King Duang—Udong, Cambodia. - Statues of Historic Figures on Waymarking.com

King Duang (various spellings exist), (1796-1860), ruled Cambodia from 1848 to his death in 1860. He was the last king to rule Cambodia from the town of Udong, which is located approximately forty kilometres to the north of the modern capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh.

From what I can gather of his life, he was a moderately competent king, caught, however, between the expansionist Thai on one hand, and the hegemonic Vietnamese on the other, with Cambodia and himself in the middle. Towards the end of his reign he also had to face an emerging French colonial interest in his country.

The future king spent a sizeable part of his early life as a captive/hostage/guest in Bangkok (he was half Thai, his mother being a Thai concubine), before being placed on the throne of Cambodia with the support of the king of Thailand. He reign is noted for a measure of independence from both Vietnamese and Thai control, and for being one of the popular kings in recent Cambodian history. The king was also a supporter of Khmer literature, having written two novels. There was also something of a resurgence in Cambodian culture during his reign.

His descendants continued to rule Cambodia after his death (apart from the period 1955-1993), however, after his death the French greatly increased their influence and control of the country. He is the great, great, great grandfather of the current king of Cambodia, King Norodom Sihamoni.

This statue was a surprise find. It is on national highway 5, which runs from Phnom Penh past the town of Udong (the former capital), near the turn off to Udong, and adjacent to a service station. Easily seen from the road. It is clearly not new, but also clearly not ancient.

The information provided here comes largely from David Chandler's "History of Cambodia".

URL of the statue: Not listed

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