83 kilometres southwest from Batambang, situated at the Thai border,
this town is renown for its deposits of white, yellow and black
sapphires.
There is a folk legend about Pailin. As people were
hunting many animals in the forest, the Gods became worried that they
would kill all the animals. So the Gods assembled the people and told to
look in a stream. If they promised stop hunting the animals, they would discover
there something very valuable. Sure enough, they found gemstones, and so
promised to leave the animals alone.
Gem trade no longer is a flourishing business. During the Khmer Rouge
period and the civil war that followed,
the communist rebels and Thai
mining companies stripped Pailin clean of its once-famous precious
stones.
When the end of war came
in 1998, Pailin was suddenly overwhelmed by prospectors, drifters
and carpetbaggers all seeking their fortune from the gems that
seemed to simply sit on top of the earth. But the area had been
cleaned thoroughly by large Thai mining operations, which gouged
huge holes in the ground with their heavy machinery and took away
millions of dollars of precious stones to be sold in Thai markets
or overseas.
Pailin, once a rambling
town of squat, dusty buildings, close to the Thai border has lost
it garrison feel, with a few newly constructed homes of brick and
shiny tile giving it an almost quaint, prosperous appearance.
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Wat Phnom Yat, built by Sham migrants from Myanmar in 1922 is
a holy place for worship in the heart of Pailin. It includes an old
pagoda, similar to the Kola pagoda. With loads of folk tales and legends
in the area, the wat is the centre of popular devotion, for residents of
Pailin and visitors alike. There are many ancient structures on Phnom
Yat, including big and small stupas and Asroms or hermitages,
places for meditation. At the foot of Phnom Yat is another pagoda, Wat Rattanak Sopoan.
On the walls of the enclosure surrounding the pagoda is a bas-relief
depicting the Hindu saga of the churning of the Ocean of Milk. This
saga is summarised on our Angkor page.
After the liberation of Cambodia in 1979, Pailin remained a
stronghold of the Khmer Rouge under Brother Number Three, Ieng Sary.
Heavy fighting took place in the area between government troops and
Khmers Rouges. The close proximity to the Thai border allowed the Khmer
Rouge to trade with and receive supplies from Thailand, which enabled
them to continue their insurgency. In late 1996, after animosity with
the Khmer Rouge leadership in Anlong Veng, Ieng Sary, defected to the
Royal government and in return he was allowed to continue to run Pailin
as a semi-autonomous province. Pailin was then detached from Batambang
province and became a Krong or municipality. It has kept its own
police force and militia from the Khmer Rouge days, though now the
uniforms are government issue.
Near the border crossing with Thailand are some casinos which have
mainly Thai clientele who come to Cambodia to gamble as gambling is
illegal in Thailand.
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