Siem Reap: Cambodia's gateway town

Siem Reap is usually a tranquil place

Siem Reap is far from a typical Cambodian town.

Just minutes from the country's most famous tourist attraction, the historic temple complex at Angkor, few visitors to Cambodia can avoid spending time in the town.

Foreigners visit the town in their thousands - and many others live there permanently, earning their income from the plethora of hotels and restaurants which have sprung up recently, as well as an increasing number of NGOs.

Karl Balch, a British volunteer consulate warden, is a member of the town's fast-growing expatriate community.

His son goes to the Siem Reap International School, where the 70 students come from as far afield as Australia, Japan, Ireland and Singapore. "Siem Reap is the safest place I think I've ever been," Mr Balch told the BBC. "I've been here six years and I've had no problems at all."

But all that changed on Thursday, when gunmen broke into his son's school.

About 30 children and staff were held hostage for seven hours, while the gunmen demanded money, vehicles and arms.

The siege is now over, but one three-year-old Canadian child and two of the gunmen were killed in a shoot-out with police.

Tourist boom

Initially the hostage-takers were thought to be members of a militant group, although incidents of terrorism are extremely rare in Cambodia.

Diplomatic sources now believe the incident was a robbery which went wrong, leading the gunmen to take hostages and ask for ransom money - a not uncommon crime in Cambodia.

The Angkor complex has some of the world's finest ancient buildings

"It started off with a truck and $1,000, and then they worked up to a truck, six weapons and $30,000," Mr Balch said.

But whatever the reason for the siege, it will undoubtedly shock the local community.

Sor Pagna, a 27-year-old local resident, said parents were especially traumatised.

"I was planning to send my own three-year-old son to the school this month but am now glad that I didn't do so, although I still plan to send him there in the future.

"Locals here want their children to attend a school where English is taught. It is also the only kindergarten school in the area teaching children aged between two and six," he said.

The incident will also prompt concerns that the all-important tourist industry could be affected.

Tourism has been increasing exponentially in Siem Reap in the last decade, bringing much needed revenue to this otherwise poverty-stricken country.

According to the Siem Reap Tourism Office, there were only 565 visitors to the town in 1985. In 2004 there were more than 560,400.

The highway from Siem Reap to the Angkor temples is one of the only roads in Cambodia which does not have potholes, and the number of visitors is so large that the town even has its own international airport.

"There are lots of foreigners that live here as well, running hotels and restaurants," said Ly Sarith, a spokesman for Siem Reap tourism office.

According to the latest figures, there are 72 hotels in the town and 150 guesthouses - all catering to the huge numbers of visitors to Angkor Wat and the many other temples that make up the Angkor complex.

"And we also have a lot of NGOs, from Japan, Germany, Italy, the US and other countries," Mr Ly said.

Many are concerned with the conservation of the nearby temples, including a large Indian team which is restoring Angkor Wat itself.

Other organisations, such as the Halo Trust, are helping to clear the local area of mines. About 4,200 people have been killed by landmines in Cambodia since 2000.

Siem Reap is one of the few prosperous places in the country, and the last thing it - and Cambodia as a whole - needs is for an incident like Thursday's siege to happen again.