LTO Cambodia

Windows B

2012-02-02T00:40:00.001+07:00

Battambang, Cambodia (yesterday)

(Click photo to enlarge)

Land, Cops, the Rich and the Poor

2012-01-31T23:45:00.004+07:00

The morning of Chinese New Year Day, on my way to the pharmacy, I happened up a street on which the owner of one of Cambodia’s controversial land development companies lives. The road was lined with cars and motorcycles and filled with uniformed police loitering about. Dozens of them, with more arriving by the minute. At first I thought there might be a problem of some sort, but soon realized there was a New Year party going on at the home of the land developer and these were the guests. I was ready for a caffeine break anyway so I stopped at a café a couple of doors down, ordered an ice coffee, went back outside and sat down with the parking guard to watch the happenings.

The uniformed men stood in small knots in the street in front of the party house, smoking and chit-chatting. The mood was light and festive. I couldn't see anything of the party for the tall walls surrounding the place but could hear the sounds of traditional lion dancing and then an enormous string of firecrackers going off. It went on continuously for several minutes, punctuated by gunshot-like M-80 blasts. Drawn by the noise and goings-on, a group of poor folk gathered across the street – kids, women, old men with walking sticks - country people, street people, (evictees?,) hard to say who they were exactly. Perhaps 40 or 50 in all, quietly gazing on at the activities from the sidelines.

The uniformed men took turns going into the party. When they reemerged through the front gate, each had a big smile and a bright red ung-bao envelope in his hand. (Part of the Chinese New Year tradition is to give ung-bao envelopes containing token gifts of money.) They stood in the street together, tearing open their envelopes, holding out the money and comparing gifts. The poor people watched and tittered amongst themselves. The parking guard next to me speculated that they were hoping for a hand-out from the house.

A couple of the party goers walked nearby, opened envelopes in-hand. The guard asked them how much they got. “Everybody got 50,000 Riel (US$12.50) each,” one said, adding, boastfully, that over 1300 police had attended the party. If he was correct about those figures, that’s more than US$16,000 in little red envelopes.

The party wound down. Within an hour most of the uniforms were gone and the street was clear again, except for dozens of torn and empty ung-bao envelopes blowing around in the road. As the last of the attendees left and the front gate snapped shut, it became apparent that the party was over.

Nothing was given to the poor.

The group lingered briefly, then slowly thinned, moving off in different directions, disappearing. When I left, a few, maybe 4 or 5, were still there holding out. Perhaps hoping against hope that a few crumbs may still fall from the table. Or maybe they just didn't have anyplace else to go.

Greeting the Dragon at Wat Phnom

2012-01-23T03:31:00.004+07:00

Ushered in the new Year of the Dragon at Wat Phnom in Phnom Penh a couple of hours ago. The crowd seemed a bit bigger than last year. I didn't see any foreigners there besides myself. Like last year, the beggars were conspicuously absent and there seemed to be fewer incense vendors. Like every year the smoke from burning incense was overwhelming and the threat of being burned or set alight by an errant joss stick was constant. Note that many people in the crowds are wearing helmets. It's not because they're all responsible motorcycle riders. It's to protect against burns. The following are a few photos from earlier this evening at Wat Phnom around midnight.

A gong rang. People looked. It was midnight (or about 12:04 by my watch.) The Year of the Dragon Enters. The gong stopped. People cheered, then the crowd made a mad rush to escape the smoke filled pavilion. Not sure if it was part of the tradition or just a desperate dash for oxygen.

Arriving at Wat Phnom. Incense smoke rises.

Incense vendor.

Overlooking the pavilion madness, a churning mass of people packed sardine tight, covered in a thick cloud of incense smoke.

At midnight people jostle aggressively to get their personal joss stick in the pagoda incense pot at the most auspicious moment. Afterward they take the joss stick and burn it at home.

Pavilion crowd.

Offerings

The crowd on the pavilion.

Lady Penh Shrine. (Legendary 14th century founder of Wat Phnom. Name sake for the city.)

Smoke

Better late than never - 2011

2012-01-22T03:39:00.036+07:00

Newly completed Phnom Penh Tower, the city's second highrise.

Running a couple of weeks late on this post. Stray thoughts of Cambodia last year.

2010 At the end of last year, the on-going conflict with Thailand over Preah Vihear was probably the most talked about issue of that moment and perhaps the year. A decades old dispute, the flare up of the last few years was largely the result of Thai political instability stemming from the 2006 coup that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. After months of deadly border skirmishes in 2010, political and military tensions had begun to ease in December, only to spike again with the arrest of a Thai politician and yellow-shirt activists on the Cambodian side of the border. And so began 2011.
Preah Vihear: the Thai-Cambodia temple dispute
New developments in the Thai-Cambodia conflict (Dec 30, 2010)

Cambodia Daily

Voluntourism The international press turned a long overdue critical light on Pity Industry tourism, including orphanage tourism and commercialized voluntourism. Prompted by a study of orphanage tourism in Africa, papers such as the Guardian and the Telegraph published critical pieces toward the end of 2010, sparking several other unfavorable articles, blog entries and internet debates throughout the year. In October 2011 the high-respected NGO Friends-International in Cambodia launched an important new campaign aimed at bringing an end to orphanage tourism.
Guardian: Before you pay to volunteer abroad, think of the harm you might do
Telegraph: Volunteer holidays 'do more harm than good'
Inside the thriving industry of AIDS orphan tourism
Taking Aim at Voluntourism
The Independent: Cambodia's orphanages target the wallets of well-meaning tourists
When Children Become Tourist Attractions

Internet censorship Cambodia stumbled clumsily into the world of Internet censorship in February. After a ham-handed start in which all of BlogSpot was suddenly blocked and ISPs initially affirmed then denied knowledge of the blockage, the outage narrowed, leaving the highly provocative KI Media and Khmerization permanently unavailable through some ISPs in Cambodia. Both the government and the ISP’s denied responsibility. The media squawked about it for a month or so, but the story has since been relegated to NGO reports. The blocked sites are still unavailable through many, perhaps most ISPs in Cambodia. That said, Cambodia still has some of the most unrestricted internet access in Southeast Asia, significantly better than its immediate neighbors.
The Curious Case of the Banning that Wasn't
LICADHO Condemns Censorship of Web Sites Critical of Government

Sam Rainsy Mid-March, Sam Rainsy lost his seat in Parliament. It seemed much less of a story than it would have been in years past.
Cambodia opposition leader loses parliamentary seat

US Maintains Ban on Cambodian Adoptions There has been a US imposed ban on the adoption of Cambodian children by Americans since 2001. After reconsidering the ban in March, the US ultimately declined to rescind it.
Cambodia Law Blog: Can expats adopt Cambodian children? Dispelling the myths

Unhappy Hippi In May Sihanoukville’s fabled Happy Hippi lost its smile.
K440: Happy Hippy smacked

The Cows of Spring On Royal Plowing Day in May the Royal Oxen ate beans and corn, eschewing the rice and other offerings.

Phsar Thmey and wart

Central Market After more than two years of work, during which many vendors were displaced to temporary buildings next to the market, the renovation and refurbishment of Phsar Thmey was completed mid-2011, including a brand new bright yellow paint job. (And it grew a wart in the form of a new, completely out-of-place 7-story building on the market square.) What a fantastic building, even with wart.

Preah Vihear In July elections were held in Thailand. The Pheu Thai party won. Thaksin’s sister became PM, Thailand’s political turmoil eased a bit, the yellows quieted, and the Preah Vihear situation has been getting better ever since. Come the end of 2011, Thai activist Veera remains in Cambodian jail.
Cambodia congratulates Pheu Thai Party on election win
Yingluck's visit to improve relations: Cambodian deputy PM
Cambodian PM stresses good relations with Thailand

DVDs at Russian Market

Legend In July The Legend Theatre opened in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s first ‘international-standard’ cinema. Full size screen, proper theater seats, quality projection and sound and the first screen in Cambodia to (legally) show Hollywood first run movies, including 3D movies. As a result there has been a threatened crackdown on bootlegged DVDs of certain first run movies.
Cambodia Law Blog: New moves on pirated movies

Tonle Sap Prime Minister Hun Sen continued to make the health of the Tonle Sap a priority, apparently with significant success. Illegal reservoirs and fishing lots were ordered shut down and the orders were enforced. Initial reports indicate the annual total fish catch is way up.
Fishing licenses around Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake revoked
Hun Sen extends Tonle Sap fishing lot closure
AKP: Large Scale Crack-down of Illegal Fishing in Tonle Sap to Come

Former brothels on 63

Brothels closed on 63 Sometime in July, the long-running string of brothels on Street 63 was raided and closed. I posted about the bust of one in 2010. It was back in operation a couple of weeks later, business as usual. Clearly well protected. But they are all gone now. To my knowledge those places on 63 were the last openly brothel-like businesses in central Phnom Penh. They have been there as long as I can remember and survived years after every other city center brothel had been shut down. There must have been dozens of girls there. Closing them was probably one of the biggest brothel raid/ closures in the country this year. But to my knowledge the raid went unreported in the English press in Cambodia.

A Brief Tour of the Cambodian Sex Industry Best article on prostitution in Cambodia by an international journalist in recent memory. I don’t agree with everything he wrote, but unlike many of the weepy, sensationalistic, pre-scripted reports in the international media of late, he drew his conclusions from the evidence rather than looking for evidence to support his conclusions.

Faintings There was a spate of mass faintings at several different garment factories and even a couple of schools in Cambodia. Many observers were understandably quick to cast a suspicious eye on factory conditions, but the cause is still a matter of debate and investigation. The mass faintings began suddenly and have happened over a relatively short span, the only obvious commonalities being most happened in the factories amongst the laborers. It would be an extraordinary coincidence for this cluster of mass faintings to suddenly occur yet not have some common cause or link – e.g. a new chemical, pesticide or product in use, a new ventilation system, a illness of some sort being passed around, longer working hours or increased production requirements, some new practice common to all of the affected factories. Different causes have been suggested by investigators and labor advocates – chemicals, smells, ventilation, long hours, hunger, food poisoning, dehydration, etc., but nothing definitive and nothing new and common to all of the affected facilities. Working conditions in the factories appear to be pretty much the same as they have been for years. In lieu of evidence of a common cause I am inclined to agree with Time Magazine. The mass fainting are, for lack of a better term, ‘mass-hysteria,’ but by that I don't mean to diminish their significance. These factory workers are largely poor young women, often country girls, working in gray, stuffy, unpleasant conditions, homesick, pressured by family and harsh supervisors and doing mind-numbingly repetitive work for very little money (averaging $55-$61/month,) often for long hours. Though the factories are not 'sweat shops,' this is still the kind of work that drives some young women to choose prostitution in preference. In my opinion, for whatever reason that first mass fainting happened, it sparked a chain reaction of all the mass faintings that followed - a sort of involuntary protest by these young women against the unhappy circumstances in which they find themselves.
Hundreds sick in mass fainting at Cambodian factory
Mass Fainting In Garment Factory
Mass faintings at H&M factory in Cambodia
What's Causing 'Mass Faintings' at Cambodian Factories?

Siem Reap, September 2011

Floods The wet season was too wet this year. Cambodia (and Thailand) saw some of the worst flooding in more than a decade. In Cambodia huge swathes of countryside along the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers were submerged, hundreds of deaths, enormous crop loss and property damage. Government response was slow and inadequate. In an unprecedented but widely supported move, the government cancelled the Water Festival boat races in Phnom Penh. Just as the press was beginning to take note of the flooding in Cambodia, especially with the repeated flooding of Siem Reap town, Bangkok came under flood threat and story in the international press changed focus to Thailand and never really returned to Cambodia. Interestingly, even with the flood related crop loss, Cambodia managed to produce more rice in 2011 than the previous year.
Flood reports, photos and links
Cambodia's rice yield stable in 2011 despite flood devastation: PM

Most self-absorbed article of the year Amidst stories of captive Cambodian women jumping from upper floor windows to escape Malaysian recruitment agencies in Phnom Penh and of repeated allegations of the abuse, torture and rape of Cambodian maids in Malaysia, the Cambodian government banned its citizens from working as maids in Malaysia. Reporting on the ban in ‘Cambodia bans its citizens from working as domestic helpers in Malaysia’ the Malaysian press complained of a “dire maid shortage”in Malaysia and of how the ban will hurt Malaysian ‘recruitment agencies.’ "Dire." Never mind poverty stricken Khmer women jumping from window to escape human trafficking, it sounds like they're having tough times in Malaysia.
“They Deceived Us at Every Step”
Recruiters Round Up Cambodians to Work in Malaysia

Rice wine deaths There were several mass poisonings attributable to bad batches of homemade rice wine. A regular motodup on my street died a couple of months ago after being poisoned. In one tragic case the better part of a village was wiped out. One poisoning incident:
12 Cambodians died of wine poisoning

Top Ten Tycoons The essential Who’s Who

Land Next to the floods, the rampant land-grabbing and mistreatment of evictees was the story of the year. So much has been written on the subject I am not sure what more is to be said. The problem continues and is growing. It is involving ever more people and confrontations between evictees and authorities are becoming more violent. In terms of politics, it is a gift from the ruling party government to the opposition. While I accept it is unrealistic to expect there will not be evictions as the city and country develops, I don’t understand from either a human or political POV why it is being handled so badly and the evictees treated with such callous inhumanity. It is sowing the seeds of dissent and future conflict in ever growing numbers. As one Kampong Speu evictee put it, "If there was still a Khmer Rouge hiding in the jungle, I'd join." In the long and even medium term, these pitiless evictions don't make moral or even Machiavellian sense.

NGO Law The government wants to regulate NGOs and has proffered a law. The NGOs are suspicious of the government’s intent but split between those who say the proposed law needs modification and those who say there should be no law at all. Much ink has been spilled on the subject with the highlight being an exchange between Elizabeth Becker and an anonymous commentator at AKP, the government media mouthpiece. The proposed law is currently in its fourth draft and the debate continues. The Prime Minister recently calmed the debate by saying that there was no rush, that they would work as long as necessary to craft a law acceptable to both sides. But, of course, this also takes the ‘no law’ option off the table.
Catalogue of artcles related to the NGO Law
Hun Sen Calls for More Talks on NGO Law
Elizabeth Becker/AKP exchange
Silencing Cambodia's Honest Brokers By ELIZABETH BECKER
AKP: Commentary: Elizabeth Becker and the Campaign to Put NGOs above the Law
Response To Anonymous Critique by Elizabeth Becker

The King, King Father and King Mother on the occasion of the 90/20 celebration.

90/20 King Father Sihanouk celebrated his 90th birthday and 20-year anniversary of returning to Cambodia. A truly historic occasion.
Birthday of King Father Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia

Mu Sochea proves to be a continuing force, making her mark (and political hay) taking a hands-on approach and focusing on issues that directly affect the poor and disadvantaged such as land grabbing and maid trafficking. Like I said last year, keep an eye on this lady, especially in the coming election year. She’s going places.

Kristof Tweets In November Nicholas Kristof parachuted in to Anlong Veng to tweet a brothel raid and promote his favorite anti-trafficking NGO in Cambodia. His dramatic tweeting of the raid probably did more to raise public awareness of his questionable ethics in the reporting of sex trafficking than anything he has done since purchasing two underage girls in Cambodia in 2005.
Nick Kristof to the rescue!
Nick Kristof Live Tweets a Raid on an Underage Brothel – And Not Everyone is Thrilled
Fighting back, one brothel raid at a time
A human trafficker defends Cambodian sweatshops
Be Aware: Nick Kristof’s Anti-Politics

Laos threatens to construct the first hydropower dam on the Lower Mekong.
Laos' Mekong Xayaburi dam plan delayed again

@Faineg Tweets KR trial The KR trials continue under a darkening cloud of criticism from several quarters. Growing feelings that the trials may be fundamentally flawed, talk of UN incompetence, accusations of government interference, a judge resigned, acrimony between the government and UN, and that's just the now of it. Case 002 is underway. Nuon Chea (Brother #2) has been on the stand and has put on quite a show, well-worth a hundred million, see-sawing between denying knowledge and blaming Vietnam. In an innovative and powerful use of Twitter, Faine Greenwood, aka @faineg, (and others more sporadically,) has been live tweeting the proceedings from the courtroom. This is journalism. ( Recently @KRT_Monitor has taken up the blow by blow.)

Plane to Sihanoukville Cambodia Angkor Air began regular flights between Siem Reap and Sihanoukville in December. If memory serves, this is the first regular air service to Sihanoukville since Royal Air Cambodge stopped flying to Sihanoukville in late 1997…except for PMT’s short-lived ill-fated venture on the same route a few years back.

Tourism grows and grows At year’s end the government announced that tourist arrivals were up 14% over last year, Vietnamese leading the way. Tuk-tuk drivers in Siem Reap complain that the increasing numbers of Asian tourists, often on packages, is driving down local transport prices. Still, Siem Reap is booming and some of it is spilling off to Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh.
Cambodia's foreign tourist arrivals up 14% in 2011

Gold Tower 42, The Phnom Penh Tower and The OCIC Tower

Phnom Penh towers At the site of the old Ministry of Tourism, Phnom Penh's second highrise after the OCIC Tower (Canadia Tower,) the new Phnom Penh Tower on Monivong Blvd, was completed and opened for business. Stalled project Gold Tower 42 (aka Grey Tower 31, aka Bassac Thmey) has been idle now for 15 months.

The Riel The Cambodian Riel held its own against the US dollar throughout the year, varying only about +/-50 Riel over the course of the year, beginning 2011 at about 4055KHR = US$1 and finishing around 4075KHR = US$1.

New bridge to Koh Pos, Sihanoukville, 2/11. Construction is now complete.

Outrage In the final week of the year Cambodia publicly soiled itself and walked around stinking of shit in its pants all week after pardoning and releasing convicted Russian pedophile Alexander Trofimov. Alexi first arrived in Cambodia heading up a high-profile US$300,000,000 Koh Pos investment project before being caught diddling dozens of prepubescent girls in Sihanoukville in 2007. His subsequent handling by the Cambodian judiciary was riddled with irregularities and he had served only a fraction of his original sentence before being freed by royal pardon. Juice speaks. He has since disappeared into Cambodia somewhere, doing what we can only imagine. After he was released everybody that should have been in-the-know did a Sgt. Shultz style, "I know nothing...nothing!" all denying knowledge of how he got on the pardon list. His former company even denied knowing who he is. Yeah, right.
Cambodia pardons Russian in paedophile case
Phnom Penh Post: Petition to deport pedophile Alexander Trofimov

Ten Cambodia Tweeps to Follow
khmerbird
peter_k440
faineg
nate_thayer
dickonverey
HunSensEye
ChrisInCambo
SimOliver
MuSochua
mybigfatface
JaredsCambodia

Cambodia News and Info on Twitter
phnompenhpost
voakhmer
tweetcambodia
cambopedia
cambodianews
Canby_Cambodia
USEmbPhnomPenh
EyeOnCambodia
KRT_Monitor

New Cambodia Blogs of Note
Faine Opinines
Nate Thayer

Tonle Sap River Level

2012-01-04T04:20:00.004+07:00

Tonle Sap River, Phnom Penh riverfront

Left: October 18, 2011 (Water level 9.9m at Phnom Penh Port)
Right: December 31, 2011 (Water level 3.6m at Phnom Penh Port)

Photos taken from almost the same spot, standing at the edge of the river. Note the stairs, covered in water to the top step in the left photo, the entire stairway exposed down to the river in the right photo.

Also see my posts on the Cambodia Floods 2011

Street 51

2011-12-30T23:59:00.074+07:00

Street 51, early evening, 1AM

New Year nears. A perfect excuse for talk of auld lang syne (times gone by,) and so I indulge. In the following I mean only to note some of the changes on Street 51 over the years, not imply (as would be cliche in expat reminiscences) that it was somehow better ‘way back when,’ (even though it was.)

Street 51 in Phnom Penh, at least the short section between Streets 154 and 174, is an ‘entertainment center’ as the nearby hotels like to say – a couple of blocks of bars, clubs, a few eateries and more bars - a 'bar street' reminiscent of a Sukhumvit soi. And the Heart of Darkness was the start of it all, the seed from which the Street 51 bar scene grew, planted in the early 90s and now in full blossom, though not exactly fragrant.

In the beginning (1993) the Heart of Darkness was the only bar on a dark block of Rue Pasteur (Street 51) - a small one-shop open-facade place next to a couple of brothels. The old French Colonial Police Headquarters sat opposite, but otherwise it was a quiet block of daytime shops and houses. Inside the Heart, the walls were flat black, Doors, Hendrix, Stones and the like on the CD player, cobwebs hanging from the ceiling, a betel box of ganja on the bar, beer from an esky and the same three guys behind the bar every night. There was a duct-tape patched pool table in a small back room that required a short stick for the near side. "No Dancing" was spray painted in large letters on the poolroom wall. And in fact there was no dancing at the Heart.

Back then during the monsoon season Street 51 would flood every time it rained. I have fond memories of plowing through shin-deep water after work, past the old police HQ and stopping at the Heart, which sat comparatively high and rarely flooded. I'd check in a couple times a week for a smoke and some chess with the bartenders. On weekend evenings it was the place to go (in fact one of the few places to go) in Phnom Penh - frequented by the embassy and NGO crowd, English teachers, journalists and the few tourists that happened to be in town. It had something of a 'notorious' reputation and was on more than one embassy no-go list, but for the life of me I could never figure out why.

Heart of Darkness, New Year Eve, 31/12/99

Heart of Darkness, New Year, 1/1/00, Samnang

There were no soldiers, regular trouble makers or much in the way of dodgy dealings, at least by Cambodian standards. It wasn't that kind of crowd. There were a couple/few regular prostitutes, but that was it. Sure, there were people sitting around smoking pot but that was, for the most part, the hardest drug in the place, and back then it was de facto legal in Cambodia anyway. I used to imagine that the bar garnered its notorious reputation, not from anything that actually went on there, but from its dark name, the town it was in and the imagination of travel writers who were afraid to go anyplace truly notorious (like the Cambodian night clubs.)

The Heart slowly expanded over the years, growing two shops wide in 96 (absorbing the brothel) and eventually closing in the front and adding air-con. The brothels of 51 were all gone by the late 90s and the second bar I recall on the street, in 96 I believe, was the Duck Tub a couple of doors down from the Heart. They did semi-regular live rock - the only place in town at the time. After the owner was killed in a tragic traffic accident, the Duck Tub became the AK-47 briefly, then Huey's (if I recall correctly) and eventually Howie's which it still is today. Beginning in the late 90s other bars opened along that couple of blocks - some of the earliest being Club 51 which became Shanghai within a year, and the Walkabout, formerly the Pasteur Hotel.

By the early 00s the Heart started taking on a clubbier atmosphere, it expanded to three shops, changed its look, music and ultimately its clientele. The decor went from rattle-can basic to Khmer baroque, it became a dance club, no pot, no rock, more cocktails, drawing clubbers, travelers, young locals and Khmer bad boys. Around that same period, especially after the 2003 elections, more small bars, many of the hostess variety, opened along the same block, eventually filling out most of the street and stretching around the corner. The old colonial police station was finally torn down 4 or 5 years ago and replaced with the Golden Sorya Mall a couple of years later where Pontoon Club (Phnom Penh’s most popular foreigner disco of the moment) opened its doors last year like the proverbial cherry on the top of the Street 51 sundae.

The street was now officially booming.

Street 51 is a totally different place - a different crowd, a different look, a different atmosphere. Though the Heart isn’t my kind of place anymore, I’ve been generally pleased with ever growing choice of bars and clubs on 51. Yet these last couple of years the street seems to be taking a bit of a mean turn.

I have always felt safe on Street 51, or at least as safe as on any tourist street in town. And there have always been beggars and of course the occasional punch up, drunk drivers, trashed backpackers and such. It all goes with the bar business. But the other evening, for the first time ever, I felt unsafe on 51.

It was the end of the night, admittedly quite late - 4ish - when I left my last bar. I wanted to buy food at a burger stand 80 meters away. In that 80 meters, over the next 10 minutes, a couple of Middle Eastern guys tried to pick a fight with me, 2 drunken luxury cars weaving through the intersection at 60kph narrowly missed me, a tuk-tuk driver told me to ‘fuck off’ because I politely declined his offer of a ride or a prostitute, a parade of infant bearing beggar women and half a dozen glue sniffing children pawed and moaned for money, two people offered to sell me drugs, and when I finally got to the food stand a 6-year-old tried to pickpocket me while I ordered my dog and ribs. I sat with my back to the wall as I waited for the food. A tourist girl vomited in the middle of the street in front of me and a motorcycle crashed trying to avoid her. Down the street near the Heart a commotion began. Some sort of fight, drawing a crowd. I went for a look.

A barang and a Khmer guy were having at it. The barang was big. His friend was trying to stop it. A barang standing next to me in the crowd started taking photos with his phone. A Khmer girl ordered him to stop. “You cannot take photo. No photo of Khmer fight barang!” she barked. He didn’t respond so she repeated herself then continued, “I am Khmer! I tell you what to do. You not stop, I take camera. I am Khmer. I tell you, stop!” Inspired by her words, I took out my phone to film it too. This is what I got. That's her, in the pinkish clothes and light hair, bouncing in and out of the commotion.

I’ve seen most all of these things on 51 before – fights, pickpockets, glue sniffing kids, aggressive drunks, moto crashes, rude tuk-tuks, the beggars, druggies, etc., etc. – but not all within 80 meters and 10 minutes of each other. That was a first for me. It gave me pause.

Street 51 really does seem a bit notorious these days.

Independence Monument with Christmas Trees

2011-12-26T04:31:00.004+07:00

Christmas night, 12/11, Independence Monument, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T05:00:00.000+07:00

Santa's Bodyguard

Originally drawn in 1998 by Dutch artist Arijan (Aryan) Jansonius, inspired by life here in Phnom Penh at the time. Note the old style motorcycle. Issued as one in a set postcards available in Cambodia in the late 90s.

Merry Christmas

On Earth Peace, Good Will toward Men

Cambodian Nativity

2011-12-24T17:24:00.000+07:00

Cambodian Beggars in Bangkok

2011-12-23T23:25:00.014+07:00

3 or 4 year old Cambodian boy, begging cup in hand, working the tourists on Sukhumvit, about 1:00AM

I was in Bangkok last week. Stayed in the heart of the Sukhumvit tourist area, Soi 4. In my 3-day stay I was a bit surprised by the number of Cambodian beggars I saw there – all women and young children. Seemed to be a lot more than usual. I don't know much about the foreign beggar situation in Bangkok. I’m in the city every couple of months for a few days or a week at a time – shopping, doctor, perhaps a bit of R&R. I know the place mostly from the perspective of a tourist.

There have always been both Thai and foreign beggars in that area. Of the foreigner beggars I’ve noticed, it’s been mostly Cambodians and some Vietnamese in the past, often children. One or two at a time here and there. What seemed unique this time was the sheer number of Cambodian beggars, and that they seemed to be working in family groups. There were at least a dozen and a half that I saw, comprising 3 or 4 family (or family-like) groups working a relatively compact tourist area around Sukhumvit Soi 4, including 3 or 4, 22-32 year old women with infants, several very young (3-6 year old) children begging and selling gum, and also several, mostly female flower sellers, around 9-12 years old. They all seemed to know one another and from what I could overhear they all spoke Khmer i.e. Cambodian Khmer, not Khmer as it is spoken in Thailand. These people were from Cambodia, not ethnic-Khmer from Northern Thailand.

They were likely trafficked here from Cambodia.

One evening I sat in front of the hotel for more than 3 hours, drinking beer and lazily watching the street scene including watching the beggars work. That area is solid tourists and those feeding off of them – punters and prostitutes, shoppers, street sellers, travelers and, of course, beggars. There was an easy dozen Cambodian beggars working that block alone. No men. All women and children. The youngest beggar children carried plastic cups to collect money, as did the infant toting Moms. The older children sold flowers and chewing gum.

A three year old boy was working the sidewalk right in front of where we sat, pacing back and forth hitting up passing tourists for change and doing a pretty good job of it. Seemed about 1 in 3 or 4 would give something, highlighting why he's been put on the street to beg. Because it works.

My wife called him over and asked him in Khmer where he was from. He said, in Khmer, that he was from Siem Reap and that he had been working in Thailand a ‘long time,’ (whatever a 'long time' may mean to a 3 year old.) One of the flower girls saw him talking to us and yelled to him in Khmer, ‘Don’t speak.’ He went back to begging, working long stretches unsupervised. He sure was a puffy-eyed, tired looking little guy still working at 1AM. He’d lay his head on the railing in front of us to rest, but would go on auto-pilot when he heard a tourist coming, automatically waving his plastic cup in their path. He knew how to do it in his sleep, so to speak.

A few times the whole lot of them went dashing up the street in a panic as if they were running from something, but we never saw anybody give chase. I asked a Thai street seller what it was all about and she explained that they probably spotted the police nearby and were fleeing for fear of arrest. Apparently the local constabulary is not on the trafficker's payroll.

I noticed in the Pattaya Daily News a couple of weeks ago that there are reports of Cambodian beggars of similar description working the tourists (and now arrested) in Pattaya – all Cambodian women with infants and children. While noting that there are Cambodian beggars in Bangkok would not be news, in my limited observation this time there seems to have been a recent influx and numbers are up. And I wonder why. Is the increase because of the beginning of the tourist season? Or did some new trafficking route just open? Or did I just fail to notice all of them before?

Cambodian girls selling flowers on Soi 4

Cambodian mother with infant (well, presumably she's the mother) working as a beggar on Sukhumvit Soi 4, Bangkok

More:

The Nature and Scope of the Foreign Beggar Issue (especially as related to Cambodian child beggars) in Bangkok

Kim dead. Flag lowered (a little)

2011-12-19T20:41:00.007+07:00

Kim Jong-il died today. The North Korean embassy here in Phnom Penh flew its flag at 3/4 mast. Typical. Yet another half-truth from the DPRK.

(Or does it hint at something else?)

From the display board on the front wall:

Panto

2011-12-18T21:53:00.016+07:00

The step sisters do Beyonce

Running about a week late on this post.

*CONTAINS (belated) SPOILERS*

Last week the local expat theater group, The Phnom Penh Players, did their annual Christmas pantomime – that peculiar form of traditional British family entertainment that includes risqué wordplay, slapstick, political in-jokes, rampant cross-dressing and, ideally, raucous audience participation. This year’s outing was entitled ‘Cinderella’s Hard Day’s Night,’ and like last year’s ‘Robin in da Hood’ it was a general success.

Written by local expats Claire Barker and Zac Kandall, Cinderella’s Hard Day’s Night tells the story of a provincial girl from an ill-fated family – her widower father dies suddenly (of 'a broken heart' according to local officials,) then their mango trees mysteriously burn down and a development company rubber plantation pops up in its place. Her inheritance lost, she moves to the city where she ends up doing factory work and acting as a servant to her self-centered, bearded stepsisters played by Mark Twine and Dom Sharpe. Interspersed with adapted Beatles songs, the story winds its way rather unpredictably through the Cinderella tale, from her abuse by her adopted family (and their threats to traffic her to Bangkok,) to the 'connected' fairy godparents, the royal ball, the insecure (and busty) Prince Charming, the climactic cake baking contest judged Chef Ramsay (whose every other word is a censorial "beep") and ultimately to a ‘happily ever after’ ending and a grand romantic kiss between the Prince and Cinderella (both played by women.)

The writing was sharp and knowing, the songs fun, the actors all in good form and the play as a whole a bit rough around the edges, just as a local performance should be. I feel I must make special note of the play's bitingly timely local in-jokes, and of Tim Johnson as Buttons, Cinderella’s love struck sidekick, whose merry muggings made many a moment. Great stuff Tim. Consider quitting your day job.

Last but certainly not least, the over-the-top rendition of Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies’ by Cinderella’s cross-dressing step-sisters was uproariously funny, the highlight of the show. I've never really seen the humor in drag, but this sketch had me belly laughing. I hope somebody caught it on video. It was a keeper.

It was all great fun. A touch of home in the Christmas season, even if I’m not British. The audience, made up mostly of expats, many families and children, obviously enjoyed themselves. Having no idea what it will be or even if there will be one, I highly recommend next year’s show for the whole family.

At the Russian Cultural Center. The crowds await.

Program

Hamlet introduces the traditions and rules of Pantomime

"Lakeside this, lakeside that. If I knew it was going to be such a big to-do I would have done things differently. Yes, I definitely would have shut down the newspapers..."

Fairy Godmother, Buttons and Cinderella

Fairy Godfather (and writer, Zac Kandall)

Domino and Buttons

'All you need is love...'

Finale, 'All You Need is Love'

The cast

More:

EAS: Panto Time: Cinderella’s Hard Day's Night

Phnom Penh Post: New panto combines Beatles and fairytales

Red Moon

2011-12-11T00:57:00.005+07:00

There was a total lunar eclipse here this evening in Cambodia (and across much of this part of the world.). The sky over Phnom Penh was clear and the eclipse readily apparent.

I was busy this evening and didn’t think I’d have the opportunity to see it, but carried my camera just in case. I stepped outside at about 9:35PM. The eclipse seemed just a bit lopsided, one side of the moon slightly darker than the other. The whole surface was in deep shadow and distinctly pinkish red with a touch of orange.

I aimed my camera skyward and took a couple of snaps. I noticed the Vietnamese woman standing near me, staring at me. I pointed up and said, “eclipse of the moon, shadow on the moon.”

She said, “I know, no good.”

I smiled and said (admittedly somewhat insensitively,) “What? Dragon eating the moon or something?”

She snapped back, “You think this is funny?”

I said nothing.

“Bad luck,” she said. “Bad luck, next year the Dragon comes. Bad luck last time this happened. Bad luck this year and next.”

I didn’t smile this time. Just went back to taking photos. She walked away.

The photo above was the best I could do hand-held. Taken at about 9:52PM with a D5100, 18-200mm lens, f5, 1/30, ISO 6400.

According to the Phuket News:

...the entire eclipse should be visible from Asia and Australia. However, North America and Canada will witness only the start of totality as the moon dips below the horizon.

The partial eclipse begins at 7:45pm when the Moon reaches the umbra, Earth’s inner dark shadow. Totality will be achieved by by 9:06pm as the entire Moon is covered by the Earth’s shadow.

The eclipse will reach its zenith at 9:31pm, with the Moon starting to move out of shadow at 9:57pm.

The total eclipse will last 51 minutes.

From start to finish, the partial and total eclipse phases will take 3 hours 32 minutes, with the final penumbra ending at 12:30am...

Eclipse location:

From: All About The Total Lunar Eclipse On 10th December, 2011

Riverfront Scammers and the Filipino Blackjack Con

2011-12-05T02:34:00.009+07:00

It’s the beginning of the high tourism season in Cambodia. The tourists are back, and so are the scammers that prey on them, especially in tourist zones like the riverfront in Phnom Penh. Actually, the scammers never left, but in my forays up the riverfront these last couple of weeks they seem to be out in numbers and working hard, chasing the fresh crop of newbies in Cambodia. Day before yesterday in front of the Royal Palace I almost got a photo of three different scammers in the same shot, but they saw me raise my camera and scattered.

There are of course the professional beggars that pester tourists as they try to have a meal on the riverfront, but they are more of an annoyance than scammer. There are also more insidious forms of this, such as the women (and sometime children) that carry around rented and drugged infants as sympathy props and child beggars that have been put on the street to work. All this is fairly well known.

Then there are the foreign scammers. ‘Wild Turkey Man’ (a.k.a. the Australian beggar) is probably the best known and longest ‘working’ of the group. He and at least one or two other foreigners are running the same scam on the riverfront, a rather old one in fact, often used on the traveler’s trail. He approaches you and spins a tale about how he’s a tourist who has lost or had his passport and money stolen, the embassy requires him to pay for a new one, or is making him wait, leaving him penniless and on the street, or he needs a bus ticket to Siem Reap to pick it up, etc., etc. The tale ends predictably, with a plea for financial help, “just a dollar, maybe a few…” Leaving aside issues of honesty and such, the biggest problem I have with these sorts of foreign ne’er-do-wells is that while they are scamming tourists for beer money they are also competing with poverty-stricken third-worlders for the limited pity dollars that flow in the tourist areas.

But it wasn’t the usual suspects that inspired this post. It was the appearance of a comparatively new and potentially much more dangerous group of tourist scammers in Cambodia – what’s become known as the ‘Filipino Mafia’ or ‘Filipino Blackjack Con.’ One of these guys tried to work me the other day in front of the National Museum, and it wasn’t an hour later that a tuk-tuk driver was complaining to me (unprompted) that a tourist couple he had been ferrying around had to cut their Cambodia holiday short for having fallen prey to “Filipino sharks.” He claims that there are several of these scammers working in Phnom Penh and that he and other tuk-tuks have complained to the police, who have as yet done nothing about it.

The Filipino scammers have been running this con for years in Vietnam and their doings in Ho Chi Minh City have been well documented by Adam Bray on his website Fish Egg Tree. Even the well-experienced Vagabond Traveler was taken for a ride by these guys in Saigon.

I first noticed them here in Phnom Penh about a year ago. While walking past the Royal Palace I was approached by a friendly Asian couple – a man in his 50s and a woman in her 30s in casual dress. They began by complimenting my hat and asking where I got it. This led to more friendly conversation, and more praise and interest in my knowledge, appearance and country. They claimed to be Malaysians living in Australia. When they found out that I was a long-term expat they ended the conversation politely but quickly. I was immediately suspicious. It may sound cynical, but while somebody may stop to ask for directions or perhaps to sell you something, nobody starts extended conversations with passing strangers for no particular reason. I didn’t know what the game was at the time, but something was definitely fishy.

Three weeks later the same couple approached me in the same spot in almost the same way, but this time it was my beard they liked. They had forgotten me from before. They claimed to be half-Khmer/half-Malaysian visiting family in Cambodia. Again, they showed glowing interest in my country, my travels, my family and my experiences as a tourist in Cambodia. All feel good stuff, appealing to my vanity and sense of openness as a traveler. Again, they ended the conversation when they learned I was a long-termer. I still didn’t know what they were up to but it was clearly no-good. I saw them a few times after that, walking the same area, but they didn’t approach me again.

It was shortly thereafter I learned about the ‘Filipino Blackjack scam’ being run in Saigon and heard that the same scammers had been seen in Phnom Penh. I put 2 and 2 together.

About a month ago in front of the National Museum here in Phnom Penh another couple approached me in the same way – different people, same general description, same sort of conversation except this time they started by complimenting me on my handsome backpack. Like the others, they spoke English well and with a non-Khmer accent. Unlike previous encounters, I changed my story and said I was a tourist. The conversation ran much longer. They expressed great interest in learning more about my country and invited me to join them for an authentic Khmer meal, a cultural exchange of sorts. I already knew enough, begged off and walked away. Whatever was to happen next, it was going to be an attempt to lead me into a situation over which I did not have control and separate me from my money.

Over the last month I have spotted the male half of the couple several times working tourists on the Sothearos Blvd sidewalk in front of the National Museum in Phnom Penh. Twice in the last two weeks, apparently forgetting that they have already done this to me several times, he approached me with the same lame sort of compliment/question they use every time. Day before yesterday it was my sunglasses he liked. “Very nice sunglasses. Did you buy those here…”

They have been seen in several places in Phnom Penh including other parts of the riverfront, at Sorya Mall and in front of the Central Market. There are also recent reports that they are working in Siem Reap as well.

No need to detail the rest of their scam – how they manipulate you into a compromised situation, how you get into a card game you never thought you’d enter, how you lose money you never thought you’d bet, how it can amount to hundreds or even thousands of dollars, how they pressure, threaten, even drug you afterwards. They are slick and they are professionals and if you start to walk down the rosy path with them, they will get you there. And the details of the scam have already been well covered by Fish Egg Tree and Vagabond Traveler.

You only need to know that THE FILIPINO SCAMMERS ARE HERE IN CAMBODIA, they are targeting tourists, and to follow the advice that your Mom gave you when you were young...

BEWARE of friendly strangers.

Pedophile!

2011-11-28T13:31:00.013+07:00

It finally happened.

As a result of the hysteria generated by the western press, and perhaps a bit of racism as well, today I was accused of being a pedophile, for absolutely no other reason than being a white male in the company of brown children – my son and daughter.

First, just a bit about us. I’m 50+ years old, white, a businessman and have lived in Cambodia for more than 18 years. I’m married to an Asian woman. We’ve been together more than 10 years and have two beautiful children - a 9 year old girl and 7 year old boy. We are the natural parents of both. They are wonderful children, the loves of my life. They are well-behaved, excellent students and speak perfectly accented American English as well as 2-3 other languages. And though it sickens me that the situation requires me to make note of their racial features… though they are not distinctly Asian, they are darker than me and not 100% European in appearance, to anybody with an eye, clearly ‘kon kut’ (mixed race.)

I work a lot, perhaps too much, but always reserve Sundays for my family and children. It’s become a Sunday afternoon tradition in our family to give Mom a break, some time for herself. The kids and I always go somewhere together on Sunday afternoons - the Museum, the park, the Palace, the Russian Market, or quite often the riverfront for snacks and CD shopping, as we did today.

We took a tuk-tuk to the riverfront, got out at K-West (Sisowath Quay and Street 184) and started walking up the riverfront road. My children were dressed in their Sunday best, happy and smiling. We strolled hand in hand, my daughter anxious to buy the newest installment of Harry Potter at the CD shop, my son looking forward to strawberry and passion fruit ice cream at K-West.

We hadn’t got but 40 meters when I noticed a woman – white, 50ish, seemingly a tourist - walking toward us taking photos in our direction. A man, presumably the husband, stood next to her. As we got closer I thought she might be trying to get a riverfront shot, perhaps of something behind me, so I stepped slightly to the side to get out of the way. But she tracked us with her camera. As we got closer and she kept shooting I furrowed my brow in a ‘what are you doing?’ sort of way, but didn’t actually say anything.

She held up her camera, pointed at it and said, “Internet!” I wasn’t sure I got the meaning so I said “what?” She pointed at her camera again and said with a smirk, “Internet,” pointed at me and said, “you pedo!” Hearing clearly but not wanting to make a mistake I stepped closer to her and asked again. She repeated, “Photo you, internet, you pedo…for police,” in a distinctly Italian accent. I said something like “These are my children.” She just shook her head and started to raise her camera again. I said, “You want police? You want to call the police?” She nodded. I said, “I’ll call police.” She nodded again and we stepped to the side of the pavement together. My children backed off a few steps, frightened by the obvious tension in our voices. I pulled out my phone, called my staff and asked them to call the police and I called the police myself as well. I told them where I was and asked them to come quickly.

We stood there uncomfortably for a moment. I considered grabbing the camera, but didn’t want to start a fight, especially with my children there. I motioned my children to us and told my daughter to explain who she was. I figured my daughter’s thick American accent alone should be enough. My daughter started to tell her name, age and such when the Italian woman cut her off. “No English. No English,” she barked. Startled, my children moved behind me.

We stood there another uncomfortable minute, waiting. The woman started to get nervous. She said “I go,” and tried to push past me. I said “No, we wait for police.” She repeated that she was going. I told her to either wait for the police or delete the photos. She said, “No, you pedo,” and tried to push past me again. I stood firm and told her we were going to wait for the police. She pushed me back but I stayed in front of her like a blocker. I didn’t touch her myself because she was a woman, but she pushed me back repeatedly. It became a jostling and yelling match, her pushing, me blocking, staggering down the riverfront back toward K-West. Khmers and tourists stood and stared at the commotion. I just kept repeating, “wait for the police or delete the photos,” as did she, “no, no…go, go.”

Through all this her husband did nothing to help her. I kept expecting him to jump in. Rather hoping he would actually. But he just looked uncomfortable, slowly, silently, wimpishly following behind his wife.

In front of K-West they jumped in a tuk-tuk. I thought about getting in too. Or perhaps grabbing a motodup. I saw my children standing about 15 meters away, wide-eyed. I didn’t want to involve them in a chase. This was already too much. I pulled out my phone and aimed it at the woman to take a photo. She screamed, “No photo! No photo!” and covered her face. It took a few seconds for my camera to work allowing her time to cover. I took several photos, all of her with face covered.

After they left, I called the police back and told them she was gone and to not bother coming.

My kids and I went into K-West, got some tea and sodas and we talked about what had happened. I tried to explain, leaving out the bit about pedophilia and replacing it with ‘she thought I was trying to steal you.’ “Why?” they asked. I could only say because I’m white and they look Asian. “But we’re a family,” they said. They know that their Mom is Asian and I’m a barang, but they haven’t yet learned that this is an important distinction in the minds of some.

I know there is more to it than that, but how do I explain that to a 7 and 9 year old?

In moments of silence, as they tried to comprehend what this woman had done, I tweeted about it. The whole thing left me rattled. Bitching about it on internet seemed to help relieve the tension a bit.

My daughter made an astute observation in the aftermath. Thirty minutes later, as we walked to the CD shop she said, “She knows nothing about Cambodia. Doesn’t she know that Asians and Americans can have children? She doesn’t know anything.”

I think my daughter is right about that, or perhaps even understated it a bit. The woman doesn’t know anything about Cambodia. She, in fact, probably only imagines she knows something because of what she has read in the western press, which is something less than nothing in many cases.

If this Italian woman isn’t simply a racist, her mind has probably been twisted by the constant stream of sensational, repetitive and often wildly-overstated stories of western pedophiles and abused children in Cambodia. And not only by the western press but by NGOs that profit from it and feed the beast with exaggerated stats and a constant stream of rehashed horrors stories that keep the funds flowing and the presses humming.

Back in the US a few months ago I saw MSNBC playing their 8 year old ‘Children for Sale’ video yet again, about a brothel village that hasn’t existed in more than half a decade. Some NGOs are still pawning off the ’33,000 child prostitutes in Cambodia’ stat when there aren’t 33,000 prostitutes of any age in Cambodia (link). Some Christian NGOs tell their people that there are women chained to beds and being raped in hostess bars in the center of the tourist district on the Phnom Penh riverfront. Every westerner busted for pedophilia in Cambodia is repeated in the international press for weeks while the fact that they make up a tiny fraction of the pedos in Cambodia goes unmentioned. Nicholas Kristof parachutes into Cambodia to do a sensational live-tweet of a brothel raid, painting himself the cowboy hero riding to the rescue of women and children in the Wild West (link1 link 2). Some NGOs in Cambodia parade their rescued victims (link) of trafficking in front of an insatiable press and voyeuristic tourists to repeat their stories of victimhood again and again - donations accepted. Sex in Cambodia sells.

Don’t get me wrong. Human trafficking and trafficking in children for sex is a real and present problem in Cambodia, and the rest of the world. There are pedophiles, especially amongst the Khmer and Asians, and certainly westerners too. It all needs to be addressed, there is no doubt about that. But the western press’s manic fixation on abusive sex in Cambodia has made the country name synonymous with pedophilia, unfairly and inaccurately so.

From her exposure to the press, tourists like this Italian woman think that pedophiles are as common as cockroaches, that any white man with an Asian looking child must be a pedo who can simply waltz through tourist areas in broad daylight with a prepubescent child on each hand. (And I can’t help but believe that if my children had been white, she wouldn’t have made this judgment about us.) Kristof’s sensationalism has 3-day tourists believing they too can play super-hero, identifying pedos at a glance, swooping to the rescue and saving a child in between their afternoon visit to the Royal Palace and authentic Cambodian Curry dinner on the riverfront.

Ultimately, as good as their intentions might be, as important as the problem is, the press, some NGOs and these misguided tourists are doing the country, the victims of trafficking, and yes, even little people like me a terrible disservice, while enriching and glorifying themselves in the process. This needs to stop. This isn’t a game or an action hero movie or an opportunity for tourists to feel righteous pity. The problems need to be addressed realistically and not in the context of sensationalism, mania, big-money, and dare I say, racism.

If, unlike this Italian woman, you have a reasonable, rational belief that you have seen a child in a risk situation, by all means, call the ChildSafe helpline, if possible keep the child in sight and wait until the ChildSafe team arrives to sort things out.

Anyway, I figure that when my photo turns up on some Italian website as another pedophile operating openly and with impunity in Cambodia, it will also include a story of my powerful police connections that were on their way to protect me and how she had to flee for her life. A narrow escape by our heroine, just like in the movies. Cambodia is a very dangerous place, you know. And her harrowing tale might even generate a few donations for some Cambodian anti-trafficking NGO.

Useful Idiots of the Khmer Rouge

2011-11-24T05:13:00.014+07:00

By late 1977 the Pol Pot regime had decided to begin seeking broader international support for their 'Democratic Kampuchea.' In November 1977 Burma's Ne Win became the first head of state to visit Phnom Penh since the Khmer Rouge takeover in April 1975. Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania followed soon after. Beginning in early 1978, small groups of Communist-sympathizing westerners were invited and/or allowed to visit Cambodia, most often arriving on the then weekly flight from Beijing to Phnom Penh. (Pol Pot History of a Nightmare, by Phillip Short, page 381.) In August of that year a leftist Swedish group including the now repentant Gunnar Bergstrom toured the country and even dined with Pol Pot. Bergstrom made news again in 2008 when he returned to Cambodia after 30 years, this time to offer apologies for supporting the regime and ask forgiveness of the survivors. (For more on Bergstrom see Taiwan News and BBC)

In April 1978, months before Bergstrom arrived in Cambodia, a group of four Americans from the American Communist Party M-L visited the country, declaring themselves the "first Americans to visit Cambodia since April 1975." The group included Robert Brown, David Klein and the editor of the communist The Call magazine Daniel Burstein. (Ironically, Burstein is now a New York venture capitalist and writer, at least according to the Communpedia and from what I have been able to infer from some Googling.)

This group of Americans met with Iang Sary and toured the country for eight days* in what was no doubt a carefully orchestrated outing, including Phnom Penh city and Siem Reap, Kampong Thom, Kampong Cham and Takeo provinces. Afterward, they departed with a very favorable impression of Democratic Kampuchea and the 'accomplishments' of the Khmer Rouge regime. Burstein was so impressed that he wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Times entitled "On Cambodia: But, Yet," published November 21, 1978 (link,) declaring the stories of Khmer Rouge horrors and genocide that were littering the US press at the time to be slanderous lies. Burstein wrote,

"Everyone knows about the war waged by the United States in Cambodia from 1970 to 1975. But very few people know about or understand the war that it is waging today against that country, which now calls itself Democratic Kampuchea. The was is being fought on many fronts. But it is mainly a propaganda war, a consciously organized, well-financed campaign to spread lies and misinformation about Kampuchea since the victory of its revolution in 1975

I was the first American to visit Kampuchea since April 17, 1975. What I saw has little in common with the stories told by so many journalists and other 'authorities' who have never been there...

The most slanderous of all charges leveled against Kampuchea is that of 'mass genocide,' with figures often cited running into the millions of people. I believe this is a lie, which certain opinion-makers in this country believe can be turned into a 'fact' by repeating it often enough."

Though, in the spirit of a proper apologist he did concede that there may have been "excesses,"

This does not mean there has been no violence or bloodshed since the revolution. he new Government has had to deal with many forces that oppose the revolution -- former Lon Nol officials, as well as organized networks of American, Russian and Vietnamese agents trying to overthrow the Government. Such sabotage has undoubtedly been met with violent suppression. In the course of this, there may even have been some excesses, which no revolution is immune to.

His tour companions were similarly impressed by their experience in Democratic Kampuchea. They produced a 115-page booklet entitled, 'The New Face of Kampuchea: a photo-record of the first American visit to Cambodia since the end of the war,' or 'Kampuchea: A photo-record of the first American visit to Cambodia since April 1975,' written by Klein, with photographs by Robert Brown and published by the now defunct Liberator Press (Chicago) in late 1978. (See The Eyes of the Pineapple for more on Liberator Press.) They arrived at a similar conclusion to Burstein's, i.e. that the Khmer Rouge were liberators, Cambodia was moving in the right direction, the Cambodian people enthusiastic participants in the new order and that the tales of Khmer Rouge atrocities were just so much capitalist propaganda.

The very month that this group of Americans were in Phnom Penh, April 1978, the purges of the Eastern Zone and the torture operation at the infamous S-21 prison facility in Phnom Penh (now the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum) were reaching a crescendo. The unfortunates brought to S-21, not far from where the Americans were touring city, were tortured into bizarre and unlikely 'confessions' reflecting the paranoias of Khmer Rouge leadership, sometimes 'admitting' to being counter-revolutionary spies working simultaneously for the Americans, the Russians and the Vietnamese. In his landmark work on the prison, 'Voices from S-21' (page 73,) David Chandler writes, "The Party Center then embarked on a wholesale purge of cadres in the Eastern Zone. In April 1978, so many were brought into S-21 that some of the trucks bearing prisoners had to be turned away...presumably to be taken off to be killed without any interrogation," stocking the killing fields of Choeung Ek just outside of town. In a chillingly deaf echo of this horrible reality, Klein apologetically notes in Kampuchea (page 10) that Khmer Rouge government leaders acknowledged "violence" was still being employed to root out a secret apparatus of CIA, KGB and Vietnamese infiltrators in Cambodia, but that it was to "(make) sure that the chains which had previously held the people in bondage would never be forged again."

The following are scans of a photocopy of the Forward, Introduction and first two chapters of 'Kampuchea: A photo-record of the first American visit to Cambodia since April 1975,' which contain Klein's observations and impressions of the state of the country and people as well as several interesting photographs by Brown of an almost empty Phnom Penh.

One might say that these men were naive, duped, perhaps blinded by their ideology, but I find it difficult to understand how they could see child soldiers carrying AKs as big as themselves, masses of black clad people toiling in the mud like ants and a capital city devoid of occupants three years after the takeover and not catch a hint that something might be amiss.

Click on the images to enlarge.

Page 4: Colonial villa on Sothearos Blvd opposite National Museum?

Dan Burstein with Iang Sary, April 28, 1978

Page 27: Former American Embassy, northeast corner of Norodom Blvd. and Mao Tse Toung Blvd.

Page 31: Corner of Norodom Blvd and Street 130, northwest corner

Page 32: Looking east down Street 154 from the corner of Norodom Blvd. and Street 154.
Page 33: Looking south down Monivong Blvd from corner of Monivong and Street 114

Page 34: Looking east on Street 118 from the corner of Norodom Blvd and Street 118.
Page 35: Southeast corner of Norodom Blvd and Street 118

(* There is some discrepancy regarding the length of the tour. Wikipedia [yes, I know it is an inherently dubious source] states that the tour lasted 8 days. But in his booklet 'Kampuchea,' David Klein states the group arrived in Phnom Penh April 12, but also dates one of the photos of Dan Burstein in the book April 28, indicating that the stay was longer than 8 days or perhaps that they toured at slightly different times or had overlapping tours. It may also be that the photo is incorrectly dated, or is not credited properly, perhaps taken by someone other that Robert Brown.)

Unpublished responses

2011-11-22T22:20:00.003+07:00

As you may have noticed, I need to ‘approve’ responses before they are published to my blog. I do this primarily because I am unable to check my blog everyday and I don’t want vulgar responses, spam, etc. hanging out there for days at a time before I can get to it. Generally speaking I publish almost all response to my blog, but not quite everything. Here are a few of my favorites that I refrained from publishing.

1) Responding to my post ‘Birthday of King Father Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia’ - The guy who first responded that nobody will ever respond to my blog because the responses have to get approved first. (He said I was just trying to build my CV.) Shortly thereafter he responded again, posting what amounted to an insult to the Khmer and Thai kings.
2) Responding to my post ‘The Polite Tuk-Tuk’ about the tuk-tuk driver that doesn’t harass tourists and expats – The tuk-tuk driver who posted 4 times in 4 days that he was a friend of the polite tuk-tuk, that he is a tuk-tuk driver too, and that I should post his contact information for tourists. He clearly missed the point.
3) Responding to my post ‘Southeast Asia Backpacker’s Credo and Motto’ – The guy that called me a bigot for generalizing about backpackers and then added a profanity laden paragraph generalizing about expats.
4) Responding to several of my photo-only posts – People who say something to the effect ‘Love your writing…’ (Even though I didn’t write anything.) ‘…Check out my website at...’ followed by a link to a travel agency, tour operator, commercial travel blog, etc.

Birthday of King Father Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia

2011-10-30T19:48:00.010+07:00

King Father Norodom Sihanouk on the occasion of his 90th birthday celebration, Chanchhaya Pavilion, Royal Palace, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Today (October 30,) the occasion of King Father Norodom Sihanouk’s 90th birthday and the 20-year anniversary of his return to Cambodia was marked with a public celebration in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh. All of Cambodia’s most important dignitaries were in attendance as well as thousands of well-wishers including students, police, military and citizens. King Father Sihanouk’s actual birthday is October 31, 1922 and the day of his return to Cambodia November 14, 1991, but October 30 was apparently close enough. In fact, when Sihanouk was King his birthday was held over a 3 day period, from October 30-November 1.

The celebration this morning was festive in appearance, if a bit formal in atmosphere. I arrived early, around 6:30, walking up Street 240 into the Palace area with a stream of hundreds of students on their way to the event. Students, scouts, police and military in their formal best filled the park in front of the Palace opposite the Chanchhaya Pavilion. Citizens lined the roads, many holding flags, flowers and photos of the Kings. Almost no foreigners were present in the crowd. I counted less than 15 in all, including journalists. Too busy sleeping off their authentic Cambodian experience from the Saturday night before, I guess. I managed to get to the very front of the crowd with the TV crews, but it was still quite a ways to the side. I had hoped to get closer for the purpose of photography, but was kept back by security. Over time we (the photog crowd) did manage to work our way another 10 meters closer using the journo shuffle, but that was as much as security would tolerate. It pushed the edge of what I could do with my 200mm lens.

As dignitaries arrived, announcements were made and a high school band in the park played various songs both Cambodian and western, including, somewhat incongruently in the blazing sun, Jingle Bells…’in a one horse open sleigh.’ Dignitaries of lesser importance filled the uncovered seating at the face of the Pavilion and slowly baked in the direct morning sun. King Sihamoni, King Father Sihanouk, Queen Mother Monique, Prince Ranariddh, Prince Chakrapong, Prime Minister Hun Sen, H.E. Sar Kheng and other high royal and government officials were seated in the covered balcony facing the crowd that filled the park across the road.

Once all were assembled there were announcements and music. A troupe of traditional Cambodian dancers performed, and from what I could see though my telephoto, much to the delight of King Father Sihanouk. The dance complete, His Excellency Sar Kheng (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior) came out to the facing podium and made a short address of well wishes to the King Father. After H.E. Sar Kheng, Prime Minister Hun Sen took to facing podium to address the King Father, making a speech that seemed to last at least 20 minutes. The children in the crowd began to grow restless in the increasingly hot sun. They tittered amongst themselves and ooo’d and ahh’d at a flock of pigeons that circled overhead and swooped occasionally toward the crowd. The Prime Minster finished, the King Father sampeahed him profusely as he returned toward the Pavilion.

Then King Father Sihanouk stood to address the crowd. His son the King and Queen Mother occasionally braced him as he stood and sampeahed to the people and those around him. His voice was weak and difficult to hear, but he showed great stamina, speaking for at least as long as the Prime Minister. The adults in the crowd focused their attention on his words. The children continued to shuffle restlessly about. It was difficult to catch his words, but he seemed in good humor, spoke much of Cambodian unity, ribbed that his wife says that he speaks too much, and from what those around me repeated, he promised to remain in Cambodia. There was occasional applause and seeming general appreciation of what he was saying.

His speech complete, the crowd cheered genuinely. There seemed nothing forced or formal about it. Balloons were released from the park and floated appropriately toward and over the Palace. And so it all finished, quite abruptly. The VIPs from the balcony disappeared through a back entrance in very short order and the baked dignitaries from the exposed seating dashed from their chairs seeking cover from the sun in their luxury vehicles parked at the edges of the event area. Military officers and police lingered, taking pictures of one another with the festooned Palace as a background. Also well cooked, I wandered up the riverfront in search of an air-conditioned restaurant and bowl of kui-teo, which I found only a couple of hundred meters away.

Waiting crowds

Apsara dancers with a side of baked VIP

H.E. Sar Kheng addresses King Father Sihanouk

King Father Sihanouk addresses the People

Son and Father. King Norodom Sihamoni and King Father Sihanouk

King Norodom Sihamoni, King Father Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk Monique

King Father Sihanouk and Prime Minister Hun Sen

Boy Scouts

Girl Scouts

High school band

Brahmins

Honor Guard

Balloons over the Chanchhaya Pavilion

Officers lining the road for the passing procession of dignitaries.

More officers line the road

Military Police

Wat Ounalom on the riverfront, festooned for King Father Sihanouk's birthday

Sign in front of National Museum commemorating King Father Sihanouk's 90th birthday and 20-year anniversary of his return to Cambodia. Note that 2011-1922=90 (not 89.) I'd say 'only in Cambodia' except that this is how the math of age works in several Southeast Asian countries. Unlike western countries, people are born 1 and the counting begins from there. 90 in Cambodia is the equivalent of 89 in the west.

Brief Cambodia Flood Update

2011-10-22T23:38:00.018+07:00

Phnom Penh riverfront, 10/29

Final UPDATE, October 29 - There is no flooding in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap city, Battambang city, Sihanoukville, Kampot city or Kep. There is no imminent threat of flooding in any of these cities. The river levels in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Battambang continue to fall. Here in Phnom Penh, in my casual observation, it is falling at a rate of 10-15cm per day. The river level has dropped below alarm stage all along the Mekong River and Tonle Sap River in Cambodia and continues to fall. All National Routes are clear of water and buses and taxis are running normally. There is still some flooding lingering in the countryside but it is slowly subsiding. From what I read in the papers, parts of Thailand and Bangkok are facing significant flooding problems, but that is completely unrelated to the flooding situation in Cambodia. In my inexpert opinion, the flooding threat to all major Cambodian cities has passed for the season. Unless there is some change for the worse in the situation, this is my final update on the flooding in Cambodia.
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Phnom Penh riverfront, 10/26

UPDATE, October 26 - A very quick update. The drying trend continues in the major cities. There is no flooding in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap. The same goes for Sihanoukville, Kampot and Kep. As of today, Siem Reap is drier than it was two days ago when I posted that almost all the flooding had receded from the city. All businesses are open. All Angkor temples are open. There is no flooding in Phnom Penh. The river level in Phnom Penh continues to fall and, in my casual observation, has dropped at least 20cm in the last two days. According to the MRC website, the river level at the Phnom Penh Port station is now below alarm level for the first time since September. All national routes throughout the country are clear of water and buses and taxis are running between all major cities as normal. Much of the countryside is still inundated, and as mentioned before, there has been major crop loss, loss of life and property damage. See below for some of the projects bringing relief to flood victims in the countryside. There seems to be a growing trend on internet over the last couple of days of posting and/or retweeting old information and sometimes downright misleading information about the flooding, presumably out of inattention, ignorance or a desire to jack up their web stats. When looking at information regarding the flooding in Cambodia, especially in the cities, make sure that it is up-to-date.
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Phnom Penh riverfront, 10/24

UPDATE, October 24 - There is no flooding left in Siem Reap town. Though there are some muddy roads and puddled areas, the town is, for most intents and purposes, dry. All businesses, restaurants, shops, bars, etc. are open. All Angkor temples are open. There is no flooding in Phnom Penh or threat of flooding in Phnom Penh. The river level (Tonle Sap) in Phnom Penh continues to fall. When I did my regular riverfront water level check this afternoon, that level had dropped low enough that I could see the third step for the first time in a month. The MRC website shows the water level of the Mekong River continuing to fall all along the river. The water level at the Phnom Penh Port has dropped to near MRC 'Alarm Level' for the first time since late September. The flooding in the countryside is still draining, albeit very slowly. In an informal conversation today, a government official told me that though there may be concerts, parties and such put on by businesses, there are no official Water Festival events scheduled for Phnom Penh this year.
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As of earlier this afternoon (Oct 22):

There is no flooding in Phnom Penh. Well, there is some lingering flooding at the northern and southern outskirts of the city, but none in Phnom Penh proper. In fact there hasn’t been any significant or unusual flooding in Phnom Penh at any point during the Cambodian flooding crisis. I check the river level at the Phnom Penh riverfront every day, looking at the exactly same spot to see if the water level has changed. In my casual, inexpert observation, give or take a few centimeters the river has been at about the same level for a few weeks now. Today the river was down 5-10cm from yesterday. That is the single largest 24-hour drop in the water level I have seen in weeks. The MRC website also shows either stable or falling water levels all along the Mekong in Cambodia.

Water Level depth chart for Phnom Penh Port

(near central Phnom Penh) from the MRC.

I called around to a few friends that live in Siem Reap today and all report the same – the flooding has largely receded from Siem Reap town. Most roads in town, including the Old Market area, Pub Street, all of the shopping areas and even the river road and traffic circle south of the Old Market area are flood-free. All shops, restaurants, bars and markets are open for business. And, to the best I have been able to determine, all of the Angkor temples are available to visit. There is still some water on the road from Siem Reap to the Lake and on High School Road, but both are reportedly passable. There has been damage to many of the roads, but all are passable. Travelfish posted an entry yesterday with up-to-date, first hand information on the state of flooding in Siem Reap.Travelfish has also posted an entry on some of the local organizations and projects helping to bring aid to the affected communities around Siem Reap.

According to taxi drivers and friends I spoke with today, all of the National Routes are free of flooding, including – from Phnom Penh - NR1 to Vietnam, NR 3 to Kampot/Kep, NR4 to Sihanoukville, NR5 to Battambang, NR6 to Siem Reap, Road48 (from NR4 to Koh Kong) and NR3 (Kampot to NR4). I don’t have any information about NR2 to Takeo or NR7 north. All the National Routes have suffered road damage to varying degrees, but all are passable.

I don’t have much information on the situation in the countryside beside what I see in the newspapers, but from what I've read it sounds like things have changed very little. Much of the countryside is still flooded and draining very slowly. There has been huge property damage and crop loss and many people are in a desperate way. See my October 18 post for more information and links.

Whether the flood waters return or continue to fall depends largely on the weather. But at the moment things look to be stable in the countryside and improving in the cities.

Children Are Not Tourist Attractions

2011-10-20T18:46:00.006+07:00

Tourists, listen up...

Today, Friends-International launched its new 'Children Are Not Tourist Attractions' campaign, including the article below, a new website and an ad campaign with banners on tuk-tuks in Phnom Penh, all to raise awareness about the orphanage tourism game and related child exploitation and voluntourism issues. The goal is to put an end to orphanage tourism in Cambodia. Such a campaign is long-overdue and sorely needed. The article and website are brilliant. I've been railing about this issue for years and it is very near and dear to my heart. (I only wish I could have been so eloquent as Friend-International has been in their website and article.) I wish them the greatest success in this endeavor. Please read, learn and heed their advice.

Photo by Friends-International from the

'When Children Become Tourist Attractions' article.

When Children Become Tourist Attractions

Posted on 20 October 2011, by Friends-International

Each year, thousands of tourists visit orphanages in Cambodia thinking they are helping some of the most vulnerable children in the world. Recent reports however have found their visits may be doing more harm than good.

Nearing midnight on Pub Street, Siem Reap is buzzing. Hundreds, if not thousands of tourists roam from bar to bar, looking for a good time after spending full days wandering through Cambodia’s spectacular Angkor Wat temples.

Beggars follow the travelers around, while other locals sell flowers, fake travel guides and postcards to unassuming customers. Through the mayhem, a small team of professional junior entrepreneurs make their way down the street pitching a different product to the hordes – a visit to a nearby orphanage...Continue reading here

Learn more at the Friends-International CHILDREN ARE NOT TOURIST ATTRACTIONS website.

Please, do not engage in orphanage tourism.

(If I may indulge briefly in a bit of selfish told-you-so righteous gloating...as I mentioned above, I have been on about the orphanage issue for the better part of a decade and the child beggar/vendor issue for a lot longer than that. As an old white male expat, I have been accused of being jaded, heartless, a cynical old expat and much, much worse, because of my views on this matter - all while the name-callers bought flowers from 8-year-old vendors in the bar in the middle of the night, doled out dollar bills to glue sniffing kids on the street and told teary-eyed stories of the orphanage at which they voluntoured [for a price] washing dishes and playing with the children. Tourists, most often young and more often than not female, with big hearts and very little thought, all knew so much more than this old male expat with 25 years in Asia under his belt. I am thrilled to see this long-established, trustworthy, highly credible organization saying basically the same thing, though of course in a more affable, organized, less curmudgeonly way. Maybe now people will listen.)

Another lovely rainy season sunset

2011-10-19T22:45:00.004+07:00

Today, National Museum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Shot on an iPhone 3GS.)

Cambodia Flooding - Update

2011-10-18T23:53:00.026+07:00

(See Brief Cambodia Flood Update above for the latest info.)

Southeast Asia has seen some of the heaviest monsoon season related flooding in many years. So far Thailand and Cambodia have been particularly hard hit. Though I only know of Thailand what I read in the papers, I have witnessed some of the flooding here in Cambodia first hand and have also been able to gather first hand reports in real time from trusted sources in some locations around the country.

Cambodia's Annual Floods

Monsoon season flooding is a normal occurrence in Cambodia. It happens every year between July and November as the Mekong and other rivers swell with run-off from the mountains to the north and monsoons drop copious amounts of rain over the whole region. Much of Cambodia is a floodplain and is inundated on an annual basis. This is one of the reasons why traditional Cambodian houses are built on stilts. The floods replenish the land and make possible the rice crops that are the country’s staple food.

This year has been unusual. Too much rain and over swollen rivers in many parts of the country have brought some of the worst flooding in a decade to Cambodia – covering a much wider area, more deeply and for a longer period than a normal year. The result has been disastrous in the countryside - extensive property damage, crop loss and deaths of almost 250 people. Perhaps the most apparent manifestation of the flooding to tourists has been the repeated flooding of Siem Reap City, the gateway to the temples of Angkor. The city has flooded 4 or 5 times in the past 5 weeks (depending how you count,) affecting businesses, making it difficult to move around town and cutting off a couple of the Angkor temples (not Angkor Wat) from visitors.

A summary of the current situation:

The situation in the countryside

The flooding situation in the countryside is severe and it is difficult to overstate the desperate plight of the people affected. Most of the countryside is populated by poor subsistence farmers that depend on their rice crops to survive. They have little or no safety net and the government response has been slow, weak and uncoordinated, though is now reportedly improving. In many areas water stretches to the horizon, the rice crops completely submerged. To date there is flooding across 17 of Cambodia's 24 provinces; 247 people have died; 34,000 households have been evacuated; 390,000 hectares of rice paddies had been inundated destroying as much as 200,000 hectares of the crops (approaching 10 percent of the total harvest.) Many people are stranded and quickly running short of food. There will also likely be future food shortages in the countryside as a result of this flood. Government organizations, relief organizations such as the Cambodian Red Cross and several NGO and volunteer groups are working to bring relief to those affected. As of today (Oct 18) the USA, China and Singapore have sent some aid but the Cambodian government has yet to request international assistance.

More info:

Travelfish: Amid floods, Siem Reap needs your help
The Green Gecko Project: Cambodia is flooding... the kids ask "what can we do?"
Phnom Penh Post: Aid arrives but floods slow to recede
Phnom Penh Post: Floods not yet an ‘emergency’
IRIN: CAMBODIA: Worries about long-term flood fallout
VOA: Aid Arrives for Flood-Swamped Thailand, Cambodia
ABC: Cambodia floodwaters yet to recede
Phnom Penh Post: Flow of Flood Aid Speeds Up

The current situation in Siem Reap

Siem Reap town has flooded 4 or 5 times in the past 5 weeks. Some have likened it to a yo-yo. It tends to flood in the same areas of town (see map) each time, ankle to knee deep. The town flooded for the third time a little more than a week ago, started to dry out then flooded again about 4 days ago. Day before yesterday the water was as deep as it has ever been. Most of the shops in the Old Market area were closed at the time. But as of today (Oct 18,) the flood has begun to recede again, reportedly rather quickly.

As of 4PM this afternoon (Oct 18) Pub Street had about 5cm of water on it, the Old Market area and parts of Sivutha Blvd about 10cm, the roundabout south of the Market area (always one of the deepest area) about 30cm, parts of Wat Bo Road 10-15cm, and parts of the river road north of Route 6 on the east side of the about 10-15cm. Most of the rest of the main part of town was dry. Pub Street, and most all of the shops, bars and restaurants in the Old Market area are open for business. Tuk-tuks and motodups are easily able to move around most of the town. All of the Angkor temples on the main circuits (except perhaps Neak Pean) are open. The flood waters continue to recede rapidly, and as the end of the rainy season is nearing, Siem Reap residents are hoping that this will be the last of it. Time will tell.

(UPDATE, October 19 - Friends in Siem Reap tell me that the flood waters continue to recede from town very quickly. Many of the previously flooded areas, including Pub Street and much of the Old Market area are now dry or almost dry. Flooding lingers on High School Road and the area around the roundabout south of the Old Market area.)

I visited Siem Reap City and the temples of Angkor for a week during the second flood in late September. While I do not want to diminish the losses being suffered in the countryside right now, or the difficulties and financial losses to the businesses in Siem Reap, I must say that it was the most fun and adventure I have had in Siem Reap in years. Yes, it was inconvenient getting around, but I simply took a second pair of shoes, resigned myself to wet feet and plodded on through the floods, sometimes by tuk-tuk, sometimes by foot. (Though you need to be careful of potholes hidden by the water and it probably isn’t wise to cycle around at night for the same reason.) Even at the worst of it, all but one of the Angkor temples were available, there were still plenty of bars and restaurants open in town, I got lots of great photos and I can say that “I was there for the great flood of 2011.” If I were a tourist on my way to Siem Reap now, I’d consider this an opportunity for a unique adventure, not a glitch in my holiday. The shops, hotels and restaurants in Siem Reap that have been hurt by the flooding could sure use the business right now, and you may even be able to find some legitimate volunteer opportunities helping with flood relief.

The current situation in Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh riverside, Oct 18

There is no flooding in Phnom Penh proper and hasn’t been at any time during this year’s flood crisis. There is some flooding at the northern outskirts of the city, but these are areas that tourists and visitors rarely go. There has been and may still be flooding of some streets after heavy rains, but this is the norm in Phnom Penh every rainy season and it drains off within a matter of hours.

There has been a video making the internet rounds for the last few weeks entitled ‘Flooding in Phnom Penh.’ Note that the video is 3 weeks old at this point and is also of flooding on streets that flood every time there is a heavy rain, every monsoon season . It does not represent flooding in the same sense that has occurred in Siem Reap City and the countryside.

The Tonle Sap River through Phnom Penh is unusually high - about a meter above normal for this time of year,* a bit above ‘Alarm Level,’ but a meter below ‘Flood Level.’** The water level has been generally stable over the past two weeks, rising and falling by a couple of centimeters every few days. There is no immediate threat of flooding in the city and the MRC is currently not predicting any flooding in the city. Still, it is wise to keep abreast of the current situation through reliable sources such as the MRC website and the Phnom Penh Post.

* Lower Mekong Hydrologic Yearbook 1997
** Mekong River Commission Flood Forecast page (Oct 18)

Water Level depth chart for Phnom Penh Port

(near central Phnom Penh) from the MRC.

Phnom Penh riverfront/Tonle Sap River, October 17, 2011, about 4PM. The river has reversed (about 3 weeks ago,) now flowing southeast at a goodly clip. Note the floating plants moving downriver with the current, and how at the river's edge they move back against the main current revealing potentially dangerous eddies and whirlpools.

The Water Festival

Water Festival, Phnom Penh, 2007

On October 13 the government announced that the boat races at the annual Water Festival (Nov 9, 10, 11) had been cancelled due to the floods. The Water Festival is one of the biggest holidays of the Cambodian year, celebrating the reversing of the current in the Tonle Sap River and centered around colorful boat races in Phnom Penh and some other areas of the country. The reasons given for the cancellation were: 1) to save money that could be spent on flood relief; 2) because the river was dangerously high and fast; 3) and because these weeks are ordinarily the time the boat racers from the countryside, who are currently preoccupied with the floods in their respective areas, are preparing for the races. In my opinion, this reasoning is quite sound, especially the latter point. People from the countryside are dealing with the immediate concerns of lost crops and on-going flooding and they simply do not have the time to get ready for the races. It would be unfair, unsafe and unsportsmanlike to hold the races under these conditions. And in my observation, the news of the cancellation and the reasoning behind it also seems to have been well received in the countryside, especially that the moneys saved from the races would be used for flood relief.

The initial announcement of the cancellation through the AKP on October 13 was entitled ‘Water Festival Cancelled’ but in the body of the article it stated that there would be “no boat racing this year, but other festivals are celebrated as usual.” Several media outlets picked up the story, emphasizing that the Water Festival had been cancelled but downplaying or overlooking the details regarding the boat races vs. other Water Festival events. The Phnom Penh Post went as far as to state that “the annual three-day Water Festival celebrations next month, including the renowned boat races, would be cancelled.” The Cambodia Daily was more circumspect in its reporting stating the ‘Water Festival Races Cancelled Due to Floods,’ and further that concerts, related events and street vending would continue as usual. In a later article (‘Plans Continue for Next Month’s Water Festival,’ Oct 15-16,) the Cambodia Daily stated that city officials were continuing in their preparations to receive festival goers in Phnom Penh on the scheduled Water Festival dates.

Other tourist cities

Battambang, Stung Treng and Kratie have all experienced flooding. Kampot City, Sihanoukville and Kep have not seen any significant flooding. This is a bit of a change as, in previous years, Kampot City has been in one of the first cities to flood.

When will it end?

Of course it is impossible to say for sure. It depends in large part on the weather. Though the flood waters have receded from Siem Reap town fairly quickly after each flood, usually in just a few of days, the water has been very slow to recede from the countryside, now lingering more than a month. Heavy rains could worsen the situation. Nevertheless, the end of the monsoon season is nearing, usually trailing off by the beginning of November, and the historical average end of the flood season is the latter part of November, with the worst of it ending well before that. At best, it could be ending now. At worst, it may continue for another couple of weeks.

Comparison to the flood of 2000

The current flooding has been called 'the worst in a decade.' This is a reference to the flooding of 2000, which was of similar scope in Cambodia. Here are some stats on the flooding of 2000 and the flooding of 2011 to date.

2000 stats:
Crops lost: 421,568 hectares
Dead: 347 persons
Houses: 7086
Schools: 6620
Roads: N/A
Bridges: 1856 km
Culverts: 17 sites
Dams: 397 sites
Flood damage: US$161,000,000

Source: Mekong River Commission Report 2008, Appendix 2

2011 stats (to date):
Crops lost: ~230,000 hectares (updated Oct 20. Source: Cambodia Daily, Floodwaters Expected to Continue Wreaking Havoc, Oct 20, 2011)
Dead: 247 persons
Houses: N/A
Schools: ~1000
Roads: ~2400km
Bridges: N/A
Culverts: N/A
Dams: N/A
Flood damage: N/A

Source: IRIN: CAMBODIA: Worries about long-term flood fallout

Water level at Phnom Penh Port, comparison chart by year including 2000. This year the water level took longer to crest the Alarm Stage than in 2000, but it lingering above the Alarm Stage longer than in 2000. A similar pattern can be seen at other measuring stations as well. From the MRC website.

History of annual flooding on the Mekong River, Chang Saen to Kratie, 1960-2008.

From, MRC: Annual Mekong Flood Report 2008. (Click to enlarge)

Politics

A couple of thoughts on politics:

1. Opposition parties (read: SRP) have sometimes accused the Cambodian government of unequal distribution of relief aid during disasters such as this. During the National Elections, opposition parties have said that villages and communes that are known to have voted for the opposition in National Elections receive little or no disaster relief. For anybody interested, now would be an ideal time to test that theory and document the results. Get out a map of the 2003 election results, travel to areas that voted for the opposition and see if they are receiving aid. Don't wait until next month, next year or 2013 to collect anecdotal stories.

2. In the face of this growing disaster, the Cambodian government has yet to request international aid. On October 13 Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said, “We do not request international aid because everyone has their own problems…It would be very difficult for us to request their help. For the time being donations and any charity are really appreciated.”* This echoes a similar sentiment reportedly expressed by Foreign Minister Namhong that “Cambodia needs no foreign help…but welcomes and foreign help.”** I wonder about the motivation behind this reluctance to request foreign aid. Could it be because in the recent past foreign aid has repeatedly been held over the Cambodian government’s head by the (western) international community to pressure the RGC into changing its ways, specifically in the cases of Boeung Kak Lake evictions and the pending NGO Law? Perhaps the RGC doesn't want to give the international community any more ammunition that may be used against them at a later date.

* Phnom Penh Post, Water Festival Canceled, October 14, 2011
** Cambodia Daily, Coordination of Flood Aid Questioned, October 5, 2011

Siem Reap flooding again

2011-10-10T23:24:00.008+07:00

I am not in Siem Reap at the moment and have no first hand knowledge of the current flooding situation, but people keep sending me emails asking about it so I thought I'd pass on what little I know and a few links to forums, bloggers and tweeters that are there and have posted recent info regarding the current flooding in Siem Reap town.

News is that Siem Reap town is flooding again - 3rd time in the last month. Apparently, like before, the river through town began overflowing yesterday afternoon and has continued today. According to friends up there, as of a few hours ago, the flooding is in pretty much the same areas as last week (see my post of September 26 Siem Reap Flooding - Trip Report) but so far not as deep or extensive. The situation is likely evolving as I write.

Links:

'Only in Cambodia' blog has just (Oct 10) posted photos and information about the current flooding: Water, Water Everywhere "OK. So We're going through our 3rd flood in Siem Reap where the river has over flown its banks and spilled into the streets turning them into extended tributaries. From morning to afternoon, the river rose and spilled over so that you couldn't see its banks..." Click the link to read more.

On Twitter:

Rosy Guesthouse, located on the east side of the river in the center of town also sometimes tweets about the flooding: Rosy Guesthouse

Canby Publications does a pretty good job of collecting and retweeting information about the flooding: Canby_Cambodia

Journey's Within Boutique Hotel is located in Siem Reap and is tweeting a bit about the flooding as well: JWBoutiqueHotel

Forums:

TripAdvisor has a running thread on its travel forum where people have been posting up-to-date information on the flooding in Siem Reap town. Make sure to check out the end of the thread for the latest info: Flooding in Siem Reap

Other:

Mekong River Commission situation report. Current flooding situation and forecast for areas along the Mekong River through Southeast Asia. Information on Phnom Penh and other Cambodian cities along the Mekong, but no info on Siem Reap: Mekong River Commission

Article in today's Phnom Penh Post on the flooding situation in Cambodia in general, not specifically about Siem Reap: Death toll rises; risk at riverbanks

Starry Night

2011-10-09T00:33:00.003+07:00

Mortars, War Museum, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Siem Reap Not Flooding - Trip Report 2

2011-10-02T01:48:00.005+07:00

Tep Vong Street, Siem Reap

When I arrived in Siem Reap a week ago Sunday, much of the town was knee deep in water, affected by the flooding that has swept the country over the past few weeks. (See Siem Reap Flooding - Trip Report.) As I left Siem Reap for Phnom Penh early this afternoon, the majority of the in-town flooding had subsided, mostly over the last 3 days. Though much lower, some flooding remained - south of the Old Market area, along short sections of Sivutha Blvd, along stretches of the river road on the east side of the river (Achar Sva Street) and in parts of the Wat Bo area, but all seemed to be draining fairly quickly. The north end of town was completely free of flooding, as was the north end of the Wat Bo area, most of Sivutha Blvd, the Taphul Village area and the Old French Quarter, all of Pub Street and most of the Old Market shopping district. There was still an inch or two of water on the streets around the Old Market itself but the market was open for business as were all of the businesses on Pub Street and most other shops and restaurants in the area.

This was the second time in as many weeks that Siem Reap town has flooded, but as I left the town today, it was quickly returning to normal. Whether the flooding returns will depend on the weather.

I drove from Siem Reap back to Phnom Penh following the same route I came - National Route 6 through Kampong Thom to Skun, then Route 6A through northern Kandal province and on into Phnom Penh. The road was completely dry and easily passable the entire length of the trip. Short sections of road had been damaged by the flooding, but not severely. I saw several Phnom Penh-Siem Reap tourist buses heading both directions.

The flooding in the countryside visible from the road between Siem Reap and Skun had gone down noticeably as compared to a week ago, exposing vast green rice paddies. There was still considerable flooding in the countryside south of Skun along Route 6A in northern Kandal province and the rivers in that area were still overflowing and moving fast and hard. The worst of it that I could see was in the area of Prek Kdam where the road nears and parallels the Mekong River. But even there, water that had been lapping at the road's edge last week had pulled back a couple of meters or more from the road and the possibility of water over the road seemed less of a threat than last week.

One oddity I noticed in the trip was that every countryside school grounds and most medical clinics that I could see from the road were still at least ankle deep in water, even in areas where most of the flooding had receded. I am not sure why except that it would seem schools and clinics are constructed on low ground.

For up-to-date information on Mekong River levels and flooding threats along the Mekong see the Mekong River Commission - Information Resource page.

Siem Reap Map courtesy of Canby Publications

Siem Reap Flooding - Trip Report

2011-09-27T00:45:00.003+07:00

As most know by now, there has been flooding across the Cambodia and the region for almost two weeks, including in Siem Reap town. I drove from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap day before yesterday (Sunday) - the usual route up 6A to Skun, then National Route 6 through Kampong Thom and on to Siem Reap. The road was mostly clear of flooding save a couple of short stretches with a few inches of water across the road that were easily passable. The countryside to either side of the road was flooded to the horizon in many places, especially along 6A south of Skun and also near Kampong Thom City. The water was right up to the road's edge for much of the trip and just a little bit of rain would likely put it over the top. All of the rivers and streams (that could be distinguished from the flooded countryside) were full to the brim and moving fast and hard. Animals - cows and water buffaloes mostly - lined the sides of the road in several areas, driven out of the fields and to the high ground by the flooding.

Siem Reap town has experienced varying levels of flooding for better than a week, the worst of it toward the south end of town. When we arrived on Sunday it hadn't rained in Siem Reap for more than 24 hours and the flooding had reportedly stabilized and even retreated a bit. I'm staying at the north end of town where the flooding is minimal at the moment. Tuk-tuks and motodups were reluctant to try to cross from this side of town to the Old Market area, claiming that there was a 50-50 chance of the engine flooding out in the deeper sections along the way, so I decided to walk over to the Old Market in the early afternoon, about 8 hours ago. The following are some of the photos I took along the way. (Turns out that wading 2-3 kilometers through ankle to knee-deep water is surprisingly good exercise. Suffering some sore leg muscles tonight as a result.)

As mentioned above, the weather has been mostly dry in Siem Reap for at least 48 hours. Yesterday (it is now just after midnight) was sunny and pleasant in the morning with only a brief rain in the afternoon. The waters are receding from town at the moment, quite visibly so in the later evening.

All of the following were taken with a 17mm-55mm lens (Nikon D5100.) If it looks like I was standing in thigh deep water to get the shot, I was.

2 Thnou Street (Old Market Street)

Old Market

2 Thnou Street (Old Market Street) near Sivutha Blvd.

Pub Street

Water play at the intersection of Sivutha Blvd and Phnom Krom Road just south of the Old Market

Siem Reap Provincial Hospital

Tep Vong Street

Intersection of Sivutha Blvd. and Tep Vong Street

Tuk-tuk

Bow wave on Sivutha Blvd.

Snack vendors next to the river near the Old Market

Makeshift boat

Sivutha Blvd.

Many businesses have lined sandbags against the flooding.

River Level - Phnom Penh

2011-09-24T18:03:00.001+07:00

Two photos taken from almost the same spot on the Phnom Penh riverfront 7 days apart, the first on September 17 and the second this afternoon at about 4:00PM. As flooding sweeps the country, so far Phnom Penh has been spared, but the river continues to rise, near cresting the banks now. There is still no telling if the city will flood this week, but I have prepared, moving most of the stuff (or at least the most vulnerable stuff) in my house upstairs from the ground floor. Hopefully the effort will have been for naught, but still best to be prepared.

Phnom Penh riverfront (Tonle Sap River), city center, September 17, 2011

Phnom Penh riverfront (Tonle Sap River), city center, September 24, 2011 (today,) 4:00PM

Floods, Helicopters and Priorities

2011-09-24T01:20:00.018+07:00

Compare and contrast:

Seven workers at Cambodian hydropower dam swept away by floods
Sep 15, 2011, 3:22 GMT

Phnom Penh - Seven workers are believed to have drowned after being swept away by floodwaters at a hydropower dam being built in southern Cambodia, national media reported Thursday.

The Cambodia Daily newspaper said the men had tried to swim to safety at the 540-million-dollar Tatay hydropower dam in Koh Kong province.

A monitor with local rights group Adhoc said they were in a group of 70 workers trapped for two days without food after water submerged a bridge connecting the construction site to the riverbank.

Adhoc's Neang Boratino was quoted as saying nine men had tried to swim to the riverbank on Saturday, but seven were swept away.

'(The workers) were afraid of dying because they were out of food,' he said. 'The company did not find a way to lift them out even though they have the equipment.'

He said the other workers had since been evacuated.

The provincial police chief confirmed the seven were missing.

The 246-megawatt Tatay dam, which is due to be completed by 2014, is being built by Chinese state-owned company China National Heavy Machinery Corp, which could not be reached for comment, according to the Phnom Penh Post...

In summary, 70 Cambodian workers at a Chinese managed hydro-electric project are trapped by rising waters for days without food. In desperation, some try to swim out and are swept away and killed, most of their bodies have still not been recovered.

Choppers rescue tourists caught by Cambodian flood
September 22, 2011

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Flash floods at a centuries-old temple in northeastern Cambodia stranded about 200 foreign tourists Thursday, forcing officials to use helicopters to evacuate them to a nearby town.

The group visiting the 10th century Banteay Srey temple included tourists from the U.S., South Korea, France, Britain and Russia, district official Mom Vuthy said. The flooding also forced thousands of area residents to abandon their homes for high ground, or to camp on roofs or in trees, he said.

Brittny Anderson, 26, from Oregon said she was grateful for local residents who brought food to the stranded tourists as they waited on high ground for the helicopter rescues.

"I am scared for the villagers whose houses were under water," she said in a telephone interview. "I heard that the villagers had climbed trees and I'm very worried for their safety."...

In summary, a couple of hundred foreign tourists visiting a old temple are trapped by rising waters for a few hours. The government sends 3 helicopters to ferry them out. All are safe, back in their hotel rooms in Siem Reap.

News from Cambodia

2011-09-20T03:25:00.002+07:00

Over the last few of days I’ve spoken with friends who live and work in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and China. A few happen to be in town visiting this week and others through Facebook and such. Amongst beers and pool games and casual banter, we’ve also touched on the Cambodian NGO Law debate and criticisms, and the land-grabbing issue, especially in light of the recent violent confrontation between police and Lake residents caught on video.

Interestingly, at some point in the various conversations, mostly just in passing, each one registered some degree of surprise or awe at the open debate and availability of information in Cambodia. In the case of the NGO law, that there has been extensive public criticism and debate and that the government actually seems taking some of it on board. In the case of the Lake confrontation, that local and foreign reporters were present, that it was openly photographed and filmed and that it’s all available on internet in Cambodia. To varying degrees, all of these activities would have been much more restricted, if allowed at all in my friend's various countries of residence. Reflecting this observation, the Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Index ranks Cambodia a moderately weak 128, but still better, in some cases significantly better than all of the surrounding countries - which says something about both Cambodia and her neighbors.

As we spoke, qualifiers such as the introduction of more restrictive laws over the last couple of years, the illusion of freedom amongst self-censorship and the apparent blocking of some websites did not go unnoted. But still, most were struck in one way or another by the fairly sharp contrast between the state of press and internet freedom in Cambodia as compared to their various East Asian homes. In this regard at least, Cambodia is the brightest spot in the dim landscape of Southeast Asian press freedom.

The Polite Tuk-Tuk

2011-09-18T02:02:00.006+07:00

Tuk-tuks and motodups (motorcycle taxis) rank amongst the most annoying of annoyances for foreigners in Cambodia, badgering tourists and expats with their sales pitch virtually non-stop. If you are in a tourist area such as the riverfront in Phnom Penh, the beach area in Sihanoukville or anywhere in Siem Reap, you can scarcely walk 5 feet without one after another calling to you, following you, blocking your way, spinning their pitch no matter how many times you say ‘no.’ Their harassment has tainted many a Cambodian holiday, all of which makes the guy pictured above pretty special. I spotted him a few weeks back as I walked up the Phnom Penh riverfront. He didn’t say a word as I passed, just smiled and nodded, his sign telling the story. “WELCOME: I do not want to disturb you…” it reads, going on to offer his tuk-tuk services. ‘My God,’ I thought - courtesy and information rather than harassment and hucksterism – what a completely unique and thoroughly welcome approach from a Cambodian tuk-tuk. I stopped to express my approval for his idea, even though I didn’t need a tuk-tuk right at that moment. He told me he is trying to be “polite,” hoping that foreigners would appreciate the difference. I know I do. And want to support this guy in his effort. Since then, when I need a tuk-tuk, if I can find him, I use him. In fact I will go out of my way to give him my business, walking up the riverfront to search him out. I urge others to do the same. Good business practices such as this should be rewarded and encouraged.

He seems to hang out at the corner of Sisowath Quay and Street 148 on the Phnom Penh riverfront, just next to Metro and Riverside Bistro. He’s easy to spot. There’s the sign on the side, and he’s the only one in the group who’s not charging at you yelling “tuk-tuk!...tuk-tuk!…tuk-tuk!..."

UPDATE, Sept 24, 2011: I ran across Mr. Sally today (at his usual place in front of Metro) and asked if he would mind if I published his phone number in this post. He enthusiastically endorsed the idea. So here it is: 092-319232 (+855-92-319232.) He told me that his working hours are from 7AM-10PM (Cambodia time.) Please do not call him outside of his working hours.

Looking Back

2011-09-17T03:34:00.000+07:00

The NGO Law

2011-09-10T15:47:00.040+07:00

In September 2008, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced the government's desire to enact an law governing NGOs and associations in Cambodia. Late last December the government finally issued a draft of the proposed 'Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations,' i.e. the 'NGO Law.' The stated intent of the law was to set basic parameters for the operation of NGO's and associations in Cambodia and included, amongst other things, mandatory registration of NGOs and associations (including meeting some technical registration criteria) and the requirement for periodic activity/financial reports to the government. The NGO community immediately and near universally objected to the proposed law.

There is deep suspicion of the intent of the law, the primary fear being that it will be used to stifle NGOs critical of the government (especially NGOs working in human rights, land grabbing issues and the like,) limit/control activities of NGOs in general and further restrict the rights of freedom of assembly and speech. Though perhaps at times overstated, these fears are not unfounded, as evidenced in part other new rights-narrowing laws (e.g. the 'incitement law') and by recent government curtailments on the activities of NGOs such as STT and CCHR.

Some critics of the law have argued that there should be no NGO law whatsoever. More have asked for significant revisions in the proposed law, citing flaws and perceived problems including overly burdensome reporting requirements, ill-defined criteria potentially allowing the government undue discretionary powers and a mandatory registration requirement that may violate the right to freedom of assembly. Over the past nine months the NGO community has provided feedback to the government through a series of meetings and reports and the government has revised the law twice so far, though the revisions have been minor compared to the massive overhaul demanded by the NGO community. The atmosphere throughout the process has been contentious, if not dramatic, full of dire predictions and impassioned essays.

The proposed law is currently (as of September 10) in its 3rd draft. It was reported on September 8 that under pressure from the NGO community the law has been sent back to the Ministry of Interior for further revision. A government spokesman denied that it was "sent back" per se, but that the law is still in a "period of counseling" in which changes may be made.

The following is a selection of important documents, letters, reports and articles related to the proposed NGO law. Though not a comprehensive collection, it includes articles documenting most of the major events and turns in the issue since the draft law was first issued almost nine months ago as well as essential documents such as the text of the proposed law, ICNL and NGO analyses, etc.

I will attempt to keep this list up-to-date, posting new articles and documents as they published.

--------

Draft text of proposed NGO law (See end of this post for other drafts)

3rd Draft of THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT LAW ON ASSOCIATIONS AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (English and Khmer versions) (Download)
THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT LAW ON ASSOCIATIONS AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
CHAPTER 1
General Provisions
Article 1: Aim
This law aims at setting out formalities and conditions for registering associations or domestic non-governmental organizations and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding of foreign non-governmental organizations operating in the Kingdom of Cambodia...
(Full text of the 3rd draft of the proposed 'Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations.')

-----------------

NGO Law: Articles, documents, letters, reports (by date)

UN News Center: Cambodian draft law on NGOs may breach international pact, UN rights expert warns
October 14, 2011
A Cambodian draft law making registration of associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) mandatory and banning unregistered groups, risks breaching an international treaty, a United Nations rights expert warned today, calling on the Government to review it...

UNHR: Cambodia’s draft NGO law must be fully in line with international law – UN experts
October 14, 2011
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Mr. Maina Kiai, warned that the current public draft of the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations in Cambodia - if adopted - risks breaching the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights...

Sithi.org portal: CCHR Briefing Book on the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations - Media Preview Page
CCHR Briefing Book on the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations - English (pdf)
CCHR Briefing Book on the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations - English (pdf)
October 2011
This Briefing Book discusses the threat posed to civil society and democratic space in Cambodia in light of recent actions by agencies of the Royal Government of Cambodia (“RGC”) and the controversial draft Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (“LANGO”). Primarily, this Briefing Book focuses upon: (1) the ongoing efforts to silence NGOs and dissenting voices, as well as the erosion of democratic space in Cambodia; (2) the fundamental deficiencies in the most recent draft of the LANGO; and, most importantly, (3) the improper use to which the LANGO may be put, given the current context. The conclusions as to the danger that the LANGO poses to civil society and to donor programs – as highlighted by recent events...

Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC): CAMBODIA: CCHR releases a Briefing Book on the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations and the Shrinking Space for Civil Society in Cambodia
October 7, 2011
Today the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), a non-aligned, independent, non-governmental organization (NGO) that works to promote and protect democracy and respect for human rights throughout Cambodia, releases a briefing book titled “Briefing Book for Donors and Others on the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations and the Shrinking Space for Civil Society in Cambodia" (the "Briefing Book")...

Phnom Penh Post: Ministers react to UN criticism of NGO Law
Phnom Penh Post: Ministers react to UN criticism of NGO Law
September 30, 2011
Government officials yesterday said criticisms of the draft NGO law made by United Nations Special Rapporteur Surya Subedi on Wednesday were out of date as significant modifications are being discussed for the “fourth generation” of the legislation. During a session at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday, UN Special Rapporteur Surya Subedi flatly informed the Human Rights Council that the Cambodian Government should scrap the current version of the controversial draft law...

UN News Centre: Cambodia’s draft law on NGOs deserves further review – UN expert
September 28, 2011
An independent United Nations human rights expert today urged the Cambodian Government to carefully review a draft law that may hamper the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the South-east Asian nation...
(Also see UN Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: UN Special Rapporteur on Cambodia urges authorities to stop the current draft NGO law below)

UN Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: UN Special Rapporteur on Cambodia urges authorities to stop the current draft NGO law
September 28, 2011
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Surya P. Subedi, urged the Cambodian authorities to carefully review the current draft Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organisations, expressing concern that “it may hamper the legitimate work of NGOs in the country...”

New Cambodian law 'cracking down' on NGOs
September 28, 2011
The Cambodian government is pushing ahead with a new law to govern thousands of non-government organisations (NGOs), which would allow it to shut them down at will...
(This article seems to be a rehash with no new information or developments. I include it here because it seems to be making the rounds on internet.)

WSJ: Cambodia’s NGO Law Reveals Growing Confidence
September 20, 2011
...It’s still unclear if the current draft of the law, which would impose potentially onerous new reporting and registration rules on NGOs and aid groups working there, will be approved. But even if it isn’t, the simple act of proposing such a law could flag an important stage in Cambodia’s economic and political evolution, analysts say, as Phnom Penh grows more confident about disengaging with Western donors...

Phnom Penh Post: Opinion: NGOs’ hidden agenda
Phnom Penh Post: Opinion: NGOs’ hidden agenda
September 19, 2011
In their letter to 17 United Nations agencies, Brad Adams and his peers in the Group of 10 International NGOs have made a regrettable mistake and revealed their true intentions to the international community. This “letter” is the latest example of the relentless pressure big-name NGOs are exerting on the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC)...

The Diplomat: NGOs and Cambodia by Tim LaRocco
September 14, 2011
Civil society in Cambodia is typically a highly contentious issue. As a past volunteer with an NGO based in Southeast Asia, I’m fully aware of the ambivalence associated with civil societal organizations. It’s a subject that has been well chronicled as commentators have attempted to reconcile diverging opinions by highlighting the urgent need for NGOs in the developing world, while recognising that many of these institutions are victims of their own benevolence...
(Also see Foreign Policy Association: Cambodia: NGOs vs. Government by Tim LaRocco)

Phnom Penh Post: NGO law remains in ‘consultation period’
Phnom Penh Post: NGO law remains in ‘consultation period’
September 13, 2011
Civil society groups have the opportunity to express their concerns to relevant ministries regarding the government’s controversial draft law on associations and NGOs, an official said yesterday.“They have the opportunity to write up their concerns and their grievances to the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said yesterday."...

Groups urge UN to mull funding Cambodia NGO law
September 12, 2011
Ten international human rights groups have raised concerns in a letter about a draft law in Cambodia which they say will allow the government to shut down aid agencies. The letter addressed to the heads of 17 U.N. agencies, urged them to press the Cambodian government not to enact the law, which is being considered by the Council of Ministers, and to think about a funding freeze for programmes involving state agencies if the law is adopted in its current form...
(See Letter [9/9/11] to the United Nations Development Programme from 10 IOs urging UN to act on NG0 Law - English)

Cambodia Daily: Draft NGO Law Back at Ministry of Interior
September 10-11, 2011
Government officials on Friday said a controversial draft law aimed at the NGO sector, currently at the Council of Ministers, could see changes as it undergoes a review by the Ministry of Interior...

Letter (9/9/11) to the United Nations Development Programme from 10 IOs urging UN to act on NG0 Law - English
Letter (9/9/11) to the United Nations Development Programme from 10 IOs urging UN to act on NG0 Law - Khmer
September 9, 2011
Re: New law threatening the operations of NGOs and associations in Cambodia - Dear Helen Clark, We write to bring your immediate attention to very serious developments in Cambodia concerning the recently released third draft of the Law on Associations and NGOs...

VOA: Controversial NGO Law Sent Back for Re-Draft
September 8, 2011
A contentious law aimed at regulating Cambodia’s non-governmental sector has been sent back to the Ministry of Interior, following international concern that the draft as it stood could damage the country’s development...

Cambodia: NGOs threatened and intimidated for holding human rights training

September 8, 2011
Government officials and police yesterday disrupted a human rights training session provided by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) and the Natural Resource Protection Group (NRPG), and threatened to arrest the organisers...

Cambodian Government Uses NGO Law to Silence Critics
September 7, 2011
In late July the Cambodian government released a third draft of its highly contentious Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO Law). A number of provisions in the law have the potential to impair the activities of human rights and civil society actors in the country...

Cambodia Daily: Divergent Views on NGO Law at Conference

September 7, 2011
Non-governmental organizations play a pivotal role in enhancing…

Don't thwart good work of NGOs

September 7, 2011
On June 21, Slate Magazine's Ken Silverstein's article, "NGOs in Cambodia: Accommodation with the regime can be very profitable," examined non-governmental organizations in general, and in Cambodia in particular. The findings were not flattering to NGOs. But I took away more than one lesson. When I was with the Khmer People's National Liberation Front, a Khmer nationalist resistance, at the Khmer-Thai border...

Australia asked to defend Cambodian Non-Government Organisations

September 6, 2011
The Australian Greens want the Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd to publicly defend the rights of Cambodian Non-Government Organisations facing a crackdown by Phnom Penh...

CCHR: Incitement allegation and suspension threat against CCHR and NRPG are without any basis in law and are further proof of crackdown on civil society

September 6, 2011
Press Release – Phnom Penh, 6 September 2011: Today, 6 September 2011, it was reported in The Cambodia Daily, that provincial authorities in Kampong Thom would seek the suspension of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) and the Natural Resource Protection Group (NRPG) as a result of perceived incitement...

Draft of NGOs law under discussing at Legal Team at Council of Minister today (Sept 5, 2011) of Cambodia
September 5, 2011
Please be informed that Draft of NGOs law is under the hand of council of minister team which were set by Prime Minister to review this draft today Sept 5, 2011. After the team review it, the draft law will be returned to Ministry of Interior (MoI) …This law has a double standard of authority to register as legal entity…Another the big challenge is regarding article 13 of draft NGOs law in which is needed all the group of people who want to create NGOs or legal entity shall register.some NGOs might link this activity to persuade all members of UN to not vote for Cambodia to seat. However Cambodia's application was endorsed or supported by China…

Cambodia to Critics of NGO Law: Where Were You During Khmer Rouge Regime?

August 31, 2011
The Cambodian government has hit back at groups criticizing a proposed NGO Law and took a swipe at the international community for not doing the same for Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime. The statement came amid mounting pressure from donors, as well as foreign and domestic civil society groups...

New Law Could Foster ‘Tightlipped’ NGOs: Rights Activist

August 30, 2011
A new draft law to regulate NGOs will have an adverse affect on government criticism, a leading rights activist said Monday...

Cambodian govt defends NGO law – report

August 30, 2011
A Cambodian government spokesperson has defended a controversial law aiming to regulate non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and has slammed critics who have urged foreign donors to consider a funding-freeze if the law passes in its current form, the Phnom Penh Post reported...

Response To Anonymous Critique by Elizabeth Becker
August 29, 2011
I have had numerous requests for my response to an anonymous article published in the Cambodian government’s official press –Agence Kampuchea Press or AKP on August 24, 2011. The article was intended as a critique of my opinion piece that ran in the International Herald Tribune on August 17, 2011...

Phnom Penh Post: Government slams critics of NGO law
Phnom Penh Post: Government slams critics of NGO law
August 29, 2011
A government spokesman has hit back at a coalition of 10 prominent rights groups that have urged Cambodia’s foreign donors to consider freezing funding if the controversial law on NGOs and associations is passed in its current form...

ABC: Rights groups lobby foreign powers over draft Cambodian NGO law
August 29, 2011
A group of ten major international rights groups have asked the American, British and Australian governments, among others, to consider cutting aid to Cambodia if a law's passed covering non-government organisations...

Foreign Policy Association: Cambodia: NGOs vs. Government by Tim LaRocco
August 26, 2011
...My argument, on the other hand, is that there is not nearly enough oversight on Cambodian civil society at present. High maintenance costs, and the salaries and benefits of the expatriate staff of Cambodia’s two thousand or so NGOs have not resulted in many benefits for the impoverished segment of the population that civil society is supposed to be helping, despite the prefaced munificence of the various institutions...

Guardian: Donor governments asked to review Cambodia aid if NGO law is passed - Human rights groups call on UK, US and Australia to apply pressure on Cambodia if severely restrictive draft law is adopted
August 26, 2011
Human rights organisations are calling on donor governments to reassess their aid programmes to Cambodia if the country passes a law that can be used to muzzle local and foreign NGOs...

AKP: Commentary: Elizabeth Becker and the Campaign to Put NGOs above the Law
August 24, 2011
Nobody seems entirely sure of the number, but it is generally believed that more than 2000 non-governmental organisations operate in Cambodia. One of the reasons for the uncertainty about the number is that Cambodia is one of the few countries that has not established laws and procedures for the formation and operation of NGOs...

ICNL: Cambodia
August 24, 2011
It is feared that any new law governing NGOs and associations will increase the RCG’s discretionary power and tighten its restrictive hold over civil society...

Al-Jezeera: Cambodia's bill to limit NGOs - If Cambodia passes a law to regulate NGO activity, what influence will it have on the work of land rights activists?
The Stream - Cambodia's bill to limit NGOs (AJstream, YouTube)
August 24, 2011
Cambodia’s Council of Ministers recently released a third draft of the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organisations (LANGO) that would more tightly control the eligibility of civil society organisations and how they are run. Several NGOs have spoken out against the proposed law, saying that it would give the government too much authority over their work...

Cambodia: Letter to French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé Regarding the Cambodian Draft Law on NGOs
August 23, 2011
The following letter was sent by Human Rights Watch and nine other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé, concerning a draft law which would severely restrict the activities of NGOs in Cambodia...

Cambodia : Civil Society and Private Sector Groups Condemn Government’s Arbitrary Suspension of Local NGO “We Are All STT”
"We Are All STT": Civil Society and Private Sector Groups Condemn Government's Arbitrary Suspension of Local NGO
August 21, 2011
We, representatives of the undersigned members of civil society and private sector groups, support national development that is equitable, inclusive, and sustainable. We believe national development should contribute not only to the growth of commerce and industry but also to the welfare of the wider population...

Cambodian govt warns NGOs over letter to donors – paper
August 23, 2011
The Cambodian government has warned an umbrella group of non-governmental organisations over critical letters it sent to international donors funding a $142-million railway project, the Phnom Penh Post reports...

Joint letter to Hillary Clinton about the LANGO signed by 10 INGOs Aug. 23 2011: New law threatening the operation of NGOs and association in Cambodia
Joint letter to Hillary Clinton about the LANGO signed by 10 INGOs Aug. 23 2011: New law threatening the operation of NGOs and association in Cambodia
August 23, 2011
Dear Secretary of State, We write to bring your immediate attention to very serious developments in Cambodia concerning the recently released third draft of the Law on Associations and NGOs, which is now before the Cambodian Council of Ministers for consideration. The implications of this law could not be more serious. As written, it will allow the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) to intimidate and potentially shut down local, national and foreign NGOs, associations, and informal groups that criticize the government or government officials...

The NGO Forum’s Public Statement relating meeting with Ministry
August 22, 2011
NGOF confirms that a meeting took place on 18th August 2011 between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and NGOF together with an international NGO. During the meeting, a warning letter was issued to NGOF and the international NGO...

Phnom Penh Post: NGO Forum breaks silence on ‘warning’
August 22, 2011
NGO Forum confirmed yesterday it had received a “warning letter” from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over its advocacy on behalf of communities affected by a railway rehabilitation project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and AusAID...

Phnom Penh Post: More NGOs scrutinised
August 19, 2011
International NGO Bridges Across Borders and umbrella group NGO Forum met yesterday morning with officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who accused both of making “false” and “unfair” claims to the Asian Development Bank about the death of two children relocated by a railway rehabilitation project. The meeting follows the suspension early this month of NGO Sahmakum Teang Tnaut for allegedly “inciting” villagers to protest against the railway project...

Silencing Cambodia's Honest Brokers By ELIZABETH BECKER
August 17, 2011
This year is the 20th anniversary of the Paris peace accords that ended the Cambodian war and any further threat from the murderous Khmer Rouge. It required all the major powers — the United States, leading European countries, the former Soviet Union and China — as well as most Asian nations to come up with an accord, a rare achievement. In a speech last week, Gareth Evans said that during his eight years as the Australian foreign minister “nothing has given me more pleasure and pride than the Paris peace agreement concluded in 1991”...

Phnom Penh Post: NGO ‘incitement'
August 15, 2011
The Ministry of Interior has accused a local NGO it suspended earlier this month of “inciting villagers” set to be displaced by a railway reconstruction project, citing it in a statement obtained by The Post yesterday as a reason for halting the organisat-ion’s operations...

Guardian: Third draft of Cambodia's associations and NGO law overlooks key concerns - New legislation threatens to hinder the delivery of development aid to Cambodia by curtailing fundamental rights
August 12, 2011
…the latest draft of the NGO law puts this relationship at risk by severely restricting freedom of expression and potentially reducing the voice of many organisations that represent and protect the marginalised: farmers, labour unionists, land activists, students, sex workers, and the disabled...

Pending Passage of NGO Law, Cambodia Suspends Urban Poor Group
August 12, 2011
Cambodia’s suspension of a local non-governmental organization critical of a government project raises concern over an administrative crackdown on groups advocating the rights of the marginalized. The move comes at a time when the country is about to pass a law...

Phnom Penh Post: NGOs warn law close to 'point of no return'
August 5, 2011
Civil Society groups yesterday blasted the government’s drafting of the NGO law, pinpointing a lack of any “meaningful consultation” with affected stakeholders and deceptive language within the legislation itself.The Cambodian Center for Human Rights, International Center for Not-for-Profit Law and rights group Licadho all expressed grave concerns about the third draft of the law and inadequate public consultation yesterday...

Urgent diplomatic intervention on Cambodia NGO Law
August 4, 2011
We are writing to you concerning a draft law on “Associations and Non-Governmental Organisations” which is due to be adopted imminently by the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC). Our agencies are very concerned about the impact that this law will have on the ability of civil society to operate in Cambodia...

Phnom Penh Post: Concern over NGO law third draft
August 2, 2011
The most widely-criticized provision of the government’s controversial NGO law – mandatory registration – remains in the legislation’s third draft, which has reportedly been sent to the Council of Ministers. Rights group Licadho blasted the latest draft in a report released yesterday, saying the law “remains a fundamentally flawed piece of legislation whose only apparent purpose is to control civil society”...

UN General Assembly, Human Rights Council: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia
August 2, 2011
In September 2008, during the fourth legislature (2008-2012), the Government decided to adopt a law regulating the activities of non-governmental organizations and associations. On 15 December 2010, the Ministry of the Interior publicly released the first draft of the law and invited NGOs and other stakeholders to participate in a first public consultation on the draft on 10 January 2011...

Letter on NGO Law from CIDSE agency to EU Delegation in Cambodia
August 2, 2011
We would like to thank you for meeting with CIDSE members and our Cambodian partner NGO Forum on 11 July. It was a positive opportunity to exchange information about the situation in Cambodia and to share with you the specific concerns of civil society organisations (CSO) relating to the draft NGO law...

ICNL: Comments on the Third Draft Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations of the Kingdom of Cambodia
August 1, 2011
Summary Analysis - The third version of the draft law is little changed from the second version, and most of the fundamental issues of previous drafts remain...

LICHADO: DRAFT LAW ON ASSOCIATIONS & NGOs: COMMENTS ON THE THIRD DRAFT
August 2011
On July 29, 2011, the government released a third draft of its widely criticized Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO Law), once again claiming that the newest draft addresses the litany of concerns that have been raised by civil society. One needs look no further than the first chapter of the law, however, to discredit the government’s reassurances. Registration is still mandatory, meaning Cambodians cannot exercise their fundamental rights of assembly, expression and association without navigating complex registration procedures and securing the blessing of government officials, who would be given absolute power to create or dissolve civil society groups...

3rd Draft of THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT LAW ON ASSOCIATIONS AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (English and Khmer versions) (Download)
THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT LAW ON ASSOCIATIONS AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
CHAPTER 1
General Provisions
Article 1: Aim
This law aims at setting out formalities and conditions for registering associations or domestic non-governmental organizations and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding of foreign non-governmental organizations operating in the Kingdom of Cambodia...

July 29, 2011 - Third draft of the proposed NGO law released

NGO and Associations Joint Statement on the Second draft of the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (648 endorsements as of July 7, 2011)
We, civil society organizations including Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations, highly appreciate that state-civil society cooperation has been a key factor in the development of Cambodia from a war-torn country to a peaceful vibrant developing country. Many times government and civil society organizations have had different opinions but met in constructive discussions, and more frequently still, government and civil society organizations have met in good cooperation...

Slate: Silence of the Lambs - For do-gooder NGOs in Cambodia, accommodation with the regime is very profitable
June 20, 2011
Yes, it's always a fine time to be an expatriate aid worker in Cambodia, where several thousand NGOs and aid organizations operate. By day, swarms of foreign do-gooders clog the streets of Phnom Penh in their company-provided SUVs, and by night they fill bars, restaurants, and nightclubs. Collectively, NGO workers represent a privileged caste, isolated and detached from the people who serve as the objects of their benevolence...

RFA: Draft of NGO Law Withheld
June 6, 2011
Cambodia is expected to push ahead with a controversial law closely regulating nongovernmental organizations despite concerns by human rights groups that the legislation will severely restrict NGOs from operating freely within the country...

Phnom Penh Post: NGO pressure mounts
May 24, 2011
Cambodia's controversial NGO law is being drafted for a third time, the government confirmed yesterday, as the number of organisations slamming the latest public version of the legislation neared 600. Critics have stated that the legislation would cripple Cambodian civil society if it were adopted, citing provisions that would outlaw unregistered voluntary organisations, force foreign NGOs to collaborate with the government and leave government involvement in NGO activities unchecked...

Cambodia’s troubling NGO & Associations Law
May 11, 2011
The way the law is drafted will make it easy for the government to target and shut down NGOs working on politically sensitive issues (such as, for example, land grabbing). The law will also impair the work of international organizations in Cambodia, as well as the effective disbursement of development aid funding...

Guardian: Western donors must stand up to Cambodia's government - Phnom Penh's NGO law seeks to tighten its grip on civil society, but aid donors mustn't cave in to this government threat
May 9, 2011
More than a month has passed since the Cambodian government released the second draft of the hotly debated law on associations and NGOs, and all is quiet on the legislative front. While it's too early to tell whether this is a positive sign, there are clues that it might be...

Cambodia Daily: At Donor Meet, US Ties NGO Law to Aid
April 21, 2011
The US, Cambodia's third-largest bilateral donor, yesterday warned the government that baid levels could be frozen if the draft law…

INCL: Cambodian Government releases revised draft Law on Associations and NGOs
April 8, 2011

Joint Statement - Lawyers Rights Watch Canada and the Centre for Law and Democracy
April 8, 2011
Lawyers Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) and the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD)1 have studied the Draft Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (draft NGO Law) and have compared it with international standards on the right to freedom of association, as well as better international practice regarding laws regulating non-governmental organizations (NGOs)...

VOA: International Groups Decry NGO Law ‘Threat’
April 7, 2011
Eight prominent international organizations issued a statement Thursday urging the Cambodian government to drop a controversial law to regulate NGOs, claiming it would hurt development in the country...

Joint Statement - International Human Rights NGOs Oppose Cambodia NGO Law, Cambodia: Withdraw Flawed Draft NGO and Association Law, Revised Draft Does Not Address Rights Concerns
Joint Statement - International Human Rights NGOs Oppose Cambodia NGO Law, Cambodia: Withdraw Flawed Draft NGO and Association Law, Revised Draft Does Not Address Rights Concerns
April 7, 2011
Cambodia’s draft law regulating associations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) should be abandoned because it will undermine rather than promote civil society in the country, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Forum-Asia, Global Witness, Southeast Asia Press Alliance, Frontline Defenders, and FIDH and OMCT within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders said today...

Freedom House: Proposed Cambodian NGO Law Fundamentally Flawed and Should be Abandoned
April 1, 2011
Cambodia’s proposed law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) contains provisions that place troubling restrictions on the ability of NGOs to organize and function effectively. Freedom House calls on the Cambodian government to abandon the law in its current version as it is fundamentally flawed...

LICADHO: Second Draft of NGO Law Falls Short on Fundamental Rights
March 31, 2011
The second draft of the proposed Association & NGO law (NGO Law) is not significantly different from the first draft, and remains the most serious threat to civil society in Cambodia today, according to a new briefing paper from LICADHO...

2nd Draft of LAW ON ASSOCIATIONS AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (English)
THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT
Second Draft
LAW ON ASSOCIATIONS AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
CHAPTER 1
General Provisions
Article 1: Aim
This law aims at setting out formalities and conditions for registering associations or domestic non-governmental organizations and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding of foreign non-governmental organizations operating in the Kingdom of Cambodia...

March 24, 2011 - Second draft of the proposed NGO law released

Cambodia Daily: Ministry Irked By US Remarks On NGO Law
Feb 25, 2011
The Interior Ministry yesterday responded to US criticism…saying public remarks by a visiting diplomat had "broken the consultation process"…

Phnom Penh Post: NGO law talks not over: US
February 24, 2011
The government has committed to further consultation with civil society on its controversial draft NGO law, a visiting United States State Department official said yesterday, though Cambodian government officials did not provide a clear road map of their plans...

CCC: Summary notes meeting with MoFA on 23th February 2011 (Download)
February 23, 2011

Phnom Penh Post: Ministry to review NGO draft law amendments
January 27, 2011
Local civil society groups have submitted suggested revisions of the Kingdom’s proposed NGO Law to the government, though it remains to be seen how the recommendations will be reflected in the legislation. Nuth Sa An, secretary of state at the Ministry of Interior, said he had submitted recommendations proposed by NGOs to Minister Sar Kheng...

Phnom Penh Post: Government stands by controversial NGO law
January 11, 2011
THE government defended its controversial new draft NGO law in the face of mounting criticism and asked for input from civil society representatives at a consultation in Phnom Penh yesterday...

Cambodia Daily: Gov't Defends NGO Law, but Is Open to Change
January 11, 2011
A government led workshop on the proposed law...

Phnom Penh Post: Hun Sen focuses ire on NGO law critics
Phnom Penh Post: Hun Sen focuses ire on NGO law critics
January 6, 2011
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday took aim at critics of the government’s new draft NGO legislation, ahead of a government-hosted consultation on the issue on Monday. Speaking at the inauguration of a high school in Kampong Cham province, Hun Sen slammed critics of the law in the NGO community, arguing that they were demanding too many rights...

SEAPA Alert: Proposed NGO law a threat to civil liberties, free expression, Cambodian civil society says
January 5, 2011
...some 250 representatives of foreign and local NGOs met over the weekend to agree on basic points and draft a statement calling on the government to revise some of the provisions in the bill, which if passed will be known as the "Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations"...

Phnom Penh Post: Call for NGO law overhaul
January 4, 2011
Several hundred NGO representatives met in Phnom Penh yesterday to discuss concerns and recommendations regarding a controversial new draft NGO law, just days ahead of a consultation with the government on the issue...

Joint NGO and Civil Society Position on the Draft Law on Associations and Non-governmental Organizations
January 5, 2011

CCC: Consolidated Report on Issues and Recommendations on Draft Law on Associations and NGOs in Cambodia (Download)
January 4, 2011

NGO calls for extended consulations on proposed Law

Cambodia Daily: NGOs Express Concern Over New Draft Law
December 27, 2010

Phnom Penh Post: Group criticises draft legislation on NGOs
December 27, 2010
THE government’s draft NGO law is “burdensome” and provides the government with the unchecked authority to restrict the activities of NGOs in Cambodia, according to a new report from the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights...

Proceedings of CCC Members and Non-Members Consultative Meeting on NGO Law and Association Law (Download)
December 23-24, 2010

Detail Analysis on Draft of NGO Law by ICNL: Comments on the Draft Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations of the Kingdom of Cambodia
December 22, 2010

Collection of Analysis Documents: December 2010 (Download)

December 15, 2010 - First draft of the proposed NGO law released

LICADHO: Is an NGO Law Justified in Cambodia
June 2009
…a brief examination of the reasons they put forward suggests that the reverse is actually true - in reality, this proposed legislation is intended to restrict the lawful activities of Cambodian civil society organizations…

VOA: NGOs Worry Over Intent of New Law
March 31, 2009
A draft law to tighten control over Cambodia’s many non-governmental organizations is nearly completed and will soon be at the Council of Ministers for final approval before moving on to the National Assembly. Rights groups and other watchdogs are increasingly worried over the motives behind the law...

Phnom Penh Post: NGO law key to security: PM
Phnom Penh Post: NGO law key to security: PM
February 18, 2009
Hun Sen warns of terrorist cells via NGOs, while development groups say bill is overkill and would curb efficacy of their work...

LICADHO: NGO LAWS & CRACKDOWNS ON HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS: INTERNATIONAL LESSONS FOR CAMBODIA
November 2008
In October 2004, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders, Hina Jilani, tabled a report on the status of human rights defenders worldwide. Her report highlighted a number of factors which allow for government crackdowns on human rights defenders’ work. All of these factors are present in Cambodia...

Phnom Penh Post: Govt's proposed NGO regulation law overkill: civil society
October 8, 2008
Rights groups brand the PM's proposed NGO Law "unnecessary", saying terrorism and fraud can be solved through more effective means...

Phnom Penh Post: Hun Sen critical towards NGO’s
September 29, 2008
The Prime Minister brought up the imminent adoption of a civil society law, believing that “terrorists” might try to settle in Cambodia under the disguise of non-governmental organisations. During his speech about general politics, the Prime Minister highly criticised the NGO workers who are against the adoption of a law on NGO’s in Cambodia...

September 2008 - Prime Minister announces government's intent to adopt a law regulating the the activities of NGOs in Cambodia

LICADHO: NGO LAWS & CRACKDOWNS ON HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS: INTERNATIONAL LESSONS FOR CAMBODIA
September 2006
In October 2004, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders, Hina Jilani, tabled a report on the status of human rights defenders worldwide. Her report highlighted a number of factors which allow for government crackdowns on human rights defenders’ work. All of these factors are present in Cambodia...

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Other documents, websites, organizations and document sorts other than by date

Text of proposed NGO law (drafts)

3rd Draft of THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT LAW ON ASSOCIATIONS AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (English and Khmer versions) (Download)
THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT LAW ON ASSOCIATIONS AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
CHAPTER 1
General Provisions
Article 1: Aim
This law aims at setting out formalities and conditions for registering associations or domestic non-governmental organizations and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding of foreign non-governmental organizations operating in the Kingdom of Cambodia...
(Full text of the 3rd draft of the proposed 'Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations.')

2nd Draft of LAW ON ASSOCIATIONS AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (English)
THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT
Second Draft
LAW ON ASSOCIATIONS AND NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
CHAPTER 1
General Provisions
Article 1: Aim
This law aims at setting out formalities and conditions for registering associations or domestic non-governmental organizations and the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding of foreign non-governmental organizations operating in the Kingdom of Cambodia...
(Full text of the 2nd draft of the proposed 'Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations.')

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Cambodian Committee for Cooperation (CCC) Links

Cambodian Committee for Cooperation (CCC) Homepage
(Including several links related to the proposed NGO law.)

CCC: NGO Law page

Currently, CSOs are able to operate openly in Cambodia with little interference from government.International NGOs are required to register with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) while local NGOs are required to register with the Ministry of Interior (MoI). The draft Law on Associations and NGOs could change this and give government authorities far reaching far-reaching power to control the rights of citizens to organize and express themselves...

CCC: Articles about the NGO Law from international websites and in the local news

(Comprehensive collection of Cambodia Daily and Phnom Penh Post articles about the NGO law. Also other important international articles and Khmer language articles from Raksmei Kampuchea newspaper.)

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International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) Analyses and Documents

ICNL: Cambodia
August 24, 2011
It is feared that any new law governing NGOs and associations will increase the RCG’s discretionary power and tighten its restrictive hold over civil society...

ICNL: Comments on the Third Draft Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations of the Kingdom of Cambodia
August 1, 2011
Summary Analysis - The third version of the draft law is little changed from the second version, and most of the fundamental issues of previous drafts remain...

Detail Analysis on Draft of NGO Law by ICNL: Comments on the Draft Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations of the Kingdom of Cambodia
December 22, 2010

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Social Media

Twitter: OpposeCambodiaNGOLaw

Facebook: Oppose the Cambodian NGO & Associations Law

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Elizabeth Becker/AKP exchange

Response To Anonymous Critique by Elizabeth Becker
August 29, 2011
I have had numerous requests for my response to an anonymous article published in the Cambodian government’s official press –Agence Kampuchea Press or AKP on August 24, 2011. The article was intended as a critique of my opinion piece that ran in the International Herald Tribune on August 17, 2011...

AKP: Commentary: Elizabeth Becker and the Campaign to Put NGOs above the Law
August 24, 2011
Nobody seems entirely sure of the number, but it is generally believed that more than 2000 non-governmental organisations operate in Cambodia. One of the reasons for the uncertainty about the number is that Cambodia is one of the few countries that has not established laws and procedures for the formation and operation of NGOs...

Silencing Cambodia's Honest Brokers By ELIZABETH BECKER
August 17, 2011
This year is the 20th anniversary of the Paris peace accords that ended the Cambodian war and any further threat from the murderous Khmer Rouge. It required all the major powers — the United States, leading European countries, the former Soviet Union and China — as well as most Asian nations to come up with an accord, a rare achievement. In a speech last week, Gareth Evans said that during his eight years as the Australian foreign minister “nothing has given me more pleasure and pride than the Paris peace agreement concluded in 1991”...

Just one kiss!

2011-09-08T00:13:00.005+07:00

I was in a little village in Prey Veng last week checking out a local event, the only barang there at the time. As I stood at the edge of the crowd somebody started pawing lightly at my back, gurgling "barang…barang…" I turned and was confronted with one of the witches from Macbeth - a gnarled old lunatic of a farmer woman right in my face, ripe of palm wine, shit-faced drunk and lust in her eyes. "Barang, kiss…kiss barang" she said coming at me arms outstretched. I stepped back, but not fast enough. She latched on and scissored my leg like a horny bulldog. "Kiss!" she burped in wine-scented Khmer, holding on tight. The crowd slowly turned toward us, staring. A bystander tried to help, gently urging her off my leg, but she swung a stick at him. My driver stood a couple of meters back and tried to lure her away with money, but she wouldn't take the bait. She just kept insisting "one kiss, maybe two." Clearly trapped, I decided to take a different tack. Leaning in, I spoke to her softly, "I'm married and my wife would be very angry," I said. She puckered her lips, "one kiss, perhaps two." I smiled uncomfortably and pled, "my wife is a very jealous woman, everyone will see us," motioning to the crowd (and in fact everyone was looking at us.) I continued, "My wife will be very angry if I kiss a different woman. She will make a big problem for me." That seemed to connect. She gave me a broad, toothless smile, let go of my leg and stumbled off.

On the way back to Phnom Penh, my driver told the story about 14 times.

Criminal Logic

2011-09-04T18:29:00.021+07:00

Purportedly an Angkorian era lintel from Baphuon temple that the author of the article ("Taking Home a Piece of Angkor Wat") was considering buying from an antiquities dealer in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo lifted from the article "Taking Home a Piece of Angkor Wat"

Your television has been stolen from your living room. The thief sells it to a fence, who puts the word on the street that he's got a nice big-screen plasma for sale. Prospective buyers, Joe Suburbia and his wife, hear about the TV and would really like to buy it, but they also know it is of dubious origin and, considering themselves to be a 'good people,' feel conflicted, if only a bit. The fence offers some soul soothing logic…

"Well, who really 'owns' stuff, so to speak? I mean, his Dad gave him that TV, so it's not really his anyways. Besides, why should he be the only one to get to enjoy it? Why shouldn't we be able to move that TV to your house where you and your friends can enjoy it? And on top of that, he didn't even take very good care of it, so doesn't that mean it's not really his?"

Persuaded, the prospective buyers wipe their brows in relief and say, "So, how much do you want for it…"

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Do you accept the fence's logic? Does it matter that your Dad gave you the TV or that you don't take good care of it? Are Joe and his wife right to buy your stolen TV?

I would answer no, no and no. The fence's logic is a weak and obvious rationalization for theft. Who gave you the TV or how well you took care of it have no bearing on your ownership of it. And Joe and his wife are not only receiving stolen goods but doing so knowingly, as evidenced in part by the fact that they would entertain such specious and self-serving logic.

In fact, the logic seems so weak as to be unrealistic. Would anybody really offer such a transparent rationalization for buying stolen goods? Well, in an attempt to justify buying Angkorian-era Khmer antiquities in Bangkok, the following blog entry comes very close.

In an entry shamelessly entitled, "Taking Home a Piece of Angkor Wat," the writer explores the "gray area" of buying stolen antiquities:

"Who owns cultural relics from generations or millennia ago? Just because people were born within the modern borders that a historical sight sits, why do they have the ownership right? Why should cultural relics stay in a place rather than cross borders and share their beauty with people that can’t make it to their original location? At what point of destruction or lack of care does a culture relinquish it’s (sic) ownership right?"

Somewhat general questions. We might at first imagine that he is exploring the issue in abstract or perhaps some borderline or potentially debatable case such as some antiquity of unknown origin or something that is comparatively common like Roman coins or cuneiform tablets. But no. In the following paragraph he almost immediately identifies the piece he is considering buying - a lintel from the Baphuon temple in the heart of Angkor Thom (see photo above) - a specific, unique, irreplaceable piece from one of the most important temples in the center of the old Angkorian capital in Cambodia. It would be difficult to imagine how such a piece (if authentic) was not looted.

From there his concerns turn to the pragmatic - the authenticity of the piece, how to skirt US import law and finally, the price, which turns out to be the determining factor in his decision of whether to purchase it or not.

He does pause in the next paragraph to touch on the ethical questions he posited, if only abstractly and in brief. But it seems to me this surfacy address is little more than a half-hearted exercise in self-absolution. The beginning and end of the article reveal the author's real feeling on the subject. The opening paragraph is a giddy account of what can be had in Bangkok for a price, everything from "endangered animals" to "ill-gotten antiques." And in his final words of the essay he decides against buying the artifact, not because of the ethical considerations but because it is too expensive:

"Upon arriving, excited and scared, to purchase our piece of the Angkor Kingdom we received bad news. The price we had been quoted was incorrect by one zero. Previously it was very expensive, but attainable, but now it was just too expensive. The lessons we learned in the process though, were worth it, without finding a piece we loved, doing the research, debating among ourselves, and deciding, we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to think through the right, wrong and grey area of being a tomb raider."

The last sentence sums it up nicely - a straightforward admission of what he is trying to justify - "…being a tomb raider," i.e. a thief.

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For more see:

It Surfaced Down Under!: Reprehensible

Safe Corner: The ethics of "tomb raiding?"

Allison in Cambodia: Taking home a piece of Angkor is NOT OK

Red List of Cambodian Antiquities at Risk

Wikipedia: Baphuon

BBC: Cambodia completes Angkor temple renovation 'puzzle'

Heritage Watch

Sign of the Times

2011-09-03T22:04:00.003+07:00

An odd thing happened to me on the way to the coffee shop. Walking from my house to the riverfront, I had to cross Norodom Blvd - a busy 4-lane thoroughfare through the center of Phnom Penh. I made it half way across but got trapped in the middle by traffic. Standing there on the yellow line waiting for a break in the flow, an on-coming car slowed and the Cambodian driver waved me across in front of him. I nodded an acknowledgment and smiled as I crossed the street. He smiled back.

Reaching the other side, I was shocked and confused by what had just happened. I had never experienced such a thing in Cambodia before. A Cambodian driver in Phnom Penh not only yielded to a pedestrian, but did it for no more reason than traffic courtesy and my safety. I was astounded…dumbstruck…I considered the possibility that I had somehow been sucked into a parallel universe. But no. It had really happened. Other expats have reported similar happenings of late leading me to think it may be another indication of a more general transformation that has taken place.

In my observation the character of Phnom Penh's traffic has changed in recent years. Traffic here used to be truly anarchic, and while it may still appear so to the new eye, in fact traffic has gotten considerably more ordered. Amongst other things, traffic police are enforcing a few laws these days, people usually drive on the correct side of the road and something more than half the drivers actually obey traffic lights. It appears to me that a significant portion of the drivers in Phnom Penh are making an effort to obey at least some of the basic rules of traffic. While there are constant and obvious violations of this new order, the fact that there is an order to violate makes today's traffic categorically different from years past.

This is a quantum leap away from where we were a decade ago when there was true anarchy on the road - no rules whatsoever, no enforcement of whatever regulations there were, just a lawless semi-egalitarian free-for-all in which all traffic was something of a slow moving multidirectional merge. But while a portion of the population is coming around to the idea of following some traffic rules, there is another segment that has moved in a completely different direction.

Just yesterday, walking up the riverfront near Wat Ounalom I saw a late model BMW race through the intersection of Sothearos and Sisowath Quay at no less than 90kph. No exaggeration. This is a busy, uncontrolled fork in the road where 20kph is too fast for saftey. This guy blew through at 90kph without a glance or care or touch of the brakes. I don't know how he managed to miss everybody.

In fact, I see fairly regular examples of this behavior - top end luxury vehicles at high speed on the wrong side of the road, brights flashing, passing wildly, blasting up busy streets and through intersections with reckless disregard for the life and limb of others. You can see the remnants of this behavior on occasion, such as the sign in the photo above or smashed traffic barriers at the Independence Monument, and of course the occasional splattered motorcycle driver or mangled car wreck.

And unsurprisingly, though it is common to see traffic police working certain areas in Phnom Penh, stopping vehicles for violations like running traffic lights and driving without a helmet, I have never seen the police stop even one of these wild-driving luxury cars, that is unless it has already crashed into a traffic divider or gotten hung up on a hapless motodup.

As Phnom Penh (and Cambodia) move away from the traffic anarchy of the past, much of the population has taken to the idea of at least some order and even, on occasion, courtesy, as I experienced on Norodom the other day. Whether due to fear or respect for the law, they are making Phnom Penh a better place. While another, much smaller, elite portion of the population is taking the old anarchy to new and previously unheard of extremes, doing whatever strikes their fancy with wanton disregard for the law or the people they may injure or kill. And it seems that the authorities are uninterested, unwilling and/or unable to rein them in.

Not unlike some other areas of abuse by Cambodia's elite.

WikiLeaks does it again

2011-08-30T22:59:00.018+07:00

For the second time in as many months (see 'WikiLeaks') WikiLeaks has released US embassy cables including some from the embassy in Phnom Penh. And like last time, WikiLeaks has failed to scour the confidential sources from those cables, this time revealing the name of a foreign human rights activist in Cambodia who had spoken candidly with the US embassy (see NYT: 'WikiLeaks Leaves Names of Diplomatic Sources in Cables.') At a time when human rights abuses are on the rise and NGOs in Cambodia are under fire from the government for their human rights activities (see PPP: 'NGO 'Incitement'') WikiLeaks may have exposed this human rights activist to serious repercussions.

Unlike the WikiLeaks cable release of two months ago, this time they claim that publishing the names was 'accidental' (see here,) though that is likely of little help to those they have exposed. And while this time may not have been intentional, it is unsurprising that such an 'accident' could occur as WikiLeaks puts very little weight on protecting the names of informants. Mr. Assange stated earlier this year:

“Well they’re informants…So if they get killed, they’ve got it coming to them. They deserve it.” (see here)

Whether due to a political agenda that WikiLeaks feels outweighs the possible human costs, or to a dogmatic adherence to some deontological ethics, or to just plain unprofessionalism, WikiLeaks' repeated disregard for the human consequences of their actions is at the very least incredibly irresponsible, perhaps worse.

iPhone 5

2011-08-26T21:27:00.007+07:00

Our guard brought this to the house today, proudly claiming that he had just purchased the new iPhone 5 at the market here in Phnom Penh - the "Chinese version," as he said. "You can't get these in America yet. China is ahead of America now." Well, in a sense, I guess it is.

Admonishing me for having paid hundreds for my 3Gs a couple of years back, he tells me he only paid $31 for his iPhone5, new and in the box. And, after playing with it a bit, it feels and works as well as one would expect of a $31 telephone, maybe even a $35 phone.

He let me toy with it a bit, 'toy' being the operative word here. In hand, it feels almost like an empty box, weighing less half of my 3Gs. Perhaps that's a good thing. It does seem to function. The telephone works, and if you bang on the touch pad hard enough, so does everything else - the camera, notepad, calendar, etc. - albeit extremely slowly.

Bpple iPhone 5 - Front

Bpple iPhone 5 - Back

Bpple iPhone 5 - Serial. Note the nod to international trademark law, the makers changing 'Apple' to 'Bpple.' I'm sure that makes it all alright. It's not a knock-off, it's a Bpple. I can't quite figure out how to pronounce it though.

Bpple iPhone 5 - Camera mode

Exsqueeze me?

2011-08-24T00:42:00.009+07:00

Found in my travels around Cambodia over the last few months:

From a menu at a crab shack in the Kep Crab Market. When I saw it on the menu, I pointed and asked the waitress if the crap was meaty today. She assured me that the crap was very meaty and sweet that day. I asked if Fried Crap was a very popular dish and she told me that the tourists who come there all like to eat crap. So I ordered a big plate. And I must say, it was good shit. Recommended.

From a massage & spa place in Phnom Penh. 50% off every mount on the 1st. I wonder if this might give potential customers the wrong idea...or the right idea....

From a little Vietnamese café in Sihanoukville. That day I had the bopiled port and a small moodle. Wasn't that good, especially the moodle.

From a Thai restaurant in Phnom Penh. Thank goodness for photo menus.

¿Que?

From a French restaurant in Phnom Penh. I didn't have the Chocolate Mouse because I don't like their beady little chocolate eyes.

Ran across this one just today. A train wreck of a brochure for a spa in Phnom Penh that managed to outdo itself by promising a "special of the rapists." That's something I think I'd care not experience, even in a "place for relaxation."

21st century ghosts

2011-08-22T02:52:00.004+07:00

Last Monday (August 14th) was the 'Hungry Ghost Festival' (中元節 / 中元节 / Tết Trung Nguyên), a Chinese holiday not officially observed here in Cambodia but still kept amongst the country's Chinese, Chinese-Khmer and Vietnamese communities. My neighbors here in Phnom Penh were burning joss paper on the sidewalk several times that day and had me over to take a few photos for them.

Celebrated on the 15th day (half-moon) of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar, the Hungry Ghost Festival is the Chinese version of the Khmer P'chum Benh, that time of year the gates of the underworld are opened and the spirits released to roam the Earth, if only briefly. During this period the living (at least the Chinese and Vietnamese ones) make offerings to these souls at the pagoda and at home, both to aid and appease their ancestors, as well as other loosened spirits.

In one of the most apparent manifestations of the festival, believers burn joss paper and place offerings to the spirits on tables and blankets in front of their homes - on the sidewalk, the balcony, porch or just inside the open gates.

The spread of offerings is often centered on a roasted red pig, candles and burning incense, and may include things such as rice, sugar, fruit, drinks, candy, cigarettes, snacks, etc. Apparently the afterworld is similar to this one and the idea is to provide for the welfare of the deceased to help ensure a comfortable afterlife. Providing for their financial needs, joss paper, including 'ghost money' is burned, the process sending it to the dead for use as ghostly tender.

Traditionally, joss paper offerings were gold and silver colored paper and later stylized Chinese currency ('ghost money.') It could also include paper representations of clothing, fabric, houses and other practicalities. But times change. As the neighbor showed me the various joss offerings he was preparing for the fire I discovered that 21st century ghosts get to enjoy the niceties of modern consumerism and even the trappings of conspicuous consumption, not unlike Phnom Penh's upper crust of 2011.

Most of the following are examples the various joss items my neighbor had on hand. Most of the interpretations of what they represent come from my Chinese-Khmer neighbors, who were not in complete agreement with one another about what it all meant. I am sure it would be easy to get the answers at the market or the pagoda but I haven't followed up.

Gold and Silver

Gold and silver paper, representing the metals, are the most traditional of the joss paper offerings. The gold paper is intended for ancestors and the gods. The silver is meant for ancestors exclusively.

Traditional gold and silver joss paper. Smooth gold and silver leaf or paint on coarse bamboo paper. 9cm x 14cm.

Gold joss paper at the market. Phsar Oreussey, Phnom Penh

Gold ingots and coins. Printed on light newsprint paper.

Left and center: Modern gold bullion bars, .9999 pure. Made of light cardboard, embossed. No printing.
Right: Silver and gold on bamboo paper.

Gold bullion bars, .9999 pure. Made of light cardboard, embossed. Left in Vietnamese. Right in Chinese..

There was some debate about this one - coins or a fabric with pattern. Most felt it was coins. Printed on reclaimed paper or scrap paper from print houses, often old newspapers and office materials. Many of these had the old Cambodia Dailys on the reverse.

Currency (copper)

Classic 'ghost money,' i.e. ghost currency/bank notes, has been used since at least the 19th century AD. It is usually denominated in Chinese Yuan, often in absurdly large denominations, and sold in bundled stacks. The face of the note very often sports a portrait of the Jade Emperor, and the reverse an image of the 'Bank of Hell.' The note is often signed by the Jade Emperor and the King of Hell (Yan Wang/Yanluo.) Ghost money is said to be 'copper' as differentiate from gold and silver that is sent to ancestors. It is meant for use by the more recently dead (as opposed to distant ancestors) and other relatives and as an offering (if not better termed a bribe) to the Judge of the Dead (also Yan Wang.)

The use of the English word 'Hell' in e.g. the 'Bank of Hell' and 'Hell Money' is probably an imperfect reference to the underworld and the court of the dead. Upon death, all souls, regardless of their merit or lack thereof, are first sent to the underworld where their eternal fate is determined by the judge Yan Wang. The ghost money is intended, in part, as a gratuity of sorts to the judge in the hope that he will adjudicate their ancestors case favorably and/or lighten the length of their stay in the underworld. My neighbor, in trying to explain it to me, smiled wryly and called it "corruption money for God."

These are a few examples the neighbor happened to have on hand.

100 yuan note. Jade Emperor on front. The Bank of Hell on the reverse.

Joss money with dragon on the front and Bank of Hell on the reverse.

10,000,000 yuan note. Hell Bank note. Jade Emperor on front with signatures of Jade Emperor and the King of Hell. The Bank of Hell on the reverse.

1,000,000,000,000 yuan note. Jade Emperor on front. The Bank of Hell on the reverse.

100,000,000,000 yuan note. Jade Emperor on front with signatures of Jade Emperor and the King of Hell. The Bank of Hell on the reverse.19cm x 43 cm.

20 baht note for those traveling in the Thai quarter of the Hereafter. The design on the front is loosely based on a new style Thai 20 baht note, with '20' in Thai script.

50,000 dong for those in the Vietnamese section of the afterworld. Jade Emperor on front and the Bank of Hell on the reverse. The design of the bill seems loosely based on US currency.

Perhaps the most common non-Chinese ghost money, the US$100 is still the universal currency even in the Hereafter. A pretty good replica of a US$100, though the paper and the print quality is far inferior to even the crudest counterfeit bills. The only design difference from a real US$100 is on the reverse where 'United States of America' has been replaced by 'Abode of the Dead Bank,' which is presumably a reference to the underworld as the word 'Hell' on other notes.

50 Euro note. Jade Emperor on face.

Ghost money at the market. Phsar Oreussey, Phnom Penh

Clothes and fabric

Joss paper clothing and fabric seems to be the next most common paper offering. Some of the clothing paper contained other symbols (cups, hat?, boat? cups, ect.) about which my neighbors could not agree on the meaning.

Clothing. A set of traditional clothes and a set of modern clothes. Also what appears to be a bell, a vase, drinking cups scissors, a leaf or feather, a hat(?) and a boat (?.) Nobody knew the story behind the cups, scissors, feather, etc. Printed on light newsprint. 16cm x 21cm.

Clothing. Two sets of traditional clothes. Also what appears to be a bell, a vase, drinking cups scissors, a leaf or feather, a hat(?) and a boat (?.) Nobody knew the story behind the cups, scissors, feather, etc. Printed on light newsprint.16cm x 21cm.

Large pieces of paper fabric. In folded bundles of five different colors. Made of very light crepe paper.

There was some diagreement but most thought this was fabric for making clothes. Made of light crepe paper.

Travel and Banking in the Hereafter

Fold over passport made of Cardboard. Form on the inside with space for name and personal details. Accompanying visa paper in passport. Visa for 'Hell & Paradise.'

Air ticket on the 'Hell & Paradise Airline,' first class of course. 2 parts. Cover and separate passenger detail form.

Bank account book for the 'Bank of Hades and Heaven.' Insert left and cover right, both fold over. The insert is made of light paper. The cover is made of cardboard.

Ghost Vesa Card. Portrait of the Jade Emperor.

Cheque book including blank checks for a ghost account at the 'Bank of Hades - Heaven Main Branch.'

Toiletries, personal items and travel kit for the well-prepared ghost. All made of paper and light cardboard. Slippers, wallet (Adidas) with US$200, iPhone and one million dong cell card, glasses, watch, comb, razor, pen, Zippo lighter and a pack of cigarettes (555 Gold.) The cigarette pack bears no health warnings. Personally, I think this would be one of the greatest benefits of being dead - smoking without fear of health consequences. Unfortunately, next to the mountains of precious metals and stacks of cash being sent to the afterworld , it appears that there are comparatively few cigarettes being forwarded to the dead. If the law of supply and demand holds in the afterworld, gold silver and currency would be in great oversupply, common as paper and probably very cheap, whereas cigarettes would be rare and, if smokers are the same there as here, worth their weight in... well, their weight in gold, so to speak. Wouldn't that be the ultimate rub for the smoker - cigarettes could be enjoyed without adverse health effects, but cost a mountain of gold per pack.

Ghost Bling, Luxury Vehicles and Phones

And for the 21st century ghost, the trappings of a nouveau riche Phnom Penh lifestyle - black Lexus, iPhone, bling and more.

Ghost car. Black Lexus LX 330 with a Phnom Penh number plate and chauffeur.

Ghost phones and cell card. Nokia and iPhone. Cell card in Vietnamese, 1,000,000 dong. Made of folded cardboard.

Ghost bling. Gold watch (Omega.) Gold bangle. Gold ring. Gold money clip. Gold coins (?.) Gaudy gold necklace. Phone (Nokia). Made of folded and embossed cardboard.

Old Maps - Kampot

2011-08-12T04:34:00.009+07:00

An extraordinary collection of 19th century Khmer maps of provincial Cambodia - the earliest known Khmer cartographic representations - is currently on exhibition at the Centre Culturel Français (CCF) in Phnom Penh. The 54 maps on display represent a rare historical resource from a sparsely documented period of Khmer history, and many of the maps are in themselves unique works of Cambodian art. The exhibition at CCF will continue through August 28.

All of the maps were hand drawn sometime between 1884-1892, probably crafted by provincial level Khmer functionaries at the behest of the French colonial authority. Most of the maps cover the area of a single province or district, and the full collection encompasses all of Cambodia's 19 provinces of the time.

The maps on display at CCF are actually high resolution digital reproductions, which were presented to King Sihamoni in France last year. The originals still reside in Paris at the library of the Ecole Française d'Extreme Orient.

Each map is a unique creation, perhaps every one the work of a different cartographer. A wide range of artistic styles and mapping criteria were used, the final products ranging from quasi-schematic line drawings to intricately and artistically detailed illustrations.

All the maps are on a 49cm x 63cm sheet and drawn within a black border. Most employ multiple colors and some are filled with tiny illustrations of the areas represented - houses, pagodas, animals, lakes and mountains, etc. The map title is written twice, once in Khmer by the map maker and again in French (in large red cursive,) presumably marked later. The two labels are often oriented in different directions, neither necessarily with north at the top of the map. At this exhibition the maps were hung to accord with the Khmer titling.

The maps were all exhibited at their original size with a few choice examples blown up to double-size and displayed without glass, including the map of the Kampot area, which was a nice map to stop and dwell upon for a bit.

The Kampot map is not as colorfully illustrated as some maps, but is on the other hand a comparatively accessible map. It displays several readily identifiable geographic features (e.g. the Elephant Mountains, Kampong Bay river and Kampot town,) making it easy to orient to a modern map, it is a clearly and precisely detailed map and incorporates some attentive artistic touches including finely jungled mountains and abstract patterning in the ocean.

The Kampot map covers the area from modern day Sihanoukville (formerly Kampong Som)/Gulf of Kampong Som in the west, across central Kampot to what is now the Kampong Trach district border in the east. The body of water to the south is the Gulf of Thailand. As the map was displayed, north is to the right and south to the left. The map is not to scale. The farther from Kampot, the greater the scale. In particular, the Kampong Som peninsula in the east is greatly shrunken (and distorted) by comparison to the Kampot area. Interestingly, the Kampong Som peninsula gets short shrift on the Kampong Som map (not pictured) as well. Excluding the Kampong Som area, the Kampot map covers the approximate area of modern day Kampot District (and Kampong Bay District) within Kampot province but not the entire province.

Kampot area map comparison. Modern map on bottom, 19th century Kampot map on top. The 19th century map is rotated from its display position so that north is at the top. Note the Kampong Som area is compressed and the Kampong Som peninsula distorted on the 19th century map.

Zoom on 19th century map of Kampot. Entitled 'The Body of Kampot.' The map includes landmark geological features (mountains, ocean, rivers, streams, etc), political boundaries and settlements (villages, district and provincial boundaries, etc.) and important roads. Water, ocean, rivers, streams, etc are in blue. Roads in double line red. The coastline is very approximate. The focus is on the interior, not nautical concerns. As the map is oriented here (as it was displayed,) north is left and south is right.

A quick and unproofed translation of the Khmer on the 19th century Kampot map. Some of the place names have remained the same over the last 125 years - Kampot, Kep, Kampong Bay, Phnom Pre Nup, Veal Renh, Prek Teuk Sap and others.
Prek = stream/river. Phnom = mountain. Phum = village. As the map is oriented here, north is left and south is right..

Zoom on Kampot Village/Kampong Bay area.

Zoom on Kampong Som peninsula

Red pencil titling in French and Ecole Français d'Orient Extreme stamp on Kampot map

Zoom on mountain, Kampot province. Note the trees on the mountain.

Modern map left, 19th century map right. Both maps oriented with north at the top. Area near Kampot City.
Note the two fork river. The squared off 'Banteay Run Kampong Bay' (the 'fortress of Kampong Bay') sits conspicuously where modern Kampot City now sits. Whereas the area marked 'Kampot Village' is located on the other (east) side of the river near the left fork of the river. Also note that the 'Road to Phnom Penh' and the 'Road to Peam' sit in approximately the same places as modern day National Route #3 and Road #33, respectively.

Some other maps and bits of maps from the exhibition:

Choeung Prey Province

Khsach Kandal Province

Tiger stalking pig, Khsach Kandal province

Khsach Kandal Province

Buffalo, Choeung Prey Province

Kratie Province

Ba Phnom in Prey Veng Province

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Articles:

'A Personal History,' Cambodia Daily Weekend Supplement, Issue 967, July 23-24, 2011

'Rare maps on display at the CCF next month,' Phnom Penh Post, July 06, 2011

'Rare Cambodian map exhibition in Phnom Penh,' Travelfish.org, August 18, 2011

Temple Child II

2011-08-08T04:17:00.001+07:00

Angkor Wat, level 1, south side, long ago

Calvin Klein

2011-08-07T22:38:00.000+07:00

Prison Blog

2011-08-01T22:13:00.005+07:00

Last week a new blog appeared, purportedly being posted from inside Phnom Penh's Prey Sar prison by a western prisoner, entitled "Life in one square meter." I first saw mention of it on K440. The Phnom Penh Post reported on it in today's paper. The blog lasted just a few days, racking up only four or five posts before being removed sometime yesterday without explanation. And it is not even clear that it was what it claimed to be in the first place. While there was a definite ring of authenticity about it, especially in the inclusion of photos, the writer also displayed a degree of bravado that strikes me as a bit too much. Certainly far more than I could muster in the same dire situation. It's authenticity is still an open question. Nevertheless, genuine or not, it made for riveting reading while it was being posted.

As the blog appeared to be the sort of thing that couldn't last, especially if real, I copied most of the content as it was posted. So, in case you missed it, and as it is no longer available online (at least at this time), here it is, reprinted...

The following is almost the full content of the 'prison blog,' including most of the photos, up till a few hours before it disappeared. I don't know if I missed any postings in the last few hours. I lost some of the posting dates, perhaps 1 or 2 of the photos and the photos may not be placed correctly, otherwise the following is a complete copy of the blog.

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Sunday, July 31, 2011

Normal behaviour?

Dont remember really where I stopped writing last time.
One could think that life in prison would be booring and that time would be very long and hard to pass.
But during this first month, so many things have happened every single day, so it has actually been very interresting.
Offcourse getting this phone in here & having access to internet is the main essentiallity. Being able to follow life on the outside, get information and actively work, makes all the difference!
Just finding ways to smuggle illegal devices such as this, is a challenge & takes alot of effort. Trial and error, loss of cash and time is all a part of it.
The first weeks I was very sick, couldnt eat and was hungry and exhausted most of the time. Several attempts to get to the hospital when the NGO:s are here, which turned out to be a big nothing. They are just as useless as the "doctor" in here.
Getting the right medication or treatment is completely impossible & finally I concluded that sending a corrupt guard to the pharmacy and practice self-diagnose & treatment is the only way to go.
At one point I was so sick of parasites and full of different medicines for the wrong things so I didnt have energy to even drink anymore.
My cellmates managed to get me to the hospital, where they put drip and then tossed me off at a bunk in one of the hospital-cells.
In there the prisoners are the doctors and luckily I was well taken care of, by ine of the inmates, who obviously had seen alot in there.
fever of 41 degrees C, shakes and shivvering turned into cramps & then I passed out and wasnt possible to get me concious again for about 30 hours.
The prisoner who took care of me, constantly wiped my entire body with ice-water, to keep my temperature down, changed my drip and apparently the entire population of the cell had inspected my private (or should they be called public) -parts, during my coma.
The fashination of westeners seem to have no limitations.
They all told me about this after I woke up, just as if it was a natural thing to do.
When I came back to my senses (?) the staff quickly made sure I got back to block A.
Many people likes to stay in the hospital-area, since there is a little bit more freedom and space.
By now I only still suffer from a both-sided ear-infection & caugh.
-feeling really healthy, considering!

The fact that Ive had canned food, gruel and oat-meal brought in from the outside, allows me to most of the time have a full stomach & that makes all the difference!

Another funny incident regarding what is considered "normal" occurred last night.
-we have a dvd-player in the cell, so every evening when the electricity comes on, its movie-time.
The 16 khmer guys in the cell will watch absolutely any shit, as long as the screen has moving images and some sounds.
But obviously - being in prison - porn is the absolute favourite to watch.
Last night I was slumbering, woke up around 9 pm, to try call my girl (imprisoned at P2).
I wake up and find 15 khmer men aged 18-30 sitting around the 8" screen, watching a large sized dog, licking the .. Eh.. "public" area of a woman. (guessing german shepard-ish race... Referring to the dog..).
I make my phonecall and realize 30 minutes later, that they still are watching the same movie, which by now was way passed ..eh.. The foreplay-stages.
I shake my head and try to get the disturbing images out of my head and go back to sleep.
An hour later, the 15 guys havent moved an inch and the same dvd is still playing,
- sit up and ask in khmer:
-what the hell!?? Why are you watching that shit? A dog fucking a girl!?
a few of them turn on their heads and one answers:
- its not a dog, now its a pig fucking a girl!
- Ah! Well! That explains it? Thats totally different then...?
I give up.

......
Chains of logic in cambodia:
Today is sunday. Thats equal to rain, which is equal to not being allowed to go outside, which usually means that some for of illegal drug will be consumed in most cells, - to make time pass...
another chain of logic as a good friend of mine recently explained to me: the bordertowns are great. There is usually casinos.
where there is gambling, there is prostitution, and where prostitution is, there is amfetamines!

.....
I have come to realize that my blog dont really follow a straight line of occurances - leading towards anything.
I must admit Im not to structured and have missed to write about many essential developments.
I guess I could have givven a way easier story to follow, if I sat down and put alot of effort into trying to summarize the main events of the passed month, but I just need to focus on stuff currently in motion and blog about the past and current, as I go along.

If it makes no sense to you, the best tip I can give u is:

-Learn to like it.
Posted by Unknown at 12:08 AM

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New England Clam Chowder
July 29, 2011

The first couple of days in here were the toughest.
I had no cash, no clothes, no possebillity to find out what was going on in the outside world.
Being last to enter the cell, my mandatory sleepingplace was offcourse the floor. The space 2*1,80 and 6 guys to try to fit. Offcourse, by being 1,90, I couldnt stretch my legs & couldnt either hav them bent, cos then my knees were in the back of the guy sleeping in the lowest hammock. We are lucky, in our room we have 6 hammocks, 3 high up hangin between the window-bars and 3 between the toilet-divider-wall and the cell-door. Saves shitloads of space.
5 nights the poor bastards had to try to fit around me on the floor, where the air is standing still and the heat making it unbareable, choking for air and sweating like pigs. Having stranger men on and under me skin to skin was also a new experience, not to easy to get comfortable with. Elbows and knees in yr soft areas, by any of the ones lucky enough to be able to fall asleep, was and is always handled with the "forgive and forget"-rule.
Finally my loyal and since long time close friend, -my brother, speaking a language I most often understand as well as my own, managed to get some basic supplies & well needed $ in to me.
The guards wont let u recieve visitors 1st month, unless u pay stupid amounts of money. But somehow he managed to get them to deliver a bag to me.
I paid 20 bucks & got a space on the platform, 1,90 long and 47,5cm wide space, with linoleum (wax-cloth) so we dont have to sleep straight on the concrete.
Sleeping without a mattress, on plain stone-floor, was first a painful technique I had to learn the first 5 nights in the holding-cell, back at the police-station in phnom penh.

But u can get used to most things.

Offcourse I cant fit in 47,5cm, laying flat on my back, so a new technique to lay on the side and spoon with my neighbours in whatever direction the entire platform seemed to have chosen for the night, had to be learned.
Its funny, how my old boss at Ellco Food had a saying that Ive carried with me for the rest of my life. Bubba was wise and many times when we had a shitjob that had to be done, he used to say:
If u cant change ur situation, the best thing you can do is:
Learn to like it.

Learn to like it... Well, its surprising how many times Ive found this wisdom useful, but never has it been so hard to practice this method, as in the situation I now found myself in.
But! Compared to the floor situation, this was rather easy to like and now I had cash to buy water and cigarettes & other stuff such as gas to cook the fish or choice of proteinsource to go with the rice.
Rice.... Fuck that is one thing I have never successfully learned to like. Most times it turns around and I chew it again and try to get it down the throat with amounts of water..

Im a bit tired today, so wont be much more writing, but want to mention that today we had a bit of a special day. Traditional tea-drinking-ceremony which is done when someone is going to go to the court. funny enough, coffe, they fill with sugar till it looses the taste of coffe, but tea is apparently supposed to be as bitter as possible.

If plants had a gall-bladder, their tea would be the direct contents from this one, then boiled looooong aand concentrated up till some undrinkable fluid, that will keep a horse awake for a week.
Urk!
Attached photos were taken in the ambient afternoon-darkness of the cell, during tea-ceremony.

Hereby I can personally confirm that torture occurrs in prey sar. This ceremony, I guess, is what makes the wait for court-date more bareable. At least I wont have to drink that piss for a while, I can comfort myself...
Header of the day is dedicated to the can of conserved food I got brought to me today. It was delicious! No rice at all!

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close together
(July 29, 2011??)

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my first words in my first blog ever
(July 27, 2011?)

its funny.
as I was registring the blog I was thinking weather it was a really bad or a good idea to start a blog.

Maybe this will only get me into some real trouble, like pissing of some real hotshot of prey sahr, by revealing what they work so hard to keep secret from the entire outside world.

As the page for creating a post is being loaded my screen goes blank and all thats left is the headline of the page-tab in the web-browser.
Obviously I cant help but looking at d only info available:
You are done!

Ironic. Or a mysterious warning.

I quickly go through the settings and remove the blog from search-engines & also decide to change adress from preysahr, to phnompenhprison, to ensure my half-inkognito so I wont have to worry about gettin paranoia-thoughts in the middle of the night.

Its amazing what efforts they go through to keep the reality of the inside of the walls, secret from the world.

No NGO or embassy has ever been allowed inside any of the blocks.
No photos. Not even thee guards are allowed to have mobile-phones.
US-embassy & a handfull of NGO:s have been allowed to walk on the main isle, halfway into the complex, take a left and walkthrough the "showroom" ie. Library and hospital, where things actually look really pleasant. Unless ur really sick and happen to be a prisoner. more about that later...
But its surprising, just try to google "prey sahr" and see for yourself the extent of information and statements about this place!
Just the essential little pieces of information, such as the fact that drinkable water must be paid for... Or.. Lets just say: Nothing in here is for free.
Everything you have to pay for.

It starts with your place to sleep, water and from there on, anything u whish to have or do -it has a pricetag.

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untitled post
(July 26, 2011??)

When I first came to this place, I was surpriced to see how beautiful it actually was inside the high double walls with barbed wire on d top. (after I and the 5 guys I arrived with had been forced to remove all clothing except underwear.)

Prey Sahr translates to white forrest, and in here its very green with palmtrees and greenery of different size and vriations. Empty bascetballcourses and little parks with wlking isles, and a dousin of huge 2 stories-buildings with beige-yellow painting and orange roofs.
And it was silent. As we walked through the facilities, to block A (not yet sentenced-prisoners-block) I tried to look get an idea about the conditions behind the dark double-barred windows of the buildings we were passing by.
There seemed to be an incredible noise and thousands of voices shouting from within the dark holes of the beautiful facades of the buildings.
As we came through the big gate in the wall that divided block A from the rest of the prison, finally there was some real noise, not only the suffacated shouts from within the mysterious dark gaps, giving away an idea about the true nature of what to the eye could seem not so horrorful.
Behind block A- wall there were prisoners working hard under the afternoon-sun, with constructing what seems to be 2 new cell-blocks, - indicating that the present blockA building does not have enough room to house the amount of prisoners that were continously being sent here.

As we came up to the entrance of blockA, I peered into the darkness and now was closer than ever to the indistinctive shouts of a thoousand voices. Now it was very loud, but still impossible to separate one voice from another.
i will never 4get my immediate chock at arrival of my cell-door and my surprice as it was opened. It was exactly d feel of a overcrowded elevator& I instinctivly took a polite step 2 d side 2 let a few out. The guard grunted & pushed me in direction to enter the room where it seemed to not be any place for me to fit & as he closed the door, it swept me inside!

Hello, I say to about 20 faces staring at me, and I try to make my way through the room, in attempt to find a spot to not be in someones way.
-COOKIE!! I suddely hear and down in the corner I recognize fat-andy pale and still fat.

I was surprices to hear such posetivity in his vvoice as he shouted my name, as the last time I saw him, it was by the end of my telescope-batong, collecting a debt.

Well - he seemed to let that be water under the bridge, and truth to say, - I was really glad to see someone/something familiar, in this new enviroment.
Fat-Andy has a different style & is not someone who would ever be called "normal". On many levels. There is something "lurky", or hidden in his way to be. Certainly I would have an interresting time, stayin close to this man for an extended period of time -perhaps I would uncover his so doublesided appearance.

Fatty didnt have much, not even a towel, but whatever he had he happily helped me out & shared with me. His old T-shirt would have to do as towel for both of us during my first week, before my loyal and good friends from outside had managed to get me some basic appliances.

A stroll through Phsar Kandal

2011-07-19T20:13:00.003+07:00

An unedited video taken on my iPhone as I strolled up Street 148 through Phsar Kandal today just before the dinner hour. Shaky, low-res and I even managed to get my thumb in the picture. Still, a fairly typical 5PM scene at a traditional market in Phnom Penh.

'Phsar Kandal' translates literally to 'Central Market,' but nobody calls it 'Central Market' since English speakers ordinarily refer to Phsar Thmey (the big yellow domed market at Street 130) as the 'Central Market,' even though 'Phsar Thmey' actually translates to 'New Market.' Go figure. Anyway, most people, whether speaking English or Khmer, refer to this market as Phsar Kandal. And as it is located in the Vietnamese part of town, it's worth noting that said with a Vietnamese accent it is known as 'Sah Kah-da.'

Phsar Kandal is located just a block off the Phnom Penh riverfront, between Streets 136 and 154. Even though it's within a hundred meters of the riverfront tourist area, it is frequented almost exclusively by locals. There aren't any souvenirs, postcards or tourist trinkets for sale, though there are a few good coffee stalls inside serving Vietnamese and Cambodian style coffee. Decent place for a mid-afternoon ice coffee. Also a good place to eat on the cheap if you don't mind the hygienic adventure.

Cambodian Muslims and the Cham

2011-07-18T02:04:00.003+07:00

Cambodia's Muslims seek justice for genocide
By Michelle Fitzpatrick (AFP)

CHRAING CHAMRES, Cambodia — Zakaria Bin Ahmad cannot forget the years of horror under the brutal Khmer Rouge when even praying was to risk death for Cambodia's persecuted minority Muslims.

Many others in his community did not survive the late 1970s reign of terror by the hardline communist regime, which executed Islamic scholars, destroyed mosques, forced Muslims to eat pork and forbade headscarves.

"People tried all kinds of ways to pray. Sometimes while they were driving an ox cart... sometimes in the jungle when we asked to use the toilet, and sometimes while we were washing," the 61-year-old recalled.

But mostly, he remembers people disappearing, never to be seen again.

"Many were killed," he said quietly in his modest home in the shadow of a modern blue-domed mosque, a source of pride for the town of Chraing Chamres, whose earlier place of worship was destroyed by the Khmer Rouge.

Cambodian Muslims, known as Cham, hope finally to see justice as the most senior surviving Khmer Rouge leaders stand trial for genocide at Cambodia's UN-backed court over the treatment of the ethnic and religious minority…

Point of detail…

When speaking loosely, it is comparatively easy to blur the distinction between Cambodian Muslims and the Cham, particularly when speaking of the exceptionally hard treatment the Cham received under the Khmer Rouge (1975-79.) In fact, most Cambodian Muslims are Cham and the persecution of the Cham under the KR included, in part, attacks on and the defiling of their Muslim faith. But to state (or strongly imply) that to be Cambodian Muslim is to be Cham (see bold above) is to focus the blur into an inaccuracy.

The Cham are an ethnic group descended from the people of Champa, an ancient kingdom formerly located in what is now central Vietnam. Champa's history can be traced into the early first millennium AD. By the end of the millennium Champa had become a traditional rival of the Angkorian Khmer Empire. Like their Khmer neighbors, the Cham were Hindu and Buddhist for more than 1000 years, converting to Islam only late in their history, in the 15th-18th centuries AD. The Kingdom of Champa was slowly diminished over the centuries by wars with the bordering Khmer Kingdom (Cambodia) and a southward expanding Vietnam, and was finally extinguished by the Vietnamese by the 18th century AD. During Champa's final couple of centuries, as they were whittled down by Vietnam, waves of Cham refugees fled into Cambodia where they received sanctuary. They exist to this day in Cambodia as a distinct ethnic group with their own language, religion and cultural practices, and tend to live concentrated in certain areas.

As such, the Cham are not just Cambodians that happen to be Muslims. For example, Khmer Cambodians that are Muslim are not Cham, but Khmer Muslims. The Khmers are the largest and the dominant ethic group in Cambodia (i.e. the ethnic group that is ordinarily associated with Cambodia, i.e. the land of the Khmer.) The Cham are, on the other hand, an ethnic minority in Cambodia, who happen to be, as a rule, Muslim. While most Cham in Cambodia are Cambodian Muslims, being a Cambodian Muslim does not not necessarily make one Cham.

This may seem a picayune if not pedantic point, but it is worth noting, if for no reason than to recall that the Cham have a deep and complex history, and a relationship with Cambodia and the Khmer that began long before their comparatively recent adoption of Islam, even well predating the advent of Islam. And further, to note that the reasons for the extra attention inflicted on the Cham by the Khmer Rouge are still a matter of debate - that the Cham may not have been targeted because they were Cambodian Muslims, or at least not wholly, but because they were Cham, a distinctive non-Khmer ethnic group, as the Khmer Rouge also targeted ethic Vietnamese.

Also see:

Democratic Kampuchea’s Genocide of the Cham

WikiLeaks

2011-07-13T13:56:00.005+07:00

WikiLeaks just released hundreds of cables from the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, some dating back to the early 90s but most post-2005. The cables can be viewed here:

WikiLeaks leaks: US Embassy, Phnom Penh, Cambodia cables, released by WikiLeaks July 2011

After a quick browse through, the US looks pretty good throughout the cables. I haven't found any big gotchas yet. Fairly normal embassy correspondence. Perhaps a little embarrassing at times to have all of one's private conversations, musings and opinions publicized unfiltered, as it would be for anybody, but nothing untoward (at least for the US) that I can find yet. Generally good political analysis, mostly accurate or at least one can understand how a reasonable person could arrive at that conclusion. Not that different than one might read in the local English language press, but deeper and more informed, as well as a bit more open and incautious as the writers thought they were engaged in private, non-binding conversations. Where specific interests are pushed by the embassy, the US seems mostly a force for Good (anti-sex trafficking, anti-drug trafficking, pro-democracy/human rights/political freedom), if not sometimes rather pragmatic in its interests.

Unfortunately WikiLeaks has once again failed to delete the names of some private individuals, including asylum seekers and those who provided information to the embassy. Potentially dangerous for the individuals named, who now may become targets for persecution. They can thank Assange for hanging them out to dry like that.

Street Meat

2011-05-30T17:50:00.000+07:00

Street meat for deep fry, Sukhumvit Soi 4, Bangkok, Thailand

Amsterdam

2011-05-29T14:10:00.005+07:00

The Dutch government announced today that the Netherlands will soon ban tourists from their famed marijuana dispensing coffee shops which have long offered a haven for pot smokers from around the world. A letter from the Dutch Parliament stated, "In order to tackle the nuisance and criminality associated with coffee shops and drug trafficking, the open-door policy of coffee shops will end..."

So comes the conclusion of drug tourism in the Netherlands, or at least to the above-the-board type.

Which reminds me of a travel story from decades back, the last time I was in Amsterdam...

........

It was mid-winter about 24 years ago.

I was sitting in a coffee shop in the tourist district of Amsterdam with some friends, when a strung-out looking junky-type wearing a brand new, bright red, cold-weather jumpsuit stumbled through the door and planted himself at the end of the counter a few seats away. Spittle dribbling down his thick beard, he muttered loudly to himself about how America "is shit because Van Damme is soooo much better than Sylvester Stallone," all the while staring at us, or at least trying to stare at us, his head slowly bobbing and his eyes seemingly unable to focus.

Paying him little mind, we continued to sip tea and coffee and chat amongst ourselves (including speculating quietly about the possible origins of the brand new bright red jumpsuit) as some other guy sitting at the counter near me slowly cleaned some ganja to roll a joint. A few minutes later, just as he put joint to lips, the jumpsuit mumbler rose abruptly to his feet and marched unsteadily toward us with obvious purpose in his plodding step.

I was the closest. He stopped right in front of me, inches away, and looked me as square in the eyes as he could muster. I was prepared to say 'no' to pretty much anything he had to ask, but his request surprised me. Motioning to the ashtray on the counter, he implored, "Can I eat your seeds and roaches...Maaaaan?," his Germanic accent adding a very appropriate Tommy Chong drawl to his already slurred speech.

I didn't know quite what to think except, 'how can I deny him this?'

Mildly dumbstruck, I slowly nodded and leaned back so he could reach across and pick up the ashtray. Dirty treasure in hand, he squatted on the floor in front of us, blew most of the ashes out of the ashtray and then dumped the entire contents into his mouth - seeds, sticks, remaining ashes, roaches, a couple of filters and a used tea bag with the tag string still attached. He reach into his mouth and fished out the string, held on and pulled, squeezing the teabag against his tongue, sucking it with an expression of deep savor and using the remaining moister to help swallow the dry sticks and seeds. Fearing he would choke, I offered my cup of tea, but he refused.

When finished, he made a smooth exit. With taught, seemingly practiced moves, he stood straight, handed me the ashtray, put the teabag in his pocket, offered a polite "thank you," felt his way back along the counter to the door and left.

The proprietor emerged and walked over, broom in hand to clean up the ashes from the floor. He shook his head, grumbling, "fooking Danish junkie comes in here everyday."

Fishing, Battambang

2011-05-20T04:38:00.003+07:00

Country girl, fishing. Behind Phnom Ek, Battambang, Cambodia

'Battambang.' Great name.

Judgment Day

2011-05-18T21:54:00.002+07:00

Photo from The Cambodia Daily, Philip Heijmans, May 17

A group of Christian loons in the US (Family Radio) have predicted that Judgment Day will occur day after tomorrow, May 21, followed by the End of the World a few months later. According to these people, this Saturday there will be a global earthquake and then Jesus will suck all the rapture-ready folk up to heaven like some kind of holy vacuum cleaner. (T-shirts available for a very limited time.)

Family Radio and their adherents have been peddling this lunacy around the US for the last year and in recent months have published advertisements around the world touting their Armageddon prophesy.

Yesterday The Cambodia Daily reported that Family Radio doomsday ads were on display on several billboards around Phnom Penh, and that upon learning of the existence of these billboard advertisements the Cambodian government took exception. Today's Daily reported that the city has ordered the billboards removed today on the basis that they had not received prior approval from the appropriate authorities. The Ministry of Information also ordered the advertisements taken down "to avoid confusion among the public and to ensure public order."

In fact, many if not all of the billboard adverts were removed yesterday afternoon. I saw two of the billboards in the Wat Sampo Meas area yesterday around 2:00PM with the advertisements still in place. I went home to get my camera and returned at about 4:30PM only to find that the advertisements had already been removed (which is why I have used the photo from yesterday's Cambodia Daily here instead of my own.)

Ordinarily I would be arguing that this is a violation of freedom of speech and religion, but in this particular case I agree with the government order to remove the ads. The right to freedom of speech is not absolute. As is often noted, it does not include the freedom to falsely yell 'Fire!' in a crowded theater because such an action would present a clear danger to the public. I think these doomsday ads represent just such a case.

I recall November 1994 when the Texas-based evangelical preacher Mike Evans came to Cambodia to hold a faith-healing revival. The event was preceded by flurry of advertising promising that of those who attended his revival at Olympic Stadium would be healed - that the blind would see and the lame would walk. Many Cambodians bought it. Thousands of desperate, poverty stricken folk from the countryside sold their meager possessions - their bit of land, their store of rice, their cow, whatever they had - to come to Phnom Penh to be healed. They showed up in ox-carts and on foot, limping into town, hauling along their elderly parents and ailing children in the hope that they might be healed. The event night came and the stadium was full. Evans took the stage and did his faith healing shtick - prancing this way and that, sweating, praying fervently and yelling passages from the Bible - pointing at people and declaring them "Healed!!" After a short while of Evans' snake oil show, the audience realized that nobody was being healed - that their children were still sick and grandma was still dying. Grumbles of "fraud" grew, and then a near riot ensued. The betrayed and angry crowd chased Evans from the stage, out to the street and back to his luxury room at the Hotel Cambodiana, where he cowered until he was able to escape the country with police protection the following day. He no doubt cost everything of many who could least afford it - their meager savings, their food, their stock animals, their homes, even their lives, or worse, the lives of their loved ones. Unrepentant, Evans scurried back to Texas and made hay of the ordeal, claiming to his American audience that the Khmer Rouge, in their hatred of Jesus, had chased him out of the country.

As a side note, as a result of the Evans debacle the Christian church in Cambodia experienced its first overt persecution since it had regained freedom in 1990. Evans did damage to the cause of Christianity in this country that lingered for years, perhaps to this day.

And here today we have another group of fringe dwelling Bible thumpers trying to foist their lunacy onto the Cambodian people. At least in America, from which these people hail, they are preaching it to educated (or semi educated) folk, most with cash to spare, at least by comparison to most of the Cambodian population. And the Americans have seen plenty of these sorts of Christian charlatans before. If they choose to buy into the tomfoolery, they have nobody to blame but themselves. But here in Cambodia, where a significant portion of the population is uneducated, unsophisticated and unfamiliar the ways of Christian doomsayers from the West, many are particularly vulnerable to this sort of chicanery. Given the susceptible state of much of the Cambodian populace, these advertisements posed a clear and present threat to public welfare and safety. As such, it was right and correct for the Cambodian government to order their removal.

And on a final note, like the Evans farce, the Family Radio doomsaying will do their fellow Christians no favors in Cambodia. Aside from making Christians look foolish, this sort of incident may cause the government to turn a more scrutinizing eye toward foreign-run Christian activities in Cambodia, some of which are already skirting the edges of Cambodia's anti-proselytizing laws.

Remnants of gods forgotten

2011-05-17T23:05:00.002+07:00

Trash pile outside Wat Tuol Thom Poung, Phnom Penh, Cambodia