Grandfather Som, the Last Witness of the Times

Grandfather Som, the last witness of the times

Ta Som, 2002

Ta Som, "Grandfather Som", was 95 years old when I was lucky enough to speak with him. That happened in 2002. Shortly afterwards, I heard that he had passed away peacefully. Around 1930, he started working for the French, the ÉFEO. How did he get into this profession? Monsieur Marchal [Henri Marchal, Conservator 1916-1957, with interruptions] came to his village one day and asked him and others. How much did he earn? He laughs: "Ma ka" [Mui coin, Khmer-French], one coin, ten cents, one-tenth of a piaster per day; A rice farmer was earning about 40 piasters a year. Ta Som's wages rose after two years, and he ended up with 50 cents a day; then, he was happy. He worked first for Monsieur Trouvé [Georges Trouvé, Conservator 1933-35], then for various bosses whose names he forgot. Ta Som has worked in most temples in Angkor and many outside. He names Sambor Prei Kuk and Preah Vihear, later Bakong, Lolei, Angkor Wat and Prasat Kravan. In Preah Vihear, he renewed steps on the grand north staircase.

The central tower of the Bakong has been restored. It was just a bunch of stones. Every stone came back in its place, and everything came to order again.

In Angkor Wat, Ta Som was commissioned to dig up the central shaft with a colleague; that lasted 4 or 5 months and was 1930 or 1931.

He found a treasure of gold in the rubble. One of the pieces was big, about as big as his hand. (Imagine the hand of a workman.). He can't describe the piece, but he says he'll recognize it. [Trouvé registered 95 grams of gold.]

He also cleared the shaft under the central tower of the Bayon, where he found the fragments of the giant Buddha statue.

The statue is now in Vihear Prampil Loveng. Gold was found in almost every temple. Ta Som always delivered his finds; he was considered a confidant and honest man. It was his job to manage the equipment and materials. Many of his colleagues lost their jobs because they had embezzled funds.

They reconstructed Prasat Kravan, cleaned the old bricks and reused them.

Some jobs were in the jungle, where there were tigers and wild elephants. Ta Som was not afraid. Electric fences kept the beasts away, and the vehicle was secured by an electric fence too. They killed three tigers up in the mountains; they caught them in a trap they made from electric fences. His friend killed the tigers with a bamboo skewer. The men had a special tincture with which they made their skin insensitive.

Around 1940, the Thais invaded and built a border fence on Phnom Kulen; they did not occupy Angkor. They were here for 2 or 3 years, and then the Cambodians chased them back to Thailand. Japanese troops tried to capture the French-Cambodian army for a day. In 1945, the Japanese surrendered, then the Vietnamese attacked at least twice; they wanted to occupy and annex Cambodia. Ta Som and his colleagues cleaned the temples from bushes and trees, and they planted many avenue trees along the streets. The Khmer Rouge were more dangerous than the Vietnamese were. Ta Som was hiding in the forest at that time. Then the Vietnamese came, built shelters and felled trees. When a Vietnamese soldier tried to cut down a tree, Ta Som said to him, "We planted these trees, and you will not cut them down," and repelled him. The soldier pointed his rifle at him. Ta Som took it from him and knocked him to the ground. Then he returned the gun. The tree kept at its place. He has beaten Vietnamese three or four times, including at Prasat Kravan. The Khmers are good fighters. Ta Som was brave; he never avoided an encounter.

This conversation came about in 2002, thanks to the kind help of Tek-Sakana Savuth.