DC-Cam recount the tragic history of the Me Teuk Bridge and its destruction by Thai bombs

- ស្ពានមេទឹកដែលយោធាថៃ ទម្លាក់គ្រាប់បែកកម្ទេចនៅថ្ងៃទី១៣ ធ្នូ ២០២៥។ មជ្ឈមណ្ឌលឯកសារកម្ពុជា The Me Teuk Bridge was destroyed by a Thai airstrike on December 13, 2025. DC-Cam

Pursat province’s Me Teuk Bridge, also known as Victory Bridge, was destroyed on December 13, 2025, when it was struck by seven 230-kilogramme bombs dropped by Thai fighter jets, during the second round of last year’s border clashes.

Heng Ratana, director-general of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), posted images of the bridge, located on National Road 55 in Eakpheap village, in Veal Veng district’s Thma Da commune. He included images of the casings of several MK-82 bombs, which were found in the river below the bridge.

The bridge was completed in 2018 by Chinese company CRBC, with Chinese government funding, according to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.

Long Dany, director of the Veal Veng Reconciliation Center of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), has compiled a historic record of the bridge.

He recounted that after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979, Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, along with other senior cadres, fled to the Thma Da border area near the Me Teuk stream. He established several units, including offices for senior leaders, military divisions, medical units, and villages and rice fields for the families of soldiers stationed in various combat zones, including at Samlot-Koh Kong, Northwest-Phnom Penh and Southwest-Phnom Penh.

Here, he reorganised his forces to wage a resistance against the Vietnamese troops and the forces of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea. Along the Thma Da border, from Samlot to Koh Kong, Pol Pot, Ta Mok, and other Khmer Rouge leaders established two divisions: Division 2 and Division 3.

In 1982 or 1983, Pol Pot initiated the construction of a stone bridge, which was completed in late 1983 or early 1984. Upon its completion, Pol Pot named it the “Spean Phdachnha Chhneah”, or “determination to win” bridge.

Oun Yang, who held a senior position within the Khmer Rouge ranks in the area, explained that the purpose of the bridge was to facilitate the transportation of food and ammunition to their troops, who were conducting guerrilla warfare.

In late 1984 or early 1985, Pol Pot ordered his troops to destroy the bridge after Vietnam deployed a large number of troops to the Me Teuk stream. The bridge was cut to prevent Vietnamese and People’s Republic of Kampuchea forces from transporting weapons across the stream to attack Khmer Rouge positions.

In early 1985, Vietnamese and People’s Republic of Kampuchea forces captured the site of the bridge, along with several other locations along the Cambodia-Thailand border. they established a base in the “Ptah Prampi” (House 7) area and renamed the bridge “Spean Chey Chumneas” (Victory Bridge), a name that remains to this day.

According to former Khmer Rouge soldier Mai Sarum, the “House 7” location was named after a physical observation: When Vietnamese troops first reached the Me Teuk stream in 1979, they saw seven huts situated on the eastern side of the stream, and thus called the location “House 7”.

When Vietnamese troops withdrew from Cambodia in 1989, Khmer Rouge forces retook the site of the bridge and th surrounding area. They held it until they integrated with the Royal Government under the Win-Win Policy of 1998.

In 2000, the government established Thma Da Commune, consisting of three villages: Eakpheap, Santepheap and Sangkum Thmey.

According to Dany, during the second round of armed clashes between Cambodian and Thai forces in December 2025, the Thai air force used F-16 fighter jets to bomb the Thma Da Hotel, a school, and the Victory Bridge, destroying both the old steel bridge and the new concrete one.

“The destruction of Victory Bridge was a malicious act by Thai soldiers to destroy national road infrastructure used by citizens for their daily livelihoods and by national and international tourists visiting the natural beauty of the mountains and forests of Pursat and Koh Kong,” he claimed.

Kin Phea, director-general of the International Relations Institute of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, suggested that the bridge not be repaired.

“This bridge should not be rebuilt; it should be kept for future generations of Khmers to remember the cruel and barbaric aggression of the Siamese ‘jungle bandits’ against our territory,” he said.

“The Royal Government should examine the possibility of building a new bridge to replace the old one destroyed by the Siamese invaders,” he added.

-Phnom Penh Post-

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Images:
– The Me Teuk Bridge was destroyed by a Thai airstrike on December 13, 2025. DC-Cam