Place
Serei Saophoan
សិរីសោភ័ណ
Serei Saophoan (សិរីសោភ័ណ), also written Sisophon, is the capital of Banteay Meanchey (បន្ទាយមានជ័យ) province in northwest Cambodia. It is one of the province's two cities, with Poipet (ប៉ោយប៉ែត), and the two are its largest towns.[1]
History
The provincial history says Siam handed the area to France in 1907, and it was then joined to Battambang (បាត់ដំបង) province. In 1941, when Thailand again took over western Cambodia, Serei Saophoan was split off from Battambang.[1] Banteay Meanchey province was created by a decree of January 23, 1987, and began work on January 7, 1988. It was formed from five districts in the north of Battambang province, Serei Saophoan among them, with Banteay Ampil district of the former Siem Reap (សៀមរាប) and Oddar Meanchey (ឧត្តរមានជ័យ) province.[1]
In the early 1990s the town lay close to the fighting with the Khmer Rouge. A Phnom Penh Post writer took two days to reach it by Route 5 in 1990.[2] In 1994 some 28,000 people who had fled their villages were sheltering around Sisophon and Mongkol Borei (មង្គលបុរី), the province's two main towns, in camps such as Khla Kaun, 5 kilometers (3 miles) north of Sisophon. Khmer Rouge rockets often struck the town.[3] By 1996 the same writer made the trip from Battambang in an hour and a half. He found an amusement park with Ferris wheels and food stalls on the old helicopter pad of the United Nations mission, a large new market beside it, and cable television in people's homes.[2]
Hills
Phnom Bak, a hill of 36 hectares (89 acres) in Teuk Thla commune, is one of five hills in the town. The government has made it a protected natural heritage site, and the province has banned digging earth from it and from its other heritage hills, among them Phnom Kang Va in the town.[4]
Railway
The railway to Thailand starts at Serei Saophoan and runs 54 kilometers (34 miles) through Poipet to Aranyaprathet. It was badly damaged in the civil war, and rebuilding began in 2009.[5]
Festivals
For Cambodian New Year in 2023 the province held its main celebrations in three places: Meanchey Park (សួនមានជ័យ) in Serei Saophoan, the temple of Banteay Chhmar and Poipet.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 VAYO FM, The history of Banteay Meanchey province (undated; in Khmer)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Phnom Penh Post, Recollections of the way things were (February 23, 1996)
- ↑ The Phnom Penh Post, Northwest faces new refugee crisis (October 21, 1994)
- ↑ The Phnom Penh Post, Banteay Meanchey hill excavation banned (undated)
- ↑ The Phnom Penh Post, Border town on fast track for development (undated)
- ↑ Thmey Thmey, Serei Saophoan, Poipet and Banteay Chhmar to host Banteay Meanchey's New Year celebrations (April 3, 2023; in Khmer)