Cambodia & Border Conflict: “I prefer to die with honor than live in contempt” — The sacrifice of Lieutenant Ngiem Kungkeat

On December 23, 2025, First Lieutenant Ngiem Kungkeat, 28, was killed in combat in the village of Chouk Chey, O'Bei Choan commune, O'Chrov district, Banteay Meanchey province.

Lieutenant Ngiem Kungkeat

Assigned to Border Defense Battalion No. 503 under the 5th Military Region, he was killed when an artillery shell destroyed the trench in which he was positioned. He leaves behind his wife, Deng Sokhlouk, 26, and their two-year-old daughter, Kungkeat Ana.

A village child who became an officer

Born in Sophy, in O'Chrov district, Ngiem Kungkeat was the second of five brothers, three of whom pursued military careers. After obtaining his high school diploma in 2017, he joined the active officer training program — Class 21, a four-year course — in Kampong Speu province.

Graduating in 2021, he was deployed to the Thai border in the O'Bei Choan area.

His wife, Deng Sokhlouk, had known him her entire life: they grew up in the same village, attended the same schools from primary to high school, and married in 2023 after eight years of a relationship.

An escalation from afar

The context in which Ngiem Kungkeat lost his life is part of a series of deadly border incidents. In May 2025, an unarmed Cambodian soldier was shot near a trench in Choam Ksant district, Preah Vihear province. This event triggered an initial phase of fighting from July 24 to 28, 2025, during which the lieutenant was deployed to Chouk Chey before returning safely.

In December 2025, a second wave of clashes broke out. Deng Sokhlouk and their daughter took refuge with a relative in Siem Reap. Weakened by toxic smoke used by opposing forces, Ngiem Kungkeat briefly returned home for treatment.

Three days of farewell

Only three days remained. His weakened body had not yet recovered, but the fighting intensified in the areas of Boeng Trakuon and Chouk Chey. Despite the pleas of his wife and relatives, he decided to return to the front.

Those three days felt like a farewell. He refused to take his eyes off his wife and daughter. He gathered family and friends for a dinner. “Looking back, it was like a final farewell meal,” said Deng Sokhlouk. “He knew very well that if he left this time, he might not return.”

Before leaving, at 2:00 a.m. on December 23, he told her: “Prepare your heart, because in war nothing is certain.” And, as if to defy fate: “I will come back. Wait for me.”

At 2:00 p.m. that same day, Deng Sokhlouk learned by phone of her husband’s death.

“The honor of a man”

The last words Ngiem Kungkeat spoke to his wife before leaving home remain etched in the memory of those who knew him:

“As a man, honor means never deserting the front. I prefer to die with people’s respect than live in their contempt.”

His body was taken to Mongkul Borei Hospital, then transferred to Chamkar Khnor Monastery in Serei Saophoan for traditional funeral rites on December 24, 2025.

A widow, an orphan, a nation in mourning

Deng Sokhlouk now raises their two-year-old daughter alone. In her testimony collected under Project 817 MJP by the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), she expressed her gratitude to the Royal Government and fellow Cambodians who supported her family’s mourning and honored her husband’s memory.

“As the wife of the heroic soldier Ngiem Kungkeat, who fell on December 23, 2025, on the battlefield of Chouk Chey, I deeply pray that all compatriots will forever keep my husband’s heroism in their hearts.”

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Source: Testimony of Deng Sokhlouk, collected by Keo Sophy Project 817 MJP, Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam).