Hun Sen - Early Life

Early Life

Hun Sen was born in Kompong Cham, which is located in Cambodia, Cambodia and was the third child of six children to a peasant family. His father, Hun Neang was a resident monk in a local Wat in Kampong Cham province before disrobing to join the French resistance and married his mother, Dee Yon in the 1940s. Hun Neang's paternal grandparents were wealthy landowners of Teochew Chinese heritage. Hun Neang inherited some of his family assets and led a relatively comfortable life, as they owned several hectares of land until a kidnapping incident forced their family to sell off much of their assets. Hun Sen left his family at the age of 13 to attend a monastic school in Phnom Penh. When Lon Nol usurped power from Sihanouk in 1970 during a bloodless coup, Hun Nal gave up his education to join the Khmer Rouge. Two years later, Hun Nal changed his name to Hun Sen. In 1974, Hun Sen met his future wife Bun Rany. He was wounded in the left eye, which was later removed, in 1975 on the day before the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh. The following year, Hun Sen married Bun Rany.