The Cambodian Landmine Museum is a museum located in Cambodia, south of the Banteay Srey Temple complex, 25 kilometers north of Siem Reap, and inside the Angkor National Park.
Founded by Aki Ra, a former Khmer Rouge child soldier in 1997, this historical Cambodia Landmine Museum takes place at his home on a quiet dirt road near just outside Siem Reap the famous theme of Angkor Wat. He started off by turning the garden of his home into a museum of mines and other ordnance. He created the museum under shanty styled huts to house his collection of decommissioned mines, bombs and others explosive remnants of war (ERW) that he had cleared through the country since 1995. Indochina tours Cambodia
Cambodian Landmine Museum
Here tourists have a chance to know about the importance of clearing landmines in Cambodia. With potentially 5,000,000 still in the ground, landmines have immensely impacted the history and culture of this amazing society. The collection includes mines, mortars, guns and weaponry, and there is a mock minefield where visitors can attempt to locate the deactivated mines. What is the most impressive is the story of the one Khmer man, Aki Ra, who disarmed the majority of these landmines alone. Cambodia travel tours
The entrance to the museum itself is lined by massive, unexploded bombs which were dropped by the US military while targeting the elusive Viet Cong. Meandering throughout the small museum, everywhere you turn is an instrument associated with death.
Mines, mortars, guns and weaponry
As you continue through the museum, you will see this big structure full of defused landmines on display. There are signs explaining the origin of the landmines, for example the US, Russia or Germany, as well as what specific purposes each landmine or weapon was used for. One particularly striking exhibit is an enlarged (and somewhat faded) fake cover of a fictitious Tintin comic book entitled “Tintin au Cambodge” showing the hero on crutches with half a leg replaced by a prosthetic artificial one with Angkor Wat and a landmine warning sign in the background.
Soldier exhibit
The Cambodian Landmine Museum is also a home that provides education and support for dozens of at-risk youth and landmine affected children. Perhaps the best aspect of this museum is that it serves as a source of income for amputees to support their families, in addition to caring for hundreds of children badly affected by poverty and mine laying.
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