Koh Rong (, ) is an island in
Preah Sihanouk province,
Cambodia
Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
. It is the
second largest island of Cambodia. The word ''Rong'' might refer to an old term for "cave" or "tunnel" (, ). It can also refer to the
Old Khmer word for shelter, adding up to ''Shelter Island''.
Located about from
Sihanoukville, the island has an area of approximately and of its entire coastline of are beaches. Four village communities exist on the island: Koh Tuich, Doeum D'keuw, Prek Svay and Sok San. The island is a popular
local tourism destination with numerous hotels, resorts and guesthouses.
Koh Rong was established as a
commune in 2000, and became a
city
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
in 2019. It is the site of a 99-year land concession by
The Royal Group to develop the island, and is one of the islands within the
Koh Rong Marine National Park that was established in 2018. Several seasons of the reality television series
''Survivor'' have been filmed on Koh Rong.
Geography
Koh Rong is the biggest of the islands off the coast of
Sihanoukville in the
Gulf of Thailand
The Gulf of Thailand (), historically known as the Gulf of Siam (), is a shallow inlet adjacent to the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. ...
. It stretches from south-east to north-west, is roughly elongate shaped and it encompasses an area of . The terrain is predominantly hilly with a sizable mountain at the island's north-west. The hills provide water for countless creeks and estuaries. The island's interior is almost completely forested, concealing a number of seasonal waterfalls. Koh Rong has around of delicate beaches. There are no less than 23 beaches of varying length and coloration—from (predominantly) white to beige to rose-colored sands—along most of the coastline. Bays, protruding capes and impressive sandstone rock formations contribute to the island's scenic panorama. The southern coastline, exposed to the weather and open sea, is particularly spectacular, whereas the eastern coast, which faces towards the land, is characterized by a sequence of smooth hills, gently sloping towards the numerous crescent-shaped beaches, inlets and bays. Several small islets and many reefs provide an abundance of natural environments for a great variety of marine life. The center of the island is a flat "belt" of sediments that joins the two hilly massifs of the south-east and north-west. Here is a small
savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
—the result of human activities and cultivation.
Although most of the island's surface is still covered in forest, many years of illegal logging have seriously affected the quality and health of the jungle. Huge, old and slow-growing hardwood trees have become rare, the original arboreal variety is vanishing and gradually being replaced by commercial mono cultures, such as coco and oil palms, in particular along the coast and in the lowlands.
Tiny Koh Tuich island lies off the south-east and the twin islands of Koh Bong-Po'own or Koh Song-Saa lie off the north-east of Koh Rong. To its south lies the uninhabited island of Koh Koun, followed by
Koh Rong Sanloem island. These five islands comprise the Sangkat Koh Rong or Commune 5 of
Mittakpheap District.
History
Henri Mouhot on his way from Bangkok to Kampot, a day and a half before arrival, in ''Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China'', 1864:
The island was governed by the
Navy authority for five miles around the island during 1979 to 2000. Since 2000 the
Department of Fisheries is the principal government agency responsible for management of living aquatic resources. It cooperates with local authorities, communities, local fishers, and NGOs, to manage and conserve the resources.
Koh Rong island is a relatively new commune, only established in 2000. In order to boost development, Koh Rong has had a land concession issued by the Cambodian government. A Cambodian consortium,
the Royal Group has been granted a 99-year lease. In 2008 it revealed plans to build "Asia's first environmentally planned resort island."
In February 2018, the
Koh Rong Marine National Park was established around the island, Cambodia's first
marine national park. In January 2019, a government sub-decree established
a new city from Koh Rong and
Koh Rong Sanloem.
Settlements and infrastructure
There are four distinguishable villages on Koh Rong—Koh Tuich Village in the south-east, Prek Svay in the north-east, Daem Thkov (Sangkat Village) in the east, and Sok San Village in the west. Most local residents live from fishing (70%) and small scale crop cultivation (30%), although an increasing number has found jobs in the quickly growing tourism sector. This is particularly true for Koh Tuich Village, where tourist businesses currently outnumber residential homes.
Apart from narrow paths in the jungle—many of these are dead ends that had been created by illegal loggers—there exists absolutely no road network. The island's interior remains non-populated, villages and holiday resorts are confined to the coast and the beaches. Conveniently all transport goes via sea routes. , local residents and visitors can take advantage of a well-functioning ferry network.
Extensive road clearings do foreshadow the island's future as a major tourist destination, yet as the developer's Chinese investment partner has dropped out of the team, funding remains uncertain. The Ministry of Tourism has expressed indirect discontent and is likely to cancel development licenses, if these important islands are left undeveloped.
In September 2012 the island was hooked up with the internet to Sihanoukville on the main land.
The Royal Group dropped a fiber-glass cable in the gulf's waters—a distance of almost 30 kilometers. Still, none of the infrastructural projects are yet under way and according to ''
The Phnom Penh Post'': "plans are foggy".
''Survivor''
The island has also played host to the popular reality program ''
Survivor
Survivor(s) may refer to:
* one who survives
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities
* Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series
* ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...
''. In 2012, ''
Koh-Lanta'', the French edition of the program, produced a special All-Star edition (titled ''
Koh-Lanta: Revenge of the Heroes'') on Koh Rong, near Sok San village. Production returned to the island in 2013 for a regular edition (''
Koh-Lanta: Cambodia''), but production ended abruptly after the death of a contestant. ''Koh-Lanta'' returned to the island in 2016 for another regular edition (''Koh-Lanta: Island of Treasure'').
More recently, the
American edition of ''Survivor'' produced Season 31 (''
Survivor: Cambodia—Second Chance'') and 32 (''
Survivor: Kaôh Rōng—Brains vs Brawn vs Beauty'') of the program on Koh Rong over the course of four months between March and July 2015.
The
sixteenth edition of ''
Expedition Robinson'',
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
's ''Survivor'', was also filmed on Koh Rong.
Gallery
File:Elementary_school_Koh_Rong.jpg, Rural elementary school
File:Koh_Rong_central_plains.jpg, Koh Rong's central plains
File:Koh_Rong_viewing_Koh_Koun_and_Koh_Rong_Sanloem.jpg, Koh Rong, viewing Koh Koun and Koh Rong Sanloem
File:Prek_Svay_Village_Koh_Rong.jpg, Prek Svay Village
File:Road_clearing_Koh_Rong_island.jpg, Road clearing, Koh Rong island
File:Sok_San_Beach_bay_Koh_Rong.jpg, Sok San Beach Bay, Koh Rong
See also
*
Koh Rong Sanloem
*
Koh Sdach
*
Koh Thmei
*
List of islands of Cambodia
*
List of Cambodian inland islands
*
Sihanoukville
References
External links
Independent Travel Guide on Koh Rong Island* {{usurped,
Cambodia Island Database-list of islands}
Islands of Cambodia
Islands of the Gulf of Thailand
Populated places in Sihanoukville province
Sihanoukville province
National parks of Cambodia
Tourist attractions in Cambodia
Communes of Sihanoukville province