Choeung Ek and the memorial landscape of Phnom Penh
Published on 09/03/2026 at 15:07 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Choeung Ek, on the rural edge of Phnom Penh, is a former execution ground of the Khmer Rouge that has become one of Cambodia’s most stark memorial landscapes. It occupies an area of fields and former orchard where thousands of prisoners from the Tuol Sleng detention centre were murdered during the Cambodian genocide in the second half of the 1970s.
From orchard and cemetery to genocidal centre
Choeung Ek lies in Dangkao District to the south of Phnom Penh, in what was once an orchard and Chinese cemetery surrounded by rice fields and sugar palms.former orchard and cemetery During the period of Democratic Kampuchea, between 1975 and 1979, this quiet ground was turned into one of the regime’s Killing Fields, receiving detainees transferred from the Tuol Sleng security prison known as S-21.Killing Field attached to Tuol Sleng
Over those years, men, women and children were brought here by truck, executed and buried in pits that cut through the cemetery and orchard soil. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, investigators uncovered large numbers of mass graves and human remains, revealing the scale of the killings carried out at Choeung Ek and across Cambodia.discovery of graves in 1979
The memorial stupa and exposed graves
Central to the present site is a tall Buddhist memorial stupa built of pale stone and yellow tiles, rising above the ground where many of the pits lie.white marble and tiled memorial stupa Inside its glass walls, shelves display skulls and other human remains recovered from the graves, arranged by apparent age and sex. The stupa stands as both religious structure and visible container of evidence from the genocide.
Across the surrounding area, depressions and fenced earth mark former mass graves. Some pits remain largely untouched, while others carry simple markers explaining the discoveries made there.mass graves among fields and palms Pathways lead between these points, past trees and small structures that form part of the memorial route, keeping the terrain of execution open to view rather than erasing it.
Choeung Ek in Cambodia’s memory culture
Choeung Ek functions as a genocidal centre and memorial linked closely with the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh, which occupies the former S-21 prison from which many victims were sent to the fields.Choeung Ek genocidal centre on Phnom Penh’s outskirts Together, the two sites trace a route from interrogation and detention to execution and burial, forming a core component of Cambodia’s efforts to document and teach the history of the Khmer Rouge period.
The memorial at Choeung Ek incorporates Buddhist forms, such as the stupa, into a landscape where mass graves remain part of the visible ground. Ceremonies and remembrance activities take place here, and the site is integrated into educational programmes about the genocide and the estimated millions of lives lost under Pol Pot’s rule.killing field used between 1977 and 1979
Spatial experience of the fields
Visitors encounter Choeung Ek as an expanse of earth cut by footpaths, with trees, small shrines and information boards punctuating the route. The contrast between the pastoral setting of rice fields and ponds and the knowledge of what occurred here forms part of the experience of the place. Standing near the stupa, it is possible to look out over the pits and surrounding farmland, with Phnom Penh lying beyond the horizon.
The layout encourages movement past different features: the marked graves, specific trees associated with acts of violence, and areas where bone fragments and clothing were found in the soil. The visible remains in the stupa and the disturbed ground around it together create a memorial that is not confined to a single building, but spread across the former orchard and cemetery terrain.
Visiting Choeung Ek: what travellers from Western Europe should know
- Choeung Ek lies in Dangkao District to the south of Phnom Penh, reached by road from the city through suburban districts and outlying farmland.
- The memorial site is largely outdoors, with unpaved paths across uneven ground, low grassy mounds and exposed pits, so walking involves soil, tree roots and some simple steps.
- The Buddhist stupa housing human remains forms the main enclosed structure; visitors move between this building and various marked points in the surrounding fields.
- The official language is Khmer and the currency is the Cambodian riel.
- Entry requirements depend on your nationality; UK travellers can check the FCDO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice, Irish travellers the Department of Foreign Affairs at ireland.ie.
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Frequently asked questions about Choeung Ek
Where is Choeung Ek located in relation to Phnom Penh?
Choeung Ek is situated in Dangkao District on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, in an area of former orchard and cemetery land surrounded by fields.
What should visitors expect when walking around Choeung Ek?
Visitors walk on outdoor paths among marked mass graves, trees and small shrines, and can enter the glass-sided Buddhist stupa that contains human remains recovered from the site.
What makes Choeung Ek distinctive among memorial sites in Cambodia?
Choeung Ek combines a landscape of exposed graves with a central stupa displaying skulls, directly linking the terrain of execution with Buddhist remembrance and education about the genocide.
