Sihanoukville (city)
Sihanoukville (city)
ក្រុងព្រះសីហន |
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| Coordinates | 10 ° 38 ′ N , 103 ° 30 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Cambodia | ||
| Sihanoukville | |||
| ISO 3166-2 | KH-18 | ||
| surface | 868 km² | ||
| Residents | 91,284 (2008) | ||
| density | 105.2 Ew. / km² | ||
| Post Code | 18201-18205 | ||
| politics | |||
| mayor | Say Hak | ||
 Sihanoukville Beach 2005 (Serendipity and Ochheuteal Beach)
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Sihanoukville , Khmer : ក្រុង ព្រះ សីហ ន , officially: Krong Preah Sihanouk ("City of King Sihanouk"), in honor of King Norodom Sihanouk , is a port city in Cambodia on the Gulf of Siam and the capital of Sihanoukville Province (Khaet Preah Sihanouk). Over 90,000 people live in the city (as of 2008), the city of Sihanoukville is the fifth largest in the country.
history
The old name of the city is "Kompong Som". During the colonial days of France , Kompong Som, along with the small coastal town of Kep , then known as the “ Côte d'Azur ” of Cambodia, was a popular destination for relaxation. Relics from French colonial mansions still remind us of this time.
In May 1975, shortly after the Khmer Rouge came to power, a military incident occurred with the USA south of Sihanoukville near the island of Koh Tang: The Khmer Rouge had seized the US container ship Mayaguez and captured its 39 crew members. US President Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger then ordered a liberation operation, but it was unsuccessful. Helicopters from the US Air Force Base Utapao (near Pattaya ) landed on the island of Koh Tang to rescue the Americans. However, these had already been released by the Khmer Rouge. 15 US Marines died in firefights . In retaliation for the unsuccessful US liberation maneuver, Ford had the Sihanoukville oil port and the Ream military airfield bombed.
In 1994 three western backpackers were kidnapped by soldiers of the Khmer Rouge on a train from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville near the city of Kampot . When the Cambodian authorities refused to pay the requested ransom, the hostages were murdered by the kidnappers.
One of the biggest toxic waste scandals in Cambodian history hit the headlines in December 1998: The Taiwanese company Formosa Plastics dumped 3,000 tons of heavy metal-contaminated waste ten kilometers outside Sihanoukville. Five workers were killed while unloading and cleaning the ship. When it became known that the shipload was toxic waste, several thousand residents fled the city in panic. Against the background of resistance from city residents, the company finally had to re-export its toxic waste in 1999. The toxic waste was shipped to Westmorland, California (USA).
traffic
The city is connected to the capital Phnom Penh, about 235 km away, by the US-funded National Road 4, which is part of the Asian Highway Project AH11 (and AH123), and the Phnom Penh – Sihanoukville railway line. The road NR48 leads via Sre Ambel to Koh Kong on the border with Thailand. There was an unreliable speedboat connection with Koh Kong, which had been suspended since the completion of new bridges along the NR48. For a short time there was again a flight connection between Sihanoukville and Siem Reap . Since January 17, 2007, PMT Air has served the city three times a week . After a plane crash on June 25, 2007, traffic was stopped again.
Since May 2013 there are again flight connections from Sihanouk International Airport to Siem Reap and to Phnom Penh with the local Cambodia Angkor Air.
port
Shortly after Cambodia's political independence, the construction of a deep-sea port financed by France began in 1956 in order to end the supply of Cambodia via Saigon (today: Ho Chi Minh City ) and thus to provide its own access to sea trade independent of Vietnam create. During the Second Indochina War , military supplies for Cambodia, but also for the Viet Cong operating in South Vietnam, were handled via the Kompong Som port, which was completed in 1960.
During the Khmer Rouge rule 1975–1979, the unloading of the ships was fraught with considerable problems: contemporary witnesses reported waiting times that sometimes lasted for weeks. In 1979 the port was repaired by technicians from the Soviet Union and the GDR. Today the port has a container terminal, which is currently being expanded with Japanese funds. In addition to the land connection Poipet - Aranyaprathet to Thailand , a large part of Cambodian imports and exports today goes via Sihanoukville.
economy
In addition to the port, tourism is playing an increasingly important role as an economic mainstay . Sihanoukville has beaches both on the mainland and on the offshore islands. However, the development of the beaches does not always benefit the local population. Sections of the beach are leveled overnight and small villages and restaurants suddenly disappear to make way for large investments. A brewery that bottles Angkor Beer, Bayon Beer and Pepsi-Cola , among other things , and several casinos provide the city with additional tax revenue.
Numerous new hotels and casinos were built in the 2010s through Chinese investments ; the Cambodian government supported the companies with tax breaks and free building land. Due to the demand from Chinese investors, the square meter price for land in a popular beach location rose from $ 500 in 2017 to $ 4,000 in 2018. In 2018, almost 203,000 Chinese tourists came to Sihanoukville.
The business and construction of the casinos has severely damaged the landscape and beaches of the city as well as the surrounding islands. In addition to the inadequate infrastructure to operate these buildings, various building materials and rubbish are washed up on the stands every day.
The magnitude of the smuggling that takes place through the port of Sihanoukville is difficult to estimate, but is likely to be significant.
health
The worrying HIV / AIDS situation in Sihanoukville deserves attention : prostitution , also due to tourism, and drug use have led to a surge in the number of people infected with HIV. In addition to the professional group of prostitutes, fishermen are also badly affected. According to a study published in 2005, 20 percent of Sihanoukville fishermen are considered to be HIV-positive.
literature
- Michael Chinoy: A close look at the Mayaguez. In: Far Eastern Economic Review. May 30, 1975.
- Roy Rowan: The four days of Mayaguez. New York 1975.
Individual evidence
- ^ Aviation Safety Network
- ↑ Vanessa Steinmetz: Chinese Investments in Cambodia: The Sale. In: www.spiegel.de. April 20, 2019, accessed April 21, 2019 .
