Dângrêk Mountains
Encyclopedia
The Dângrêk Mountains (Khmer
: ជួរភ្នំដងរែក, Chuor Phnom Dângrêk; , Thio Khao Phanom Dong Rak, tʰiw kʰǎw pʰanom doŋ rák; Lao
: Sayphou Damlek), meaning "Carrying-Pole Mountains" in Khmer, is a mountain range forming a natural border between Cambodia
and Thailand
.
and Cambodia intersect.
The mountains of the range extend in an east to west direction, forming the southern edge of the Khorat Plateau
. They stretch for 320 km from the Mekong River until they merge with the highlands of the Sankamphaeng Range, the southern arm of the Dong Phaya Yen Mountains
in Thailand.
The northern side of the Dângrêk Mountains is gently sloping, while the sides facing southward are usually a steep escarpment that dominates the plain of northern Cambodia. The watershed along the escarpment in general terms marks the boundary between Thailand and Cambodia however there are exceptions. The main road connecting the two countries in this area cuts through a pass in the Dangrek Mountains at O Smach.
with slate
and silt
. A few characteristic basalt
hills, like Dong Chan Yai (293 m) and Dong Chan Noi (290 m) are located on the northern side of the mountain chain in the Ubon Ratchathani Province
.
, mixed dipterocarp forest, and deciduous dipterocarp forest. Tree species like Pterocarpus macrocarpus
, Shorea siamensis
and Xylia xylocarpa var. kerrii
dominate. There has been much illegal logging
both on the Thai as well as on the Cambodian side, leaving large hill stretches denuded. Forest fires are also common in the hills during the dry season.
There is not much wildlife in the Dângrêk Mountains. Wild hog, deer, barking deer, rabbit, squirrel, gibbon
and civet are some of the animals to be found in the areas where there has been no habitat loss due to human encroachment.
, which spread northwards across them, culminating with the almost complete control of the Isaan area in 1220 under Jayavarman VII
. Among the archaeological remains in the mountain area there are stone carvings on the Pha Mo I-Daeng cliff, ancient stone-cutting quarries, as well as the Sa Trao reservoir. There are also remains of sanctuaries that were built as homes to spirits called Phi Ton Nam (watershed spirits) in different spots along the border area of the Dângrêk mountain chain. However, the largest and most important archaeological site in these mountains is the Prasat Preah Vihear
compound, a Shaivite temple of the Khmer imperial times dated from the reign of Suryavarman II
(1002-49) in a dramatic location on top of a high hill.
In 1975, the final area held by the ill-fated Khmer Republic
in any form would be the Preah Vihear Temple in these mountains. FANK
forces occupied the place for a few weeks in late April that year, after the fall of the ineffective and beleaguered Lon Nol
regime. The hill where the temple stands was finally taken by the Khmer Rouge
on 22 May.
Between 1975 and 1979 many Cambodians fled the violence in their country across these mountains. In one of the worst cases of enforced repatriation in UN history, the Thai military forcefully sent as many as 40,000 refugees back into Cambodia often through heavily mined areas despite their unwillingness to return. Many would die of lack of food and exposure in the mountains. To compound matters, there were also bandits hiding in the forests preying on the refugees. At that time there were many corpses, lying rotting unburied, strewn about the Dângrêk Mountains.
In the 1984 movie The Killing Fields
, the Dângrêk Mountains are the final escarpment that Pran
, portrayed by actor Haing S. Ngor
, climbs in order to reach the safety of the refugee camp across the border in Thailand. The contrast between the steep-faced Cambodian side and the smooth northern slope of the cordillera is well displayed in this movie.
Even though some areas have been cleared, vast numbers of landmines were laid by the People's Republic of Kampuchea
government in the 1980s as part of a huge planned operation using thousands of conscripted workers along the Dângrêk mountain range and other parts of the Thai Cambodian Border. The alleged purpose was to hinder Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge from entering Cambodia from Thailand. This defensive line, part of the legacy of the violent conflicts that engulfed Cambodia in the latter part of the 20th century, is known as the K-5 Belt
.
After the end of the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia in 1989 and the withdrawal of the Vietnam People's Army
, the Khmer Rouge rebuilt their former bases in the Dângrêk mountain range area, along the border of Cambodia in order to fight against the CPAF
, the armed forces of the State of Cambodia
. Anlong Veng, a small town at the foot of these hills, became for a while the main "capital" of the Khmer Rouge. In the 1990s the Khmer Rouge still controlled Anlong Veng, where there was one of the first "Killing Fields" after the fall of "Democratic Kampuchea
".
There is a still not excavated site in a forest with landmines in the Dângrêk Mountains, located about 6 km out of Anlong Veng where 3,000 people were allegedly killed by the Khmer Rouge for having become "corrupted" as late as between 1993 and 1997. These executions were carried out during Ta Mok
's leadership in the area.
In 1959, The Thai military seized the ancient Khmer
Preah Vihear temple from Cambodia. In 1962 Cambodia gained worldwide recognition for sovereignty from the International Court. Recently the issue of Cambodian sovereignty in the Cambodian–Thai border dispute has been used by certain nationalist factions in Thailand as a tool to help discredit the current Thai government as part of the continuing power struggle within Thailand.
Khmer language
Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...
: ជួរភ្នំដងរែក, Chuor Phnom Dângrêk; , Thio Khao Phanom Dong Rak, tʰiw kʰǎw pʰanom doŋ rák; Lao
Lao language
Lao or Laotian is a tonal language of the Tai–Kadai language family. It is the official language of Laos, and also spoken in the northeast of Thailand, where it is usually referred to as the Isan language. Being the primary language of the Lao people, Lao is also an important second language for...
: Sayphou Damlek), meaning "Carrying-Pole Mountains" in Khmer, is a mountain range forming a natural border between Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
and Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
.
Geography
The Dângrêk are a relatively low mountain system, their average elevation being around 500 m. The highest summits are Phalan Sun (670 m), Phanom Ai Nak (638 m), and an unconspicuous 753 m high place at the eastern end, in the Chong Bok area, where the borders of Thailand, LaosLaos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
and Cambodia intersect.
The mountains of the range extend in an east to west direction, forming the southern edge of the Khorat Plateau
Khorat Plateau
The Khorat Plateau also Korat Plateau, is a plateau in the northeastern region of Thailand, named for the short form of Nakhon Ratchasima, an historical stronghold controlling access to and from the plateau.-Geography:...
. They stretch for 320 km from the Mekong River until they merge with the highlands of the Sankamphaeng Range, the southern arm of the Dong Phaya Yen Mountains
Dong Phaya Yen mountains
Dong Phaya Yen is a mountain range in central Thailand.-Description:Dong Phaya Yen is the southeastern extension of the Phetchabun mountains, dividing the Chao Phraya river valley of Central Thailand and the Khorat Plateau of the northeast...
in Thailand.
The northern side of the Dângrêk Mountains is gently sloping, while the sides facing southward are usually a steep escarpment that dominates the plain of northern Cambodia. The watershed along the escarpment in general terms marks the boundary between Thailand and Cambodia however there are exceptions. The main road connecting the two countries in this area cuts through a pass in the Dangrek Mountains at O Smach.
Geology
The mountains are mainly formed of massive sandstoneSandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
with slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
and silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
. A few characteristic basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
hills, like Dong Chan Yai (293 m) and Dong Chan Noi (290 m) are located on the northern side of the mountain chain in the Ubon Ratchathani Province
Ubon Ratchathani Province
-History:The area was part of the Khmer Empire. Before the late eighteenth century, this area evidently was outside Siamese or Thai Ayutthaya Kingdom....
.
Ecology
The Dângrêk Mountain range is mostly covered by dry evergreen forestEvergreen forest
An temperate evergreen forest is a forest consisting entirely or mainly of evergreen trees that retain green foliage all year round. Such forests exist in the tropics primarily as broadleaf evergreens, and in temperate and boreal latitudes primarily as coniferous evergreens.-Tropical evergreen...
, mixed dipterocarp forest, and deciduous dipterocarp forest. Tree species like Pterocarpus macrocarpus
Pterocarpus macrocarpus
Pterocarpus macrocarpus is a species of Pterocarpus native to southeastern Asia in northeastern India, Burma, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam....
, Shorea siamensis
Shorea siamensis
Shorea siamensis is a species of plant in the Dipterocarpaceae family. It is a tree found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand.-References:...
and Xylia xylocarpa var. kerrii
Xylia xylocarpa
Xylia xylocarpa is a species of tree in the Mimosoideae subfamily of the Fabaceae family. This tree is found in South and Southeast Asia.-Description and properties:...
dominate. There has been much illegal logging
Illegal logging
Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission or from a protected area; the cutting of protected species; or the...
both on the Thai as well as on the Cambodian side, leaving large hill stretches denuded. Forest fires are also common in the hills during the dry season.
There is not much wildlife in the Dângrêk Mountains. Wild hog, deer, barking deer, rabbit, squirrel, gibbon
Gibbon
Gibbons are apes in the family Hylobatidae . The family is divided into four genera based on their diploid chromosome number: Hylobates , Hoolock , Nomascus , and Symphalangus . The extinct Bunopithecus sericus is a gibbon or gibbon-like ape which, until recently, was thought to be closely related...
and civet are some of the animals to be found in the areas where there has been no habitat loss due to human encroachment.
History
The Dângrêk Mountains mountains were part of the ancient Khmer EmpireKhmer Empire
The Khmer Empire was one of the most powerful empires in Southeast Asia. The empire, which grew out of the former kingdom of Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalized parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, and Malaysia. Its greatest legacy is Angkor, the site of the capital city...
, which spread northwards across them, culminating with the almost complete control of the Isaan area in 1220 under Jayavarman VII
Jayavarman VII
Jayavarman VII was a king of the Khmer Empire in present day Siem Reap, Cambodia. He was the son of King Dharanindravarman II and Queen Sri Jayarajacudamani. He married Jayarajadevi and then, after her death, married her sister Indradevi...
. Among the archaeological remains in the mountain area there are stone carvings on the Pha Mo I-Daeng cliff, ancient stone-cutting quarries, as well as the Sa Trao reservoir. There are also remains of sanctuaries that were built as homes to spirits called Phi Ton Nam (watershed spirits) in different spots along the border area of the Dângrêk mountain chain. However, the largest and most important archaeological site in these mountains is the Prasat Preah Vihear
Prasat Preah Vihear
Preah Vihear Temple is a Hindu temple built during the reign of Khmer Empire, that is situated atop a cliff in the Dângrêk Mountains, in the Preah Vihear province, Cambodia...
compound, a Shaivite temple of the Khmer imperial times dated from the reign of Suryavarman II
Suryavarman II
Suryavarman II was king of the Khmer Empire from 1113 AD to 1145-1150 AD and the builder of Angkor Wat, which he dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu...
(1002-49) in a dramatic location on top of a high hill.
In 1975, the final area held by the ill-fated Khmer Republic
Khmer Republic
The Khmer Republic or République Khmère, was the republican government of Cambodia that was formally declared on October 9, 1970. The Khmer Republic was disestablished in 1975 and was followed by the totalitarian communist state known as Democratic Kampuchea.-Background:Formally declared on October...
in any form would be the Preah Vihear Temple in these mountains. FANK
Fánk
Fánk is a sweet traditional Hungarian cake. The most commonly used ingredients are: flour, yeast, butter, egg yolk, a little bit of rum, a sniff of salt, milk and oil to deep fry with. After the pastry has risen for approximately 30 minutes the result is an extreme light doughnut-like pastry...
forces occupied the place for a few weeks in late April that year, after the fall of the ineffective and beleaguered Lon Nol
Lon Nol
Lon Nol was a Cambodian politician and general who served as Prime Minister of Cambodia twice, as well as serving repeatedly as Defense Minister...
regime. The hill where the temple stands was finally taken by the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
on 22 May.
Between 1975 and 1979 many Cambodians fled the violence in their country across these mountains. In one of the worst cases of enforced repatriation in UN history, the Thai military forcefully sent as many as 40,000 refugees back into Cambodia often through heavily mined areas despite their unwillingness to return. Many would die of lack of food and exposure in the mountains. To compound matters, there were also bandits hiding in the forests preying on the refugees. At that time there were many corpses, lying rotting unburied, strewn about the Dângrêk Mountains.
In the 1984 movie The Killing Fields
The Killing Fields (film)
The Killing Fields is a 1984 British drama film about the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, which is based on the experiences of two journalists: Cambodian Dith Pran and American Sydney Schanberg. The film, which won three Academy Awards, was directed by Roland Joffé and stars Sam Waterston as...
, the Dângrêk Mountains are the final escarpment that Pran
Dith Pran
Dith Pran was a Cambodian photojournalist best known as a refugee and survivor of the Cambodian Genocide. He was the subject of the Academy Award-winning film The Killing Fields . He was portrayed in the movie by first-time actor Haing S. Ngor , who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor...
, portrayed by actor Haing S. Ngor
Haing S. Ngor
Dr. Haing Somnang Ngor was a Cambodian American physician, actor and author who is best known for winning the 1985 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his debut performance in the movie The Killing Fields, in which he portrayed Cambodian journalist and refugee Dith Pran. His mother was...
, climbs in order to reach the safety of the refugee camp across the border in Thailand. The contrast between the steep-faced Cambodian side and the smooth northern slope of the cordillera is well displayed in this movie.
Even though some areas have been cleared, vast numbers of landmines were laid by the People's Republic of Kampuchea
People's Republic of Kampuchea
The People's Republic of Kampuchea , , was founded in Cambodia by the Salvation Front, a group of Cambodian leftists dissatisfied with the Khmer Rouge, after the overthrow of Democratic Kampuchea, Pol Pot's government...
government in the 1980s as part of a huge planned operation using thousands of conscripted workers along the Dângrêk mountain range and other parts of the Thai Cambodian Border. The alleged purpose was to hinder Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge from entering Cambodia from Thailand. This defensive line, part of the legacy of the violent conflicts that engulfed Cambodia in the latter part of the 20th century, is known as the K-5 Belt
K5 Plan
The K5 Plan, K5 Belt or K5 Project, also known as Bamboo Curtain, was an attempt between 1985 and 1989 by the government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea to seal Khmer Rouge guerrilla infiltration routes into Cambodia by means of trenches, wire fences, and minefields along virtually the entire...
.
After the end of the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia in 1989 and the withdrawal of the Vietnam People's Army
Vietnam People's Army
The Vietnam People's Army is the armed forces of Vietnam. The VPA includes: the Vietnamese People's Ground Forces , the Vietnam People's Navy , the Vietnam People's Air Force, and the Vietnam Marine Police.During the French Indochina War , the VPA was often referred to as the Việt...
, the Khmer Rouge rebuilt their former bases in the Dângrêk mountain range area, along the border of Cambodia in order to fight against the CPAF
Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Armed Forces
The Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Armed Forces, or Khmer People's Revolutionary Armed Forces, was the formal title given to the armed forces of the People's Republic of Kampuchea, the de facto government of Cambodia 1979-1990....
, the armed forces of the State of Cambodia
People's Republic of Kampuchea
The People's Republic of Kampuchea , , was founded in Cambodia by the Salvation Front, a group of Cambodian leftists dissatisfied with the Khmer Rouge, after the overthrow of Democratic Kampuchea, Pol Pot's government...
. Anlong Veng, a small town at the foot of these hills, became for a while the main "capital" of the Khmer Rouge. In the 1990s the Khmer Rouge still controlled Anlong Veng, where there was one of the first "Killing Fields" after the fall of "Democratic Kampuchea
Democratic Kampuchea
The Khmer Rouge period refers to the rule of Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, Khieu Samphan and the Khmer Rouge Communist party over Cambodia, which the Khmer Rouge renamed as Democratic Kampuchea....
".
There is a still not excavated site in a forest with landmines in the Dângrêk Mountains, located about 6 km out of Anlong Veng where 3,000 people were allegedly killed by the Khmer Rouge for having become "corrupted" as late as between 1993 and 1997. These executions were carried out during Ta Mok
Ta Mok
Ta Mok , which means "Grandfather Mok" in Khmer, was the nom de guerre of Chhit Choeun , a senior figure in the leadership of the Khmer Rouge...
's leadership in the area.
In 1959, The Thai military seized the ancient Khmer
Khmer Empire
The Khmer Empire was one of the most powerful empires in Southeast Asia. The empire, which grew out of the former kingdom of Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalized parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, and Malaysia. Its greatest legacy is Angkor, the site of the capital city...
Preah Vihear temple from Cambodia. In 1962 Cambodia gained worldwide recognition for sovereignty from the International Court. Recently the issue of Cambodian sovereignty in the Cambodian–Thai border dispute has been used by certain nationalist factions in Thailand as a tool to help discredit the current Thai government as part of the continuing power struggle within Thailand.
See also
- Khao Phra Wihan National ParkKhao Phra Wihan National ParkKhao Phra Wihan National Park is a protected natural area in Sisaket Province, Thailand, that contains numerous ruins of the 11th century Khmer Empire. The park lies south of the town of Sisaket, at the end of Thai highway 221...
- Deforestation in CambodiaDeforestation in CambodiaCambodia has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, third to only Nigeria and Vietnam, according to a 2005 report conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ....
- Deforestation in ThailandDeforestation in ThailandBetween 1945 and 1975 forest cover in Thailand declined from 61% to 34% of the country’s land area. Over the next 11 years, Thailand lost close to 28% of all of its remaining forests. This means that the country lost 3.1% of its forest cover each year over that period...
- Oddar Meancheay Province
- Cambodian–Thai border dispute