Prime Minister Hun Sen and his wife Bun Rany on April 13 visited the site of the statues of Preah Thong and Neang Neak – the legendary co-founders of the Funan Kingdom – in Bit Trang commune’s Koki village of Preah Sihanouk province’s Prey Nop district.

According to the provincial administration, the Preah Thong and Neang Neak statues are the third to have been erected in the coastal province after those of Preah Uma-Mahesor at the Preah Uma-Mahesor roundabout in Thmor Thom village of the same district’s Ream commune and the three-faced Siha Reach in front of Angkor Brewery in Sihanoukville’s Commune I.

The statue is already becoming a popular tourist attraction and prime spot for snapping selfies for both the domestic and international tourists who come to visit Preah Sihanouk.

Preah Thong and Neang Neak’s statues are the largest copper statues in the Kingdom. They are made entirely of copper and weigh a total of 60 tonnes. The statues are 21m high from the legendary king’s foundation to the crown and are placed on a throne that is 6.34m high.

The statues are installed in the centre of the Preah Thong-Neang Neak traffic roundabout, which has a diameter of 99m and faces the Ream Beach, the location in the legendary tale of the king Preah Thong who married a naga princess Neang Neak and met her parents at the bottom of the sea there. It is symbolic of the birth of Cambodia’s civilisation, culture and traditions.