Battambang is a well-known Province in Cambodia where many great Khmer artists originated from in the past and present time. In the early 1900s, L’ Oknha Suttantaprija Ind who was a great poet came from Battambang. In the more recent time, there are countless artists who came from the province and excelled in Khmer entertainment world. Just to name a few: Houe Lavy, Chhorm Chorvin, Tep Rindaro, Khiev Samphet, Heng Bunleap, Doung Zorida, Chhin Seriya, Sen Ranuth, etc. came from Battambang. Now, we can add another great artist to the list – Pen Chamrong. Though he has not been on the field for many years compared to other artists on the list, Pen Chamrong is a familiar name when you talk about Khmer entertainment. Handsome, polite, talented and articulated are some of the words you can use to describe him. Only within a few years, he went from being just a helper behind the stage to a great actor. Yet, he has more potentials as both a great actor and singer. For that reason and many requests from his fans, Angkorthom.US has interviewed him and added his profile for our community.
Pen Chamrong was born in Poy Samrong Village, Thmor Kole, Battambang in 1982. His father’s name is Pen Sarouen and his mother’s name is E Samith. Both parents were farmers and they still live in Thmor Kole, Battambang today. Their current living conditions are way better off than other farmers in the village. Pen Chamrong is the youngest child among other two brothers and a sister. When he was young, he went to study at Poy Samroung Elementary school, Ta Moun Middle School and then Thmor Kole College where he started his involvement in performing arts. He then studied at the National School of Management in Phnom Penh and graduated with a Bachelor degree in Marketing. Though his family was not very poor, Pen Chamrong was not anything different from other kids in the village when he was young. He would help his parents working in the fields, fishing and selling vegetables to help out his parents after school as much as he could. His mother said very highly about Pen Chanrong that he was very polite and obedient and that she did not have to have any difficult time disciplining him. His father said Pen Chamrong was into entertainment since he was very young. He would sing and tell stories to make money from people in the village. Even his older brothers talked very highly of him. They said he was always the leader in every communication setting, especially when it comes to flirting a girl. They would let him pave the way as he is the most handsome among them. Pen Chamrong got a nick name Barang – a nick name given to kids who are tall and handsome looking like an American or a European.
His performing art involvement initially started when he was at Thmor Kole College where one of his Selabak teachers – Mr. Cheam Cheang selected him to play in Tom Teav Lakon to raise funds for his school. Mr. Cheam Cheang selected Pen Chamrong to play the King character as he saw his talents, handsome appearance and character. He then continued to coach him in both how to act and how to succeed in life. Pen Chamrong got a lot of compliment from Mr. Cheam Cheang that he was a quick learner. When he graduated from Thmor Kele College, he left his hometown for Phnom Penh to study Marketing at the National School of Management in 2002. While he was in school, he had to work part time to feed himself and to pay for school. Because he had some performing art backgrounds, he always tried to find a job in Khmer entertainment field. He tried to take part in many signing contests but he never passed the contest once. However, he never gave up and he always thought to himself that if someone could do it, he would one day be able to do it too. When K.H. Promotion had their singing contest, Pen Chamrong joined but he did not pass the contest either. Instead of giving it up like everyone else, he went to ask Mr. Kim Heng, the owner of the Production to allow him to sing again. That was when Mr. Kim Heng began to know him. With some hesitations, Mr. Kim Heng allowed him to sing but he still failed anyway.
While Pen Chamrong was leaving the studio, he ran into Mr. Kim Heng on the stairs and Mr. Kim Heng told him that if he was interested in working for him, he could come and work for him helping his crews behind the stage or wherever they went to record videos or make movies. He was very excited to take the offer though it was not an acting job he was looking for. So during weekends, he would go out with K.H. Promotion crews and helped out. In the mean time, he tried to observe how stars acted. This went on for several months. One day Mr. Kim Heng told him to bring a couple good clothes with him the next day and try to take a supporting role in a Karaoke song. That was when he first acted in a song in his life. Mr. Kim Heng liked his acting. So he was allowed to act for more songs. He continued to take part in Karaoke song video taping until one day when Mr. Kim Heng told him to try out to play a main character with Yuk Thiratha for a song called I Miss You Like Crazy.
That was his first song he acted as the main character. He said he was so nervous when he held Yuk Thiratha’s hand the first time in the video. From that point on, he gained his confidence and was able to act very well. Then, he was selected to play in a big scale movie called Choa Pus Keng Kong which was a big hit movie. He played a character of Neay Korn with Meng Kong Khea who played as Neang Saiya. Then, he played in other movies like ViNhean, Sneiha Pith, Ploueng Sne Yuvivay, Chumras Bochhi Chas and recently Machakta. Each movie added to his portfolio made him a better actor each time. More Karaoke production companies hired him to work for them afterward. In addition to acting, he is also a great host. He was a host for KH Promotion for several years and then for CTN for a period of time. While he is not known as a great singer, Pen Chamrong can sing well enough to entertain his audience. In part of his interview, he said he has been working hard on his singing skills as well.
In 2006, he was invited to perform in France with other singers. It was his first time touring outside the country, and it gave him more perspectives for him to live on as an actor and prepared him for visiting other counties. Pen Chamrong is a great actor and entertainer. He is known to be very fun to be around and skillful at talking. Of course, he is one of a few most Khmer handsome actors in Cambodia today. Many female fans go crazy about him and want to see him in person. Pen Chamrong has a great personality and he is very friendly. In part of his interview, Pen Chamrong would like to send his best regards to all his fans in the world and hope that he would be able to come to USA to meet his fans in the future. Though it is still some time in the future, he has been contacted by a star sponsor in the USA for him to come and perform. We are sure that when he is here, he will have a lot to show and entertain his fans. Angkorthom.US is very happy to interview him and add his profile to our website. We would like to wish him the best of luck for his career endeavor.
When we talk about Rock Production, the names of Khan James and Nyda (Srey Khouch) will pop up in our mind. Rock Production is one of the Khmer Entertainment companies in Cambodia. Khan James is an outstanding male singer with a great voice for Rock Production. He is the most popular artist among other male singers. He has been with Rock Production since its birth. Before Khan James became a well-known male singer for Rock Production, he had gone through a rough road in his life. 
After knowing that Khan James got involved in stealing a watch, his father (Mr. Khan Jem) was very disappointed with him. With anger, he said to him that if he could not be a good son then he would disown him. He also added that he had never had such a trouble maker kid like him and he threatened to beat him up. Hearing that his father would beat him up, Khan James decided to run away from home. Without knowing where to go, Khan James left his family and be on his own. He did not provide any contact information to his family at all. For many years, his parents thought Khan James had died. 
Midada was born on 2/3/1981. His father’s name is Kim Sapoun - a Khmer traditional musician and Lakorn Basak actor. He passed away on 10/10/2007 at the age of 66. Please see the news article about his father’s death here. His mother is Ben San. She is now 69 years old. She lives with him today. Sapoun Midada has two brothers with no sister in the family. He is the youngest child. Both brothers are not in performing arts nor Khmer entertainment. They are working and live on their own with their families. Sapoun Midada was born in Kean Svay – Kandal Province. He went to study in Sam Roung Elementary school in Kean Svay. He then came to live in Phnom Penh and studied at Vath Kos and then Sisovath College. Because his father knew French very well, he learned French from his father since he was young. Because French was his favorite field and he already had a good base of it already, Sapoun Midada initially thought that he would pursue a career in French. So he then decided to continue to study French at a French cultural center in Phnom Penh.
Most of his fans know Sapoun Midada’s songs were mostly sad, emotional and slow songs typically describing a heart broken love story, his hometown or his parents. Those songs were originally written about his past unsuccessful love and most of his fans know that. When asked about his past love story, he was first hesitant but a few second later, he decided to tell the story that induced him to write all the songs. He defined the story as “shadow of the past.” When he was in Sisovath College, he had a loving relationship with a classmate named Lina. The relation went every well, and they both had built a lot of memories together. The fairy tale went on until one day when Lina decided to leave him and married someone else because he was poor. That terribly devastated him big time. He endured tremendous pains from his betraying love and nothing seemed to help him to release those pains but music. 
After we updated our article on November 12, 2008, different rumors about VJ Ano continued to spread. Though there were many news articles published by some reputable websites, there was no one news article that people could make sense. Some said VJ Ano was in Vietnam, Some said VJ Ano was in Kam Pong Thom, Some said VJ Ano was in Thailand. Some said VJ Ano had died and so on and so forth. The news about VJ Ano got more and more confusing and people speculated this and that without any reliable sources. 
The news came to Angkorthom.US community on November 4th, 2008 when one of our Admin Team members from Phnom Penh shared the rumor she heard at her college and then another Angkorthom.US Admin Team member from Australia said she also heard about it. People began to speculate and talk about the rumor. On November 5th, 2008, a news article was written by Seth Kim Sean of Khmer Sthapana & Sophan Maganize website. The article reported that they were told by people who knew VJ Ano and witnesses that they saw VJ Ano was viciously cut many times with a razor blade on her face and body by an escorted woman who was perceived to be a high ranking government official’s wife. The article also said from a reliable source VJ Ano was painfully cut approximately 83 times on the face and body and nobody dared to help her. Witnesses could only stand and watch. 
Handsome, gentle, humble and soft spoken, Chhouen Oudom is a great singer. Some people said he does not look like a singer or entertainer but a college professor or a doctor. That is because he is always dressed like an office professional or educator. Regardless of his look or what people say about him, Chhouen Oudom is a career singer. He has been recording and singing for many years now. At least at the moment, Chhouen Oudom does not consider himself anything else but a singer. So far he had played in two movies but has not been recorded for any new movie for the past several years. 
Just like other kids in the village, Chhoun Oudom went to study at Wat Kampong Threa Elementary School. He then went to study at Measar Preah Chan Middle School. After school each day, he always took his time and worked in the farm to help his parents. He did not have a chance to attend a High School. Because of his family’s financial problems, Chhouen Oudom had to quit school and went to Phnom Penh in hope to find work. At the time, even though he liked singing, he never thought one day he could be a professional singer, so his goal was to come to Phnom Penh just to find any job he could find. He stayed with one of his cousins in Phnom Penh. 
Not sure what has triggered this but in the last few days, Angkorthom website got hit with key word searches like "Preap Sovath got shot", "Preap sovath died", "Preap Sovath death", etc. A rumor might have caused this but it seems strange why this kind of rumor is spreading around at this time. I did search myself for the last few days and don't seem to get any information close to this....... 
At 18 years of age, Tiengmom Sotheavy is already very busy with her school and work schedules. For her education, she is now in her Bachelor program in English Literature at University of Panhasab, and she is also in another Bachelor program majoring in music at the Royal University of Fine Arts. Because English literature is her major at school, Tiengmom Sotheavy can read, write and speak English every well. During the interview Tiengmom Sotheavy spoke half in Khmer and English. In addition to taking two majors at two different schools, she is also taking piano lessons at home with Mr. Morm Punnaray who is a famous pianist in Cambodia as her instructor. 
