Sihanoukville

Sihanoukville occupies the tip of a gently undulating peninsula on Cambodia’s Gulf of Thailand, its name commemorating King Norodom Sihanouk. A ribbon of beaches stretches along the city’s southern and eastern shores, where coastal marshes give way to Ream National Park. To the east, mangrove-lined Ou Trojak Jet River winds from Otres Pagoda to Otres Beach; sport anglers prize its barramundi and mangrove jacks, while the lower reaches accommodate a modest marina overlooked by riverside seafood restaurants. Six communes (sangkats) comprise the city proper, and several offshore islets fall under its administration—among them Koh Rong, Koh Rong Sanloem, and a scattering of smaller islands that lie just beyond the surf.

French plans for a colonial-era town never fully took root here. Instead, the modern city emerged alongside its deep-water port, whose construction began in 1955. Cambodia’s sole facility of its kind, the autonomous port opened a direct channel to global trade, complete with an oil terminal and logistics complex. Fifty years on, the Phnom Penh–Sihanoukville corridor carries some three-quarters of the nation’s freight, while the port’s environs host shipping lines, freight forwarders and maintenance yards clustered beneath looming gantry cranes.

In 1959, Cambodian and American planners envisaged a city of 55,000 residents. The urban blueprint provided for cycle paths, green belts and distinct zones for port operations, rail links, municipal offices and housing. A southern strip of beaches was earmarked as a tourist precinct. Water arrived via Prek Tuk Sap and local lagoons repurposed as reservoirs—still in service today, though unable to match the demands of a city now home to nearly 90,000 people, 66,700 of whom reside within its urban core.

Rising to no more than fifteen metres above sea level at its highest central point, Sihanoukville slopes gradually toward its coastal plain. The climate falls under the Tropical monsoon classification. Yearly rainfall averages 2,200 mm, with July through September at their wettest. Temperatures range from an overnight low near 24 °C in January to daytime peaks exceeding 38 °C on the cusp of the rainy season, when humidity can surge beyond 90 percent. The dry months between December and March remain humid by temperate standards; showers still punctuate the calendar.

Beyond the mainland, Koh Rong lies 26 km to the west. At 78 km², it is the province’s largest island, its interior cloaked in forest and dominated by a 316‑metre hill. Koh Rong Sanloem, just south, is flatter but similarly verdant, its smaller landmass ringed by beaches. Ferries link both islands to Sihanoukville. Closer in, a constellation of islets—Koh Kaong Kang, Koh Koun, Koh Tuich and Koh Puos—offer mangrove thickets, tiny pagodas and, in Koh Puos’s case, plans for a luxury resort under Russian investment. A causeway built in 2011 connects Snake Island (Koh Puos) to the mainland, although public access remains restricted.

The city’s economy retains its maritime character but has diversified. Fisheries, aquaculture and shrimp processing flank the garment and food‑processing industries. Tourism has grown steadily, buoyed by around 150 hotels spanning budget to upscale, and a service sector that extends from beach‑front cafés to casino floors. In recent years, reports have drawn attention to fraud operations—so‑called “scam factories” staffed by trafficked workers—alongside the previous proliferation of casinos that reshaped the urban skyline with Chinese‑owned high‑rise blocks.

A decisive catalyst for industrial growth has been the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ). Launched to cultivate manufacturing and trade, it drew support from China’s Ministry of Commerce and its Export‑Import Bank. Since 2010, the SSEZ has welcomed more than 170 factories—largely Chinese enterprises—employing over 30,000 workers by early 2020. This influx aligns with Cambodia’s role in the Belt and Road Initiative, and it contrasts sharply with the city’s grassroots tourism ethos.

Transport infrastructure reflects these dual identities of port city and resort town. National Highway 4, financed originally by the United States to serve container traffic, threads the city to Phnom Penh but remains one of the nation’s most perilous roads, where local traffic merges unpredictably with speeding freight. National Highways 3 and 48 connect Sihanoukville to Kampot Province and the Thai border, respectively, completing an international corridor from Kunming to Bangkok. In October 2022, the China‑built Phnom Penh–Sihanoukville expressway opened, promising swifter cargo and passenger movement.

Within the city, motorbikes dominate. Helmets once mandated in 2008 are often neglected, and informal checkpoints can extract bribes from tourists and locals alike. No formal public transport exists; moto‑dups and tuk‑tuks operate on ad hoc licences, their drivers typically unfamiliar with street names. A central bus station on Highway 4 dispatches coaches through the day and into the night, while smaller stands dot the commercial centre.

Sihanouk International Airport lies 18 km northeast of the city, perched on reclaimed mangroves near Ream beach. Formerly Kang Keng Airport, it handled nearly 200 weekly flights from China as of mid‑2019. Marine ferries to Koh Rong and Koh Rong Sanloem remain in daily operation, though services to Koh Kong ceased in 2007 after Highway 48’s completion. Meanwhile, Marina Oceania—opened in 2013—serves yachts up to twenty‑five metres at berths alongside Koh Preab Island.

Demographically, Sihanoukville is a melting pot of Khmer, Vietnamese, Chinese, Cham, Thai, Korean, European and North American residents. Its human development index surpasses the national average, buoyed by economic activity and an influx of expatriates. By 2018, an estimated 78,000 mainland Chinese had settled in the province, comprising up to 90 percent of the city’s foreign population. This demographic shift is visible in Mandarin signage that increasingly supplants Khmer and English on shopfronts.

Culturally, the city reflects its Khmer roots alongside East Asian influences. Theravada Buddhism prevails: atop a hill, Wat Leu (the Upper Pagoda) watches over the bay, while Wat Krom (the Lower Pagoda) honors the southern ancestral spirit Yeay Mao. A riverside sanctuary at Otres—Wat Otres—blends water gardens and animal sculptures. Overtly religious minorities include Catholics, served by St. Michael’s Church (built in 1960), and Muslims at the Iber Bikhalifah Mosque near Psah Leu market. Celebrations span Cambodian New Year, Water Festival, Pchum Ben and Chinese New Year, reflecting the city’s diverse make‑up.

The city’s origins trace to a post‑colonial vision: a French‑Cambodian partnership carving a port from jungle, flanked by golden beaches. In 1964, the new town took the name Sihanoukville. It earned a reputation for modernist architecture—among it Vann Molyvann’s functional public buildings—and for the seven‑storey Independence Hotel, rumored to have hosted Jacqueline Kennedy in 1967. The 1970 coup and subsequent civil war brought devastation: the port bombed by U.S. forces, the Independence Hotel used for target practice. Highways were haunted by bandits, and the beaches lay deserted.

Stability returned with 1993’s UN‑sponsored elections. Backpackers, drawn by bullet‑pocked walls and solitude, rediscovered a skeleton of a city. Over the following two decades, Sihanoukville quietly regenerated. Renovated heritage buildings opened their doors again; expatriates and Khmer alike launched bars, eateries and guesthouses; the city gained a new sobriquet in travel guides. Yet the sheen of rebirth now contends with the pressures of mass development, global investment and social challenges that echo both its port‑town past and its touristic present. Today, Sihanoukville stands at a crossroads: a place where the memory of conflict and colonial ambitions mingle with the rhythms of tides, trade routes and the ceaseless hum of ambitious transformation.