Bonn Om Tuk - Water Festival

Cambodia's annual Water Festival (Bonn Om Tuk) is coming up next week - November 5, 6, and 7. The Water Festival celebrates the reversing current of the Tonle Sap River, which, in a unique hydrological phenomenon, changes direction twice a year. This year the current actually reversed about a month ago, now flowing southeast toward the ocean. In Phnom Penh long-boat races are held on the Tonle Sap, colorful dug-out row boats competing for prizes and honors. Fireworks and a water-borne parade of lighted barges cap events in the early evenings.

This will be the first Water Festival held in Phnom Penh since 2010 which ended in the Koh Pich bridge disaster. After the 2010 disaster the festivals in 2011, 12 and 13 were cancelled for various reasons, some less genuine than others. This year the Water Festival returns. Workers are busy sprucing up the river front, boats and teams are arriving from the countryside, the light boat barges are being assembled. The festival has traditionally drawn huge crowds from the countryside, but people are still a bit jittery about the 2010 disaster and it's been 3 years without a festival, making attendance is a bit more difficult to predict this year. Adding to safety fears, during the evening fireworks display on Coronation Day last week, a bystander was killed by a malfunctioning firework shell. Ordinarily more than one million could be expected to attend the Water Festival.

The following are a few snapshots from Water Festivals in Phnom Penh in 2004, 2005 and 2007.

Riverfront crowd 2004

2005 - note the small buildings and earthen banks on the far side of the river before the development of the last few years. 

Riverfront crowd 2005 

King Sihamoni - 2005

Decorated barge in the Light Boat Parade on the river 

(for scale, note the people standing along the front.)

Riverfront billboards collapse again

Collapsed sign lays across road. Note the car underneath.

Over the last couple of years giant advertising signboards have been erected along the Phnom Penh riverfront on the Chrouy Changvar peninsula on the far side of the river, facing across to the popular riverfront tourist area opposite. A few weeks back one of the signboards collapsed, reportedly due to force of the winds that regularly blow along the river. There were no injuries at the time but local residents expressed fears that there easily could have been and might still be as several more signboards were still in place just meters from the riverfront road and residential area.

It seems that those fears may have been realized today.

Before collapse (about 2 months ago.)

After collapse (today)

This afternoon around 12:30PM, three more of the enormous Chrouy Changvar signboards collapsed, presumably due to the moderate winds that were blowing in Phnom Penh today. Two fell harmlessly into the grassy field behind the boards, but one fell across the road, its heavy iron superstructure crushing roadside drink stands, cars and the fronts of houses on the other side of the road. Though as yet unconfirmed, locals at the scene report that there were several injuries and even fatalities. Again, this has not been confirmed, but given the size and weight of the metal support structure and its current position laying across 50 meters of road,  it is a distinct possibility.

The road is completely covered with the metal remnants of the board. Bits of roadside drink carts lay crushed and strewn about. At least one car is visible trapped under the fallen structure. A motodup driver at the scene noted that it was fortunate the incident occurred during the lunch hour when fewer people were on the road than in the morning and late afternoon, though I am not sure those who were eating at the now flattened roadside stand would agree.

Crushed drink cart at edge of collapse

When I visited the area a few hours after the event, crowds were still present and cranes were working to lift the broken pylons and twisted beams off the road and damaged houses.

Crowd looks on as crane works to remove collapsed sign

If people have indeed lost their lives or were seriously injured, I wonder if and how much compensation will be paid to the surviving families. If it is anything similar the usual compensation for a life 'accidentally' taken in Cambodia, one life will likely cost less than the price of one of those fallen signboards.

But perhaps I speak too quickly.

We shall see.

Father and baby look on at crushed houses

Collapsed sign lays across road

Drink vendors still working next to collapse area

Signboard collapsed in field

Two signboards collapsed in field

Broken base of signboard collapsed in field

Broken structure of sign that fell across road

Broken pylons of signboard that fell across road

Broken pylon of signboard that fell across road

One of the remaining signboards standing ominously close to the road

UPDATE, May 11, 2011: According to today's Cambodia Daily, there were no fatalities in the signboard collapse and only two injuries - a woman and a child. If that is the extent of the human cost, it is indeed a very lucky turn of events - bordering on the miraculous. According to the CD article, local residents continue to express fear over the presence of the billboards and now angered that the city does not seem to take their safety seriously. The Phnom Penh municipal director of commercial advertising asserted that the responsibility falls to the owner of the boards (Moon Media.) He went on, "We made sure of the safety of how they built the billboards and that they were built expertly...We warned the company to be careful in constructing the billboards because it is the rainy season."

Aside from the continued danger to the residents living near these signboards, what concerns me at this point is the apparent failure of authorities to learn and act effectively on a similar billboard collapse just one month ago. If they had, this second collapse may have been averted. Late last year Phnom Penh suffered the water festival tragedy on Koh Pich Bridge which took hundreds of lives. One would hope and assume that lessons were learned from that tragedy and steps taken to prevent a repeat of such an occurrence. Then again, I would have assumed the same of the first signboard collapse.

Bananas, Rumors and Fear

Rumors are rife. The city and the country are on edge as people struggle to come to grips with the tragedy on the Koh Pich Bridge two days ago. The mood in the city is dark and somber and the deaths of so many hang heavy in people's thoughts and conversations. On the streets today, in the markets and at the cafés it seemed all that people could talk about - death, the tragedy, its cause, its meaning, whether it represents some greater threat. A lot of theorizing going on, both pragmatic and spiritual. The streets of Phnom Penh this evening are unusually quiet, in part due to the mournful atmosphere and in part because people are uncomfortable, even in some sense afraid to leave their homes right now. There is a lingering stress and fear over the tragedy, providing fertile ground for rumor, superstition and even for those who would take advantage of the situation.

Yesterday a story spread that monks and mystics had instructed people to make special offerings to the spirits beyond the ordinary Buddhist practices and rituals surrounding respect and care for the dead. It was said that people needed to assemble offerings of bananas, rice, salt, water, incense and other ingredients to be placed at the front of their house. The reasons were not completely clear. Respect, to ease the passing of the dead, as protection for the house, the explanations varied depending who was doing the telling. It seemed that more than half the city quickly took to making these offerings. By evening yesterday bananas at the markets were in very short supply and the price of a small bunch had sky-rocketed from the normal 2500 riel (US60 cents) to as much as 30,000 riel (US$7.50) as gougers took advantage. People are still making these offerings today and this evening the smell of incense is thick in the air throughout the Phnom Penh.

Today the story of a bus crash on the road to Battambang swept the country. It was said that as many as 60 died in the accident. Some had details of a fiery smash up and others claimed to have spoken to eye-witnesses. Many said that this new tragedy was part of a pattern of ill-luck connected to the Koh Pich tragedy. But the rumor of a crash was patently false and seems to have been born of nothing. There was no bus accident let alone another massive loss of life. This evening TVs stations broadcast messages from the government informing people that the story was unfounded and asking the public to try to remain calm and not fall prey to hear-say and extraordinary claims. But the fear lingers and people are still trying to put meaning and understanding to the tragedy on Koh Pich Bridge. 

The following is a collection of non-empirical stories and explanations related to the tragedy that I have heard over the last two days. All amount to little more than rumor. Some are based in religion. Many in folk belief or just superstition. None have been fact checked. Most are of the sort that couldn't be fact checked anyway. Due to the use of metaphor and unusual concepts, some exceeded my ability to understand the Khmer and/or defy sensible translation. So I relate them below 'raw,' as they were told, without trying to force it to make sense. All were taken seriously by the teller and in my opinion represent mostly honest attempts to understand what happened, give it meaning and figure out how to protect against further such happenings.

• A comet was seen in the sky 2 or 3 months ago. It was a portent of disaster and some monks said so at the time. The tragedy at Koh Pich was the fulfillment of that prophesy.

• The bridge at Koh Pich was never properly blessed by monks after construction leaving it open to bad luck and mischievous spirits. The tragedy at Koh Pich is the result.

• There was an abnormally orange sky at the time of the tragedy, indicating some higher involvement.

• Monks warned the government 3 days before the Water Festival that there were supernatural signs of impending disaster. The government warned the people to be careful and be on the look-out. They thought that perhaps it would be a bomb or a terrorist attack. When a young boy drowned on the first day of the Water Festival, they thought this was the prophesied ill-event and let down their guard.

• Koh Pich means Diamond Island. The island is like a giant diamond. It is too big. Giants eat people. The deaths on the bridge were, in a metaphorical sense, this giant diamond eating people.

• Phnom Penh is now overwhelmed with spirits of the recent dead, wandering the edges of the city, many lost and unsure where to go. Children are in particular danger of possession by these spirits and should not be allowed outside after dark. In fact, due to these spirits, it is unwise for anybody to go out after dark.

• Koh Pich (Diamond Island) is a name like Koh Dach. Dach is close to the word and phrase 'dach dong heurm' which means 'to not breath' or 'to be unable to breath,' which is what happened to the people who died on the bridge.

• People must assemble special offerings to display in front of their house. The offering should include bananas, salt, rice, water, incense and other ingredients. Some say there must be 7 items in the collection. Some suggest there should be some sort of blood offering included, presumably to satiate the tiger. (This is the year of the tiger.)

• This is the year of the tiger in the eastern calendar. The tiger likes to eat blood. People have died in many strange ways in Phnom Penh this year including several senseless murders that occurred in the last few months. These events, including the tragedy on the Koh Pich bridge, is the tiger eating blood.

• This is the year of the tiger in the eastern calendar. 'Tiger' in Khmer is 'kla.' This word has a similar sound to the phrase 'ah kaw' which means to cut off the head. As above, the recent murders in Phnom Penh as well as the tragedy on Koh Pich Bridge are reflections of the 'cutting off of people's heads.'

(I began writing this at 10PM November 24 and posted it at 1:00AM, very early morning of November 25. When I refer to 'today' and 'this evening' I mean the 24th, 'yesterday' is the 23rd and 'tomorrow' is the 25th.)

Today's Frontpage

The Phnom Penh Post (English edition)

Rasmei Kampuchea Daily Newspaper

The Cambodia Daily

The Phnom Penh Post (Khmer edition)

Koh Santepheap Daily

Water Festival Tragedy

I wish I had something profound to say. I wish I had some great insight to offer. I wish I could say why all this happened. I wish I could blame the Cambodian police for failing to control the crowds beforehand, letting too many people on the bridge, taking bribes to let people through, for their incompetence, for firing shots and using water cannons contributing to the panic and rush. I wish I could blame shoddy workmanship for electrocuting people and starting the panic. I wish I could be as callous as KI Media, immediately taking political advantage, calling for resignations and blaming the 'Yuon.' I wish I could blame the Khmers for being gawkers and rubberneckers and running toward the panicking crowd to see what was happening. I wish I could blame some "big black guy with an American accent" for pushing people around rather than helping. I wish I could blame the endemic corruption and greed in this society for ill-conceived plans and poor design. I wish I could be angry at the government for praising and giving the police a pass just hours after the tragedy. I wish I could fault the Prime Minister for trying to write it off as "just an accident" before knowing what really happened. I wish I could blame the Bayon stage for continuing to blast music through the whole thing. I wish I could blame bad luck, karma or fate for turning this heartless way. I wish I could blame God for allowing this evil to happen. I wish I could rail against somebody or something. I wish I could put this all on somebody else. Somehow it would seem that might help alleviate the sorrow over this disaster, if only a bit. But at this point we don't know exactly what happened or why. And recriminations, though understandable from those directly affected, are for the rest of us at this point only self-serving and perhaps unfair and damaging. I can only feel for the people that have been killed and injured and their families and loved ones who are suffering horrible loss at this very moment. The dead women and children, the families destroyed. I am haunted by the image a man crying over his dead child, happiness only a moment before. I can only try to empathize with the grief and pain they must be feeling and offer my deepest most heartfelt sympathies. It's the only thing of which I am certain and all I have right now, as little and inadequate as it is.