Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum Tours and Activities

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
Choose two or more items and save on your trip:
This former prison outside Phnom Penh brings to light the brutality of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge and honors the 17,000 people who lost their lives here.

Walk through Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum for a sobering reminder of the horrors that humanity is capable of committing. Although a visit here will leave you decidedly depressed, it is an important monument to the lives lost during the barbaric Khmer Rouge regime. 

To appreciate the site, review Cambodia’s 20th-century history. In 1975, the forces of the socialist dictator Pol Pot occupied Tuol Svay Prey High School. They turned it into Security Prison 21, known as S-21, the most fearsome detention centre in the country. Between 1975 and 1978, the Khmer Rouge tortured and killed over 17,000 people here. Bodies of these innocent men, women and children lie in the nearby Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre (Killing Field).

Today S-21 is a museum where these horrors are exposed and the lives lost are memorialized. The Khmer Rouge kept meticulous records of their brutality. Most prisoners were photographed, often before and after they were tortured. The museum displays these haunting photos, more horrifying for the knowledge that nearly all of these prisoners were later killed. At the height of its atrocities, Khmer Rouge in S-21 killed about 100 victims per day. 

When Vietnamese forces liberated Phnom Penh in 1979, only seven S-21 prisoners remained alive. All of them had bartered their lives so the Khmer Rouge could take advantage of their skills, such as painting and photography. 

Hire a guide to walk you through the exhibits and share the stories of the prisoners photographed. Slide presentations take place several times throughout the week. If possible, catch the morning or afternoon screening of Bophana. This documentary tells the true story of a local woman who falls in love with a local Khmer Rouge leader. The two are forced to pay for their crimes by imprisonment at S-21. This powerful film allows visitors to further understand the horrors that took place at the prison.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is open daily. Expect to pay a small admission fee, with a tour guide costing an additional fee.

Reviews of Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

4.2
Top destination
5 - Excellent
14
" "5 - Excellent 40%
4 - Good
16
" "4 - Good 45.714285714285715%
3 - Okay
4
" "3 - Okay 11.428571428571429%
2 - Disappointing
0
" "2 - Disappointing 0%
1 - Terrible
1
" "1 - Terrible 2.857142857142857%

5/5 - Excellent

Verified traveller
17 Feb 2020

Get the audio tour! Professionally curated and very informative about this harrowing period of Cambodian history.

1/5 - Terrible

Verified traveller
1 Jan 2020

How do you rate something so brutal, the museum was raw as it should be, terrible atrocities occurred there and you feel for all the people throughout Cambodia that went through that hell. A must see for sure but expect to be disappointed by how cruel war and people can be and inspired by the few who survived and their families who have had to endure.

4/5 - Good

Verified traveller
1 Mar 2019

Pleasing is not the right word here. It was a tragic insight into Cambodian history but a place you must visit.

Popular places to visit


Top Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum Hotel & Accommodation Deals

Relax Hotel
Relax Hotel
3.5 out of 5
No. 81, Oknha Nou Kan (St. 105), Boeng kengkang III, Chamkamon, Phnom Penh
Relax Hotel
G Mekong Hotel Phnom Penh
G Mekong Hotel Phnom Penh
4 out of 5
419, Monivong Blvd, Khan 7 Makara (Orussey Market Area), Phnom Penh
G Mekong Hotel Phnom Penh
Plantation Urban Resort & Spa
Plantation Urban Resort & Spa
4 out of 5
#28, Street 184, Phnom Penh
Plantation Urban Resort & Spa
Phnom Penh 51 Hotel
Phnom Penh 51 Hotel
4 out of 5
No. 17, Rue Pasteur (51), Sangkat Chaktomuk, Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh 51 Hotel
Baitong Hotel & Resort
Baitong Hotel & Resort
4 out of 5
#210 Street 282, BKK1, Phnom Penh
Baitong Hotel & Resort
Orussey One Hotel & Apartment
Orussey One Hotel & Apartment
3.5 out of 5
No 14, St 111, Corner 198, Sangkat Boeung Prolit, Khan 7Makara, Phnom Penh
Orussey One Hotel & Apartment
Lowest nightly price found within the past 24 hours based on a 1 night stay for 2 adults. Prices and availability subject to change. Additional terms may apply.