O Smach
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O Smach អូរស្មាច់ |
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|---|---|
| City | |
 O Smach
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| Coordinates: 14°24′36″N 103°41′39″E / 14.41000°N 103.69417°E | |
| Country |
 Cambodia
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| Province | Oddar Meanchey Province |
| District | Samraong District |
| Government | |
| • Type | City |
| Time zone | Cambodia (UTC+7) |
O Smach (also O'Smach or Ou Smach, Khmer: អូរស្មាច់) is a small Cambodian town on the Thai border in the Samraong District of Oddar Meanchey Province. Until 1999, there were intermittent battles and the area was unsafe as the last remaining Khmer Rouge still had control of nearby Anlong Veng. In 2003 an international border crossing was opened between O Smach and the adjacent town of Chong Chom in Thailand's Surin Province. There has since opened a strip of casinos between the Cambodian and Thai passport control counters, enabling Thais to gamble in Cambodia without needing to go through Cambodian immigration. Gambling is illegal in Thailand and gambling in Cambodia is legal only for foreign passport holders. O Smach is located at the northern terminus of Road 68 which turns north off National Highway 6 at Kravanh in Siem Reap Province.
Most of Cambodia's northern border with Thailand is formed by the escarpment of the Dangrek mountain range. A natural pass cuts through the mountains between O Smach and Chong Chom. This pass has been used since ancient times to travel between the plains of lower Cambodia and the Khorat Plateau. Beginning with the Cambodian Civil War and lasting until the surrender of the last remaining Khmer Rouge who had taken refuge in Anlong Veng, the Khmer Rouge controlled the area and generated income by illegally trading Cambodian timber across the border in Thailand. After the final surrender of the Khmer Rouge in 1999, the region surrounding the O Smach pass once again became stable and safe for travelers and, in 2003, the Cambodian and Thai governments opened an international border crossing. The border crossing suffered intermittent closures again between 2008 and 2011 during the Cambodian–Thai border dispute.
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