Tonle Sap Lake

Located south of Siem Reap, the Tonle Sap Lake is the largest in Southeast Asia. Beyond its size, it is also one of the most unique in the world.

This lake is one of the most unique ecological water wonders in the world. It is the largest lake in South East Asia and changes in size and dimension every wet season. With a minimum size of 2,800 km² and about 1 m depth during the dry season, the lake is fairly small. During the wet season the water of the Mekong river becomes so powerful, that it reverses the flow of the Tonle Sap river and pushes the surplus of rain water back into the Tonle Sap lake. This transforms the lake into a huge natural water reservoir and the lake’s size increases to approximately 15,000 km² with a depth of 8 m.

The Tonle Sap River connects the lake with the River Mekong at Phnom Penh, in the south east. With the continuous change of the water level, the people who live on the lake have to move their houses away when the water level goes down. Whole villages including schools, shops, churches and pig farms are getting pulled away to a place where the water is still high enough to float.

In 1997 the lake was designated as a protected area under UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere program.

The unique embankment creates a rich biodiversity of fish, birds, reptiles and other mammals around the lake. The aquatic habitat provides 75% of the inland fishing catch and supports over 3 million people with food. The lake houses over 300 species of fresh water fish, 20 variety of snakes, 10 variety of turtles a crocodile species and a leopard cat species.

There are huge giant catfish here, with record of specimens up to 300 kilogrammes. This endangered speices is confined to the Mekong and surrounding rivers and lakes. A large crocodile farming industry thrives on and around Tonle Sap. The main species is the Siamese crocodile, critically endangered in the wild. The lake also provides a habitat for 13 different species of turtle