A Humanitarian Publishing Venture
The first Khmer translation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, published in March 2005, came about from a unique humanitarian effort rather than a traditional commercial publishing deal. In mid-2004, American journalist Bernie Krisher—founder of The Cambodia Daily newspaper and the Non-Governmental Organisation’s (NGO) American Assistance for Cambodia/Japan Relief for Cambodia—reached out to J. K. Rowling’s representatives to obtain special permission to produce a Khmer edition. Rowling’s agents granted permission royalty-free for a non-profit Cambodian edition, an unusual arrangement that even saw the rights-holder listed as Krisher’s NGO on Rowling’s official publishers list in 2016 (the publishers list was obtained by Instagram user @foreverpotterish following a request to The Blair Partnership and published by Potterglot). The goal was to promote reading in Cambodia’s post-Khmer Rouge generation, giving local children access to the story in their native language. A Japanese philanthropist, Toshu Fukami, provided a grant of $15,000 to subsidise the project’s costs.

First Edition Publication and Details
With approval secured, the first Khmer translation of Philosopher’s Stone—titled ហេរី ផោតធ័រ និង សិលាទេព (transliteration: “heri phaotthr ning selatep”)—was published in March 2005. The publisher of record was Cambodia Daily Press, an imprint associated with Krisher’s newspaper. (Notably, some copies carry the imprint of University of Cambodia Press, a mystery that has puzzled collectors, though the Cambodia Daily Press version is more common. Both versions, photographed above, appear identical in content and were likely part of the same charitable print run.) The first print run was 10,000 copies, and no ISBN was assigned due to the non-commercial, charitable, approach to publication. Each book was a tall, slim paperback volume of 334 pages, printed by a local printer (Entry Meas Printing House) and featuring the Mary GrandPré cover artwork. There was a yellow belly band issued with some copies of the book but is rarely seen.

Translator and Translation Process
The translator, Un Tim (often romanized as Oun Teum, Khmer: អ៊ុន ទឹម), was a professional translator from Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture. He worked from the English text (the American Sorcerer’s Stone version) to produce the Khmer manuscript. In an effort to make the story resonate with young Cambodian readers, the translator consulted with about 15 children who read draft chapters and offered feedback on terminology. As a result, the Khmer text uses straightforward language and phonetic transliterations of character names (for example, Hogwarts is rendered ហុកវ៉ាត—a phonetic “Hogwarts”—rather than a translated name). The title itself was translated literally as “Harry Potter and the Stone of the Divine”—the Khmer term for the alchemical philosopher’s stone. Early readers praised the Khmer edition for allowing children to enjoy Harry’s story in their own language, even as the translation retained some idioms and quirks of the English text.

Distribution, Numbering, and Identification
Krisher’s team employed creative strategies to ensure the books reached Cambodian youth and to prevent piracy. The first batch of copies was distributed in rural provinces like Ratanakkiri, where access to books is limited. Children could buy the book for $0.60 USD—below cost—on the principle that having even a small personal stake would encourage reading while still keeping it affordable. (It cost roughly $2 per copy to print, with the deficit covered by donors.) This heavily subsidised price also helped prevent piracy as photocopying a pirated copy would cost more than the official price, deterring bootleggers. In Phnom Penh, the NGO supplied copies to Monument Books (a bookstore founded in 1990 following decades of war, becoming the main functioning bookshop in Cambodia, and positioned themselves as the countries primary English-language bookseller) with the stipulation that only children could purchase them. For identification, first-print copies state the publication as Cambodia Daily Press 2005 (or University of Cambodia Press in some cases) and make no reference to any later printings. No reprints were planned after the initial 10,000 run, and the Khmer edition remains scarce outside of Cambodia today.

The Second (and Last) Khmer Harry Potter Book
In 2009, Krisher’s organisation obtained permission to translate Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This second volume was translated by Un Tim as well and published by Cambodia Daily Press in a similarly formatted paperback edition. Interestingly, the cover art style changed—instead of reusing Mary GrandPré’s art, the Khmer Chamber of Secrets featured the original Bloomsbury U.K. cover illustration by Cliff Wright. Like the first book, it carried no ISBN and was sold at a low price to benefit young readers. The second book’s release made heri phaotthr ning bantob samngeat (ហេរី ផោតធ័រ និង បន្ទប់ សម្ងាត់ in Khmer) the final Harry Potter title officially published in Khmer. No further volumes were translated, likely due to the considerable expenses and logistical challenges involved in this charitable venture, combined with the relatively limited market of Khmer-language readers. As a result, the Khmer series stopped at two books, leaving Cambodian fans to seek out English editions or other sources for the later adventures of Harry Potter.

Unofficial Translations and Collector Legacy
The limited scope of the official Khmer editions spurred some unofficial efforts by fans. Before the authorised Chamber of Secrets was available, fans had created a unauthorised online Khmer translation of that book, circulating it in digital form. Beyond that, no widespread “pirate” printings of Harry Potter are known in Khmer—a contrast to some other languages—mainly thanks to the proactive measures taken by Krisher’s team to make the official books affordable. Ironically, on the secondary market for Harry Potter translation collectors the Khmer translation of Philosopher’s Stone has become quite challenging to acquire.