Being slightly out of town means that the Siem Reap Landmine Museum is often missed out by tourists in favour of the beauty of Angkor Wat. This though is a shame for it is definitely one of the best museums for understanding the recent history with landmines within Cambodia.
Officially, or at least according to Cambodia it remains the 3rd most mined country on earth, with all but 3 provinces being “mine free”. Ahead of it in the league are currently Iraq and Afghanistan, although perhaps Ukraine might also be there now.
The government had set the target of being mine free by 2030, but alas this is unlikely given that they rely heavily on outside donors. This has taken a hit due to the aid fatigue caused by the current war in Ukraine.
Currently around 100 people die, or are maimed each year by mines and unexploded ordinance.
The Siem Reap Landmine Museum
The Siem Reap Landmine Museum was set up by a Cambodian man nicknamed Akira by Japanese media who took it upon himself to help clear mines. He initially did this as volunteer before receiving “official status”.
Its main aim is to educate people about landmines, the work he does, as well as show how much damage that they do to people. It is $5 to enter, with the meant going both back into the museum and into landmine clearance.
On our visit we got to talk to a blind survivor with one fake prosthetic leg. No this is not the start of some sick joke, this was for real and actually very humbling.
Siem Reap Landmine Museum Address
67, Phumi Khna, GWQW+R8 Phumi Khna
You will need a private vehicle to get here, with a TukTuk generally charging around $20-30 for a return trip.
Landmine free by 2030?
This is the aim, but is sadly very unlikely to happen, as only a few provinces have managed it so far. I was actually part of the celebrations for the first province, Prey Veng back in 2022 and my journalism days.
And sadly even if they do, it will not help with the clearing of unexploded ordinance (UXO), such as bombs and the like. When you consider that the United Kingdom, Germany and France, all of which were bombed much less and longer ago than Cambodia have failed to do so, you have to wonder how many hundreds off years this will still be abide to Cambodia.
You can visit the Siem Reap Landmine Museum as par
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