Sihanoukville, also known as Kampong Som, or Kampong Saom, is a port city in southern Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand. The city was founded in 1964 to be the only deep water port in Cambodia and its beaches are making it more popular as a tourist destination. According to the Royal Government of Cambodia some 320,000 tourists visited Sihanoukville in 2006, up by 30 percent from 2005. The city is named after King Norodom Sihanouk. Sadly in 1994, the town was the location where three western backpackers were kidnapped and killed by the Khmer Rouge, which affected tourism in the area for many years after.