.: 19 Dec 2010

Sunday, 19 December 2010

Workers of a Garment Factory in Phnom Penh Strike

Questions & Answers With Prince Norodom Ranariddh ( (n Khmer Language)

Interview by Chea SotheaCheat and Tin Zakariya.

Video by Mom Sophon

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

All aboard the Mekong's mighty history

http://www.news.com.au/

via CAAI

Darren Devlyn
From: National Features
December 19, 2010

RIVER LIFE: A woman rows a sampan in the Mekong delta. Picture: Getty Images

THE twists and turns of this iconic Asian river reflect the troubles and triumphs experienced by the communities perched on its banks for the past 1500 years, writes Darren Devlyn.

Water buffalo, in a break from heaving carts around sun-scorched rice and turnip plantations, wade lazily through water that resembles tepid soup.

This scene, near the Vietnamese port Tan Chau, symbolises the sense of timelessness that can overcome you as you cruise the twists and turns of the Mekong River.

I'm in the middle of an eight-day APT cruise that began near Ho Chi Minh City. We'll wind our way to Phnom Penh, then take a turn up the Tonle River to get to Siem Reap to see the stunning Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom temples. Visiting everything from thriving cities to remote, self-sufficient villages, you begin to understand how extraordinary reserves of resourcefulness, resilience, courage and forgiveness have, over 1500 years, shaped the history of the region.

You visit communities that exude warmth and open-heartedness, but to gain proper insight into their surreal beauty and appreciation of the most basic requirements of life, you cannot ignore the periods of turmoil, war and, in the case of Cambodia, genocide that have torn at their heart.

Vietnam has endured French and Japanese occupation, defeated attacks from Genghis Khan's forces on no fewer than three occasions, and the devastation of the Vietnam War.

Cambodia, meanwhile, is a place of contradictions. In one sense, it has a unique, unspoilt charm, but lives with the reality that HIV is its No.1 cause of death. It is, however, slowly but surely recovering from the loss of a third of its population about two million people when Pol Pot's campaign of terror swept across it from 1975 to '79.

The starting point for this expedition is an acclimatisation day in Ho Chi Minh City, where arrival can be a jolt to your senses. The sun beats down, humidity is 85 per cent, and traffic is chaotic.

But don't let any of this worry you as you make your first attempt to cross a busy street. Here's the drill, according to a travel expert. Traffic movement is like a complicated ballet where only those in charge of cars and scooters know the steps. So walk at an even pace do not run or stop while crossing the road and the traffic will go around you. Somehow, this works.It is well worth looking around this city, which features a thriving business district with high-end boutiques and traditional markets and architectural icons.

The following morning, we take a 90-minute bus ride to the bustling port, My Tho. The first thing that strikes you about the Mekong is its width and colour rich in silt, it looks like it's flowing upside down. We settle into life on the luxury cruiser La Marguerite, meet fellow passengers and crew and get our first taste of the ship's cuisine, a brilliant combination of Asian and European influences. The ship, with its colonial-Asian decor, is all class.

The next day is a stark reminder of the pleasures of the simple things in life. We board a small cruiser, necessary for most visits to shore, and wonder at the frantic activity of Cai Be's floating markets, where produce is sold from weather-beaten boats.

On shore, we explore myriad family-run businesses that produce everything from rice paper to coconut candy and even snake wine jokingly referred to in these parts as Vietnamese Viagra. Bottled, it looks like a mad scientist's experiment, with cobras and scorpions immersed in alcohol. This concoction also is said to have medicinal properties that will soothe aches and pains.

We visit a bonsai farm accessible only by sampan paddled by a thin Vietnamese girl who must be groaning inwardly at having to transport the hefty weight of this Aussie.

A visit to the agricultural and industrial trading centre of Sa Dec could be just the thing to inspire a diet. This port town, which in the Vietnam War was the site of an American Swift Boat base, boasts a riverbank market that offers a vast array of local "delicacies". Fish, in water that barely covers their gills, flip-flop about in shallow metal tubs. As do frogs. We also pass on the tub of skinned rats.

A highlight of the trip is a visit to the bustling port town of Tan Chau, which sits in the Giang Province and was formed in 1757. Sharing a border with Cambodia to the northwest, it is criss-crossed by canals and small rivers and is famous for its rice production and silk industry.

This port has been largely untouched by tourism. APT is the only operator that takes tours there, so expect inquisitive kids to run to the road, wave and shout hello as you scoot past in a rickshaw.

We board a small motorboat for a half-hour journey up a narrow stream. One of the most spectacularly tranquil villages on the trip beckons. Evergreen Island, with its corn, turnip and chilli crops and cattle, is completely self-sufficient.

Then comes the shock revelation. This unassuming, intensely proud community was ravaged by Khmer Rouge forces in April 1978, with about 30 villagers, including women and children, killed and flung into the river.Late afternoon, we board the ship for the 100km cruise to Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, which, despite its social ills and history of genocide, is getting back on its feet economically.

The barbaric Khmer Rouge, under the French-educated Pol Pot, seized power on April 17, 1975 initially a cause of celebration in Cambodia because its people believed it signalled a new era of peace.

But a regime of terror followed, under a program of Mao Zedong-inspired re-education, centred around forced agricultural collectives. Up to 2.2 million of Cambodia's population of seven million died from murder, starvation or disease under the Khmer Rouge.

The unified Vietnam, in conjunction with anti-Khmer Rouge forces, intervened in 1978 and toppled the monster dictator, but Cambodia would not be considered safe as a tourist destination for another 20 years.As recently as 2001, a travel book warned if you were to visit Cambodia you should expect to be hustled, ripped off and maybe robbed during your stay. None of these threats seem apparent while touring the city centre, including its market and magnificent royal palace by day, anyway.

By night, you discover there are plenty of up-market bars and restaurants and more than a few dodgy ones, with clientele to match.

Some in our tour group are either hesitant about or openly against visiting the former Khmer Rouge interrogation and extermination centre, Toul Sleng, also known as S21, and the nearby Genocide Museum, which sits hauntingly in the middle of one of 347 known Khmer Rouge killing fields in Cambodia.

At the killing field, you follow narrow trails between the excavation sites where 10,000 men, women and children were executed and hurled into shallow pits.

The following morning, we take a 40-minute cruise to the little-known silk-weaving village of Chong Ko, providing a cause for unbridled excitement from the locals. Boarding the ship again is not as simple as it seems. The villagers who have befriended us on the tour are now going the hard sell with their silk to the point where you begin to feel flustered. You grow to expect this in the regions that see very little tourism you can't begrudge them for trying to exploit a sales opportunity. Their scarves, rugs and table runners, priced between $10 and $15, are magnificently crafted.

We jump back on La Marguerite and sail 150km to Kampong Chhnang. Low water levels mean we must jump off La Marguerite on what would have been the final morning of the cruise. This seems a bitter disappointment, robbing us of the chance to cruise the wide expanses of the Tonle Sap. What's more, we face a five-hour bus ride to Siem Reap, where we are to visit the stunning Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom temples.

The bus trip offers some fun when we pull into a town called Skun, aka Tarantula Town. This place is renowned across Asia for its deep-fried delicacy, tarantula, which you can buy readily from roadside stalls. If you can't summon the courage to eat a fried one, at least let the local kids sit a couple of the furry friends on your chest for a photo opportunity.

What better way to finish the tour than a trek through the ancient ruins of Angkor. They're hidden in the jungles of northern Cambodia temples of the Khmer kingdoms that date back as far as the 9th century.

Angkor Wat is renowned for intricate detail in mythological scenes of Hindu origin.

Its construction was followed by the Buddhist-inspired Angkor Thom. Both are breathtaking in their beauty.

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

Wish you were here

Getting there: APT has a free return flights to Vietnam deal ($550, air taxes are extra) on the April 8, 2011, departure of its 13-day Mekong Delights package, cruising on the La Marguerite. It is priced from $3695 a person, twin share. Includes cruising, 30 meals, shore excursions, three nights in Siem Reap, a seven-night cruise, two nights in Ho Chi Minh City and tips.

APT's new Vietnam brochure featuring Mekong River cruise packages onboard the La Marguerite or the new APT-owned MS Amalotus soon will be released.

Seeing there: On this APT tour, you won't find better tour guides anywhere. Unfailingly polite, these people have extraordinary knowledge of the history of the region. In cruising time, fun activities are scheduled on-board. And guides run optional Q&A sessions that offer deep insight into the places you are about to go to and places you've just been.

For more details, call APT on 1300 229 804, go to www.aptouring.com.au or see a travel agent.

Life on Trash Mountain

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/

via CAAI

Meg Mason
From: Sunday Magazine

December 19, 2010

Chek Toy, a 12-year-old Cambodian girl, scavenges to collect recyclable goods at a sprawling, 100-acre garbage dump in Phnom Penh on February 5, 2008. Source: Supplied

THE HUMBLE gumboot is saving the lives of children living on Cambodia's rubbish heaps.

For those if us who rarely leave home without antibacterial handwash, the scenes Amy Hanson describes are almost inconceivable.

Children as young as two, naked and barefoot, living alone or in gangs on a steaming trash mountain a few kilometres outside Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. It sounds like a bad dream, but it's life for about 600 children who call this municipal dump, dubbed 'Smokey Mountain' by locals, their home.

Some were born there and deserted by their parents, others found their way from the streets, but all spend the day combing through rubbish to find edible waste or things to sell. At night, they dig caves in the knolls to sleep in, away from the rats. The youngest have no concept of a world beyond the dump, which stretches, hill after hill, as far as they can see.

On top of being filthy and dangerous, Smokey Mountain hits temperatures above 30 degrees for much of the year. Then there's the smell. "When the driver took me there, he pulled over to retch," says Hanson. "I didn't throw up, amazingly. You do eventually get used to it, but I'll never get used to the heat or the flies."

So what took Hanson, a 31-year-old former celebrity and lifestyle journalist, to this hell on earth? What compelled a bright, single woman to quit a job that involved swilling free bubbly and hoarding luxury freebies, so she could work, full-time unpaid, for these forgotten children?

"I took time off work to go backpacking around Asia but, after a while, I was like, 'Right, my tan's good now, what shall I do next?'" she says, describing what led her to wander into a Phnom Penh orphanage. "It wasn't planned, but I wanted to do something useful, so I said, 'I'm here, what can I do?'" It surprised Hanson that, in a country devastated by genocide and HIV, and where nearly 40 per cent of the population is under 15, there were only 30 children in the orphanage.

"I said to staff, 'Where are all the others?'" she says. "They replied, 'The dump.'" Hanson threw on gumboots, packed a surgical mask and had a driver take her there.

"I'd seen poverty before, but nothing like this," she says. "I kept thinking, why isn't this on the news? Why don't we know about this?" > Perhaps we're so used to hearing about the less fortunate, it's become a bit of a blur. According to Unicef, of the 2.2 billion children in the world, one billion live in poverty and 24,000 die every day.

Through contacts at a local Pour Sourire d'Enfant ('For the Smile of a Child') office, Hanson teamed up with Mey, a girl who'd grown up on the dumps but was now working as a nanny. Mey returned to the dumps to help her make a plan. Children clustered around Hanson, pointing at her feet. "Mey told me they wanted my shoes. And I asked her, 'If you could have been given one thing when you lived on the dumps, what would it have been?' She said, 'Shoes.'" Mey's own feet are heavily scarred, thanks to cuts and burns from fossicking in rubbish. Left untreated as they are, the children's injuries tend to become infected, rendering them unable to walk or work. "They're emotionally and physically trapped in this dump," says Hanson. "The savvier kids get out and find help, but the most vulnerable can't.."

The idea of providing shoes resonated with Hanson, but at first she didn't know if that was enough. "I thought, why can't we get these kids off the trash?" The answer: bureaucracy. Children have to live on the dumps for at least six months before charities are allowed to rehouse them, to discourage parents dumping more offspring.

"It was too big a job," says Hanson. "So I decided to do what I could." She flew back to London, planning to raise pound sterling 500 to buy 300 pairs of gumboots - one for every child living on the dump, according to Mey's estimate. Hanson posted a message on Facebook: "Feel the love, send me a fiver." She ended up raising pound sterling 1500. Which was lucky; when she returned to the dump, 600 children came forward to claim a new pair boots. Cars can't access Smokey Mountain, so Hanson, Mey and helpers from the village carted them in on tuk tuks.

"It was total chaos," she says. "The kids were amazing, but there were adults, too, who'd been living on the dump for 20 years, and they were aggressive, demanding to go first.

It was frightening - no matter how many times I told them there was enough to go around, they still shoved and screamed."

After five hours in searing heat, the adults had been served and Hanson could finally focus on the children. "They were so patient," she says. "These kids had never been to school, but they all waited their turn, happy to help the younger ones. They were so pleased with their boots, jumping around in them and smiling. I was emotionally overwhelmed."

When Hanson ran out of sizes, she called a vendor in town, who ferried more out by scooter. By the end of the day, 900 pairs had been distributed. "That moment, when they first put their boots on, still makes me cry," she recalls.

Back in London, Hanson is now raising money for her next trip, to a dump in Nicaragua, and has registered as a charity, Small Steps. Her friends serve as trustees, fundraisers and legal aids - whatever they're good at, and all pro bono. "My friends have been amazing, they all really support me."

But unsurprisingly, the experience has changed Hanson's outlook on how the same friends spend their money. "It makes me sick when they fork out pound sterling 500 for a pair of Jimmy Choos," she says. "I try to discourage them; that money could buy 250 pairs of gumboots.

I used to be into the same things - champagne and lovely shoes - and I know they're entitled to it, but I don't think you can enjoy all that stuff when you know what else is going on."

Which is why Hanson is planning to take her message to her old stomping ground - the celebrity circuit. "I'll contact every star I've interviewed and ask them to give me a pair of shoes, which I'll auction," she says. "The more I raise, the more I can do. I'm totally not-for-profit. Whatever people give me, I use to buy stuff that I hand straight to the kids."

After Hanson returned home the first time, a film company picked up her story and sent her back to Cambodia with cameras. The documentary Around the World in 80 Dumps chronicles her efforts so far and her goal to visit as many inhabited dumps she can find. The task is monumental.

"It's not like there's a list of inhabited dumps on Google," Hanson says. "You have to go to the countries and ask around, but I know there are three in Cambodia, one in Thailand, Nicaragua, Gaza, and lots in South America. I won't just do boots; I'll find out what they need and buy it.

"It's a small thing, that's why I called it Small Steps. I don't want people to think they can't help. The tiniest thing - a pair of boots - can take a kid one step further from poverty."

For news on Hanson's Small Steps projects, visit http://www.amyhanson.co.uk/ . To find out about other ways to help children in Cambodia, visit http://www.cambodianchildrensfund.org/ .

Cross-border calm brings opportunity

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Relations between Thailand and Cambodia have thawed in recent months, but greater understanding is needed before there will be any real warmth

Published: 19/12/2010

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The path to a visa-free zone within Asean is getting closer for Thais, as last month Thailand and Cambodia bilaterally revoked the need for entry visas for citizens on cross-border trips. The visa exemption is a ''gift'' for the peoples of both countries to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations, which is being celebrated today. Only Burma has yet to give Thai citizens a visa exemption.

But making travel more convenient doesn't mean smooth integration and a peaceful borderless union within Southeast Asia, especially with the neighbour to the east with whom we share such weighty historical baggage.

Nearly eight years ago, an angry mob rioted in Pnomh Penh following unsubstantiated reports in the Cambodian media that Thai TV star Suvanan Kongying had claimed Angkor Wat was ''stolen'' from Thailand.

More recently another ancient sacred site has been the cause of a serious spat, after Cambodia succeeded in unilaterally registering the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple on the disputed border as a Unesco world heritage site in July, 2008.

Tensions eased earlier this month and it seems both sides have retreated from the issue for now.

The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has sparked a nationalistic campaign against the Unesco listing of the Hindu temple as a Cambodian site. But the PAD has postponed until Jan 25 a rally to oppose reconvening the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Committee to discuss demining and demarcation priorities.

People in both countries are wondering how long the thaw will last and if it can be developed into a sustainable collaboration. For that to happen, deep-rooted conflicts _involving both superiority and inferiority complexes between the predominant ethnic groups in the two countries _ will have to be healed.

Ana Nov, 32, general manager of Ang Khmer Group, a translation, advertising and public relaetions company, said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's appearance in Phnom Penh last month to formalise the visa exemption for up to 14 days of travel, already in effect, was a good starting point for closer relations between citizens of both countries.

She said that ''bad manners'' shown by Thai border authorities are standing in the way of a civil bilateral environment.

''Of the more than 10 countries I have visited, only in Thailand have immigration police been insulting. They repeatedly said mai sa-at [unclean] as they were stamping my passport.

''Even the less-service minded and poorly-trained Vietnamese and Lao border police don't look down upon tourists or talk nonsense like those at the Aranyaprathet-Poipet border crossing,'' said the young woman, who speaks fluent Thai , English, Vietnamese and Khmer.

She said notions and gestures of superiority remain obstacles to improving relations between the two countries. She stressed the need for Thai authorities to treat all tourists equally and be mindful of the human rights of the tens of thousands of Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand.

More knowledge of the high points in historical relations would also be helpful on both sides of the border, she said.

''At least Thais should know that at one point we helped Ayutthaya during the war with Myanmar,'' she said.

She said that the PAD protest over Preah Vihear has prompted young Cambodians to support politicians who have ties to powerful people in China and Vietnam and who are in favour of buying more weapons to make the country look stronger.

However, many Cambodians, young and old alike, have no problems with Thailand. They continue to buy Thai products and enjoy watching Thai movies, she said.

Thida Khus, 59, shared a similar view.

''It would be helpful for both Khmer and Thai people to remember that we came from the same roots and that we have a lot of common aspects in our cultures and art that should help us understand each other better,'' said Thida Khus, the executive director of Silaka, a support agency for private and public agencies in Cambodia.

She moved back to Cambodia after living in the US to work on empowering women in the political arena in the early 1990s.

''Political manipulation from either side to motivate hatred among our two nations and peoples will not benefit anybody,'' said Thida Khus.

Kim Vuth, 32, a peace activist who works with the American Friends Service Committee, said the relationship between former enemies Germany and France could serve as an inspiration for Thailand and Cambodia to coexist peacefully in the future.

''After World War II, Germany and France organised many people-to-people activities and exchanges. They also developed a common history book which was used in both school systems,'' said Kim Vuth.

He emphasised that peace building was not the job of governments alone. A critical mass of peace lovers is needed in both nations, so that the people could not be easily provoked into supporting violence and armed solutions, he added.

''The cost of war is too high. We should have learned that from world history, said Kim Vuth.

Chea Vannath, on the board of directors of Star Kampuchea, a Cambodian non-profit organisation dedicated to strengthening democracy and civil society, said media outlets in both countries play an important role in shaping and projecting cross-border images and thus can help ease or aggravate the tensions.

''Cultural, soft diplomacy exchanges in artistic, spiritual, social, agricultural, academic, and medical areas will be very important,'' said Chea Vannath, who was traumatised by the Khmer Rouge regime but was able to escape to Thailand then to the US. She cited a need to bring medical care to remote areas of Cambodia.

''When Thailand and Cambodia have strong civil society networks in place that advocate peaceful coexistence, then we can hope for a change,'' said Chea Vannath.

Sokhany Prak, executive director of the Cambodian Civil Society Partnership, said the present generation needs to stop listening to the old myths and ''work towards removing hatred and anger from our mindsets so as to have peaceful minds to build a good relationship between our countries''.

Sokhany Prak's organisation is a key partner in the Cambodian Working Group for Peace, which, together with the Thai Working Group for Peace, is trying to find solutions to the cross-border tensions.

''The government has also supported our collaboration and this is a good sign. We need to prevent events like the torching of the Thai embassy from happening again,'' said the 53 year old.

The Thai-Cambodian Association for Cultural Cooperation, which was set up soon after that 2003 incident, has recently obtained status as a legal foundation, which enables it to receive financial support from the Thai Foreign Ministry.

Tej Bunnag, former president of the association, said it has initiated several sociocultural measures, for example the translation of important books such as Pongsawadarn Chabab Luang Praserrt (Historical Texts Luang Prasert Version) into Khmer.

Mr Tej, who is a historian and a former foreign minister, said that it is important that we reproduce such texts for Cambodians at all levels to compare notes.

This in turn would make it possible for Cambodian high school and university students to learn history in an objective manner and hopefully reduce ill-intended nationalism.

He said the purpose was not to rewrite history, but to provide facts which have been objectively verified.

Mr Tej said no one could guarantee that there won't be more violent flare-ups between the two nations.

Problems could be stirred up by some movements in both countries, he said, but added that ''there are really good-hearted people on both sides of the border who want to see peace and friendship, and we should try to work earnestly toward this goal''.

Cambodia aims to double trade with China in 5 yrs

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December 18, 2010PHNOM PENH, Dec 18 – Cambodia and China have pledged to double bilateral trade to US$2.5 billion (RM7.84 billion) in five years, driven largely by agriculture, mining and hydro power, the Cambodian government said, underscoring their tightening ties.

Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Hor Namhong made the comment yesterday after Prime Minister Hun Sen returned from a visit to China, noting bilateral trade was now US$1.1 billion and China had agreed to import more Cambodian rice and other products.

He also said China had promised a US$300 million loan for construction of two national roads and an irrigation project in Cambodia and that another 12 deals were signed during Hun Sen visit’s worth around US$293 million, mostly infrastructure related.

Chinese investors are increasingly active in Cambodia, pledging to invest US$8 billion in 360 projects in the impoverished Southeast Asian country in the first seven months of this year, mostly in power and agriculture.

Cambodia signed a spate of business deals with China in December last year during a visit by Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping, days after defying international pressure by sending back to China 20 ethnic minority Uighur asylum-seekers.

Beijing is Cambodia’s largest source of foreign aid, providing about US$600 million in 2007 and US$260 million in 2008, helping to build roads, dams and other infrastructure. China also gives military aid. – Reuters

Joint concert held to mark 60th anniversary of Cambodia-Thailand diplomatic ties

via CAAI

English.news.cn

2010-12-18

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- A free concert to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Cambodia-Thailand diplomatic ties was held on Saturday afternoon at Phnom Penh's Chaktomuk Hall.

The Cambodia-Thailand cultural performance, featured musical and cultural shows by artists of the two countries, was also live telecast nationwide via the National Television of Cambodia and TV3 as well as to Thailand.

Khim Sarith, secretary of state of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, said the concern was to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between the two countries, which come on Sunday, and to exchange and strengthen the two nations' cultural relations.

Nipit Intarasombut, Thailand culture minister, said during the opening ceremony that Thailand and Cambodia are close neighbors for ages and people of the two countries have good relations in culture, tradition and the same Buddhism.

"I believe that the art performance today will create the closer expansion of cooperation between the people of the two nations on all sectors and it is an event to reflect affection, solidarity, and mutual understanding between the people of the two countries," he said.

This is the second joint concert between the two nations since the first one was held at the Indoor Stadium in Bangkok on Nov. 28.

Cambodia and Thailand have had border conflict just one week after Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple was registered as World Heritage Site in July 2008.

Since then the conflict started, military standoff has been on and off along the two countries' border and several military clashes have already happened with recorded small causalities from both sides.

The border issue, however, has been eased as the top leaders of Cambodia and Thailand have held four meetings since September.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Dec. 6 at a graduation ceremony that the border situation between Cambodia and Thailand has now returned to the date before July 15, 2008.

Hun Sen also praised the joint Cambodia Thai concert on Nov. 28 at the Indoor Stadium in Bangkok, and live televised to Cambodia through the national television of Cambodia and TV3.

Editor: Xiong Tong

New Airport Deal Inked for Siem Reap

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Friday, 17 December 2010

via CAAI

Photo: AP

Cambodian dancers walk past a Thai airline, Bangkok Airways plane at Siem Reap's airport in northern Cambodia.

The new airport will replace a facility that has seen a huge increase in tourist traffic over the past decade. Officials now worry the old airport’s proximity to the ancient temples of Angkor Wat could damage them.

Siem Reap is set to get a new international airport. In a joint venture between Caminco and the South Korean real estate developer Lees A&A, the new airport is expected to cost $1 billion and be finished in 2015.

The new airport will be built 50 kilometers from the existing one and will be large enough to allow larger aircraft in.

This will bring in more tourists and create more jobs, said Bun Tharith, deputy governor of Siem Reap. The town is expected to see 2.3 million visitors by the end of the year and 3 million visitors by 2015.

Letter from HM King-Father Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia

E-mail from Pr Susan Needham to HM King-Father Norodom Sihanouk

Abhisit: Keen on Koh Kut

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Former Bangkok governor's by-election success marks him as a politician to watch - Democrats at odds over location of annual assembly as Abhisit looks east - Cambodian strongman Hun Sen welcomes improved relationship with Thailand after border tensions

Published: 18/12/2010

The uneventful Dec 12 by-election in Bangkok's Constituency 2 launched a career as an MP for Apirak Kosayodhin, who is predicted to go far in national politics.

Apirak Kosayodhin, centre, stands on a pickup truck to thank voters after he won the by-election in Bangkok’s Constituency 2 for the Democrat Party. KOSOL NAKACHOL

The former Bangkok governor is seen as similar to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in terms of his political calibre and go-getting attitude. His election could set him on course towards the top seat in the national administration.

Mr Apirak accepted the ruling Democrat Party's ticket to contest the by-election to find a replacement for previous seat occupant Somkiat Chanthavanich, also a Democrat.

Mr Somkiat did not seek re-election, nor did he express any intention to field a member of his family in the race. Instead he stepped aside for Mr Apirak, which shows his respect for the former Democrat deputy leader.

Mr Apirak did not disappoint Mr Somkiat or the Democrats when he scored a resounding victory, garnering more than 70,000 votes to leave his opposition Puea Thai Party rival biting the dust.

However, he still has a major hurdle to cross. The National Counter Corruption Commission is preparing to file for his indictment in the Supreme Court in connection with the procurement of fire trucks and boats. He was embroiled in the scandal when he was Bangkok governor.

Observers believe the case could be a drawn-out affair and any trial would probably take at least a year to conclude, by which time Mr Apirak will have cultivated his experience and lifted his profile as a lawmaker and national politician.

Mr Apirak previously served as the first deputy leader of the Democrats. However, he still retains a prominent status in the country's oldest party which speaks volumes of Mr Abhisit's trust in him.

A party source said the prime minister is grooming Mr Apirak to be his choice as next Democrat leader in the event of a political crisis.

A close aide of the prime minister said Mr Apirak is almost the image of Mr Abhisit. The men have similar working styles and character with a strong determination to accomplish goals in office.

Even when compared with the current Democrat deputy leader and finance minister, Korn Chatikavanij, who is also poised to be a candidate for the party leadership, Mr Apirak appears to fare better.

The matter of determination places him some notches above Mr Korn.

Some observers had been tempted to believe Mr Korn would be a safer bet as future party boss in Mr Abhisit's eyes. After all, they were both attended Oxford University. However, this does not seem to be the case, according to the party source.

Mr Apirak is now waiting for endorsement of his poll victory from the Election Commission before he can get down to business in parliament.

The green light may take a few weeks or longer if there are election complaints to sort out.

A general election may be held in the middle of next year at the latest and, in the meantime, Mr Apirak has been urged to build up his reputation as an ethically responsible and capable MP by taking a leaf out of Mr Abhisit's book.

Mr Abhisit spent 16 years as a legislator and slowly earned respectability. Mr Apirak, on the other hand, has been cautioned against getting carried away by accepting a cabinet post in his first stint as an MP.

PM strays off beaten track

Democrat Party members are not always in agreement over many things, and picking a venue for their annual assembly has been another bone of contention.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva wants to hold the assembly next month on Koh Kut in the eastern province of Trat.

Abhisit: Keen on Koh Kut

The island coincidentally was thought to be a choice of holiday destination for his British counterpart David Cameron and his family. However, Mr Cameron and his wife cancelled their trip reportedly following intense pressure from human rights advocates upset with the government's clashes with red shirt protesters in the protests that came to a bloody end on May 19.

Mr Abhisit is said to have suggested that the Camerons spend their vacation on Koh Kut.

Koh Kut came to Mr Abhisit's mind again when the Democrats were exploring a choice of destination for their annual assembly.

Mr Abhisit's pick of Koh Kut is unusual as the decision on where to hold the seminar is always made by Democrat party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban, who prefers beach resorts in the South such as Koh Samui in his home province of Surat Thani and Patong Beach in Phuket.

The southern provinces are strongholds of the Democrats.

If Koh Kut is selected as the assembly venue, it will be the second meeting the party has held in the East.

During the Samak Sundaravej government in 2008, the then opposition Democrats' assembly took place in the resort city of Pattaya in Chon Buri.

Mr Abhisit's proposal to organise the meeting on Koh Kut has not received full support from all Democrat members. Some have suggested Chiang Rai, which is a stronghold of the opposition Puea Thai Party, as a meeting venue.

They reasoned that holding the seminar there would give the party an opportunity to gauge its popularity in the North and see whether it is ready for the next general election, which is expected some time in the first half of next year.

A party source said the Democrats will use what it terms a ''people's assembly'' to meet its canvassers and hear the people's grievances first hand.

Mr Abhisit will also take the opportunity to co-launch state development projects with local administration agencies.

The Democrat Party's assembly is expected to be held next month after a delay from its original schedule of early this month.

The party, which holds seminars twice a year during parliamentary breaks, was forced to postpone the event because of a rally by the anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship on Dec 10.

The UDD also plans another rally tomorrow at Ratchaprasong intersection.

Neighbours call welcome truce

The steady improvement in relations between Thailand and Cambodia lends weight to the saying that two steps forward and one step back are better than no movement at all.

It seems Cambodians and Thais are realising the two kingdoms can co-exist peacefully.

A free pop concert at the Hua Mak stadium last month drew huge crowds of migrant workers, including Burmese. The performance helped transcend ethnic and political divides.

Hun Sen: Praised Bangkok concert

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen praised the success of the Bangkok concert, suggesting that it was a sign that Thai-Cambodian relations were growing warmer.

The Cambodian strongman suggested that in light of the change, bilateral border issues should be returned to their status prior to July 15, 2008.

He was referring to the date when Phnom Penh captured three Thai para-military rangers while on a border patrol mission.

The incident intensified cross-border flare-ups near the Preah Vihear temple, which is still the subject of dispute.

Hun Sen hopes the old border markers in disputed areas can be replaced.

The People's Alliance for Democracy has postponed until Jan 25 a rally it called to oppose any perceived ceding of Thai territory to the Cambodians.

This has helped ease the worries of political pundits who fear the alliance could spark a new round of bilateral conflict.

The PAD is opposed to Cambodia's unilateral listing of the Preah Vihear temple as a world heritage site.

The PAD is also opposed to the possible parliamentary endorsement of minutes from meetings of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Committee. The alliance claims this might undermine Thailand's territorial integrity.

Meanwhile, a concert in Phnom Penh is being staged tomorrow to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Thai-Cambodian diplomatic relations.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya will head the Thai delegation in the Cambodian capital in toasting the two countries' relations.

A dozen Thai journalists have been invited to visit Phnom Penh for the celebrations next week, reciprocating a tour by the Cambodian information minister in October.

Visa-free travel for up to 15 days between the two countries, approved this week, will pave the way for a freer flow of people and trade and tourism.

Joint concert held to mark 60th anniversary of Cambodia-Thailand diplomatic ties

via CAAI

English.news.cn

2010-12-18

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- A free concert to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Cambodia-Thailand diplomatic ties was held on Saturday afternoon at Phnom Penh's Chaktomuk Hall.

This is the second joint concert between the two nations since the first one was held at the Indoor Stadium in Bangkok on Nov. 28.

Cambodia and Thailand have had border conflict just one week after Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple was registered as World Heritage Site in July 2008.

The border issue, however, has been eased as the top leaders of Cambodia and Thailand have held four meetings since September.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Dec. 6 at a graduation ceremony that the border situation between Cambodia and Thailand has now returned to the date before July 15, 2008.

Hun Sen also praised the joint Cambodia Thai concert on Nov. 28 at the Indoor Stadium in Bangkok, and live televised to Cambodia through the national television of Cambodia and TV3.

Editor: Xiong Tong

China: Account for “Disappeared” Uighurs

via CAAI

One Year After Forced Return, No Word on Their Fate

December 17, 2010

(New York) - The Chinese government should account for a group of 20 ethnic Uighurs deported from Cambodia one year ago, Human Rights Watch said today. Over the past year, the Chinese government has consistently refused to provide information about the group's status and well-being.

On December 19, 2009, Cambodia forcibly repatriated 20 Uighur asylum seekers fleeing a crackdown in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China. The group, which had expressed fear of persecution and torture if sent back to China, had been issued "Persons of Concern" letters by the Phnom Penh office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), which should have prevented their forced return to possible persecution, known as refoulement. Despite this, the group, which included two young children, was forced aboard a plane in Phnom Penh chartered by the Chinese government.

"Uighurs deported to China are at clear risk of torture," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "China's failure to account for any of those asylum seekers a year after their forced return is extremely worrying."

The crackdown that prompted the group to flee China followed its most violent episode of ethnic unrest in years, in which over 200 people were killed in Urumqi, the regional capital, in July 2009. Hundreds of Uighurs were detained after the violence in Urumqi, and several people have been executed for involvement in the rioting. In October 2009, Human Rights Watch documented 43 cases in which Uighur men had disappeared in Urumqi after having been taken away by security forces. Human Rights Watch also documented grave violations of due process in the trials of suspected protesters.

Urumqi residents interviewed by Human Rights Watch since October 2009 indicated that torture in detention remains a common practice in Xinjiang. There has been no further information about the 42 cases of enforced disappearance documented in the report.

China's record of torture, disappearance, and arbitrary detention of Uighurs, as well as the politicized nature of judicial proceedings in past cases of forced repatriation, raise serious concerns that these individuals remain at risk of torture and ill-treatment, Human Rights Watch said.

"The violence of July 2009 was horrific and unjustifiable," Richardson said. "But it is no ground for the indiscriminate crackdown and the massive human rights violations that followed."

The refoulement of the 20 Uighur asylum seekers constituted a clear violation of Cambodia's obligations as a state party to the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. Human Rights Watch also knows of at least four Chinese asylum seekers under the protection of the UNHCR who were arrested in Phnom Penh in 2002 and 2004 and sent back to China.

China is also a party to the Refugee Convention and its Protocol, as well as to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and it has signed but not ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It has not yet joined the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

"Both China and Cambodia should be held accountable for their flagrant disregard of their obligations under international law," Richardson said. "This case is a stark reminder that no country should deport Uighur asylum seekers back to China."

HRW tells China to explain fate of Uighurs from Cambodia

Chinese paramilatary police patrol on a street in Urumqi

via CAAI

BEIJING — Human Rights Watch has called on Beijing to explain the fate of 20 Uighurs deported from Cambodia a year ago who had sought asylum following deadly ethnic violence in China's far-western Xinjiang region.

The Uighurs, members of a mainly Muslim minority group who have complained of oppression in Xinjiang, were handed over to China despite their application for UN refugee status, after Beijing had pressed Cambodia for their return.

China said they were wanted in connection with rioting that erupted in July 2009 in the Xinjiang capital Urumqi between Uighurs and China's majority Han ethnic group that left nearly 200 people dead, according to official tolls.

"Uighurs deported to China are at clear risk of torture," Human Rights Watch's Asia advocacy director, Sophie Richardson, said in a statement released Friday in New York, where the group is based.

"China's failure to account for any of those asylum seekers a year after their forced return is extremely worrying."

Cambodia's decision to deport the Uighurs was quickly followed by a 1.2-billion-dollar aid and loan package from Beijing. China has rejected accusations of a link between the two.

The Uighurs had expressed fears of persecution and torture if they were sent home to China, which implemented a massive security crackdown in Xinjiang following the violence.

Phnom Penh said the group, which Beijing had labelled as "criminals", was expelled in line with domestic law.

But the US, the European Union, the United Nations and rights groups deplored the move as an apparent breach of an international convention on refugees.

"Both China and Cambodia should be held accountable for their flagrant disregard of their obligations under international law," Richardson said.

"This case is a stark reminder that no country should deport Uighur asylum seekers back to China."

Center will tell Cambodian story

via CAAI

HISTORY: Fundraiser is first step in creating facility at CSULB, as well as online museum.

By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer

Posted: 12/17/2010

LONG BEACH - Although Long Beach is well known for having the largest Cambodian population in the U.S., there have been precious few resources to research how this has come to pass.

The Khmer Genocide Study and Resource Center, planned for Cal State Long Beach, will attempt to help fill that gap.

The first formal step in its creation starts tonight with a fundraising dinner at Sophy's Restaurant.

However, the idea has been a long time coming.

In the late 1970s, Long Beach became a hub for incoming refugees who escaped from the ravages of the genocide that engulfed Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge and left upwards of 2 million dead.

Since that time, a large Cambodian community has developed in Long Beach, with businesses, arts and social service agencies.

What hasn't evolved is a place where academics and the community can learn about the calamitous history and circumstances that led to Long Beach becoming the home of Cambodia Town.

Although the center will have a physical location on the Cal State campus, primarily it will be a virtual museum online with an array of information across multiple platforms.

"The intent is to develop an archive of the genocide experience," said John Fallon, one of those helping create the center.

"It will have three components," Fallon said. "An academic venue for information with oral histories; an electronic library; and third, an most important I suppose, an initiation of the Cambodian community as stakeholders."

Dr. Donald Schwartz, a Fulbright Specialist and retired professor at Cal State Long Beach, will be helping to head up the academic side and is hoping to link up with other universities, including Stanford, Yale and Pannasastra University in Phnom Penh, along with the Document Center in Cambodia, which has provided much of the information for the Khmer Rouge War Tribunals.

Schwartz will also be teaching in the spring at Pannasastra and hopes to get funding for videographers to do a project on the infamous Tuol Sleng, or S-21, security prison.

Schwartz is an expert on the Holocaust during World War II. He said one theme from survivors of that genocide was that they didn't tell their children what they endured. He sees parallels with the children of Cambodian genocide survivors and hopes this project can help answer their questions.

Fallon, who has been at the forefront of the refugee movement since the '70s and has helped place 22,000 families, said his inspiration comes from the words of a survivor he met: "He said, `My children must understand what happened to me, so the world will not forget."'

Schwartz said the primary purpose of the dinner, in addition to raising funds, is to invite the Cambodian community to be part of the process and inform them what's envisioned.

Or as Fallon says, "It's their life and their history."

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com , 562-499-1291

Want to go?

What: Khmer Genocide Study and Resource Center fundraising dinner

When: Tonight, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Sophy's Restaurant,

3240 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach

Cost: Adults $30, children $15

Information: Lamarin Pan 562-394-5290, Peter Chhun 818-640-6191, Sophy's Restaurant 562-494-1763

Danish Firm Wins VN-Cambodia Border Map Bid

via CAAI

18 December 2010

BlomInfo A/S of Denmark has won the bid to produce a new set of maps of the national border between Vietnam and Cambodia.

The winner was announced at a press briefing in Phnom Penh on Dec. 17 following a meeting of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Committee on Border Demarcation.

At the press briefing, Deputy Head of the Vietnam Foreign Ministry’s National Border Committee Nguyen Hong Thao and Senior Minister of the Royal Cambodian Government Var Kim Hong said that the selection was based on assessments by experts of the two countries during their working session from Dec. 1-10.

The two sides affirmed that choosing an international bidding process for making the border map – and showing locations of demarcating border landmarks – aimed to ensure objectivity, science and accuracy and to be aligned with international laws.

The success of the bidding manifested close cooperation and determination of the two countries to fulfill all border demarcation-related work by 2012 with the aim of building a common border of peace, friendship and cooperation./.