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2009-07-02

Sisophon

Sisophon (unofficial name) is known as Serey Sophorn which is the official name of this town.

It is only a few hours away from the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet.

Serey Sophone is the provincial town capital of Banteay Meanchey province.
Before 1986, it used to be a district in Battambang province before being elevated into a provincial capital of a new founded province.

Like most northwestern provinces, Banteay Meanchey province is fairly a rural area which is not quite developed as Phnom Penh or Siem Reap.

Sisophon is derived from Sri Sophon which is in Thai language despite being a Cambodian provincial capital town. It used to be captured and governed by the Siamese/Thai many times during 1800s to 1900s, then 1940-1945 before returning to Cambodia again and again.

In Wat Phnom which is located in Phnom Penh, there is a monument depicting the return of Battambang, Siem Reap and Sisophon provinces when the French (protectorate of Cambodia) successfully negotiated with the Siamese during the early 1900s.


You can notice the Treaty on the left side of the Late King Sisowath who ruled Cambodia from early 1900s to his death in 1927.
















The treaty is in French language and is translated as Treaty between French and Siam on 15 March 1907 and it lists the three provinces that was returned to Cambodia from Siam, former name of Thailand.






















The picture of the three ladies are on the right wall. They represent the returned provinces.
They give presents to the King Sisowath to show respect and also to rejoin the country again.

The left lady represent Siem Reap province as she wears the typical ancient Khmer style worn by royalties in Angkor Wat time, and she present the gift of Angkor Wat.

The middle lady represent Sisophon province. She give the king a present of Sisophon's flower symbolising beauty and graceness and the temple of Banteay Chmar (Not very sure). Her dressing looks a bit Siamese though it's probably result from being under the rule of Siam for many hundred years.

The right lady represent Battambang province. She present the king the powerful stick of Preah Kronhuong Dombong. In Khmer, the stick symbolise power and authority. Preah Kronhuong Dombong statue can be found in Battambang city of Battambang province.


There are many ways to get to Sisophon. One can travel to Sisophon via Poipet by crossing the Thai border from Aranyaprathet a.k.a Aran of Sra Kaew province. One can travel to Sisophon from Battambang province or even as far as Phnom Penh using National Road 5. One also can travel to Sisophon from Siem Reap province using National Road 6.
Thus Sisophon can be described as a hub, connecting three places together (Battambang, Siemreap, Aran/Poipet) . It's not uncommon to see goods and products coming out from Thailand via Poipet and her Thai sister town Aran to arrive in Sisophon and also to go to Phnom Penh, Battambang or Siem Reap.

The pictures below shows what Sisophon looks like.



You know you have arrived in Sisophon when you see the statue of Neang Srey Sisophon.


















A random street.





















Some areas are typically undeveloped and dusty. Life is very laidback in Sisophon.


















The pictures honors the current His Majesty the King Norodom Sihamoni and pay respect to the ex king His Majesty King Norodom Sihanook who is the father of our new King.












Another picture showing respect to the Royal Family of Cambodia.

















Another major statue in Sisophon.













A close up picture of the statue Preah Noreay, otherwise known as Preah Pisnu or Visnu.


































A spanning shot of the town.










One of the markets in Sisophon, they sell anything from fresh vegetables to fruits and whatnot.

















Another vendor sells fried crickets with some herbs, chilli and some sauce in Sisophon.















A vendor seller sells sticky rice in bamboo shoots, a delicacy and a fast food on the go.

















Monks can be seen strolling around like in any other places in Cambodia.
















A shop in Long Beach, California state in America.
The shop owners are probably from Sisophon.



















Disclaimer: All of these pictures are founded from Google Images and are not the pictures of the blog or the author's. Credits go out to whoever took this pictures.




Boom and Booming




Ann ThongPrasom, or can be called "Boom" as her nickname, is a forever rising star for Thai entertainment industry. Starting at the age of 13, she is not one of the most popular Thai actress and a role model for the later generations. Born to a Swedish-Arabian father and a Thai mother, she has been living and sharing her life with her grandmother, and only her grandmother.[2] She regards her grandmother to be an eternal source of love. She also has an older brother and a younger brother [1]

"I didn't think that I'm a star, all I could do look but can't so anything about it. Ann never think that I'm a star, but just an actress that have the duty to act in a lakorn and so the job that I love. I love my job very much, but one day I might not be on-screen any more, so if that happens, I would like to do the directing job instead and direct for others to play. It's a dream that I want to do." (From her official website.) [1]

Her education background is great, having graduated from Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand with a Masters Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication on August 4, 2005 [2]. During her childhood, she also attended Wat Tabe ReeRa School and BangKapee School.

She received a chance to enter the industry after being invited by her mother's friend, also with some helps from the neighbors. She was introduced to a Video MV of a Thai singer of RS Production "Pisoot Supwijit." Her career started to bloom after she accepted to star in a lakorn (Thai drama) "Song Naree." In this drama, she had to starred as a twin, back in time, which requires a lot of skills to represent two different persons of a same blood. Later, she won a Best Leading Actress for that Lakorn[1]. Her biggest success, however, was her role in "The Letter: Jod Mai Rak" which earned 50 Million Bahts at that time and and had won many awards, including best actress at the Thailand National Film Association Awards[3]. During her career, she has won many other awards for the similar success, most notably, Lakorn Oum Ruk in 2006, in which she co-stared with Ken Theeradeth. [1]

She has been putting her effort in inspiring Thai new generation children. Her Channel 3 TV Show "English on Tour," which aired only 1 minute, is a program to teach English to children for one minute, the program which is receiving high rating than expected. This also encourages her to continue her social service by expanding it to a new TV Show "Sanam Dek Len or Playground," which is also aired on Channel 3. This program teaches new games to children.

Ann Thornprasom, unarguably a very talent Thai actress of this era. Not only she experiences many successes in the acting career, but also in the producing career. She has been pointing her direction to the producing career and it is clear that she will do her best when the time has come for her to take this complete new role.



[1] http://www.annethongprasom.com/anne.php?biography
[2] http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1801652/bio
[3] Wikipedia.org