These musicians have a sign that says: “Khmer tradition band has been given by handicap with landmine. We stop begging. We want to live with dignity. Our children want to go to school. We try to work in this band for earning and supporting our families. All dear charitable tourists, would you mind contributing money to charity, please? Thank you very much, God bless you all time.”
The bow of this instrument is captive. Its hairs are between the string and the neck. Note how the man holds the bow.
Note the object just visible in the lower left corner of this picture:
Here is another view of it:
While the Khmer Rouge were responsible for some of the mines, vastly more explosives fell out of American B-52’s during the war.
“Between 1965 and 1973, the U.S. dropped 2.7 million tons of explosives — more than the Allies dropped in the entirety of World War II — on Cambodia, whose population was then smaller than New York City’s.”
Here is an article in The Atlantic about what effect that had, and some chilling parallels to present day conflicts.
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