The Mysterious Ruom Ritt
Back in the ‘90’s in Phnom Penh, I used to earn extra money by translating Palace statements and other documents from French to English. Frequently, I was translating the words of Cambodia’s King Sihanouk.
King Sihanouk had one of those extraordinary - and tragic - 20th century lives, that can never possibly be replicated.
Chosen as a child by French colonial leaders to be a figurehead, his life is inextricably woven into Cambodia’s independence, the “Sideshow” period that saw Cambodia as collateral damage to the Vietnam War, the Khmer Rouge revolution, the years of civil war; and the UNTAC and Hun Sen eras. This is the best obituary of King Sihanouk, by my friend Kevin Barrington.
Translating all those Palace statements made me feel like I got to know King Sihanouk (who, by the way, abdicated the crown at one point and was for years “Prince” Sihanouk, til he later regained the crown, which he later abdicated again. A 20th century one-off.)
In the ‘90’s, the so-called figurehead king, who famously - and only purportedly - “reigned by did not rule,” genuinely was relevant to Cambodian politics. His opinion mattered — just not as much as he wanted it to.
Sihanouk was steadily being outmaneuvered by Prime Minister Hun Sen. The PM still had to kow-tow to the king to an extent - but Hun Sen knew he was winning the match.
So Sihanouik’s writing had a slight air of desperation: I’m the King, take me seriously. At the same time, his fatigue was evident. Reading between the lines, it was clear to me that this man, then in his 70’s, wanted to retire.
This brings us to Ruom Ritt.
Playing heed to this notion that the King was meant to be above politics, King Sihanouk invented a correspondence between himself and a childhood friend, Ruom Ritt, an ex-patriate Cambodian living in in the south of France.
Ruom Ritt would politely inquire about political goings-on in Cambodia, what the king thought of them, and what role the king thought the Palace should play.
It was bizarre to me even then. Summaries of these conversations between the King and Ruom Ritt were written in long-hand, in French, and faxed to news outlets, as part of the “BMD,” or le Bulletin Mensuel de Documentation (the Monthly Documentation Bulletin.)
It was plainly obvious that Ruom Ritt was King Sihanouk, and the “correspondence” was another ploy to make the King feel relevant to the political scene. This went on from the 1990’s until at least the early aughts.
Not surprisingly, in a lot of this “correspondence,” King Sihanouk took jabs at Hun Sen.
Eventually, Hun Sen got angry at Ruom Ritt. In 2003, he suggested that the King share his friend’s address.
King Sihanouk shot back, No – because he wouldn’t want his friend Ruom Ritt to be murdered like Haing Ngor.