Don Bosco Technical School Sihanoukville

The newest Cambodian city

Sihanoukville is the newest Cambodian city. Actually, it was not intended as a city, but as a sea port under the entrepreneurship of then Prince Norodom Sihanouk who was looking to open Cambodia to international trade after the independence from France. The well cared National Road 4 that links the port with Phnom Penh, was supported by France and United States and it is today one of the main Cambodian routes of the national economy.

Ports attract foreign sailors and sailors do recommend places, especially if those places have stunning beaches, green hills and numberless islands. The troublesome era between 1970 and 1997 would keep Sihanoukville out of development. More as a military strategic point for the long Indochina wars, it was a hidden paradise to be rediscovered by the international community after 1999.

Khmer Rouge was active as far as 2000 and foreigners were rather afraid to spent a night in the port. But the Cambodian opening to international markets would rely, of course, in its only deep sea port.

The city is just halfway between the Thai and Vietnamese costs. It makes the place a real international spot. The project to build a Thai - Cambodian - Vietnamese road along the cost would put Sihanoukville not just in the sea rout of the Gulf of Thailand, but also at the middle of an international halfway between thriving metropolis like Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City.

The expected Sihanoukville Airport is also a key for its coming development. Waiting for the signature of commercial agreements, the city will serve as an air international gate for the Kingdom.