Kampong Pous Thom (Port of the Great Snake) was the original name of the present province called Kampong Thom. Originally long time ago, at the dock of the Sen River next to a lake, there was a big cave with a pair of big snakes inside. The people living around this area usually saw these big snakes every Buddhist holiday. Time after that, the snakes disappeared, and the people of that area called it Kampong Pous Thom. Then, only short words, Kampong Thom came later. During the French colony in Cambodia, the French ruled and divided Cambodian territory into provinces, and named them according to the spoken words of the people.
Kampong Thom was a powerful capital in south-east Asia during the Funan period. Kampong Thom has PrasatSamborPreiKuk that was famous during the Chenla Era
