Escaping the Khmer Rouge: Cambodian overcomes deadly civil war to build new life

Since coming to the U.S. Feb. 1, 1985, Province resident Chau Hien has lived on both coasts and another city right in the middle. But those trips pale in comparison to the miraculous and death-defying journey from his native Cambodia.

For years, Chau described his likelihood to survive as “day-to-day.” The times he had to search for enough food to sustain his life were numerous. Jail, an escape, land mines and refugee camps were all part of the story.

“I’ve been very lucky,” is how he explains becoming a successful business owner in Seattle. And while there’s no doubt good fortune played a role more than once in his life, hard work and determination were also ever-present.

Chau was one of 11 children — eight brothers and two sisters — growing up in a village in the southern Cambodian province of Takeo. Chau, 64, is the second youngest of his siblings.

Most of his family moved to neighboring Vietnam from 1972 to 1979. While the civil war in that country was still taking place, Vietnam was still safer than Cambodia.

“Vietnam was a little better,” Chau says. “There were no ‘Killing Fields.’ We could grow some vegetables like potatoes and go into the mountains to get some yellow bamboo to eat.”

The Killing Fields were sites where the Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian Communist Party, left as many as 3 million civilians dead through starvation, torture, execution, medical experiments, untreated diseases, forced marches, forced labor and other violence. Cambodian journalist Dith Pran coined the term after his escape from the regime. His experiences and that of an American journalist were the basis for the 1984 film The Killing Fields.

But even Vietnam was not entirely safe as the Khmer Rouge invaded its southerly neighbor in 1977. The immediate response from the Vietnamese government was to move Cambodian refugees to other parts of the country. Eventually, Vietnam returned the favor by sending its troops into Cambodia and removing dictator Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge from power.

Time to run

Two older brothers remained in Cambodia and were killed. Chau and the rest of his family returned to Cambodia to start over at home. The Vietnamese, however, retained control of the country and the Khmer Rouge fighters remained active in isolated areas. At age 19, Chau’s choice was to become a soldier to fight the Khmer Rouge or attempt to leave his country.

He chose the latter.

In 1981, the route to a new life started with a trip to the Thai border. Chau outlines it as a “several hundred-mile walk” over the course of approximately nine days.

“Sometimes you had to walk at night because it was too dangerous during the day,” he explains. “You would have two or three people together as you went from village to village. You would also have to find food to eat. As you got closer, you had to be aware of land mines that the Khmer Rouge had planted.”

Chau reached the border but was captured by Thai soldiers and spent two nights in jail. The next stop was a so-called Freedom Camp, where the “choice” was once again to become a soldier.

After about a week and a half there, Chau and several others escaped. The leader of the group, however, hit a land mine and lost his leg. Khmer Rouge soldiers in the area heard the explosion, prompting Chau and two others to “lay on the ground, whining and crying,” playing as if they had been injured and left to die.

The trio was forced to carry their friend to a clinic. Chau terms that a “really scary” time with the menacing Khmer Rouge soldiers all dressed in black.

Chau, however, was eventually able to navigate his way back across the border to Cambodia and return to his family.

“At that time, I said I’m not going to try to go anymore,” he said.

Last resort

It wasn’t until an older man in his village told him, “You can’t stay here,” when he decided to try one last time.

This time, he spent three weeks in the Freedom Camp along the Thailand-Cambodia border before reaching the Khao-I-Dang Holding Center, a Cambodian refugee camp set up by the Thai Interior Ministry and the United Nations located 20 kilometers north of the border.

“It was very hard there,” Chau recalls. “Some had families in the U.S., Canada or Australia who could send money to help them, but I didn’t. I lived day-to-day.”

Chau didn’t have even the meager amount of money required to attend education classes, so he would hide behind some palm trees and listen to the teacher. This was how he started to learn English.

Chau married in 1983 and applied to the embassy a year later as he says the U.S. was accepting a lot of refugees at that time. After several interviews to help ensure he was not a soldier, he and his then-pregnant wife were able to immigrate in 1985.

Building a business, life

It was time for a new life — but with an old set of struggles. Finding work and making money to take care of his family were top priorities.

“My sponsor would tell me that in this country you have to go to school and work hard,” he reveals. While visiting a government assistance office and not being able to understand his name being called, “I realized I had to go to school.”

This part of the journey began in Seattle. Soon there was a cross-country move to Boston where a friend lived. There was a three-month stint in Wichita, Kan., working in a factory cutting meat, but he says he couldn’t cope with the cold inside the facility.

In Boston from 1987 to 1991, Chau met a woman, Barbara Thomas, who he says changed his life. While taking classes at a community college at night, he worked for her as a painter.

“She really loved my family. She taught me how to approach people, to look them in their face so they see you,” he says. “In my culture, out of respect, you would look down.”

Chau eventually returned to Seattle in 1992, where he worked for a painting company before buying a house in 1995 and starting his own business with a friend two years later.-

“I worked hard, seven days a week. In this country, if you are honest, loyal and work hard…and do what you say, people are happy,” he states. He completed a lot of painting jobs in Microsoft-dominated areas of Redmond and Bellevue, Wash.

The painting business was a success for nearly 20 years. Chau also owned several properties and flipped some houses to earn additional money.

Chau returned to Cambodia on a near annual basis before his mother died in 2008. He has made several trips home since, including earlier this year, and continues to support his siblings as best he can.

Trips in 2018 to Tucson and the Grand Canyon piqued his interest in the Southwest. He moved to Maricopa in May 2023.

“I love it here,” he says. “It’s very quiet and the people are so friendly.”

That’s just what Chau, one of 1,689 Asian-Americans who call Maricopa home, is looking for after a long and eventful journey.

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