Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide, Phnom Penh
A Cambodian monk is a striking image of peace and color amidst the
cruelties remembered by the museum. Photo by Jonathan Lewis.
Exterior of the Tuol Sleng Museum. Public domain photo.
Row of photos of newly arrived prisoners. Photo by Questionhead.
A haunting room in the prison. Public domain photo.
Haunting photographs of new arrivals at Tuol Sleng. Public domain.
Tuol Sleng ("Hill of the Poison Tree") is a poignant museum of the recent horrors of genocide by the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The grounds of this high-school-turned-prison-and-torture-chamber are like they were in 1979 at the end of Cambodia's bloody genocide. The whole impression of the atrocities committed at the site is visceral and overwhelming, too much for some visitors.
From 1975 until 1979, an estimated 17,000 political prisoners, most just ordinary citizens, were tortured at Tuol Sleng and either died there or were executed in the nearby Killing Fields.
If you don't come with a guide, you'll certainly want to hire one at the entrance, although you're free to roam the grounds on your own. Local guides often have personal experience with the prison and are vital sources of oral history.
Guides are open to questions, but go easy on any debate. Recrimination against the arbiters of these horrible events is an important issue here; just as Cambodians hope to move on into the future, they fear revisiting the past in international tribunals.
The prison population of Tuol Sleng, also known as S-21, was carefully catalogued. The metal neck brace employed for holding subjects' heads in place for the admitting photograph is on display.
There are some written accounts in English, paintings done by a survivor, and gory photos of the common torture practices in the prison, but perhaps what is most haunting is the fear in the eyes of the newly arrived; one wing of the buildings is dedicated to these very arrival photos.
There was also an interesting exhibit of "Where are they now?" photo-essays and information about former guards, what they looked like then, what happened, and where they are now.
Quick Facts
| Location: | South of town at the corner of sts. 350 and 113, Phnom Penh, Cambodia |
| Hours: | Daily 8am-noon and 1-5pm |
| Cost: |
Entrance fee US$2; guide fees vary (usually US$2 per person) |
Location Map
Below is a location map and aerial view of Tuol Sleng. Using the buttons on the left, zoom in for a closer look or zoom out to get your bearings. Click and drag the map to move around. For a larger view, see our Phnom Penh Map or get our free Google Earth download.
Sources
- Frommer's Southeast Asia
- The Survivor of Tuol Sleng - CBS News Sunday, October 27, 2002 (news feature on painter Vann Nath)
- Tuol Sleng Prison Virtual Tour - Prof. Ernest Bolt, University of Richmond
- A Journey Through Genocide - Guardian Unlimited UK, January 29, 2004 (a journalist recalls his visit to S-21 in 1979)
