Preah Sihanouk (, UNGEGN: , ALA-LC: , ), also Sihanoukville, is a province (khaet) in southwest Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand. The provincial capital, also called Sihanoukville, is a deep water port city and a steadily growing and diversifying urban center on an elevated peninsula.
First established as Kampong Som (, ), the province was later renamed in honor of former King Norodom Sihanouk, who orchestrated the establishment of Sihanoukville city and the Sihanoukville municipality as this took place alongside the construction of the Sihanoukville Port, which commenced in June 1955. The only deep water port of Cambodia, it includes an oil terminal and a transport logistics facility.
Preah Sihanouk is divided into four districts, each with a distinct economic character, defined largely by location and access to resources. In addition to the port and the growing tourism industry, the activities of countless NGOs and international investment have contributed to the rapid economic growth of the province over the course of the last decade. Primary economic sectors are transport and logistics, process manufacturing, agriculture and fisheries, textiles, and real estate.
The islands and beaches of Preah Sihanouk Province are an international tourist destination as visitor numbers have risen steadily since the late-20th century.
Sihanoukville municipality was elevated to provincial status on 22 December 2008 after King Norodom Sihamoni signed a decree converting the municipalities of Kep, Pailin, and Sihanoukville into provinces, as well as incorporating Kompong Seila District. As one of Cambodia's agriculturally and industrially most diverse provinces, its economic future has a solid basis, although the essential sectors of agriculture and tourism require strict and permanent administrative protection of local natural resources.
Etymology
The official name in Khmer is: Khaet ('province') Preah ('holy') Sihanouk (name of the former king), which translates to, 'province of the holy Sihanouk' or 'honorable Sihanouk province'. It honors the former king Norodom Sihanouk (reigned 1941–1955 and 1993–2004) who was and still is revered as the "father of the modern nation". Sihanouk himself suggested the official Western variant Sihanoukville. The name "Sihanouk" is derived from Sanskrit through two Pali words, sīha ('lion'), and hanu ('jaws').
The former name Kampong Som (also romanized as Kompong Som) () means 'Port of the Moon' or 'Shiva's Port'.Headly, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. Cambodian-English Dictionary. Bureau of Special Research in Modern Languages. The Catholic University of America Press. Washington, D.C. Som is derived from the Sanskrit word saumya, the original (Rig Vedic) meaning of which was Somā, the 'juice or sacrifice of the moon-god', but evolved into Pali 'moon', 'moonlike' 'name of Shiva'. The word Kampong or Kompong is of Malayan origin and means 'village' or 'hamlet'. Its meaning underwent extension towards 'pier' or 'river landing bridge'.
History
Classical period (before 1700)
Prior to the city's creation in 1955, no recorded settlement on the peninsula existed that was larger than a traditional trading or fishing village. During the many centuries of pre-Angkorian and Angkorian history – from Funan to Chenla and during the Khmer Empire, regional trade was centered at O Keo (Vietnamese: Óc Eo) in the Mekong Delta, now the province of Rạch Giá in Vietnam. The township of Prei Nokor (Saigon) was a commercial center of the Khmer Empire.
The Chronicle of Samtec Cauva Vamn Juon – one of the 18th and 19th century Cambodian Royal Chronicles – briefly mentions the region as the country was split into three parts during a nine year civil war from 1476 to 1485: "In 1479, Dhammaraja took on the throne at Catumukh (Phnom Penh) and controlled the provinces of Samrong Tong, Thpong, Kompong Saom, Kampot up to the Bassak, Preah Trapeang, Kramuon Sar, Koh Slaket and Peam".
Early modern period (c. 1700–1863) From the end of the 17th century, Cambodia lost control of the Mekong River as Vietnamese power expanded into the lower Mekong. During the Nguyen-Siamese War (1717–1718) a Siamese fleet burned the port of Kompong Som in 1717 but was defeated by the Vietnamese at Banteay Meas/Ha Tien. A Cambodian king of the late-18th century, Outey-Reachea III allied with a Chinese pirate, Mac-Thien-Tu, who had established an autonomous polity based in Ha Tien and controlled the maritime network in the eastern part of the Gulf of Thailand. Ha Tien was at a point where a river linking to the Bassac River flows into the Gulf of Thailand. Landlocked Cambodia tried to keep its access to maritime trade through Ha Tien. In 1757 Ha Tien acquired the ports of Kampot and Kompong Som as a reward for Mac's military support of the King of Cambodia. Until its destruction in 1771 the port developed into an independent duty-free entrepôt linked with several Chinese trading networks.
Alexander Hamilton, who traveled on the Gulf of Thailand in 1720, wrote that "Kompong Som and Banteay Meas (later Ha Tien) belonged to Cambodia, as Cochin-China was divided from Cambodia by a river (Bassac River) of three leagues broad." and "King Ang Duong constructed a road from his capital of Oudong to Kampot". Kampot remained the only international seaport of Cambodia. "The traveling time between Udong and Kampot was eight days by oxcart and four days by elephants." French Résident Adhemard Leclère wrote: "...Until the 1840s, the Vietnamese governed Kampot and Péam [Mekong Delta], but Kompong Som belonged to Cambodia. The Vietnamese constructed a road from Ha Tien to Svai village - on the border with Kompong-Som - via Kampot."
The British Empire followed a distinct policy by the 1850s, seeking to consolidate its influence. Eyewitness reports give rare insights, as Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston's agent John Crawfurd reports: "Cambodia was...the Keystone of our policy in these countries, - the King of that ancient Kingdom is ready to throw himself under the protection of any European nation...The Vietnamese were interfering with the trade at Kampot, and this would be the basis of an approach..." Palmerston concluded: "The trade at Kampot - one of the few remaining ports, could never be considerable, in consequence of the main entrance to the country, the Mekong, with all its feeders flowing into the Sea through the territory of Cochin China The country, too, had been devastated by recent Siam - Vietnam wars. Thus, without the aid of Great Britain, Kampot or any other port in Cambodia, can never become a commercial Emporium." Crawfurd later wrote: "The Cambodians... sought to use intervals of peace in the Siam - Vietnam wars to develop intercourse with outside nations. The trade at Kampot which they sought to foster was imperiled by pirates. Here is a point where the wedge might be inserted, that would open the interior of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula to British Commerce, as the great River of the Cambodians traverses its entire length and even affords communication into the heart of Siam".
French rule (1863–1954)
Under French rule Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia became a single administrative and economic unit. The coastal region Circonscription Résidentielle with Kampot as its capital contained the arrondissements of Kampot, Kompong Som, Trang, and Kong-Pisey. The establishment of another international trading center near the existing city of Saigon was not considered necessary. Focus remained the Mekong, and the idea to establish an alternative route to Chinese and Thai internal markets along an uninterrupted navigable waterway from the Red River to the Mekong Delta.
Insurrection An insurrection that took place from 1885 to 1887 further discouraged French ambition. It started in Kampot and quickly spread to Veal Rinh, Kampong Seila, and Kompong Som, where the insurgents were led by a Chinese pirate named Quan-Khiem. He managed to control the northern part of Preah Sihanouk for some time until he - an old man - was arrested by Preah Sihanouk's governor.
The most notable infrastructural improvements of this period were the construction of Route Coloniale No. 17, later renamed National Road No. 3 and the national railway system, although work on the "Southern Line" – from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville – only began in 1960.
After independence (since 1954) The province's alternative name Kompong Saom (Kampong Som) was adopted from the local indigenous community. After the dissolution of French Indochina in 1954, it became apparent that the steadily tightening control of the Mekong Delta by Vietnam required a solution to gain unrestricted access to the seas. Plans were made to construct an entirely new deep water port. Kompong Saom was selected for water depth and ease of access. In August 1955, a French/Cambodian construction team cut a base camp into the unoccupied jungle in the area that is now known as Hawaii Beach. Funds for construction of the port came from France and the road was financed by the United States.
During the Vietnam War the port became a military facility for both sides, in the service of National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam and after 1970, under the government of Lon Nol, in the service of the United States.
The port was the last place to be evacuated by the US Army, only days before Khmer Rouge guerrillas took control of the government in April 1975. The events surrounding the taking of the US container ship SS Mayaguez and its crew on 12 May 1975 by the Khmer Rouge and the subsequent rescue operation by US Marines played out on the waters of Koh Tang off the coast of Sihanoukville. During the two days of action, the US struck at targets on mainland Sihanoukville including the port, the Ream Naval Base, an airfield, the railroad yard, and the petroleum refinery in addition to strikes and naval gun fire on several islands.US Department of Defense document "History of the Pacific Air Forces 1 July 1974-31 Dec 1975". p 426. accessed 24 November 2013
In 1993, Ream National Park was established by a royal decree of former King Sihanouk.
Sihanoukville Municipality was elevated to provincial status on 22 December 2008 after King Norodom Sihamoni signed a decree converting the municipalities of Kep, Pailin, and Sihanoukville into provinces.
On 26 May 2011 the Preah Sihanouk area joined the Paris-based club Les Plus Belles Baies Du Monde ('The most Beautiful Bays in the World'). The organisation officially accepts the Bay of Cambodia as one of its members at the 7th General Assembly.
Chinese investment From 2013 to 2017, China has invested about US$1 billion annually in Cambodia, making it the largest foreign direct investor. A significant share of that investment has been directed to Sihanoukville province. Chinese investments there are concentrated in a few key sectors such as casinos, real estate, resorts, and a deep-water port. Casinos are being built at such a fast pace that there is no agreement on how many there are: estimates range from 30 to 150. Rising in concert with Chinese-owned buildings is the Chinese population of the province. Channel News Asia in late-2018 estimated that there were 78,000 Chinese residents and 120,000 Chinese visitors in Sihanoukville. The Cambodian population of the province is 150,000. The media—both national and international—have taken to calling Sihanoukville "China Town" or "Macau 2".
Geography