How To Visit The Killing Fields And The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh

A visit to Phnom Penh is not complete without a visit to both The Killing Fields (Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre) and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S21 Prison).

In 1975, Phnom Penh came under attack and eventually fell to the Khmer Rouge regime. It’s residents were evacuated to the country and forced to work the land under terrible conditions. Over the next few years, approximately one quarter of all Cambodians had been killed by the regime.

When visiting Phnom Penh, it is important to learn about the history of this dark period. Just about everyone in Cambodia knows people that perished during the genocide and it has been a long, painful recovery.

The two most well-known places to visit are the ‘Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum’ (map) and the ‘Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre’ (map).

Which To Visit First?

This is entirely up to you but I would visit the prison first and then the Cambodian killing fields. This was the journey the victims took. I would also recommend splitting it over two separate days as you don’t want to be rushing and it is very distressing to fit all in to one day.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

The museum is housed in the former interrogation centre and prison which was housed in a former school. Of the approximately 20,000 people that came through her, only 7 survived.

Getting to the museum is easy as it is located within the city so is accessible by walking or by tuk tuk.

How Much Is Admission To Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

Admission was $5 for non-Cambodian visitors and the audio guide was an extra $3. I highly recommend the audio guide as there was not much information on display. The audio guide was easy to use and gave information on the various buildings and displays as we moved around. It even gave opportunities to take a break, which we needed.

Building A

The tour took us through all the key buildings. ‘Building A’ was used as interrogation rooms, where prisoners were tortured until they confessed to crimes they had not committed. The beds they were fastened to are still in the old classrooms, which have pictures on the walls of the last victims found here, who are buried outside in a memorial. They are un-named.

Building B

Building B houses galleries of photographs of both the victims and those responsible. Outside building B were the gallows where people were hanged by their arms tied behind their backs until unconscious before being dropped in barrels of excrement to revive them. You can sit in the memorial garden at this point to take a much needed break.

Building C

This building is covered in barbed wire to prevent prisoners from committing suicide. In here are the actual cells. We learnt that prisoners were given ’empty porridge’ with just one grain of rice per day.

Prisoners would be kept in pairs in each cell. They were not allowed to talk and had to ask if they could turn around.

Building D

Building D has many other artefacts including many instruments of torture. In the very final room, you will see the bones of some of the victims.

There was a small movie theatre in building D that showed movies twice a day. Once we left building D, we walked through the memorial gardens towards the exit. This is where we saw some of the survivors of the prison selling signed books.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S21 Prison) Opening Times: 8 am – 5 pm, every day.
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S21 Prison) Entrance Fee: $5 for non-Cambodian ($3 extra for audio guide).

Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre

How To Get To The Killing Fields (Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre)

Getting to the killing fields is a little more tricky than the prison as it is not in the centre of Phnom Penh. We had been quoted between 15 and 20 dollars for a tuk tuk to take us and wait to bring us back. However, we checked the price on Passapp (a local version of Uber) and it was much cheaper. Our driver arrived and negotiated a slightly better price for himself and turned off the app. It took around 40 minutes to get to the killing fields and our driver offered to wait and take us back into Phnom Penh for a total of 12 dollars.

How Much Is Admission To The Killing Fields Of Cambodia (Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre)?

Entrance to the killing fields site was $6 and this included the audio guide. The audio guide was the same as the S-21 prison.

Entering The Killing Fields

It was easy to navigate around the site as there were numbered arrows telling us which direction to go. At the beginning, there were just notice boards as the original buildings where prisoners that were not killed on arrival were held were torn down towards the end of the Khmer Rouge reign. It was not long, however, before we arrived at the first mass grave.

Reflection

There was then a lake in which we were invited to take a break and listen to some stories on the audio guide. It is here that we realised just how peaceful and picturesque the site is and how that contrasts with the horror that took place here.

Mass Graves

We then passed another mass grave; this grave contained 166 victims without heads.

Next, we saw a display of victims’ clothes. In the picture below, to the left of the display, you can see a pair of child’s shorts.

One of the many disturbing aspects of the site is that, as the rains come and go, the grounds move and more evidence is found. As we were walking around, we could see pieces of clothing and even small fragments of bone that had not yet been collected.

The Killing Tree

After another mass grave, this time of women and children that were buried naked, we came across perhaps the most chilling part of the tour: the killing tree. This is where children were swung by their legs so their heads bashed against the tree. We had to keep reminding ourself that this was Cambodians killing Cambodians.

Stupa Memorial

The tour then continued with displays of bones that have been found, past the ‘magic tree’ where speakers would hang playing constant music to hide the cries of victims from the townspeople outside.

The tour ended at the stupa which was filled with bones and over 5,000 skulls of victims.

Museum

Before leaving the site, we visited the museum where there was more information about the Khmer Rouge and how this could have happened. There were more artefacts and a video was shown throughout the day.

The Killing Fields (Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre) Opening Times: 7.30 am – 5.30 pm, every day.
The Killing Fields (Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre) Entrance Fee: $6 including audio guide.

Is The Killing Fields Worth Visiting?

Having visited many concentration camps in Europe, including Auschwitz, I would compare a visit to The Killing Fields to those. It was not an easy trip to make but it was a very interesting one that I will definitely remember. Visitors are encouraged to take photos around the site as the audio guide explains: once you have visited these sites, you become a witness to the horrors that took place here. The visits made me want to find out more about the Cambodian genocide so, in that sense, they had the desired effect.