The town is located at the junction of National Roads 71 and 222 around 48 kilometres (30 mi) north east of the provincial capital at Kampong Cham city.

Chamkar Leu shares its western border with Baray district of Kampong Thom province.

[7] Located in eastern Cambodia, not far from the border with Vietnam, Chamkar Leu was the site of significant fighting during the Cambodian Civil War.

One of the senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge, Ke Pauk was born in nearby Baray district.

According to his auto-biography, Pauk joined the nascent Cambodian Communist movement in Svay Teab, Chamkar Leu District, Kampong Cham.