Was the Khmer Rouge Maoist is a question that has been asked by many scholars. Alas the answer is somewhat complex, as while the Pol Pot and the Communist Party of Kampuchea were not doubt influenced and financed by the Peoples Republic of China, their specific ideology can be seen […]
Category: History
What is Buddhist Socialism and where has it existed?
What is Buddhist socialism, has it ever been attempted, where does it stand today and what impact of any did it have on Cambodia? Officially Buddhist Socialism was the guiding principle of Cambodia during the 1960’s under Sihanouk. Quite how left-wing it was is up for debate, but it did […]
The Khmer Rouge and North Korea
The Khmer Rouge and North Korea had a relationship that was extremely complex. Technically they were ideologically aligned, but as opposed to China friendships and personal relations took precedence over geopolitical issues. With that being said though the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) remained an ally of the Khmer […]
Dark Tourism – Kampong Chhnang Airport
Unbeknown to many there are actually Khmer Rouge and Killing Field sites located throughout Cambodia. Most of them are unknown though to all but relatives, and thankfully the Cambodian Documentation Centre. One of the most important of these is Kampong Chhnang Airport. Said airport was initially build in the early […]
Solidarity Front for Development of the Cambodian Motherland (2006–present)
The leading mass organization currently in Cambodia the Solidarity Front for Development of the Cambodian Motherland was founded in 2006. The front has two precursors, namely the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation, the militant organization that led to liberation from the Khmer Rouge. This initial group contained not just […]
Who was Son Ngoc Minh?
Son Ngoc Minh was one of the first communist revolutionaries in Cambodia. As a founder of the Kampuchean Peoples Revolutionary Party, a forerunner to the Communist Party of Kampuchea he can be considered the father of the Khmer Rouge. Son was born in 1920 to a Khmer Krom father and […]
Who were the Khmer Rumbo?
The Khmer Rumbo were left-wing revolutionaries who were fighting against what they saw as the American puppet regime of Lon Nol and the Khmer Republic. They were differentiated from the Khmer Rouge in that while they were leftists they saw Sihanouk as a figure of national unity and they enjoyed […]
Kampuchea Krom and the Khmer Rouge
Kampuchea Krom denotes the parts of Vietnam that not only formerly were part of Cambodia, but still have a high population of Khmer people. They are in turn known as Khmer Krom (people) and have played a significant role in the history of Cambodia. This has included all conflicts that […]
The Burmese Way to Socialism
The Burmese Way to Socialism was the government policy of Burma aimed at turning the country into a socialist utopia by formulating a policy specifically suited to the situation in the country. This wade it one of the very countries to remain independent of both the USSR and China, while […]
The little known Thai Communist insurgency
While communism in South-East Asia is hardly a new thing, few realize that Thailand also went through its own almost successful insurgency. How close though was the Thai communist insurgency and how did they interact with the other liberation movements of the region. Communism in South-East Asia Indonesia was famously […]