Sihanoukville, Cambodia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sihanoukville also known as Kampong Som, is a province in southern Cambodia
on the Gulf of Thailand. This port city is a growing Cambodian urban center,
located 185 kilometres (115 mi) southwest of the Cambodian capital, Phnom
Penh. The province is named after King Father Norodom Sihanouk and grew up
around the construction of Sihanoukville Port. Construction on the port
began in June 1955 and it was the only deep water port in Cambodia. The port
was built in part due to the waning power of the French leading to the
Vietnamese tightening their control over the Mekong Delta and hence
restricting river access to Cambodia.

The province is served by Sihanoukville International Airport, 18 kilometres
(11 mi) from downtown, although it has a limited commercial operation. The
planned flights between Sihanoukville and Siem Reap may encourage visitors
to Angkor temples in Siem Reap to extend their stay, though the crash of a
charter flight in Phnom Damrey on 25th June 2007 from Siem Riep has caused
concerns.

Sihanoukville attracts tourists with its laidback beach atmosphere when
compared to Thailand's more developed ones. However, the city has attracted
not only tourists, but several NGOs and foreign and national investors in
the last years in order to develop not only the growing tourist industry,
but its capacity as an international sea port and other sectors like textile
and real estate. In Sihanoukville is also located the main factory of Angkor
the Cambodian national beer.

Sihanoukville was the place of the last official battle of the United States
army in the Vietnam War, although the incident took place outside Vietnam.
It is known as the Mayagüez incident on May 12-15, 1975 between the US
forces and the Khmer Rouge. Currently, visitors dive in Koh Tang, one of the
Sihanoukville islands where the major battle to free the SS Mayagüez took
place. Divers can see two shipwrecks 40 metres (130 ft) down.

On 22nd December, 2008, King Norodom Sihamoni signed a Royal Decree that
changed the municipalities of Kep, Pailin and Sihanoukville into provinces,
as well as adjusting several provincial borders.

Origin of the name

The province honors the name of King Norodom Sihanouk. Internationally it is
written in French as Sihanouk Ville or Sihanoukville (Literally "The City of
Sihanouk" or "Sihanouk City").

King Norodom Sihanouk is known in Cambodia as the Father of the Nation,
because he was the main promoter of the independence of the country from
France in 1953.

The name "Sihanouk" is formed from two Sanskrit words: Siha and Hanu. "Siha"
means Lion. The word comes from Sanskrit "Simha". Another example is
Singapore. "Hanouk" is from "Hanu" that means "Jaws". Therefore, Sihanouk is
"The Jaws of the Lion".

The former name Kompong Som means "Agreeable Port" and som is derived from
the Sanskrit word "samuya".

History

As the newest Cambodian city, Sihanoukville doesn't have a long history like
Phnom Penh or Siem Reap. It was founded in 1960 after independence from
France as a port, in order to communicate the city with international trade.
The project was overseen by the government of Norodom Sihanouk.

The construction of the port began in 1955 and most of the families of the
builders remained near the port, effectively becoming the first inhabitants.

During the Vietnam War, it became an intensive military port first in the
service of Vietcong and after 1970, with the regime of General Lon Nol, at
the service of the United States.

With the success of the Khmer Rouge guerrillas in April 1975, the port was
the last place to be evacuated by the US army. The SS Mayagüez was captured
by militants of the new regime on 12th May. The US claimed that the ship was
on international sea lanes, but the Khmer Rouge said that it was on
Cambodian territory. It is known as the Mayagüez incident.

After the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979, the port of Sihanoukville
recovered a great importance in the development of the country. With the
opening of markets in 1999, the port became one of the main spots of
economical growing of Cambodia.

In December 1999, Formosa Plastics bribed Cambodian officials and dumped
3000 tons of mercury laden waste into Sihanoukville, killing 3 people.
Formosa Plastics also tried to dump the waste in the Nevada, USA.

Geography

Sihanoukville is located in the south of Cambodia. It is 185 kilometres (115
mi) southwest of Phnom Penh in a small Peninsula and Bahia. Beaches are the
main feature that attracts national and foreign visitors. A small
archipelago is embedded by the Sihanoukville Bahia off its south and west
coast. The commercial and international port is located at the north west.
The limits of its territory: North and West Koh Kong province, East Kompot
province and south Gulf of Thailand.

Town centre: The town centre is located on a hill roughly in the centre of
the peninsula and is seen as a distinct area for tourism promotion. It
contains the banks, bus station and market, although the post office is some
distance toward the port.

Economy

The economy of Sihanoukville is based primarily in its port for import and
exports to the national economy. It has also an oil container port and cargo
facilities.

Other activities in the economy of the province include fishing, aquaculture
agriculture, mining, oil, factories (frozen shrimp processing, garment and
Angkor Beer), real estate and tourism.

In the last years the increasing of tourism has improved the construction of
hotels and tourism infrastructures in the province. Foreign and national
investment has been proven by the presence of new comers to the city.

Culture

The Cambodian culture is predominantly Khmer. But the presence of several
human groups in Sihanoukville makes that the province has a lot cultural
manifestations.

The inhabitants of Sihanoukville dedicate especially to commerce, fishing,
agriculture and industry. It is used that families visit the beaches and
waterfalls at the weekends. Generally people from Sihanoukville are friendly
and they are used to visitors from other Cambodian provinces and foreigners.

Religion

As 2004, there were 27 pagodas in the province with a population of 1,918
bonzis. Pagodas are important for the Cambodian culture as a center of
villages and cities. In the port there are two important ones:

* Upper Pagoda: It is also known as "Wat Chotynieng". Located in a hill
that overlooks Sihanoukville town is dedicated to Prince Chourn Nath,
Cambodian Buddhist leader.

* Down Pagoda: It is also known as "Wat Krom". Located in Sihanoukville
downtown. It is dedicated to Yeay Mao, a southern Cambodia divinity.

* Riem Pagoda: It is located in the Riem commune, near the airport.

Sihanoukville has other important religious groups like Catholics, Muslims
(Cham), Protestants and Animists. Other important places of worship:

* St. Michael's Church: It belongs to the Catholic communities. There is
a celebration for faithful visitors to the port in English every Sunday
evening. The temple was built in 1960 by sailors and it is located in the
same hill of Upper Pagoda, facing the port.

* Iber Bikhalifah Mosque: It belongs to the Muslim communities. It is located in downtown, just in the popular Leu Market.