In 1969 he received the honorary title Samdech Chakrey Konhchara Thipadei (Khmer: សម្ដេចចក្រីកុញ្ចរាធិបតី) by Prince Norodom Sihanouk.

After primary education in Lycee Sisowath in Phnom Penh, he attended, and graduated from, the prestigious high school Chasseloup Laubat in Saigon.

At the end of December 1953, after Cambodia gained independence, he was appointed the new governor of Phnom Penh and took part in negotiations with the French on the latest skills transfer between the colonial administration and the Cambodian government.

In 1969, he retired to France and remained in the shadows until the mid 1980s when he became vice-president of the National United Front for an Independent, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia neutral (FUNCINPEC).

This party was created by Norodom Sihanouk to fight the new regime established in Phnom Penh by Vietnamese troops.