Microfinance lending sees growth

Photo by: Rick Valenzuela

Sathapana Ltd's building in Phnom Penh on Sunday. The company saw lending grow by 2.9 percent in quarter one.

via CAAI News Media

Monday, 12 April 2010 15:00 Nguon Sovan

MFI loans rose across the board in Q1, but profits slumped as institutions slashed interest rates

LENDING by microfinance institutions showed signs of growth in the first quarter of the year, with non-performing loan rates remaining mostly steady, industry officials say.

However, companies saw net profits decline quarterly because of a decline in interest rates and the cost of operational expansion, said Hout Ieng Tong, president of the Cambodian Microfinance Association (CMA) and general director of microfinance firm Hattha Kaksekar Ltd.

“We saw small business activities gradually improving in the first quarter. People are starting to need loans for their businesses,” he said.

Hattha Kaksekar’s lending was US$33 million in the first quarter, up 7 percent from the previous quarter. The company’s non-performing loan (NPL) rate remained at 3 percent quarter on quarter.

In 2009, outstanding loans at the Kingdom’s 22 microfinance institutions (MFIs) rose 10.8 percent, to $485.1 million, compared to 2008. The overall NPL rate for 2009 was 2.86 percent, or $8.5 million, a jump from 0.67 percent recorded the previous year.

“This year, it’s expected we’ll see better lending as the economy begins to recover, but we do not expect the NPL rate to drop much,” Hout Ieng Tong predicted.

Lending is also on the up at other leading Cambodian companies, many of which have seen profits fall this quarter.

Samic Microfinance Ltd reported a quarterly rise of 9 percent, to $6 million, in lending at the end of March.

“We think that the economic situation is not better yet, and people’s earnings from their jobs and businesses are not good. Few new businesses have begun or applied for loans,” warned Samic General Manager King Kap Kalyan.

Samic saw its NPL rate drop just 7 points to 4.82 percent, for a total $270,892 in the first quarter of the year, but its profit margin fell nearly 40 percent quarter on quarter.

“We hope that it will become better in the second quarter of this year,” King Kap Kalyan added.

Sathapana Ltd saw lending grow 2.9 percent quarterly to $42.59 million. Net profits at the company fell by 2.5 percent, to $345,000. Its NPL rate dropped 6 points, to 1.97 percent.

“Despite the slight drop in the NPL rate, which showed a slight improvement in the economy, it can be interpreted as clients having made better incomes,” Chairman Bun Mony said.

Prasac MFI Ltd saw outstanding loans increase by 3 percent quarter-on-quarter, to $66 million.

“Portfolio growth during the first quarter is usually slow, because the first quarter is the peak repayment period for agriculture loans,” Prasac General Manager Sim Senacheert said.

Prasac’s quarterly NPL rate showed signs of improvement, dropping 3 points to 1.63 percent.

“After tightening our lending process in 2009, new loan disbursements have had no problems. Almost all of the problem loans were loans that were disbursed before 2009,” Sim Senacheert said.

Prasac’s before-tax profit fell 27 percent in the first quarter, to $633,000, due to a decrease in the interest rate last year.

Representatives of Thanea-kea Phum (Cambodia) Ltd declined to discuss the company’s first quarter figures, but said that it was slowing operations and lending.

CEO Chuon Sophal said: “We are managing loan problems.”

The company lent out $17.3 million in 2009, when it had an NPL rate of 4.9 percent, or $853,083, according to a CMA report.

Stock Roundup

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Monday, 12 April 2010 15:00 Ellie Dyer

POSITIVE economic data released by the US saw commodities rise on international markets last week as faith in the global economic recovery gathered strength.

Crude reached an 18-month high of more than US$87 a barrel Tuesday in London, as Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered oil giant Chevron to commence production from the Kingdom’s offshore fields by 2012 or face losing its contract.

Chevron, the American operator of Cambodia’s Block A concession, announced its first-quarter update Thursday, predicting a rise in quarter-on-quarter earnings in upstream projects internationally, reflecting higher commodity prices. The announcement saw stocks rising 2.37 percent to $79.50 in New York on Friday.

Extraction industries also saw gains internationally this week, as gold prices held strong. Australian mining firm OZ Minerals, which is seeking gold in western Cambodia, saw stock rise by 4.62 percent in Sydney to AU$1.245 (US$1.16) Tuesday. Prices gradually declined to AU$1.22 by the close of trading on Friday.

Southern Gold, which also has interests in the Kingdom, rallied 4.17 percent in Sydney on Friday after a volatile seven days. Its shares closed at AU$0.125 from a week start of AU$0.115.

Challenges ahead for visions of an ASEAN community

Myanmar's failure to embrace democracy is a perennial problem for regional body, ASEAN

A housing apartment block overlooking the Singapore city skyline

Petrol vendors are seen on a Phnom Penh street

 

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By Ian Timberlake (AFP) – 17 hours ago

HANOI — Street vendor Ta Thi Huong has never heard of the "ASEAN Community" which Southeast Asian leaders spent two days last week trying to refine.

"ASEAN? I don't know what it is," says Huong, 40, who wears a traditional conical bamboo hat as she sells apricots on the streets of the Vietnamese capital Hanoi. "What community?"

Making the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meaningful for the region's 590 million citizens is one of the bloc's challenges but observers say the vision faces even more fundamental issues.

Analysts say it is weighed down by wide development gaps within the region, entrenched domestic interests and the perennial distraction of Myanmar's failure to embrace democracy.

Focused on economic issues for most of its existence, ASEAN's 10 members in 2008 adopted a charter committing them to tighter links.

The group aims to form by 2015 a "community" based on free trade, common democratic ideals, and shared social goals including a common identity.

Senior government officials admit that progress has been greatest in the economic sphere, while the political and social "pillars" of their community need strengthening.

"It's easy to have a harmonisation of interests on the economic sphere," said Christopher Roberts, an expert in Asian politics and security at the University of Canberra.

But he said that creating a cohesive community was a task better carried out over decades and that the 2015 goal was unrealistic.

Political, security and human rights issues are "the real point of contention" between the very diverse group of countries, Roberts said.

ASEAN's membership ranges from communist Vietnam and Laos -- one of Asia's poorest nations -- to the Westernised city-state of Singapore, the absolute monarchy of Brunei and the vibrant democracy of Indonesia.

Other members are Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia and military-ruled Myanmar.

An ASEAN summit in Vietnam's capital Hanoi which ended Friday was again overshadowed by Myanmar, and by protests in Bangkok which prevented Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva from attending.

Thailand's long-running political drama is among the domestic issues within ASEAN nations which are distracting it from moving forward collectively, analysts say.

The group has been divided over how to respond to Myanmar, which is under United States and European Union sanctions.

But on Friday it urged Myanmar to ensure that this year's planned elections, which have been boycotted by the opposition, are fair and include all parties.

"You talk of a community, it means that there must be some degree of commonality within the region but as you know ASEAN is made up of countries of varying nature," said Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa.

"Economically less so, but certainly in the political area, we have different political systems working in our neighbourhood."

He said that should not be a problem as long as everyone is committed to the same universal principles including human rights and democracy.

At their summit, foreign ministers fleshed out their vision of a rules-based regional community by signing a protocol to help member nations resolve conflicts.

Scarred by wars in the 1960s and 1970s, Southeast Asian nations have largely lived peacefully together for at least two decades, but smaller-scale conflicts and sovereignty disputes persist.

Cambodia and Thailand have been locked in nationalist tensions and a troop standoff over a disputed temple on their border since July 2008. Soldiers have died on both sides.

Although ASEAN has helped the region avoid war and has allowed its members to get to know each other better, it "has not been really effective" on bilateral issues like the Thai-Cambodia dispute, said Pavin Chachavalpongpun from the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

"It it comes down to national interest, some members, they are not willing to rely on ASEAN... so at the end of the day the term 'community' is rather superficial," he said.

Ahead of the summit, ASEAN took another step towards building the social aspect of its community with the inauguration of a commission to address the rights of women and children.

Natalegawa, who says the ASEAN Community cannot be fairly compared with the much longer-established European Union, said one of group's challenges is how to make a difference in ordinary people's lives.

If it can do that, Huong, the Hanoi apricot seller, will take notice.

Cambodia takes look at biosphere

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12th April 2010

CAMBODIA is looking to the Noosa Biosphere model to learn and apply best practice approaches to sustainable tourism in the KEP Province, three hours south of Phnom Penh.

Chair of Noosa Biosphere and Tourism Noosa, Michael Donovan, recently returned from representing Noosa at a conference titled Sustainable and Responsible Development of KEP Tourism City in Coastal Zone, Cambodia, where he gave the keynote address to more than 180 national and international delegates.

The audience included Cambodia’s regional governor, secretary of state, minister for tourism and representatives from 15 other countries.

Mr Donovan said the two-day conference allowed him to share information regarding the Noosa experience in sustainability, community governance and tourism.

“Education is one of the three primary objectives of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, alongside conservation and sustainable development, and it was a privilege to be invited,” Mr Donovan said.

“The KEP Province in Cambodia has many natural assets that they wish to conserve, alongside their aspirations of a viable and economically sustainable tourism industry.”

The visit was the result of a personal invite from the Cambodian minister for tourism.

Khmer New Year

http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/04/139972.htm

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

April 11, 2010

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

On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I congratulate the people of the Kingdom of Cambodia on the occasion of Khmer New Year.

This is an opportunity to honor Cambodia's culture and its accomplishments. This past year, Cambodians marked a historic milestone when, for the first time in three decades, a former Khmer Rouge official was held accountable for his crimes before an internationally recognized court.

And over the last year, the partnership between our two nations has grown stronger and deeper. Together we have expanded cooperation on law enforcement issues, food security, the environment, and international peacekeeping.

On this festive occasion, let me reaffirm our commitment to both the partnership between our governments and the friendship between our people. We especially look forward to the 60th anniversary of our bilateral relations this coming July, a testament to our enduring bonds.

I offer best wishes for a peaceful and prosperous new year.

“Forestry Crimes Are Activities of National Betrayal” – Sunday, 11.4.2010

 http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/

 

via CAAI News Media

 

Posted on 12 April 2010.

The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 659

 

When Prime Minister Hun Sen spoke out against forestry crimes with extremely strong words – though forestry crimes used to go on regularly and since a long time, as the frequent descriptions in the Khmer press showed – it was understood by sectors of the police and of the military that he really expected change. Illegally cut wood used to be transported illegally – and some journalists who had tried to denounce some of these activities had been hindered or even harassed. And when the UK based organization Global Witness had published a documentation about illegal deforestation going on in Cambodia, the former head of the Forestry Department, Mr. Ty Sokun, had said that this documentation writes lies on every page.

 

We repeat here from The Mirror of 27.3.2010:

 

“During a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen affirmed the position of the government regarding the campaign to strongly intercept forestry crimes, and not to give up. Although there may be barriers against it made of rock or of iron, any obstacles must be broken down.

 

“During the cabinet meeting yesterday, which took from morning to noon, Samdech Dekchor Hun Sen spoke to all members of the Royal Government, saying that all related institutions, whether on the national or on regional levels, have to cooperate to intercept forestry crimes, and to reach the ringleaders. All authorities have to investigate this at every place to find the offenses and to arrest the offenders, the principal leaders, and other relevant persons, to be prosecuted without any exception regardless of how powerful those persons are, and whatever their relationships, because the suppression of forestry crimes is the suppression of criminal groups – their activities have to be considered as activities of national betrayal.

 

“Also, Samdech Hun Sen knows that those who use to do such wood trading are backed by high ranking officials, but this time, no matter how high their positions are, they will be jailed.”

 

As a result, there was a constant stream of related articles during the past week in the Khmer press which show that the Prime Minister’s words had initiated many activities and reactions. The Mirror carried some of them as examples; especially the situation of Mr. Ty Sokun received many comments:

• A Wood Storehouse of the Canadia Bank in the Cultural Village [of Siem Reap] Was Raided, and Hundreds of Cubic Meters of Wood Were Found

• As a Result of the Hot Campaign to Combat Forestry Crimes, Ty Sokun Was Removed and Chheng Kim Song Was Appointed to Replace Him

• After Mr. Ty Sokun Was Removed from His Position, Documents Relating to Irregular Measures Were Disclosed

• Samdech Dekchor Hun Sen Removes Ty Sokun and Warned Other Officials

• A 45-Seater Bus Was Illegally Loaded with 68 Pieces of Ebony [the driver was arrested - Siem Reap]

• Considering Forestry Crimes, Ty Sokun Should Not Be Allowed to Hold a Position, but Should Be Punished according to the Law

• Ty Sokun Was Removed from His Position and the Newly Appointed Forestry Chief Was Warned [by Prime Minister Hun Sen] that He Would Be Jailed if He Cannot Intercept Forestry Crimes [Mr. Ty Sokun said that his ability was limited and most perpetrators have relations with high ranking officials and with the rich, and they often warned forestry officials]

• The Prime Minister Openly Announced to Remove Mr. Ty Sokun from the Position of Director General of the Forestry Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries

• The Wood Stored by the Owner of the [Siem Reap] Cultural Village Was Not 200 Cubic Meters, but More Than 600 Cubic Meters

• The Dangkao District Authorities Found a Wood Processing Workshop [run illegally] in the Piphup Thmey Block of Buildings in Dangkao district of Oknha Hong Piv [and discovered hundreds of cubic meters of luxury grade wood - Phnom Penh]

• A Truck Overturned and More Than 40 Cubic Meters of Ebony Fell on the Street, but the Head of the Forestry Department and Representatives of Other Authorities Did Not Dare to Touch It [an official who asked not to be named said that the wood belongs by an Oknha who has a license to transport it; the wood was to be transported from Pursat to Phnom Penh - Kompong Chhnang]

• Civil Society Supports the Crackdown on Forestry Crimes by the Prime Minister ["and some associations suggested that former Director General of the Forestry Administration Ty Sokun must be bought to a court to be convicted according to the law"]

 The last two headlines point to some concerns, which start to be raised again more, as time passes.

 

Obviously, some lower level servants of the state are not so sure if the words of the Prime Minister will really protect them, if the do what he said they should do. We remember his words: “All authorities have to investigate this at every place to find the offenses and to arrest the offenders, the principal leaders, and other relevant persons, to be prosecuted without any exception regardless of how powerful those persons are, and whatever their relationships.”

 

But there is not only the fear of some people who actively implement the new directives. There is also starting some questioning how seriously the Prime Minsters words can be taken for what they say – on the one hand. But on the other, he is also quoted to have said to Mr. Ty Sokun and to his successor Mr. Chheng Kim Son, that Mr. Ty Sokun failed in his duties, so he is removed, but he is now appointed as an under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Agriculture; but, he is quoted to have added to Mr. Chheng Kim Son, if he too would fail: “Jail.”

 

So the question in The Mirror of 28.3.2020 cannot yet be put to rest: “Another Thunderstorm – or the Start of a Climate Change?”

 

Please recommend The Mirror also to your colleagues and friends.

Clinton praises Khmer Rouge prosecutions in New Year greeting

Cambodians file in to attend the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia trial of former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav (Duch) in Phnom Penh in 2009. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton extended New Year's greetings to Cambodia in which she congratulated the country for recent moves to bring former Khmer Rouge officials to justice, and praised its deepening ties with the US.(AFP/File/Tang Chhin Sothy)

via CAAI News Media

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday extended New Year's greetings to Cambodia in which she congratulated the country for recent moves to bring former Khmer Rouge officials to justice, and praised its deepening ties with the United States.

"This is an opportunity to honor Cambodia's culture and its accomplishments. This past year, Cambodians marked a historic milestone when, for the first time in three decades, a former Khmer Rouge official was held accountable for his crimes before an internationally recognized court," Clinton said in her statement.

Washington and Phnom Penh also have "expanded cooperation on law enforcement issues, food security, the environment, and international peacekeeping," the top US diplomat said, adding that the United States looks forward to the 60th anniversary of bilateral relations in July, which she said was "a testament to our enduring bonds," she said.

As many as two million people were executed or died of starvation, disease and overwork during the brutal 1975-79 Khmer Rouge rule, and a UN-backed court finished arguments in its first trial for former regime officials in November.

The US secretary of state also issued separate New Year's greetings to the people of Laos, calling the Laotian New Year an "opportunity to honor Lao culture and heritage, and to come together to welcome new beginnings and new possibilities."

Visitors to Thailand warned

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/

via CAAI News Media

12/04/2010

New Zealanders in Thailand are being advised to avoid all rallies and any areas of military or security force activity amid continuing political protests in areas of the capital, Bangkok.

Clashes between the Thai army and anti-government demonstrators have escalated in recent days, leaving at least 19 people dead and hundreds injured. The "red shirts" who support fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra have been protesting for nearly a month.

New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is urging New Zealanders to pay attention to the chatter on the street and be aware of their surroundings at all times. Anyone travelling or living in Thailand is being encouraged to register their details with the ministry.

MFAT says protests have been taking place round Rajadamnoen Rd and the Rajprasong intersection although protestors have also been moving around locations within the city at short notice. A number of main roads, Skytrain stations, shopping malls and tourist spots are being temporarily closed down as they become affected by the protests. The ministry warns that further violent clashes between protestors and security forces are possible, including against buildings associated with the Thai Government.

Thailand protests' deadly turn deepens tense conflict

This weekend's clashes left more than 20 dead, taking the ongoing Thailand protests to a new level of intensity. 'Red shirt' protesters say the time for talking is over and insist that the prime minister resign and leave the country.

A Red Shirt guard shows people a bullet in front of some abandoned Thai Army armored personnel carriers after deadly Thailand protests in Bangkok Sunday morning.Vincent Yu/AP

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By Simon Montlake, Correspondent / April 11, 2010

Bangkok, Thailand

Bloody clashes between government troops and street protesters that left more than 20 dead this weekend have deepened a four-year crisis of legitimacy in Thailand's floundering democracy.

"Red shirt" leaders of the Thailand protests have sharpened their demands for political change by calling for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to resign and leave the country. The time for talking is over, they say.

Since last month, the group has been camped out in the Thai capital to press for new elections, and tens of thousands of protesters rallied again Sunday night at a barricaded site in the old city. Others have occupied a downtown shopping district for a week.

Government and military officials also struck hawkish tones Sunday, blaming Thailand’s worst political violence in 18 years on agents provocateurs near the protesters’ lines. They gave little ground on reviving peace talks, instead focusing on the use of illegal weapons against their troops.

In turn, protesters seethed at what they see as an Army massacre of unarmed civilians and threatened to escalate their campaign, which has the blessing of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a fugitive from Thai justice who remains popular among rural and working-class voters.

Parade Monday

Red Shirt leaders vowed to parade Monday the corpses of slain protesters around the politically divided capital. On Saturday night, two bodies draped in Thai flags were carried onto a rally stage and displayed to the crowd, alongside a stack of seized military equipment.

"Red Shirts will never negotiate with murderers," said Jatuporn Prompan, a protest leader, according to the Associated Press.

Panitan Wattanyagorn, a spokesman for Mr. Abhisit, said the Red Shirts must stop their civil disobedience before political negotiations can resume. “If they’re still breaking laws on the streets, its difficult for him to sit down and talk,” he told a press briefing inside an Army base.

Government officials had predicted that the protests would dwindle by Friday, the start of a week-long New Year vacation. But a clash last week at Parliament prompted the declaration of a state of emergency that pushed the two sides towards confrontation. A humiliating rout on Friday for security forces who failed to defend a satellite station appeared to lead troops to stiffen their response Saturday, with tragic results.

Saturday's violence

The violence began after troops repelled an attack by protesters on an Army base and began to advance on a rally site, firing rubber bullets and tear gas to dispel protesters. But the troops gained little territory and failed to retake the site.

The fighting then intensified after dark along narrow back streets, including an access road to Bangkok’s backpacker hub, where foreign tourists crouched in storefronts.

Mr. Panitan said shots were fired at retreating soldiers, who also came under attack from grenades and homemade explosives. He said they fought back with rubber bullets and fired live rounds into the air, not directly into the crowd. This claim seemed at odds with gunshot wounds sustained by protesters near their barricades. Among the dead was a Japanese cameraman for Reuters who was shot through the chest.

Western diplomats briefed by Thai security forces said that the botched crackdown showed that the rally could only be quelled by overwhelming force, given the presence of rogue gunmen. But such an operation would likely result in higher casualties and deepen the crisis. “They were completely unprepared yesterday,” says a Western diplomat.

Thailand in turmoil after 21 die in bloody clashes

Protestors sit on a seized army armoured vehicle after overnight clashes between the army and "Red Shirt" protesters in central Bangkok. Defiant "Red Shirt" Thai protesters vowed to keep up their bid to topple the government, after the country's worst political violence in almost two decades left 21 dead and over 800 injured. (AFP/Manpreet Romana)

Red-shirted supporters of fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra scuffle with Thai riot police officers during continued anti-government protests in central Bangkok. Defiant "Red Shirt" Thai protesters vowed to keep up their bid to topple the government, after the country's worst political violence in almost two decades left 21 dead and over 800 injured. (AFP/Nicolas Asfouri)

Protesters and supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra pay last respect to a coffin of their comrade who was killed during the clashes with Thai soldiers during a memorial service at democracy monument Sunday, April 11, 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand. Anti-government protesters dug into their encampments around Bangkok and rejected talk of negotiations Sunday after a monthlong standoff escalated into clashes that killed 21 people in Thailand's worst political violence in nearly two decades. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

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by Thanaporn Promyamyai – Sun Apr 11, 2010

BANGKOK (AFP) – Defiant "Red Shirt" Thai protesters vowed Sunday to keep up their bid to topple the government, after the country's worst political violence in almost two decades left 21 dead and over 800 injured.

Protest leaders, who have promised to maintain their campaign until the government dissolves parliament and calls fresh elections, demanded Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva step down and leave the country.

Seventeen civilians, including a Japanese TV cameraman, and four soldiers were killed following Saturday's crackdown on the red-shirted supporters of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra in Bangkok, the emergency services told AFP.

On Sunday evening Reds gathered to mourn the loss of their comrades at the city's Democracy Monument -- the scene of a fierce battle on Saturday -- where grieving relatives led a procession holding gold-framed pictures of the dead.

They were followed by weeping men carrying caskets, a couple containing bodies draped with Thai flags and flowers. Some onlooking protesters prayed and others waved red banners. Related article: Japan urges probe into journalist's death

It is the latest chapter in years of turmoil pitting the ruling elite against the mainly poor and rural Reds, who say the government is illegitimate as it came to power in 2008 after a court ousted Thaksin's allies from power.

The violence erupted when troops tried to clear one of two sites in the centre of the capital occupied by the protesters for the past month. Soldiers fired in the air and used tear gas while the Reds responded by hurling rocks.

As the clashes intensified gunshots echoed around the city and both sides accused the other of using live ammunition. Emergency services said two protesters were killed by gunshot wounds to the head.

The government denied troops had opened fire on protesters with live rounds.

"Weapons were used only in self defence and to fire into the air. We don't find any evidence that soldiers used weapons against people," government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn told a press conference.

More than 200 soldiers were injured, 90 of them seriously, he said. One of the dead was a colonel.

At one stage protesters overwhelmed and captured an armoured personnel carrier, while army spokesman Sunsern Kaewkumnerd said government weapons had fallen into the hands of the demonstrators.

The army later retreated, calling for a truce with the demonstrators, who were holding five soldiers hostage. Thousands of protesters remained on the streets at the two main protest sites on Sunday.

"Abhisit must leave Thailand," Reds leader Veera Musikapong told supporters. "We ask all government officials to stop serving this government."

The government said an investigation had been launched into the violence and that negotiations were under way to bring about a resolution to the stand-off without further unrest.

The Thomson Reuters news agency said one its journalists, Japanese cameraman Hiro Muramoto, died after being shot in the chest during the protest. Tokyo urged Bangkok to investigate the death.

The unrest marked Thailand's worst political violence since 1992 and the United States urged both sides to show restraint.

The protesters called on the country's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej to intervene to prevent further bloodshed.

"Did anybody inform the king that his children were killed in the middle of the road without justice?" Reds leader Jatuporn Prompan said. "Is there anyone close to him who told him of the gunfights?"

Although he has no official political role, the hospitalised king is seen as a unifying figure. During a 1992 uprising he chastised both the military and protest leaders, effectively bringing the violence to an end.

Tensions briefly escalated again late Sunday as around 200 Reds drove motorcycles to a nearby bridge, on apparently unfounded rumours that the army was approaching.

Top Red Weng Tojirakarn said their People Television (PTV) station was switched back on after the government twice pulled the plug on the channel.

Thai flags, red roses and incense sticks were placed on pools of blood where protesters were killed or wounded in the Khaosan Road backpacker district, a few yards from a number of ruined cars with their windows smashed in.

Abhisit offered his condolences over the deaths but refused to bow to the protesters' calls to resign.

Arrest warrants have been issued for many of the senior Red leaders but so far none is reported to have been taken into custody.

Thaksin, who was ousted in a bloodless coup in 2006 and is now based mainly in Dubai, also offered his condolences to the victims and their families via the micro-blogging site Twitter.

Sex Crimes Ignored by Some Nations: Rights Worker

http://www1.voanews.com/

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While the US has done much work to punish sex traffickers in Cambodia, many other countries fail to do so, leaving children in danger.

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer

Washington Saturday, 10 April 2010

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cambodian prostitutes Pheap Neang, left, Srey Mao, back left, Soeum Rotha, center, Yin Nuon, back center, Chan Toeung, back right, and Yin Ney, front right, gather at a Phnom Penh slum house.

While the US has done much work to punish sex traffickers in Cambodia, many other countries fail to do so, leaving children in danger, the director of a rights group said Thursday.

“There are some countries that ignore or don’t pay full attention to punishing and trying their own citizens who commit this in Cambodia,” Samleang Seila, Cambodia’s country director for Action Pour Les Enfants, told “Hello VOA.”

Some nations support the release of alleged perpetrators from detention or seek reduced punishment from the government, he said.

“Some countries apply [the law] well and firmly, such as the US, but some countries need to take similar action,” he said.

Peng Maneth, a lawyer and second guest on “Hello VOA” Thursday, said Cambodia has enough laws to punish sexual predators against crimes such as pedophilia, debauchery, child exploitation and other immoral acts, with sentences up to 20 years in prison.

Samleang Seila met with US Congresswoman Lorreta Sanchez in Siem Reap this week, where she was visiting to learn about child trafficking, he said. In the meeting, he raised the issue of Americans traveling to Cambodia for sex tourism.

Most sex tourists come from the EU, US and Asia, he said Thursday. Since 2003, Action Pour Les Enfants has rescued more than 360 victims of trafficking, he said.

Efforts to recover bodies of missing journalists in Cambodia spark ire

http://www.miamiherald.com/

via CAAI News Media

Posted on Sunday, 04.11.10

In 1970, 2 war reporters, one the son of a famed actor, set out on a story and vanished. A new effort to recover their remains has unleashed a storm.

BY PERRY DEANE YOUNG

McClatchy News Service

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Forty years have passed since my close friends Dana Stone and Sean Flynn rode bright red motorcycles into Communist-held territory in Cambodia on April 6, 1970, and were never seen again. Dana was a cameraman on assignment with CBS; Flynn was freelancing for Time magazine.

Now, suddenly, almost out of the oblivion of time, their names are back in the news with reports from Cambodia that Flynn's remains may have been found.

I emphasize that word ``may'' because there's no evidence whatsoever that the remains are Flynn's. He would have hated this kind of sensationalism. The son and spitting image of actor Errol Flynn, Sean loathed the superficial celebrity that went with a name that was only partly his own.

Stone, the merry prankster among the press corps in Vietnam, would be delighted to see his name in the papers and would have a wickedly funny remark about it all that cut right through the hype.

An international group of journalists has been outraged in recent days, not with the finding, but with the manner in which the search was conducted. Two ``bounty hunters,'' as the London tabloids described them, took a backhoe to a site where as many as 12 Westerners were thought to have been buried. Neither of them had any credentials as archaeologists or forensic researchers. One is an Australian adventurer; the other is a British-born bar owner in Cambodia.

Their ``finding'' came days before the ``first and last reunion'' of the aging correspondents who covered the dreadful wars of the 1970s in Cambodia. The sponsors billed it as the last because they said most of us were so old that we'd never be able to get there again.

INTO THE UNKNOWN

Vietnam War correspondents Flynn, Stone, Stone's wife Louise and I had been part of the lively young group of friends celebrated in Michael Herr's Dispatches and in my own book, Two of the Missing, which I initially wrote as a magazine article to help publicize their plight as civilian POWs.

On that fateful day, April 6, 1970, other reporters overheard Flynn and Stone arguing just before they left the little village of Chi Pou.

``I've got a wife in the hotel back in Phnom Penh, and I haven't spent all this time here to get myself captured,'' Stone said.

``I know it's dangerous,'' Flynn said. ``That's what makes it a good story.''

Flynn grabbed Stone's keys and tossed them into a mud puddle. Stone retrieved his keys and quickly joined him.

In a stunning picture taken as they headed out, Flynn is dressed in a floppy hat, T-shirt, cut-off jeans, flip-flops and, of course, the latest shades from Paris. Right to that last adventure, he remained ever the casual one about the reckless daring he was known for as a photographer in Vietnam.

Lacking Flynn's glamorous looks, Stone was if anything an even more memorable character. He could never sit still long enough for college, but he was an intellectual in that he was always trying to figure out what he was witnessing and what his pictures really meant. He could recite A.E. Housman's A Shropshire Lad from memory.

If you were his friend, you knew to expect a lightning-quick thumb in your perfectly cooked, over-easy eggs or mashed potatoes, or a lighted trail of lighter fluid up to your nose as you lay sleeping.

That morning 40 years ago, I got a call from my former colleague, Tom Cheatham, at UPI. ``Just wanted you to know they think Flynn and Stone have been captured, but don't worry . . .''

``Don't worry? I wish to hell I were with them.''

Even I was shocked by my response. In truth, I knew at the time that nothing would ever measure up to the very special camaraderie we'd shared in Vietnam . . . and nothing ever has. I remember coming back to the world, standing with a friend in a Greenwich Village jazz club and saying: ``I feel like my life is all in the past.''

I was 29 years old.

THE SEARCHES BEGIN

The search for Flynn and Stone began almost immediately after they were captured. Dana's wife, Louise, may have seemed like a mousy little thing to some, but she instantly became a tiger determined to find her ``Danie.''

In 1970, she went to the site where these bones were just found after she interviewed a captured Khmer Rouge soldier who reported seeing Westerners who looked like Flynn and Stone.

She hired a Dutch adventurer to cross into communist lines to look for them; she talked two young men who'd hijacked an American munitions ship into escaping house arrest in Phnom Penh and going over to the communists.

She knew that her Dana would come back; he always had. Many years later, she would die a terrible wasting death from multiple sclerosis, still clinging to that hope.

Walter Cronkite headed up an international group of journalists to negotiate with the communists and try to convince them that the Westerners were journalists, not combatants.

The group hired Zalin Grant, a former Army intelligence officer and Time reporter, to interview captured communist soldiers. The consensus was that Flynn and Stone might have lived for as long as six months, but probably no longer. They probably were executed out of expediency.

In recent years, Flynn's closest friend, legendary war photographer Tim Page, has picked up the search for the remains of Flynn and others. In a British documentary, Danger on the Edge of Town, Tim found some remains that he thought were Flynn's. They turned out to belong to one of the mutineers.

At the time, I was appalled by Page's digging and coming out with what may have been pieces of our old Saigon roommate. Page may need that kind of closure, but I don't. Still, at least Page did what he did with great respect, even reverence. I shared his outrage over the desecration caused by these recent headline seekers.

I want to remember Flynn and Stone as they're preserved in that last picture, alive and young and setting off on one more adventure. Like Housman's To an Athlete Dying Young, they won't live to wear out their laurels, and their names won't die before they do.

Still, at least Page did what he did with great respect, even reverence. I shared his outrage over the desecration caused by these recent headline seekers, and I must say, I was delighted to hear the report back from a trip Page took to the burial site on April 4 with New York Times reporter Seth Mydans.

``Good news and bad news,'' Mydans e-mailed me. They made the trip, all right, he said, but they were denied access. At last, the site has been sealed off by JPAC, the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command.

Maybe now my friends' remains will be properly found and identified, and they'll be safe from scavengers. I have no interest in seeing their remains, however. I'll hold on to to that last picture.

Perry Deane Young is the author of three plays and nine books, including ``Two of the Missing: Remembering Sean Flynn and Dana Stone.''

Chinese vice president meets Cambodian senior minister

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April 11, 2010

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Cambodian Senior Minister and Minister of Planning Chhay Than in Boao, a scenic town in south China's Hainan Province, April 10, 2010. (Xinhua Photo)

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Saturday met here with Cambodian Senior Minister Chhay Than on advancing bilateral relations.

Chhay Than came to the resort island in south China for the annual session of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), a pan-Asian platform for dialogue on key issues affecting Asia and the world.

Chhay Than said he would like to take this opportunity to convey Cambodian leaders' greetings to the Chinese leaders.

Xi said China-Cambodia friendship, created and cultivated by the older generations of leaders, withstood the test of changes in international arena and was deeply rooted.

Thanks to deep political trust, effective cooperation and close coordination in international issues, China-Cambodia relations had became a paradigm of how countries of different systems can work together, Xi said.

Xi appreciated Cambodia for supporting China on issues concerning the country's core interests, including issues related to Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang.

Xi pledged China would work with Cambodia to further advance bilateral all-round partnership of cooperation.

Chhay Than thanked China for providing generous support to Cambodia's economic and social development.

He also spoke highly of China's positive role in leading the world out of economic recession.

Chhay Than was one of 2,000 political and business figures and experts from Asia and around the world who gathered at the island resort in south China's Hainan Province for the BFA annual session.

Source:Xinhua

Holland church gathers for Cambodian New Year celebration

Robert Kanavel/Sentinel contributor Children perform a dance during the Cambodian Fellowship Christian Reformed Church New Year celebration Saturday at the Holland Civic Center.

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By BLAKE THORNE

The Holland Sentinel

Apr 11, 2010

Holland, MI — It’s fitting that the Cambodian Fellowship Christian Reformed Church picked Saturday to celebrate.

It was three days before the Cambodian New Year and six days after Easter — the two holidays they were celebrating.

“Tonight, we gather together in hope,” said Mark Wilson, a member of Cambodian Fellowship, as he gave a sermon to the crowd of about 150 at the Holland Civic Center. “The hope of the new year, the Cambodian New Year. And the hope of Easter.”

The Cambodian New Year celebrates many of the same themes as the western-style New Year, like new beginnings and a fresh start, said elder Steve Cheung.

With Easter falling so close, it makes sense to celebrate the two together, he said.

“We still love Jesus Christ, but we don’t forget our culture,” he said. “So we celebrate it all together.”

The celebration included authentic Cambodian food, music and dancing and guest speakers, including Ben Meyer, academic dean and registrar for Kuyper College, and State Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R- Holland.

Members of other churches and ethnicities came out to the event, as well.

A chaplain with Request Foods, Pete DeHann has been to the celebration in previous years.

“It’s a very good time,” he said. “And the food’s to die for.”

Dressed in a silk, two-piece traditional Cambodian outfit, Deb Wilson helped tend a table covered with Cambodian goods for sale. The items — from traditional scarves and artwork to T-shirts — were brought back from a mission trip.

Along with her husband, Mark Wilson, Deb Wilson lived in Cambodia for 10 years, she said.

With such a large Cambodian population in Holland, the annual New Year and Easter celebration has been a good way to bridge the cultural divide, she said.

“I think it’s a really cool blending of belief systems.”

Cambodia asks to convene ASEAN summit to help defuse Thai's extremely tense situation

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(philstar.com)  April 11, 2010

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) - Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Saturday night proposed to hold an urgent ASEAN summit to help defusing Thailand's extremely tense situation.

In his letter to Pham Gia Khiem, Vietnamese deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, Hor Namhong said "in light of this very grave development which no one knows when it will end and whether it will lead to more bloodshed, I think that we, as fellow ASEAN member states cannot stand idle and leave ASEAN image at stake any further."

Hor said he refered to the current "extremely tense political situation in Thailand, which has already claimed many human casualties."

"Therefore, I would like to propose that Vietnam as Chair of ASEAN should issue a Declaration on the situation in Thailand, or convene an urgent special ASEAN Summit in order to help looking for any appropriate ways to defuse such an extremely explosive situation in our friendly Thailand," he said.

ASEAN comprises of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Lua Viet opens new tours of Cambodia

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04/11/2010

The Lua Viet Company will launch several new tours of Cambodia during the upcoming National Reunification Day holiday (April 30) with the support of the Cambodia Ministry of Tourism.

During a tour of Angkor Wat over three days and two nights, visitors will have a chance to attend an international Buddhism cultural exchange at Bayon temple and to explore the world’s wonder of sculpture and architecture.

They will enjoy special pieces on the Buddhist legend performed by art troupes from Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

In addition traditional tours of Siem Reap-Angkor Wat-Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Sambor Preikuk – Preah Vihear, there are scenic tours of ancient temples, pagodas and famous places in 6 Cambodia provinces.

Cameroonian detained for smuggling Khmer gold to Thailand

http://www.mcot.net/

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SA KAEO, April 9 (TNA) – A Cameroon man was abruptly detained with smuggled gold by Thai officials at the Aranyaprathet district immigration checkpoint after having crossed the border from Poi Pet in Cambodia to Thai territory.

Arrested while carrying wheeled baggage, the man was asked to be searched, as said by officials, for he was deemed suspicious.

Grains of gold weighing some 1,250 grammes were found packed in a plastic bag hidden in the suitcase without legal documentation permitting the importing of gold.

Milol Francis, 35, confessed to the Thai authorities he had travelled to Cambodia and bought the precious metal, which he said had been smuggled by various gold mines in Cambodia and later sold in Phnom Penh.

Milol said he had bought the gold for US$2,000 in order to resell it in Cameroon. Thai officials said the gold was seized and legal action will be taken against the suspect. (TNA)

Thai-Cambodian relations improves: Kasit

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/

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By The Nation

Hanoi

Thai-Cambodia relations have ameliorated greatly due to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's positive comment, according to Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya.

Kasit, who attended the just concluded Asean Summit here this morning, said that on the sideline of the summit, he met Hun Sen. "He was very positive. He also dismissed the report that the red shirts used the Cambodian airwave," Kasit said.

Relations between the two countries were downgraded last year when the fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra was appointed Hun Sen's economic advisor, which has set off verbal war between both sides.

Kasit said both countries are now considering tangible measures that would increase mutual confidence.

Park near disputed temple to be opened

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/
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By The Nation
Published on April 9, 2010

The Khao Phra Viharn National Park will be temporarily opened for tourists from April 10 to 18, National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department directorgeneral Jatuporn Burutpath said yesterday.

The department agreed to open the park's Mor E Daeng cliff and Noen Nub Dao areas for tourists during the Songkran holidays after Si Sa Ket governor Raphi Phongbupakit filed a request for the park to be opened. The park has been closed for six months over security concerns after conflicts erupted between Thailand and Cambodia over the Preah Vihear temple being listed as a World Heritage Site. Paramilitary officials would ensure security for the tourists, who are only allowed to visit designated areas.

Thai protesters storm into TV compound

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By KINAN SUCHAOVANICH, Associated Press Writer

BANGKOK – Thai anti-government protesters stormed Friday into a telecom company compound where authorities had shut down their vital TV channel, as soldiers and riot police failed to hold them back with tear gas and water cannons.

It was the first use of force by the government in monthlong protests aimed at ousting Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and forcing new elections. At least 10 protesters and three security personnel were injured in the brief confrontation in a northern Bangkok suburb, The Nation newspaper said on its Web site.

Hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails, the "Red Shirt" protesters breached the barbed-wire perimeter of Thaicom Public Co. Ltd. within minutes, though they were not immediately able to enter the main building. As they moved into the compound, security forces threw tear gas canisters and fired water cannons but then quickly retreated into the main building as thousands of protesters swarmed around it.

Red Shirt leaders then attempted to negotiate with police to get the People Channel, or PTV, back on the air, while many protesters headed back to downtown Bangkok after hearing rumors that the military would try to clear demonstrators out of one of their encampments in the capital.

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn indicated that PTV would remain shut down, saying, "We will restore their signals only when they report the truth again."

After the clash, some security forces were seen throwing down their shields and riot gear and shaking hands with the protesters. In recent weeks, police have frequently shown sympathy with the protesters and analysts say the security forces, especially the police, are split in their loyalties, making it difficult for the government to enforce its orders.

The Red Shirts offered water to soldiers and police, and showed reporters a small cache of weapons, including M-16 assault rifles and shotguns, they had seized from soldiers.

"We've got the upper hand. But we no longer can claim we are peaceful," said Thep Jitra, one of the protesters. "I suppose (those who broke into compound) have been emotionally repressed for so long. I'm sure this is such a release for them. This is pay-back time."

The escalating demonstrations are part of a long-running battle between the mostly poor and rural supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and the ruling elite they say orchestrated the 2006 military coup that removed him from power. They see the Oxford-educated Abhisit as a symbol of the elite and claim he took office illegitimately in December 2008 with the help of military pressure on Parliament.

Leaders of the Red Shirt movement initially said they would march to undisclosed locations across Bangkok on Friday in their biggest rally yet, but switched plans after the closure of their satellite TV station, with protest leader Nattawut Saikua telling followers, "We're all moving in one direction."

"We're going to bring back our People Channel," he said.

Columns of protesters, riding motorcycles and pickup trucks, blared horns and waved red flags as they moved out of their two main encampments and headed north 28 miles (45 kilometers) to the offices of Thaicom in the suburb of Pathum Thani.

Thaicom, which relayed the PTV signal via satellite, was founded by Thaksin, a telecommunications tycoon turned politician. He no longer owns it.

The government security agency estimated that 15,000 people were in the motorized caravan, but army spokesman Col. Sansern Kaewkamnerd placed the number at about 3,000. Both figures are far below the biggest estimated turnout of about 100,000 during the early days of the protests last month.

PTV was set up and financed by Red Shirt sympathizers. A number of small community radio stations also are allied with the protesters, who also use cell phones and social networking to communicate.

The protesters have camped in Bangkok's historic district since March 12 and have occupied the capital's main shopping boulevard since Saturday, forcing the closure of major shopping malls and causing tens of millions of dollars in losses.

On Friday, the Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for three leaders for seizing the commercial district, the official Thai News Agency said. A total of 27 warrants have now been issued but no leaders are known to have been taken into custody.

Abhisit declared a state of emergency on Wednesday and canceled a one-day trip to Hanoi for a summit of Southeast Asian leaders as he searched for ways to resolve the showdown without the use of force.

The emergency order means the military now has greater power to restore order, but both Abhisit and the army know a crackdown could result in bloodshed that would be political poison.

So far, the government has exerted no significant force to stop the escalating demonstrations. Instead, it has censored the protesters' communication links. On Thursday, it blocked PTV and dozens of Web sites that broadcast the protesters' fiery rallies and calls to the countryside for reinforcements.

Panitan said the media outlets put out false information, including warnings that Abhisit had authorized the use of force against protesters.

Most of Thailand's television stations are owned by the government, but other media are privately owned and reflect a wide spectrum of political opinion.

A group of demonstrators briefly stormed Parliament on Wednesday, forcing officials to flee over a back wall and by helicopter, and prompting the emergency decree, which allows authorities to impose curfews, ban public gatherings, censor media and detain suspects without charge for 30 days.

___

Associated Press writers Denis D. Gray, Jocelyn Gecker and Grant Peck contributed to this report.

Show features Cambodian artists

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By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/08/2010

This painting by Phung Huynh is titled Good Fortune Good Luck by a Cambodian Chinese woman born in Vietnam, living in Los Angeles. (Brittany Murray / Press Telegram)

Photo Gallery

Artist in Residence Sokhorn Meas from Phnom Penh sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia is in Long Beach on a 3 month visa to create his art. Meas is creating a sculpture using seven thousand chopsticks and wire. The piece, along with others by 33 artists from Cambodia, the U.S. and Korea will be displayed at Hancock University beginning Friday through May 7. (Brittany Murray / Press Telegram)

LONG BEACH - It's called "Self-portrait as a Needle." And artist-in-residence Meas Sokhorn's art piece, which sprawls nearly from floor to ceiling, certainly qualifies as a work in his specialty, called large-scale installation.

While Meas' work may be a kind of centerpiece, it won't be all that's on display. He is one of 33 artists whose work is to be shown at an exhibit opening today with a free public reception at Hancock University from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., entitled Global Hybrid II.

The show builds on a July 2009 show called Global Hybrid I in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, that featured Cambodian, Cambodian-American and French artists with Khmer connections.

It is also an outgrowth of a show in Long Beach last April at the 2nd City Council Arts and Performance Space, called Transformation II: Bringing Contemporary Khmer/American Art to Long Beach.

The series of shows are part of an ongoing collaboration between several groups of artists and arts supporters, including Lydia Parusol, the art manager and curator of the Meta House gallery in Phnom Penh, and Denise Scott, who is also curating the exhibit and splits time living in Cambodia and the U.S.

Like last year's show, the current exhibit is a kind of a moveable feast in sculpture, paint and multimedia of contemporary art and artists both from Cambodia and abroad.

Meas, for example, is in the midst of a three-month residency supported by the U.S. State Department. He has been working for seven weeks on "Self-portrait" which is an abstract, flowing sculpture constructed from about 7,000 chopsticks.

The day before the show opened, Meas was still filling in his piece and bemoaning the time constraints.

"The more time I have, the longer the song I can sing," he said with a smile as he snipped off the end of a chopstick.

In another part of the large open space, Parusol displayed a multimedia piece by artist Chath Piersath, an artist, who fled Cambodia after the Pol-Pot regime to Massachusetts but has since returned to his homeland.

The interactive piece is a collection of blocks that can be flipped and rearranged, like a puzzle, to create different faces and identities.

Parusol said the piece is metaphoric in many ways of the changing faces of Cambodia and the country's struggle to find and shape its own identity. This becomes particularly challenging as the once closed nation continues to grow into and be shaped by the global community.

Parusol says in Cambodia, young artists who don't paint Buddhas or classical dancers have a hard time being recognized. Art education is nearly non-existent in schools and there is virtually no funding for the arts and very little interest among the country's leadership, she says.

As a result, many artists use "found objects" or discarded materials to create art and tell stories.

One artist whose work is on display is Sokemtevy Oeur, a 26-year-old woman who has stirred the art scene in her home country with her portrayal, on canvas and in her own life, of women.

Global Hybrid II and other efforts by places like Meta House are trying create avenues for emerging artists.

Parusol says in Cambodia's younger middle class there are flickers of knowledge and appreciation of modern art.

"It's happening slowly, slowly," Parusol said. "But, you know, it's small steps, step by step."

Not unlike what can be made of 7,000 chopsticks.

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