Phnom Penh Post - 50K copies of new Hun Sen biography to be distributed free of charge

Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced the publication of his new biography, titled "Samdech Techo Hun Sen: Man of Cambodia's Destiny", with some copies to be distributed to the public free of charge.

The premier said the book would reveal information that had not previously been known to the public.

"Keo Ba Phnom – Minister Delegate attached to the Prime Minister and chairman of the ruling Cambodian People's Party's [CPP] historical research committee – has written the 601-page book, which reveals about 70 to 80 per cent of my secrets that most people did not know, and which I think are important to disclose now," he said.

"I am printing 50,000 copies and arranging for an English translation for our foreign friends as well," he said.

Ba Phnom told The Post on September 15 that they will be releasing the book to distribute to the public free of charge.

"The principle wish of [Hun Sen] is that it be free and he will distribute it to schools and those who want to read it and want to know the history. It will take a long time to print because of the large number. Now the printing team is preparing to do this work," he said.

Pov Sok, member of the board of directors of the Khmer Writers' Association, said the publication of this new book, which purportedly has the most complete biography of the prime minister written to date, is a very good thing because the history has mostly been buried for the years between 1970 and 1979, and up until 1990 Cambodia has very few historical documents that exist.

"Keo Baphnom highlighted that this book is an important document that Cambodia's younger generations should read to understand the political turning points and the political storm that rained down on Cambodia from 1970 and really up to 1998, when Cambodia found genuine peace. This will help them know what happened and when we read it everyone will have their own interpretations or ideas," he said.