Holiday In Cambodia: Khmer Rouge Historical Sites to Be Developed for Tourism

March 29, 2009 at 1:25 PM | by Victor Ozols | 0 Comments

The era of Pol's Pot's Khmer Rouge is among the most brutal and horrific of any in history, resulting in the death of about a quarter of the Cambodian population. This grisly fact is reason enough for the government of present-day Cambodia to implement a $1 million plan to develop 15 Khmer Rouge sites for tourism - including Pol Pot's cremation site (pictured) - and charge tourists admission to see for themselves where the bad stuff went down. As the AP points out, the landmarks in Anlong Veng include Khmer Rouge hideouts, execution sites, and battlefields, all serene reminders of the atrocities that took place from 1975 to 1979.

Certainly it feels odd and somehow irreverent to open the killing fields to mass tourism. A proposed casino seems particularly tacky. But there are museums all over the world that highlight the atrocities of the World Wars and other violent events in history, and it's hard to draw a line between respectful observance and crass commercialism. Cambodia has as much right to explore and share its history as any other country. It also might be helpful if everybody got to take a look at the effects of one man's sick dream to restart his country at "Year Zero." It's scary, sobering stuff indeed.

[Photo: msnbc.com]

Related Stories:
· Tourists Look for Luck at Pol Pot's Grave [msnbc.com]
· History Travel [Jaunted]

Jaunted

Select a Destination:

Tags: History Travel / Pol Pot / Wars / Dangerous Travel / Khmer Rouge / → All Tags