Kratie provincial officials have chosen two areas of the province to develop for tourism, officials said. The sites, located in Snuol and Sambor districts, are rich in forest and wildlife, Kratie Governor Loy Sophat said.
“Eco-tourists,” nature-loving travelers, will hopefully come to see the sites’ unspoiled beauty and especially the rare Irrawaddy dolphins that live in the Mekong River there, he said.
The areas were chosen because Cambodians regularly visit them during vacations and festivals, especially Khmer New Year and Pchum Ben, the Buddhist festival of the dead.
But they are not friendly to high-end and foreign tourists, with minimal facilities and little tourist-targeted commerce, officials said. The Kratie sites are part of a nationwide program, under which the Ministry of Tourism has asked each provincial government to designate at least one site for tourism and provide services for local and foreign tourists, said Ministry of Tourism Secretary of State Thong Khon. In each site, road access must be suitable and security must be guaranteed, he said. The ministry expects all the provinces to have prepared their tourist sites in two to three years.
