Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: Kaore a Aki Ra i te tino mohio ki tona tau, engari e whakapono ana ia i whanau ia i te tau 1970 ranei 1973. I patua ōna mātua e te Khmer Rouge. I noho mokopuna ia i te puni Khmer Rouge, i tangohia ia e te wahine ko Yourn te ingoa, nana nei ia i whakatipu me etahi atu tamariki mokopuna. Ka rite ki etahi atu, ka noho wawe ia hei hoia tamariki i te wa i kaha ai tona kaha ki te whai hua ki nga rangatira hoia Khmer Rouge o te rohe. I te wā e
I whakaekehia e te ope Vietnamese a Cambodia me te whakaaro ki te hinga i te kawanatanga torangapu Khmer Rouge, i mauheretia ia e nga hoia Vietnamese. I muri mai ka uru atu ia ki nga ope taua a te iwi o Kampuchean Revolutionary Armed Forces i hangaia e te kawanatanga hou, te People's Republic of Kampuchea. Kei roto i ana mahi te whakatakoto i nga maina whenua i te rohe i whakaekehia i te rohe o Cambodia me Thailand.