tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25689944652812135112024-03-10T09:46:48.702+07:00LTO CambodiaA Barang in the Land of the KhmerCasey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.comBlogger218125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-2983171451591675452015-02-20T17:41:00.002+07:002015-02-20T17:41:51.865+07:00'The Players' by Tom Bender<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Noticed on <a href="https://twitter.com/tbendu2" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and republished here with permission. Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com53tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-63397016198557090322015-02-19T03:50:00.000+07:002015-02-19T03:50:10.973+07:00'Bump' by Arijan Jansonius<br />
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Originally drawn in 1998 here in Cambodia by Dutch artist Arijan (Aryan)
Jansonius, inspired by everyday life in Phnom Penh at the time. Motion, knowing detail and the every present rat. Note the old style motorcycle.
Issued as one in a set postcards available in Cambodia in the late 90s.Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-25727056710891660992015-02-15T23:22:00.000+07:002015-02-15T23:22:26.727+07:00Talismans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Back in 1994 my wife gave me a buddha amulet she bought at Phsar Thmei, which I've worn ever since. A Buddha of black wood in a silver setting.<br />
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In early 1995 I was traveling National Route 4 regularly. It wasn't particularly dangerous, but there was some KR presence and banditry on that road, so my Khmer maid advised me to have the amulet blessed to help protect me in my travels, "especially against bullets," she added. Such was not an uncommon practice in Cambodia at the time, often used by soldiers to try to ward off harm, (magical tattoos as well.) Figuring that at worst having the amulet blessed couldn't hurt, and rather interested in the potential cultural experience, I spent a day with my Khmer teacher learning the language and gestures necessary to go to the pagoda and ask for my buddha to be blessed. The following week I went up to Wat Leu in Sihanoukville, where I first talked to an aja (a lay assistant), who took me to the head monk, Ok Om (now deceased.) I explained myself in the couple of sentences I learned and he agreed to help me.<br />
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We sat in the vihear, both on the floor, facing each other, the amulet lay between us. It was about a 30 minute affair of the old monk praying and chanting and sprinkling water on me and the buddha. I put my buddha back around my neck, there was a bit more sprinkling and conclusive sounding chanting, and we were done.<br />
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The aja helped me up, my legs asleep from sitting cross-legged for 30 minutes. The old monk stood and turned toward the door, gesturing for me to follow. We went outside and sat on a rock under a tree where he told me a story and gave some advice, a young monk helping translate for us.<br />
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He began that such amulets can help alleviate fear and give one courage, and even provide protection, but that they must not be played with. Then he told me the story of a Khmer army officer who had bought a buddha amulet not unlike mine. The officer brought it to the pagoda to be blessed to protect him from bullets. Afterward, back in the field, he decided to test it. He took his amulet and hung it from a tree, pulled his sidearm and squeezed off several shots at it. Upon examination he found the amulet to be completely unscathed and the tree barely scratched by his bullets. So he hung the buddha back around his neck, turned the gun on himself and shot himself in the chest, dying on the spot. (In fact I had read the same story in the newspaper around that time.)<br />
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The old monk warned me again that such things were serious business and not to be tested - that maybe it only works once, or maybe you needed to have faith which testing betrayed, that we could not fully understand the ways of the gods, but above all, do not test it, be careful when I traveled the road, be generous with the soldiers I met, even KR, don't travel alone or after dark, and to have faith. I took all of his advice, save having faith, which is not a matter of choice. And I've never been shot, touch buddha.Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-4064272318381995202014-11-09T21:02:00.000+07:002014-11-10T03:43:49.960+07:00Water Festival - 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Trepidation preceded this year's Water Festival (Bonn Om Teuk) in Phnom Penh.<br />
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The Water Festival is ordinarily an annual event in Cambodia and one of the most important holidays of the year along with Khmer New Year and Prachum Benh. The exact dates set by the lunar calendar, the Water Festival is held at the end of the monsoon season to celebrate the reversing to the current of the Tonle Sap River. Central to the festival are long-boat races on the river as well as a fair amount of partying around town. In <a href="http://ltocambodia.blogspot.com/2010/11/todays-frontpage.html" target="_blank">2010 tragedy</a> befell the Water Festival in Phnom Penh when over 350 mostly young people were killed in a stampede on a narrow bridge during the after party - the Koh Pich or Diamond Bridge disaster.<br />
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Subsequent Water Festivals (<a href="http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/after-four-years-water-festival-set-return" target="_blank">2011, 2012 and 2013</a>) were cancelled for a variety of stated reasons (i.e. flooding, death of Sihanouk), but the cancellations were unprecedented and each time it called the 2010 disaster back to the public mind. Some questioned whether the Water Festival would ever be held again. This year, just two month before the usual dates for the event, <a href="http://www.akp.gov.kh/?p=50321" target="_blank">the government announced</a> that there would be a Water Festival in 2014 (November 5, 6, 7) and that security would be improved to prevent a reoccurrence of the 2010 disaster.<br />
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Most welcomed the news, but again, the 2010 disaster and safety concerns came straight to mind for many, and that fear grew as the event pulled closer. Dark talk and rumors swirled, "<i>don't go to Aeon Mall on Wednesday, maybe another Koh Pich... beware of the Palace area during the fireworks... too many people at the riverfront will cause another Koh Pich... gangs of pickpockets are coming to Phnom Penh...</i> etc" Friends advised one another against going to the festival. Peaking people's fears, Coronation Day the week before was marred when a fireworks accident on the riverfront killed a bystander. A week before officials predicted crowds of as many as 1-2 million at the Water Festival, but others suggested public fears may pare the crowd to as little as 70,000.<br />
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Very thin crowds greeted the first day of Water Festival 2014. Midday, thousands of spectators lined the river's edge but the nearby streets remained almost empty and the atmosphere was comparatively subdued. I've seen near a dozen Water Festivals in Phnom Penh, and to my memory, that was the lightest crowd I've ever experienced.<br />
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Security was extremely heavy. Almost uncomfortably so. The authorities not only increased security presence but put on a show of it. Police of several sorts were posted in numbers throughout. Very heavily armed special units dotted corners and marched up and down the riverfront. Top brass and bristling entourage roamed the riverfront inspecting security. Given that people's concerns revolved primarily around proper crowd control, I have to wonder what if anything the presence of dozens of machine gun toting cops did to allay those fears.<br />
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On the positive side, initial reports and observations would indicate that the police did their jobs more efficiently and with less corruption than previous festivals. I witnessed incidents of police refusing street entry to 'lok thoms' (Mr. Bigs) and their cars because they didn't have a proper pass. Some vendors I spoke with also report less harassment by police this year. The government might have gone overboard with the show of force, but it also seems that security was in fact better.<br />
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Day 2 crowds grew a bit in both number and spirit. Attendance was still way down from past festivals, but up from the previous day. There were more people on the street midday and significantly more out after dark. Friday, the third and last day saw the trend continue. The enthusiasm of the crowd was up several notches - lots of cheering, more revelry and excitement. There were more people on the riverfront streets midday, maybe as much as twice as many as the first day, and even more people on the streets after dark, shoulder to shoulder in some places. Reflecting this trend, one street vendor selling canned drinks reported to me that on the first day of the festival she made only $28 in profit, the second day $51 and the last day over $150. (Though, overall, the <a href="http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/water-festival-vendors-see-little-to-celebrate-71885/" target="_blank">vendors did much worse</a> than previous festivals.)<br />
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This year's Water Festival ended last Friday evening without significant incident. The government reports <a href="http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/visitors-down-but-spirits-high-for-water-festival-this-year-71899/" target="_blank">less than 100,000 attended the first two days</a>, but I haven't seen the number for the whole event yet. The <a href="http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/on-final-day-of-boat-races-style-reigns-71916/" target="_blank">Cambodia Daily reports</a> that, based on total race times, the <i>Srey Sos Kean Chrey Baromey Techo</i> from Kompong Cham province won the races, the <i>Chan Somsen Mongkul</i> from Takeo province took second, and the <i>Kiri Vong Sok Sen Chey</i>, sponsored by Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, took third place.<br />
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Watching the races from the Phnom Penh riverside.</div>
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Long-boat with the new Sokha Hotel in background.</div>
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View of the riverfront (Sisowath Quay) from the rooftop of the Amanjaya Hotel at Street 154, looking toward the Palace area, Friday, mid-afternoon.</div>
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Crash!</div>
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Phnom Penh riverfront park, first day.</div>
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Setting the pace.</div>
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Boat crew after party, collecting donations from the crowd.</div>
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Light Boat Parade floats await.</div>
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Royal Palace.</div>
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Float in Light Boat Parade along riverfront.</div>
Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-27889500659415437792014-11-03T15:12:00.000+07:002014-11-03T15:12:00.377+07:00The not so magical flying cowYears back, on a bus from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville – with the long defunct <i>DH Cambodia</i> – I saw flying cow. <br />
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On National Route 4, we were somewhere south of Pich Nil but hadn't yet reached the Koh Kong turnoff. I was sitting toward the back, half dozing, when the bus suddenly lurched, braking hard, very hard, tossing me forward. The bus began fishtailing this way and that, tires squealing, metal straining, the driver was losing control. He released the brake. I fell back into my seat. The path straightened and everything went silent, if only briefly. There was a huge explosive crashing noise, but the bus glided on, barely impeded. I turned to my window just in time to see a cow flying gently past, a dirty white Brahma, only inches away, about 2 meters off the ground, front legs and head pointed forward, superman style, gently rolling left as if executing a banking turn. She looked rather majestic in what appeared to be, for that moment, controlled flight. The bus braked hard again, finally coming to a stop. <br />
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I looked forward. The windshield was smashed. The driver opened the door and jumped out, running to collect bits of the bus that had broken off in the impact. A cow lay motionless in the field next to the bus. Two hundred meters away, a saronged old woman was running across the field toward the bus, screaming something and waving her arms. The driver yelled for his partner in the bus to help him gather the bus parts quickly. They hurriedly tossed pieces of panels, bumper and headlamp in through the door. The old woman got closer. The driver scrambled back on the bus and fired it up. He fought to close the door but it wouldn't shut for the damage. He threw it into gear and pulled away, the old woman trailing near the still open door screaming, the bus making equally unpleasant grinding and screeching noises from the front. <br />
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He drove another 5km or so, the passengers in muttering semi-silence, then stopped, now safe from the cow owner. The driver and assistant got out to inspect the damage. They tried reassembling the front end, without success. The driver decided to run away at that point, but the assistant caught him and brought him back. On arrival in Sihanoukville, I saw the driver explaining to the company manager at the station, pleading really. I hopped on a motodup to my hotel, and as I looked back I could see the manager beating the driver over the head with a plastic chair at the side of the street, him now on the ground cowering, motodups and small children pointing, giggling and laughing at the sight.Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-71466535268663454882014-11-02T02:26:00.000+07:002014-11-02T05:21:05.997+07:00Bonn Om Tuk - Water Festival<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Cambodia's annual Water Festival (Bonn Om Tuk) is coming up next week - November 5, 6, and 7. The Water Festival celebrates the reversing current of the Tonle Sap River, which, in a unique hydrological phenomenon, changes direction twice a year. This year the current actually reversed about a month ago, now flowing southeast toward the ocean. In Phnom Penh long-boat races are held on the Tonle Sap, colorful dug-out row boats competing for prizes and honors. Fireworks and a water-borne parade of lighted barges cap events in the early evenings.<br />
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This will be the first Water Festival held in Phnom Penh since 2010 which ended in the <a href="http://ltocambodia.blogspot.com/2010/11/todays-frontpage.html" target="_blank">Koh Pich bridge disaster</a>. After the 2010 disaster the festivals in 2011, 12 and 13 were cancelled for various reasons, some less genuine than others. This year the Water Festival returns. Workers are busy sprucing up the river front, boats and teams are arriving from the countryside, the light boat barges are being assembled. The festival has traditionally drawn huge crowds from the countryside, but people are still a bit jittery about the 2010 disaster and it's been 3 years without a festival, making attendance is a bit more difficult to predict this year. Adding to safety fears, during the evening fireworks display on Coronation Day last week, a bystander was killed by a malfunctioning firework shell. Ordinarily more than one million could be expected to attend the Water Festival.<br />
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The following are a few snapshots from Water Festivals in Phnom Penh in 2004, 2005 and 2007.<br />
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Riverfront crowd 2004</div>
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2005 - note the small buildings and earthen banks on the far side of the river before the development of the last few years. </div>
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Riverfront crowd 2005 </div>
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King Sihamoni - 2005</div>
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Decorated barge in the Light Boat Parade on the river </div>
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(for scale, note the people standing along the front.)<br />
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<br />Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-50770492978237382352013-12-13T23:53:00.000+07:002013-12-13T23:53:19.920+07:00Sihanoukville Railway Station<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Sihanoukville Railway Station was designed and built by Georges Kondracki and a German engineer in the late 1960s. It was the last of three major train stations built as part the construction of the Phnom Penh - Sihanoukville rail link constructed between 1960 and 1969. The Sihanoukville Railway Station was scheduled to be completed in 1967 but was not completed and inaugurated until 1969. <br />
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<br />Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-38235497059308464562013-10-23T23:17:00.000+07:002013-10-24T02:45:50.505+07:00CNRP Protest March: Day 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The CNRP began another round of demonstrations today, October 23, promising three days of protests based out of Freedom Park in Phnom Penh. Though there have been marches connected to CNRP demonstrations before, this is the first time that it is integral to the protest. The CNRP has promised to march to the UN office and several embassies (the signatories of the 1991 Paris Peace Accord) in order to deliver a petition demanding an independent investigation into significant irregularities and alleged fraud in the 2013 National Assembly elections. The CNRP notification of their intention to march was initially rejected by city hall, raising concerns that an attempt to march might be met with force from the police. But a deal was struck and city hall agreed to a plan for a peaceful march following a specific route with a limited number of participants.<br />
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Today, protestors gathered at Freedom Park throughout the morning. Though I was not at Freedom Park this morning, reliable commentators on the scene put the number of protestors at <a href="https://twitter.com/lukeanthonyhunt/status/392927159330689024" target="_blank">10,000</a>-<a href="https://twitter.com/doyle_kevin/status/392918946006855680" target="_blank">20,000</a> midday before the march, <a href="https://twitter.com/doyle_kevin/status/392963968576126976" target="_blank">perhaps more later in the day</a> after the march.<br />
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Today's march was to the UN Human Rights office and came off peacefully, both sides - police and protestors - behaving responsibly. It followed the agreed upon route though far exceeded the participation cap requested by city hall. The marchers left Freedom Park early afternoon and proceeded up Street 51, across town to Boueng Keng Kang 1 and the UN office. Street barricades were minimal and police presence along the route was comparatively light, except at Sihanouk/Suramarith Boulevard crossing where, in a show of force, hundreds of geared up riot police, soldiers and water cannons stood blocking the road 50 meters to one side of the protest route, guarding the way to the Prime Minister's house and the Independence Monument. The protestors passed without incident and continued into Boeung Keng Kang 1. After the petition was delivered to the UN office, protestors reversed course, making their way back up Street 51 to Freedom Park.<br />
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The only point of tension I noticed was at the crossing of Sihanouk Blvd where riot police and marchers came so close. The police stood at the ready, shields in hand with hundreds more police and soldiers in backup. Passing protestors slowed and gawked and sometimes jeered the police lines but CNRP organizers endeavored to keep people moving and CNRP peacekeepers made another impressive display of peaceful protest technique, linking arms to keep people back away from the barricades and police. As Sam Rainsy passed during the return march, he made an abrupt turn to the barricades and stopped, people cheered, several protestors followed, prompting police to move that way as well, drawing jeers from the crowd. He tarried only briefly before moving on, in a '<i>made you flinch</i>' moment, defusing tension as quickly as he had raised it.<br />
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Sam Rainsy began and ended the day on one of his central political themes - the Vietnamese. When he first spoke at Freedom Park before the march he told the crowd that the <a href="https://twitter.com/lukeanthonyhunt/status/392927159330689024" target="_blank">Vietnamese must leave Cambodia</a>. After the march, back at Freedom Park he ended the day saying that <a href="http://georgesteptoe.co.uk/2013/10/23/day-one-protest-cnrp-slips-into-something-comfortable/" target="_blank">the only support for the CPP was from "ghost voters and Vietnamese." </a><br />
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The following video is of part of the protest march as it passed on Street 51 at about 4:15PM, a bit past the half-way point on its way to the UN Human Rights office. <br />
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More information and photos:<br />
Ruom: <a href="http://www.ruom.net/cnrp-first-day-protest/" target="_blank">CNRP starts first day of protests </a><br />
John Vink: <a href="http://johnvink.com/news/2013/10/the-afternoon-of-day-one/" target="_blank">The Afternoon Of Day One…</a><br />
Omar Havana: <a href="http://omarhavana.photoshelter.com/gallery-slideshow/G0000QlRS3NHKBPw/?start=" target="_blank">First of Three Days of Mass Demonstrations</a> <br />
The Cambodia Daily: <a href="http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/thousands-join-opposition-rally-in-phnom-penh-45722/" target="_blank">Thousands Join Opposition Rally in Phnom Penh</a><br />
George Steptoe: <a href="http://georgesteptoe.co.uk/2013/10/23/day-one-protest-cnrp-slips-into-something-comfortable/" target="_blank">Day One of Protest: CNRP Slips into Something Comfortable</a><br />
<br />Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-46947083536942033842013-09-19T23:35:00.000+07:002013-09-20T05:06:40.186+07:00Monks, barricades, police and flowers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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At the barrier.</div>
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Mid-afternoon today word spread that the police had once again placed barricades in the roads surrounding the Royal Palace area and that police presence had increased significantly. Apparently a group of monks were in route to the Palace to pray and ask the King to delay the opening session of the National Assembly scheduled for next week. Their passage to the Palace blocked, a little more than 100 monks stopped at the barricades, sat in the street (Sisowath Quay near the Chaktomuk Theater) and began to meditate, pray and chant. Several police manned the barricades while others directed traffic away. Eventually a contingent of riot police arrived in full gear, initially lining up at barrier facing the monks. The monks responded by chanting and praying, then standing and speaking calmly to the police about their position, taking photos of themselves and the police with their various iDevices and finally offering lotus flowers, some of which were accepted, if only briefly. The police seemed a bit disarmed by the display, remaining relatively relaxed and eventually just sat to the sides, smoking cigarettes and monitoring the situation. The monks dispersed after 45 minutes or so, leaving a few protestors, some of whom had some harsh words for the police, but they too left in fairly short order. A few photos...</div>
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Monks sit in the center of Sisowath Quay Blvd. near Chaktomuk Theater, meditating and chanting. </div>
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Riot police arrive</div>
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This monk made an clearly heartfelt statement to the police.</div>
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Flowers offered, a few of which were accepted, if only briefly before being tossed aside.</div>
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Offering flowers. </div>
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OK, now what?</div>
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Camera shy.</div>
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Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-4776085738163904962013-09-15T23:55:00.000+07:002013-09-16T13:58:00.615+07:00CNRP Demonstration v.2: Day 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Flashing '7' at Freedom Park</i></div>
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Today was <a href="http://www.phnompenhpost.com/video/tens-thousands-take-streets" target="_blank">the first day of the CNRP's planned multi-day mass demonstration</a> protesting the election results, demanding justice and an independent investigation of the election results. The demonstration in Phnom Penh was based out of Freedom Park, but unlike the previous demonstration, Freedom Park was set up for a multi-day event with people staying the night, and protestors marched outside the Freedom Park area. In my estimation there were at least 25,000 people in the Freedom Park area midday today, perhaps significantly more, and more protestors were on the riverfront and in other areas.<br />
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Police presence around the city was much heavier today than it was for the last demonstration. Roads were blocked with concertina wire blockades across town making travel difficult, and PMs (gendarmes) and riot police in full gear were visibly out in significant force. There was at least one violent confrontation between police and protestors during the day today, taking place on the riverfront (Sisowath Quay) in front of Wat Ounalom. Protestors broke through street barricades and <a href="http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/smoke-grenades-fired-protesters" target="_blank">police fired smoke grenades</a> and shot water cannons to drive protestors back. <br />
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A few photos from today:<br />
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Crowd cheers speaker at Freedom Park. </div>
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In the days before the protest was to begin, the CNRP prepared Freedom Park for protests and for overnight campers, erecting tent roofs along the sides, taping off walkways through the park, bringing in bottled water, etc. This video of Freedom Park was taken in the mid-late afternoon, the day before the protest.<br />
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This video was taken at Freedom Park during the afternoon today, standing in about the same place as I did for the video above that I took yesterday. Unfortunately I seem to have rotated the opposite direction.<br />
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Protestors at Freedom Park, mid-afternoon.<br />
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Some shops, especially those near the Freedom Park area and on the riverfront, remained closed and barred in anticipation of possible violence.</div>
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Meanwhile down at the riverfront, things weren't going quite as peacefully. There had been a stand-off between police and protestors for much of the afternoon. Earlier the police had fired smoke grenades and water cannons to disperse protestors, but the stand-off continued. Here demonstrators carry street barricades and throw them in the river.<br />
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One of the demonstrators pointed out this (spent?) smoke grenade sitting on the ground amongst the protestors, fired earlier by the police. He made it a point to tell me "it is from Vietnam," which, upon inspection of the label, it clearly was. <br />
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Onlookers climb the Techo statue on the riverfront to get a better view of the standoff between protestors and the police. <br />
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Riot police stand the line on Sisowath Quay near the FCC, several deep, ready to confront protestors that they are facing. Behind them are several ranks of PMs, waiting to back them up.<br />
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The standoff.</div>
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Protestors facing police from the other side of the barbed wire barricade. In an amazing display of non-violent protest technique, as the protestors grew angrier and closer to the barbwire yelling at the police, protest organizers linked arms in front of the protestors and gently (and successfully) ushered them back away from the barbed wire line and confrontation, calming them a bit as well. <br />
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On the riverfront, speaking though a megaphone at the police.</div>
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Sam Rainsy arrives on the riverfront and manages to calm his people and get the police to relax and remove the barricade, essentially diffusing the stand-off. <br />
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At Freedom Park, around 8:00PM. Most of the protestors from Phnom Penh had gone home, leaving the Park mostly empty. A couple/few thousand people, most from the countryside, remained and will spend the night at the Park. It was drizzling a bit when I was there and people clustered under the tented areas, eating dinner and socializing. Some, including this fellow, were working hard to keep political spirits high.<br />
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Food vendor and tent at Freedom Park.</div>
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Ready for the night in Freedom Park. </div>
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Breaking news from the late evening today: There are reliable reports that a protestor was killed and others wounded this evening in a confrontation with police at the Kbal Thnal overpass in southern Phnom Penh. </div>
Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-85154511777169853402013-09-08T23:00:00.000+07:002013-09-11T21:18:25.529+07:00CNRP Demonstration: September 7<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Monks arriving to participate in the prayer ceremony. </i></div>
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Yesterday the CNRP held the first of its long-anticipated "mass demonstrations" in Phnom Penh.<br />
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Post-election opposition demonstrations were considered likely even before the elections, and after the close election results and reports of widespread irregularities, many assumed demonstrations to be imminent and inevitable. Yet the movement toward full fledged demonstrations has been slower and more measured than many expected.<br />
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On <a href="http://ltocambodia.blogspot.com/2013/08/sam-rainsy-at-freedom-park.html" target="_blank">August 6 CNRP held its first large post-election gathering</a> in Phnom Penh, referring to it not as a 'demonstration,' but as a thanks to supporters and a rally to announce the post-election state of affairs. It was held at Freedom Park and, on my observation, drew around 10,000 people. (<i>The Cambodia Daily</i> put the number at '<a href="http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/rainsy-says-large-demonstrations-await-unless-cpp-concedes-38534/" target="_blank">more than 5000</a>.') In the following weeks, as negotiations and posturing between the parties continued and <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/riot-09012013184635.html" target="_blank">the police</a> and <a href="http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/armed-units-deployed-0" target="_blank">military</a> put on a display of readying for trouble, speculation ran rife about when and if and what kind of demonstrations there might be. <br />
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Three weeks later, on August 26 CNRP held its second mass gathering at Freedom Park, again not calling it a 'demonstration,' but a 'meeting' to inform their supporters of the state of negotiations and seek input on what to do next. Like all previous CNRP events, the mood and tone was largely positive and enthusiastic. Prior to the gathering there had been speculation that CNRP might be losing momentum in the lengthening delay to action, but this rally clearly drew more than the previous one. In my observation at least 15,000 people attended. <i>(The Cambodia Daily</i> and <i>The Phnom Penh Post</i> put it at '<a href="http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/cnrp-sets-two-week-deadline-for-demonstration-40900/" target="_blank">more than 10,000</a>.') If the attendance numbers are any indication, CNRP was at the very least maintaining momentum.<br />
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Last week, in face of an impasse in negotiations over the investigation into allegations of election irregularities, the <a href="http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/cnrp-sets-date-for-mass-protests-against-election-results-41253/" target="_blank">CNRP finally set a date</a> for its first 'mass demonstration' - Freedom Park, 7AM-11AM Saturday morning, September 7, the day before <a href="http://au.news.yahoo.com/latest/a/-/latest/18831305/cambodian-election-officials-declare-hun-sen-as-the-official-winner-of-the-july-poll/" target="_blank">the NEC was scheduled to release the official election results</a>. The announcement was met with keen anticipation by approving supporters and a tense public.<br />
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In a surprising move a few days later, Sam Rainsy announced what seemed to be a fundamental change in the nature of the demonstration, saying that it was to be held <a href="http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/cnrp-pray-in-gets-backing-from-opposition-supporters-41613/" target="_blank">in the spirit of prayer, meditation and non-violence</a>, a Gandhian affair of sorts. Some CNRP supporters expressed confusion and frustration over the announcement, perhaps deflating expectations some. <br />
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In the lead up to the demonstration <a href="http://www.voacambodia.com/content/cambodian-opposition-learns-non-violent-protest-tactics/1743446.html" target="_blank">CNRP held training sessions</a> at Freedom Park, teaching participants the techniques of non-violent protest. The Ministry of Interior issued basic regulations for the demonstration including capping attendance at 10,000. The CNRP stated that it expected <a href="http://www.voacambodia.com/content/twenty-thousands-expected-to-gather-saturday-in-election-protest/1744683.html" target="_blank">at least 20,000</a>. In the days immediately before the planned demonstration <a href="http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/checkpoints-encircle-city-ahead-of-demonstration-41816/" target="_blank">the government set up checkpoints on the main thoroughfares into the city</a> from the countryside, barring travel to Phnom Penh for people suspected of coming to join the demonstration.<br />
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The day of the demonstration, early Saturday morning before it began, the police were already out in force, easily quadruple their unusual numbers, stationed around town, especially in sensitive areas. Crowd control barricades were piled streetside at the ready and riot police in full gear stood in groups with the usual traffic police and Gendarmerie. Water cannon firetrucks were parked strategically just off the main road though town (Norodom Blvd.)<br />
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Road traffic that morning was light. The markets were very slow with fewer vendors and customers. The city braced.<br />
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The demonstration came off without a hitch, without serious incident, much as advertised. <br />
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The event was very well organized. Bottled water, bread, slogan emblazoned headbands, stickers and lotus flowers were available for all participants. A medical station was set up and medics patrolled the edges of the park. Organizers helped direct and control the crowd. Walking paths and exits were taped off throughout the park.<br />
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At least within sight of the demonstration area, police presence was minimal and occupied primarily with traffic control.<br />
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By 7:15AM there were at least a thousand people in the park. Organizers distributed headbands and stickers through the crowd. People did not arrive in droves but in a continuous steady stream. By 8:30AM at least 5-6000 people were in the park and nearby side streets.<br />
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Well more than a dozen "Human Rights Observers," some identifiable by their blue shirts, presumably from the UN, CCHR and other NGOs, roamed around and through the crowds. I also noticed 4 or 5 foreigners in the crowd, participating in the demonstration. <br />
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Participants carried lotus flowers and flags and hand-drawn placards repeating the same 5 or 6 themes verbatim, most in both Khmer and English, including: "My Vote, My Life"; "My Vote, My Nation"; "Where is my vote?"; "There is Justice, There is Peace" and "We need an independent truth committee." <br />
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Like all previous CNRP rallies I have attended, the mood was positive and welcoming, though perhaps comparatively a bit toned down. The crowds were well behaved and orderly. As I wandered the park people seemed particularly interested in being photographed with their bilingual placards and eager to talk about their political complaints and desires. Similar themes were repeated in my brief discussions with different protestors: 'the election was a cheat, Vietnam and China are eating up Cambodia, people are still poor, Hun Sen needs to step down, Cambodia/CNRP needs help from America/UN.' Also, more than one protestor offered unsolicited reasons for what appeared to be the comparatively low turnout at the demonstration, citing countryside checkpoints and fear generated by the heavy police presence in the city.<br />
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Sam Rainsy arrived shortly after 8:00AM, <a href="http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/huge-crowds-few-police-at-opposition-cnrp-rally-41845/" target="_blank">spoke and prayed and spoke some more</a>. Crowd numbers reached their peak over the next hour and a half, achieving about the same density and area coverage as the August 6 rally. The crowds never covered as much area nor were as dense as the August 26 rally. For some reason, crowd estimates have varied widely, but in my direct observation, <i>if the crowd size estimates of the previous rallies as stated above are correct and can be used as a benchmark</i>, there were approximately 10-15,000 people present at the peak of yesterday's rally, give or take a few thousand. <br />
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Almost as soon as Sam Rainsy finished speaking at around 10AM the crowds began to thin quickly, probably partly a result of the intense sun and rising temperatures. It was an exceptionally hot and sunny morning. Many sought refuge from the sun under trees and in the shadows of nearby buildings.<br />
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During the later half of the demonstration dozens of protestors gathered along the Norodom Blvd Naga Bridge at the back of Freedom Park, cheering and waving to passing cars and motos, snarling traffic a bit and garnering some supportive responses.<br />
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By 11:45AM the crowd was down to a few hundred enthusiastic supporters clustered near the stage. Music and rally cheers continued, people danced, and the protest took on tone of a party as the remaining crowd slowly melted away. The riot police that had been positioned around town could be seen packing up their equipment and leaving their posts by mid-afternoon.<br />
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Immediate reaction to the demonstration has been mixed, some questioning its effectiveness, others citing it as a new approach and part of a long term strategy. Reporting on the event, the <i>Wall Street Journal</i> noted that some analysts say "<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323623304579060510373980496.html" target="_blank">the demonstration points to rising momentum for the (CNRP)</a>", but this does not seem supported by numbers. The CNRP called for a "mass demonstration," urging its supporters to turn out in numbers. Yet the turnout was probably lower and was certainly no greater than the last CNRP rally, falling short of the <a href="http://www.voacambodia.com/content/twenty-thousands-expected-to-gather-saturday-in-election-protest/1744683.html" target="_blank">party's stated expectations</a>. While this does not necessarily indicate a loss of momentum, neither does it point at a "rising momentum," but rather, at best, leaves open the question 'Is the CNRP maintaining momentum?' And it will likely remain open at least until the next demonstration, when and if there is one. <br />
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Offering free lotus flowers to supporters arriving at the demonstration area.</div>
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An oft repeated theme. </div>
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Joining the prayer.</div>
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From the back of the crowd during Sam Rainsy's talk.</div>
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One of many who asked me to photograph him with his protest placard. </div>
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The after party.</div>
Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-80633271732934224212013-08-27T04:40:00.000+07:002013-08-27T05:05:10.487+07:00CNRP Mass Meeting 26/8/13<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaYhm0y_y5vJe4rhTGVR7vz6jWPiZylfZs754_E6R_kU3gPqGY_WczreY6chfuf9u8037_kwug6iVngqtKpRJa3ls7EAZ6w1ByWib_a3FYvrTmQ7WT4PzhRftv14kPpqEamEuONVPsJZ8/s1600/LTOcnrpmeet268.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaYhm0y_y5vJe4rhTGVR7vz6jWPiZylfZs754_E6R_kU3gPqGY_WczreY6chfuf9u8037_kwug6iVngqtKpRJa3ls7EAZ6w1ByWib_a3FYvrTmQ7WT4PzhRftv14kPpqEamEuONVPsJZ8/s400/LTOcnrpmeet268.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-19904926814277105962013-08-12T04:47:00.000+07:002013-08-12T05:24:46.042+07:00Balance B<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT7333zbl5As2RBLK-tyPEUEw20gx-pvgV5sAT9OXhqSCfS589NE7uy-g1G83XYFu8uBnD4-hdcUz-WfN7YBaBVSezzuMLVY30Ebb8vZwE_Vtv5TIWIrVwCDJJFNXMfbshaTbozDkn_mg/s1600/LTObuddhacluster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT7333zbl5As2RBLK-tyPEUEw20gx-pvgV5sAT9OXhqSCfS589NE7uy-g1G83XYFu8uBnD4-hdcUz-WfN7YBaBVSezzuMLVY30Ebb8vZwE_Vtv5TIWIrVwCDJJFNXMfbshaTbozDkn_mg/s640/LTObuddhacluster.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Symmetry enough</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Buddha shrine within vihear of the pagoda next to the ruins of Bakong, Roluos Group, Siem Reap, Cambodia Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-180596205384295402013-08-06T23:20:00.000+07:002013-08-07T02:59:59.374+07:00Sam Rainsy at Freedom Park<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvc_geNtiqflWYb-7hJicL01fXAtaDOj4Zcy21A6aMeVHMKYxZTKEup9eQdq-edXQdXcWjqPkf3kNKnxT_EA2OQpBGHDZ0UKnj5fmCybXJRti5Fd9AzPTonkhgj3AI6fVEBR0dGmovkTE/s1600/LTOcnrp86rallyclap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvc_geNtiqflWYb-7hJicL01fXAtaDOj4Zcy21A6aMeVHMKYxZTKEup9eQdq-edXQdXcWjqPkf3kNKnxT_EA2OQpBGHDZ0UKnj5fmCybXJRti5Fd9AzPTonkhgj3AI6fVEBR0dGmovkTE/s400/LTOcnrp86rallyclap.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The CNRP (Cambodia National Rescue Party) held a large gathering today at the Freedom Park in Phnom Penh with Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha in attendance. This was the largest gathering of the CNRP in Phnom Penh since the pre-election campaign period. In the lead up to the gathering it was variously referred to as <a href="http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rainsy-calls-mass-rally" target="_blank">a meeting, a rally</a>, a <a href="https://twitter.com/ritthyou/status/364649128053051392" target="_blank">gathering to express gratitude</a> and <a href="http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE9750K120130806" target="_blank">a protest</a> by various sources. At least some of the international press seems to have settled on the word 'protest,' but to me it felt far less like a protest than a rally of sorts, with an atmosphere akin to a campaign event. Though there was plenty of party regalia in evidence (flags, stickers, hats, etc.) there were no protest chants, signs or placards. Both Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha spoke, thanking their supporters and making various points about the party platform, the election, the alleged election irregularities, and the party's complaints, intentions and plans for protests, etc. Articles in the international press (<a href="http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE9750K120130806" target="_blank">link</a>, <a href="http://www.voacambodia.com/content/opposition-officially-rejects-election-results/1724551.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter" target="_blank">link</a>, <a href="http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/protest-08062013135854.html" target="_blank">link</a>) have done a better job of explaining what was said than I could do here. Reported estimates of the crowd size varies between varies between 5000 and 15,000. It would be difficult for me to give an accurate estimate from my vantage within the crowd, but it was likely closer to the middle/upper end of the reported estimates. The atmosphere, like all CNRP events that I have attended to date, was happy, positive and energetic, though perhaps somewhat less exuberant than the campaign period. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/rwO1F86fJRk" width="480"></iframe>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha arrive at the rally.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHcr5kjHMznJCCEgoaZM51BToPCs7FIPKJ_5Kwa57B7AY-1KOPPNea_cCaAeMQ8BQXVTjAvDR9DitLy9KhIQVS8mEXCJkBJ8tLocqjPqGu6YZWqnLcFTLNoLLKXceTs6g-_NLjrs6MPmU/s1600/LTOcnrp86rallysr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHcr5kjHMznJCCEgoaZM51BToPCs7FIPKJ_5Kwa57B7AY-1KOPPNea_cCaAeMQ8BQXVTjAvDR9DitLy9KhIQVS8mEXCJkBJ8tLocqjPqGu6YZWqnLcFTLNoLLKXceTs6g-_NLjrs6MPmU/s400/LTOcnrp86rallysr.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Kem Sokha and Sam Rainsy</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDcyTB8Bbq6VDwvXNKoiiDDgGMDG7zGgTS20MzOmsj3MFm1UNbUZR1p3oEJgjDccqc6xVC5sEwZ_0FcFeZ5z7AgWkRxEcDN9durt0s6vF4KBqyR1Nkn17lKGvAPU7T_Y9LY2FupsyJdnU/s1600/LTOcnrp86rallycrowd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDcyTB8Bbq6VDwvXNKoiiDDgGMDG7zGgTS20MzOmsj3MFm1UNbUZR1p3oEJgjDccqc6xVC5sEwZ_0FcFeZ5z7AgWkRxEcDN9durt0s6vF4KBqyR1Nkn17lKGvAPU7T_Y9LY2FupsyJdnU/s400/LTOcnrp86rallycrowd.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The crowd</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcTuu9rxN9ryT0ZBjoka6Q0XZUjILc3Z6qN4Y_nSEyucp6I2HUZUP3yPpxLRcSBzONvl0kF-zllmMknwKAnbJLoeVnCViGRN-MBbryezaQdKOJ-GjbsyoPvZ1zf0QIMrqrNCu40A0dv9I/s1600/LTOcnrp86rallystand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcTuu9rxN9ryT0ZBjoka6Q0XZUjILc3Z6qN4Y_nSEyucp6I2HUZUP3yPpxLRcSBzONvl0kF-zllmMknwKAnbJLoeVnCViGRN-MBbryezaQdKOJ-GjbsyoPvZ1zf0QIMrqrNCu40A0dv9I/s400/LTOcnrp86rallystand.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
At the back of the crowd</div>
Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-82978004471261588702013-08-03T04:14:00.000+07:002013-08-16T04:20:41.743+07:00Dreamt of a dead friend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A hard man to like.<br />
<br />
Career soldier (Brit) and mercenary, retired. Veteran of the Malayan emergency. Did some work in Africa too. Lived in Singapore for years. A fat, alky, chain-smoking whoremonger and a teller of good stories. We lived in Sihanoukville for a few years back in the mid-90s when the wars were still on and there were but a few barang in the province.<br />
<br />
We'd sit streetside at the town's number 1 brothel (Victoria), drink beer and talk shit. The taxigirls would tease me over hanging with the old man, calling him 'your father Chris.' (Actually, that began in 96. I had been working in the countryside for a couple of weeks and was in town for the weekend. Apparently it was a slow night at the brothel and a couple of the girls called me to come hang out and drink. I told them I couldn't because I was watching movies with Chris at his house that night. They said, "oh, you do whatever he tells you to. He your father?" Forever after that he was 'your father Chris.') <br />
<br />
Anyway, he loved bird watching (real birds) and history books and old guns. He had a French MAT-49 he bought in Vietnam mounted on the wall of his bar in Sihanoukville that I don't think anybody knew was fully functional. I taught him how to use computer and helped him write letters to his aging mum back in England. He'd tell me how great Lee Kwan Yew was and I'd argue Singapore lacked civil rights. Drove him mad, those human rights arguments. He'd call me every few nights (when the phones were working) and say "Come drink with me you Commie bastard." And I usually would.<br />
<br />
He introduced me to the Hash House Harriers and the quaint colonial tradition of mixing exercise with chugging beer. He got into petty wars with just about every other barang in town. But not me. Me he treated like a son.<br />
<br />
A codger when he died suddenly back in July 2003, somebody sent me the news by email in Prey Veng where I was working the election. It threw me. I didn't see him those last few years before he died. He had moved to Chiang Mai. He never met my daughter. I wish he had. Meant to take her up there to show him, but somehow never got around to it. <br />
<br />
The other night I dreamed I was in front of Monument Books in Phnom Penh, looked over and there he was on the ground doing sit-ups as part of a drinking game, cigarette hanging out of his mouth per usual. He saw me, jumped up, ran to me calling my name, smiling as he rarely would, and threw his arms around me. We hugged. (We never hugged in real life.) Arms still around each other I looked up at his face, overwhelmed with emotion and said, "But you’re dead." He looked confused. I said "in 94." He looked up as if he was trying to remember. I started to cry and said, "or in 97 or 98." I couldn't remember. I recalled talking to him on the phone from Phnom Penh during the fighting of July 97, unable to hear him for the noise of machine guns and tank fire down the street. 'It couldn't be 97' I thought, looking up at him again, tears streaming down both of our faces, him smiling but looking confused.<br />
<br />
And then I woke up, face wet, alone here in my hotel room in Prey Veng.<br />
<br />
RIP my friend. Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-65415932281295657152013-08-01T16:15:00.002+07:002013-08-03T04:14:39.521+07:00The Rumor MillThe post-election rumor mill is in full swing in Cambodia, most, probably the vast majority easily proven untrue on even a little investigation. Some of the rumors are unconfirmable either way. This is nothing new to Cambodian elections. Rumor mongering has been a major part of the Cambodian election environment since the first elections in 1993. Clearly, such rumors are often designed to be manipulative and can contribute to an atmosphere of fear and anger and sometimes lead to violence. False rumors of soup poisoning during the 1998 post-election demonstrations probably contributed to some of the anti-Vietnamese violence that occurred. In 2003, I complained to several Cambodians about the sheer volume of obviously suspect rumors, asking, somewhat rhetorically, of some of my more educated Cambodia friends "why would you believe this garbage?" One man explained by saying “It’s all we have.” Given the state's tight control on Khmer language media, I had to admit he had a point. Information vacuums are breeding grounds for stuff like this.<br />
<br />
The following are some rumors heard and collected before and after the 1998, 2003 and 2008 elections. Many of the same rumors were told during different elections, sometimes with little or no variation. <b>NONE of these rumors are from the current election</b>, though you will probably find that some of these old rumors are being recirculated in various forms this election. <br />
<br />
I repeat, <b><span style="color: red;">NONE of these rumors are from the current election</span> and most if not all are UNTRUE. DO NOT pass them on.</b><br />
<br />
<u>Chea Sim and a split in the party</u><br />
<br />
There is currently a very serious split between Hun Sen and Chea Sim. (1998)<br />
<br />
There is currently a very serious split between Hun Sen and Chea Sim. The Hun Sen faction is trying to identify potentially disloyal military commanders and local officials. (2003) <br />
<br />
There is a very serious split between Hun Sen and Chea Sim. (2008)<br />
<br />
The USA backs the Chea Sim faction of the CPP. (2003)<br />
<br />
The CPP Steering Committee held a secret meeting last week in which they voted 80 to 23 in favor of making Chea Sim Prime Minister. (2003)<br />
<br />
<u>Demonstrations and security</u><br />
<br />
Opposition activists were part of the pro-CPP demonstration in Phnom Penh. The opposition activists committed some of the violence that occurred in order to make the CPP look bad. (1998) <br />
<br />
There will be simultaneous demonstrations by the CPP and the losing parties in Phnom Penh, perhaps prompting fighting and riots. (2003)<br />
<br />
There will be demonstrations and perhaps riots in Phnom Penh on and after August 8th, the beginning coinciding with the announcement of the election results. (2003)<br />
<br />
There will be demonstrations in Phnom Penh on or around August 15th. (2003)<br />
<br />
There will be demonstrations in Phnom Penh on or around October 15th. (2003)<br />
<br />
The CPP was arranging to employ people in Svay Rieng to act as demonstrators in new demonstrations (possibly anti-American and/or pro-election) in Phnom Penh. (2003)<br />
<br />
Opposition candidates and officers are quietly sneaking out of the country using overland routes to Thailand. (2003)<br />
<br />
The police are preparing to arrest all FCP candidates, officers and activists. (1998, 2003)<br />
<br />
Unexplained and seemingly random arrests of common people such as moto and cyclo drivers are occurring in Phnom Penh. (1998, 2003) <br />
<br />
A travel permit system is being created and will be implemented in the near future. Its purpose will be to control and limit inter-provincial travel. (2003)<br />
<br />
A new ID card or Family Book system is going to be implemented country wide. (2003)<br />
<br />
<u>Hun Sen</u><br />
<br />
Hun Sen’s recent “very cruel” actions can be explained by his addiction to opium. He smokes it all the time in specially made cigarettes. Everybody has seen him smoke during his TV interviews. His driver says that he smokes two of these cigarettes on the drive between Takamao and Phnom Penh. (2003)<br />
<br />
During the crackdown, some students and monks were fed to and eaten alive by crocodiles at Takmao. The people that live near Takmao could hear the screams. Two bags of heads (which the crocodiles could not or did not want to eat) were disposed of elsewhere. (1998)<br />
<br />
Under pressure from recent events, Hun Sen is on an opium smoking binge. You can tell by his black lower lip. When he is binging like this he becomes very unpredictable. (1998, 2003, 2008)<br />
<br />
<u>Rumors of war</u> <br />
<br />
There has been a buildup of military and police in Preah Sdach and other areas of the Prey Veng province.(2003)<br />
<br />
Regular military has been moved closer to Phnom Penh. (1998, 2003)<br />
<br />
Neak Bun Chhay has gone to Battambang to recruit FCP soldiers. (1998)<br />
<br />
The military, particularly the MPs, are preparing for something big, perhaps a move on Phnom Penh. They now have a list of opposition people who will be rounded up if something happens. (2003)<br />
<br />
Phnom Penh is being secretly surrounded by soldiers and MPs. (2003, 2008)<br />
<br />
Military forces have been concentrated around Phnom Penh in order to defend the city from opposition forces. (1998, 2003)<br />
<br />
Neak Bun Chhay and Serey Kosal are planning to lead several western provinces in secession from the country. (1998)<br />
<br />
A plane dropped leaflets over Battambang that call for Prince Ranariddh to be removed from the head of FUNCINPEC. The leaflet purports to be from elements within FUNCINPEC, but people speculate that it is part of a CPP plot to sow division in FUNCINPEC. (1998)<br />
<br />
<u>The US and rumors of foreign involvement</u><br />
<br />
The US Congress has declared Hun Sen a war criminal. Congress is now waiting for the President to ratify the bill. (1998)<br />
<br />
US warships and planes are preparing to attack Phnom Penh and arrest Hun Sen. (1998)<br />
<br />
The USA is preparing to assist Gen. Neak Bun Chhay in a military offensive against Phnom Penh. (1998)<br />
<br />
If the US declares Hun Sen a war criminal, all SRP activists and US Observers will be arrested and possibly killed. (2003)<br />
<br />
If the negotiations in Siem Reap fail, all SRP activists and US Observers will be arrested and possibly killed. (2003)<br />
<br />
If FCP and CPP come to an agreement in Siem Reap, all SRP activists will be arrested and possibly killed. (2003)<br />
<br />
If the US declares Hun Sen a war criminal, Hun Sen will split the country militarily and set up an autonomous zone in the eastern provinces. (1998)<br />
<br />
The US is sending an aircraft carrier to the region to help defend the SRP when SRP wins the election. (1998, 2003)<br />
<br />
The US will attack Cambodia and oust Hun Sen if SRP loses. (2003, 2008)<br />
<br />
<u>Before the vote</u><br />
<br />
Vietnamese are immigrating to Cambodia in
much greater numbers in order to participate in the elections
and vote for the CPP. (1998, 2003, 2008)<br />
<br />
Village chiefs will organize people to ‘telegraph’ vote on Election Day. (2003)<br />
<br />
Ballot boxes have been copied and will be used to replace the real ballot boxes when they are transported from the polling station to the counting center. (2003)<br />
<br />
Blank ballots have been stolen from the printer by the CPP. Somebody inside the NEC has revealed the ballot stamps to the CPP. The CPP has already stamped and marked all of the ballots. Village chiefs will distribute the marked ballots to people on the night of July 26th. People will sneak the pre-marked ballot into the polling station, exchange it for the real ballot and drop the pre-marked ballot in the ballot box. (2003)<br />
<br />
The CECs have received instruction to pre-mark the ballots for the ruling party. (2003, 2008)<br />
<br />
<u>The Vietnamese</u><br />
<br />
Vietnamese are immigrating to Cambodia, particularly in Prey Veng, in much greater numbers this month in order to participate in the elections and vote for the CPP. They are settling in Pear Ro and Peam Chor districts. (2003) <br />
<br />
Vietnam have moved artillery to the border area opposite Preah Sdach and aimed it into Cambodia. (2003)<br />
<br />
The Vietnamese army has moved up to the border. (1998, 2003, 2008)<br />
<br />
Vietnamese are serving poison soup at the market to try to kill Khmers. (1998)<br />
<br />
Vietnamese are infiltrating into Cambodia for unknown purposes, perhaps to act as soldiers in hiding in preparation to support the CPP militarily in case of war, perhaps to dig wells for the CPP. (1998, 2003)<br />
<br />
There is an underground force of ethic-Vietnamese police and soldiers, disguised as common people, who will be called on by Hun Sen if war breaks out. (1998, 2003)<br />
<br />
Uniformed Vietnamese troops were seen in Battambang province over a month ago. (2003)<br />
<br />
Uniformed Vietnamese troops were seen in hiding south of Phnom Penh. (2008)<br />
<br />
Vietnamese troops are in Hun Sen’s compound at Takmao preparing to defend the CPP in case of war. (2003)<br />
<br />
Vietnam is poised to attack Cambodia along the Prey Veng and Svay Rieng borders. (1998, 2003)<br />
<br />
Vietnam will invade if there is any violence against the ethnic-Vietnamese in Cambodia. (2003)<br />
<br />
Vietnamese voters were issued two, three, and sometimes as many ballots as they asked for at polling stations in Prey Veng. (2003, 2008)<br />
<br />
Vietnamese in Preah Sdach district have been taunting Khmers, saying, ‘now your party loses, we win, you won’t get a seat.’ (2003)<br />
<br />
There has been a sudden influx of illegal Vietnamese into the country, as the illegal Vietnamese already in Cambodia call their friends and relatives to come join them now that the CPP has won. (2003)Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-48068491704160818502013-07-31T00:59:00.000+07:002013-08-02T03:30:44.115+07:00Election Day: Notes<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimwMGEmyGos9rX98k7evgY92qNgkfwHomBmlPIMNzWNy5ibjcpnxqUQpzAotkORwEneBmSuGh3REWp9y3am1uxhbP0qdKtmgguVmDpPT8swVmwiPQhwHqzGVpSTyi0xIMR8R9UAgeW6Ok/s1600/LTOedrpt2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimwMGEmyGos9rX98k7evgY92qNgkfwHomBmlPIMNzWNy5ibjcpnxqUQpzAotkORwEneBmSuGh3REWp9y3am1uxhbP0qdKtmgguVmDpPT8swVmwiPQhwHqzGVpSTyi0xIMR8R9UAgeW6Ok/s400/LTOedrpt2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Polling station, Prey Veng province, polling day, about 10:00AM</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The following are some notes from my experiences on election day, July 28. I was in Prey Veng province for election day, based out of Prey Veng city in the heart of the province. On election day I visited about 25 different polling stations, all but 3 located in the countryside outside the city (districts Ba Phnom, Kampong Leav, Preah Sdach, Kamchay Meas and Pea Rieng.) At several locations 2 or 3 polling stations were grouped closely together, usually in different classrooms in the same school building complex. I spent more time at some stations than others, but usually averaging only about 10 minutes each. I spent more than an hour at the opening station and 2 hours at the closing station (including counting.) These observations are those of only one individual and extremely limited in scope, and therefore should not be taken as representative or generalized to the overall election day environment. On a personal note: I have extensive technical election observation experience and a fairly good knowledge of Cambodian polling procedures.<br />
<br />
<u>Opening</u><br />
<br />
Polling stations opened at 7:00AM.<br />
<br />
I arrived at my first polling station at 6:30AM, a half hour before opening. It was part of a cluster of three stations located within 50 meters of each other in a pagoda/school complex located in the rural commune of Baray about 5kn from Prey Veng city. Polling staff were present at all of the stations and all stations had been set up before I arrived. There were also party observers and some non-party election observers at all three stations. There were no lines of voters at any of the stations, just a few people lingering around the registration lists check for their names. At the one station where I observed the pre-opening and opening procedures, the station chairman called all observers to inspect that the ballot box was empty before closing it and applying a ziplock seal which he again invited the observers to inspect. The first voter arrived alone, was a middle aged woman, used an ICE form as identification and voted seemingly without a hitch. Voters did not begin to arrive in numbers until about 7:15AM.<br />
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See '<a href="http://ltocambodia.blogspot.com/2013/07/election-day-morning.html" target="_blank">Election Day: Morning</a>' for more photos and notes. <br />
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<u>Atmosphere and general observations</u><br />
<br />
The weather was good – partially sunny, moderately warm, no rain. As the weather had been fair over the few days before the election, most roads, even in the deep countryside, were dry and passable.<br />
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I witnessed no serious tension or incidents. The atmosphere was light, but not quite the party-like atmosphere of previous Cambodian elections I have observed.<br />
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Unlike previous elections, there were polling staff stationed at the registration lists to assist people find their names.<br />
<br />
There appeared to be many more young people (under 30) voting than I have seen at previous elections.<br />
<br />
I ran across CEC officials at three different sites, inspecting the station operation and situation. <br />
<br />
All election officials I met this day - CEC, PEC and polling station staff - were, at least to me, open and helpful, taking time to answer my questions and giving me as much access they could within the rules. <br />
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<u>Irregularities, anomalies</u><br />
<br />
I noticed many people using ICE forms for identification. I saw ICE forms being used in both the morning and afternoon. In most cases the people bearing ICE forms were young people. I asked 6 or 7 of the ICE form users why they were using the form instead of a regular ID. All but one said that they have only a family book as ID but there is only one family book for the whole family, yet there are several people of voting age in their family. So rather than pass the family book around between everybody, they got the ICE forms to have individual IDs for voting. The one with a different story said that he lost his ID on his frequent travels between Phnom Penh and Prey Veng. None of the people I spoke to told me how they voted, nor did I ask. But 3 of them spoke in terms of “change…giving power to the people…not being afraid to stand up,” vocabulary ordinarily associated with the opposition party .<br />
<br />
I saw what appeared to be the village chief (perhaps two) linger near the polling station. In neither case was he disturbing or talking to voters, just watching.<br />
<br />
I witnessed three instances of people who thought they were registered, expected to find their names on the registration list, but were unable to find their names and left without voting. All were disappointed, but none protested strongly.<br />
<br />
I witnessed two instances of people being refused the right to vote for lack of proper identification. In both cases, the voter had only a photocopy of their ID.<br />
<br />
I saw one instance of somebody being allowed to vote using only a photocopy ID. <br />
<br />
I saw two instances of security being slightly within the exclusion perimeter, but it seemed to be largely due to trying to find shade fromthe hot sun.<br />
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On the day prior to election day I visited 10 polling station at four different sites. Polling staff and security were present at 3 of the stations. At all but one of the other sites the stations were locked and secure and security was present. At one site with two stations, the station was locked and secured, but neither the polling station staff nor security were present. <br />
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<u>Turnout</u><br />
<br />
Turnout appeared to be light. Unlike my observations of the elections in 1998 and 2003 there were no lines at the polling stations I observed prior to opening. It took until 15 minutes after opening before lines began to form. By early mid-morning some polling stations seemed to be moderately busy with a steady stream of voters coming though and lines of 20-30 people. Others were quite quiet, with no voters either inside or outside the station and the staff reporting less than 30% turnout at 10:30-11:00AM. At 11:00, one station chairman at a polling station in Prey Veng city said “If this were a business, we’d have to close for lack of customers." I asked the staff at a few stations why turnout was so low and they speculated that “they are farmers, they will come in the afternoon” and “they work in Phnom Penh and did not come back to vote.” After noon we visited at least a dozen more stations and every one was dead quiet with only the occasional voter coming though. The station I closed at the end of the day, which was also the first station I visited in the morning, reported approximately a 66% total turnout. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNoQL9UPP8AfgZAwP4hhoIkChyanxNW-L9lQSOgc-nXAuKCqqiABYeP1IbB8bmqOMbvp9Sv0hqfaljSrRXYLmCI1RqF3SUDImj9Sw0v3K7H-h-XTPN9Lug_CxXuQ33QWwa_5w49xcdRdw/s1600/LTOedrpt1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNoQL9UPP8AfgZAwP4hhoIkChyanxNW-L9lQSOgc-nXAuKCqqiABYeP1IbB8bmqOMbvp9Sv0hqfaljSrRXYLmCI1RqF3SUDImj9Sw0v3K7H-h-XTPN9Lug_CxXuQ33QWwa_5w49xcdRdw/s400/LTOedrpt1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Unfolding/stacking ballots in preparation for counting. Note observers with green IDs and staff with yellow IDs.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="http://ltocambodia.blogspot.com/2013/07/election-day-counting.html" target="_blank"><u>Closing and counting</u></a><br />
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See '<a href="http://ltocambodia.blogspot.com/2013/07/election-day-counting.html" target="_blank">Election day: Counting</a>' for more photos and notes.<br />
<br />
Polling stations closed at 3:00PM. Unlike previous elections, ballots were not packaged and transported to separate counting centers but were counted at the polling station immediately after voting closed. At 3:00PM when the polling station was closed, the ballot box was sealed and the polling station was converted into a counting station.<br />
<br />
I visited the same station for closing as I attended for opening that morning in Baray commune about 5km from Prey Veng city. In addition to the polling staff there were 4 observers present – 3 party observers (CPP, CNRP and unidentified) and one non-party observer (unidentified organization.)<br />
<br />
The station was closed promptly and ceremoniously at exactly 3:00PM. There were no voters in line. The chairman announced the closure, ordered the door closed and closed the slot on the ballot box herself. The chairman allowed me to observe the entire closing and counting process from within the station. <br />
<br />
The station staff carried out the closing and counting with well-rehearsed precision, struggling a bit only with the proper packaging of the voter materials and paperwork after the counting process was complete. At that point they referred repeatedly to the manual to try to get it correct. Unlike previous elections, nobody seemed to have any problems identifying, applying or removing any of the ziplock seals. <br />
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The counting process was carried out efficiently and transparently. Per procedure, as the ballots were counted the chairman read the ballot, announced the party number loudly and held up each ballot individually so that observers could see the ballot. The party observers stood behind the chairman and appeared to watch the ballots carefully. I stood further away and was not able to read the ballots. It appeared to me that the chairman was counting rather quickly at time, but the observers were still given the opportunities to see each ballot and could object or ask to see the ballot again at any time. The observers did ask to see ballots a second time on 4 or 5 occasions, especially when a party other than 4 or 7 was called. The chairman and observers also stopped to discuss spoiled ballots 2 or 3 times, but all questions seemed to be resolved to the satisfaction of the observers. <br />
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Two counters ticked off the votes as they were counted – one sat immediately opposite the chairman ticking votes on an official form and another stood at the front of the counting station ticking votes on a large pre-prepared sheet of paper that all present could view easily.<br />
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At the end of the counting the chairman completed her paperwork, prepared 1104 forms recording the results and provided 1104 forms to all of the observers and myself. The 1104 provided to me was complete except that the count was not totaled. <br />
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The chairman announced that the count was complete. Shortly thereafter the observers departed, but I remained and watch the rest of the process including the completion of the paperwork, the packaging of the paperwork and voter materials, the preparation of materials for transport to the CEC. I watched all of the materials secured to the back of a motorcycle. Motorcycles bearing the materials from the other two nearby stations arrived and the three waited for security escort. Within 5 minute two armed police with special election armbands arrived on motorcycle and escorted the group of three polling station motorcycles to the Commune Election Commission (CEC) collection point about 3 kilometers away. I followed the convoy to the CEC and watched them deliver their packages to the CEC.<br />
<br />
The results at my station were:<br />
Party 1 = 4<br />
Party 2 = 32<br />
Party 3 = 0<br />
Party 4 (CPP) = 230<br />
Party 5 = N/A<br />
Party 6 = 4<br />
Party 7 (CNRP) = 207<br />
Party 8 = 3<br />
Invalid ballots = 4<br />
<br />
Though I wasn’t present at the counting at the two nearby stations, reportedly at one station the CPP beat the CNRP by 15 votes and at the other station CNRP beat the CPP by 7. A very close vote.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw4Q-P06E8tkmnZoXzZLOJ7bVpFxViDAPouGnKDp4d2KooREhviGFb2NaGVxwOm_8W6cEO9HZx82CNX6LIeXJhiOP1L8VOPVAaMk6KNFV8dDjNrjPkWPP_sprmoMhJAjYjbscHppOQuZw/s1600/LTOedrpt3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw4Q-P06E8tkmnZoXzZLOJ7bVpFxViDAPouGnKDp4d2KooREhviGFb2NaGVxwOm_8W6cEO9HZx82CNX6LIeXJhiOP1L8VOPVAaMk6KNFV8dDjNrjPkWPP_sprmoMhJAjYjbscHppOQuZw/s400/LTOedrpt3.jpg" width="276" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Completed Form 1104 from counting station I attended</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-62538472087282740022013-07-28T23:15:00.000+07:002013-08-28T18:12:29.537+07:00Election Day: Counting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4o-BUXytErLNMH0r7pszgf16BA6JCNq1LyOBxUYjtvcrXX4a_afKUUld9VBVKOkBSp7qs4w9tFP-zgLAyvQ_vMKW3P3eiNrw-vTy7F8OdAfB7qky7NdXBiVznPoKQaCvghAWA9CybjMU/s1600/LTOpvcountcounter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4o-BUXytErLNMH0r7pszgf16BA6JCNq1LyOBxUYjtvcrXX4a_afKUUld9VBVKOkBSp7qs4w9tFP-zgLAyvQ_vMKW3P3eiNrw-vTy7F8OdAfB7qky7NdXBiVznPoKQaCvghAWA9CybjMU/s400/LTOpvcountcounter.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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The big board</div>
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The polling stations were open 7:00AM to 3:00PM. After closing they become counting stations where that ballots are tallied. Most of the polling stations I visited were busy in the morning and very slow in the afternoon. I stopped at several stations after lunch. All were quiet, with only the occasional voter wandering in.<br />
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At the end of the polling day I stopped at a station in Baray commune (Prey Veng), a rural area where the CPP ordinarily does well. The station was located in a school room near two other school room polling stations. I asked the chairman of the station if I might photograph the counting process from outside through one of the windows. She smiled slyly and said "Do you want to make sure I do my job right?" I told her that I wasn't checking her work but found the process interesting and thought other people might be interested in seeing photographs of it. She eyed me in half belief and said, "OK, you come in," politely but formally escorting me to the observer's table inside the station.<br />
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The station closed promptly at 3:00PM with the chairperson ceremoniously announcing the end of voting, ordering the station door closed and shutting the ballot box slot herself. The station staff then began to prepare for the count - sealing the ballot box, converting the polling station into a counting station, re-opening the ballot box and readying the ballots, then beginning the count. Local people lingered in the windows and doorway for the duration, watching the proceedings. At one point the chairman ordered the windows shut to minimize disturbances from the outside, but the room became too dark, so the windows were opened again and local people returned to watching from outside.<br />
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Today's count, with 'number 4' (CPP) and 'number 7' (CNRP) running neck-and-neck the whole time, was riveting. The first ballot was a 4. And so were the next two. Then one 7, followed by a few more 4s. And just as I was beginning to think that the traditional wisdom about the election might hold, there were a series of 7s that put 7 and 4 back within a few votes of each other. And so it was for the rest of the count - always close but CNRP never quite catching up, or at least never for long. The only thing that broke the flow was the rare, jarring number of some other party. In the end, number 4 won, but not by much - 230 to 207. The two nearby polling stations were even closer, with 4 winning by 15 votes at one station and 7 winning by 7 votes at the other. A stunning result for a CPP commune. <br />
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The following photos are something of a technical look at the process of closing the polling station, readying to count, counting, recording the count and preparing it for transfer to the Commune Election Commission (CEC). <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQbzE_pSYP-Vno9xvTTpO0FF4l8TJcipRqJeK3RBQ-iR4bvmCgOMqd4NgHz826q4QpphDSVzQ8A0O5IfhLZRhmehd6rD54_NxNZ_HzgOuK3iOm44ZLepbf6aYUIT2ct9TybUqa5nFszKU/s1600/LTOpvcountpollingstat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQbzE_pSYP-Vno9xvTTpO0FF4l8TJcipRqJeK3RBQ-iR4bvmCgOMqd4NgHz826q4QpphDSVzQ8A0O5IfhLZRhmehd6rD54_NxNZ_HzgOuK3iOm44ZLepbf6aYUIT2ct9TybUqa5nFszKU/s400/LTOpvcountpollingstat.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Polling station during the day.</div>
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At 3PM the chaiman declared an end to voting, ordered the door closed, and shut the slot cover on the top of the ballot box.<br />
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Taping formed to the top of the closed box.</div>
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The chairman completed and attached documents to the top of the box and and then puts a metal cap on the box.</div>
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Polling staff applies ziplocks to box. </div>
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Ballot box sealed. Party observers looking on. Note the green ID the observers wear. The polling staff where yellow IDs.(I saw party observers in every one of the more than two dozen stations polling stations I visited.)</div>
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The polling staff then rearranged the polling station into a counting station - moving tables, breaking down the equipment, securing the unused ballots and indelible ink, etc.</div>
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Two polling staff move the ballot box to the counting table and invite the observers to inspect the numbered ziplock seals.</div>
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Polling staff cut the numbered ziplock seals that had been applied just a few moments earlier at closing time. Observers look on.</div>
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Polling staff removes the final numbered ziplock seal that had been applied when the stationed opened in the morning.</div>
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The box top is removed and the ballots are dumped onto the counting table.</div>
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The ballot box set aside. The ballots sit unsorted on the counting table.<br />
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Unfolding and piling the ballots. </div>
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The ballots are unfolded and piled neatly in groups of 25. They are then counted and reconciled with the number of voters ticked off the registration and the number of leftover ballots.</div>
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The unused leftover ballots are rendered invalid by drive a spike through the bundle.</div>
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Counting. The chairman takes a ballot from the top of the pile, looks at it, reads the number aloud, and holds it up so that observers can see the ballot if they want. She then places the ballot in in the appropriate pile, sorted by party. Notice the observers behind and next to her. A couple calls were challenged by party observers, but were all resolved to everybody's agreement.</div>
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Counting. The process continues. Note the tallies being taking from the called numbers by two people. The guy in the blue is ticking off votes on an official form. The guy in the background is ticking off votes on the 'big board,' a hand drawn tally board that can be easily seen by all present in the counting station. Observers and staff look on very closely.</div>
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Counting. Showing the ballot. Note observers standing behind the chairman, watching the ballots as she called them </div>
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In the meantime, the staff disassemble and pack up the station equipment. This is a voter shield being packed up.<br />
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Completing post counting paperwork.</div>
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The ballots</div>
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Still completing post counting paperwork.</div>
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Completed Form 1104 with count results, distributed to all observers present.<br />
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Packing completed forms and materials into various envelopes. <br />
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Packing envelopes, forms and voter materials including ballots into various envelopes and plastic bags for transfer to CEC.This part of the process (envelopes and bags) probably generated more staff discussion, restarts, minor debate and checking of the written procedures than any other single part of the process.</div>
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Consulting the manual again, trying to get all the various forms, ballots and other election materials into the correct envelope/bag. </div>
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At this polling station the ballots, documents and equipment were loaded onto motorcycles for transport to the Commune Election Commission (CEC). Two more more ballot laden motorcycles from the nearby polling station joined this one and they were all escorted by armed guards to the CEC a few kilometers away.</div>
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The final count on the big board.</div>
<br />Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-92180449278072740242013-07-28T12:28:00.000+07:002013-08-02T03:03:31.986+07:00Election Day, morning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Inked.</div>
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Election day in Cambodia, Prey Veng province, July 28, 2013<br />
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Here’s a quick dump of a few photos from polling stations I visited this morning (before 11AM.) I visited about 17 polling stations at 8 different locations in Prey Veng province, most in the countryside outside the city. <br />
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Some stray notes:<br />
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I noticed that there are polling station staff assigned to assist people locate their names on the posted registration lists. There is a lot of lingering at the registration lists as people search for their names.<br />
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Have seen a lot of ICE forms being used as ID, especially at polling stations in the countryside away from the city. Most, but not all, were young people. I spoke to 6 or 7 ICE form holders about it. All but one said that they have only a family book as ID but there is only one family book for the whole family, yet there are several people of voting age in their family. So rather than pass the family book around between everybody, they got the ICE forms to have individual IDs for voting.<br />
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As of 11AM more than half of the polling stations I have visited have had around 30% turnout. Most of these stations have been in the countryside and the polling staff speculates that the farmers are working in the fields in the morning and may come to vote in the afternoon.<br />
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I have seen multiple party observers at every polling station and non-party observers (COMFREL, Transparency International, unidentified non-party) at about 70% of the visited stations.<br />
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One observer told me that as soon as he voted he rushed straight home to try to wash off the ink using techniques he read about on Facebook yesterday. Displaying his still stained finger he said, “It didn’t work.” <br />
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Polling station staff sealing the ballot box before polling opens.</div>
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People searching for their names on posted registration lists outside the polling station.</div>
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Countryside polling station in school building. Late morning, very few voters.</div>
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Showing ID and recieving ballot.</div>
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Voting.</div>
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Getting inked.</div>
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Domestic observers.</div>
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This lady stopped me and insisted I take her photo, saying <i>"I am old and I cannot do anything, but I can do this."</i></div>
Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-72705541835200210802013-07-27T23:31:00.000+07:002013-07-28T00:57:23.102+07:00Election Eve: Polling Station<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Voter instructions posted outside the polling station.</div>
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Today was a quiet day in Prey Veng. White day. The day after the end of the campaign and the day before election day. Some businesses in town were closed today and some others closed earlier than usual. The traffic was heavy on some of the main roads as people returned to the province and to the districts to vote tomorrow.<br />
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I stopped by 10 or 12 polling stations this afternoon. The polling station staff was at some stations, finishing last minute preparations and setting up the various voting equipment. At other, the work apparently complete, the polling staff had gone home, leaving the doors locked and the requisite guards outside the station. (Though I found one station completely unmanned, set up. staff gone, no guard.) At about half the stations I visited there were a few people lingering over the voter registration lists posted outside each station, checking for their name or the names of relatives. <br />
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Voter checking registrations lists posted outside polling station for her name.</div>
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Registration lists.</div>
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Polling station at pagoda school building.</div>
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Polling station interior. Clerks on far side to check ID/name and give ballot. Voting shields in middle. Ballot box (still unassembled in cardboard storage box) and indelible ink on left. Chairman's desk at head of room. </div>
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Polling station interior.</div>
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Behind voting shield.</div>
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The infamous indelible ink.</div>
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Instructions posted outside polling station.</div>
Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-45056911827216774832013-07-27T22:56:00.000+07:002013-07-28T22:50:49.809+07:00Going home for election day<div style="text-align: center;">
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<i>People disembarking the Neak Loeng ferry on the Prey Veng side. </i></div>
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A friend, his wife Sophea and baby daughter were visiting me here in Prey Veng and had planned to stay a few more days, but the baby became mildly ill, so they decided to return to Phnom Penh today, the day before the National Elections. Their driver was supposed come from Phnom Penh this morning to pick them up and should have arrived by 11AM or so, but at noon called and said he was delayed by a huge traffic back up on the Neak Loeung ferry crossing. <br />
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National Route #1 is the main road from Phnom Penh to Prey Veng province. Where it meets the Mekong River at Neak Loeung the only way across is by ferry boat, which runs non-stop all day. But today isn’t just any day. It is the day before the elections. Today many of the people who live outside their home province travel back to vote where they are registered. Hence the back-up at the Neak Loeung crossing which can be a bottleneck when traffic exceeds the capacity of the ferries. <br />
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Their car had arrived at the crossing on the other side of the river at 10AM. Two hours later he was still hundreds of vehicles back in line and was told it could be hours more. Overhearing us talk of the problem the house owner Vuthy suggested that he could drive us to Neak Loeung, only 30-40 minutes away, where they could board the ferry on foot and meet their car on the other side. Good idea.<br />
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With the sky threatening imminent rain we quickly packed everybody into the Pajero and left just as a light shower began. On the road to Neak Loeung I noticed that traffic was heavy, but I was concerned less about that than the baby who was desperately tired and acting up because she wanted her cradle from the back of the truck. Bouncing to and fro in the moving vehicle I retrieved the cumbersome cradle and straddled it across the length of the seat. Without prompting the baby crawled in and went to sleep. We were left with it balanced on our laps and trying to keep the baby from being launched from her spring loaded bed by the bobbing of the truck, but at least her fussing had stopped and allowed me sit back and watch the passing scene. <br />
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That’s when I began to notice the sheer volume of remorques and tuk-tuks and taxis and truckloads of people, and more truckloads, and more, all heading north from Neak Loeung into the province. These vehicles were chock full, I mean, absolutely brimming with people. <br />
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There’s an old joke; ‘You know how many people can fit in a Cambodian taxi? …One more.’<br />
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But not this day. <br />
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The insides of these vehicles were packed sardine tight and external passengers hung off every available projection like so many Christmas tree ornaments. They dangled from mirrors, balanced on trailer hooks, squatted on front bumpers. Not that such ridership is unusual in Cambodia, but not in this quantity. We passed a large group on foot making their way along the shoulder, and later a bus, probably theirs, upside down on the side of the road. Dozens of packed vehicles passed, and dozens more. And then it turned into an unbroken stream of people-bloated remorques, trucks and taxis. Sophea mumbled a concerned “charan” repeatedly and there were occasional 'ooos' and awed 'hmmms' from all of us. As I watched these passing masses I noticed that many of them, perhaps even most, were young women. This is worth note. <br />
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Prey Veng is a very rural province. There is no tourism or large factories. The vast majority of the resident population is in the agricultural sector - the proverbial Cambodian countryside. This is the demographic with which the CPP traditionally does very well come election time. <br />
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Of Prey Veng’s 11 seats in the National Assembly, the CPP holds 7. But the opposition also does comparatively well here, holding 3 seats. The Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP) holds the one non-CPP/non-opposition seat, but the NRP is now dissolved and not participating in the election, so that seat is up for grabs. Maybe more as well. <br />
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The opposition has won its Prey Veng seats over the last two elections in part by building on the demise of FUNCINPEC which used to hold significant sway here. But perhaps more importantly, the Prey Veng countryside is the source of day laborers in Phnom Penh and large numbers of garment workers employed in the factories around Takeo, Kandal and Phnom Penh. And the factory worker vote falls very strongly on the side of the opposition parties. Those thousands of young women streaming up the road from Neak Loeung and into the countryside are likely garments workers heading home to vote, bringing their opposition leanings with them, and perhaps influencing their families who are the beneficiaries of largess sent home by their daughters in the factories. Their impact may be felt beyond the taking of that one NRP seat.<br />
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I looked down at the ill baby bouncing along in her cradle and then up at the passing flow of humanity, and I was concerned. If something goes wrong, if you need help, if you need some sort of special consideration, this is not the place to be. The roads are clogged, the authorities overwhelmed and ordinary people have there own immediate concerns. I anticipated the worst at Neak Loeung, and I worried. <br />
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My worries proved unfounded. It was traffic on the other side of the river that was backed up. On our side of the river there was a constant outpouring of people and vehicles from the ferries, but it was smooth, steady procession as people flowed straight onto the main road toward the eastern districts, or turned north at the Vietnam Monument onto the road to Prey Veng City and the northern districts. <br />
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Vuthy parked on a side road and escorted the family onto the ferry, leaving me to guard the truck. An apparently mentally disturbed street person moved into the shadow next to the truck and sat eating garbage. Disturbed, I wandered off to the ferry docks and took the above video. <br />
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Before Vuthy returned my friend called from the other side to tell me that they had gotten safely to their car and were relaxing with a cold drink before hitting the road for Phnom Penh. Shortly thereafter Vuthy emerged from the crowd and climbed into the truck. Mission accomplished. We lingered momentarily, watching the street person consume what appeared to be a light bulb, but with sunset quickly approaching we had to get on our way. Vuthy gently guided the truck through the crowds and we joined the slowly diminishing stream of north-bound vehicles heading for Prey Veng City, the deep countryside and Election Day.Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-50536170600246697692013-07-26T23:51:00.000+07:002013-08-07T00:32:27.999+07:00A road in Prey Veng<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>CPP logo</i></td></tr>
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This month, five years ago I drove out this same road in Prey Veng province on my way to Mesang district. This particular stretch was a red mud
nightmare, deeply rutted and almost impassible in parts. Today I was surprised to find it paved and smooth, 40+ kilometers of it. Impressive...as was the massive CPP campaign parade that passed us on this road deep in the countryside. The new road must be of great benefit to the villages it connects together and to the main road. I was somewhat less surprised to see CPP campaign signs with pictures of Hun Sen juxtaposed with the
new road. So was the road built by the state or the party? Hard to tell. This is how the CPP provides for its rural constituency - roads and sewers and other services ordinarily provided by the state, but apparently raining down from the party like gifts dropped from heaven by a devata. And the countryside has traditionally given its votes back to the party in appreciation for such patronage. Democracy feudal-style. Still, I wondered if the fear generated by land grabbing, and the larger youth and the factory worker vote, and the continued lack of development in health, education and poverty reduction, and the seeming generalized desire for change might offset the new road this election. Hard to tell.<br />
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Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-48907831125114034732013-07-26T21:35:00.000+07:002013-07-26T23:36:44.615+07:00Prey Veng, July 26, 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-70294713118414325452013-07-24T13:35:00.000+07:002013-08-07T00:32:58.888+07:00The VietnameseWith the election approaching, many of the ethnic Vietnamese in Phnom Penh are expressing increasing fear – fear of racial/ethnic violence directed against them by the opposition party and/or opposition party supporters.<br />
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I first started hearing concerns over this election from the Vietnamese a couple of months ago, just small talk in the cafes. They were saying that they felt this election had more potential for anti-Vietnamese problems than any election since 1998, but the reasoning seemed non-specific at the time. In an effort to get a better handle on these fears, over the last couple of weeks since the beginning of the campaign I’ve made it a point to have my afternoon coffee at cafes in the Phsar Kandal area of Phnom Penh, (where there is a large ethnic Vietnamese population,) hoping to overhear some scuttlebutt, perhaps talk to some local Vietnamese about their fears. I got a bit of both.<br />
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It has been said that the ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia support the CPP (the ruling party of Prime Minister Hun Sen, the Cambodian Peoples Party) because the CPP will not deport the illegal Vietnamese immigrants from the country. But to listen to the Vietnamese talk about it, while this is certainly an element, perhaps a stronger element from their point of view is that the opposition parties have always represented potential discrimination and even ethnic violence against them.<br />
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In my couple of weeks listening to the Vietnamese talk about the election, rumors have swirled and grown and are getting thicker. Though not verified, there is tell of groups of intimidating young men stopping Vietnamese appearing people in the evenings, demanding to know “what number” (which party) they support. “Number 7” is said to be the safest answer. They tell of racial epithets yelled by passing CNRP supporters, of Vietnamese caught alone after dark receiving a beat down, of women soup and egg sellers having their wares overturned and smashed by groups of young men. In light of these rumors the Vietnamese offer safety and security advice to each other: Vietnamese should not go out after dark, be careful not to get caught alone even during the day, don’t challenge them, just say “7” and keep your head down. They are also making contingency plans of where to go should widespread violence erupt, exchanging phone numbers, determining whose house is most secure, where they should gather, how they can get there, etc.<br />
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None of this should come as a surprise to Cambodia watchers. This sort of anti-Vietnamese intimidation and violence is far from unprecedented. The Vietnamese are the Khmer’s ethnic Other, the first minority group onto which blame falls during times of political and social tension.<br />
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The relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia is complicated, and traditional ethnic antagonism is deeply intertwined with historical and political animosities which are not completely unjustified, but when things turn bad in Cambodia, it is often if not always the poor, powerless ethic Vietnamese that take the violent brunt of it. They were massacred in a nationalist fury under Lon Nol in the early 70s, and again by the Khmer Rouge, not only in the late 70s when the KR were in power, but through the 80s and right up into the mid 1990s. Racially provocative rhetoric has been part-and-parcel of every Cambodian election since 1993, with the Royalist and the Sam Rainsy party leading the way in this regard. <a href="http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/chronology.asp?groupId=81103" target="_blank">In the pre-election period of 1998, ethnic Vietnamese were assaulted and murdered in the provinces. During the post-election opposition protests of 1998</a>, when the anti-Vietnamese rhetoric became particularly heated, there was significant anti-Vietnamese violence in Phnom Penh, including the murders of a couple of Vietnamese women, innocent street sellers, by an angry mob right in front of the French Embassy. <br />
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The Royalists (FUNCINPEC), and now the opposition party, (formerly the Sam Rainsy Party [SRP,] now the Cambodian National Rescue Party [CNRP]), have always played to the anti-Vietnamese sentiments in their election rhetoric, employing a convoluted mix of anti-government (the current government is seen to be aligned with Vietnam,) anti-immigration, nationalistic, historical and racial rhetoric. In this election (2013) the opposition has altered the rhetoric slightly, <a href="http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/in-cnrp-campaign-a-subtler-approach-to-vietnamese-issue-33603/" target="_blank">reframing much of it</a> in terms of land issues and jobs in a seeming attempt to make it more palatable to the western press, but the underlying racial appeal remains the same, just in slightly new garb. (And, unbelievably, the international press and English press in Cambodia was apparently fooled, or perhaps indifferent, even <a href="http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/cnrp-taps-old-animosity-of-former-khmer-rouge-33744/" target="_blank">sometimes playing into it</a> in their reporting.)<br />
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Now, with the election nigh, even those new clothes are beginning to fall away. There are increasing reports of anti-Vietnamese sentiments being yelled from opposition party parades. And the reports are coming not just from Vietnamese but Cambodian and western observers. At <a href="http://ltocambodia.blogspot.com/2013/07/sam-rainsy-returns.html" target="_blank">Sam Rainsy’s return to the country on July 19, I heard several anti-Vietnamese chants</a> (though interestingly it went unreported in the local English language press.) And apparently Sam Rainsy, as he stumps through the country in this final week of the campaign, <a href="http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/rainsy-faces-uphill-battle-in-rural-provinces-35925/" target="_blank">has ratcheted up the anti-Vietnamese rhetoric</a>, helping to fuel some of his supporters’ anti-Vietnamese resolve.<br />
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Many ethnic Vietnamese in Phnom Penh are scared, and justifiably so – of the increasing anti-Vietnamese fervor of this last week, and even more of what may follow the election.<br />
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Also see:<br />
Cambodia Daily: <a href="http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/in-cnrp-campaign-a-subtler-approach-to-vietnamese-issue-33603/" target="_blank">'In CNRP Campaign, a Subtler approach to 'Vietnamese Issue' </a><br />
Cambodia Daily: <a href="http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/cpp-the-clear-choice-for-ethnic-vietnamese-voters-35209/" target="_blank">'CPP the Clear Choice for Ethnic Vietnamese Voters'</a>Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2568994465281213511.post-73601750852350760802013-07-20T20:29:00.000+07:002013-07-22T04:01:37.905+07:00Sam Rainsy returns<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Sam Rainsy returns</i></div>
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After 3 years abroad avoiding a politically tainted criminal conviction and sentence, last week Cambodian opposition party leader Sam Rainsy was granted a royal pardon by the king, allowing him to return to the country. Yesterday (July 19) he did just that, arriving from France by Thai Airways at the Phnom Penh International Airport at 9:05AM. Just in time for the July 28 elections in Cambodia. He was greeted by tens of thousands of supporters in what <i>The Cambodia Daily</i> dubbed the largest opposition rally ever in Cambodia. Estimates of the final crowd size are currently running 50,000-110,000, with it more likely closer to the top end, probably around 70,000-100,000. Tuktuks and market talk place it at an (impossible) million or more. Regardless, the turnout far exceeded the 40,000 the party was hoping for.<br />
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Tens of thousands of people awaited Sam Rainsy's arrival outside the airport, and the full length of Airport Road into town (8.5km) was lined elbow-to-elbow with supporters on one side and sometimes both sides of the road. The crowds were thicker and thinner in parts, but unbroken, sometimes as much as 2 or 3 people deep. Sam Rainsy and Ken Sokha (the party's vice) stood hand-in-hand atop a truck as they traveled from the airport to town, smiling and waving to supporters' enthusiastic cheers. Demographically, the crowds seemed overwhelmingly young (under 35,) including some monks, and though there were some rural folk there, most seemed to be urbanites.<br />
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The convoy left the airport and followed Airport Road to town, both preceded and followed by supporters, most on motorcycles or on foot. It then jogged a block north to Freedom Square where tens of thousands more were waiting, the convoy ended and Sam Rainsy addressed the crowds. The whole journey took 3-4 hours from airport to Freedom Park.<br />
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The main themes of the Airport Road crowds, repeated again and again, were "change" and "Number 7", the place of the CNRP (Sam Rainsy's party) on the ballot. (The CPP, the ruling party, holds the number 4 position on the ballot.)The general atmosphere was positive, enthusiastic, energetic, peaceful and well controlled. People yelled "Change or no change?" and others or the crowd would respond "CHANGE!" They also chanted "Change 4 to 7", "4 out, 7 in", and of course simply "Number 7!" Some added, "No corruption!", "Still poor." and "We must change the government!" Everybody flashed seven fingers. A few pockets also included some anti-Vietnamese chants such as "Vietnamese out" ('<i>Yuon cheng</i>') and "Change number 4, change number Vietnamese," (which rhymes in Khmer, '<i>Do lek buon, do lek yuon</i>') in a reference to the ethnic Vietnamese and/or the perceived alignment of the current government with Vietnam. <br />
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Sam Rainsy is said to be planning to spend this last week before election day campaigning for the party in the provinces. He is apparently already off to Kampong Speu. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilEvJKqDLFp2A3K1Nya0XW6D8eZmAqvmKuSr4SmuVgypfM0CvcB3Hrcr5ZcDO_S6J342DnrHCl55rt3oKRYjyaAtsyaqtKi-qGWWoLTYw8LcfVxYzBxXnn1jGPE5HUd54uY3yEFKNCMA/s1600/LTOsrretcnrcrowd1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Crowds of supporters follow Sam Rainsy convoy" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiilEvJKqDLFp2A3K1Nya0XW6D8eZmAqvmKuSr4SmuVgypfM0CvcB3Hrcr5ZcDO_S6J342DnrHCl55rt3oKRYjyaAtsyaqtKi-qGWWoLTYw8LcfVxYzBxXnn1jGPE5HUd54uY3yEFKNCMA/s400/LTOsrretcnrcrowd1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Crowds follow Sam Rainsy convoy on Airport Road.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9XZTmUpFOJx5khCfEaeQnNypkuwHZ5nI7G_UF7i6WQdLaBDyn_l6teYdzOvut5DL2j0LiAVb3391BfUUdcemBprjIuU4MUWcz6RNp_qcK_J-EFI5GFedYudN8aC7EqJtRqg8C_713JY/s1600/LTOsrretcnr7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="CNRP supporters flash 7" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9XZTmUpFOJx5khCfEaeQnNypkuwHZ5nI7G_UF7i6WQdLaBDyn_l6teYdzOvut5DL2j0LiAVb3391BfUUdcemBprjIuU4MUWcz6RNp_qcK_J-EFI5GFedYudN8aC7EqJtRqg8C_713JY/s400/LTOsrretcnr7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Supporters lining Airport Road flash 'Number 7' </i></div>
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Shot from my car window, starting in front of the Airport and traveling up Airport Road about 10 minutes ahead of the Sam Rainsy convoy.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWKnhDkLk6HFYlInCIg06kN8N-AeErObDrIhO4kChEUSIHFrMeqWjL5ZXTBNtLqhsxV___r7mGwGtDuJfi-7CJ9NiZ6wlt6TB3CMmFbvnYdS41bc0g67SQwnV2bkZBjww4ZyWEn7Cch0g/s1600/LTOsrretks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Kem Sokha" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWKnhDkLk6HFYlInCIg06kN8N-AeErObDrIhO4kChEUSIHFrMeqWjL5ZXTBNtLqhsxV___r7mGwGtDuJfi-7CJ9NiZ6wlt6TB3CMmFbvnYdS41bc0g67SQwnV2bkZBjww4ZyWEn7Cch0g/s400/LTOsrretks.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Kem Sokha</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvRJDMkgNv0m8Gf3vlpVfOLssAHyHNYAOaziScsLLZO9jiJdYDVd4QTeawm7CsvhTdnAhK6lRiZOTVxcedVN-3oT3rWs0h4alU4wq-2pY5mBmq3zMX7bA8fb8JQSH6Oo_44Fsd-CUFIJ8/s1600/LTOsrretsr1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha, July 19, 2013" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvRJDMkgNv0m8Gf3vlpVfOLssAHyHNYAOaziScsLLZO9jiJdYDVd4QTeawm7CsvhTdnAhK6lRiZOTVxcedVN-3oT3rWs0h4alU4wq-2pY5mBmq3zMX7bA8fb8JQSH6Oo_44Fsd-CUFIJ8/s400/LTOsrretsr1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Kem Sokha and Sam Rainsy.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-T605na2xEFzgrrIRr0b1SefXbWsTeB3ScxgJ0G_9jGjpooxhEMbVmA4g8lkyPBv0bkLlEJl_rSogxmJ70rurFgpy43RIUk36LODj7AywcQQ9Oye0VkboEf_2Kuw-iU6xyVlxXqtmP6c/s1600/LTOsrretcnr5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="CNRP supporters flash 7" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-T605na2xEFzgrrIRr0b1SefXbWsTeB3ScxgJ0G_9jGjpooxhEMbVmA4g8lkyPBv0bkLlEJl_rSogxmJ70rurFgpy43RIUk36LODj7AywcQQ9Oye0VkboEf_2Kuw-iU6xyVlxXqtmP6c/s400/LTOsrretcnr5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>CNRP supporters on Airport Road. </i></div>
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A group of musically inclined CNRP supporters on Airport Road, awaiting Sam Rainsy's arrival.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfZi8yEOlWR-khgOT918juKs-beqLLMKTEkJtPetqfhsj6tS2AaZt5tJJoHjVqmPo_FPIzNP0-X6hnoYDNZmjZr1q6P5PYgiNgIH1u3kEz8KlDok_raMDxAz7P_YxTvvAqFlJXH03fGBk/s1600/LTOsrretcnrcrowdmotos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfZi8yEOlWR-khgOT918juKs-beqLLMKTEkJtPetqfhsj6tS2AaZt5tJJoHjVqmPo_FPIzNP0-X6hnoYDNZmjZr1q6P5PYgiNgIH1u3kEz8KlDok_raMDxAz7P_YxTvvAqFlJXH03fGBk/s400/LTOsrretcnrcrowdmotos.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Crowds precedes Sam Rainsy convoy on Airport Road.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisAZgKPdZiTNRogGMHlkm-Y74jqwgWc0hDIapsCqBIObT15a3WytsQsQo_k5-VrGLH91KE0-mgOk5bTWT5V9o-7rPUo0zxVOs5xPCJe3ra_l0Jh3UGCwGtmnr_MO7ADvWBtpUAmFdfRtE/s1600/LTOsrretcnr6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisAZgKPdZiTNRogGMHlkm-Y74jqwgWc0hDIapsCqBIObT15a3WytsQsQo_k5-VrGLH91KE0-mgOk5bTWT5V9o-7rPUo0zxVOs5xPCJe3ra_l0Jh3UGCwGtmnr_MO7ADvWBtpUAmFdfRtE/s400/LTOsrretcnr6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Supporters lining Airport Road flash 'Number 7' </i></div>
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Throngs of supporters following the Sam Rainsy convoy on Airport Road..</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWY6LUlOdOHMlFXss0qjM22H3PxFVHGJAZf6pxPaJTpt8Rd_hBanP97fP0CLhnCjYu9sHUcwkqsgad8cINoJF1YUDnVI6pGOUi9W142rz9V7qeuXB7ddnynISUaB796fsK5KK9l4Y0jg/s1600/LTOsrretcnr4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="CNRP supporters on motos, Sam Rainsy return" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWY6LUlOdOHMlFXss0qjM22H3PxFVHGJAZf6pxPaJTpt8Rd_hBanP97fP0CLhnCjYu9sHUcwkqsgad8cINoJF1YUDnVI6pGOUi9W142rz9V7qeuXB7ddnynISUaB796fsK5KK9l4Y0jg/s400/LTOsrretcnr4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Supporters lining Airport Road flash 'Number 7' </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNnKRL_gj7aIm_PglhAkmkL2BEWaO5afimqpFzq-WzjCtt6XuNm0hwTfRyZr0X-93vE8Kb7l8asSffOc8gShbiOAa4BfmyJcqNol9mHpJuXHpAW7DHJ6HXaISTme2_A7qYEC9H11Garks/s1600/LTOsrretcnrsupport2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="CNRP supporters flash 7" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNnKRL_gj7aIm_PglhAkmkL2BEWaO5afimqpFzq-WzjCtt6XuNm0hwTfRyZr0X-93vE8Kb7l8asSffOc8gShbiOAa4BfmyJcqNol9mHpJuXHpAW7DHJ6HXaISTme2_A7qYEC9H11Garks/s400/LTOsrretcnrsupport2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Supporter on Airport Road flashes 'Number 7' </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3PShl1EUHgEr92zm1E9UgOMgkDqoRKM9U-h3BZAJ4_Q175AWRGJYG4yyCD6XMih5zQmZ_mqUn__H7agvHCmM8nkf-YltPeSQ-W_m15AFkRxFTrRvegZabiG2sK_43pYcUUGpXQoncOE/s1600/LTOsrretcnrcrowdchild.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="CNRP supporters, Sam Rainsy return" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC3PShl1EUHgEr92zm1E9UgOMgkDqoRKM9U-h3BZAJ4_Q175AWRGJYG4yyCD6XMih5zQmZ_mqUn__H7agvHCmM8nkf-YltPeSQ-W_m15AFkRxFTrRvegZabiG2sK_43pYcUUGpXQoncOE/s400/LTOsrretcnrcrowdchild.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Crowds follow Sam Rainsy convoy on Airport Road.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw995Q0SioLVdwtlt58OYO5Uqg4mVGut1hPzmTRJ2S0e4VnmDesD2fYirRSlGCzHr26wRPfyr0TAgaQ16USdjsTuBKyyaRfjwYjat7R9rdViOOcGbmH-gnB3EhWWe66yYtkC3reBgv_AI/s1600/LTOsrretcnrsupport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="CNRP supporters, Sam Rainsy return" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw995Q0SioLVdwtlt58OYO5Uqg4mVGut1hPzmTRJ2S0e4VnmDesD2fYirRSlGCzHr26wRPfyr0TAgaQ16USdjsTuBKyyaRfjwYjat7R9rdViOOcGbmH-gnB3EhWWe66yYtkC3reBgv_AI/s400/LTOsrretcnrsupport.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Crowds follow Sam Rainsy convoy on Airport Road.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg9mQBBGuhYusJjfHtfydOPDvo33IS6SYw-Y3rZK6w4E2CHS4Rm3TD8-utc56NKXugRK7AISL2N1dfuYZeqdpNfXyCu6FIOtjJG0GtP9Uqzf88MZC7KW5JYyc16OegStiuGCLr22w6chc/s1600/LTOsrretcnrp1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="CNRP supporters, Sam Rainsy return" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg9mQBBGuhYusJjfHtfydOPDvo33IS6SYw-Y3rZK6w4E2CHS4Rm3TD8-utc56NKXugRK7AISL2N1dfuYZeqdpNfXyCu6FIOtjJG0GtP9Uqzf88MZC7KW5JYyc16OegStiuGCLr22w6chc/s400/LTOsrretcnrp1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Supporters lining Airport Road flash 'Number 7' </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpniP6vlyWSSygLP3vBa6KCERk-hAra8NioKipQinQlT4PYRBAdO8-mBi1B5e1B1K9U_cuJpXn4MCvb12Agx5Ig7qmve8W7E7wb8GVbqLMBioubTqbGT5KYclzRY44PM00rD5hCVnR0Y/s1600/LTOsrretcnrcrowdmotos2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="CNRP supporters, Sam Rainsy return" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpniP6vlyWSSygLP3vBa6KCERk-hAra8NioKipQinQlT4PYRBAdO8-mBi1B5e1B1K9U_cuJpXn4MCvb12Agx5Ig7qmve8W7E7wb8GVbqLMBioubTqbGT5KYclzRY44PM00rD5hCVnR0Y/s400/LTOsrretcnrcrowdmotos2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Crowds precedes Sam Rainsy convoy on Airport Road.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYmAgfkiO-NFyPJqz5eTIPzv7F_Ih9AmWD6PI3hR1ROq-WRNrNx3a8z5SXgrvWgXI7YpJlHC6phhfdrgI7M5_JCJSddkbPg7sKVgMt_G9bUVujFGcwB_xu2y1Qe5PRAztR2mrHIV1U5PE/s1600/LTOsrretcnrcrowdsingle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="CNRP supporters, Sam Rainsy return" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYmAgfkiO-NFyPJqz5eTIPzv7F_Ih9AmWD6PI3hR1ROq-WRNrNx3a8z5SXgrvWgXI7YpJlHC6phhfdrgI7M5_JCJSddkbPg7sKVgMt_G9bUVujFGcwB_xu2y1Qe5PRAztR2mrHIV1U5PE/s400/LTOsrretcnrcrowdsingle.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>CNRP supporter.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgrYX1c4LDQhBQPla0ZgQES2PLskj6eyFvjvwfJlk5y8wJIA7sbbWv-QbDIsOoaTf7ZO7TIdj4YkGLv3hwjpk99q1Q5ZavV4t312JyHxiTE1dM8RZm1_gHJLMJOiV_J1IV7B34OJW0sg/s1600/LTOsrretcnrp2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="CNRP supporters, Sam Rainsy return" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKgrYX1c4LDQhBQPla0ZgQES2PLskj6eyFvjvwfJlk5y8wJIA7sbbWv-QbDIsOoaTf7ZO7TIdj4YkGLv3hwjpk99q1Q5ZavV4t312JyHxiTE1dM8RZm1_gHJLMJOiV_J1IV7B34OJW0sg/s400/LTOsrretcnrp2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Supporters lining Airport Road flash 'Number 7' </i></div>
<i><br /></i>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbfNekN0h7gfhO6k26rWy4aVvbEfkbog0hICqCgsbiSyKwygDw6VqPfYU8ajhHMIUen5oiLBfF3F-NWXS7wbI5TKSVTjhVcnq5D3pXTQZAcmgco9-G7aakHJiHDvqeRrR_5QbG-Dlmq7E/s1600/LTOsrretcnrsupport3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="CNRP supporters, Sam Rainsy return" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbfNekN0h7gfhO6k26rWy4aVvbEfkbog0hICqCgsbiSyKwygDw6VqPfYU8ajhHMIUen5oiLBfF3F-NWXS7wbI5TKSVTjhVcnq5D3pXTQZAcmgco9-G7aakHJiHDvqeRrR_5QbG-Dlmq7E/s400/LTOsrretcnrsupport3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Crowds follow Sam Rainsy convoy on Airport Road.</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7so0sLXXMu1I8QVzuKFZZYnIZgZl5PA5zkItSza7qdwJlzTIDep1V9F25D86WRPF4WdpMOdy9jd7FzdWMYAW92ExMncAMTe1vReKRp_N2q4F1zmwp_Kh2478VjgD8YbJgT-zx2cYrQ8/s1600/LTOsrretcnrcrowdbldgs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="CNRP supporters, Sam Rainsy return" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7so0sLXXMu1I8QVzuKFZZYnIZgZl5PA5zkItSza7qdwJlzTIDep1V9F25D86WRPF4WdpMOdy9jd7FzdWMYAW92ExMncAMTe1vReKRp_N2q4F1zmwp_Kh2478VjgD8YbJgT-zx2cYrQ8/s400/LTOsrretcnrcrowdbldgs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Crowds follow Sam Rainsy convoy on Airport Road, nearing the city center</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUz_W6l7UfGcs43lhZyHuql5ygWQoFsD26nN1XqVHcpoKUM29VC1xYGCVUxebcMsNCfdDHnU6UwnWxvczFCipBHonKKYxLp05CgT4mz-PythEXI5fml69xII050NGRT_RkqF9egD13rw0/s1600/LTOsrretcnrp3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="CNRP supporters, Sam Rainsy return" border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUz_W6l7UfGcs43lhZyHuql5ygWQoFsD26nN1XqVHcpoKUM29VC1xYGCVUxebcMsNCfdDHnU6UwnWxvczFCipBHonKKYxLp05CgT4mz-PythEXI5fml69xII050NGRT_RkqF9egD13rw0/s400/LTOsrretcnrp3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Supporters lining Airport Road flash 'Number 7' </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2FFUgEMheBnBljCjiq2THG3CkLg66Pv2Ffzkrc-Vl5womI7hF-QMKTpqNMTDA9XHnsbLA5ZlZeBUgtagc1shMSJy6udUpqEOFA4mOGpO04J_lQ_uHeNWrkl06YqYukZVd3jpJue8qdLE/s1600/LTOsrretstchild.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="CNRP supporters, Sam Rainsy return" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2FFUgEMheBnBljCjiq2THG3CkLg66Pv2Ffzkrc-Vl5womI7hF-QMKTpqNMTDA9XHnsbLA5ZlZeBUgtagc1shMSJy6udUpqEOFA4mOGpO04J_lQ_uHeNWrkl06YqYukZVd3jpJue8qdLE/s400/LTOsrretstchild.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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<i>Street child collects discarded plastic water bottles from CNRP crowds on Airport Road.</i><br />
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Casey Nelson (pseud.)http://www.blogger.com/profile/00165901446765332635noreply@blogger.com0