Norodom Chakrapong - Biography

Biography

Born October 21, 1945, in the Khemarin Palace, he was educated in France, at the staff education institute of the Yugoslavian Airforce and in other military academies. During the 1960s, he served as a pilot in the Cambodian airforce.

Prince Chakrapong started his career as a pilot in the Royal Cambodian Army, after having been trained by the French. After Lon Nol's coup d'État in March 1970, he was originally kept under house-arrest, then incarcerated in early 1973. In November 1973, he was allowed to go into exile in China along with Queen Sisowath Kossamak Nearirath. From the end of 1973 to 1975, he lived in exile in China, with his father whom he served as Chief of Protocol. After 1975, he relocated to France until the early 1980s, when he joined his father's resistance movement against the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia. Within Norodom Sihanouk's FUNCINPEC, he rose to the rank of deputy Chief of Staff of the Sihanoukist military, the Armee Nationale Sihanoukiste or ANS, and spent most of the eighties in refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border.

Following the Paris Peace Agreements in 1991 and the return of Norodom Sihanouk to Cambodia, Chakrapong left FUNCINPEC to become Deputy Prime Minister of the State of Cambodia and a member of Prime Minister Hun Sen's CPP central committee. He was responsible for establishing Kampuchea Airways, the national carrier at that time.

After the 1993 UN-sponsored general election, he led a secession movement with several CPP members to force a coalition government but had to flee to Vietnam after Hun Sen negotiated with FUNCINPEC. However, he claimed that the secession helped prevent the country from falling back into a civil war. He was later permitted to return to Cambodia. Subsequently, he was elevated to the rank of four star General in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. In 1994, he was bestowed the tile of "Sdech Krom Khun" (Great Prince) by King Sihanouk.

In July 1994, he was exiled again after having been accused of attempting a coup d'État along with other CPP members General Sin Song and General Sin Sen. Prince Chakrapong has always claimed his innocence. He first went to Malaysia, then settled in France again.

In 1999, he was granted pardon by the King with Prime Minister Hun Sen's agreement and returned to Cambodia where he founded a private airline: Royal Phnom Penh Airways which operated until late 2005. Later he formed the Norodom Chakraping Proloung Khmer Party. This party integrated the FUNCINPEC Party after failing to win any seats in the 2003 election. In 2006, he was elected a Senator and briefly held the post of Secretary General of FUNCINPEC which was already starting to split in different factions.

After his half-brother, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, was eventually evicted from FUNCINPEC's presidency in October 2006, Prince Norodom Chakrapong helped him create the Norodom Ranariddh Party of which he became Vice-President. FUNCINPEC consequently removed him from his position of Senator.

In early 2007, Prince Chakrapong resigned from his position and retired from politics.

He is currently a High Privy Counsellor to the King whom he has proposed to assist in humanitarian activities. To this aim, he established the Samdech Norodom Racvivong Foundation which provides support to deprived rural schools and offers free classes of English and computer to poor students in Phnom Penh. The Foundation has received official recognition and support from the King and King Father of Cambodia as well as from institutions such as the French Embassy, the German Embassy and UNESCO.

Since 31 August 2004, Prince NORODOM Chakrapong is bearing the title of "Samdech Preah Mohessara", bestowed by then King Sihanouk.