via Khmer Times, 19 July 2022: Feature on Cambodian archaeologist Thuy Chanthuon.
To pursue his studies, Chanthuon had to wait till the Khmer Rouge regime was thrown out in 1979. After finishing the higher secondary school education, he joined Royal University of Phnom Penh in 1993, where he took a course in fine arts.
Chanthuon said, “It was there that I fell in love with archeology, forever.” He went to live in a pagoda near the Faculty of Archeology and chose it as a place to study and live.
He said: “I got the opportunity to meet several famous professors there from 1993 to 1996. I excelled in my studies and did an internship at Angkor Wat temple, Ta Prohm temple and archaeological excavations. It was the time when Japan started helping Cambodia in the conservation of temples in Angkor resort area in Siem Reap.”
Chanthuon had won 15-time outstanding students awards and scholarships between 1997 and 2013. He was invited by a German professor of archeology to Germany to give a presentation and learn more about archeological techniques.
