In his review of "
Former M-13 prison/ Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum / Choeung Ek" GabLabCebu commented - "
As for M-13, I had never even heard about it as an accessible tourist spot, so hopefully someone here can figure out a way to visit it as it could offer fresh perspectives to this serial nomination as an earlier prison of the Khmer Rouge". We also, way back in 1997, only visited Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek, so I thought I would try to discover more - but the situation isn't clear!
a. The UNESCO T List description states "
Name of institution: former M-13 prison. Location: Prei Chrao Village, Kbal Tek Commune, Tek Phos District, Kampong Chhnang province. Size: about 1ha. Historical period of interest: 1971-1975". I have been unable to discover, on Google Maps or elsewhere, the locations for either the village or the commune and don't know on what basis "our" coordinates were determined. They have been placed at somewhere described as "
Green Farm 1 Khum Chaong Maong Cambodia" which is around 8kms from the town of Tek Phos......but the Satellite images and photos show nothing which could indicate the remains of a prison - just rows of fruit trees.
b. There is an article on the Web titled "
Research Study on a Former Khmer Rouge Prison M-13". Unfortunately, despite being carried out by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and indicating that there is a German version available, I can only discover the Khmer language version. But it DOES contain a couple of maps!! The English intro clearly states
"M-13, located in Kampong Speu province, was one of the most important prisons of the early Khmer Rouge. It was used to punish, torture, and kill many innocent Cambodians from 1971 to 1975." and the map confirms that the site being described is indeed in that Province - albeit right on the border with Kampong Chhnang province within which the UNESCO description places it (Tuek Phos is around 50kms away). The map shows a large area within a red boundary line which is way, way bigger than the "1ha" referred to in the UNESCO description. Photos in the article seem, however, to home in on a much smaller area with a title which translates as "
Photographs taken from the site of the former Mon 13". But I am unable to locate it within the wider boundary and Google Maps provides no indications that I can discover.
c. Then there is
this article in English from 2009 which includes these comments - "
Lim Peth stands at the edge of a large pit he says was used to keep prisoners at the Khmer Rouge's M-13 prison in Kampong Speu" and "
I was too young and too afraid to try to see this," said the 51-year-old charcoal maker, who returned to nearby Thmar Kup village after the Vietnamese ousted the Khmer Rouge in 1979." Unfortunately these are yet more locations which are not identifiable for certain!! There could of course be problems with spelling and multiple places with the same/similar names. A search on "Thmar Kup" however led me to
this article which describes M-13 in some detail and places it near "
Thmar Kup village, Amleang sub-district," i.e confirming the general location from the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung article! It also contains a number of toponyms which could be helpful - "
Duch's office cum interrogation room was located 50 meters away from the Trapeang Chrap lake..." and "
Due to prisoner unrest and revolt, the office was moved to Trapeang Chrap, Thma Kup village, Amleang sub-district, Thpong district, under the new name of "Security Office M-13," or simply "M-13". Google Maps doesn't recognise this lake but does have Thma Kup village at 11.767028, 104.372183 . However -it indicates nothing related to M-13 and neither is there an obvious lake nearby. It is however within the "red boundary line" of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung article.
The Articles placing M13 in the Amleang district seem pretty reliable as they (including the one in Khmer) refer to the period 1971-75 and the notorious "
Comrade Duch", the Khmer Rouge commander who set up M-13 and other locations But I am not sure where this leaves us regarding a choice between the UNESCO description location and the one near Amleang/Thma(r) Kup!!!
The UNESCO description also states - "
M-13: Former early Khmer Rouge Prison and experimental site on detaining, torturing and killing including training of young prison guards by Duch. M-13 is one of the early prisons which the Khmer Rouge established before they gained control over the entire country in April 1975. Although there were other such prisons around the country, this appears to be the only one that has been identified and converted into a site of remembrance and learning. Although M-13 moved three times in the area, this site in Prei Chrao Village, was its location for the longest period. Duch, the head of M-13, moved to Phnom Penh and was later appointed as head of S-21 (known today as TSGM), and it is unknown whether M-13 continued to be operational 1975-1979."
Could it be that the T List entry relates to a different one of M-13's 3 different historical locations rather than the one near Amleang - whose location seems to be reasonably "certain" from the various articles and which would seem to be the most important - leaving the "UNESCO description" location unsupported by any back up evidence?? As yet I can't find out more..... over to others!!