Bou Meng: a survivor returns to Tuol Sleng, Phnom Penh

Bou Meng is one of 12 inmates to survive the Khmer Rouge’s Tuol Sleng Prison in downtown Phnom Penh. More than 17,000 Cambodians, including Bou Meng’s wife, were held in the former school before meeting brutal deaths in Pol Pot’s infamous killing fields. Remarkably, an old and frail Bou Meng is back at the place where he suffered such terrible barbarity before the ousting of the Khmer Rouge by Vietnamese troops in January 1979. He’s there most days selling copies of his book for $10USD. Tuol Sleng is probably Asia’s most disturbing museum. Critics say it’s exploitative. The lonely figure of Bou Meng sitting for hours, occasionally posing for photos with tourists who buy his book, seems to add weight to that argument. We can only hope his return to Tuol Sleng somehow eases his pain and isn’t driven by financial need.