A love story that spanned more than two decades was shattered by Thai shelling on December 17 when Khlang Thoeun, an Oddar Meanchey police officer, succumbed to the shrapnel of a Thai artillery round.
He left his beloved wife, Duch Phirun, devastated and alone, along with the couple’s 13- and 15-year-old children.
Phirun, 44, is from Kouk Mon village and commune, in Oddar Meanchey’s Banteay Ampil district. Her husband was born in a neighbouring village. They met at school, fell deeply in love and were married in 2010.
They eventually settled in Kouk Mon, where Phirun ran a small grocery store and Thoeun served as a commune police officer.
There, they built their lives together, until the conflicts of July and December tore them apart. In July, Phirun took the children and fled to safety in Siem Reap province, while her dutiful husband remained at his post to ensure the security of the commune.
She begged him to be careful, and her prayers were answered when she found him safe and sound when she returned after the July 28 ceasefire brought an end to the fighting.
Tragically, the truce was not to hold.
When the fighting renewed in December, Phirun was forced to flee. Once again, Thoeun opted to remain on duty.
Phirun picks up the story.
“When the situation turned dire on December 8, my children and I fled once again. We stayed at Kouk Patri Pagoda in Siem Reap town,” she recounted.
“While we were at the at the camp, my husband and I spoke twice a day to check on each other; I always told him to be careful and take care of himself,” she recalled.
On December 17, her worst fears were realised.
“An officer from the Kouk Mon Police Post called at 5pm to tell me that my husband had been hit by a Thai shell and seriously injured. He had been sent to the hospital in Chong Kal district.
“I was devastated when I heard the news. While I was frantically packing to travel to the hospital, I received information that my husband had passed away en route, at around 7pm,” she continued.
The body of the brave police officer was brought to the pagoda sanctuary, so she could perform the traditional funeral rites and say her final farewells to her husband of 25 years.
Later, her older brother, the village chief of Kouk Mon, explained how the tragedy unfolded.
Three Cambodian soldiers wanted to buy solar lights. Ever the helper, Thoeun volunteered to guide them to a shop which could help them.
“Just as my husband stopped his motorcycle in front of the shop, a Thai shell landed right in the middle of the street. My husband took the full force of the explosion,” Phirun recounted.
She described her husband as a good father who encouraged their children to study hard. He dreamt of seeing his children become police officers who served the community, as he did, and was saving to buy the family their first car.
“What I remember most about my husband is that he was a gentle man who never argued with me. He valued me greatly as his wife and always helped me whenever I needed something,” Phirun said.
“The Thai military started a war to take Cambodian land, and it resulted in my husband’s death. I have become a widow, and my children are orphans who have lost their father’s warmth.
“I want justice for my husband, and I want the Thai military to take responsibility for what they have done. I have lost my beloved partner and the life we worked so hard to build for so many years,” she explained.
It was not until December 30, three days after the latest ceasefire, that she and her children were able to return to their house. This time she came home not as a much-loved wife, but as a grieving widow.
Note: This story is based on interviews conducted between February 11-13 by the “Project 817 Team for Remembrance, Justice, and Peace” of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam).
