Sihanoukville Roads and Streets

• Ekareach Street: The main street of the town. It runs from near the port through the town center to Golden Lions roundabout near the Ochheuteal Beach.

• NR4: Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville are connected by the National Road 4. The road has been built especially for the transport of merchandise between the capital and the port by heavy trucks and containers. It has three toll stations along. However, it is considered the most dangerous road of Cambodia due to several traffic accidents and little control by authorities.

• NR3: It connects Sihanoukville with Kampot province. The road joins the NR4 at Prey Nob district. It is paved and in a relatively good condition, but poor in traffic signs. Cambodia has not control over cattle and it walks freely over the roads.

• NR48: It connects Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh with Koh Kong Province, at the southwest of Cambodia. The road joins also the Thai-Cambodian border. There used to be several ferry crossings over the rivers along the route but nowadays they have been replaced by bridges.

Streets in Sihanoukville downtown are mostly in a good condition. However, the traffic in the city does not follow rules and the enforcement of international norms is poor. Cambodia follows the right-hand traffic. There is an over abundance of motorbikes due to the lack of bus urban transportation and taxis. The city is considered unsafe for driving: drivers of motorbikes do not use helmets, use any lane of the street, most of them do not use mirrors and it is used to see motorbikes with more than two passengers or drive by children and underage persons. In 2008 the government ordered the enforcement of the use of helmets wide the country, but the norm is not yet followed.

The city does not have public transportation system. Therefore, there is an informal urban transportation in motor-taxis (moto-dups) and tuk-tuks. That urban system of transportation has no control from authorities, and anybody can become a motor-taxi or tuk-tuk driver in Sihanoukville. As a consequence, there is no control in the prices for services. Foreign visitors are recommended to confirm prices before using any of those services and ask advice from tourist agencies and hotels.

Sihanoukville Economy

The economy of Sihanoukville is based primarily in its port for import and exports to the national economy. It has also an oil container port and cargo facilities.

Other activities in the economy of the province include fishing, aquaculture, agriculture, mining, oil, factories (frozen shrimp processing, garment and Angkor Beer), real estate and tourism.

In the last years the increasing of tourism has improved the construction of hotels and tourism infrastructures in the province. Foreign and national investment has been proven by the presence of newcomers to the city.

Location Shihanoukville

Sihanoukville is located in the south of Cambodia. It is 230 kilometres (143 mi) southwest of Phnom Penh in a small Peninsula and Bahia. Beaches are the main feature that attracts national and foreign visitors. A small archipelago is embedded by the Sihanoukville Bahia off its south and west coast. The commercial and international port is located at the north west. The limits of its territory: North and West Koh Kong province, East Kampot province and south Gulf of Thailand.

Beaches that line the west contour of the city from north to south are Victory Beach, Lamherkay Beach, Koh Pos Beach, Independence Beach, Sokha Beach, Serendipity Beach, Ochheuteal Beach and Otres Beach. The most popular beaches are Ochheuteal, Sokha, Independence and Victory. Tourists can take water taxis to the nearby islands for diving, snorkeling, and game fishing.

The peninsula is separated from the central plains of Cambodia by the Damrei Mountains, especially the Bouk Kou. The city is also besides the Ream National Park (210 km2) and it includes the islands of Koh Thmei and Koh Sei.[12]

Being a rather small province, Sihanoukville has two main urban centers: the Sihanoukville city itself and the Prey Nob District, 46 kilometers from Sihanoukville downtown to the north. The city is connected to Phnom Penh by National Road No. 4; to Kampot Province by NR 3 and to Koh Kong Province by NR 48.

Town centre
The town centre is located between surrounding hills roughly in the centre of the peninsula. It contains the banks, the market and other businesses. The post office and the bus station are located some distance towards the port.

Sihanoukville - Kampong Som - Cambodia

Sihanoukville (Khmer:Krong Preah Sihanouk), also known as Kampong Saom, is a province (khaet) of Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand. This port city is a growing Cambodian urban center, located 185 kilometres (115 mi) southwest of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. The province is named after King Father Norodom Sihanouk and grew up around the construction of Sihanoukville Port. Construction on the port began in June 1955 and it was the only deep water port in Cambodia. The port was built in part due to the waning power of the French leading to the Vietnamese tightening their control over the Mekong Delta and hence restricting river access to Cambodia. Sihanoukville's beaches have made it a popular tourist destination.

The province is served by Sihanoukville International Airport, 18 kilometres (11 mi) from downtown, although it has a limited commercial operation. The planned flights between Sihanoukville and Siem Reap may encourage visitors to Angkor temples in Siem Reap to extend their stay, though the crash of a charter flight in Phnom Damrey on 25 June 2007 from Siem Riep, has caused concerns. The flights are scheduled to start on December 14, 2011.

Sihanoukville attracts tourists with its relaxed beach atmosphere when compared to Thailand's more developed ones. However, the city has attracted not only tourists, but several NGOs and foreign and national investors in the last years in order to develop not only the growing tourist industry, but its capacity as an international sea port and other sectors like textile and real estate. In Sihanoukville is also located the main factory of Angkor Beer, the Cambodian national beer.

Sihanoukville was the place of the last official battle of the United States army in the Vietnam War, although the incident took place outside Vietnam. It is known as the Mayaguez incident on May 12–15, 1975 between the US forces and the Khmer Rouge. Currently, visitors dive in Koh Tang, one of the Sihanoukville islands where the major battle to free the SS Mayaguez took place. Divers can see two shipwrecks 40 metres (130 ft) down.

On 22 December 2008, King Norodom Sihamoni signed a Royal Decree that changed the municipalities of Kep, Pailin and Sihanoukville into provinces, as well as adjusting several provincial borders.