Koh Rong is one of the most famous islands, which is also the second biggest one that is part of the Mittakpheap district in Sihanoukville Province of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Even though it is one of the biggest Cambodian islands, it is still undeveloped which makes it more attractive to the travelers who would like to discover something that is not ordinary, and in some ways secretly hidden.
As it once was a jungle-clad wilderness that was rimmed by swaths of sugary-white sand, with a few beach-hut resorts speckling the shore, nowadays, Koh Rong represents something what is a must visit for the travelers, especially the backpackers who are visiting the countries in South East Asia.
With an area of about 78 square km (30 square mi), the island has a coastline that is measured to be 61 km (38 mi) long, out of which around 43 km (27 mi) are delicate beaches, and the highest point is 316 meters (1,037 feet) that can be found to the northwestern side of Koh Rong.
With the uncertainty about the origin of the name, there are some locals who claim that the word Rong actually refers to a historical person’s name, while others think it might refer to an old term for ‘cave’ which in some way may meant to be the ‘shelter island’.
Nowadays, most of the island’s forest is slowly diminishing due to the illegal logging, however, most of the island is still covered with forest where in some parts it is with the dense and very lush jungle.
Unfortunately, the huge, old and slow growing hardwood trees have become a very rare sight, and the original varieties of the trees are becoming replaced by a more commercial ones, such as the coco and oil palms which are very common along the coast and the lowlands.
The locals living on the island are settled in the four villages, among which the most famous one is the Koh Tuich village since there are more tourist businesses in the village than residential homes.
The local population is slowly abandoning the traditional fishing and crop cultivation, as they are surely moving towards the tourism sector which has become more popular all around the island, offering different services to the visitors. In addition, plenty of reality TV programs have been filmed here, among which the most famous one is Survivor.
All in all, the plans that the Cambodian government has for the development of the island is somewhat tricky, as the investors would like to develop Koh Rong and make it an impressive paradise which would be regarded as the new diamond of South East Asia, not regarding the protection of the vulnerable nature which will need quite long time to adapt to the changes that have already been made.
