Norodom I
King of Cambodia
King Norodom in Siamese Military Uniform 1861, Outer Court of Grand Palace Bangkok.
King of Cambodia
Reign	1860-1904
Coronation	3 June 1864
Predecessor	Ang Duong
Successor	Sisowath I
Issue
62 sons and daughters
House	House of Norodom
Father	Ang Duong
Born	February 1834 Angkor Borei, Cambodia
Died	24 April 1904(1904-04-24) (aged 70) Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

This article contains Khmer text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Khmer script.

Norodom I (Khmer: ព្រះបាទនរោត្តម) (February 1834 – 24 April 1904) ruled as king of Cambodia from 1860 to 1904. He was the eldest son of King Ang Duong, who ruled on behalf of Siam, and half-brother of Prince Si Votha as well as the half-brother of King Sisowath. Norodom is cognate with Narottama in Sanskrit which means Best (Uttama) of men (Nara). Norodom was considered to be the first modern Khmer king. He was credited with saving Cambodia from disappearing altogether. In 1863, to prevent the two powerful neighbours, Vietnam and Siam, from swallowing Cambodia altogether he invited France to make Cambodia its protectorate. However, he sent many letters to Siam claiming French Admiral de la Grandière had forced him into signing a false treaty. Many Cambodians believed that this brilliant act and his shrewdness did actually save Cambodia from disappearing.

When he was born, Cambodia was under Vietnamese (Annamese) and Siamese rule. The two powers had partitioned the country between them, but the royal family, being related to the Siamese, remained in the Siamese zone, as the Vietnamese were more authoritarian than the Siamese. Nonetheless, Vietnam and Siam frequently fought wars over Cambodian territory. The royal capital of Cambodia was in Oudong (named for the first King of Ayutthaya), but the main center of the area was the capital of Siam in Bangkok. Prince Norodom was sent by his father to study in Bangkok, where he studied Siamese (Thai), Politics, Military, Buddhist scriptures and the ancient Pali language.

Rule[link]

In 1850, Norodom and his half-brother Prince Sisowath sent to study in Bangkok by their father Ang Duong, which they have been patronized by the royal family of Siam.

In 1857, Norodom (also known as Prince Phirom Borirak in Siam) served in the Royal Siamese Army as military advisor, which later he was awarded Order of the White Elephant.

In 1860, when King Ang Duong died, Norodom became his successor but remained uncrowned because the Siamese royal court refused to release the Cambodian royal regalia, which made Norodom only a viceroy of the Siamese king.

At the same time, King Norodom inherited a major Cham rebellion against Khmer rule which his father began to put down but died before he could defeat them. In 1862, Norodom lost control over the region, abandoned the capital of Odong and fled to the safety of Battambang (though the capital was still at Odong). He later fled Cambodia altogether and went into exile in Bangkok. Seeing that the Siamese and Vietnamese overlords had gotten Cambodia into civil strife, the French forced King Norodom to return to Odong in 1863 and sign a treaty of protection with France. This transferred the country from Siamese and Vietnamese to French colonial rule. Cambodia thus became an independent French protectorate, though it was highly autonomous.

With Cambodia a French Protectorate, the Siamese royal court agreed to let Norodom be crowned king. In 1864 Norodom was crowned, the coronation being supervised jointly by the French and Siamese officials. Nonetheless, the young king began his rule over a country in civil turmoil. The Siamese and the Vietnamese had traditionally treated Cambodia as a buffer state, but France encroached on both Siamese and Vietnamese territory. However, the country was weak and subject to the power struggles between France and Siam. Not only were there rebel groups intent on getting the Siamese and the Vietnamese out of Cambodia, but also bandit groups.

Nonetheless, in 1884, France took control of Laos and overran Vietnam. France and Siam entered into the Franco-Siamese War (1893) over Laos, ending with a treaty ceding Laos to France after the French blockade of Bangkok. In 1907, Siam ceded Battambang and Siem Reap, its last claim in Cambodia after continued pressure from France.

French Protectorate[link]

King Norodom I, protector of Catholic missionaries.

In 1884, the French authorities forced King Norodom to sign a treaty giving the French Protectorate virtually complete administrative control over Cambodia, including finances, a life line of Norodom's rule. Norodom resisted but with the French gunboats anchored outside the front gate of the royal palace he had no choice but to sign. The French actions cause widespread popular anger. In 1885 and 1886 Prince Si Votha, Norodom's half brother led a revolt against the French rule. The French suspected that Norodom was secretly supporting Si Votha's actions and the French blamed him for inciting the revolts. The revolt ended when the Cambodians were assured by King Norodom that the French had offered concessions to him. After the restoration of the calm of 1885-1886 revolt, Norodom was in a position of temporary strength. To prevent another revolt, the French was less inclined to force the king to the wall once more.

Following the Sino-French War (1884–1885), French Indochina was formed in October 1887 from Annam, Tonkin, Cochinchina (who together form modern Vietnam) and the Kingdom of Cambodia.

For the remainder of his rule Norodom was a puppet of the French. Before he died in 1904, he appointed his son, Prince Yukanthor, as heir apparent to the throne. But Yukanthor had a fall-out with the French and did not succeed to the throne. The French moved the capital from Oudong to Phonm Penh. Norodom could do nothing to prevent this, and died in 1904 in Phnom Penh. His body was cremated in the traditional Buddhist fashion in 1906.

He was succeeded by his half-brother and the Crown Prince, Prince Sisowath.

He is considered to be the first modern king of Cambodia. ^[1]

Honours[link]

• Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur-1872 (Grand Officier-1869) (Chevalier-1865) (France)
• Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the White Elephant (Siam)
• Knight of the Order of the Maha Chakri (Siam)

References[link]

1. Encyclopædia Britannica.com 2. Milton E. Osborne, The French Presence in Cochinchina and Cambodia

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2009)

Norodom Sihanouk នរោត្តម សីហនុ
Norodom Sihanouk in 1972 during a visit to the Socialist Republic of Romania
King of Cambodia (Colonial and independent Cambodia) (1st Term)
Reign	25 April 1941 – 2 March 1955
Coronation	September 1941
Predecessor	Sisowath Monivong
Successor	Norodom Suramarit
King of Cambodia (2nd Term)
Reign	24 September 1993 – 7 October 2004
Predecessor	Chea Sim
Successor	Norodom Sihamoni
Spouse	Norodom Monineath Sihanouk (Since 12 April 1952) See list Phat Kanhol Sisowath Pongsanmoni Norodom Thavet Norleak Sisowath Monikessan Mam Manivann Phanivong
Issue
14 children
Full name
Preah Karuna Preah Bat Sâmdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk Preahmâhaviraksat
House	House of Norodom
Father	Norodom Suramarit
Mother	Sisowath Kossamak
Born	(1922-10-31) 31 October 1922 (age 89) Phnom Penh, French Cambodia, Indochinese Union
Signature
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

Norodom Sihanouk (Khmer: នរោត្តម សីហនុ) (born 31 October 1922) was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 until his semi-retirement and voluntary abdication on 7 October 2004 in favour of his son, the current King Norodom Sihamoni. Since his abdication, he has been known as The King-Father of Cambodia (Preahmâhaviraksat), a position in which he retains many of his former responsibilities as constitutional monarch.

The son of King Norodom Suramarit and Queen Sisowath Kossamak, Sihanouk has held so many positions since 1941 that the Guinness Book of World Records identifies him as the politician who has served the world's greatest variety of political offices.^[1] These included two terms as King, two as Sovereign Prince, one as president, two as prime minister, and one as Cambodia's non-titled head of state, as well as numerous positions as leader of various governments-in-exile.

Most of these positions were only honorific, including the last position as constitutional King of Cambodia. Sihanouk's actual period of effective rule over Cambodia was from 9 November 1953, when France granted independence to Cambodia, until 18 March 1970, when Lon Nol and the National Assembly deposed Sihanouk.

Early life[link]

Sihanouk received his primary education in a Phnom Penh primary school. He pursued his secondary education in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam at "Lycée Chasseloup Laubat" until his coronation and then later attended Cavalry military school in Saumur, France. When his maternal grandfather, King Sisowath Monivong, died on April 23, 1941, the Crown Council selected Prince Sihanouk as King of Cambodia. At that time, colonial Cambodia was part of French Indochina. His coronation took place in September 1941. In March 1945, the Empire of Japan deposed the French colonial administration and took control of French Indochina. Under pressure from the Japanese, Sihanouk proclaimed Cambodia's independence. Unlike the Vietnamese Emperor Bảo Đại, Sihanouk was careful not to compromise himself too much in collaboration with Japan. The Japanese imposed Son Ngoc Thanh as foreign minister then, in August, as prime minister of Cambodia.^[2] After Japan's surrender, the French gradually retook control of French Indochina: Son Ngoc Thanh was arrested in October 1945, while Sihanouk, considered by the French a valuable ally in the chaotic Indochinese situation, retained his throne.

Leadership turmoil[link]

Prime Minister[link]

After World War II and into the early 1950s, King Sihanouk's aspirations became much more nationalistic and he began demanding independence from the French colonists and their complete departure from Indochina. This echoed the sentiments of the other fledgling nations of French Indochina: the State of Vietnam, the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and the Kingdom of Laos. He went into exile in Thailand in May 1953 because of threats on his life by the French and only returned when independence was granted on 9 November 1953. Whilst independent, Cambodia retained an alliance with the French Union, until the end of the First Indochina War and the subsequent official end of French Indochina. On 2 March 1955, Sihanouk abdicated in favor of his father, established the Sangkum and took the post of Prime Minister a few months later, after having obtained an overwhelming victory in the parliamentary elections on September 1955.

Meeting in Beijing in 1956: from left Mao Zedong, Peng Zhen, Sihanouk, Liu Shaoqi.

On August 31, 1959, Ngo Dinh Nhu, the younger brother and chief adviser of South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem, failed in an attempt to assassinate Sihanouk. He ordered his agents to send parcel bombs to the Cambodian leader. Two suitcases were delivered to the Sihanouk's palace, one addressed to the head of state, and the other to Prince Vakrivan, his head of protocol. The deliveries were labelled as originating from an American engineer who had previously worked in Cambodia and purported to contain gifts from Hong Kong. Sihanouk's package contained a bomb, but the other did not; however, Vakrivan opened both on behalf of the monarch and was killed instantly, as was a servant. The explosion happened adjacent to a room in the palace where Sihanouk's parents were present.^[3][4]

Following his father's death in 1960, Sihanouk won general election as head of state, but received the title of Prince rather than King. In 1963, he made a change in the constitution that made him head of state for life. While he was not officially King, he had created a constitutional office for himself that was exactly equal to that of the former Kingship.

When the Vietnam War raged, Sihanouk promoted policies that he claimed to preserve Cambodia's neutrality and most importantly security. While he in many cases sided with his neighbors, pressures upon his government from all sides in the conflict were immense, and his overriding concern was to prevent Cambodia from being drawn into a wider regional war. In so doing he made difficult choices of alliances in pursuit of the least dangerous course of action, within a political environment where genuine neutrality was likely impossible at the time. In the spring of 1965, he made a pact with the People's Republic of China and North Vietnam to allow the presence of permanent North Vietnamese bases in eastern Cambodia and to allow military supplies from China to reach Vietnam by Cambodian ports. Cambodia and Cambodian individuals were compensated by Chinese purchases of the Cambodian rice crop by China at inflated prices. He also at this time made many speeches calling the triumph of Communism in Southeast Asia inevitable and suggesting Maoist ideas were worthy of emulation. In 1966 and 1967, Sihanouk unleashed a wave of political repression that drove many on the left out of mainstream politics. His policy of friendship with China collapsed due to the extreme attitudes in China at the peak of the Cultural Revolution. The combination of political repression and problems with China made his balancing act impossible to sustain. He had alienated the left, allowed the North Vietnamese to establish bases within Cambodia and staked everything on China's good will. On 11 March 1967, a revolt in Battambang Province led to the Cambodian Civil War.

Deposition, exile, and return[link]

On March 18, 1970, while Sihanouk was out of the country travelling, Prime Minister Lon Nol convened the National Assembly which voted to depose Sihanouk as head of state and gave Lon Nol Emergency powers. Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak, Sihanouk's cousin who had been passed over by the French government in 1941, retained his post as Deputy Prime Minister. The new Khmer Republic was immediately recognized by the United States.

After he was deposed, Sihanouk fled to Beijing, formed the National United Front of Kampuchea (Front Uni National du Kampuchéa - FUNK) and began to support the Khmer Rouge in their struggle to overthrow the Lon Nol government in Phnom Penh. He initiated the Gouvernement Royal d'Union Nationale du Kampuchéa (Royal Government of the National Union of Kampuchea), which included Khmer Rouge leaders. After Sihanouk showed his support for the Khmer Rouge by visiting them in the field, their ranks swelled from 6,000 to 50,000 fighters. Many of the new recruits for the Khmer Rouge were apolitical peasants who fought in support of the King, not for communism, of which they had little understanding. King Sihanouk would later argue (1979) that the monarchy being abolished, he was only fighting for his country's independence, "even if [his] country had to be Communist."^[5] During Lon Nol's regime, Sihanouk mostly lived in exile in North Korea, where a 60-room palatial residence which even had a cinema, was built for him. He would later return to his Pyongyang palace after the 1979 Vietnamese invasion.^[6]

In Khmer Rouge captivity[link]

When the Khmer Republic fell to the Khmer Rouge in April 1975, Prince Sihanouk became the symbolic head of state of the new régime while Pol Pot remained in power. Sihanouk, who had imagined living like a retired country gentleman and perhaps being 'a public relations man for [his] country and have [...] jazz parties and do some filming'^[7] was to spend the next few years virtually as a hostage of the Khmer Rouge. The next year, on April 4, 1976, the Khmer Rouge forced Sihanouk out of office again and into political retirement. During the Vietnamese invasion, he was sent to New York to speak against Vietnam before The United Nations. After his speech, he sought refuge in China and in North Korea.

The Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in December 1978 ousted the Khmer Rouge. While welcoming the ousting of the Khmer Rouge government, he remained firmly opposed to the Vietnamese-installed Heng Samrin government of People's Republic of Kampuchea. Hence, Sihanouk demanded Cambodia's seat in the UN be left vacant, since neither Pol Pot regime nor Heng Samrin represented the Khmer people.^[8] Although claiming to be wary of the Khmer Rouge and demanding that the Khmer Rouge representatives that still held Cambodia's UN seat be expelled,^[9] Sihanouk again joined forces with them in order to provide a united front against the Vietnamese occupation. It has been argued that one of the reasons was the US pressure to work with the Khmer Rouge.^[10] In 1982, he moved completely into opposition of the Vietnam-supported government, becoming President of the Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea (CGDK), which consisted of his own Armée Nationale Sihanoukiste (ANS), Son Sann's Khmer People's National Liberation Front (KPNLF), and the Khmer Rouge. The Vietnamese withdrew in 1989, leaving behind a pro-Vietnamese government under ex-Khmer Rouge cadre Hun Sen to run the People's Republic of Kampuchea (PRK).

United States support[link]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Sihanouk's opposition forces drew limited military and financial support from the United States, which sought to assist his movement as part of the Reagan Doctrine effort to counter Soviet and Vietnamese involvement in Cambodia. One of the Reagan Doctrine's principal architects, the Heritage Foundation's Michael Johns, visited with Sihanouk's forces in Cambodia in 1987, and returned to Washington urging expanded U.S. support for the KPLNF and Sihanouk's resistance forces as a third alternative to both the Vietnamese-installed and supported Cambodian government and the Khmer Rouge, which also was resisting the government.^[11]

Restoration as King[link]

Billboard of King Norodom Sihanouk at Angkor International Airport.

Peace negotiations between the CGDK and the PRK commenced shortly thereafter and continued until 1991 when all sides agreed to a comprehensive settlement which they signed in Paris. Prince Sihanouk returned once more to Cambodia on 14 November 1991 after thirteen years in exile.

In 1993, Sihanouk once again became King of Cambodia. During the restoration, however, he suffered from ill health and traveled repeatedly to Beijing for medical treatment.

Sihanouk's leisure interests include music (he has composed songs in Khmer, French, and English) and film. He has become a prodigious filmmaker over the years, directing many movies and orchestrating musical compositions. He became one of the first heads of state in the region to have a personal website, which has proven a cult hit. It draws more than a thousand visitors a day, which constitutes a substantial portion of his nation's Internet users. Royal statements are posted there daily.

Self-exile and abdication[link]

Sihanouk went into self-imposed exile in January 2004, taking up residence in Pyongyang, North Korea^[12] and later in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Citing reasons of ill health, he announced his abdication of The Throne on October 7, 2004. Sihanouk was diagnosed with B-Cell Lymphoma in his prostate in 1993; the disease recurred in his stomach in 2005, and a new cancer was found in December 2008. Sihanouk also suffers from diabetes and hypertension.^[13]

The constitution of Cambodia has no provision for an abdication. Chea Sim, the President of the Senate, assumed the title of acting Head of State (a title he has held many times before), until the Throne Council met on October 14 and appointed H.R.H. Prince Norodom Sihamoni, one of Sihanouk's sons, as the new King.

Titles and styles[link]

Monarchical styles of King Norodom Sihanouk
Reference style	His Royal Majesty
Spoken style	Your Royal Majesty
Alternative style	Sir

Since his abdication, Sihanouk's official title is "Preah Karuna Preah Bat Sâmdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk Preahmâhaviraksat" (Khmer: ព្រះករុណាព្រះបាទសម្តេចព្រះ នរោត្តម សីហនុ ព្រះមហាវីរក្សត្រ).

The literal translation of the title :

• Preah— "Sacred"
• Karuna— "Compassionate," referring to the Buddhist concept Karuna
• Bat— "Foot," from Sanskrit Pāda.
• Sâmdech— "Lord" or "Excellency"
• Preah— "Sacred"
• Norodom— "Best quality among men," from Sanskrit Uttam ("best in quality") + Nar ("among men")
• Sihanouk— "Jaws of the Lion," from Sanskrit Siha ("lion") + Hanouk ("jaws")
• Preahmâhaviraksat— Preah ("sacred") + Maha ("great") + Vira ("brave or eminent") + Ksat ("warrior or ruler")

Family[link]

Norodom Monineath

Sihanouk reportedly has had several wives and concubines, producing at least fourteen children in a period of eleven years. According to Time (June 30, 1956), however, his only legal wives have been Princess Samdech Norleak (married 1955) and Paule Monique Izzi (married 1955), who is a step-granddaughter of HRH Prince Norodom Duongchak of Cambodia and the younger daughter of Pomme Peang and her second husband, Jean-François Izzi, a banker. A profile of Sihanouk in The New York Times (June 4, 1993, page A8) stated that the King met Monique Izzi in 1951, when he awarded her a prize in a beauty pageant.

1. Neak Moneang Phat Kanhol (1920–1969; married 1942, later divorced)
   • HRH Samdech Preah Ream Bopha Devi (1943-)
   • HRH Samdech Krom Preah Norodom Ranariddh (1944-)
2. HRH Princess Sisowath Pongsanmoni (1929–1974; married 1942, divorced 1951)
   • HRH Samdech Borom Reamea Norodom Yuvaneath (1943-)
   • HRH Samdech Preah Ang Mechas Norodom Ravivong (1944–1973)
   • HRH Samdech Preah Mohesarra Norodom Chakrapong (1945-)
   • HRH Samdech Preah Ang Mechas Norodom Sorya Roeungsay (1947–1976)
   • HRH Samdach Preah Ang Mechas Norodom Kantha Bopha (1948–1952)
   • HRH Samdech Preah Ang Mechas Norodom Khemanourak Sihanouk (1949–1975)
   • HRH Samdech Preah Ang Mechas Norodom Botum Bopha (1951–1976)
3. Neak Ang Mechas Norodom Thavet Norleak (married 1943)
4. HRH Princess Sisowath Monikessan (née HRH Princess Sisowath Naralaksha Munikesara, 1929–1946; married 1944)
   • HRH Samdech Norodom Naradipo (1946– ????) Adopted son, the real Biological Father is Prince Norodom Chantaraingsey
5. HRH Princess Samdech Preah Reach Kanitha Norodom Norleak (née Princess Devisa Naralakshmi, born 1927; married 1946 and "more formally" on March 4, 1955)
6. Mam Manivan Phanivong (née Mam Munivarni Barni Varman, 1934–1975; married 1949)
   • HRH Princess Norodom Socheatha Sujata (1953–1975)
   • HRH Samdech Preah Anoch Norodom Arunrasmy (1955-)
7. HM Queen Norodom Monineath Sihanouk (née Paule Monique Izzi, born June 18, 1936; married April 12, 1952 and "more formally" on March 5, 1955)
   • HM King Norodom Sihamoni (1953-)
   • HRH Samdech Norodom Narindrapong (1954–2003)

Works[link]

• The Cambodian resistance Auckland, Auckland Vietnam Committee, 1973
• Statements by Prince Norodom Sihanouk, 1965-1973 Washington, Embassy of the Khmer Republic, Press Sectin, 1973
• War and hope: the case for Cambodia New York, Pantheon Books 1980
• Prince Sihanouk on Cambodia: interviews and talks with Prince Norodom Sihanouk (with Manola Schier-Oum and Peter Schier) Hamburg: Institut für Asienkunde, 1980
• The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, seen by Norodom Sihanouk Pyongyang: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1980

See also[link]

• Ruler of Cambodia

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

• Official site
• Genealogy of the Cambodian Royal Family
• Review of his memoirs
• News release regarding support of gay marriage
• News release regarding his website
• Cambodian politicians biography
• Official Contact with the IPSP
• New York Times
• Norodom Sihanouk at the Internet Movie Database

Khmer Krom boat

The Khmer Krom (Khmer: ខ្មែរក្រោម, Vietnamese: Khơ Me Crộm) are Khmer people living in the Mekong Delta and the Lower Mekong River area. Under the Khmer Rouge regime- according to the ^[2] conservative estimates are that 150,000. Under the rule of Vietnam from 1979-93, Cambodia may have lost 20,000 Khmer Krom.^[2] Today, they are regarded as the indigenous ethnic Khmer minority living in southern Vietnam.

In the Vietnamese language, they are known as Khơ-me Crộm or Khơ-me dưới, which literally means "Khmer from below" ("below" referring to the lower areas of the Mekong Delta).

Origins[link]

The Khmer Krom are ethnic Khmer who inhabit Kampuchea Krom, an area in southern Vietnam that was once part of the Khmer Empire.^[3]

According to Vietnamese government figures (1999 census), there are 1,055,174 Khmer Krom in Vietnam.

History[link]

Beginning in the early 17th century, colonization of the area by Vietnamese settlers gradually isolated the Khmer of the Mekong Delta from their brethren in Cambodia proper and resulted in their becoming a minority in the delta.

Prey Nokor was the most important commercial seaport to the Khmers. It began as a small fishing village, and was inhabited by Khmer people for centuries before the arrival of the Vietnamese. The city's name was changed by Vietnam to Sài Gòn and then Hồ Chí Minh City. The loss of the city prevented the Cambodians from access to the South China Sea. Subsequently, the Khmers' access to the sea was now limited to the Gulf of Thailand. The area that Saigon/Hồ Chí Minh City now occupies was originally swampland.

In 1623, King Chey Chettha II of Cambodia (1618–1628) allowed Vietnamese refugees fleeing the Trịnh-Nguyễn War in Vietnam to settle in the area of Prey Nokor, and to set up a custom house at Prey Nokor. Increasing waves of Vietnamese settlers, which the Cambodian kingdom, weakened because of war with Thailand, could not impede, slowly Vietnamized the area. In time, Prey Nokor became known as Saigon.

In 1698, Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh, a Vietnamese noble, was sent by the Nguyễn rulers of Huế to establish Vietnamese administrative structures in the area, thus detaching the area from Cambodia, which was not strong enough to intervene. Since 1698, the area has been firmly under Vietnamese administration. The Vietnamese became the majority population in most places^{[citation needed]}.

In 1757, the Vietnamese colonized the provinces of Psar Dèk (renamed Sa Đéc in Vietnamese) and Moat Chrouk (vietnamized to Châu Đốc)

In 1802 Nguyễn Ánh crowned himself emperor Gia Long and had unified all territories which are now modern Vietnam, including the Khmer Krom territory.

Cambodian nationalist Son Ngoc Thanh (1908 – 1977) was a Khmer krom, born in Trà Vinh, Vietnam. Cambodia got independence in Geneva, 1954, through the Vietnamese struggle in the First Indochina War.

Between 1964 and 1974 Khmer Krom people were recruited by the US Military to serve in MIKE Force during the Vietnam War.^[4] First they fought on the side of South Vietnam against the Viet Cong, but in time these militia groups named themselves the "Struggling Front of Kampuchea Krom" (French: Front de Lutte du Kampuchea Krom) of southern Vietnam. This group, originally founded by a Khmer Krom Buddhist monk named Samouk Sen were nicknamed "White Scarves" (Khmer: Kangsaing Sar; Vietnamese: Can Sen So) and were affiliated to FULRO.^[5]

After the 1975 Communist victory the Kampuchea Krom militias found it hard to struggle against the onslaughts of the Vietnamese Armed Forces and went across the border to Democratic Kampuchea hoping to find a safe haven from which to launch their operations. In 1976 a group of 68 "White Scarves" and their leader sought refuge in a village close to the Vietnamese border in Kiri Vong District and approached the Khmer Rouge authorities telling them to communicate their decision to Khieu Samphan. Initially they were welcomed and disarmed, but when the orders from the DK rulers reached the local authorities, the "White Scarves" were separated from their leader. He was subsequently brought to Phnom Penh where he was murdered after being tortured, meanwhile his 67 Khmer Krom troops were massacred to the last man. During the following months, a total of around 2,000 "White Scarves" that crossed the border seeking refuge in Democratic Kampuchea were systematically killed by the Khmer Rouge.^[6]

In the late 1970s, the Khmer Rouge regime attacked Vietnam in an attempt to reconquer the areas which were formerly part of the Khmer Empire, but this military adventure was a total disaster and precipitated the invasion of Cambodia by the Vietnamese army and subsequent downfall of the Khmer Rouge, with Vietnam occupying Cambodia.

Human Rights[link]

Flag of Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation (KKF)

Many independent NGOs report that the human rights of the Khmer Krom are being violated by the Vietnamese government. Khmer Krom are reportedly forced to adopt Vietnamese family names and speak the Vietnamese language.^[7][8]

Unlike other minority people groups of Vietnam, the Khmer Krom are largely unknown in the Western world, despite efforts by associations of exiled Khmer Krom such as the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Federation to publicize their plight with the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation. No Western government has yet raised the matter of the Khmer Krom's human rights with the Vietnamese government.^[7]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation (KKF)
• Khmer Krom news and information network
• Khmer Krom news and information in Khmer language
• Khmer Krom: A Royal Solution for a Nationalist Vietnam reported by Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation
• Video clips of Rebecca Sommer's film "Eliminated without Bleeding" documenting human rights violation claims of the Khmer Krom in Vietnam
• March 2007- Article on religious oppression by Vietnam

v t e Ethnic groups in Cambodia by language family Cambodian Central Khmer Khmer Krom Khmer Surin Chinese people Cantonese people Hakka people Han Chinese Hokkien Teochew people Malayo-Polynesian Cham people Jarai Rhade Khmer Loeu Kuy Pnong Tampuan Stieng people Kachok Krung Tai peoples Thai Lao Shan Kula Hmong-Mien Hmong Miao Yao Tibeto-Burman Burmese Other Indians Vietnamese

Norodom Sihamoni នរោត្តម សីហមុនី
King of Cambodia
Reign	14 October 2004 – present
Coronation	29 October 2004
Predecessor	Norodom Sihanouk
Prime Ministers	Hun Sen
House	House of Norodom
Father	Norodom Sihanouk
Mother	Norodom Monineath
Born	(1953-05-14) 14 May 1953 (age 59) Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Religion	Theravada Buddhism

This article contains Khmer text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Khmer script.

Norodom Sihamoni (Khmer: នរោត្តម សីហមុនី, born 14 May 1953) is the current reigning King of Cambodia since 29 October 2004.^[1] He is the eldest son of Norodom Sihanouk and Norodom Monineath Sihanouk. Previously Cambodia's ambassador to UNESCO, he was named by a nine-member throne council to become the next king after his father Norodom Sihanouk abdicated in 2004. Before ascending the throne, Sihamoni was best known for his work as a cultural ambassador in Europe and as a classical dance instructor.

Life[link]

King Norodom Sihamoni at the Royal Ploughing Ceremony in Phnom Penh.

Sihamoni was born in 1953. At the time of his birth and that of his younger brother, his mother, a Cambodian citizen of Italian and Khmer ancestry, had been one of King Norodom Sihanouk's consorts after being a constant companion since the day they met in 1951, when the young Monique Izzi won first prize in a national beauty contest.^[2] She was granted the title of Neak Moneang and the name of Monineath at the time of her marriage to King Norodom Sihanouk in 1952. Furthermore, Queen Monineath is a step-granddaughter of the late Prince Norodom Duongchak of Cambodia, and the daughter of Pomme Peang and of her second husband, Jean-François Izzi, a French-Italian banker. ^[3] The Royal Ark website entry about the genealogy of the Cambodian royal family states that Sihanouk and Monineath were married twice, once on 12 April 1952, when she was 15, and again ("more formally", according to the website) on 5 March 1955. She is described as Sihanouk's seventh wife.

King Norodom Sihamoni has 14 half-brothers and half-sisters by his father's various relationships; his only full sibling, a younger brother, HRH Samdech Norodom Narindrapong (born 1954) died in 2003.

He has spent most of his life outside Cambodia. As a child, Sihamoni was sent to Prague, Czechoslovakia, by his father in 1962, where he, while attending elementary school, high school and Academy of Music Arts, studied classical dance and music until 1975. He is fluent in French and Czech, as well as being a good speaker of English and Russian. During the 1970 coup d'état by Lon Nol, Sihamoni remained in Czechoslovakia. In 1975, he left Prague and began to study filmmaking in North Korea, and in 1977 returned to his native Cambodia. Immediately, the ruling Khmer Rouge government turned against the monarchy, and Sihamoni was put under house arrest by the Khmer Rouge with the rest of the royal family until the 1979 Vietnamese invasion. In 1981, he moved to France to teach ballet and was later president of the Khmer Dance Association. He lived in France for nearly 20 years, but even then he regularly visited Prague, where he spent his childhood and youth. He is the only ruling monarch who speaks Czech.

In 1993, the prince was appointed Cambodia's delegate to UNESCO, the UN cultural body based in Paris, where he became known for his hard work and his devotion to Cambodian culture. He previously refused an appointment as Cambodia's ambassador to France.^[4]

On 14 October 2004, he was selected by a special nine-member council, part of a selection process that was quickly put in place after the surprise abdication of King Norodom Sihanouk a week before. Sihamoni's selection was endorsed by Prime Minister Hun Sen and National Assembly Speaker Prince Norodom Ranariddh (the new king's brother), both members of the privy council. He was inaugurated and formally anointed as King on Friday, 29 October 2004.^[5] King Sihamoni and his parents, King Father Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath specifically requested that the ceremonies be kept low-key because they did not wish for the impoverished country to spend too much money on the event.

The original gold and diamond encrusted crown, a sacred symbol of Mount Meru, used in official coronation ceremonies in Cambodia for centuries dating back to the ancient Angkorian Empire, disappeared along with many other items of Royal Regalia during the Lon Nol regime in the early 1970s. As stated by Julio A. Jeldres, King Father Norodom Sihanouk's official biographer, "The King did not want a crown remade because of Cambodia's poverty."^[6]

Sihamoni remains a bachelor. His father Norodom Sihanouk has stated that Sihamoni "loves women as his sisters"^[7]. Sihamoni has no children, but this does not pose a problem because the King in Cambodia is selected by the throne council even when such a successor exists.

Title[link]

Styles of The King of Cambodia
Reference style	His Majesty
Spoken style	Your Majesty
Alternative style	Sire

Before he was crowned king, his royal title was: Sdech Krom Khun (ស្តេចក្រុមឃុន), equating him to the rank of Great Prince. As king, his title is: Preah Karuna Preah Bat Sâmdach Preah Bâromneath Norodom Sihamoni Nai Preah Reacheanachak Kampuchea (in romanized Khmer); roughly translating to: His Majesty, King Norodom Sihamoni of the Kingdom of Cambodia. His given name, Sihamoni, comprises two morphemes from his parent's given names, Sihanouk and Monineath.

Advisory court[link]

On 12 December 2008, Sihamoni selected twenty-six members of the Cambodian royal family to his advisory court, among them his half-brother Prince Norodom Ranariddh as chief advisor. Other choices included Prince Sisowath Sirirath, Princess Norodom Marie (estranged wife of Prince Ranariddh) and Prince Sisowath Thomico.^[8]

Awards[link]

• Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia
• Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Monisaraphon
• Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor (2010; Grand Officer 2004)
• Silver Medal of the City of Paris
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (2010)

^[9]

References[link]