ABOUT ME

My name is Sophorn (Sophorn NGIN) and I am a licensed & professional, friendly and fully qualified English-speaking tour guide with a great sense of humour. I can offer private, customized tours or a package tour around Siem Reap and the surrounding areas. Perhaps you have specific requirements or would like me to put together a personalised private tour just for you, please just ask. My charges are both very affordable and fair and I can assure you all my sightseeing tours are private and unique and personalised to ensure your experience and visits to and about the ancient temples, art and the culture and traditions of Cambodia are exceeding your expectations.

I have lived in Siem Reap for more than ten years and I know the area of the wonderful World Heritage Site of Angkor National Park. I am very proud of my Cambodian culture and I would love to share my knowledge with you. As I like to share experiences, I would also like to know about the culture of your country. It would be great and improve my knowledge if you were happy to share information with me also.

Cambodia, sharing its borders with Thailand, Laos and Vietnam lies at the heart of the region once called “Indo-China”. Angkor literally means “Capital City” or “Holy City”. Angkor Wat is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world. It was originally constructed as a Hindu temple of god Vishnu for the Khmer Empire, gradually transforming into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the 12th century. Angkor Wat has become a symbol of Cambodia appearing on its national flag that is decorated with Angkor Wat temple and has three colours: “white, dark blue, red”. This temple is at the top of high classical style of Khmer architecture.

I am the youngest of six children and come from a poor farming family who live 4 hours from Siem Reap. In 1975 – 1979, Khmer Rouge gained land and power, and they forced the entire population of all cities in Cambodia to evacuate to the countryside where they were placed in slave labour and forced to do physical work over 12 hours a day, no time for break until they dropped from exhaustion. My family was one of many who suffered at the hands of the Pol Pot regime. Sadly, I lost two family members, my aunty disappeared and my uncle was beaten to death by Pol Pot’s soldiers during the Khmer Rouge. My aunty was escaped from the killing field and ran up to the Thailand border. She was hind inside the hay for many days without food and trying to go in Thailand. Thanks God, she went through and was adopted by lovely Thai family. In April 2018, it was a miracle to occur she returned to visit her family at hometown and took my father with her to Thailand to see where she lives. My father was extremely so happy to see all this happen. He always prays for her and he has emotional feeling that she’s still alive but his other siblings kept saying that she must death, otherwise she will return during the past 40 years. Aunty said she has been trying to return, but couldn’t due to she couldn’t speak Khmer clearly as well as she couldn’t remember her village very well.
My father was forced to live away from family and climb many palm tree each day to produce red sugar and my mother was forced to grow rice crops in the rice field under heat of sunlight each day while she was pregnant of my elder brother. My two elderly brothers also experienced collecting cow poo in order to have some meal for survival. They were daily exhausted from the starving and manual work but they must obey what Pol Pot said, otherwise they couldn’t save lives. Not only my family experienced this but also many others and there was over 2 million people death during that awful genocide. By impact of Khmer Rouge regime all my siblings lost their opportunity to complete their education, none of them finished high school.
Education is very important for everyone but not every child in Cambodia has an opportunity to go to school. As the youngest, I was the only one in my family who had the opportunity for an education. I have a Bachelor in Business Management and have completed my Diploma of Intensive English for Academic Purposes. I have also now completed and graduated from Tour Guide Certificate Course and the Minister of Tourism presented me with an Honours Certificate.

I have been working for NGOs in Siem Reap for almost 10 years and have had great experiences and speak very good English. I have gained experience in hospitality working in a hotel in a number of positions. I worked at an internet café assisting locals and tourists. I worked for an NGO as a computer teacher initially and was eventually promoted to the social outreach program as a social worker because of my empathy and commitment to helping people. I was also fortunate enough to be chosen as a youth ambassador to join a study trip to Timor-Leste which was an amazing experience.
I love and care for my people very much. My dream is to aid people in my community and country so that I can assist in breaking the poverty cycle. I am 35 years old and my life has been extremely busy with work and study.
I am now working two different wonderful jobs. I work as tour guide to promote the cultural side of Cambodia to the world and I work for a local organisation in Siem Reap. I also love this job very much and I am always very busy assisting poor children and their families.
Please contact me to arrange your tour and I will endeavour to make your stay in Siem Reap a pleasant and rewarding one.
I look forward to hearing from all of you soon.
Som Mean Somnang Laor, Som OrKun! (Good Luck and Thank You).

Best regards,
Mr. Sophorn NGIN