LTO Cambodia: Death of Sihanouk, Twitter, First Reactions

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Death of Sihanouk, Twitter, First Reactions

Flags at half-staff on the Phnom Penh riverfront, mid-afternoon. The flags of other countries which would ordinarily fly along the riverfront, all removed today.

King Father Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia died yesterday in the early morning in Bejing China. Cambodia awoke to the news. The following are some of the reactions and Sihanouk tidbits I noticed on Twitter today (15/10/12), this first day of Sihanouk's death. Most but not all are by non-Cambodians.

@bethanyshondark Oh my G-d! Wow. RT @BBCBreaking: Former king of Cambodia Norodom #Sihanouk dies in Beijing aged 89, Chinese media report

@cambodianews Cambodian former King Norodom Sinahouk dies - Xinhua http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-10/15/c_131905825.htm

@keochans can already hear Nokoreach playing everywhere in the streets srok khmer.. #NorodomSihanouk

@laurencro The Royal Palace. King Father Norodom Sihanouk died earlier today. #Cambodia http://instagram.com/p/QyczFzpoqo/

@Kounila Death of King Sihanouk makes world headlines http://bit.ly/TlGkjz

@Pulpcurry Sihanouk: It would take a Shakespeare to do literary justice to his reign. "But the tragic hero is not Sihanouk but the people of Cambodia"

@CamboDonut My local Cambodian restaurant owner: "Sihanouk never apologised to us for all the killing under Khmer Rouge, we never forget"

@hanumantravel Last of the God Kings, Sihanouk, passes away in Beijing. More literally the Lion King. Cambodia mourns the death of a Titan. RIP. #Cambodia

@illied Cambodia Daily is relatively quick to get a story on Sihanouk online... http://bit.ly/RrqFiH @PhnomPenhPost... is on holiday. Awkward...

@nettra The end of an era. Cambodia's former king was one of the last remaining leaders of the non-aligned movement. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1231339/1/.html

@apnsw @superanne: Oh No. Norodom Sihanouk has died.”/ shame he was exempted from trial at the Khmer Rouge tribunal 4 his role in genocide

@luiinpenh neighbors lighting incense, placing some flowers & offerings on spirit houses for the late King.

@goatsrus That #Sihanouk was one mercurial fellow, but SE Asian history would have been vastly different without him. http://t.co/dAlxyFjT

@phnompenhpost

@jeromegodefroy La mort de Norodom #Sihanouk, personnage fantasque et romanesque. Figure du XXème siècle. http://t.co/fhNwrHkN

@LTO_cambodia Mourners in front of Royal Palace. #PhnomPenh #Cambodia # Sihanouk http://twitpic.com/b4d2jw

@thierry_2a Un des complices de Pol Pot est mort #Sihanouk

@peter_k440 Kids playing soccer or badminton on the street, neighbors laughing and joking: no sense whatsoever of grief #Sihanouk #PhnomPenh #Cambodia

@researchpeter Hard to capture the (varying) influences he has had on Cambodian politics and life over last 70 years - the history man indeed #RIPSihanouk

@Pastor3D Lord, the revered former King of #Cambodia has died. Speak to the hearts of those who mourn. Draw them to the eternal King of Kings, #Jesus.

@KrauseForIowa King Norodom #Sihanouk of #Cambodia died. Iconic figure from #Vietnam war era. Tried 2 keep neutral, but was toppled by US leaning #LonNol.

@bazu Hopefully, the death of #Sihanouk will be a marker on a path out of the history of silence, confusion, and ambiguity for #Cambodia.

@petercook King Sihanouk is dead, good riddance to King Sihanouk: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/10/the-fantasy-of-king-sihanouk.html #Cambodia #YearZero #KhmerRouge #MoralBankruptcy

@alainje #Sihanouk "a well respected leader and a key figure in Cambodia's recent history" c'est le pâle hommage de l'UE à l'homme qui a incarné...

@alexhiniker King Sihanouk of #Cambodia, the first monarch to call for landmine ban, has died. Also wanted to @banclusterbombs http://t.co/nvK6MBey

@chesoneth Thank you, your highness... May you rest in peace. We will always remember you ❤ #RIP #King #Cambodia

Some noteworthy obituaries from today's net...

'King Father Norodom Sihanouk Dies at 89' by Michelle Vachon, The Cambodia Daily

'Death of a survivor: Norodom Sihanouk' by Milton Osborne

'The Death of Cambodia's Nimble Prince' by James Pringle

'King Norodom Sihanouk obituary' by Martin Woollacott, The Guardian

'Cambodia former king Norodom Sihanouk dies aged 89' by Guy Delauney, BBC

'The Bloodied Legacy of Cambodia’s Chameleon King' by Mark McDonald, The New York Times

'The Fantasy of King Sihanouk' by Philip Gourevitch, The New Yorker

'Death of King Sihanouk makes world headlines', Blue lady blog

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Cambodia

Cambodia is Srok Khmer, the 'Land of the Khmer,' the primary ethnic group in the area since at least the Neolithic and an Indian influenced civilization with origins near 2000 years old. Centered on the lower Mekong and tributaries the Khmer people have dominated the region for millennia. From 2nd century AD Khmer kingdoms rose and fell, culminating in unification and the 500 year reign of the Angkorian Empire, the builders of the temples of Angkor near Siem Reap. The Empire stretched from Burma to the ocean. But by the 1400s Cambodia fell to centuries of change and decline squeezed between the expanding Siam and Vietnam. Colonized and by the French in the 1860s, independence 90 years later in 1954, a brief post-colonial 'golden period' under Sihanouk, coup in 70, civil war, fall to the communist Khmer Rouge in 75, 3 years 8 months 20 days of madness, Vietnamese rescue in 1979, occupation, low level war and international sanctions in the 80s, the UN, ostensive democracy and an adventure party destination in the 90s and now mainstreaming, tourism, rapid development, rapacious capitalism and NGOs, missionaries and other international busybodies aplenty.

Southeast Asia

As the term implies, Southeast Asia encompasses the southeastern corner of the Asian continent, loosely speaking, the area between India, China and Australia. It is made up of two distinct regions: the mainland zone, a bulbous peninsula jutting into the Pacific Ocean, bounded by China to the north and India to the west; and the insular (island) zone in the Pacific Ocean. The name 'Southeast Asia' is a comparatively recent invention, first coming into use into the 20th century and still a bit indefinite in definition. Mainland Southeast Asia is generally considered to include Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma (Myanmar) and peninsular Malaysia. The mainland is sometimes referred to as Indo-China though Indochina (Indochine) also designates the 19th/20th century French colonial conglomerate of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Sitting south of the Tropic of Cancer, most of mainland Southeast Asia lies in the hot, humid tropics and sub-tropics with a climate dominated by a monsoon cycle which divides the year into two distinct seasons: a dry season and an extremely wet monsoon season. Much of the mainland is mountainous and thickly jungled, with large river systems and wide, low-lying, flood-prone plains, much of which is, in modern times, deforested and blanketed with geometrical rice paddies. Several major river valleys including the Mekong River, the Red, Ma and Ka rivers and the group of rivers draining to the Chao Praya Delta played host to the rise of early civilization in the area. The Mekong River is one of the world's greatest rivers, the seventh largest on the planet, and since pre-history has been closely associated with the land of the Khmer.