Khmer Rouge Medics in Kirivong District

Sok Vannak

Many leaders pay attention to public health service and encourage science students and health centers to research modern medical treatments in order to facilitate people's health. However, in Democratic Kampuchea (the Khmer Rouge), the leaders forced people to work hard without providing adequate food. They killed all elites and doctors and recruited young farmers, mostly illiterate girls, to serve as medics.

Pav Nhan, who had never been to school, was selected to serve as a Khmer Rouge medic in 1972. She married Sim Saman in 1968 through an arrangement made by her parents. During the 1970 coup d'état, Saman went to the jungle (Marquis forest) following the call of King Sihanouk via Beijing radio. In the middle of 1972, Saman led a group of Khmer Rouge troops to settle at Angkor Chey pagoda. At six in the evening, after hearing the sound of gun fire in the pagoda, a messenger came and told Nhan, "Your husband [Saman] was shot by a monk." Following her husband's death, Nhan was persuaded by Angkar to serve as a female paramedic in Kirivong district (Takeo province) with about twenty-six hospital (female) staff including five males. There, Nhan was responsible for curing injured soldiers. Due to the lack of medicine, sometimes Nhan and others climbed up coconut trees to pick fruits for use as an IV.

They also produced drugs made of a combination of tree roots, strychnine fruits, Kduoch (poisonous fruit) and potatoes soaked in water and then pounded and mixed with honey. Shaped round, this medicine was called "rabbit excrement medicine" and was used only for treating patients who were in favor. Later, due to the overwhelming number of patients, the medicine was used to cure all kind of patients.

In 1976, many people had swelling disease due to the inadequate food rations, but medics were not able to treat all of them because of the lack of medicine and supplies. Hence, countless patients died and their bodies were buried by order of the hospital chief.

Once a month, Nhan saw Ta Mok (the butcher) visit patients in Kirivong hospital. Ta Mok sometimes went there with Chinese guests. At the end of 1976, under the arrangement of Angkar, Nhan married Samnet, who was working in the economic unit. The wedding was attended by all the hospital staff, Ken (younger sister of Ta Mok), the chief of Kirivong hospital, and Tit (Ta Mok's brother-in-law), chief of Kirivong district. After the wedding, Angkar assigned Nhan to reside with her husband and responsibility for cooking in the cooperative. Until 1978, Nhan sometimes did not have enough rice to cook for the villagers because of Angkar. Because of that she decided to distribute potatoes and corn in the eating hall to residents. However, many people still died because it was not enough. Nowadays, Nhan is 60 years old, and has seven children. She still lives in Kirivong district, Takeo province.

Hay Yim
Hay Yim abandoned her studies in grade 10 (old school system) after the death of her mother while delivering her third child. In 1975, Yim was sent to a female mobile unit. About four months later, Yim and the other farmer children in her village were recruited to work as medics in Kirivong district. When Yim first arrived at Kirivong district hospital, she saw Ken, chief of the hospital, and noticed that total number of hospital staff was about 25. Later, following the order of Ken, Yim was allowed to observe other medics curing patients for 10 days, and trained in medical treatment skills for a week. After that, she was assigned to supply drugs to patients and give them injections.

In 1977, Yim noticed that the number of patients who had swelling disease increased sharply and many of them died due to insufficient food and medicine. Yim thought that the higher ranking cadres were aware of this fact, but ignored it, causing the number of deaths to increase. At the end of the year, Ken moved to live with her husband, Tit.

Once the Vietnamese army came in Cambodia in 1979, Yim fled to the Cambodia-Thai border because she heard a rumor that "Yuon (Vietnamese) will cut people’s bellies and put grass inside." Later, Yim made up her mind to return to her hometown.

Today, Yim has six children. She lives in Kampeng commune, Kirivong district. She stated that although the Khmer Rouge regime collapsed, some medics, such as Vann Seangly, a midwife who helped Yim and other villagers deliver their babies, still work in the medical profession. Nonetheless, Yim does not use her profession to cure people since she has never been to medical school. She earns her living by farming.

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Sok Vann is a staff of DC-Cam Promoting Accountability Project.
http://dccam.org/Projects/Promoting/Promoting_Accountability.htm


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