Man goes undercover to combat child sex slavery

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By Leif Coorlim, CNN Producer

February 9, 2010

Phnom Penh, Cambodia (CNN) -- Aaron Cohen first met Jonty Thern and her older sister, Channy, in 2005 while singing in a karaoke bar in Battambang, Cambodia. He has come back to see them every year since.

The California native often schedules his trips for November, the month when Cambodians celebrate the Bonn Om Teuk water festival, marking the end of the rainy season.

"The whole country comes together for boat races. Hundreds of thousands of people descend on the waterfront and it's filled with colors and flags," said Cohen. "You know my thoughts about the water festival always include Jonty, because she and her sister would get a day pass during the festival."

There was a smile on his face when he started the sentence, but by the time he had finished, it was gone.

Abolishing slavery

Cohen is a human rights advocate. He founded a charity called AbolishSlavery.org last year, but his work freeing victims of human trafficking began more than a decade ago.

At 6 feet, 5 inches (195 centimeters) with long, black hair, he stands out in almost every crowd. But Cohen often goes undercover to obtain the information needed for law enforcement officials to conduct raids and make arrests.

His trips have taken him around the world, from Sudan to Nicaragua to Israel. But, he says, in Southeast Asia the problem is especially bad.

"I would rank Cambodia right up there with India as one of the worst places in the world for sex-trafficking."

A bad problem getting worse

According to the NGO, End Child Prostitution, Abuse and Trafficking (ECPAT), as many as one-third of all sex workers in Cambodia are children. Government entities, including the U.S. State Department, are pressuring countries like Cambodia to do more to stop the modern-day slavery epidemic.

"We are making major strides in the fight against human trafficking. But it is a major problem, we know that," said Ambassador-at-Large Luis CdeBaca, who leads the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. "You have estimates as to the number of people in servitude worldwide and it's anywhere from 12.3 million on the low end as cited by UN's International Labor Organization -- to as many as 27 million people on the high end. That's a number coming from the research done by (the aid organization) Free the Slaves. But 12.3 million is a baseline number that everybody agrees that there are at least that many people in forced labor, and that's far too many."

In its comprehensive 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report, the State Department put Cambodia on its Tier 2 Watch List. The ranking means the Cambodian government does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but is making an effort to do so.

"[In Cambodia] the number of victims is increasing and the number of prosecutions has gone down from the previous year," says CdeBaca. "The report shows that despite the overall effort, the government has not shown enough progress in convicting and punishing human trafficking offenders or protecting trafficking victims."

Cambodia is categorized as a destination country for foreign child sex tourists, with increasing reports of Asian men traveling to Cambodia to have sex with underage virgin girls. The State Department report states a significant proportion of trafficking victims in Cambodia are ethnic Vietnamese women and girls who are forced into prostitution in brothels and karaoke bars.

A chance encounter

Jonty Thern's short life could be a case study for that assessment. Jonty's family immigrated to Cambodia from Vietnam shortly after the Vietnam War.

Faced with gripping poverty and a debt, Jonty's mother sold her daughter, who was 10 years old at the time, to a person on Cambodia's border with Thailand.

That person told her mother Jonty would be selling flowers and candy to customers in bars and nightclubs. It was only later, the mother says, that she learned while there, Jonty would be repeatedly raped and beaten.

After three years of physical and sexual abuse, Jonty was released by her captors and allowed to return home to Battambang. Soon after, she and her sister willingly went to work at a karaoke bar to help the family pay off their debt, according to her parents.

The scenario in which Cohen describes meeting Jonty Thern, then 13-years-old, is as appalling as it is prevalent.

"I was working as an undercover sex vice," Cohen said. "I was posing as a sex tourist, going from karaoke bar to karaoke bar, massage parlor to massage parlor, looking for underage workers, to see if I could get them on camera soliciting me for sex."

As evidenced in the State Department report, it is a poorly-kept secret in Cambodia that many of these establishments are also operating brothels.

"I went to a number of karaokes and about my second or third karaoke of the night and I immediately notice this one really young looking girl. I requested Jonty and her sister and a group of other girls," Cohen said.

"In these bars, the girls are told to drink as much as they can, because they'll charge you for the beers. So this girl comes in and I noticed, man, she downed that beer in like two seconds. She seemed to be having a good time, she didn't seem unhappy or anything. But here she is nonetheless, a 13-year-old girl in a brothel drinking 10 beers in the time that I drank two," he added.

He said he invited several friends who work at a nearby victims' shelter to come join him. They posed as partiers as well, until Cohen felt comfortable to ask the manager an important question.

"After the girls began to dance and sing, I asked the mamasan what more can I get besides karaoke and so then she says 'well, for sex it's $50.'"

Cohen used the solicitation video from that night, recorded on a cell phone camera, to provide police with the information they needed to raid the karaoke brothel.

More than a dozen girls, including Jonty and her sister, Channy, were freed that night and sent to live in a victim's shelter, where they received counseling, care and an education.

Final Respects

Cohen's most recent trip to see Jonty and Channy in Cambodia was not a happy reunion. It was a trip planned so that he could say goodbye to one of them.

Three days before arriving in Phnom Penh for the water festival, Cohen and Channy, along with Channy's mother, spent the morning in an 8th century pagoda in Siem Reap, watching as monks conducted an ancient funeral ceremony. They were transferring Jonty Thern's ashes into a marble urn.

Jonty died of liver failure at age 17. Her family claims it was the result of years of alcohol and drug abuse she was subjected to while working first in the nightclubs as a 10-year-old, and then later in the karaoke bars.

"The ashes of my goddaughter are the symbol of why we have to do this. This doesn't have to happen. These girls do not have to be enslaved," Cohen said.

"We tried our best with Jonty and we failed because we lost her. But if there's meaning in her death, the meaning is that there is more work to be done. When I'm in that karaoke now, or when I'm in that massage parlor, she's my little angel. She's watching over me and she's protecting me," he added.

That evening, after watching the festival's fireworks display and saying goodnight to Channy, Cohen strapped an undercover watch camera to his wrist, and went to a karaoke bar.

Tim Etchells on performance: Cambodia's beat goes on

Can Cambodia begin to rebuild its shattered cultural heritage? Tim Etchells wonders if the answer lies with a team of Khmer dancers ... and a specially modified laptop

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Tim Etchells guardian.co.uk

Tuesday 9 February 2010

Dancing to a new tune ... Tarek Atouil plays a series of sounds collected by Khmer dancers from his laptop. Photograph: Tim Etchells

I've recently returned from two weeks in Cambodia, travelling with 18 other artists, dancers, choreographers and performance-makers at the invitation of Ong Keng Sen's Flying Circus Project. Based in Singapore, Keng Sen's Theatre Works outfit has been running these exchanges – predominantly Asian in focus, but with routes out in all directions – for something like 10 years. The intention varies with each incarnation, but the broad hope is for a two-way artistic exchange between invited and local artists, and between the invited artists themselves. To call this latter group diverse would be an understatement: our trip saw passports from Indonesia, Slovenia, Turkey, South Africa, India, UK, Lebanon, Singapore, USA and Austria, among others, landing on the immigration desk in Phnom Penh.

Highly organised and efficient on one hand, Flying Circus also courts a creative openness that at times borders on chaos. The logic for Keng Sen is that the encounter must have its own energy, that the group itself must conjure something new from the situation. An approach like this takes time and nerve, but it undoubtedly pays off.

Looking back, it's hard to say what made the biggest impression on me. The country itself remains blighted by poverty, and still in recovery from the devastation of the Pol Pot era and subsequent years of civil war and instability. Culturally, there's a determined attempt to recover what the Khmer Rouge tried to wipe out in its brutal five-year drive to Year Zero, which involved – alongside much else – killing intellectuals, artists, teachers and anyone who spoke French. For this reason, there's much talk of archives, of remembering and preserving. Around 300 feature films were made in Cambodia before 1975, of which as few as 30 now survive. They have been gathered in the last five years and preserved along with other film, sound and photographic materials at the Bophana archive in Phnom Penh, our base for half of the workshops.

The situation is equally dire in the performing arts, since only a handful of classical Khmer dancers survived the killing fields. These old masters are now a precious resource, teaching new generations techniques that otherwise would have slipped away for good. Back home in England, I generally run a mile from people attempting to rescue traditional forms; but in Cambodia, the initiative made more sense – the difference, perhaps, between a past that is dying from irrelevance or lack of interest, and one that has only recently survived assassination.

What I sensed in the younger artists and dancers we worked with, though, was a desire to move forwards with the past, and not to retreat into it. These Cambodian twentysomethings are savvy and hungry, and well aware that their country is opening up, and that internationally financed redevelopment and tourism have been following the inflow of NGOs. They know that they'll need new approaches in the arts, and new political voices to meet the challenges ahead.

I asked Keng Sen what he feared the most from his project. We talked about economic and political dangers (artists as the vanguard for property developers) and about the cultural dangers (Cambodians caught in retreading western postmodern art practice). Then we talked about the positives: the meetings, the collisions, the insistence on and the articulation of differences. There was one moment in the workshops that crystallised these possibilities for me. Tarek Atoui, Lebanese sound artist, ran a session with the Khmer participants that involved sounds collected by the dancers played out from a laptop and a complex array of homemade sensors, motion triggers and pressure pads. It was late in the afternoon when the dancers from Amrita Performing Arts, our hosts for half of the project, took to their feet and began to move in and around Atoui's machinery.

What happened was tentative at first, then suddenly too much. It was as if the dancers wanted to play the system, or make music with it, rather than dance with it. My heart sank. Then all at once they turned a corner and were dancing again – the turning wrists and fingers, lowered centres of gravity, eye contact, pantomime pauses and forward rolls all instantly recognisable from Khmer classical forms. They weren't dancing for the electronics, nor were they dancing with them exactly; they were dancing with and against them, entering and refusing, insisting on and moving through. There was tension in the dancing and music that afternoon, just as there should be on occasions of meeting. It was a privilege and an inspiration to be there.

HUN SEN'S CURSES : I'm not afraid of curses : Thai PM

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Tue, February 9, 2010

By The Nation

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he did not pay any attention on Khmer PM Hun Sen's curses, saying everyone now knows who was the cause of the ongoing bilateral problems.

Hun Sen's criticism and curses on him clearly showed why the shaky Thai-Cambodia ties could not be restored, the Thai premier said.

Hun Sen made the curses on Abhisit during his visit near Preah Vihear temple on Monday.

"If you don't tell the truth about Thai troops invading Cambodia, let magic objects break your neck, may you be shot, be hit by a car, may you be shocked by electricity or [may you be shot] by misfired guns."

"Will Abhisit swear on having all his family members killed and having them [perish] in a plane crash, if [he still claims] that Thai troops did not invade Cambodia?" Hun Sen was quoted as saying by Cambodian website Deum Ampil News.

Abhisit told reporters on Tuesday that he was not afraid of Hun Sen's curses.

"I will let go and will not react to what Hun Sen said. What I concerned most was that no country violates our territory and sovereignty. In addition we don't want the any problems for both peoples," Abhisit said.

Meanwhile Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said Hun Sen may be angry that he could not visit Ta Moen Thom temple ruins on Monday.

Hun Sen planned to visit the ruins on Monday as part of his trip to the Thai-Cambodian border site. His visit had put high alert on the Thai side as he reportedly would visit disputed sites, including a site near Preah Vihear Temple and Ta Moen Thom temple.

The Thai government insisted that the visit could be happened at the permission of the Thai side and the Khmer soldiers have to be disarmed when entering the sites.

Hun Sen finally cancelled his visit to both sides.

"Hun Sen may be angry because he was disappointed that he could not visit Ta Moen Thom temple as planned. One could lost control if he is angry," Suthep said.

US ASEAN ambassador ends Cambodia trip, slams Uighur expulsions

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Feb 9, 2010

Phnom Penh - A senior US envoy to South-East Asia wrapped up a brief visit to Cambodia Tuesday saying he had reiterated to Phnom Penh that Washington remained 'very disappointed' with its December expulsion of 20 Uighur asylum-seekers to China.

The US still had no news on the fate of the Uighurs, said Scot Marciel, the US ambassador for ASEAN Affairs, in charge of relations with the 10 members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations.

'We've made it clear a number of times both publicly and privately how concerned and disappointed we were by Cambodia's decision,' he said.

'We had urged the Cambodian government before they deported the people not to go that route because they had not gone through the [UN refugee agency] process to determine whether they had a legitimate claim to asylum.'

Marciel, who is on a five-nation visit as part of US President Barack Obama's strategy of greater engagement with the region, said he hoped the Cambodian government would resume its previously held 'more positive' approach to refugee issues.

Referring to China's involvement in Cambodia - it is the country's largest investor and had demanded the return of the Uighur refugees - Marciel said the US did not see the process of increasing Chinese influence in the region as 'a zero-sum game.'

'We would like to see South-East Asia achieve the goals that it has set for itself and the ASEAN movement, which is more integration, political stability, progress towards increased democracy and human rights, and certainly economic prosperity,' Marciel said. 'So we'll continue to support those.'

Referring to the ongoing tensions between Cambodia and Thailand, Marciel said the US - which he described as 'good friends' with both nations - remained concerned and hoped both countries' leaders would work to reduce tensions and find a solution.

During his visit Marciel also met with representatives from Cambodia's political opposition and with members of civil society.

His Cambodia trip follows a visit to Vietnam and Laos. He is scheduled to head to Thailand later Tuesday before flying to Indonesia to work on President Obama's visit to that country in March.

US allows Cambodia to reschedule $317 mln debt

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Tue Feb 9, 2010

PHNOM PENH, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The United States has refused a request by Cambodia to write off $317 million in debt, but has instead agreed to reschedule the impoverished country's loan repayments, a top U.S. official said on Tuesday.

The United States also declined to convert the debt into development aid but would work out a plan for Cambodia to pay back the loans, which date back to the 1970s, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel said.

"The U.S. position is that Cambodia has recognised its debt," Marciel told reporters during a visit to Phnom Penh. "We think Cambodia should begin the payment, which the Cambodian government has not been willing to do."

The loans were given to the government of Lon Nol after it came to power in a 1970 coup backed by the United States. The loans were intended to develop the country's agriculture sector and boost commodities exports.

Lon Nol was toppled five years later when the ultra Maoist Khmer Rouge staged its "killing fields" 1975-1979 revolution, which left an estimated 1.7 million people dead and plunged Cambodia into decades of dire poverty and political instability.

The two countries have long disagreed about repayment of the debt and Cambodia has argued the money was spent on arms which were ultimately used on its own people.

China in 2002 cancelled Cambodia's debt from the 1970s, which was estimated by embassy officials to be worth between $60 million and $1 billion.

Marciel, Washington's top official in charge of Southeast Asian affairs, plans to plans to visit Laos and Thailand in the next week.

(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

Cambodia asks US to cancel $339 million in debt from 1970s, or turn it into aid

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From The Associated Press, February 9, 2010

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodia asked the United States on Tuesday to cancel $339 million in debt that dates to loans from the 1970s — or consider converting most of it into development aid for the impoverished country.

The proposal, which came during a visit by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel, was the latest in a long-running exchange about how to handle the debt and how the money was used 40 years ago.

"Cambodia has asked the United States government to cancel the debt but if it cannot do that, at least turn 70 percent of the debt into aid for the social development of the country," Deputy Foreign Minister Ouch Borith said after the meeting. He said if the latter option were accepted, Cambodia would discuss repayment plans for the remaining 30 percent.

Marciel, who is Washington's ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, later explained to reporters that the debt could only be waived if Congress passed a law authorizing it.

The low-interest loans financed rice, cotton and other agricultural commodities during the regime of Gen. Lon Nol, who came to power in a 1970 coup that ousted Prince Norodom Sihanouk. The United States was the main financial and military supporter of Lon Nol's regime until it was toppled by the genocidal Khmer Rouge movement in April 1975.

Cambodia's government says the money was also used to "buy weapons and support the war, which caused great suffering to the Cambodian people," Ouch Borith said.

The countries have not set a repayment plan in part because the Cambodian government refuses to accept responsibility for debts incurred by the Lon Nol regime and because they disagree over the amount owed.

Dolphins, honey and climate change: visiting a Cambodian village

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Lucy Aitken-Read

February 9th, 2010

A fat mango dropped out of the tree, centimeters away from my colleague’s head. We were about to commence a meeting with the eighth village here on our tour of Cambodia. As people began arriving my mind skipped back over the experience so far; we had only been here ten days but it easily felt like a month. In every village we had been greeted with huge genorosity, a fresh coconut to drink from and crowds of broad smiling faces. We had heard about honey, bamboo and resin processing businesses that were providing a diverse and sustainable form of employment for villagers. We had stayed over night on an eco tourism island that Oxfam supports- delicious food, a refreshing swim and a viewing of the rare Irrawaddy river dolphins had convinced us that this was a worthwhile initiative! We were intrigued by how this village had made conservation and environmental education were key components of this island life.

We had watched villagers gracefully slide up and down palms trees at one village, harvesting palm syrup. This village had had its main source of income, rice farming, swept away (along with everything else) in last season’s monsoon, Ketsana. Oxfam was helping them double the income from their secondary source, palm sugar, by providing grants and training to turn it from soft form to granules. The vice -president of this sugar group described how the annual flooding often caused stress for those in the village but the last flood was the worst they have seen. It took everything away with it and they worry this will become the norm. On one hand villagers who rely on palms rather than rice farming are better off as the palms will never be carried away in the current. On the other hand , she explained, they have no doubt that each year it is getting hotter and hotter, making it increasingly hard to harvest the syrup from the palms.

We had heard from a women -only fishing collective who, with money from an Oxfam grant, managed to purchase a store to sell their fish products. These women were feisty and full of passion as they told us about their meetings with the local authority, how they outline their needs and feel confident they are listened, and responded, to.

The last few villages were those which have been perhaps most impacted by the Ketsana disaster last year. Villagers here were tangibly more poor but determined to make the most of the support of Oxfam and the local partner organization. Villagers spoke animatedly about how cash grants had helped them meet their basic needs in the aftermath, as well as with more long term things. One man held up the fishing net he had purchased and described how he had managed to break out of the debt cycle that many villagers are locked into by borrowing from Oxfam rather than from private lenders who charge a high interest.

Something that has surfaced in each village is the weather and the changing climate. It seems to be coming at them from all sides. Just this afternoon one woman told us of how unpredictable weather is getting; there is rain in the dry season, it is hot in the cool season and it also gets cold in a way they have never known it. The extreme heat causes diarrhea and vomiting in their children, and makes growing crops and vegetables to eat much more laborious as they try to keep up with the extra watering they need.

When I asked an Oxfam employee at the head office last week what the lack of a global climate deal from Copenhagen meant for the people of Cambodia he replied, “It means that the people who are least responsible for this disaster of climate change will continue to suffer, with increasing consequence. It also means that those who are most responsible can carry on with impunity. Failure at Copenhagen is bad news for a small nation like Cambodia.”

Meeting the villagers and hearing how the climate is impacting on their livelihoods and their children this week has made this statement so much more real, so much more meaningful for me. Going home to campaign on climate change in an environment where people are still questioning and doubting the reality of it will be increasingly hard with the memory of these warm and welcoming villagers so imprinted in my mind.

Vietnam and Cambodia border provinces boost cooperation

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02/09/2010

The Tay Ninh provincial People’s Committee on February 9 held an exchange meeting with Cambodia’s border provinces of Kongpong Cham, Prayveng and Svayrieng.

During the meeting, representatives from both sides discussed cooperation activities to help each other strengthen economic development, defence and social security and combatting social vices.

** The same day, a ceremony was held in Binh Phuoc province to rebury the remains of 60 Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who died in Cambodia.

The remains were found in the provinces of Karatie and Kompongthom during the dry season of 2009-2010 by soldiers of the Binh Phuoc Army Headquarters and Military Zone VII. Three individuals have been identified and two of them have been handed over to their families.

The Reds cant build up the momentum

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Posted by Thanong

February 8, 2010

Going into the final battle, the Red Shirts appears to be losing their momentum. Things do not go their way. A lot of confusion is going on inside the camp.

First, Gen Pallop Pinmanee has signalled that he would not want to have anything to do with the Red Shirts any more. Shortly earlier, he was the one who suggested to Thaksin Shinawatra that Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh be appointed as head of the People's Army. Why does the general jump ship while the battle is about to begin?

Second, Chaturon Chaisaeng is not happy with this move, which can bring down the rating of Pheu Thai further. The People's Army sounds like an overlapping army with the Royal Thai Army. Setting up the People's Army amounts to treason.

Third, then Gen Chavalit denies that he would like this job as head of the People's Army. But he would not completely distance himself from the Reds. Chavalit has already helped Thaksin to become economic advisor to Hun Sen, the Cambodian prime minister.

Fourth, Maj Gen Khattiya Sawasdiphol, alias Sae Daeng, is not at odds against Chatuporn Phromphand, one of the core leaders of the Red Shirts. They have been trading foul words. Throwing a bomb here and there would not make a big difference.

Fifth, through their community radio networks, the Reds have threatened stage a people's war -- a one-litre bottle of gasline for each fighter -- ahead the Supreme Court's verdict on the Bt76 billion asset seizure case.

Sixth, Hun Sen had made a surprising visit to the border. He is trying to take advantage of Thailand's internal division for his political gain. At this point, Cambodia is not afraid to go to war with its neighbour. Probably he would like to be the first modern Cambodian leader to stand up against Siam.

Who is backing Hun Sen then?

Seventh, Thaksin is spending most of his time in Cambodia -- not Dubai as he would like most of us to believe. As the final battle draws near, he needs to stay close to the battlefield to issue his command.

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What is Thaksin's strategy? Or what options do he have now?

First, he has almost completely lost support from the military establishment. His allies within the army might not be strong enough to assist his comeback through a military intervention.

Second, he might resort to employing a redshirt uprising to create social upheavals.

Third, lobbying the Supreme Court on the assetseizure case is impossible now.

Fourth, Thaksin has threatened to take the assetseizure case to the World Court.

Fifth, Thaksin would fight to his last breath to defend his Bt76 billion assets.

My good guess is that Thaksin's only last option left is number two. He can only prevail or make a comeback through the Red Shirts Revolution.

If he does not resort to the Red Shirts Revolution, he almost certainly stands to lose his Bt76 billion.

If the Red Shirts come out in big number, we'll see power play.

Cambodian firm plans $100 million sugar plant JV

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Tue Feb 9, 2010

By Prak Chan Thul

PHNOM PENH, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Cambodia is in talks to build the country's biggest sugar plant, worth $100 million, as part of a joint venture with a French company that would help revive an industry that collapsed during the country's lengthy civil war.

The Mong Reththy Group plans to build the country's second sugar plant since the 1970s and hopes to produce 80,000 tonnes of annually within three years for export to European markets, the company's president told Reuters on Tuesday.

The project aims to take advantage of the European Union's "Everything But Arms" trade initiative, which allows tariff-free imports of any product except weapons from poor countries.

Mong Reththy, a Cambodian tycoon and senator, said his company was still in talks on the proposed joint venture with the French company, which he would not name until a deal was struck.

Cambodian companies lacked sufficient funds to go it alone and remained dependent on foreign investment, he said, adding now was a good time to start because of the high price of sugar cane.

"It's impossible to come up with $100 million. Cambodians can't do it alone, there needs to a partnership with foreigners," Mong Reththy told Reuters when discussing the plant, to be built in the northern province of Stung Treng.

The group's deputy director, Mok Chansothea, said clearance of the 10,000 hectare (24,710 acre) site, around 500 km (310 miles) north of the capital, Phnom Penh, would begin on Feb. 22 and planting would start in June.

Last month Cambodia, a net importer of sugar, launched a sugar plant in the southern province of Koh Kong, the first sugar facility to operate in 40 years.

The plant, worth $90.6 million, is a joint venture between Cambodia's Koh Kong Sugar Industry Company Limited, Thailand's Khon Kaen Sugar KSL.BK and Taiwan's Vewong Corp, according to local media.

The two projects would produce a combined 160,000 tonnes of sugar for export, Mong Reththy said.

That is significantly less than Thailand, the world's second-biggest exporter with over 5 million tonnes a year, but the new plants are a sign of the efforts being made by the impoverished country to boost exports and reduce its reliance on neighbouring countries. (Editing by Martin Petty)

Hun Sen lets fly at Abhisit

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Published: 9/02/2010

Newspaper section: News

A fresh onslaught of insults by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen directed at Abhisit Vejjajiva is widening the diplomatic gulf between the two countries.

A Thai soldier armed with a rocket launcher guards the Ta Muan Thom temple on the border with Cambodia in Phanom Dong Rak district of Surin yesterday. Security forces were on alert for the visit to the temple by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, but he cancelled his plans. TAWATCHAI KEMGUMNERD

Thailand and Cambodia had been struggling to find ways to mend fences after a series of spats but Hun Sen yesterday appeared to want nothing of the kind.

He scrapped a visit to Ta Muan Thom, an ancient border temple in Phnom Dong Rak district of Surin.

Diplomatic tensions did not ease despite Hun Sen not turning up at the temple and he fired a broadside at Prime Minister Abhisit on a Cambodian website.

The Thai embassy in Phnom Penh alerted the Thai government to the remarks on the website and the Foreign Ministry was quick to counter the Cambodian leader.

"I have to apologise to the Cambodian people that up until today all Thai people and the government have wanted to resume relationships with Cambodia in all fields, including economic, social and investment cooperation," said Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, assistant to the foreign minister.

"But criticising the Thai premier so badly damages Thailand's dignity and that will make it even more difficult to normalise ties.

"The harsh and rude words should not have come from a prime minister of any country. We cannot accept it.

"It is impossible for any country to resume [good] relations without being respectful of each other first."

Thailand will now press for sovereignty over disputed areas along the Thai-Cambodian border, Mr Chavanond said.

"We have never invaded any place which is not ours. We have the evidence to confirm that the area, including Wat Kaew [Sikha Khiri Sawara] or other areas in the 4.6 sq km [of disputed territory] are under Thai sovereignty."

Tension along the border escalated after Hun Sen concluded his weekend tour of the area yesterday. His itinerary included the Preah Vihear temple.

A military standoff continued yesterday morning around the Ta Muan Thom temple as the army tripled its troop presence to about 1,500 to offset Cambodian troops beefing up security during Hun Sen's visit to the opening ceremony of a military office at Ban O-rumchong, six kilometres inside Cambodia.

"We regard Cambodia's troop increase for Mr Hun Sen as very unusual," said Col Thanet Wongcha-um, chief of staff of the Suranaree Task Force.

Hun Sen contacted the Thai army yesterday to ask if he could cross the border to visit the Ta Muan Thom ruins as a tourist after going to Ban O-rumchong.

"But we advised him this was not the right time as there were protesters [from the People's Alliance for Democracy] here which could have been inconvenient for his trip," Col Thanet said.

The Cambodian premier did not respond and then left for Phnom Penh by helicopter, he said.

Dozens of heavily armed Thai soldiers remained on guard at Ta Muan Thom and about 300 police officers equipped with batons and shields were deployed along the main road to the ruins. They were there to prevent about 150 protesters opposing Hun Sen's planned visit from entering the temple. The demonstrators had camped overnight at the Ta Muan Tod ruins, about a kilometre away.

Villagers said they were unhappy with what the PAD was doing as they wanted to live in peace in the area.

In Bangkok, Thailand has asked Unesco to show it a Cambodian plan to manage and safeguard areas at and around Preah Vihear to ensure it will not touch on the disputed territory.

"We are now asking [Unesco] to give us the plan," Mr Abhisit told reporters.

"The 4.6 sq km being disputed by the two countries is the point that we will have to consider carefully," he said.

"We have the right to see the plan and we also have the right to express our opinions. I will closely monitor the matter and I will not let Thailand lose its territory," he said.

Mondolkiri: The Creation of Tourism Communities Is Slow Due to Some Problems – Monday, 8.2.2010

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Posted on 9 February 2010

The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 651

“Phnom Penh: Mondolkiri is a province with potential for eco-tourism everywhere. Its natural environment is better than in other northeastern provinces. But a tourism official of this province said in a recent meeting that this province has not yet created tourism communities following legislation related to tourism to comply with proper tourism community standards like those in Koh Kong or in other provinces.

“The head of the Department of Tourism of Mondolkiri, Mr. Ngin Sovimean, said, ‘We cannot establish tourism communities, because the provincial forestry administration opposes it, and thus, we need to wait until forestry communities have been created.’ The Minister of Tourism, Mr. Thong Khon, commented, ‘If we wait until the forestry administration has formed its communities first so that tourism communities can be created, that will be very slow.’

“An official of the Ministry of Tourism in charge of tourism communities, Mr. Thok Sokhom, said that previously, the creation of forestry and fishery communities did not work. But tourism communities could operate at other provinces as the provincial authorities cooperate and especially, local people voluntarily and willingly participate.

“Mr. Thong Khon said that the creation of tourism communities cannot be made successful by the tourism sector alone, but it needs cooperation from private partners. If there are no transportation agencies to carry tourists to various sites, tourism communities cannot get active.

“In the meantime, if transportation agencies do not help to advertise tourism communities, those communities will not function.

“Relating to the Bu Sra waterfall resort, the best tourism site of the province, Mr. Ngin Sovimean said that by 2010, after it had been handed over to a private company for investment already more than one year ago, the company did nothing, but just improved only the road from the provincial capital to the site and collects money from tourists every day [but does not do anything for the community].

“Mr. Thong Khon said that the report about Bu Sra resort sent to the Ministry seems accurate. Now, he assigned a secretary of state to take charge of this case, because the related investment plan is among Samdech Hun Sen’s recommendations.

“By now, there are 29 eco-tourism communities countrywide.”

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.18, #5120, 7-8.2.2010

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:

Monday, 8 February 2010

Hun Sen calls down curse on Thai PM over land row

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Tue, Feb 09, 2010

The Nation/Asia News Network

By Supalak Ganjanakhundee

Border tensions died down yesterday but the war of words flared up with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen reciting a curse on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva for his comments on disputed territory.

Thai security forces had been put on alert over the weekend as Hun Sen toured the border near overlapping areas including the Preah Vihear Temple.

The PM arrived in the vicinity of Ta Muen Thom Temple but did not visit the ruins.

Colonel Thanet Wongcha-um, chief of staff of the Suranaree Task Force, which oversees the area, said Thai authorities on the ground informed Hun Sen's advance team the situation was not safe due to the presence of yellow-shirt protesters.

Before leaving the area, Hun Sen presided over the inauguration of Ta Moan village in Oddar Meanchey province, some five to six kilometres away from the temple, Thanet said. Thai troops retreated after his departure, he said.

During the opening ceremony, Hun Sen launched a verbal attack on Abhisit.

Abhisit said on Sunday that Hun Sen's visit to Preah Vihear would help Thailand claim possession of the area surrounding the temple. Hun Sen visited the temple on Saturday and accused Thai troops of invading Cambodia. Abhisit said later that day that Hun Sen's accusation meant the Cambodian leader accepted Thai ownership.

Hun Sen put a curse on Abhisit.

"If you don't tell the truth about Thai troops invading Cambodia, let magic objects break your neck, may you be shot, be hit by a car, may you be shocked by electricity or [may you be shot] by misfired guns."

"Will Abhisit swear on having all his family members killed and having them [perish] in a plane crash, if [he still claims] that Thai troops did not invade Cambodia?" Hun Sen was quoted as saying by Cambodian website Deum Ampil News.

The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that Preah Vihear is located in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia.

Abhisit argued that the court was referring only to the stone remains but the area adjacent to the temple belongs to Thailand.

He said again yesterday that Thailand would never surrender any of its territory.

Relations with Cambodia turned sour after Abhisit took power due to his stance against Cambodia over the Preah Vihear issue.

Hun Sen criticised Abhisit for supporting the yellow-shirt movement, which helped set the stage for the military coup in 2006 and seized Suvarnabhumi Airport in 2008, paving the way for Abhisit to assume power.

Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to the foreign minister, said Thailand regretted learning about Hun Sen's harsh statement.

Such an outburst would undermine attempts to restore diplomatic relations, he said.

Cambodia asks US to cancel $339 million debt

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel smiles during a meeting with Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010. Cambodia asked the United States on Tuesday to cancel US$339 million in debt that dates back to loans from the 1970s, or consider converting most of it into development aid for the impoverished country.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)  

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel, right, and U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Carol A. Rodley meet with Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, unseen, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010. Cambodia asked the United States on Tuesday to cancel US$339 million in debt that dates back to loans from the 1970s, or consider converting most of it into development aid for the impoverished country. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodia asks US to cancel $339 million in debt from 1970s

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Tuesday February 9, 2010

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- Cambodia asked the United States on Tuesday to cancel $339 million in debt that dates back to loans from the 1970s -- or consider converting most of it into development aid for the impoverished country.

The proposal, which came during a visit by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel, was the latest in a long-running exchange about how to handle the debt and what the money was used for 40 years ago.

"Cambodia has asked the United States government to cancel the debt but if it cannot do that, at least turn 70 percent of the debt into aid for the social development of the country," Deputy Foreign Minister Ouch Borith said after a meeting with Marciel. He said if the latter option were accepted, Cambodia would discuss repayment plans for the remaining 30 percent.

Marciel, who is the U.S. ambassador to ASEAN, was expected to brief reporters later in the day.

The U.S. provided low-interest loans to Cambodia during the regime of Gen. Lon Nol in the early 1970s that financed rice, cotton and other agricultural commodities.

Lon Nol came to power in a 1970 coup that ousted Prince Norodom Sihanouk. The United States was the main financial and military supporter of Lon Nol's regime until it was toppled by the genocidal Khmer Rouge movement in April 1975.

Cambodia's current government says the money was also used to "buy weapons and support the war, which caused great suffering to the Cambodian people," Ouch Borith said.

The two countries have not yet come up with a repayment plan, partly because the Cambodian government refuses to accept responsibility for debts incurred by the Lon Nol regime, and partly because of a disagreement over the amount of debt owed.

Cambodia's garment manufacturers and labour unions talk pay rise

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Tue, 09 Feb 2010

By : dpa

Phnom Penh - Cambodia's garment manufacturers have held talks with unions and government officials about sharply increasing the 50-US-dollar monthly minimum wage paid to factory workers, local media reported Tuesday. Unions and the government's National Institute of Statistics have calculated that the country's 358,000 garment workers need to earn at least 93 dollars per month to afford food, housing and travel expenses.

The president of the Garment Manufacturers' Association of Cambodia, an industry body, told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper that he was supportive of the increase "in principle."

"[But] today I want to emphasize to workers that we are only discussing the issue, not agreeing to an increase to 93 dollars," Van Sou Ieng said, adding that the topic required further research before any deal could be reached.

If an agreement is settled on a wage hike, it would be the first increase in two years.

Cambodia's garment-manufacturing industry has been battered by the global downturn with exports to its main US market slumping. The Ministry of Labour reported that 93 factories closed last year for the loss of almost 70,000 jobs. A further 60 factories suspended operations as orders dried up.

In its annual country report released in December, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted that garment exports declined 16 percent by volume in the nine months to September. The IMF said Cambodia is hampered by high electricity costs, unreliable product supply and low productivity.

IMF figures showed garment manufacturing accounted for 15 percent of Cambodia's gross domestic product in 2008 and two-thirds of its exports.

The sector is one of the four pillars of Cambodia's economy. Two of the other pillars - tourism and construction - also registered sharp declines last year. The fourth pillar, agriculture, grew by an estimated 5 per cent.

Brunei-Cambodia air links to be set up to spur tourism

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The Brunei Times Feb 9th, 2010

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

AIR links between Brunei and Siem Reap are set to start, a report from Cambodia’s Phnom Penh Post newspaper reported yesterday.

In its website, the newspaper quoted ranking officials from Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism as saying international flights will also link Siem Reap with Indonesia to boost tourism.

Siem Reap to connect to Brunei,

Tith Chantha, director general of the ministry, was quoted as saying that Cambodia would launch connections with Borobudur in Java, Indonesia in April, while the Brunei flights will follow later.

“If the plan is successful, we believe that more and more tourists will come to visit Cambodia. We hope that tourist numbers will increase around 10 per cent in coming years. We are now discussing technical matters in order to facilitate the flights,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

For its part, Brunei is eyeing a 14 per cent annual increase in its 2010 inbound tourist figures, a higher target than the 10 per cent rise that government’s tourism executives had announced earlier.

Sheikh Jamaluddin Sheikh Mohamed, chief executive officer of the Brunei Tourism Board, said the inbound tourist figures slipped in 2009.

Only 119,540 arrivals were recorded in January to September last year compared to 225,757 in the same period in 2008.The Brunei Times

DAP News ; Breaking News by Soy Sopheap

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Cambodian PM Hun Sen is Pleased with Metfone system

Tuesday, 09 February 2010 06:25 AK MADRA

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen called armed forces to use Metfone mobile system given the company has provided good service nationwide compared with other telephone companies who are currently operating in the kingdom.

The current border situation near Thailand is also a reason, which prompted Cambodian military and police to use Metfone system for security reason to avoid from being tapped the telephone conversations. Dealing with Metfone is safe.

The Metfone cable networks are planted underground. Other companies dealt with air services. “So for security reason, all the military division and brigades facilities must be equipped with Metfone cable network so that to prevent any leaking the secret/confidential plan of military,” he said.

“I asked His Excellency Tea Banh and His Excellency So Khun to immediately set up the telephone’s cable system of Metfone which already reached this area,” he told the crowd at the weekend where he joined the inauguration of the military facilities worth $3.5 million in Preah Vihear province.

Tea Banh is defence minister and So Khun is the minister for Post and Telecommunications. “After the Metfone cables are in place in the area, we use the service the maximum.”

Metfone is a brand name for Viettel (Cambodia) PTE.,Ltd. Metfone proudly launched its services in October, 2008 with largest mobile network, whose coverage of 90 percent all areas in this kingdom including urban and rural areas.

The company has been invested more than $100 million to implement and manage a wide and high quality network with significant operations through all 24 provinces.

Metfone has launched many services like mobile network (MetEco, Met4ever, MetGold, MetBiz), wireless fixed phone network (MetHome) and Internet services with 20 percent cheaper than the others, charging per second.

The company has a big amount of customer care and the call centre staffs to deal with customer all the time, and have 100 Metfone showrooms in all provinces.

Metfone has a lot of new promotions with a special convenience for customers like VAS (Value Added Services) includes I-muzik, I-Share, Call Me Back, Miss Call Alert, GPRS service, SMS Service (Gold Price, Money Exchange Rate, Weather Forecast...)

Hun Sen encouraged the officials to use Metfone rather than other companies, whose services were absent in the areas.

“I and Kun Kim turned on mobile phones which used with other mobile services but did not work, so I had to use Metfone instead,” Hun Sen said in the gathering of more than 4,000 military along with commanders including military deputy military commander Kun Kim.

He also called the government’s inst- itutions concerned to facilitate the works of expanding the Metfone optic cable networks across the country for serving people better the telecom service.

At the end of 2009 Metfone will have 3000 BTS and 10.000 km optic cable, and cover a long the national road, provincial road, urban areas, border areas as well as remote sea islands.

Viettel (Cambodia) is officially the first company launching all services Internet ADSL, IP Leased Line, VoIP, Mobile Network and Wireless Fixed phone.

Metfone provides Internet uses to high schools nationwide, costs about $5 million.

Viettel Cambodia was a Cambodian company invested by the Vietnam leading GSM mobile operator, Viettel, which now serves more than 20 million subscribers, a quarter of Vietnam population itself.

It has over four years of mobile operating experience; however, Viettel is proud to be a well-known brand of the most fast-growing mobile operator in Vietnam. To date, it shares 50 percent of the market, a giant step from the number zero in late 2004.

Cambodia’s telecommunications minister So Khun has been called for more foreign firms to invest in the country’s mobile phone sector to satisfy demand that has been growing 40 percent a year in terms of the number of users. The government also wanted to extend reliable coverage to the whole of the country.

In May, 2009, Russia invested $200 million in telecom service in Cambodia.

A leading Russian listed Vimpel-Communications, VIP, announced $200 million investment in Cambodia, where the company saw a great potentiality of mobile phone users.

VimpelCom was the first Russian company to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange ‘NYSE’ under the symbol ‘VIP’ consists of telecommunications operators providing voice and data services through a range of mobile, fixed and broadband technologies.

Anna Aybasheva, of VIP, has said that the company has planned invest in total of $200 million in the next three years times included a $70 million is now being injecting for the operation through the end of this year.

This impoverished Southeast Asian nation has eight mobile phone firms, all foreign-owned except market leader Mobitel, which worked in partnership with Luxembourg-registered Millicom International Cellular.

Cambodia has an estimated 4 million mobile phone subscribers out of a population of about 14 million people of which nearly 90 percent lived in the countryside.

Cambodia to Spend US$100 Million for Military Development Near Thai Border

Tuesday, 09 February 2010 06:23 AK MADRA

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Saturday that his government to invest $100 million for the development of military and social sector in Preah Vihear province alone, the move aimed at strengthening its defense system and the living standard of the locals.

“This amount of money ($100 million) is not going to spend in the field of defense operation, but also to invest in the social development in this area,” Hun Sen said without details.

Hun Sen assured that assured that his ruling party officials are always there to support military operations to protect the nation from being invaded by any foreign invaders including Thailand.

Roads, bridges and military bases as well as military’s houses have been built and upgraded across the province, where the Temple of Preah Vihear located.

“These facilities enable our soldiers to strengthen their capacities so as to prevent any invasion of the tricky neighbor,” Hun Sen said referring to Thailand.

At the same time, Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who is also Minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Ministers, said he was pleased with the progress has been made by the Royal Cambodia Armed Force (RCAF) over the constructions of military facilities on the 820 hectares of land.

“But we cannot achieve the every thing overnight,” said Dr. Sok An.

“At the same time we must take tough preventive measure on any foreign aggression of taking Cambodian land. We never let any foreign country takes Cambodian land even a single inch,” he said. The government will invest more in the defense field as long as the ruling party of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) continues to stay in power, said the officials.

Hun Sen recalled then the King Norodom Sihanouk who won the case against Thailand over Cambodia’s claimed the Temple of Preah Vihear in which the U.N. court of International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 1962 ruled out that: the Temple of Preah Vihear is situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia.

“I assured our retired King Norodom Sihanouk that we are doing our best to protect the territory from being aggressive by any foreign countries,” he told to more than 4,000 soldiers who attended the ceremony, which displayed more than 20 tanks, heavy weapons including missiles.

“We do not want bloodshed with Thailand, but we will only if it’s necessary,” he was speaking at the inauguration of a US$3.5 million newly built military headquarter, which was funded by Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Sok An, also minister in charge of the Office of the Council of Minister.

“We are avoiding any militarily confrontation as fighting each other is so bad. But this issue is completely depends on the Bangkok government,” Hun Sen told the crowd.

He also slammed the Thais Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva who was quoted in Thais media this week saying that Cambodia’s leaders should negotiate first with Thailand before Hun Sen himself is going to visit the Temple of Preah Vihear.

“Where is the 4.6 square km of disputed area,” Hun Sen asked.

“We, Cambodia, have never accepted any Thais unilateral map.” he said loud.

“Cambodia troops must not pull out from the area. I do not need any negotiation with you (Thailand). That is our land and we do not need you to come and welcome us on our land,” Hun Sen said before he headed off to visit the Temple.

“I can go any time I want to and I can go anywhere if I want to. It is up to me, not you (Thailand’s leader),” he responded to Thais leader comments.

The relations of the two Asian nations have turned sour since Thailand was not pleased with the UNESCO listed the Temple in July, 2008.

The Cambodian Prime Minister warned that Phnom Penh will never reopen its entrance gate, which could be accessed from the Thais side unless the border situation to return to the situation before 15 July, 2008, when both troops clashed and the relations of the two Asian nations turned rocky since.

At least six soldiers were killed from both sides since the two Asian neighbors’ military armed clashed, which have been locked in a standoff since 2008, near at the Temple of Preah Vihear.

Hun Sen has regarded the armed clashes as incidence, not war.

The Cambodian 900-year-old Temple of Preah Vihear was listed by the UNESCO as World Heritage Site in 2008.

Cambodian FM Blasts Thai Media

Tuesday, 09 February 2010 06:22 DAP-NEWS

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said on Monday that Thai media reported false informaion about the visit of Hun Sen to border areas.

“I do not know why they commmented on the wrong things and interpreted PM Hun Sen’s visit in the wrong direction and made the public confused and created the tension. They themselves created tension with us,” Hor Namhong told reporters during a press conference at the Foreign Ministry yesterday afternoon. “They got confused information about the visit. Actually, PM Hun Sen does not have schedule to visit to Ta Moan Temples but Thai leaders and Thai media commented that Cambodia asked Thai side to enter the temples. It is false information.”

PM Hun Sen went to open a new army headquater about 6 km from Ta Moan temple, he explained. “Thai leaders and Thai media system are stupid and I am so sorry to say that. We should say honestly that they are illiterate,” he said. “I so regret that they commented again and again with false information. Moreover, the Thai media and Thai leaders said that they sent a Thai delegation to welcome PM Hun Sen’s visit to border areas, inclduing Preah Vihear temple. In fact, the Cambodian side allowed the Thai delegation to welcome PM Hun Sen on Cambodian soil at Preah Vihear temple.”

Hor Namhong said tensions between Cambodia and Thailand heightened after Thai troops encroached upon Cambodian soil along the border, especially in the Preah Vihear temple region, since July 15, 2008. “It did not come from the appointment of former Thai PM Thaksin as economic advisor to PM Hun Sen, and also it has not been from the non-extradition of Mr. Thaksin. The tension has occurred after current Thai leaders Abhisit and his subordinates used the issue of Preah Vihear temple as a political reason to topple one another and grabbed their own benefits.”

“Thai leaders are stupid leaders, and I am sorry I said these words,” Hor Namhong continued. “Military relations on both sides are good and normal but the politicians in Bangkok always provoked a bad situation with Cambodia. Not only Thai leaders and Thai media system are crazy, but also the spokesman for the Thai foreign ministry is crazy. They are trying to create problems.” He stressed that area near Preah Vihear and temple clearly belongs to Cambodia according to interntaional law, including at the World Court in the Hague in 1962. “If they want (the land), they should please file a complaint to the International Court,” Hor Namhong said.

Thailand apparently plans to protest the registering Preah Vihear temple as a Cambdian World Heritage Site with UNESCO again in July 2010 in Brazil, despite their previous failure. Hor Namhong called the planned Thai actions and “out of date protest” and a “daydream for Thai leaders.”

Hor Namhong confirmed that Cambodia has never asked for Thai assitance for PM Hun Sen’s visit to the border area. “PM Hun Sen walked on Khmer soil and we do not need to ask the Thai side for permission. This is our land,” he stressed.

He also blamed a Thai princess who created for confused comments about Thai-Cambodia tensions. “She is confused about history as a lecturer at the university,” he added.

Aid floods in for Border Dam

Tuesday, 09 February 2010 06:20 DAP-NEWS

Following an appeal from Cambodian soldiers stationed at Veal Entry led by Soy Sopheap, DAP Media Center Director-General, to construct a dam, so far over US$5,000 has been donated by local and overseas donors.

Seang Chan Heng, Heng Development Company Director-General, gave US$2,000 the Cambodian People´s Party (CPP) branch in Massachusetts, US led by Chea Sarun gave US$1,000; So Chong Hour, Sihanouk Provincial Advisor Chief, gave US$1,000; Leang Ching Chay, a Cambodian living in the US gave US$1,000; Khoy Khun Hour, Kampot Province Governor, gave US$1,000; Chorn Chan Leakhena, Cambodian actress, gave US$200; and Chum Sivutin, a student at a Cambodian University, gave US$10.

Veal Entry battle field Commander in Chief Nou Sarat told Soy Sopheap that all soldiers are appealing for aid from all Cambodians both in the country and overseas to build a dam at a cost of more than US$5,000 for the soldiers’ needs. “The dam will be 2m high, 8m wide and it will be able to store the water all the time,” he added.

Leang Ching Chay told DAP News Cambodia that, following his visit to Preah Vihear temple, he saw soldiers short of water. He called for other people living in the US to donate to soldiers stationed at Preah Vihear.

Nou Sarat thanked donors and vowed to protect Cambodian territory, not allowing Thai soldiers to encroach illegally.

Gov’t Blasts ‘Crazy’ Abhisit

Tuesday, 09 February 2010 06:19 DAP-NEWS

Cambodian Prime Minster Hun Sen on Monday had harsh words for Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who has made remarks suggesting that some of the areas visited by Hun Sen are Thai territory.

Hun Sen noted that that Thai Citizens have recently thrown human excrement into Abhisit’s compound, demonstrating their hatred and contempt of him.

“Thai soldiers encroached illegally into Kesekha Kirisvarak pagoda,” Hun Sen said, stressing that the area is not Thai territory as Abhisit had suggested.

“I tell Thai citizens that, among all Thai Prime Ministers, Abhisit is the worst,” Hun Sen said, before addressing Abhisit himself, adding that, “You are very crazy.”

Hun Sen also blasted two Thai newspapers, the Bangkok Post and the Nation, saying they have published erroneous information regarding his three-day visit to border areas.

Thailand has sent more troops to the Ta Morn Thom temple and mistakenly claimed that this area belongs to Thailand. Cambodian has asked Thai forces to withdraw from the area but the Thais insisted that they will stay here to protect a rally of pro-royalist ‘yellow shirts’.

The two nations called for talks to ease the situation then Thai soldiers withdrew from the area.

The Cambodian Foreign Ministry held a press conference to reply to Thai government leaders’ allegations.

“You are crazy and you do not have good advisors,” veteran Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters, apparently also addressing the Thai PM. “You are a Prime Minister (but) you got false news from the news agencies.” The Cambodian Foreign Ministry also displayed documentation proving the Ta Morn Thom temple belongs to Cambodia under international law.

Monday was the third day of Hun Sen’s visit to Preah Vihear temple and other areas at the border with Thailand.

Count 'em up

Photo by: Sovan Philong

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Tuesday, 09 February 2010 15:00 Sovan Philong

Children play high card last week in Kandal Stung district, Kandal province.