Choeung Ek Killing Fields

The Choeung Ek killing fields, about 17 kilometres south of central Phnom Penh, are the best known of the sites where the Khmer Rouge executed and buried their prisoners. Most of those killed here had been held at the S-21 prison in the city. Today Choeung Ek is a memorial, centred on a Buddhist stupa, and since July 2025 it has been part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Choeung Ek is green and quiet now. There are trees, a pond, birdsong and neat paths between grassy hollows. That calm is part of what makes the visit so affecting. The audio guide carries the story, and most people walk the route slowly and in silence, stopping often.

History of Choeung Ek

Before the war, Choeung Ek was an orchard and a Chinese cemetery on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. After the Khmer Rouge emptied the city in April 1975, the regime used the site to kill and bury people sent from the S-21 prison. Most of the killings here took place between 1977 and early 1979, as the regime’s purges grew.

1. Before 1975
   The land is an orchard and a Chinese cemetery south of the city.
2. 17 April 1975
   The Khmer Rouge take Phnom Penh and force its population into the countryside.
3. 1977 to 1979
   Prisoners from S-21 are brought to Choeung Ek by truck, usually at night, and killed.
4. 7 January 1979
   The regime falls. The site is discovered in the months that follow.
5. 1980
   Excavation begins. Of 129 mass graves identified, 86 are opened, and the remains of 8,895 people are recovered.
6. 1988
   A memorial is established, and the Buddhist memorial stupa is completed soon after to house the remains.
7. 11 July 2025
   Choeung Ek, Tuol Sleng and the former M-13 prison are inscribed together on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the Cambodian Memorial Sites.

The remaining graves have been left undisturbed. After heavy rain, fragments of bone and cloth still sometimes surface on the paths. Staff collect them, and visitors are asked not to touch anything they see.

The link with Tuol Sleng (S-21)

Choeung Ek is the second half of the story that begins at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in central Phnom Penh. At S-21, prisoners were photographed, interrogated and forced to confess. When the prison had no further use for them, most were taken south to Choeung Ek.

Seeing both places, in that order, gives the fullest understanding of what happened. It is also the order events happened in. Many people find that each site makes the other easier to comprehend, even as it makes the whole harder to bear.

What you see on the walk

The visit follows a numbered route around the site, with around twenty stops on the audio guide. There are benches along the way, and you can pause the audio at any point.

Opening hours, tickets and audio guide

Rules and etiquette

Choeung Ek is a grave site and a place of prayer for Cambodian families. Please treat it with the respect you would give a cemetery at home.

How to get there

Choeung Ek is in Dangkao district, about 17 kilometres south of central Phnom Penh. By tuk-tuk or car the journey takes 30 minutes to an hour, depending on traffic. Most visitors hire a tuk-tuk or driver for a half day, who waits while you walk the site and then takes you back or on to Tuol Sleng. PassApp and Grab can take you there, but finding a ride back may take longer, so a return arrangement is easier.

Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek in one morning

This is the plan we recommend to most of our guests:

1. 8:00 am Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, two to three hours with the audio guide
2. 30 to 40 minutes by road south to Choeung Ek
3. Late morning Choeung Ek, 90 minutes to two hours
4. Afternoon Free time; few people feel like more sightseeing

If you are also visiting Siem Reap, the Wat Thmey memorial shows that the killing reached every province, not only the capital.