Apart from the ruins of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, Cambodia has a more recent history of Civil War. The Khmer Rouge were ultimately defeated after five years of fighting and around 600,000 casualties. Siem Reap’s War Museum aims to preserve the memory of this war with a collection of military vehicles and weapons recovered after the war.
The War Museum Cambodia can be found to the west of Siem Reap, on the way to the airport. It’s a short drive out, but still closer than most of the ancient ruins in the area. We went there after a short rain, and on our way out there we spotted a water buffalo bathing in a flooded field.
The museum itself is actually a large field filled with recovered military vehicles from the war. Most of them have their paint peeled off, revealing the rusted chassis below. Many of them have been damaged in battle, holes punched through their armour, jagged metal bending out of the shells.
They have a vast collection of artillery weapons and tanks, and it was an experience to see them up close. You get to see how big these weapons actually are, and how heavy the explosive shells they carried must have been. You can see how cramped the troop transports would have been, especially for soldiers loaded with weapons and ammo.
These vehicles were recovered after the war and bought by the museum as scrap metal. Of course, they didn’t intend to use the metal, but to preserve them here so people can get a sense of history. Looking at these vehicles you can imagine what it must have been like to see these machines rolling over trenches and mud.
Most of the vehicles were originally built in the USSR, but there are a few from China and the USA. Like many wars in South East Asia, the Civil War became a proxy for the Cold War, with the USSR and China supporting the Cambodian government, and the USA supporting the genocidal Khmer Rouge.
There is also a small building in the museum that holds many rifles, machine guns, and rocket launchers that were used back in the day. While we were there a tour guide was showing school children around, and they talked a little about the horrors of war. They then let the kids play with the weapons and equipment that were scattered around.
They didn’t have any trigger discipline, but thankfully the weapons were so rusted and (I assume) disabled, so there was no real danger here. I wanted to pick up the rocket launcher, but decided against it since I hadn’t been given explicit permission to do so.
Though I didn’t actually learn too much about Cambodia’s history here, it was interesting to see first hand some of the materiel used during the war. And seeing the children highlighted what the museum was actually here for: to get people interested in history so they will want to learn more. And given the reaction of the children, and the fact that I wanted to learn more after visiting, I’d say they have succeeded in that goal.
This is how you preserve history.
