There is an abandoned French colonial relic nestled in the Dâmrei Mountains of Cambodia. The place is known as Bokor Hill Station, a small resort town built specifically for the French troops occupying the region.
The Bokor Hill Station area is situated at an altitude of over a thousand meters above sea level. The French colonial government originally established the place in the early 1920s as a getaway from the scorching tropical heat.
Exhausted by the heat of the Cambodian lowlands, French colonial military officials chose the Dâmrei mountain range as a secluded retreat for their soldiers.
The construction of Bokor Hill Station claimed a staggering number of lives. As many as 900 people died within a nine-month period at the mountain construction site.
During the time, construction workers had to rely entirely on manual labor to clear paths through steep terrain without any heavy machinery. The situation was further complicated as logistics and building materials had to be transported up rocky cliffs shrouded in thick fog.
The massive project was finally completed in 1925, which featured the Bokor Palace Hotel as the centerpiece of the resort.
The complex was also equipped with the Résident Supérieur villa, a post office that has since been demolished, and the church of Mount Bokor. Every corner of the buildings was designed in a classic European style to indulge the visiting military officers.
The Dark Days of Bokor Hill Station
Following the end of the French colonial era, Bokor Hill Station was first abandoned by the French in the late 1940s during the First Indochina War due to an insurrection by the Khmer Issarak.
The area was later reopened in 1962 as Cité du Bokor, marked by the establishment of casinos in new hotels near the lake, namely the Sangkum and Kiri Hotels. Several additional facilities were also built during the time, including a palace annex, and concrete umbrella structures.
Bokor Hill Station turned into a battlefield when the Khmer Rouge seized control of the area in 1972. During the Vietnamese invasion in 1979, the Khmer Rouge heavily fortified their positions and entrenched themselves for months in the region.
Until the early 1990s, Bokor Hill was still recorded as one of the last strongholds for the Khmer Rouge amidst the raging Cambodian civil war.
A New Face in the Modern Era
Entering the modern era, most of the buildings in the Bokor Hill Station area still stand firmly despite being abandoned, except for the post office which no longer exists.
About ten kilometers before reaching Bokor Hill Station lies the Black Palace, or Damnak Sla Khmao, a small summer palace belonging to King Sihanouk that was abandoned decades ago.
Administratively, the Bokor Hill Station area is located within the Preah Monivong National Park. Within the landscape of the conservation area, various historical ruins also stand, such as the former summer palace.
In terms of ownership, the Bokor Hill Station area is held by the Cambodian government but operates under a 99-year lease by the Sokimex Group. In January 2008, the company began repairing the roads and redeveloping the area surrounding the site.
The Bokor Hill Station area began undergoing revitalization by renovating the old hotel and casino, while simultaneously constructing new buildings such as hotels, a hospital, restaurants, and a golf club.
The redevelopment project was initially targeted for completion within 30 months at a cost of approximately 21 million US dollars.
One of the key milestones in the area's redevelopment progress was the inauguration of the Thansur Bokor Highland Resort in 2012. The presence of the hotel began to attract tourists to the surrounding area.
After the hotel became operational, Sokimex Group prepared an ongoing budget of one billion US dollars for the next 15 years. These funds are allocated to expand the facilities of the Bokor town area in the future.
