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Saloth family
Loth family
Family of Pol Pot
Pol Pot's family
Pol Pot, the Supreme Leader of Democratic Kampuchea in May 1978
Country Kingdom of Cambodia
List
Current region
Southeast Asia
FoundedUnknown
FounderPhem
Titles
List
Members
List
  • Phem
    Cheng
    Saloth Phem/Loth
    Sok Nem/Duk Nem
    Saloth Sar/Pol Pot/Tol Sat
    Khieu Ponnary
    Mea Son
    Sar Patchata/Mea Sith
    Sy Vicheka
    Bun Chanthou
    Mea Son
    Saloth Chhay
    Saloth Roeung
    Unnamed grandchildren of Saloth Roeung
    Saloth Nhep
    Nhep Thol
    Saloth Suong
    Unnamed grandchildren of Saloth Roeung
    Unnamed first wife of Saloth Soung
    Chea Samy
    Unnamed child of Saloth Soung
    Saloth Seng
    Three other siblings of Pol Pot
    Saloth Meak
    Saloth Ban
    Srey Poline
    Dul Tin
    Ieng Thirith
    Ieng Sary/Kim Trang
Connected members
List
  • Prince Sisowath Kusarak
    Tep Khunnal
    Kim Riem
    Tran Thi Loi
    Parents of Tran Thi Loi
    Khieu Samphan
    So Socheat
    Unnamed brother-in-law of Saloth Ban
Connected families
List
TraditionsBuddhism

The Saloth family or Loth family[1][2] is the family of Pol Pot, who ruled over Democratic Kampuchea, the Cambodian state from 1975 until 1979, due to this the family is sometimes called Family of Pol Pot or Pol Pot's family.[3][4][5]

History

[edit]

Early family history

[edit]

The founding member of the Saloth family was Phem; his son, Loth, then took the name Saloth Phem. Saloth Phem married Sok Nem, also known as Duk Nem, with whom he had nine children.[6] One of their children was Saloth Sar, who would be later known as Pol Pot. Three of Pol Pot's siblings died in their early years. [6][7] While Saloth Chhay, Saloth Roeung, Saloth Nhep, Saloth Suong and Saloth Seng, who are his other siblings, survived the early years. When Pol Pot was six years old, he and an older brother (probably Saloth Chhay) were sent to live with their cousin Saloth Meak in Phnom Penh.[6] Years later, in the summer of 1935, Pol Pot went to live with his brother Suong and the latter's wife and child.[7] In 1943, when Pol Pot was 18 years old, he received his Certificat d'Etudes Primaires Complémentaires.[7] Pol Pot tried to enroll in the Lycée Sisowath, but he didn't pass the exam in summer 1948. Due to his failed exam, Pol Pot enrolled at the Ecole Technique. In his time at the École Technique, he met Ieng Sary, who studied at the Lycée Sisowath; Ieng would later become his brother-in-law. Pol Pot and Ieng Sary also met during that time Khieu Ponnary and her sister Ieng Thirith.[8] In 1949 Pol Pot and other 21 selected students enrolled at École française de radioélectricité, Ieng Sary also studied in Paris. During their time in Paris, both Pol Pot and Ieng Sary came in touch with Marxism. When Pol Pot returned to the Kingdom of Cambodia in January 1953, he became politically active.[7] Pol Pot spent several months at the headquarters of Prince Norodom Chantaraingsey—the leader of one faction—in Trapeng Kroloeung.[9] Saloth Chhay initially encouraged his younger brother Saloth Sar, in 1953, to work with Chantaraingsey, but Pol Pot rejected the prince as "feudal".[9] Pol Pot was however able to use Chhay's connections within the communist anti-colonial movement to gain contacts; Chhay spent time with the Viet Minh, who had a presence in the Cambodian border areas, taking his brother with him. His visit to the eastern headquarters of the United Issarak Front, the Cambodian communist resistance, paved the way for his brother's visit there in 1953.[10]

Political activities of family members between 1953 and 1967

[edit]

In 1953 Pol Pot moved to Phnom Penh, where he met with Ping Say to discuss the situation of the Kingdom of Cambodia.[7] Years later, Pol Pot rented a house in the Boeng Keng Kang area of Phnom Penh.[6][7] Pol Pot became a teacher at the Chamraon Vichea, Pol Pot courted society belle Soeung Son Maly before entering a relationship with Khieu Ponnary, they married in a Buddhist ceremony on 14 July 1956.[6][7] While he still was a teacher, Pol Pot was still politically active, all correspondence between the Democratic Party and the Pracheachon went through him.[7] Saloth Chhay was a member of the Pracheachon and published his own newspaper Sammaki, due to an article that criticised Sihanouk, Saloth Chhay was once jailed in 1955.[11] In 1959 the Kampuchean Labour Party was established. Pol Pot, Tou Samouth and Nuon Chea were part of a four-man General Affair Committee leading the party.[7] The Kampuchean Labour Party's conference, held clandestinely from September to October 1960 in Phnom Penh in which Pol Pot took the third senior position and Ieng Sary the fourth.[12] On 30 September 1960, the Workers Party of Kampuche, was founded as a separate Party.[13] Tou Samouth became its first general secretary and held the position until 1962, Samouth successor was Pol Pot who had from 1961 on had the second senior position of the party,[14] Pol Pot took the office in 1963. Under his leadership, the party was renamed into Communist Party of Kampuchea in 1966.[15] In November 1967, Pol Pot contracted malaria and required a respite in a Viet Cong medical base near Mount Ngork. By December, plans for armed conflict were complete, with the war to begin in the North-West Zone and then spread to other regions. As communication across Cambodia was slow, each Zone would have to operate independently much of the time.[7]

Cambodian Civil War (1967–1975)

[edit]

On 17 January 1968, the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot started their insurgency and participated in the Cambodian Civil War.[16] Saloth Chhay was once again jailed in 1969.[10] Pol Pot set up his residence on the northern side of the Chinit River. The entry was strictly controlled. In early 1972, Pol Pot embarked on his first tour of the Marxist-controlled areas across Cambodia. In these areas, called "liberated zones", corruption was stamped out, gambling was banned, and alcohol and extramarital affairs were discouraged.[7] Further, in May 1972, the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot began ordering all of those living under its control to dress like poor peasants.[7] One year later in May 1973, Pol Pot ordered the collectivisation of villages in territory that the Khmer Rouge controlled; in response, many villagers fled.[6][7] On 17 April 1975 Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge, with it the Khmer Republic disestablished and Democratic Kampuchea was established.[17]

Democratic Kampuchea (1975–1979)

[edit]

The new established Democratic Kampuchea ordered Phnom Penh's immediate evacuation. During this evacuation, Saloth Chhay died en route or was killed by the Khmer Rouge. Pol Pot became the Supreme Leader of Democratic Kampuchea in 1975,[18] other offices he held were the office of Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea, President of the Kampuchean People's Representative Assembly and the office of Prime Minister, which he held twice, once from 14 April 1976 until 27 September 1976 and again from 25 October 1976 until 7 January 1979. Pol Pot's wife Khieu Ponnary had the position of Spouse of the Prime Minister. Other members of the family were appointed to high positions in the new government, Saloth Ban was appointed as Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,[19] Ieng Sary became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1976, his wife, Ieng Thirith whom he married in 1951 became Minister of Social Affairs in October 1975. On 25 December 1978, the Cambodian–Vietnamese War started which ousted Pol Pot from power on 7 January 1979, after Vietnamese troops took over Phnom Penh.[20]

After the fall of Phnom Penh to the Vietnamese

[edit]

As response Pol Pot and other senior government figures left the city of Phnom Penh and drove to Pursat, where they spent two days there before moving on to Battambang.[7] After fleeing, Pol Pot divorced Khieu Ponnary in the same year. In December 1979, Pol Pot was replaced as supreme leader and as prime minister of Democratic Kampuchea, which was then a government-in-exile.[6][7][18] In 1986 Pol Pot married his second wife Mea Son, with whom he has Sar Patchata, a daughter.[21] By the end of 1996, after years of fighting the Khmer Rouge had lost almost all the territory they held in the interior of Cambodia, being restricted to a few hundred miles along the northern border. Pol Pot's health was declining; he suffered from aortic stenosis and no longer had access to follow-up treatment for his earlier cancer. A stroke left him paralysed on the left side of his body, and he eventually required daily access to oxygen. He spent increasing amounts of time with his family, in particular his daughter.[7] Ieng Sary defected from Pol Pot in 1996 and established the Democratic National Union Movement, a split from the Cambodian National Unity Party.[22] Pol Pot had grown suspicious of Son Sen and in June 1997 ordered his assassination. Khmer Rouge cadres subsequently killed Sen and 13 of his family members and aides. Ta Mok was concerned that Pol Pot could turn on him too. Mok rallied troops loyal to him at Anlong Veng, informing them that Pol Pot had betrayed their movement, and then headed to Kbal Ansoang. Fearing Mok's troops, on 12 June 1997, Pol Pot, his family, and several bodyguards fled on foot. Pol Pot was very frail and had to be carried. After Mok's troops apprehended them, Pol Pot was placed under house arrest. Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea sided with Mok.[7] During his time of house arrest, Pol Pot was part of an interview by Nate Thayer.[23][24][25] In July 1997 Pol Pot was sentenced to life imprisonment.[26] On 15 April 1998, Pol Pot died in his sleep of a heart attack Thayer, who was present, claimed that Pol Pot killed himself when he became aware of Ta Mok's plan to hand him over to the United States, saying that "Pol Pot died after ingesting a lethal dose of a combination of Valium and chloroquine" or that he drunk poison.[33]

During all this, Pol Pot's sister Saloth Roeung and his brothers Saloth Nhep, Saloth Suong and Saloth Seng gave interviews where they talked about Pol Pot and how they remembered them.[34][35][36]

After the death of Pol Pot

[edit]

After his death, Pol Pot's body was preserved with ice after an improvised embalming with formaldehyde had failed, so that his death could be verified by journalists attending his funeral.[37][38][39] Three days later, his wife cremated his body on a pyre of tyres and rubbish, utilising traditional Buddhist funerary rites.[7] Pol Pot's ashes are buried in a small grave in Choam Sa-Ngam, Oddar Meanchey province. The grave is covered by a tin roof and surrounded by a small fence.[40] In May, Pol Pot's widow and Tep Khunnal fled to Malaysia, where they married.[41]

After Pol Pot's death his brother Saloth Nhep, gave an interview in 2006, where he talked about his brother Saloth Sar, four years later in 2010 he died.[42][43][1]

In 2007 members of the Saloth family, attended the tribunal of former Khmer Rouge member and visited the killing fields.[4][5] In the same year, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith were both were arrested for war crimes and crimes against humanity.[44] Before their arrest they lived in a villa on Street 21, in southern Phnom Penh.[45]

In 2012, Saloth Ban was put in the tribunal for his role in the government.[19]

In 2013, Ieng Sary died.[46]

In March 2014, the daughter of Pol Pot and Mea Son, Sar Patchata who was 26 at the time married Sy Vicheka.[21]

In 2015, Ieng Thirith died.[47]

Connected family

[edit]

The Saloth family is related to the House of Sisowath, through Saloth Meak, also known as Khun Meak, a principal wife of Sisowath Monivong, with whom she had a child, Sisowath Kusarak, who was born in 1926.[48][49]

Members

[edit]
  • Phem, father of Saloth Phem/Loth[1]
  • Cheng, sister of Saloth Phem/Loth and mother of Saloth Meak/Khun Meak[1]
  • Saloth Phem/Loth, father of Pol Pot[6][50]
  • Sok Nem/Duk Nem, mother of Pol Pot[6][51]
  • Saloth Sar/Pol Pot/Tol Sat[a]
  • Khieu Ponnary, first wife of Pol Pot
  • Mea Son, second wife of Pol Pot[21]
  • Sar Patchata/Mea Sith, daughter of Mea Son and Pol Pot[21]
  • Sy Vicheka, son-in-law of Pol Pot[21]
  • Bun Chanthou, granddaughter of Pol Pot[4]
  • Saloth Chhay, brother of Pol Pot[55]
  • Saloth Roeung/Sareung, sister of Pol Pot[56][57]
  • Unnamed grandchildren of Saloth Roeung[49]
  • Saloth Nhep, brother of Pol Pot[57][43][34][42][1]
  • Nhep Thol, daughter of Saloth Nhep[43]
  • Saloth Suong/Loth Suong, brother of Pol Pot[35][58][59]
  • Unnamed first wife of Saloth Soung[7]
  • Chea Samy, wife of Saloth Soung[59]
  • Unnamed child of Saloth Soung[7]
  • Saloth Seng, brother of Pol Pot[3][36]
  • Three other siblings of Pol Pot which died young[6][7]
  • Saloth Meak/Khun Meak, cousin of Pol Pot and Monivong Sisowath's principal wife[56][49][48]
  • Saloth Ban/So Hong, nephew of Pol Pot[19]
  • Srey Poline, niece of Pol Pot[4]
  • Dul Tin, nephew-in-law of Pol Pot[4][5]
  • Ieng Thirith, sister of Khieu and sister-in-law of Pol Pot
  • Ieng Sary/Kim Trang, brother-in-law of Pol Pot

Connected members

[edit]
  • Prince Sisowath Kusarak, son of Saloth Meak and Sisowath Monivong[49][60]
  • Tep Khunnal, stepfather of Sar Patchata[41][61]
  • Kim Riem, father of Ieng Sary
  • Tran Thi Loi, mother of Ieng Sary
  • Parents of Tran Thi Loi[62][63]
  • Khieu Samphan[64]
  • So Socheat[65]
  • Unnamed brother-in-law of Saloth Ban[19]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ Tol Sat was a fake identity of Pol Pot.[52][53][54]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "'Pol Pot'". February 27, 2005 – via NYTimes.com.
  2. ↑ "'Pol Pot' (Published 2005)". February 27, 2005.
  3. 1 2 Nhean, Socheat (January 1, 2010). "The End of Saloth Family". Searching for the Truth Magazine – via www.academia.edu.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Pol Pot's Family Attends Tribunal Forum". វីអូអេ. July 27, 2007.
  5. 1 2 3 "Relatives of Pol Pot Join Visit to Killing Fields". វីអូអេ. July 18, 2007.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Chandler, David P. (1992). Brother Number One: A Political Biography of Pol Pot. Boulder, San Francisco, and Oxford: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-0927-1.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Short, Philip (2004). Pol Pot: The History of a Nightmare. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0719565694.
  8. ↑ Chandler, David P. (March 5, 1999). "Brother Number One: A Political Biography Of Pol Pot". Avalon Publishing – via Google Books.
  9. 1 2 Chandler, D. Brother number one: a political biography of Pol Pot, Westview, 1999, ISBN 978-0-8133-3510-0
  10. 1 2 Kiernan, B. How Pol Pot came to power, Yale UP, 2004
  11. ↑ Corfield, J. Khmers stand up!: a history of the Cambodian government 1970-1975, Monash University, 1994, ISBN 978-0-7326-0565-0
  12. ↑ Tyner, James A. (2017). From Rice Fields to Killing Fields: Nature, Life, and Labor under the Khmer Rouge. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press. p. 38. ISBN 978-0815635567. Archived from the original on 14 March 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  13. ↑ Chandler, David P.; D.P.C. (1983). "Revising the Past in Democratic Kampuchea: When Was the Birthday of the Party?". Pacific Affairs. 56 (2): 288–300. doi:10.2307/2758655. JSTOR 2758655. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  14. ↑ "A history of democratic Kampuchea (1975–1979)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2025-12-06.
  15. ↑ "Khmer People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP)". globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  16. ↑ Lipsman, Samuel; Doyle, Edward; et al. (1983). Fighting for Time: 1969–1970. Boston: Boston Publishing Company. ISBN 0-939526-07-7.
  17. ↑ Becker, Elizabeth (1998). When the War was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution. PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1891620003.
  18. 1 2 "CAMBODIA: A Plea for International Support". TIME. March 10, 1980.
  19. 1 2 3 4 "SALOTH Ban - ECCC". www.eccc.gov.kh.
  20. ↑ Morris, Stephen J. (1999). Why Vietnam invaded Cambodia: political culture and causes of war. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-3049-5.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 "Pol Pot's daughter weds". The Phnom Penh Post. 17 March 2014. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  22. ↑ Peter H. Maguire. Facing Death in Cambodia. New York: Columbia University Press. 2005. p. 101, 103.
  23. ↑ "Pol Pot: Mistakes Were Made". AP NEWS. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  24. ↑ Service, New York Times News (23 October 1997). "POL POT FEELS NO GUILT FOR BUTCHERY". chicagotribune.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  25. ↑ Farley, Maggie (23 October 1997). "Ailing Pol Pot Looks Back on Reign Without Remorse". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  26. ↑ Thayer, Nate. "Cambodia: Trial of Pol Pot" (Interview). Interviewed by Gareth Evans and Tep Kunnal. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on September 20, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2010.
  27. ↑ ""Killing Fields Leader 'killed himself'," BBC News, January 21, 1999". Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  28. ↑ Poole, Teresa (21 January 1999). "Pol Pot `suicide' to avoid US trial" Archived 1 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine. The Independent. London. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  29. ↑ Gittings, John; Tran, Mark (21 January 1999). "Pol Pot 'killed himself with drugs'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 June 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  30. ↑ Sainsbury, Peter (24 April 1998). Tayseng, Ly; Rith, Sam; Seangly, Phak; Kunmakara, May; Simala, Pen (eds.). "Burned like old rubbish". The Phnom Penh Post. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Post Media Co Ltd. Archived from the original on 25 November 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  31. ↑ Chandler, David (27 June 1997). Tayseng, Ly; Rith, Sam; Seangly, Phak; Kunmakara, May; Simala, Pen (eds.). "A small, muddled, erratic, frightened man". The Phnom Penh Post. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Post Media Co Ltd. Archived from the original on 10 April 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  32. ↑ Handley, Erin; Sineat, Yon; Meta, Kong (13 April 2018). Tayseng, Ly; Rith, Sam; Seangly, Phak; Kunmakara, May; Simala, Pen (eds.). "Twenty years after Pol Pot died a broken man, his memory looms large". The Phnom Penh Post. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Post Media Co Ltd. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  33. ↑ [27][28][29][30][31][32]
  34. 1 2 Mydans, Seth (August 6, 1997). "Pol Pot's Siblings Remember The Polite Boy and the Killer" – via NYTimes.com.
  35. 1 2 Press, Denis Gray of Associated Press Source: Associated (March 29, 1990). "WHEN A POLITE, GENTLE BOY GROWS UP TO BE A PRIMITIVE REVOLUTIONARY". Australian Financial Review.
  36. 1 2 News, Deseret; Service, New York Times News (August 6, 1997). "Siblings struggle with ties to Pol Pot". Deseret News. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  37. ↑ "Burned like old rubbish, National, Phnom Penh Post". Archived from the original on 2013-11-25. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  38. ↑ "A small, muddled, erratic, frightened man, National, Phnom Penh Post". Archived from the original on 2014-04-10. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  39. ↑ "Twenty years after Pol Pot died a broken man, his memory looms largePhnom Penh Post". Archived from the original on 2020-10-30. Retrieved 2026-07-18.
  40. ↑ Chhengpor, Aun; Narin, Sun; Khmer, V. O. A. (April 23, 2018). "20 Years After His Death, Cambodians Still Struggle to Put Memories of Pol Pot Behind Them". វីអូអេ.
  41. 1 2 Willemyns, Alex (28 October 2014). "Once Pol Pot's Aide, Now a Capitalist Crusader | the Cambodia Daily". Archived from the original on 14 September 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  42. 1 2 "Cambodia Diary 4: Pol Pots Brother: "We Just Tried to Survive"". Radio Free Asia. May 19, 2006.
  43. 1 2 3 "Saloth Nhep, Last of Pol Pot Siblings, Dies at 84 - The Cambodia Daily". February 15, 2010.
  44. ↑ MacKinnon, Ian (12 November 2007). "Leading Khmer Rouge figures arrested". The Guardian.
  45. ↑ Penh, Michael Sheridan in Phnom. "Pol Pot's in laws face trial".
  46. ↑ Mydans, Seth (March 14, 2013). "Ieng Sary, Former Official of Khmer Rouge, Dies at 87" – via NYTimes.com.
  47. ↑ "The Straits Times - Breaking news, Singapore news, Asia and world news & multimedia". The Straits Times.
  48. 1 2 "The Original Cambodian | New Internationalist". newint.org. April 5, 1993.
  49. 1 2 3 4 "Siblings Remember Pol Pot: From Polite Little Boy to Killer". archive.nytimes.com.
  50. ↑ Beyer, Greg (January 10, 2025). "Pol Pot: Overseer of the Cambodian Genocide". TheCollector.
  51. ↑ "Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam)". d.dccam.org.
  52. ↑ "Cambodia Announces Its New Government". April 14, 1976 – via NYTimes.com.
  53. ↑ "FROM THE ARCHIVES". April 14, 2001 – via www.theglobeandmail.com.
  54. ↑ "IN THE LAND OF THE KHMER ROUGE". December 20, 1981 – via NYTimes.com.
  55. ↑ See Fenton, J. The memory of war: poems 1968–1982, Salamander, 1983, p.26. The title refers to the name given by Chantaraingsey and his officers to the empty brandy bottles piling up beneath the table.
  56. 1 2 "Saloth Sâr [Pol Pot] | Sciences Po Mass Violence and Resistance - Research Network". www.sciencespo.fr. February 2, 2016.
  57. 1 2 "CNN - Pol Pot's relatives recall dictator's childhood - Aug. 18, 1997". www.cnn.com.
  58. ↑ "CNN - Khmer Rouge leader reportedly near death - May 12, 1996". www.cnn.com.
  59. 1 2 jagan, larry (February 7, 1990). "„Ich will ihn nie wieder sehen"" – via taz.de.
  60. ↑ Chandler, David P., 1992, Brother Number One: A political biography of Pol Pot, Silkworm Books, Thailand: 8
  61. ↑ https://www.zeit.de/2006/12/Kambodscha/seite-2
  62. ↑ Bora, Touch. "Jurisdictional and Definitional Issues". Khmer Institute. Archived from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2007.
  63. ↑ Sann Rada, Transcript of Trial Proceedings–Case File Nº 002/19-09-2007-ECCC/TC, Day 4–5 December 2011, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, retrieved 29 October 2013
  64. ↑ "Biographies". seasite.niu.edu.
  65. ↑ "Mrs. SO Socheat". eccc.gov.kh. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
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