Oddar Meancheay
Otdar Mean Chey is a Provinces of Cambodia. Otdar Mean Chey area is 6158 and the population about 82300 in 2005-07-01
Introduction
Oddar Meanchey Province is a recent creation that was carved out of the northernmost past of Siem Reap Province and it straddles the Thai border on its northern edge, which is also covered by the Dangrek Mountains (or escarpment, as they are sometimes called), It is a very remote province that has also been a notorious place because this is where he nastiest of the nasty Khmer Rouge made their last stand. The diabolical Pol Pot and his seemingly bloodthirsty henchmen, Nuon Chea, Ta Mok, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan holed up here for the last years of the Khmer Rouge is existence (another of the henchmen, Ieng Sary, already worked out a surrender and defection deal with the government in 1996). Pol Pot died mysteriously here, after a supposed power struggle within the power elite (he had Son Sen and his family murdered) and after a controversial show trial. The debate focused on whether it was real or just a sham staged for the outside world to try to legitimize remaining Khmer Rouge figures. The trial took place in the power center of the Khmer Rouge, the village of Anlong Veng. Pol Pot died mysteriously after he was sentenced to house arrest and the international community began real efforts (for the first time ever) to capture and put this butcher on trial. His henchmen had more than enough reason to wasn't him dead at that point because a Pol Pot on trial, as the ringleader most responsible for the genocide wrought upon his fellow countrymen, would probably have tried to shift portions of the blame (rightfully so in the case of these guys) to the rest of the power elite. The Khmer Rouge kept fragmenting after that and Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan worked out a surrender-amnesty deal with the Cambodian government and Ta Mok (also called is he Butcher・ was subsequently captured and is still awaiting a trial in Phnom Penh. As of March2000, the United Nations and the Cambodian government finally seem set to come up with an agreement on putting the top surviving members of the Khmer Rouge regime on trial in Cambodia, with assistance from and in a partnership with the international community. Stay tuned though, as this has been a real political football with seemingly more concern for one-upsmanship and personal gain than justice for the dead and surviving victims of Khmer Rouge brutality.Thai Border The border is 14.5 km from the circle in Anlong Veng. There is no market there and it is not a legal crossing. There are plenty of tanks and tank shells to look at along the way and also a strange site in the form of a boulder that had Khmer Rouge soldiers carved out of the sides of it- they have all been decapitated since government forces took control of Anlong Veng. Anyway, it is an interesting little ride to a low-lying part of the Dangkrek Mountains. The road is in fairly good shape with the exception of the climb up a rocky hillside near the border.
History
Oddar Meanchey was created by slicing the northern-most section of Siem Reap province which borders Thailand. The northern strip of this new province is formed by the Dangrek mountains -- an escarpment which runs along much of Cambodia's northern border with Thailand.
Oddar Meanchey is known for being both one of the last Khmer Rouge hold-outs in Cambodia (along with Pailin) and the province where Pol Pot was first tried and then died. Provincial authorities are trying to push this legacy of the Khmer Rouge period as a way to lure tourists, but local residents see some of the best potential in their being a throughfare to Angkor Wat from Thailand -- once the road infrastructure is substantially improved.
It is true the roads in Oddar Meanchey are poor, but they are slowly improving slowly -- with a good road you could be in Angkor Wat within perhaps two to three hours -- in April 2005 it took us about four hours, while in the height of wet season it could take as much as double. Despite this problem, with the upgrading to international status of the crossing here, meaning Thais and international tourists can enter and leave Cambodia from here, it is difficult not to see the potential that has Khmers travelling from as far afield as Stung Treng to set up shop in anticipation.
For the casual visitor to Oddar Meanchey, attractions include relics of the Khmer Rouge period, some breathtaking viewpoints and a series of eerie lakes full of dead yet still standing trees. The small town of Anlong Veng has a bit of a cowboy feel to it and you could easily find yourself the only tourist in town - for days on end.
Oddar Meanchey remains heavily mined and in all areas of the province visitors should exercise particular care not to go bushwhacking - this is particularly the case near Pol Pot and Ta Mok's houses - the all-too-common Warning Mines signs are not a joke.
People
The population is 52,650 male and 50,185 female total 102,835 with all population of Cambodia is 14,363,519 in 2007