Meaning of the name of Siem Reap

Meaning of the name of Siem Reap

Foreign tourists photographed Angkor Wat with a view of the pagoda in the northwestern part of Siem Reap on Tuesday. February 6, 2014.

Siem Reap is a province in northwestern Cambodia. The province is a popular tourist destination attracting millions of visitors every year because of its temples. Ancient and scenic beauty.

Although many Cambodians and foreigners have known Siem Reap, most do not know why their ancestors Cambodians named this province Siem Reap? How is the word Siem Reap meaningful and related to history?

Siem Reap currently has more than 12,150 square kilometers, with a population of more than 310,000. Among the people living in Siem Reap, about 25% are businessmen and workers. While 75% are farmers and plantations.

Although the charm of Siem Reap has made many Cambodians and worlds known to be a great tourist attraction, Ask why this province has been named Siem Reap, and when did it last? There are certainly only a few people who know.

The 70-year-old man living in Siem Reap is Mr. Mam Kimsan. He said he knew the name of the province Since his childhood, he has been unaware of the history of the past. What do you say about Siem Reap? They said that from here, Siem Reap was beaten, and that it was Siem Reap. Do not know that the Siamese army coming from any year is not clear. It is not a historical research. "

The historian of Cambodia similarly explained that the word "Siam" refers to a country that is now translated into Thai. The word Ream means loss.

Vice president of history at Royal University of Phnom Penh and professor of history at Pannasastra University of Cambodia, Sambo Man Nan explained that since the 9th century And 10th of January in Siem Reap, it was named Yutthorrong because of the king of Cambodia, the name of Yasovarman I Construction. But later it was called Angkor.During the reign of the later kings, which moved the capital to the south and from Toul Sa San to Chaktomok, Angkor was Canceled for a while. Years later, there was a re-capitalization.

Professor Sambo Manannara explained that after the administration was restored, the Angkor area was armed by the Siamese army of Ayutthaya. Invaded several times since the 14th century AD. In the 15th-16th century, a Khmer king named Angk Roka fought with the Siamese army to expel the Angkor.In the war, Khmer troops were successful, and the word Siem Reap was named after the Cambodian army's victory. : "The word Siem Reap means that the Siamese has been scared, he has defeated him so ruthlessly. So this is called Siem Reap, this is the view of the Khmer people of the link that was raised in the historical legend. This is the beginning of the word Siem Reap. "

Professor Sambo Manannara's sermon is similar to other Khmer historians.

A brief Khmer history book written by Nuon Sothang, now a civil servant at the Office of the Council of Ministers, preached that in 1525 of the Eternal King, The Khmer name Ang Chanrar I first defeated the Siamese army invaders to defeat in the Angkor area. Therefore, King Ang Chanrar I first called Siem Reap, meaning the Siamese army was defeated like a machete.

Currently, Siem Reap is not only a symbol of Khmer, but it is also bringing Cambodia a new name. Is a Kingdom of Wonder because of its great cultural and historical significance.

Multinational tourists around the world are visiting the ruins of the ancient ruins of the land.

Siem Reap Provincial Tourism Director Ngov Seng Kek said that in January 2014, more than 300,000 foreign tourists came to Cambodia. Visit Angkor area.

Those foreign tourists are interested in the ancient architecture and history: "Some visitors to Phnom Kulen, especially visitors Russia. Available to the Tonle Sap Lake and to the Greater Angkor area. "
The number of foreign visitors to Angkor and the largest number of Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Russian visitors. Every day, many Koreans take tourists to visit the Angkor site.
A Cambodian national guide, Reth Samuth, says Siem Reap is like a rich barn, making you Foreign tourists want to see and want to find out: "In that we see 544 temples and 59 stone bridges. There are also baray ponds and other irrigation systems With art, such as traditions, combined well.

Historians say that Siem Reap has experienced countless battles and colonies for many generations, but until then Nowadays, the people here still retain the original tonal language of the Khmer, with many other cultures in other areas. Already gone.These cultures, such as rituals, children's brides, festivals, festivals, and rituals. Some villagers, when needing irrigation water, are always going to pagodas to ask monks to celebrate the ceremony, Many older ones sat around, shouting the soul.

Apart from ancient temples and cultural traditions that can attract more than a million foreign tourists a year, the factors that support the livelihoods Residents are dependent on agriculture, depending on the source of water, giving life to the animals that flow from the top. Mount Kulen is a favorite to the Tonle Sap Lake.

The Tonle Sap Lake is not only a tourist attraction, but also a fountain of fish for food. But from the Angkorian temples.
The overwhelming demarcation of the ancestors of the Khmer ancestors in Siem Reap is not only a reflection of the prosperity of the past, for the future, will also be the destination tourist destination.
A study of the Master Plan for Sustainable Development of Siem Reap, one of the International Development Center of Japan, predicts that Siem Reap Become the only unique tourist city in Southeast Asia by 2020 based on historical, cultural, and characteristic Khmer.

From : http://www.rfa.org/khmer/