Place
Koh Rong Sanloem
កោះរ៉ុងសន្លឹម
Koh Rong Sanloem (កោះរ៉ុងសន្លឹម) is an island in the Gulf of Thailand, off the coast of Sihanoukville, just south of Koh Rong.[1][2] It is also spelled Koh Rong Samloem or Samloeun. The travel guide Move to Cambodia writes that sanloem means far away, and that samloem is not a Khmer word.[2][3]
Geography
Beaches make up most of the island's shore, about 37 kilometers (23 miles) long. Its interior is jungle crossed by walking paths.[2] Saracen Bay, a curved white-sand bay on the east side, is its best-known beach; the west side has several smaller beaches.[2][1] The island lies in Sihanoukville province and belongs to Koh Rong Marine National Park, set up in 2018.[1][2]
History
In 1857 the British survey brig Saracen charted the coast and its islands, and Saracen Bay is named after the ship. The first map of the area followed three years later.[2][1] Under the French Protectorate (1863 to 1953) the French built simple roads across the island; these have long been overgrown, and people travel around the island by boat. A lighthouse from that period stands on a hill at the southern tip.[2][1]
In 1975, during the Mayaguez incident, Khmer Rouge forces seized the American container ship Mayaguez and brought its crew to Koh Rong Sanloem, where a small Khmer Rouge base stood. The crew were held for three days in a bamboo warehouse, then put on a fishing boat and picked up at sea by the American Navy ship Wilson.[2][1]
Village and tourism
M'pai Bai, also written M'phey Bei, is the island's main fishing village; two small fishing hamlets hold only a few families. The Cambodian navy has a base on the island and has leased large parts of it for resorts.[2][1] By 2016 new bungalows were going up along Saracen Bay, which had been empty four years before, and speedboats brought visitors from the mainland every hour.[3]
Marine protected area
In June 2016 Cambodia set up a 405-square-kilometer (156-square-mile) Marine Fisheries Management Area around Koh Rong and Koh Rong Sanloem, the country's first marine protected area. It protects sea turtles, seahorses and nursery and breeding grounds while still allowing fishing, research and tourism.[4] Ouk Vibol, director of the Department of Fisheries Conservation, called it a good management model shared by partners, businesses, local authorities and the local community.[4] Fauna & Flora International worked with the government on the surveys and consultations behind the area, and in April 2019 its divers, with the Song Saa Foundation and Kuda Divers, surveyed the reefs for signs of recovery.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Wikipedia, Koh Rong Sanloem (undated)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Move to Cambodia, About Koh Rong Sanloem: Koh Rong's little sister (undated)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Open Development Cambodia, Jonathan Cox (Khmer Times), Koh Rong Samloeun's Asia-driven tourism boom (February 18, 2016)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mongabay, Mike Gaworecki, Cambodia declares first-ever marine protected area (June 24, 2016)
- ↑ The Cambodia Daily, Fauna & Flora International, Coral comeback? Signs of recovery for Cambodia's first marine protected area (June 13, 2020)