Persecution under the Khmer Rouge eroded their numbers, however, and by the late 1980s they probably had not regained their former strength.
तथापि, ख्मेर रौग अंतर्गत छळाने त्यांची संख्या कमी झाली, आणि १९८० च्या दशकाच्या अखेरीस कदाचित त्यांच्या पूर्वीची ताकद पुन्हा मिळू शकली नाही.