Welcome to Kampong Thom

Kampong Thom is in central Cambodia with much of the province located on the Tonle Sap floodplain. It is Cambodia’s second largest province, its fourth largest producer of fish and one of the largest suppliers cashew nuts. It is also home to several significant temples, one of which is the first temple city in Southeast Asia, the pre-Angkorian Sambor Prei Kuk.

Bustling Kampong Thom

Its provincial capital, Kampong Thom, is a busting commercial center sited at the midway point on the highway between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. It used to be known as Kampong Pos Thom, which means ‘the place of the big snake’ as myth has it that a large snake lived in a cave nearby. The town is located on the Stung Sen river and is fortunately not too far away from the Phnom Sontuk, which is revered for the Buddha carvings which decorate its slopes and its boulders, and Sambor Prei Kuk.

Stone Masons

While the temples take priority for almost every traveler, this is also a rare opportunity to see different types of artisans at work. The stone masons in the small village of Kakaoh produce statues of Buddha, nagas and stone lions with hand tools. They are part of a revival of heritage skills that have been passed down from generation to generation and that were almost completely lost as a result of the Khmer Rouge targeting of artists and craftsmen,

These stonemasons use only hand tools single blocks of stone, sometimes taking up to a month to complete a single medium sized Buddha. They chisel out a rough shape based on a painted outline on the stone. Then they patiently sand and polish the stone, and further refine smaller features like the face with a very small and fine tool.

Drum Maker

South of town, there is a family making the traditional drums which are used by pinpeat musicians who traditionally play at the classical aspara performances or at weddings.

The skor dae is a vase-shaped drum carved from a jackfruit tree for its resonant qualities. They are then decorated with carvings and a dried snake skin is stretched across the top to complete the drum. The artisans here also make a skor sang na, a tall cylindrical drum which is played during funerals.

Santuk Silk

The Santuk Silk farm now offers lunches in a beautiful garden setting for visitors who stop by to see the women hand weave scarves and other silk. . The farm cultivates local silk worms which produce silk known as the ‘Cambodian gold’, so called because of the rich gold tint to the silk and presents the opportunity to see entire cycle of silk production.

Back in town, check out the traditional herbal sellers at the central market. Exotic cures like dried snakes and dried animal gall bladders are out on display along with the typical herbs. Two of the lion statues from Sambor Prei Kuk are available for viewing at the Department of Culture and Fine Art. There is an interesting collection of archaeological findings from the region such as carved lintels, statues and musical instruments but these are not carefully displayed or well labeled and there is an overall air of neglect.