several Chinese
dialects in every day conversation, use Mandarin in school
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instruction, Vietnamese in the market place, and Khmer at
all other times. The Thai and Vietnamese languages, although
containing many Mon-Khmer elements, are unintelligible to a
Khmer-speaker.
To strengthen national unity the Cambodian Government
has promoted Khmer as the lingua franca and discouraged the
use of French and minority languages. Since the departure
of the French colonialists, Khmer has increasingly replaced
French in the Government and in the schools. Wider use of
Khmer is impeded, however, by a vocabulary deficient in
technical terms, and lack of a uniform system of romaniza-
tion and transliteration in the writing system. Use of
French, therefore, persists in intellectual, official, and
commercial circles; it is rarely spoken in rural areas.
Knowledge of English, although increasing, has been limited
to Government officials and others with advanced educations.
Well over half of the Cambodian population is literate,
although reading proficiency of most persons is not high
because of the paucity of reading materials. Literacy has
been stressed since independence; the reduction in illiteracy
has been marked since 1964 when a literacy campaign was
launched by then-Prince Sihanouk. The Government has placed
great emphasis on education to prepare Cambodians to re-
place French and Vietnamese in civil service positions.
School enrollments have outstripped the teaching staffs and
the scarcity of qualified teachers has been a serious prob-
lem; quality of education, consequently, has been low. Al-
though primary education is compulsory, few complete the
six years. Because competition for enrollment in the few
secondary facilities is keen, moreover, only about one-half
of those who complete their primary schooling continue at
the secondary level. Secondary education consists of one
4-year and one 3-year period. Cambodia has only nine uni-
versities with a combined enrollment of less than 7,000
students. Many students -- often financed by foreign aid --
travel abroad to attain a university-level education. Be-
cause there are few positions in the civil service and com-
merce which require a higher education, the Government has
stressed technical and vocational training. Students are
encouraged to remain in their own communities where, it is
hoped, their new talents will contribute to local develop-
ment and production.
Most of the primary education previously provided by the
Buddhist pagodas has been assumed by Government-run schools.
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i
Education provided in French, Chinese, and Vietnamese private
schools, moreover, are now closely regulated by the Govern-
ment which requires that Khmer be taught at least three hours
weekly. The Chinese schools have been the targets of most
restrictions, it being feared they were being used to teach
Communist subversive doctrine. Chinese secondary schools
have been closed and Chinese students denied from traveling
abroad for a higher education. The Chinese have thus been
forced to attend Government schools to attain more than an
elementary education. The Vietnamese have been more willing
than the Chinese to attend Government schools in which Khmer
is the language of instruction.
F. Settlement Pattern and Housing
Hundreds of small Khmer villages dot the lowland areas
of Cambodia in a predominantly linear pattern which may ex-
end for miles atop natural river levees or along roads.
Such villages may form unbroken lines of settlement for
miles along the Mekong and Bassac Rivers or their tributary
waterways. In the Transitional Plain, where conditions are
drier and roads and waterways fewer, linear patterns are less
pronounced; villages more often are clustered in wooded plots
amid the ricefields, commonly at the base of one of the ubiq-
uitous phnoms (hills). A distinctive settlement pattern
rings the shores of the Tonle Sap -- an outer ring of villages
situated just above the high water line, inhabited by rice
farmers, whose individual dwellings are scattered among the
trees; an inner ring of "floating villages" built on tall pil-
ings or on rafts, clustered between the high and low water
lines. Houses in such villages, occupied mostly by Vietnamese
fishermen, are surrounded by water during much of the year.
Floating villages consisting of houseboats tied together are
also characteristic of the Tonle Sap lake region. Fishing
villages also dot the coast of the Gulf of Thailand, par-
ticularly in its eastern sector.
Khmer villages are autonomous, self-sufficient, and self-
contained. Most have a school, one or two pagodas, shops,
and some form of rural government. Khmer Loeu villages in
the mountainous regions are generally much smaller than those
villages found in the lowlands. Most are comprised of a
cluster of a dozen or so ramshackle single-family longhouses
50 feet or more long.
Most rural Khmers still live in thatched houses, although
wood, tile, and masonry are becoming common construction ma-
terials in better homes. Nearly all houses in the lowlands
-- even those well away from the waterways -- are built on
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piles or stilts. These stilts, generally ten feet high, range
from mere tree branches to finished beams resting on concrete,
depending on the age and wealth of the settlement. A typical
Khmer home will have floors of woven bamboo and walls of that-
ched palm fronds or savanna grass. The thatched roof is al-
ways sharply gabled with overhanging eaves; there are no win-
dows, but a space between the walls and eaves provides venti-
lation. Roofs are usually of either nipa fronds or grass
thatch, depending on availability of such materials; some low-
land houses may have roofs of corrugated metal. A few well
constructed houses of wood, tile, and masonry are found in
urban areas. Depending on family size, lowland houses may
have from one to four or five rooms.
Figure 4. Compact settlement amid ricefields
on outskirts of Phnom Penh.
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Figure 5. Floating village on Tonle Sap. Such
villages may be inhabited by either Khmer or
Vietnamese fishermen.
Figure 6. Floating fishing village on Mekong south
of Phnom Penh. Inhabitants are Vietnamese.
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Figure 7. Khmer peasant house of bamboo
and palm frond construction.
Figure 8. Relatively well constructed Khmer houses.
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Dwelling construction in the mountains is usually of that-
ched walls (windowless) and roof. Although most longhouses
are perched on stilts, some mountain houses are built direct-
ly on the ground. One large room is the rule for single-
family dwellings, several single-room family units for the
longhouses. In both lowlands and uplands, privacy is mini-
mal, crowding general. Poor farmers may have only one room,
but many houses have several rooms separated by partitions of
dried palm fronds which provide visual privacy only. Fur-
nishings are austere, consisting mostly of mats and cushions.
A kitchen shed may be separate from the house and joined by
a ramp, or it may be found under,the house. Rural houses
are commonly surrounded by fruit trees with vegetable gar-
dens in the back. Few rural houses have privies or wells.
G. Ceremonies and Holidays
The Cambodians participate in numerous ceremonies. Some
are religious or semi-religious observances, while others are
secular fairs or commemorations of national historical events.
Most are observed by all peasants re ardless of religious af-
filiation or political leanings.
mal daily activity ceases: at su h
25X1
A number of community festivals are held during crucial
periods of the rice-growing season. Their purpose is to pro-
tect the crop from evil spirits so that a bountiful harvest
can be attained. Paramount among such festivals is the
"Ploughing of the Holy Furrow", held at the beginning of the
rainy season (late May or early June). Rituals performed by
the royal family are believed to forecast the results of the
year's crop; the findings of the ritual, in fact, may influ-
ence the Government's rice policy for that year. The "Fes-
tival of the Reversing Current", more often called simply
the "Water Festival.", is held for three days at the end of
the rainy season (late October or early November). It com-
memorates the reversal of the Tonle Sap waters as they flow
once again into the Mekong. Throngs of people line the river
in Phnom Penh to watch the Chief of State cut a ribbon to
symbolically "release" its waters. The major attractions of
the festival, however, are the regattas of hundreds of 40-man
pirogues, each representing a village, held on the Mekong in
front of the Royal Palace.
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The anniversary of Buddha's death is observed in early
February with a festival in the pagodas; a one-day celebra-
tion, held in late April or early May, honors his birth.
"Prachum Ben", a religious festival in which offerings are
made to the Buddhist bonzes for the benefit of the spirits
of the dead, is held in the pagodas for several days, usu-
ally late in September. Each pagoda has its own "Kathen"
day in October or November when the villagers present of-
ferings to the bonzes. In addition to such annual obser-
vances, there are semi-monthly Buddhist holy days on which
all Buddhists are exempted from labor; most peasants, how-
ever, do not break their daily work patterns.
New Years is observed for three days in mid-April.*
A festival-like atmosphere prevails with an abundance of
sporting events and dances. Thousands of pilgrims flock
to the Buddhist shrines -- particularly to Angkor -- where
they pray for good fortune. Like the western New Year,
individuals propose to "turn over a new leaf." Other sec-
ular holidays observed include Labor Day -- 1 May; Consti-
tution Day -- 6 May; United Nations Day -- 24 October; and
Independence Day -- 9 November. The celebration of Inde-
pendence Day includes a military parade in Phnom Penh,
sports events in the Olympic Stadium, and dancing near the
Royal Palace. Such officially sanctioned holidays, combined
with other tacitly recognized ceremonial days, total some 50
to 60 days yearly. The latter include such western holi-
days as Christmas and the 1 January New Year which not only
may be recognized by the western-oriented elite but may be
eagerly acknowledged by most other Cambodians, anxious to
celebrate any occasion.
The Chinese an ietnamese observe their own New Year's
Day celebration some time in late January or early Feb-
ruary.
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H. Ethnic Groups
Number and Location: The Khmer (Cambodians), who num-
ber about 5,950,000, comprise about 87 percent of Cambodia's
population. They are found throughout the country but are
concentrated in the lowlands. Under-represented in the
cities, the Khmers are outnumbered by the combined Chinese
and Vietnamese populations in about half of Cambodia's ur-
ban centers. (An additional 450,000 Khmer reside in South
Vietnam, more than 600,000 in Thailand, and small numbers
in Laos.) Since 1960, the Cambodian Government has pro-
moted the resettlement of Khmers in frontier regions to pre-
vent penetration by Communist insurgents and to relieve ur-
ban unemployment. The program has been curtailed by pre-
vailing unsettled conditions.
Racial Characteristics and Social Structure: The Khmer
stem from a diverse ethnic stock which had its origins in
South China before the Christian era. Centuries of inter-
mixing with other groups has led to a wide variety of phys-
ical traits. Generally, however, they have dark, coffee-
colored skin, wavy to curly hair, straight-set eyes, sturdy
physiques, and an average male height of 514".
Cambodia is a land of villages, and most rural Khmer
are conservative peasants whose lives are based on wet-rice
agriculture. In addition to the peasants, there are three
divisions within Khmer society; the royalty, bureaucracy,
and monkhood. The status of the royal family has suffered
as a result of Sihanouk's removal from power. No signifi-
cant Khmer middle class exists, but the upper ranks of the
bureaucracy are emerging to fill this gap. The status of
the monkhood is as yet unchallenged.
Attitudes and Values: Theravada Buddhism imparts to
all Khmer common values which emphasize gentleness, seren-
ity, and unity within Cambodia. Most Khmer Buddhists ob-
serve the basic precepts of their moral code and abstain
from such moral aberrations as taking a life (animal or
human), committing adultery, or partaking of intoxicants.
Buddhism stresses the concept of man as the sum total of
his merits and demerits. Merit is accumulated through of-
ferings made to monks or other devout people or through
virtuous deeds such as service to the community or pagoda.
Buddhist ethics are mixed with traditional folk beliefs in
the rural areas; most Khmers believe in supernatural beings
and perform propitiation rites to appease the spirits.
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The average Khmer peasant, largely conditioned by Budd-
hist teachings, stresses spiritual rather than material
goals. He grows only enough food. to feed his family; any
surplus is usually sold to a Chinese merchant and the pro-
ceeds donated to his pagoda. Except for work in the village
fields, manual labor is looked down upon and avoided when
possible.
Traditional Buddhist values are being modified by west-
ern influences, especially among the Khmer youth who feel
that such values inhibit progress. Those in urban areas
are showing increasing concern for national and internation-
al problems. These Western-oriented individuals are less
willing to accept the status quo than is the peasant ele-
ment.
Khmers are generally amiable and have a strong aver-
sion to violence. Territorial threats by aggressive neigh-
bors, however, have helped shape their attitudes toward
foreign peoples. Khmers dislike the Vietnamese and look
upon them as conquerors who have deprived Cambodia of much
of her territory. South Vietnamese troops in Cambodia to-
day are condemned as guilty of pillaging villages that they
occupy. The Khmers are similarly suspicious of the Thais
who also have practiced territorial aggrandizement at Khmer
expense. Thailand, moreover, has offered refuge to Cambo-
dian dissidents during the past fifteen years, an irritant
to Cambodian officials particularly.
Khmers resent and envy the Chinese; the peasant espec-
ially dislikes the Chinese moneylenders and rice merchants
to whom he is always heavily in debt. Some resentment
against the French among the educated Khmers may persist
but the common people hold no strong feelings regarding
them.
Dress: The national dress of the Khmer peasant, called
a "sampot", is worn by both men and women. It consists of
a long cotton or silk cloth, wrapped around the waist, pas-
sed through the legs and fastened in back. Women also wear
blouses and shawls, or a sarong-type shirt may be suspended
above the breasts; men may wear a shirt or high-necked tunic.
Children's dress is more westernized -- boys wear shirts and
shorts, while girls wear blouses and skirts or simple dress-
es. Although traditional clothing is still worn in rural
areas, urban dress is rapidly becoming westernized.
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Figure 9. Old man -- probably a Khmer --
waits for Sihanouk to pass by. His manner
of sitting, uncomfortable for a westerner,
can be maintained for long periods. 1955.
Occupations: Khmer peasants are small land holders
who grow wet rice, maize, and vegetables in a subsistence
economy. Each family cultivates its own fields; tenant
farming and sharecropping are rare. During the off sea-
son, from late fall to early spring, most Khmer peasants
fish, cut wood, do odd jobs, or are temporarily employed
in nearby towns. Non-farming jobs in the countryside,
including those in the rubber plantations, usually are held
by Chinese or Vietnamese. Since 1956, the Government has
tried to undercut the economic position of Chinese and
Vietnamese but with limited. success.
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Figure 10. Khmer men. Man at right wears Sihan-
ouk campaign placard. Scarves around the neck may
be used as turbans. 1955.
Figure 11. Khmer family in Kampot Province.
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Figure 12. Khmer villagers wearing various types of
western and native apparel. Note man wearing sampot
with western-style suit jacket.
In urban centers, Khmers monopolize Government and
clerical positions as well as manual labor occupations.
Increasing numbers are entering commercial and profession-
al fields as they slowly acquire needed skills and educa-
tion.
Number and Location: Estimates of the number of ethnic
Chinese living in Cambodia as of 1967 range from 400,000
to 450,000 -- about six percent of the national population.
One recent study enumerated 250,000 Chinese in the country,
50,000 partially acculturated Sino-Cambodians (naturalized
Chinese or offspring of mixed marriages), and innumerable
assimilated Sino-Cambodians. A growing proportion of the
Chinese are native-horn, and assimilation is drawing part
of their natural increase into the Khmer population. Most
immigrant Chinese Cambodians are from eastern Kwangtung,
Fukien or Hainan and traveled overland to Vietnam and then
into Cambodia. The period from 1946-1950 marked the last
big wave of Chinese immigration; since 1952-1953, very few
,have been admitted into Cambodia.
The Chinese are largely urban-oriented. Almost 60 per-
cent of all Chinese live in the three or four major towns
in each province, e.g., the Chinese comprise nearly one-
half of Sisophon's population, about one-fifth of Battam-
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bang's and about one-sixth of Phnom Penh's.* Just over one-
third of all Chinese, about 135,000, live in Phnom Penh
while another 12 percent live in the towns of Battambang,
Kampot, and Kompong Cham.
The Chinese have always been considered a rather seden-
tary group, and population movement among the Chinese com-
munity is a recent phenomenon. As unemployment increases
and the rupture of the Cambodian economy appears imminent,
Chinese merchants are fleeing to Bangkok, Hong Kong, and
Paris. Since July 1970, for instance, 2,000 ethnic Chi-
nese have fled the Sisophon-Battambang town area to Thai-
land.
Most non-urban Chinese concentrations are in fishing
colonies along the coast or on pepper plantations in Takeo
and Kampot provinces. Other Chinese are widely dispersed
throughout the southern half of the country as rice millers,
brokers, village merchants and peddlers, and market garden-
ers. Few rural Chinese are rice farmers.
The Chinese can be divided into five major subgroups
based on language and. origin -- Teuchui, Cantonese, Hainan-
ese, Hakka, and IIokkien:
Group
Number
Percent of Total Chinese
Teuchui
325,000
76
Cantonese
43,000
10
Hainanese
33,000
8
Hakka
14 , 000
3
Hokkien
10,000
3
Total
425,000
More than three-fourths of all Cambodian Chinese are Teu-
chui from southern Kwangtung. Less than 70 percent of ur-
ban Chinese are Teuchui; 90 percent of all rural Chinese,
however, belong to this subgroup, working as itinerant
peddlers or village shopkeepers. Cantonese, who consti-
tute 10 percent of the total Chinese, are 84 percent urban
with most concentrated in Phnom Penh, Battambang, and Kom-
pong Cham. The Hainanese make up eight percent of the Chi-
nese population, most living in Kampot Province. Large
numbers moved to Phnom Penh (some 10,000 now live there)
Estimate based on information acquired before 1970's mass
influx of Khmer peasants into Phnom Penh.
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after the failure of many of the pepper gardens in Kampot
Province. Their number is growing at Sre Ambel in Koh Kong
Province as pepper plantations increase. A concentration
of Hainanese also is found in Sisophon where they form almost
half the Chinese population. The Hakka from Kwangtung, who
form about three percent of the total Chinese population,
are concentrated in Takeo Province but are also found around
Virachei in Ratanakiri Province. They grow vegetables,
cultivate a little rubber, and run small general stores.
The Hokkien from Fukien, about three percent of the Chinese
population, are almost entirely urban; only 10 percent of
their number live in rural areas, most in Battambang Pro-
vince. About 1,000 northern Chinese, mostly from 11upei Pro-
vince, have come to Cambodia and all are urban residents of
Phnom Penh.
Social Structure: The Chinese group themselves into
compact quarters in Cambodian urban and rural communities in
order to better preserve their ways of life and culture.
They have been unobtrusive and generally apathetic to events
in the Cambodian community. The social and political struc-
ture of the Chinese consists of a network of voluntary as-
sociations which provide communication and control channels
for the community. Each of the five different dialect
groups in Phnom Penh formerly had its own socio-political or-
ganization known as the "congregation". Elsewhere, several
dialect groups would combine into a single congregation. In
April 1958, the Cambodian Government abolished congregations,
but other significant associations began to take their place.
Sports clubs are today among the most active Chinese organi-
zations; they organize a wide range of activities such as
music, opera, folk dancing, literature programs, and adult
education. They also administer mutual aid and settle dis-
putes, therefore functioning as an important integrative
force within Chinese communities. (Many Chinese groups have
been split over the issue of Communism.)
Occupational guilds, based on dialect groups, defend the
Chinese against Government trade restrictions. The Govern-
ment has been attempting to dissolve them in order to weaken
the economic-social cohesiveness of the Chinese community.
School boards also play an important role in the Chinese
community.
The basic Chinese social unit, of course, is the extend-
ed, patrilineal family. The family is essentially the most
important instrument through which Chinese values and cul-
ture are preserved. Individual interests are subordinated
to those of the family, and senior members of a family are
consulted on all major decisions of its members.
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Figure 13. Rural Chinese family in village near
Phnom Penh.
Place in Society: The Chinese hold very prominent po-
sitions in the economy of Cambodia, the wealthiest and most
influential being found among the Cantonese. Ambitious and
industrious, their economic success results in part from a
pragmatic and utilitarian attitude. With the Vietnamese,
they comprise the nation's mercantile and artisan middle
class. They dominate businesses such as retailing, export-
import, banking, rice-milling, rice-brokerage, entertain-
ment, and bus-truck transport. They practically monopo-
lize the ownership and management of the fishing industry.
In contrast to their managerial positions, they also are
manual laborers, often in jobs where the Cambodian peasant
will not deign to work. Throughout the countryside, Chi-
nese can he found as village merchants and are engaged in
the trade, processing, and transport of rice and other ag-
ricultural products(they generally participate in the sale
of produce rather than in the actual farming of the product).
Chinese from northern China are often found as professionals
such as dentists and teachers in the larger urban centers.
The Cambodian Government has attempted to gain more con-
trol over Chinese economic enterprises with policies re-
stricting alien participation in certain activities. For
example, since 1956 alien employment has been banned in
eighteen occupations including taxi, bus, and truck drivers,
moneylenders, rice merchants, jewelers, barbers, and printers.
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While measures such as this have caused anxiety in the Chi-
nese community, adjustments have been made. Such restric-
tions have been circumvented by employing Khmer "fronts,"
by Chinese taking out naturalization papers, or simply by
the Chinese financial "squeeze" tactics. The fact that
Khmers are not trained or qualified in certain of these oc-
cupations strengthens the Chinese position.
The Chinese are largely excluded from the Khmer social
order. They are resented by the Khmer for their wealth and
clannishness, yet admired for their economic talents and
are actually sought as marriage partners by Cambodians.
Sino-Cambodians are considered a good hybrid, and this group
enjoys a high status in Cambodian society. The Chinese have
assimilated better than the Vietnamese as they adapt inof-
fensively to local environments. Yet the Chinese often form
cultural islands and have few active social relations with
non-Chinese.
The Chinese have little political power. Despite their
wealth, they are excluded from politics as pure Chinese
cannot become citizens unless they undergo expensive and
demanding naturalization procedures. They may attain limit-
ed political power through bribery but generally are politi-
cally disinterested; they avoid politics, but if required to
choose sides, are very opportunistic. They tend to support
groups in power but may secretly aid the opposition. As of
June 1970 Phnom Penh Chinese were reportedly politically
neutral in their attitude toward the Lon Nol government.
The majority, however, probably continue to respect Sihan-
ouk and passively oppose the present government.
Religion: There are marked differences between Chinese
and Khmer with regard to religion. The Chinese are eclectic
in their approach to religion, confessing belief in Buddhism,
Taoism, and Confucism, while also maintaining their tradi-
tional ancestor worship. The 10,000 Chinese Buddhists, all
of whom live in Phnom Penh, are Mahayana Buddhists, which
distinguishes them from the Khmer Theravada Buddhist believ-
ers. Chinese show no interest in Khmer Buddhist festivals,
and few Chinese become monks.
Language and Education: Only two of the five Chinese
dialects spoken in Cambodia are mutually intelligible (Teu-
chui and Fukienese). Mandarin, taught in all Chinese schools,
is being developed as the lingua franca of the Chinese com-
munity. Since none of the five dialects is mutually intel-
ligible with Mandarin, the transition is difficult. Lacking
a common dialect and engaged in a multitude of economic
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enterprises, Chinese are more than any other group, bi- or
multi-lingual. Fortunately, written Chinese can be read by
literate persons of any dialect group, which helps unite
the community.
Chinese send their children to their own private schools
to learn Chinese language and customs.* Probably close to
two-thirds of all Chinese students are enrolled in Chinese
schools. Literacy is higher among the Chinese than among
the Khmer. Formerly, Chinese students were sent abroad to
North and South Vietnam, Communist China, Taipei, Singapore,
Hong Kong, and Paris for higher education. This practice
was severely curtailed, however, as Government provisions
enacted under Sihanouk barred re-entry of any Chinese who
remained abroad for longer than three months.
Chinese newspapers are prevalent; even in 1962-63 their
circulation was estimated to be 28,700, three-fifths of the
total newspaper circulation in Phnom Penh. Chinese radio
programs and movie houses cater to the Chinese. Prior to
assumption of power by the present government, it is believ-
ed that mass media was increasingly being dominated by those
with pro-Communist feelings.
Dress: Urban and rural Chinese men commonly wear West-
ern dress -- sport shirts, trousers, and leather shoes or
sandals. Women also generally are clothed in Western attire,
but they may wear Chinese dresses (cheongsams) or cotton
jackets and trousers, depending upon their age, social class
or the occasion.
Housing: Most urban Chinese, as well as those who are
village merchants in the countryside, live in shophouses.
These structures have a retail outlet or business office on
the ground floor, and a family residence above the shops.
Other Chinese houses in the cities are modified by Western
influences, and rural homes are traditionally built on the
ground instead of on posts in the style of Khmer homes.
Also, Chinese houses are frequently larger than Khmer homes
to accommodate the greater number of relatives under one
roof.
Presently, many Chinese schools are being used as refuge
camps for the Vietnamese; these schools did not reopen for
the 1970 fall term.
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Figure 14. Chinese students preparing for
demon-
stration at Soviet Embassy in Phnom Penh.
1967.
Figure 15. Chinese shops and houses in
town, Kompong Thom Province.
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Number Location and Movement: Cambodia's Vietnamese
community, prior to the repatriation since April 1970 of
between one-third and one-half of its members to South Viet-
nam, numbered some 300,000 to 400,000 and comprised between
four and six percent of the country's population.* The size
of the community always has fluctuated considerably as there
has been, down through the years, much movement back-and-
forth between Cambodia and South Vietnam, depending on pre-
vailing political conditions in the two countries. The
Vietnamese have been widely dispersed throughout the country,
with major concentrations in: 1) the border provinces of
Kompong Cham, Svay Rieng, and Prey Veng, 2) Phnom Penh and
surrounding areas in Kandal Province, and 3) around the shores
of the Tonle Sap, particularly in Kompong Chhnang Province
along the lower part of the lake. Those in Phnom Penh --
who have remained largely isolated in their "Vietnamese
Quarter" -- have been estimated to comprise as much as one-
third of the city's population; now, of course, they comprise
but a small fraction. In the border provinces, probably a
majority of the Vietnamese have gone to Vietnam; in the pro-
vinces around the Tonle Sap, on the other hand, most are
believed to have resisted repatriation and remained in their
impoverished communities. Areas with secondary -- but sizeable
-- Vietnamese communities are the provinces of Kratie, Battam-
bang, Kampot, and Takeo; many are concentrated in the capital
cities of these provinces.
'As of July-y__27, 1970, approximately 162,000 persons from
Cambodia had sought refuge in South Vietnam, most of whom
were ethnic Vietnamese. Vietnamese remaining in Cambodia,
therefore, probably now number between 150,000 and 300,000.
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Although Vietnamese have lived in Cambodia for centuries,
the heaviest influx occurred during the last quarter of the
19th century. The French Colonial Government encouraged them
to emigrate from Vietnam to administrative positions in the
Government and in commercial firms, and to work on the rubber
plantations; indigenous Khmers were generally considered by
the French to be indolent and unsuited for such work. Most
immigrants came from Cochin China, some from Tonkin, rela-
tively few from Annam.
Many Vietnamese have migrated fromCambodia to South Viet-
nam during the past two decades because of Government dis-
criminatory policies directed against "aliens". Tens of
thousands of Vietnamese have been "repatriated" to South
Vietnam since April 1970 when hostilities directed against
them by the Khmers (including reported atrocities where
hundreds were slaughtered) forced them to flee their homes.
Many, reportedly dissatisfied with conditions in South Viet-
nam, have been returning to Cambodia. Other than for such
cross-border migrations, only the Vietnamese fishermen,
living on "floating villages" and houseboats on the Tonle Sap
and Mekong waterways can be classified as migratory peoples;
Vietnamese farmers, rubber tappers, and merchants are a sed-
entary lot.
Racial Characteristics: Although they have a slightly
smaller and shorter body structure, there is little else in
terms of physical appearance to set the Vietnamese apart from
their Khmer neighbors. In dress and language, however, the
Vietnamese are distinctive. The women are easy to identify
by their ankle-length cotton dresses split to the waist over
loose-fitting slacks. Men's attire is not so readily distin-
guishable from that of the Khmers although, like the women,
they may wear the wide, loose-fitting trousers. In the fields,
both sexes commonly wear a pointed fiber hat. The Vietnamese
continue to speak their native tongue although most are con-
versant in Khmer. Vietnamese is the language most commonly
used in the market place. Private Vietnamese schools are
few, mostly limited to Phnom Penh where they have been run by
Catholic priests. Most Vietnamese children attend state
schools in which Khmer is the language of instruction.
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Figure 16. Vietnamese woman in
detention camp. April 1970.
Social Structure: The Vietnamese have not assimilated
with the Khmers but) instead, remain isolated in their own
generally close-knit communities. Such segregation is en-
hanced by the Khmers who want little to do with the Viet-
namese. Although the Vietnamese family is extended and pa-
trilineal like that of the Chinese, family ties are believ-
ed to be weaker and less formal. Political and cultural
institutions, moreover, are not so well developed. There
is little political unification among the Vietnamese in
Cambodia and little concept of belonging to a common
ethnic community.
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Attitudes and Values: A history of intense antipathy
between the Khmer an ietnamese communities in Cambodia
culminated in the mid-1970 massacre of hundreds of Viet-
namese civilians by Cambodian Army (FANK) troops and the
expulsion of many others to South Vietnam. Despite the
friction between the two communities, however, day-to-day
relations have otherwise been resolved -- albeit probably
with a minimum of goodwill. Much of the Khmer resentment
of the Vietnamese is based on real or imagined economic
exploitation of the Khmer peasants, by Vietnamese merchants.
Strangely, there apparently is little resentment of the
Chinese merchants. Vietnamese -- unless of mixed Khmer-
Vietnamese parentage -- are not eligible for Cambodian
citizenship and, hence, have virtually no political voice.
Since the dissolution of the French colonial empire in
Indochina and the creation of Cambodia as an independent
country in 1949, the Government has practiced de facto
legal and economic discrimination against the Vietnamese
community. For example, the Government has enacted laws
which have barred foreigners from a number of occupations,
including fishing, which were dominated by the Vietnamese.
The effectiveness of such discriminatory policies, however,
has been minimized because of the presence of a sizeable
Khmer minority in South Vietnam, vulnerable to similar
practices by the Government of South Vietnam.
Although most Vietnamese in Cambodia probably would
profess allegiance to one of the Vietnams rather than to
Cambodia, the community is essentially apolitical. Appar-
ent political apathy and lack of evidence of strong polit-
ical ties with either Vietnam, however, has not prevented
the community from being suspect in the eyes of the Govern-
ment. Some officials feel that Communist penetration may
be highly developed. Many of the Vietnamese fisherment on
the Tonle Sap are believed to have supported the Communist
cause for years and, reportedly, have protected and sup-
plied North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops in the area. An
undetermined number of NVA troops were reported in August
1970 to be using islands in the Tonle Sap as sanctuaries.
RRe~eli~gion__: The religion of the Vietnamese, too, is dis-
tinct from that of the Khmers. Although the majority of the
Vietnamese are Buddhists, they belong to the Mahayana sect
shared by their brethren in Vietnam which is distinct from
the Theravada Buddhism practiced throughout the rest of
Southeast Asia. According to a French vicar of the Roman
Catholic cathedral in Phnom Penh, there were about 55,000
Catholic Vietnamese in Cambodia (other estimates are some-
what lower) prior to the extension of the current Indochina
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conflict into Cambodia. Most had lived in Phnom Penh and
nearly all have now fled to South Vietnam. An estimated
20,000 to 40,000 Vietnamese in Cambodia belonged to the
Cao Dai, an eclectic South Vietnam sect which draws on
Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Christianity. It has
between one and two million adherents in South Vietnam.
Occupations: The Vietnamese have played an important
role in the economy of Cambodia, in much the same way that
the Overseas Chinese have contributed to the economies of
all Southeast Asian countries -- as shopkeepers and mer-
chants, white collar workers, teachers, secretaries, clerks,
and skilled craftsmen. The Vietnamese, however, have re-
mained well down the socio-economic ladder from the Chinese
and, unlike the Chinese, few are wealthy. Large numbers
of Vietnamese have been employed in low-paying jobs -- as
coolies, pedicab drivers, or at other unskilled labor.
Many of those living in rural areas are impoverished. The
40,000 to 60,000 fishermen on the Tonle Sap, in particular,
have been a poverty-stricken lot, usually heavily indebted
to the Chinese businessmen who control the fishing industry.
Many of the estimated 25,000 Vietnamese rubber tappers had
been losing their jobs to Khmers and had been forced to emi-
grate to South Vietnam long before the current mass exodus.
Settlement Patterns and Housing: The Vietnamese have
not assimilated with the Khmers but, instead, remain iso-
lated in their own generally close-knit communities. Such
segregation is enhanced by the Khmers who want little to
do with the Vietnamese. Vietnamese settlements are con-
centrated along waterways. Many of the Vietnamese fisher-
men along the Tonle Sap live in "floating villages" sup- ,
ported by pontoons or sampans which, during the dry season,
are moved away from the shores into deeper water.
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Figure 17. Market scene in Phnom Penh.
Most of the merchants are probably Viet-
namese.
Number and Location: Khmer Loeu is a collective term
which refers to the mountain, tribal peoples of Cambodia.
These upland Cambodians are dispersed throughout the forests
and grass-covered hills in the northeast, adjacent to both
the Laotian and South Vietnamese border lands. Others are
found in the mountainous areas north of Veal Renh, among
the western Cardamomes mountains, and along the Thai border
in the far north; but the majority of Khmer Loeu in these
areas is no longer ethnically distinct. Assimilation to
a Cambodian culture and way of life has greatly reduced the
individuality of the Khmer Loeu west of the Mekong.
Estimates of the numbers of Khmer Loeu in Cambodia
range between 30,000 and 80,000, comprising somewhat less
than two percent of the total population. Three categories
of Khmer Loeu can be distinguished according to linguistic
characteristics. 1) The Malayo-Polynesian tribes, of which
the Rhade and Jarai are the largest, are found east of the
Mekong in Stung Treng, Kratie, Ratanakiri, and Mondolkiri
provinces. Their skin color ranges from light to medium
brown; their hair is straight or wavy; and their builds are
slender and short (5'2"). Most of the Rhade, whose numbers
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total between 100,000 and. 115,000, live on the Darlac Pla-
teau within South Vietnam. The approximately 40,000 in Cam-
bodia occupy areas principally in the eastern parts of Mon-
dolkiri Province; some Rhade, however, may have migrated
farther westward. The Jarai also are predominantly a South
Vietnamese tribe; only 16,500 out of their total of 200,000
occupy areas just to the north of the Rhade in northeastern
Mondolkiri and eastern Ratanakiri Province, as far north as
the Laotian border.
(2) The Eastern Mon-Khmer peoples, which include the
Stieng and A I'nong tribes, physically resemble the Malayo-
Polynesian tribes but are linguistically more similar to
Mon-Khmer tongues. These Eastern Mon-Khmer tribes, who
number 30,000-55,000, predominate in areas south and east
of Kratie and in adjacent areas in South Vietnam. The
,M'nong, which include the Biet and Krol tribes, number about
15,000 in Cambodia and are found south of the main concentra-
tions of Rhade in eastern Mondolkiri; the Stieng, who number
close to 40,000 in Cambodia, occupy low foothills of south-
ern Mondolkiri.
(3) The Western Mon-Khmer include the Kui, Pear, Chong,
Saoch, and other small tribal groups which are found west
of the Mekong in the mountains of the Southwest or distribu-
ted across the northern provinces adjacent to the Thai bor-
der. They are related to the Khmers both linguistically and
physically, and are readily assimilated into the Khmer way
of life. The Kui, who number 10,000 and live interspersed
with Khmers from Siem Reap to Stung Treng province, have
adopted Buddhism and become almost complete Cambodianized.
The Chong, who live along the Thai-Cambodian border in Bat-
tambang province, are also largely assimilated into Khmer
society and have integrated with the Thais,.who are found in
the northern border regions. The Pear, along the northern
slopes of the Cardamomes mountains west of Pursat have become
"Cambodianized", and have adopted Buddhism to replace their
animist practices. The Saoch, north of Veal Renh, are the
most resistant to assimilation.
Place in Society: The Khmer Loeu are looked upon as in-
feriors the Khmer who generally refer to them as "Phnong",
that is, "savage." Until the end of the nineteenth century,
many eastern Khmer Loeu were enslaved by the Cambodians. In
recent years the Cambodian Government has used the Khmer
Loeu as a labor force; each man over 15 years old is taxed
a specific amount of labor per year, a practice which has
created resentment on the part of the Khmer Loeu toward the
Government.
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In an attempt to encourage the "Cambodianization" or
"Khmerization" of the Khmer Loeu people, the Cambodian gov-
ernment undertook road building to increase the accessibil-
ity of the tribal areas and built new villages for the Khmer
Loeu along these roads. The tribal people, however, gener-
ally resisted these "Khmerization" efforts.
Some tribes such as the Rhade'
and Jarai, abetted by
Vietnamese Communists, were already in active insurgency
against the Cambodian Government before the current exten-
sion of Communist control over eastern Cambodia. In fact,
tribal uprisings in 1968 led to the collapse of government
control in extensive areas of the northeast. Under Com-
munist control, the tribal people are certainly involved in
forced labor to support the Communist military effort; Com-
munist propaganda, however, may make the tribes initially feel
that they have more autonomy than under the Cambodian Govern-
ment.
Attitudes and Values: There is little, if any, sense of
national consciousness among the Khmer Loeu. The family is
preeminent as a focus of loyalty, and individuals are impor-
tant primarily as members of a family group. Larger village
ties are weak.
The attitude of the individual Khmer Loeu towards the
Cambodian lowlander is probably one of mistrust and both pro-
bably share a mutual antagonism. The attitude of the Khmer
Loeu toward an American might well he conditioned by his
experience with the French or by contact with Americans prior
to 1965 when diplomatic relations were severed between the
United States and Cambodia.
Most Khmer are hospitable, though suspicious, towards
strangers. Visitors to a tribal village should always first
ask to see the village headman. The initial contact should
be formal: hands should be clasped at head level as in pray-
er and a slight bow should be made. Religious areas, ani-
mals, and objects should be noted, and touching or harming
these should be avoided. Houses should be entered only if
escorted by a member of that household. If invited into a
house, a jar of rice wine is generally brought forward; a
prayer is then said and the jar itself becomes sacred.* The
wine then is drunk through a straw and one must not refuse
to drink. Generally, it is advisable to eat and drink what-
Large jars stored in the house are sacred and should not
be touched.
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ever is offered. Certain items are preferred items for
barter -- salt, blankets, tobacco, shirts, costume jewelry,
jackkives, lighters, and flashlights. Most Khmer Loeu also
are aware of modern medicines and may ask for such items as
aspirin and vitamins. Photographs should be taken only with
permission. A quite voice should be used as a sign of re-
spect.
The Jarai are characterized as an industrious and reli-
able people. Though they may work slowly and methodically,
young Jarai are generally eager for knowledge, learn quickly,
and are willing to take direction. They are proud, indepen-
dent people who have been known to be militarily aggressive.
Highly suspicious of strangers, they may react violently to
false moves. Age and wealth are bases for respect among the
Jarai; age is honored by positions on village councils and
wealth indicates that one has been favored by the spirits.
The Rhade, although reluctant to work too long or hard
in "western" type work, can endure much physical strain.
They can walk for days with heavy loads on their backs but,
because of diet deficiencies, they do require rest and food
at frequent intervals. They have a strong desire to learn
and are especially adept at learning foreign languages.
They see education as a means to better their communities
and desire to send their children to school. Young Rhade
are encouraged to leave the village to study or work for
outsiders. Although Rhade women usually disappear when a
stranger arrives in the village, the tribe generally is
hospitable to travelers.
The M'nong have a reputation for belligerence. Excit-
able and aggressive at times, they may be calm and almost
indolent in other situations. Under great stress, they re-
treat into the forest. They are polite and hospitable, but
suspicious of a stranger's motives.
The highly independent Stieng are among the more warlike
tribes, having been known to raid other villages for slaves
periodically in the past. Outsiders consider them apathetic
and incapable of sustained efforts but they work hard for
themselves when it comes to hunting, fishing, and farming.
The Kui are a self-effacing and submissive tribe who
readily adapt to new situations. They are intelligent, in-
dustrious and willing to learn new techniques. The French,
for example, persuaded them to adopt wet-land farming.
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The degree to which the Communists will succeed in al-
tering Khmer Loeu attitudes and values is uncertain. The
Communists will use propaganda, pressures, and terror to
gain the loyalties of the tribes. If the Communists are
successful, established tribal patterns will be altered;
the loss of traditional tribal freedoms then may lead to
tribal reaction against the Communists.
Religion: Most Khmer Loeu are animists and believe that
spirits can interfere in any facet of everyday life. Numer-
ous methods of devination are used to consult spirits before
acting; offerings and purificatory rites are performed to
prevent calamities; animals are sacrificed to invoke help
from the spirits. Taboo violations require certain kinds of
sacrifices depending on their gravity. Chickens, for example,
may be sacrificed to exonerate minor violations, while major
infractions may require the sacrifice of a buffalo.
Among most Khmer Loeu tribes, no strangers are allowed in
the village for seven days after its establishment. During
this time food must be cooked under, rather than in the
house and many other taboos are also in effect. An epidemic
in a village also results in a taboo which prevents strangers
from entering the village. Some sort of barrier is then
found across the village entrance. Heads of monkeys, shackles
of elephants, or spears suspended at the gate are usually in-
dications that the village has been sealed off to outsiders.
A tribal house is often taboo for three days after the birth
of a child. This taboo is indicated by a closed door, and
a bamboo pole with leaves fastened at the top is stuck in the
ground in front of the house. Generally, a stranger breaking
such a taboo is not subjected to reprisal, unless he repeats
the violation.
There is little evidence that missionary activity has had
any substantial effect among the Khmer Loeu. French Catholic
missionaries have worked with the Jarai since the nineteenth
century but even here conversions have been few (in January
1961, there had been 500 recorded Jarai converts). Intol-
erance of the non-Christian tribesmen toward the convert is
the principal obstacle to conversion. The convert no longer
will partake in traditional tribal religious activities, and
his abstinence is said to incur the wrath of the spirits, en-
dangering the well-being of the entire village.
Through its program of sending Buddhist monks to live in
tribal villages, the Cambodian Government has succeeded in
converting many among the western tribes to Buddhism. Rem-
nants of spirit worship, however, remain alongside Buddhist
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Language and Education: Linguistic diversity is great
among the Khmer Loeu.---TT1-e--y speak a number of mutually un-
intelligible languages, some of which belong to the Mon-
Khmer linguistic family while others are related to the Ma-
lay-Polynesian language family. Both Mon-Khmer tribal groups,
the Western (Kui, Saoch, Pear, Chong) and the Eastern (M'nong
-- Krol and Biet -- and Stieng), speak mutually unintelli-
gible Mon-Khmer languages. Because their languages are re-
lated to the Khmer language, however, understanding of the
national language is somewhat facilitated. Khmer is spoken
as a secondary language among the western minorities with
varying degrees of proficiency. The Malayo-Polynesian tribes
of the northeast (Rhade and Jarai in particular) speak Malay-
Polynesian tongues which resemble Cham. For them, adoption
of Khmer is more difficult and more strongly resisted.
In the northeast, those tribesmen who worked for the
French or served in the French Army learned to understand
that language. Some of the older tribal people still may
have some comprehension of spoken French. Others who have
been in contact with Americans in Vietnam may have learned
English. A few also have picked up some Vietnamese. How-
ever, the Khmer Loeu are still isolated from any formal
academic, language training. The French attempted to es-
tablish a school system in Khmer Loeu territory, but their
educational program was severely limited by lack of teachers,
facilities, and a remote location.
Dress: Personal dress and decorations set the Khmer Loeu
apart from the Cambodian. Piercing and elongation of the ear
lobes is common and heavy ivory earplugs or wooden discs may
be inserted. Copper and brass bangles on wrists and ankles
are worn by most upland tribes. The extraction or filing
down of teeth has been common as has the traditional tattooing
of arms, chest, and forehead. All such practices are dimin-
ishing, however, as contact with outsiders increases.
Most men wear loincloths, sometimes decorated with fringe
or colored bands. Women wear long cotton or grass cloth
skirts, often. belted in the front. The chest usually remains
bare, although tunics sometimes are worn. Blankets are
added when weather turns cool. Special ceremonial clothing
such as thigh-length coats or long shawls, is worn at formal
affairs. Turbans are popular among certain tribes on fes-
tive occasions. Ready-made clothes are becoming more popular
and western-style shorts and skirts are increasingly being
worn. Men seem especially to favor Western T-shirts. No
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Figure 18. Khmer Loeu tribesman. Note
pierced ears and heavy copper bangles
on forearms.
shoes or sandals are worn. Children commonly wear no
clothes until the age of six.
Occupations: The Khmer Loeu practice slash-and-burn
cultivation o-dryland crops. They supplement this by
hunting, fishing, raising pigs and chickens, and collect-
ing plantlife from the forest. The Rhade are accomplish-
ed hunters of boar and wild deer. Some eastern tribes
fish by spreading powder from poisoned roots on the wa-
ter.
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Figure 19. Khmer Loeu tribesman smoking
pipe made from copper tubing. Ivory plug
has been inserted in his pierced ear.
The slash-burn farmer clears a field at the close of
the rainy season and leaves it to dry until the end of
the dry season when it is burned off. Ile then plants
such crops as dry rice, corn, cotton, tobacco and/or yams
and then generally leaves them untended. The crops grow
during the rainy season and are harvested four to six
months later. The field is then burned over once again
at the end of the dry season and the cycle is repeated.
After three years, the soil usually is exhausted and
fields must be moved to new locations.
Many Stieng are employed on the rubber plantations at
Mimot and Snoul. The Jarai and Kui, excellent iron-for-
gers, make axes, knives, spearheads, and machetes as a
supplementary enterprise. Tribes of the southwest depend
more on subsidiary economic enterprises to supplement their
slash-burn agriculture than those tribes of the east.
Livestock and poultry are raised; gum is collected; animal
hides are cured. Some tribal members of the southwest also
work as farm laborers.
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Figure 20. Khmer Loeu youths in area northeast
of Kratie. Note western-style shirts on boys
at left.
Figure 21. Khmer Loeu hunter with cross-
bow and poisoned arrows.
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Figure 22. Rhade man dressed in native
loincloth and shirt decorated with poly-
chromatic designs. Steps cut into a log
provide ladder to porched area of house.
The Kui are a good example of a tribe which, for the
most part, has made the transition from slash-burn to the
wet rice farming of their Khmer neighbors. This again em-
phasizes the growing acculturation of Western. Ion-Khmer
groups to the Khmer way-of-life.
Settlement Pattern and IIousin : Khmer Loeu villages
are widely scattered, autonomous, self-sufficient, and gen-
erally smaller and more compact than their lowland counter-
parts. They average less than 100 persons per village and
usually contain only about twelve single family houses or a
few multi-family longhouses. The location and arrangement of
houses within a settlement is decided by the village elders
after consulting the wishes of the spirits. Villages are of-
ten fortified by fences of trees, hedges, walls of earth, or
stockades.
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Figure 23. Rhade women dressed in native wrap-
around skirts and close-fitting blouses.
Figure 24. Land where slash-burn agriculture has
been practiced.
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Figure 25. Khmer Loeu tribal peoples engaged in
native crafts. Thin strips of rattan are used in
basket making, a popular native industry.
Figure 26. A Kui girl with crude cotton gin; the
cotton will be used to weave cloth, a popular
native enterprise.
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The Khmer Loeu have a wide variety of house types.
Ranging from light thatched houses with bamboo frames to more
substantial, heavily thatched houses with thick log frames.
Most houses (except among the M'nong) are built on piles
from 4-10' high; platform porches are common and serve as
work areas; bamboo ladders or steps cut into logs are used to
reach these porch areas. The longhouses of the Eastern Mon-
Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian tribes are divided into compart-
ments, each inhabited by a matri-lineally linked nuclear
family. There also is a common room for family gatherings
and the receiving of gifts. There are no windows and no
openings for smoke to escape. Other buildings include huts
for rice storage, chicken coops, pig pens, cattle and buffalo
pens; many of the animals live under the house.
Figure 27. Kui woman carrying water in village
north of Siem Reap. Log ladders are used to
reach porch areas.
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Figure 28. Khmer Loeu village. Areas under and
around dwellings serve as catch-ails for variety
of housewares and furnishings, and provide liv-
ing areas for pigs, chickens and dogs.
Figure 29. Headman's house in Jarai village,
five miles from Vietnamese border. Pigs for-
age for food under house.
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Figure 30. Khmer Loeu tribal dwellings in Mondol-
kiri. Thatched roofs reaching almost to ground
give appearance of haystacks.
Figure 31. Rhade village in Mondolkiri Province,
near Vietnam border. Village comprises some twenty
longhouses, each sheltering three families. Small
rice granary in front of each house.
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Western Mon-Khmer, who formerly resided in longhouses,
now inhabit single family dwellings similar to those of the
Khmer. They also are built on piles, and bamboo, rattan,
straw, and fronds are used in constructing thatched roofs
and walls. Though houses may differ in size and elevation
among specific Khmer Loeu tribes, the basic construction
materials, compartmentalization, and organization of space
remain the same among all Khmer Loeu peoples.
Population Movements: Tribal movement in normal times
appears to be fairly localized. When the slash-burn ag-
riculture has depleted the fertility of its soils, the en-
tire village may move to a new area, generally not too far
distant from the old site. In an effort to supplement
their agricultural food supply, tribal hunters may travel
many miles of jungle trails in the general vicinity of their
village. Their knowledge of these trails should make them
excellent guides in a given locality.
Many Khmer Loeu served with the French army; some have
been with the Cambodian forces in frontier outposts; sea-
sonal work occasions some movement into towns. Furthermore,
many Khmer Loeu have been moved to resettlement areas by
the Cambodian Government; many of those "resettled" may
have drifted back to the hills.
In the present unsettled situation in eastern Cambodia,
many tribal villages probably have moved to more remote
areas to escape being the target of military action. Some
tribal people had earlier escaped northward into southern
Laos, and others may have moved back into the highlands of
South Vietnam.
Because most
Khmer Loeu tribes engaged in intervillage warfare before
being pacified by the French, most are still familiar with
both offensive and defensive forms of jungle warfare. Cross-
bows with poisoned. arrows, rattan lances, kris-like swords,
knives, and many kinds of improvised personnel booby traps
are the traditional weapons. Tribesmen are resourceful and
adaptable in the jungle and are excellent trackers and in-
terpreters. Their stamina is impressive; most can sustain
cross-country marches over difficult terrain. Although some
tribes in adjacent areas of South Vietnam already are pro-
ficient in the use of light weapons(the AR .15 rifle, sub-
machine gun., carbine), they are much less proficient in
using heavier weapons (111-1 or Browning Automatic Rifle)
and more sophisticated devices such as mortars, explosives,
and mines.
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5. Cham-Malays
The Chams and Malays are two distinct peoples of Indo-
nesian stock, but because of their common religion and cul-
ture, they have settled together and are commonly consider-
ed a single group. The Cham-Malays number 80,000 in Cam-
bodia, slightly more than one percent of the country's
population. They are concentrated. principally along the
Mekong River from Phnom Penh. to Kratie, along the Tonle
Sap River, and on the coast near Kampot. Some also are
found in the Pursat and Battambang areas.
Although they have adopted many features of Khmer cul-
ture, the Cham-Malays are regarded by most Cambodians as
culturally and religiously inferior. There is, however,
little apparent discrimination directed against them. They
are full-fledged citizens and enjoy all rights, including
the right of religious freedom.
The Cham-Malays of present day Cambodia are strict Mus-
lims and adhere to the Koranic marriage laws which prohibit
marriage with other groups. By proscribing intermarriage,
their communities remain isolated and complete assimilation
is impossible. Mosques mark their settlements; Chrui Chang-
var near Phnom Penh is their spiritual center.
Under the Sihanouk regime, the Cham-Malays enjoyed spe-
cial royal favors despite their minority status. The su-
preme chief of the Chams was appointed by Prince Sihanouk
and became a member of the Royal Court. Recently, a sense
of ethnic consciousness has developed among the Cham, and
the resultant feeling of distinctiveness may effect their
presently amiable relations with the Cambodians.
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The Cham languageeis a mixed tongue of Malayo-Polyne-
sian stock (the Rhade and Jarai speak languages related to
Cham -- 75 percent of the Rhade vocabulary, in fact, is
analogous to Cham). It is basically Malay in vocabulary,
interspersed with Sanskrit, Arabic, Vietnamese, Chinese,
and Khmer words. While their traditional language is used
at home, Malay and Arabic are commonly used in reading,
writing, and for religious purposes. Khmer is generally
spoken by Chains, although in a pidgin form. Cham-Malays
maintain schools organized for studying both the Koran and
Malay and Arabic languages.
The main item of Cham-Malays clothing is a sarong knotted
at the center of the body. Women also wear black or dark
green tunics with tight sleeves, open at the throat. Men
wear shirts and ankle-length sarongs. Flamboyant colors and
patterns such as red and green stripes are popular. Women
are not veiled but do wear scarves on their heads.
Chams are found in a limited range of occupations.
Trade and industry employ them in urban areas, and rural
Chams are farmers, fishermen, cattle breeders, and operators
of water transport and commerce facilities. Chams are note-
worthy in the fields of cattle breeding, trading, butchering,
and tanning, as they will slaughter cattle which Buddhist
Khmers will eat but not kill.
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Figure 32. Cham-Malays. Man in foreground wears
striped ankle-length robe. This striped pattern
is characteristic of the dress of this ethnic
group. Head coverings are commonly worn.
Figure 33. Vietnamese and Cham-Malay merchants
at Mekong River market in Phnom Penh.
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CAMBODIA
CHAPTER III - THE ECONOMY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
1
B.
Natural Resources
2
C.
D.
E.
F.
Agriculture
Industry
Fishing and For
Employment and
estry
Labor
8
G.
H.
I.
Finance and Inv
International E
American Busine
estment
conomic Rel
ss Presence
ations
Photographs
(Abbreviated Titles)
Figure No.
Page
1
Smuggler near South Vietnam border
2
2
Water wheel
3
3
Rice storage bank
4
4
Harvesting jute plant
5
5
Cotton weaving machines
6
6
Power plant and water tower
6
7
Fishing village
7
8
Sea port
9
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D
CHAPTER III -- THE ECONOMY
(January 1970)
A. General
Cambodia is a developing nation of 6.7 million people.
Average population density is low, but concentrated in the
rice-producing river valley areas. Agriculture dominates
the economy, employing about 85 percent of the people and
furnishing over a third of total national production. Gross
national product (GNP) amounted to $577 million* in 1966,
or about $100 per person. Real economic growth has been a
modest 4 to 5 percent annually. The minimum needs of the
population have been satisfied, and starvation is practi-
cally unknown.
The economic power of the peasantry is diffused and
insignificant. The two most powerful economic factions are
the government and a small coterie of wealthy merchants,
most of whom are Chinese. Economic development has been
hampered because the interests of the two groups have
differed. The government needs the money and talents of the
merchants to finance, establish, and manage the new indus-
tries needed for diversification and growth. The merchants,
however, have generally preferred the quick return from
investments in commerce and real-estate.
The war in South Vietnam has stimulated a substantial
flow of commodities into and out of Cambodia. The value
of the transfers has been approximately balanced. Saigon
beer and US PX goods are sold in Cambodia, for example,
while livestock, vegetables, and other Cambodian products
are consumed in South Vietnam. The largest and most per-
sistent commodity movement has been the purchase by the
Vietnamese Communists of 10,000 to 20,000 tons of Cambodian
rice annually for their forces in southern Laos and along
the Cambodian border with South Vietnam. The rice sales
and other cross-border trade appear to have had only a
minor effect on the Cambodian economy.
* Converted from 32 billion riels at the official exchange
rate of 55.5 riels = US $1.
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Figure 1. Smuggler with goods near South
Vietnam Border
Cambodia's most important natural resource is the
Mekong and Tonle Sap River system, which provides inland
transportation, seasonal irrigation, a large supply of
fish, and a potential for hydroelectric power development.
A vast expanse of forests provides wood products and the
only indigenous source of fuel. Cambodia has few known
mineral resources, and mining is largely nonexistent at
present. There are some limestone deposits in Kampot
Province, phosphate deposits in Battambang and Kampot
Provinces, traces of zinc, copper, and flourine in Kompong
Speu Province, deposits of precious stones in Battambang
Province, and possibly exploitable bauxite in Mondolkiri.
Iron and coal deposits are indicated in the Phum Rovieng
area, but these have not proven to be valuable enough for
exploitation. A French firm recently has been granted
the concession to explore for suspected offshore oil
deposits.
C. Agriculture
Cambodian agriculture remains largely primitive,
employing traditional techniques, crude implements, and
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the labor of humans and animals to produce little more than
subsistence crops from small farms of less than 2 hectares.
The main "wet season" rice crop is planted in July and
August and harvested from November to January. Output is
largely dependent on the amount and timing of the monsoon
rains, and farmers often suffer severe losses from adverse
weather. The benefits of irrigation and flood control are
acknowledged, but only about 5 percent of the cultivated
acreage has been irrigated. The principal constraints on
water control projects have been their high cost and long
construction period. One major project under way, however,
is the Prek Thnot Dam. This $27-million dam, under the
joint sponsorship of the Cambodian government and the
Mekong Committee, is scheduled for completion in 1973 and
initially will provide 18,000 kilowatts (kw) of electricity
and irrigation for over 5,000 hectares of land.
Figure 2. Water wheel used in rice
irrigation.
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Rice is Cambodia's principal food, its most valuable
export, and its most important crop, occupying about 85
percent of the cultivated area, but Cambodian rice yields
are among the lowest in the world, averaging only about
1 metric ton* per hectare. Production of paddy (unhusked
rice) varied between 2 and 3.25 million tons a year in the
1960's; weather was a key factor in the variations of
output. The 1967/68 crop was a record high, but drought
reduced the 1968/69 crop to 2.5 million tons of paddy.
Preliminary indications point to a record 1968/70 crop.
Figure 3. Rat-proof rice storage bank.
Although Cambodia approaches a one-crop economy, it
raises many other crops on a smaller scale. Several, such
as rubber, corn, and pepper, are grown largely for export.
Fruits, vegetables, oil seeds, and textile fibers are
grown principally for internal consumption. Cambodia is
largely self-sufficient in food production but imports
wheat, flour, and dairy products.
All tons are metric.
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Figure 4. Harvesting jute plant.
D. Industry
The Cambodian government has advanced a program of
industrialization only in the last two decades. The
handicaps to this program are immense: Cambodia has few
raw materials for exploitation, a small market, a poorly
developed infrastructure, no money or security markets,
limited investment capital, an unskilled work force, and
a sluggish bureaucracy. Most of the more than 3,700
industrial units are little more than small shops pro-
ducing a variety of goods for local consumption. The
government has been responsible for the construction and
operation of the few relatively large, modern manufac-
turing plants because it has been the only entity capable
of undertaking the large investment and, even so, has
relied on foreign assistance to share the financing.
Products of these larger plants include cement, plywood,
textiles, fertilizers, paper, jute bags, glassware,
petroleum products, and alcoholic beverages. The pace
of industrialization has been increasing, with many of
Cambodia's major plants being completed in the last three
years, but Cambodia remains dependent on imports for most
consumer goods and all but simple manufactured products.
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Figure 5. Weaving machines at cotton textile factory.
Electric power is a particularly weak link in Cambodia's
economic infrastructure. Installed generating capacity,
which is concentrated in the larger towns, is estimated to
Figure 6. Power plant and water tower, Prey Veng.
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be about 100,000 kw. About two-thirds of capacity is
publicly owned, but the lack of a distribution system
requires many of the plantations and manufacturing plants
outside the Phnom Penh area to have their own private
generators. Even Kompong Som, the proposed site for
much of Cambodia's future industry, does not yet have a
power system adequate to supply existing needs.
E. Fishing and Forestry
Fish is the Cambodian's main source of animal protein,
and subsistence fishing is part of almost every farmer's
activity. Most commercial fishing is done by native
Vietnamese in the Tonle Sap area, but there is also some
ocean fishing. A few small facilities to can fish have
been built and more are planned, but fishing will probably
remain a minor industry.
Figure 7. Fishing village (Kompong Kleang)
More than 70 percent of Cambodia's land area is forested,
consisting mainly of tropical broadleaf species. Over
15,000 square miles of forest have been set aside as
reserves, and commercial exploitation of the remainder is
under government control. The production of charcoal, the
7
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principal native fuel, is a major industry. Logging opera-
tions have been expanding and exports of rough timber and
sawed wood have been growing, stimulating Cambodian hopes
that wood products will become an important foreign exchange
earner.
F. Employment and Labor
Since the populace is largely rural and engaged in
subsistence agriculture, only a small portion of the popula-
tion regularly works for somebody else. The weather cycle
creates seasonal unemployment for part of the farm popula-
tion, some of whom work at menial jobs in the off season.
The small urban work force lacks productive skills and is
not wage-oriented, but neither is it troubled with widespread
unemployment. Unions are few, and there is little incentive
for labor organizations because management tends toward
paternalism and there are few labor disputes. Although
unemployment is not widespread, the number of youths educated
in recent years exceeds the economy's capacity to employ them
in jobs they will accept. They tend to remain unemployed
rather than work in agriculture or "blue-collar" occupations.
G. Finance and Investment
The Cambodian budget for 1969 envisaged expenditures of
7,565 million riels, an increase of 7 percent over 1968, but
actual expenditures were slightly over 8,000 million riels.
Defense, general administration, and economic development
are allocated roughly equal thirds of the budget. Customs
duties, income taxes, and business taxes provide two-thirds
of budget receipts. Constantly increasing expenditures and
a reliance on revenue sources dependent on the fate of the
rice harvest result in chronic deficits, but they are usually
small and/or easily financed.
Cambodia is undergoing moderate economic growth with
relative financial stability. Inflation has been controlled
--averaging about 3 percent a year--with minimal increases
in the cost of food* and basic necessities. There were only
minor disruptions of the price structure as a result of the
recent (August 1969) devaluation of the riel.
* Except for a few months of 1969 when the rice market
manipulations of profiteers wrought drastic price increases.
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Banking, foreign trade, and certain production mono-
polies have been nationalized since 1963. Measures enacted
in early 1970 brought a very limited denationalization in
these areas, but developmental investment in Cambodia con-
tinues, by necessity, to remain in the hands of the govern-
ment. Lack of a money market, an underdeveloped infrastruc-
ture, and a climate of uncertainty created by the nearby
Vietnam war dampen private incentive for investment in
Cambodia vis-a-vis alternative areas.
H. International Economic Relations
Cambodia must rely heavily on imports to supply not only
most manufactured goods but also the inputs for industrial
development. The country is completely dependent on imports
for crude petroleum, iron and steel products, and machinery.
France remains the leading supplier, but China, Japan,
Malaysia, and Singapore are other major sources. The value
of imported commodities averages about 3.5 billion riels
annually, about 600 million riels more than exports.
Figure 8. Sea port (Kompong Som) I
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Almost 80 percent of the value of Cambodia's exports
is derived from rice, rubber, and corn, all highly
susceptible to the vagaries of the weather and world
markets. There is a continuing effort to develop tourism
and exports of fish and wood products as additional foreign
exchange earners. Cambodia's major export markets include
South Vietnam, Senegal, Hong Kong, China, and France.
South Vietnam was the leading purchaser of Cambodian pro-
ducts in both 1968 and 1969.
Although foreign aid is needed for increasing the rate
of economic development, Cambodia has been cautious about
accepting aid. The government generally has succeeded in
obtaining grants instead of loans lest the economy become
burdened with heavy repayment obligations. During 1956-69,
Cambodia received a total of 4.7 billion riels of economic
credits and grants from Communist sources, two-thirds of
which came from Communist China. Drawings on Free World
economic aid during 1965-68 totaled 2.2 billion riels, of
which 50 percent came from France and 40 percent from
Japan. Most of Cambodia's major industrial plants were
partially financed by France or the Communist countries.
I. American Business Presence
Cambodia's lack of profitable investment opportunities
has discouraged active participation by American firms,
and the Cambodian political climate has emphasized the
need for caution from both sides. Currently, the American
commercial presence in Cambodia apparently is limited to a
dozen or so semipermanent representatives of various sales
and banking interests and some participation in petroleum
marketing.
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25X1
CAMBODIA
CHAPTER IV - TRANSPORTATION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
A.
Introduction
1
B.
Roads and Trai
ls
C.
Railroads
D.
Water Transpor
t
1. Inland Wat
erways
25
2. Seaports a
nd Shipping
29
E.
Air Transport
F.
Cross-Border Movement
Tables
1.1
Highway Bridges 43
Ferry Facilities 45
2. Reading List
Photographs
(Abbreviated Titles)
Figure No.
1 Khmer-American Friendship Highway 3
2 Route 1 west of Svay Rieng 4
3 Laterite road near border 4
4 Earthen road of Tonle Sap 5
5 Dry season view of Route 19 5
6 West season view of Route 19 6
7 Secondary road near Laos 7
8 Road near Lomphat 8
9 Concrete encased steel truss bridge 9
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Figure No.
Page
10
Wooden decked bridge near Siem Reap
10
11
Bridge between Route 13 and Siem Pang
10
12
Makeshift bridge near Poste Deshayes
11
13
Bridge near Kompong Speu
12
14
Bridge over Tonle Sap River
13
15
Ramp leading to ferry across Mekong
14
16
Ferry crossing Tonle Sap River
15
17
Ferry facility across Tonle Kong
15
18
Rainy season view of ford
16
19
Oxcarts on highway north of Kampot
17
20
Heavily loaded bus
17
21
Crude foot bridge
19
22
Trail, part of "Sihanouk Trail"
20
23
Phnom Penh-Poipet rail line
21
24
Railroad bridge
22
25
Phnom Penh-Kompong Som rail line
23
26
Bridge near Takeo
24
27
New railroad station
24
28
Barges moored on Mekong
26
29
Passenger and cargo ferries
27
30
View of Se San
28
31
Phnom Penh port
30
32
Southern part of Phnom Penh port
31
33
Aerial photograph
33
34
Kompong Sam
34
35
Main pier at Kompong Som
34
36
Pochentong Airfield
37
37
Siem Reap airfield
38
38
Airfields
39
39
Airfields
40
40
Rice smugglers
41
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CAMBODIA
CHAPTER V - TRANSPORTATION
(June 1970)
A. Introduction
Cambodian transportation facilities are underdeveloped,
unevenly distributed, inadequately maintained, and of lim-
ited capacity. They have been able, however, to satisfy
most of the modest requirements of the country's predomi-
nantly agricultural economy and to facilitate a signifi-
cant movement of supplies to Vietnamese Communist forces
in the Cambodian-South Vietnamese border area. In recent
years, roads have surpassed inland waterways as the prin-
cipal means of moving cargo and passengers. Waterways
remain an integral part of the transportation system even
though rapid silting has limited the navigability of many
of them. Railroads rank third in significance; opening
of the line between Phnom Penh and the port of Kompong
Som (Sihanoukville) in late 1969 reversed their decline
of the recent past. Domestic shipping and civil air fa-
cilities are limited; most maritime and air commerce is
handled by foreign vessels and aircraft.
Existing transportation facilities and equipment are
in fair condition, at best. Surfaced roads are badly pot-
holed and those that are unsurfaced are unusable much of
the year; railroad equipment is largely antiquated; water-
ways are hampered by heavy silting; port capacities are
limited; and the inventory of aircraft on the one domestic
airline is low. Thus, despite an improvement program, the
capability of the transport system to handle increased
traffic will be modest for some time to come.
railroads and, to a lesser extent,
the airfields remain relatively unaffected by the country's
seasonally adverse weather. During exceptionally heavy
rains, even sections of railroad may be flooded and
traffic disrupted for short periods, and at such times
unpaved landing strips also may be rendered temporarily
unserviceable. Rainy weather has a particularly pro-
nounced disrupting effect on road traffic, especially
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along extensive stretches of secondary roads, which may
become impassable because of mud or, in the mountains,
landslides. Lowland sections of hard-surfaced roads,
although occasionally in disrepair, normally are traf-
ficable the year round. Diminished stream flow during
the dry season severely limits navigability on waterways.
B. Roads and Trails
Cambodia's nearly 3,200 miles of road could not
accommodate substantial increases in commercial or
military traffic. The network, originally designed by
the French during their colonial reign to link the
producing hinterlands of Laos and Cambodia with the
port of Saigon, reflects that function and does not
now adequately serve the country as a whole. While
connecting major population centers in the south-
central and southeastern parts of Cambodia and linking
the provincial capitals in outlying areas with Phnom
Penh, it does not effectively tap the sparsely populated
northern plains or the mountainous fringes of the north-
east and southwest, where extensive tracts are roadless.
Nevertheless, overall road density of the network is
about 0.045 miles per square mile, somewhat greater than
in neighboring Laos and Thailand.
The importance of road transport has increased
significantly in the past 10 years. This change in
status is related directly to the development of the
port of Kompong Som and the shift of Cambodia's foreign
trade from the Saigon-oriented Mekong waterway system
to land transport routes leading to Kompong Som. The
Khmer-American Friendship Highway (Route 4), built
with US aid and completed in 1959, carried all exports
and imports between Phnom Penh and Kompong Som until
the rail line between these points was opened in 1969.
(Heavy traffic has resumed in recent months because of
disruption of rail traffic on the Phnom Penh - Kompong
Som line by Communist forces.) Even though well en-
gineered, heavy rains have caused the serious deterioration
of stretches of this road. Nonetheless, the Khmer-
American Friendship Highway is in better condition than
roads in other parts of the country where traffic is
slowed by narrow widths, lack of shoulders, poor surfaces,
sharp curves, poor drainage, and inadequate bridging.
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Figure 1. Khmer-American Friendship Highway (Rt. 4) between
Kompong Som and Phnom Penh.
A total of 1,530 miles of road in Cambodia are bi-
tuminous surfaced; 675 miles are surfaced with crushed
stone, gravel, or laterite; 360 miles are improved earth;
and 615 miles are unimproved earth. Bituminous roads
generally are well drained and all-weather, although
some sections in the lowlands may be subject to flooding
during the rainy season. To minimize this danger, major
lowland roads are constructed on embankments that may
range up to 20 feet above the surrounding terrain. Stone,
gravel, and laterite roads, while more prone to inter-
ruptions during the wet season than bituminous roads, are
trafficable most of the year. Laterite roads tend to be
dusty during dry weather, and with time they acquire a
corrugated "washboard" surface; during the rainy season,
they may become dangerously slippery. Unimproved earthen
roads and cart tracks may be jeepable in dry weather;
but in rainy weather they turn into ribbons of deeply
rutted mud and become trafficable only by oxcart. Be-
cause of generally inadequate base and surface materials,
all roads deteriorate rapidly, and even the best cannot
support sustained heavy traffic. Maintenance is hampered
by inadequate funds, poor construction materials (most
must be imported), insufficient maintenance equipment,
and the lack of skilled labor.
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Figure 2. Route 1 west of Svay Rieng.
Figure 3. Laterite road near South Vietnam border.
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Figure 4. Graded earthen road on plain north of
Tonle Sap.
Figure S. Dry season view of Route 19 west of Boung
Long, Ratanakiri Province.
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Figure 6. West season view of Route 19.
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Figure 7. Secondary road near Laos
border east of Mekong in wet season.
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Figure 8. Road near Lomphat, Ratanakiri
Province.
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Major roads range up to 24 feet in width; shoulders
may be as wide as 10 feet, enough to permit their use
by animal-drawn vehicles and bicycles. Secondary roads
are up to 16 feet wide, with shoulders rarely wide
enough to permit the passage of any type of vehicle.
Shoulders along many of these roads, in fact, may be
totally obliterated by encroaching roadside vegetation.
Furthermore, the roadways may be etched with deep ruts,
a result of poor drainage along and away from the road.
In addition to generally inadequate surfaces and
widths, traffic on Cambodia's roads is hindered by a
multitude of streams that must be bridged, ferried, or
forded. The road network contains more than 1,800
bridges that exceed 20 feet in length.
Figure 9. Concrete encased steel truss bridge between
Siem Reap and Sisophon.
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Figure 10. Wooden decked bridge near Siem
Reap.
Figure 11. Rickety bridge on secondary road between
Route 13 and Siem Pang.
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Figure 12. Makeshift bridge along secondary road near
Poste Deshayes in Mondolkiri Province.
Most are single-lane timber structures; with load
capacities under 5 tons
1 1. Such bridges, however,
are being replaced by more substantial structures.
Most crossings more than 100 feet in length are span-
ned by truss or deck-girder bridges. Of steel or
reinforced concrete construction, they are up to 16
feet wide and have capacities to 15 tons. All 42
bridges on the Phnom Penh - Kompong Som highway sur-
pass these limitations; and have widths ranging up to
23 feet and capacities to 22 tons. The longest
structure in Cambodia is the 10-span, 2,328-foot
reinforced concrete and steel girder Sihanouk Bridge
across the Tonle Sap river at Phnom Penh.
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Figure 13. Bridge on Khmer-American Friendship High-
way near Kompong Speu.
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Figure 14. Ten-span, 2,328 foot
bridge over Tonle Sap River at Phnom
Penh.
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No bridge spans the Mekong. Major ferry crossings are
located at Phum Prek Neak Luong (Route 1) and Kompong Cham
(Route 7). Crossings are made by diesel-powered ferries
with capacities of 40 tons. Phnom Penh?s control of its
trans-Mekong territory hinges on its control of these two
major ferry facilities. A 40-ton ferry crosses the Tonle
Sap river near Kompong Luong (Route 6) and a 25-ton ca-
pacity ferry crosses the Tonle Kong at Stung Treng (Route
13). Secondary crossings of the Mekong, as at most other
stream crossings, are piled by crude rafts with capacities
under 3 tons, powered by outboard motor or by pole. Such
small craft are hampered by strong currents during most
of the rainy season. The major crossings are equipped
with floating loading ramps to facilitate docking at all
water levels.
Figure 15. Ramp leading to ferry across Mekong at
Tonle Bet, opposite Kompong Cham (Route 7).
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Figure 16. Ferry crossing Tonle Sap River near Kompong
Luang (Route 6.)
Figure 17. Ferry facility across Tonle Kong at Siem
Pang.
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Elsewhere, landing slips are of packed earth. Fords
replace bridges at stream crossings of most tracks and some
secondary roads. They may be unusable by motor vehicles
during the rainy season when currents are strong, bottoms
are soft, and entrances and exits slick with mud. There
are no tunnels on the Cambodian road system.
Figure 18. Rainy season view of ford on secondary road
between Route 18 and Siem Pang. Note muddy exit.
As of 1969 the inventory of motor vehicles in Cam-
bodia included 23,552 automobiles, 10,731 trucks and
busses, and 92,440 motorcycles and motorbikes. Most
motor vehicles are in poor condition because of the
beating they take on the poor roads and the paucity of
repair facilities.
Although vehicular traffic is light, countless
pedicabs and a variety of motorized two-wheeled vehicles
may jam traffic in Phnom Penh, and slow-moving oxcarts
and other animal-drawn conveyances may create traffic
jams on rural roads. Busses jammed with passengers and
a wide variety of cargo contribute to traffic problems
in both city and countryside.
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Figure 19. Oxcarts on highway north of Kampot.
Figure 20. Typically heavily loaded bus on high-
way south of Phnom Penh.
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Main roads radiating from Phnom Penh, the center of the
road system, are numbered clockwise commencing with the
Phnom Penh - Saigon highway (Route 1). Continuing clock-
wise, numbers are then assigned first to main branches,
then to laterals, and finally to minor branches. Direction-
al, regulatory, and warning signs are posted along all main
highways and concrete kilometer markers indicate distances
from major urban centers. Information on sign posts, for-
merly written in both French and Cambodian, now appears
only in Cambodian.
Off-road vehicular movement is limited by a number of
factors. In lowland areas, roads are usually built on
embankments formed by evacuating soil from both sides of
the road and heaping it toward the center several feet
above surrounding terrain. Consequently, steep-sided
borrow pits, 3 to 5 feet deep and several feet wide, ex-
tend along both sides of such roads. These borrow pits
usually contain water, even in the dry season and, unless
spanned by temporary bridges, bar off-road movement.
Bypassing road sections that may be washed out during
the rainy season is a problem because flooded rice pad-
dies commonly extend up to the borrow pits. In the dry
season, off-road vehicular movement in the ricelands is
possible, but the dikes separating the paddy fields may
have to be breached; many are too high to be negotiated
by even a four-wheel-drive vehicle with high center clear-
ance.
Most river channels--even in the dry season--can be
crossed only with difficulty because of the depth of water
and/or steep banks. Long detours may be required to find
a sufficiently shallow ford with a suitable entrance and
exit. Steep banks may be soft, and a winch may be essen-
tial to surmount them. In the forested areas of the low-
lands and in the extensive wooded tracts of the mountains,
vehicular movement for any distance off the road or track
is usually out of the question.
In addition to the roads and cart tracks, innumerable
trails crisscross most of the country. Most of these
trails are not likely to be trafficable for significant
distances by motor vehicles, even under favorable cli-
matic conditions. Dikes that separate rice paddies are
used as footpaths in the lowlands during the wet season,
and after the crop is harvested and the fields are dry,
foot traffic forms random patterns across the fields. In
the mountains, local trail networks -- unusable by motor
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Battambagg
X32
"IN