Norodom Chakrapong

Norodom Chakrapong (born 21 October 1945) is a Cambodian politician, businessman and former major-general of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.

He is the fourth son of Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia and also a half-brother of the current king, Norodom Sihamoni.

In 1958, Chakrapong was sent with his half-brother Ranariddh to Marseille, France, where they attended high school.

Chakrapong started his career as a military pilot in 1963.

After graduating in 1963, Chakrapong returned to Cambodia and became an officer cadet with the Royal Cambodian Air Force where he graduated at the top of his class.

After completing his cadet course, Chakrapong was sent back to France for a year where he received extensive training in flying MiG-21 jets.

He returned in 1967 and was later commissioned as a lieutenant.

After Sihanouk was overthrown in 1970, Chakrapong spent time under house arrest, then in Beijing as the Head of Protocol of then-Prince Sihanouk, afterwards living overseas before he joined the Funcinpec in 1981 and fought against Vietnamese occupation as a commander of the Armée Nationale Sihanoukiste.

When Lon Nol launched a coup against Sihanouk in March 1970, Chakrapong was arrested and kept under house arrest until November 1973.

After his release, Chakrapong went to Beijing, China, where he joined his father and served as his father's Chief of Protocol between 1973 and 1975.

In 1975, Chakrapong travelled to Yugoslavia at the invitation of Josip Broz Tito.

He spent a year at the Yugoslav Air Force Staff College, before he moved to France with his family as political refugees in 1976.

Chakrapong settled in Créteil until 1981.

During this time, Chakrapong ran a small enterprise to provide a source of income for his family.

Chakrapong joined Sihanouk in helping to form the Funcinpec in March 1981.

He was appointed a commander of the Armee Nationale Sihanoukiste (ANS, informally known as the Funcinpec army).

The following year, Chakrapong was made GCKD Minister of Health and Social Affairs for the party, a position that he held until 1984.

In March 1985, Chakrapong became the deputy Chief of Staff of ANS.

During this time, Chakrapong defended ANS military bases against Vietnamese incursions.

In 1989, Ranariddh made Chakrapong to represent Funcinpec in negotiations leading to the 1991 Paris Peace Accords.

Chakrapong was against the decision to co-opt the Khmer Rouge into playing any role in future Cambodian governments, a stand that came into conflict with Ranariddh and other senior Funcinpec leaders.

Chakrapong was a leading figure of the guerilla war against the Vietnamese occupation, spending most of the time in the jungle at the Cambodia-Thailand border.

In 1991, Chakrapong left Funcinpec to join the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia between 1992 and 1993.

In late 1991, Chakrapong quit Funcinpec to join the CPP at Hun Sen's invitation.

He was given a seat in the party's politburo, and in January 1992 Chakrapong was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in charge of civil aviation, tourism, industry, culture, education, and social welfare affairs.

Shortly after he was appointed to the post, Chakrapong was appointed director of Kampuchea Airlines.

He also encouraged foreign investment in Cambodia and provided support to investors that established financial institutions and enterprises in the country.

When the CPP lost the 1993 general elections, Chakrapong led a secession attempt in 1993.

When the 1993 general elections were held, Chakrapong campaigned for a Presidential system of government for Cambodia with Sihanouk as president.

In 1994, he was accused of joining a failed coup attempt (which he denied) which led him to be sent into exile.

After Chakrapong was pardoned in 1998, he founded a private airline company, Royal Phnom Penh Airways.

In 2002, Chakrapong established a royalist party, the Khmer Soul Party.

When the Khmer Soul Party failed to win a single parliamentary seat in the 2003 general elections, Charkapong rejoined Funcinpec and briefly served as Senator in 2005.

The airlines later stopped all operations in early 2006.

In 2006, Chakrapong was expelled from Funcinpec and joined the Norodom Ranariddh Party.

When the Cambodian government pursued legal investigations on the debts Chakrapong accumulated from his airlines, Chakrapong quit politics in 2007.

Chakrapong, who was already a privy councillor to the Supreme Privy Council, then dedicated himself to humanitarian work and supporting royal activities.

In 2013, Chakrapong was appointed member of the Constitutional Council of Cambodia by the King.

Norodom Chakrapong was born at the Khemarin Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Norodom Sihanouk and Sisowath Pongsanmoni.

As a young boy, Chakrapong was trained as a ballet dancer at the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, and performed at several state functions when Sihanouk attended or hosted foreign dignitaries when he was Prime Minister.