Pol Pot's House

Pol Pot’s House is the remains of the dwelling associated with Saloth Sar, known as Pol Pot, located in Oddar Meanchey province in northern Cambodia. The site is linked to the final years of the Khmer Rouge leadership and is visited for its association with late 20th century Cambodian history.

The location consists mainly of ruinous walls and foundations where the house and nearby structures once stood, together with simple roadside memorials and interpretive signs put up by local guides and authorities. The site is often combined with visits to other Anlong Veng-era sites such as bunkers and the tomb of Pol Pot.

Pol Pot led the Khmer Rouge movement and lived in the Anlong Veng area during the late 1990s; he died in 1998. The house and surrounding structures are linked to the last phase of Khmer Rouge control in northern Cambodia and have remained as a low-key historical site since his death.

The site sits near the town of Anlong Veng in Oddar Meanchey province, in northern Cambodia close to the Thai border. It is accessed by road from the provincial towns in the region and is part of the Anlong Veng historical landscape.

• Access: The site is on the outskirts of the town of Anlong Veng and is visited as part of tours that also cover the former Khmer Rouge stronghold in the area.
• Visitor facilities: There are few facilities at the site; expect basic paths and little interpretation on site.

Lakes full of dead trees ring the dilapidated house of the former ruler of Cambodia, a suitably eerie border around a somber and confusing site. There is little to see: the house is modest and plain, decorated only with a few scraps of furniture, while glass-covered papers mark where writing desks and other points of interest once stood, and the information displayed out front could be found in any guidebook.

Rainy days seem to suit this bleak memorial to one of history’s darkest chapters, presided over by the tyrant who lived here and ordered the deaths of millions. Its setting near the grand treasures of the ancient Khmer world, on the road to the Preah Vihear temples and the Thai border, only sharpens the impact of what is otherwise an unremarkable structure hidden away in the countryside.

Pol Pot’s house is located in the same Anlong Veng area of Oddar Meanchey province. Reach Anlong Veng by road from Siem Reap or other regional centres (see previous entry); within Anlong Veng the house is visited by short local motorbike or tuk‑tuk trips from the town centre, followed by a brief walk to the site.

• Approach Pol Pot's house from Anlong Veng and go early in the day; there are no on-site services, so starting from the town where tours are organised is the practical option.
• Visit with a local guide who knows the precise locations and historical context-signage is limited and guides help avoid accidentally trespassing on private land.
• Treat the site as a sensitive historical location: keep visits brief and defer to local norms and any instructions from guides or village hosts.