Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Kan's sister overheard the king's plan, and alerted her brother to the trap. The young
commander escaped and fled eastwards to raise an army. In 1512, with tens of thousands
of men at his back, Kan returned seeking revenge against Sukonthor. The king fell, cut
down by one of his aides, and Kan took power for himself. For the first time in centuries a
commoner sat on the Cambodian throne. Kan took the royal name Srey Chetha, though he
is popularly known today as Sdech Kan, or “King Kan.” The Khmer chronicles remem-
ber Kan as a strong, wise, and benevolent ruler. During his short reign he brought order
and prosperity to the realm, and introduced the first Cambodian currency, the
sloeung
, a
gold coin inscribed with a scaled dragon.
Just four years into his reign, a new war broke out after Sukonthor's brother returned
from Ayutthaya with Thai troops to avenge his sibling's death. The ensuing war dragged
on for nearly a decade, turning Khmer against Khmer and unleashing another round of
bloody retribution. Sdech Kan's forces fought bravely but were gradually overrun. In
1525 Chant Reachea's soldiers cornered the usurper in Pursat and beheaded him, and the
rightful heir was restored to the throne. The rebel's reign had lasted just 13 years.
15
The tale of Sdech Kan is scantily documented, part of the diet of legends and fables that
Cambodians consume during childhood. Historically it has been treated as a cautionary
tale—an example of the dangers that can follow the usurpation of the natural social or-
der. But in recent years the story has been revived by a new official cult extolling Kan's
achievements and linking them with Prime Minister Hun Sen, who, by subtle implication,
is presented as the reincarnation of the lost king. Like many Cambodians, Hun Sen en-
to genuinely identify with it. In rural speeches he has linked Kan's legend to his own
well-known life story. Both men were born in the Year of the Dragon, and Kan's origin
as a “temple-servant” roughly parallels Hun Sen's time as a pagoda boy. Like Kan, Hun
Sen retreated eastwards from an enemy—the Khmer Rouge—and then returned to wreak
vengeance on his enemies.
The Sdech Kan tale has far-reaching political significance. As the story of a commoner
who rose to topple an unjust king, it provides historical justification for Hun Sen's over-
throw of Prince Ranariddh, his eclipse of the Cambodian monarchy, and its replacement
with his own stable “reign.” In one 2006 speech Hun Sen praised Kan as a hero-king who
“liberated all outcasts under his area of control” and upended Cambodia's hierarchical so-
cial structures. Sdech Kan was also a military man, fielding an army of 190,000 soldiers,
to a 2006 topic on Sdech Kan, which Hun Sen also funded, he redefined the usurper as
“a brilliant hero” of world-historical standing who prefigured Marxist class struggle and
