Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (Killing Fields)

Choeung Ek was where prisoners from the S-21 detention centre, now the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, were executed between 1977 and 1979. Mass graves were exhumed after 1979. A Buddhist memorial stupa built in 1989 holds the skulls of more than 5,000 victims. Since 2025 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage property Cambodian Memorial Sites, together with Tuol Sleng and the former M-13 prison. A travel guide updated in 2026 reports an entry fee of US$6 including an audio guide, and opening hours of 7:30 to 17:30 daily. Check locally. The site is in Dangkao, on the southern outskirts of Phnom Penh, and is usually visited together with Tuol Sleng.

Choeung Ek Genocidal Center is the best-known of the roughly 300 killing fields where the Khmer Rouge regime carried out mass executions between 1975 and 1979. The site, a former orchard and Chinese cemetery in Dangkao on the southern outskirts of Phnom Penh, was used to execute prisoners from the S-21 detention centre. S-21 is now the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Up to 20,000 people are estimated to have been killed here, and the remains of 8,985 people were recorded after the regime fell.

Today the grounds are a place of remembrance and reflection. At the centre is a Buddhist memorial stupa, built in 1989, whose glass display holds more than 5,000 skulls along with other bones. Paths lead past excavated mass graves, the tree against which young children were killed, and markers that explain how the site was used. Visitors are asked to stay on the paths. After heavy rain, fragments of bone and clothing can still rise to the surface.

Most visitors walk the grounds with the audio guide, and many combine the visit with Tuol Sleng in the city. In 2025, UNESCO added Choeung Ek, Tuol Sleng and the former M-13 prison to the World Heritage List as the Cambodian Memorial Sites. UNESCO describes them as testimony to one of the most serious abuses of human rights in the 20th century. Visitors are expected to dress modestly and behave quietly and respectfully.

When to go: The site is open all year. Early morning, soon after opening, is usually the quietest and coolest time, which suits the reflective atmosphere. The dry season, from about November to April, avoids heavy downpours. In the rainy season paths can be muddy, and fragments of bone and clothing may surface after storms. Allow enough time to walk the grounds slowly with the audio guide.

Getting there: Choeung Ek is in Dangkao district on the southern outskirts of Phnom Penh. Published distances from the city centre range from about 10 km to 17 km, depending on the source and the route. Most visitors go by tuk-tuk, taxi or ride-hailing car. A travel guide updated in 2026 estimates about 45 minutes each way and about US$15 to 20 for a return trip. Many organised tours combine Choeung Ek with the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in central Phnom Penh.

The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. The regime emptied the cities and set out to create a classless rural society. Through execution, starvation, disease and forced labour, about a quarter of the population died. A nationwide network of prisons and execution sites was used to eliminate people the regime saw as enemies, including members of ethnic minorities, political opponents and educated people.

Choeung Ek was used from 1977 to 1979 as the execution site for S-21. Prisoners were usually brought from the city by truck at night and checked against execution lists. They were then killed at the edge of pits, typically with blunt implements to save ammunition. Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, ran S-21. He testified that the site was chosen so that bodies could be buried away from the prison.

After a Vietnamese invasion ended Khmer Rouge rule in 1979, villagers and then officials uncovered the mass graves. At least 129 mass graves have been found, and 86 of them have been left undisturbed. A memorial was set up in 1988 and the stupa followed in 1989. Since 2005, a private company has run the site under a contract with Phnom Penh Municipality.

In July 2025, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee added Choeung Ek to the World Heritage List as one of three parts of the property Cambodian Memorial Sites: From centres of repression to places of peace and reflection. It was listed under criterion (vi). UNESCO describes these sites as places of reflection and learning that encourage a commitment never to repeat such atrocities.

1. UNESCO World Heritage Centre · Cambodian Memorial Sites: From centres of repression to places of peace and reflection ↗
2. Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum · Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum: Visitor information ↗
3. Wikipedia · Choeung Ek ↗
4. Time Travel Turtle · How to visit the Killing Fields (Choeung Ek) ↗