[1] Sonn Mam was the son of Luong Tipsena, mandarin at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh and nephew of Okhna Douch, Minister of Justice.
Graduating in 1910, he worked for some time in Cambodia, in Phnom Penh then in Vœunsai, Steung Treng then in Pailin, localities very far from the capital where he would have been sent for having protested against the dismissal of his uncle.
[4] He was part of a "small but influential group of Indochinese who studied in scientific and technical fields in France's most elite institutions" during the colonial era.
[7] Doctor Sonn Mam was eventually put in charge of the psychiatric hospital of Ta Khmau, near Phnom Penh, for which he designed the plans.
The buildings that he raised up are still standing, in the Chey Chumneas Hospital of Ta Khmau, which is still particularly renowned for the specialized psychiatric care provided to children with mental disabilities which was opened in 2001.