AKP Prey Veng, September 12, 2026 --

Senior Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) leaders on Saturday inspected the site of a future war memorial in Prey Veng Province to be dedicated to the resistance movement against the genocidal Pol Pot regime in 1978.

The memorial — to be built in Krabao Commune in Kamchay Mear District — is designed to commemorate 20,000 soldiers, other combatants and civilians who fled to Tatork Forest to escape a brutal purge of the Eastern Zone between May 1978 and January 1979.

At the time, the Eastern Zone comprised the provinces of Kampong Cham, Prey Veng and Svay Rieng.

In 2022, the CPP Central Committee acknowledged the need to “express gratitude and deep appreciation to the heroic endurance” of those who fled to the forest.

Party leaders who visited the forest site on Saturday were H.E. Kittinitikosal Pundit Sim Ka, Supreme Privy Councilor to His Majesty the King and former First Vice President of the Senate, and H.E. Vong Sauth, Second Vice President of the current National Assembly.

Both served under Samdech Akka Moha Ponhea Chakrei Heng Samrin, the Honorary President of the CPP and Supreme Privy Council who became Deputy Commander of the Eastern Zone in early May 1978. 

Also visiting the site on Saturday were H.E. Abhisantibindit Sar Sokha, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, and H.E. General Sar Thet, Commissioner-General of National Police. 

After fierce fighting with Western Zone forces loyal to Pol Pot, Heng Samrin was the effective commander of the Eastern Zone by the end of May after the demise of So Phim, a popular military leader who had fought French colonial forces. 

SAMDECH HENG SAMRIN RECALLS

Samdech Heng Samrin has offered a vivid account of the brutal purge.

In his memoirs published in 2016, he explains how he let Eastern Zone forces under his command separate into small groups after the fighting in mid-May.

The plan was to “disperse quietly into the forest to wait for a chance to resume our operations,” he writes.

Heng Samrin himself fled to his village in Ponhea Kraek district in Kampong Cham province (now Thbong Khmum province) but could only enter the village at night.  

“During the day, I hid along a canal,” he says, adding that his father-in-law was repeatedly asked by people loyal to Pol Pot if he’d seen any high-ranking people.

HIDING IN TATORK FOREST

At the end of May, “I decided to leave my family and go back to the forest to keep fighting … When I reached Tatork Forest south of Doun Nhorng, I hid there for five days.

“I saw Pol Pot’s forces evacuating all the villagers. They shot dead a man called Sok Min as a warning to others who might resist.”

FORCED EVACUATIONS, INTERROGATIONS

“They assembled the terrified inhabitants and ordered them to leave without their belongings, except for the clothes they were wearing.

“Cattle, houses and other property were abandoned …

“During the evacuation, Pol Pot’s forces questioned villagers one by one, in search of a lady called Rai, the former head of the Women’s Association in Ponhea Kraek District who was traveling with them.

“The villagers were terrified. When they arrived at Kanhchae Village, Rai escaped through a paddy field to the west.

SHOTS FIRED AT WOMEN’S GROUP CHIEF

“Pol Pot’s forces saw her and opened fire with AK-47s. Fortunately, they missed her as she tripped over an embankment and fell.

“When they saw her falling, they shouted that they had hit their target and stopped shooting.

“She stood up and ran as fast as she could into the forest nearby …

POL POT’S FORCES ‘DETERMINED TO KEEP KILLING’

“After the failed attempt to kill Rai, all the men who had been evacuated escaped to the east of the forest.

“Finding the situation changed, Pol Pot’s forces fired M-79 grenade launchers into the forest, determined to keep killing people from the village.”

RESISTANCE MOVEMENT

“As events became more complicated, I gathered villagers who had escaped into the forest to form a resistance movement.

“I was the leader, Chea Sim was my deputy and some other members included my brother Heng Samkai, Sim Ka and Hem Bo.

“Later, this movement persuaded a battalion led by Seang Hey, Deputy Commander of the 280th Division, to rebel against the Krabao military camp in Kamchay Mear district …

“We seized firearms, ammunition, and other equipment including a vehicle which we hid in the forest.”

Today, the Tatork Forest area is a rubber plantation covering 1,336 hectares, extending from Kamchay Mear district into Ponhea Kraek district in Thbong Khmum province.

Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, President of the CPP and the Senate, has appointed H.E. Vong Sauth to chair the committee overseeing the memorial project on a 120-hectare plot.

The committee takes its name from Zone 578, shorthand for the Tatork Forest area where the resistance movement emerged in May 1978.

Committee 578 has four subcommittees overseeing history, construction, the environment and culture.

In remarks made during Saturday’s visit, the National Assembly Second Vice President said he expected a study on construction plans to be completed in time for a groundbreaking ceremony in early 2027.

By Sao Da (Photo: Sor Sovann)