Unearthing a Nation’s Torn Past at Cambodia’s Landmine Museum

Housed in a simplistic structure, 6km from Banteay Srey near the more renowned ruins of Angkor Wat lies Cambodia's Landmine Museum. Run by a former child soldier of the Khmer Rouge regime and the Vietnamese armed forces, the museum offers guests a no holds barred look at the deadly devices and its mounting cost to human lives in Cambodia. Even though the sordid conflicts of Cambodia's past seem far from memory, the undetonated mines that dot its landscape continues to be of real concern for those who live in their midst.

With the noble aim of promoting landmine awareness and education, the museum offers visitors comprehensive knowledge on prevention and safety measures in a practical and interactive manner in hopes that the valuable knowhow will resonate with those who visit the site. Highlights of the tour include an audio/visual presentation via DVD where the devastating effects of landmines and UXOs (unexploded devices) on village communities are explained in detail while also focusing on director Aki Ra's own personal effort in demining Cambodia and educating its population on safety measures. A vast database of information on mines is also available at the museum in addition to a weaponry display that stocks deadly devices of all conceivable shapes and sizes. These include rocket launchers, rifles, CS gas canisters, pistols, bullets, bombs, mortars and grenades in addition to a 225kg bomb which was dropped from an American war craft. The museum also houses an extensive collection of guns, all of which were collected via demining activities in the nation's countryside.

Guests are also encouraged to walk though the museum garden where deactivated mines have been strategically hidden on the ground. In an interactive experience that truly brings home the reality of living with these instruments of death, visitors are challenged to locate the mines while taking measures to avoid stepping on them.

Techniques in mine manufacturing, placement and design are also explained by tour guides as the process of detecting and detonanting hidden mines are shown on video. Visitors can also meet with a number of landmine victims who call the museum home as the institution is also actively involved in the rehabilitation of these individuals by offering educational and practical assistance.

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