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Prime Minister Hun Manet on Thursday said the government plans to develop the scenic Phnom 1,500 area (Mountain 1500) in Pursat province into a nature-based ecotourism destination. However, it would be preserved as public property and bar private investors and officials from building vacation homes there.
“The ‘hidden flower’ of Phnom 1500 must be preserved as an ecotourism site and not be handed over to private companies or used by powerful individuals to build vacation homes,” he said at the inauguration of National Road 10 on Thursday morning.
Stretching over 198 kilometers from Samlot district in Battambang province through Veal Veng district in Pursat province to Khemarak Phoumin city in Koh Kong province, the road links four kilometer-wide Phnom 1500 on National Road 55. The area features an attractive winding road known as “Plov Antong Aing” or “hidden flower”.
Hun Manet said the winding road is unique and different from other roads, recalling that in 2024, residents proposed preserving the area as a public environmental and ecotourism site. But the area was occupied by about 90 families, while construction was not “properly organized”. There were also investments by four or five small tourism companies, he said.
The premier instructed the provincial governor and relevant authorities to provide an appropriate solution for the residents, despite occupying it “illegally”, calling for the issue to be handled with care. “We should not arrest them.”
He also called for the infrastructure in the area to be reorganized, including through tree planting.
“The site must be strictly preserved as public property. Once the issue is resolved, it must not be handed over to any private investor. There will be no vacation homes for any leaders either,” he pledged.
He urged the authorities to resolve the land issue affecting about 90 families in a “win-win” manner, noting that an investigation found that only 37 families reside in the area, while the rest are landowners living in Phnom Penh.
So far, residents have accepted a proposed solution under which the provincial authorities have requested more than 100 hectares to establish a new village with infrastructure, including roads, clean water and electricity.
He also called on Sem Sokha, who claimed to have a land dispute in the Andong Ang area, to come forward and “resolve the issue honestly”, saying authorities would not take action against her.
“I don’t have any ill will towards people. If residents genuinely do not have land, we will build houses for them and help to develop the area,” he said.
In addition to focusing on nature-based tourism, Hun Manet mentioned that the government wanted to ensure that local communities benefit from the area. He cited planting giant grass, restoring land and working with communities so they can benefit from the crops.
He stressed that strengthening Cambodia’s tourism sector cannot focus solely on cultural tourism. The country should also develop ecotourism connected to nature, including coastal and mountainous areas.
“Cambodia has strong potential for nature-based tourism, so developing an integrated strategy is important. Any product that can attract people and generate good income should be developed. Industries should be placed where the industries belong while areas with tourism prospects should be developed,” he said.
Phan Virakboth, who runs a small tourism business in the Phnom 1,500 area, said the government’s plan to develop the area into an ecotourism destination could bring new opportunities for local businesses.
“It would be really good because our area is not an official tourist destination at the moment,” Virakboth said, adding that local businesses are hoping for more visitors as well as attractions in the area.
“As business owners, we are basically waiting; like waiting for rain,” he said. “There are no established recreational attractions in the area as yet.”
Virakboth said accommodation is not the main problem, as the area already has many places for visitors to stay. “What is missing are tourism products and activities that would encourage visitors to come.”
“So I think the prime minister’s vision is good. For those of us who make a living from tourism, we fully support it.”
He said improving roads and access to attractions such as waterfalls would also help, while tourism businesses and private-sector experts should be involved in planning.
“If the government’s plan is simply to build roads to waterfalls and other attractions, I think it would be good to have input from the private sector, especially people with experience in tourism,” he said. “People like us should be involved because we meet visitors every day.”
Veal Veng district governor Theang Leng told CamboJA News that he fully supports the government’s plan to develop Phnom 1,500 as a nature-based ecotourism destination, saying the area needs infrastructure and services to accommodate visitors.
He said authorities are working with the provincial administration and the Ministry of Mines and Energy to develop the area.
The development should also include basic infrastructure such as restrooms, accommodation and places for visitors to eat and rest.
“If tourists want to visit a nature-based tourism area but there are no toilets, rest areas or food shops, they won’t come,” he said.
He added that authorities have resolved the relocation of about 90 residents in the Phnom 1,500 area, with the remaining three families declining the proposed relocation. The new site is about 27 kilometers from the Phnom 1,500 area and six kilometers from the district center.
He said authorities offered to relocate residents rather than removing them from the area, but the three families refused the arrangement. Leng alleged that their refusal was a result of “influence from people living abroad”.
He said residents would be relocated from the forest and conservation area to a designated development area where the government has planned industrial and energy projects, including garment manufacturing and electricity generation. He said only families who accepted the relocation have been allocated farming plots through individual arrangements.
“There is no arrangement for the families who did not accept the offer despite being invited to resolve the issue. They continue to oppose it. That is their choice.”
CamboJA News was not able to contact the families who are involved in the land issue.
Chhay Sivlin, president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents (CATA), said the area needs a lot of investment in the hospitality sector, including accommodation, food services and tourism-related facilities, but development must also be compatible with the natural environment.
“We already have natural attractions, but we still lack services that support tourism in the area,” she said. “We need to develop the surrounding areas so they become more attractive to tourists, while also ensuring that local communities and villages are properly organized.”
She said ecotourism should include local communities and provide opportunities for them to benefit from it.
“People living in the area need to understand how they can benefit from tourism. They need to know what tourists need when they visit and learn how to provide those services,” she said.
Sivlin added that private investment should be designed to benefit local residents by clearly defining which parts of tourism projects should be developed by investors and which should remain as opportunities for local communities.
“We need to have a clear plan that defines who will invest and where, and give local people opportunities to develop businesses themselves,” she said. “We cannot do without the private sector’s input [but] there must be cooperation between the private sector and local communities.”
