Koh Thonsáy
Encyclopedia
Koh Thonsáy is a Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

n island located off the south western coast of Cambodia. "Koh Thonsáy" means Rabbit Island, and it is located close to the mainland of Kep
Kep, Cambodia
Kep is a coastal city and former beach resort in Cambodia's Kep Province, 173 kilometres southwest of Phnom Penh.The city was founded in 1908 during French colonial rule and was originally named Kep-sur-mer. Many of the French-style villas are overgrown and run-down, but Kep is slowly being...

 City.

Koh Tonsay is located 4.6 km south of Kep
Kep, Cambodia
Kep is a coastal city and former beach resort in Cambodia's Kep Province, 173 kilometres southwest of Phnom Penh.The city was founded in 1908 during French colonial rule and was originally named Kep-sur-mer. Many of the French-style villas are overgrown and run-down, but Kep is slowly being...

 and can be reached by boat from Kep port. Tourists are drawn to the beautiful white sand beach overlooking the sea. The sea here is shallow and the sea bottom has a long gradual slope, making Koh Thonsay excellent for swimming. At the sea bottom are a variety of coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...

s, sea animals and plants which attract researchers and ecologists.

Koh Thonsay is 2 square kilometers in area. During Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihanouk regular script was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 until his semi-retirement and voluntary abdication on 7 October 2004 in favor of his son, the current King Norodom Sihamoni...

’s Sangkum Reastr Niyum regime, it was used as a place to rehabilitate criminals, who were also used to defend the island. Horse cart paths and wooden, thatch roofed motels were also constructed during this time. Most of this infrastructure has been destroyed by weather and decades of war.

Today there are new bamboo guest houses on the main beach, visited by Cambodian and foreign tourists. In addition, fishermen and their families live on the island, occupying other beaches around the shoreline.

Etymology

The name Koh Tonsáy is derived from the word Rumsay (រំសាយ). While trying to avoid the commander’s troops, Prince Sakor Reach grew hopeless because his troops were exhausted. He led his remaining troops across the sea to an island in front of Kep city, where the troops spread out. Accordingly, the island was called Koh Rumsay( កោះរំសាយ) and later grew into Koh Thonsay(កោះទន្សាយ), as it is known today.
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