Koh Wai, (), also known as Poulo Wai or the Wai Islands, is a group of two small wooded and uninhabited islands in the

Gulf of Siam 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. ...

. The islands are located far away from the shore, to the southwest of the coast of Preah Sihanouk

Province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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 ...

. Administratively Koh Wai falls under Kampot Province. The Khmer word ''Koh'' (កោះ), means 'island' translated into English. Poulo Wai is of Malay origin, and its related word is ''pulo'' 'island' in

Cham Cham or CHAM may refer to: Ethnicities and languages *Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia **Cham language, the language of the Cham people ***Cham script *** Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script * Cham Albani ...

. Both islands are roughly 5 km long with a maximum width of about . They are located from each other, separated by a channel of ¾ mile () wide. The depth of the channel is about . The west island is about at its south-western end. The eastern island is around and rock fringed.

History

These islands were part of the basis of overlapping territorial claims between Cambodia,

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

; the three nations used differing methods of measuring the extent of their

territorial waters Territorial waters are informally an area of water where a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potentially the extended continental shelf ( ...

from the islands. In May 1975, the area around these islands and nearby Koh Tang was the site of the

Mayaguez incident The ''Mayaguez'' incident took place between Democratic Kampuchea, Kampuchea (now Cambodia) and the United States from 12 to 15 May 1975, less than a month after the Khmer Rouge took Fall of Phnom Penh, control of the capital Phnom Penh ousting ...

, the last combat action of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, which involved the rescue of the SS ''Mayaguez''. One month later,

Vietnam People's Army Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

forces seized the islands and there was a battle between

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...

and Vietnamese troops over the control of the islands. Finally, the Vietnamese evacuated Koh Wai in August. The Koh Wai islands were for a long time off-limits to tourists, but now they can be visited in organized excursions. Since the trip is too long to go and come back in the same day, visitors usually stay overnight on one of the islands.Sihanoukville, Islands
/ref>

References

External links

Concern over Boundary Affairs

Grand Tour for Keen Divers - Poulo Wai
{{Portal bar, Cambodia Populated places in Sihanoukville province Islands of Cambodia Islands of the Gulf of Thailand

History

See also

References

External links