Botum Sakor National Park

Occupying almost the entirety of the 35km-wide peninsula northwest across the Gulf of Kompong Som from Sihanoukville, this 1834-sq-km national park, encircled by mangroves and beaches, is home to a profusion of wildlife, including elephants, deer, leopards and sun bears.

Alas, Botum Sakor appears to be a national park in name only. A US$3.5 billion Chinese-run tourism project is developing the western third of the park into seven resort-cities. Launched in 2010, the project will take 25 years to complete, but hundreds of local families have already been evicted from the area, a four-lane highway has been laid through the heart of the park, and a golf course is already up and running.The new highway, which begins 6km west of Andoung Tuek, also provides access to the Koh Sdach Archipelago.

Meanwhile, Cambodian businessman Ly Yong Phat has been granted a concession to develop a large central swath of the park.

That leaves the eastern third of the peninsula as the only viable area to visit. Boats can be hired in Andoung Tuek to take you up into four mangrove-lined streams that are rich with wildlife, including the pileated gibbon, long-tailed macaque and black-shanked douc langur. The streams are Ta Op, the largest, on the east coast; Ta Nun in the middle of the south coast; and Ta Nhi and Preak Khsach on the east coast.

At the park headquarters, 3.5km west of Andoung Tuek, you can arrange a hike with a ranger (US$5 a day) or a boat excursion out of Andoung Tuek.

Trail bikers and intrepid moto riders can bypass the newer highway and take the rugged road around the park’s east coast via the scenic fishing village of Thmor Sor, which is largely built on stilts over the alluvial bay, stretching almost 1km out to sea.

Ref: https://www.lonelyplanet.com/cambodia/botum-sakor-national-park

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