Wat Thmei
Wartime pagoda whose memorial stupa holds the skulls of Khmer Rouge victims behind glass.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Wat Thmei in Siem Reap follows Sum Rithy, a twenty-one-year-old motor mechanic accused of spying for the CIA when Khmer Rouge soldiers came for him at what was then a prison and execution site here. It traces the abuse guards used trying to force a confession out of him, and the one skill that kept him working instead of joining the thousands buried in the pits and wells behind the temple. Those pits and wells still mark the ground behind the temple today.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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