Honorific-Prefix: | General |
Peter Khoy Saukam | |
Order: | President of the Khmer Republic |
Status: | Acting |
Term Start: | 1 April 1975 |
Term End: | 12 April 1975 |
Predecessor: | Lon Nol |
Successor: | Sak Sutsakhan |
Office1: | President of the Senate |
Term Start1: | 1972 |
Term End1: | 1975 |
Predecessor1: | Position established |
Successor1: | Chea Sim (1999) |
Birth Name: | Saukam Khoy |
Birth Date: | 1915 2, df=yes |
Birth Place: | Cambodia, French Indochina |
Death Place: | Stockton, California, U.S. |
Spouse: | Vom Tep Saukam |
Children: | 7 |
Party: | Social Republican Party |
Allegiance: | |
Branch: | |
Serviceyears: | 1940–1975 |
Rank: | Lieutenant general |
Native Name Lang: | km |
Peter Khoy Saukam (born Saukam Khoy km|សូកាំ ខូយ; 2 February 1915 – 14 November 2008) was a Cambodian politician who served as Acting President of the Khmer Republic for 12 days in April 1975. He was President of the Senate from 1972 to 1975.
Born on 2 February 1915, Saukam Khoy enlisted into the Khmer Royal Army in 1940, when he was 25. He achieved the rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1953 and subsequently, lieutenant-general. He became President of the Senate of the Khmer Republic in 1972.[1]
He took office on 1 April 1975, when a tearful Lon Nol left 'temporarily' with his entire family for Bali in Indonesia after an invitation from his friend, Indonesian President Suharto.[2]
Khoy's time in office was short. He left Phnom Penh together with American Ambassador John Gunther Dean aboard a CH-53 helicopter during the evacuation of American embassy staff and civilians, dubbed Operation Eagle Pull on 12 April, just five days before Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge.[3]
Khoy died at the age of 93 in Stockton, California, United States, on 14 November 2008.[4]