Buddhist monk arrested for rape of British tourist at mountain-top shrine

Cambodian monks at the historic temples of Angkor Wat (file picture). A monk has been arrested on suspicion of raping a British tourist in the north of the country

MAIL Online

By Richard Shears
19th November 2008

British tourist he was guiding to mountain-top temples.
Police said the orange-robed novice had been arrested after the 39-year-old unnamed British woman told police he had attacked her at a tourist site in the north-west of the country.

The monk, Thorn Sophoan, 17, confessed to the crime, according to local police.

Police chief inspector Mey Chhengly said details of the sexual attack were still sketchy.

The British woman had gone alone to the summit of the Phnom Sam Pov mountain where there is a temple and three natural springs.

According to the inspector, the monk had befriended the woman when she arrived to look around the area.

He added that she and Sophoan, who had joined a temple only one month earlier, were still giving their sides of the incident.

'He admitted to the rape as soon as we arrested him,' said Chhengly.

The inspector continued that when senior monks heard about the alleged attack, Sophoan was defrocked immediately.

The monk faces up to 25 years in jail if he is convicted of rape.

Many young Cambodians become monks to escape widespread poverty, but they do not always devote their lives to the clergy.

Sometimes they are briefly ordained so they can pay gratitude to their parents, honour a dead relative or study Buddhism.

They are a common sight on the streets of most towns as they walk around carrying pots to collect alms to pay for their temple food.

Cambodia is becoming increasing popular with Western tourists, although officials advise it is still a 'risky' country, where robberies are common.

Last month, four men, former members of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge guerrillas, received lengthy jail sentences for the murder of British mine expert, 37-year-old Christopher Howes.

Last January, an eight-year-old French girl was molested by a monk at the famous Angkor Wat ruins and he was instantly defrocked.

Seven months later, a monk was arrested after being accused of the rape and murder of a Cambodian child, aged 10.

Poor nations meet in Cambodia to discuss trade, financial woes

Poor nations meet in Cambodia to discuss trade, financial woes

AFP - Thursday, November 20

SIEM REAP, Cambodia (AFP) - - Poor countries must use trade as a tool to survive the financial crisis gripping richer nations, Cambodia's premier told a meeting of officials from developing countries Wednesday.

Trade ministers and representatives from nearly 50 nations under the Least Developed Countries grouping gathered for two days of talks in Cambodia's northwestern tourist town of Siem Reap.

Opening the meeting, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said the world's poorest nations were already suffering "a strong trade barrier", with tariffs and strict controls hampering their access to world markets.

With richer governments now suffering from the credit crunch, they may also cut foreign aid, investment and imports, he said.

Hun Sen called on the grouping to find ways to work together to expand exports and attract foreign private capital to help develop their countries.

"Although the world is facing the current financial crisis we must ensure a transparent, stable and feasible business climate," Hun Sen said.

World Trade Organization director general Pascal Lamy told officials at the meeting that the trade deal was now more important than ever to help poor countries.

"There is a strong sense that we are all on the same boat and that we must act and coordinate together if we are to lift ourselves," he said, according to an official transcript of his remarks.

He said the international community needed to keep in mind "the interests of its poorest and weakest members and deliver on the promises" of more and better development aid.

The financial crisis will "no doubt have profound, and possibly prolonged, effects" on poor countries, he said.

A statement from the UN Industrial Development Organization and the WTO, which jointly organised the conference, said the talks should focus on speeding up trade reform in poor countries.

The Doha round of WTO negotiations is also slated to be discussed in Cambodia on Wednesday and Thursday, the statement said.

Attempts to hammer out a global trade pact have repeatedly broken down as the world's poorest nations and economic powers trade blows.

Developing countries have been pressing for greater access to agricultural markets in the industrialised world. Developed nations are in return seeking a better deal for their manufactured products in developing markets.

Lamy said on Monday in Geneva that negotiators must redouble their efforts to conclude a new trade deal by the end of the year.

Cambodia urges unity among poor nations on trade

News One

Staff and agencies
19 November, 2008

He also lashed out at wealthy nations for maintaining trade barriers that hurt poor countries, such as farm subsidies and high food safety standards.

He spoke in a speech opening a two-day conference of industry and trade ministers from 49 so-called least developed countries in Siem Reap province, Cambodia‘s tourist hub.

The World Trade Organization‘s Doha Round talks that began in 2001 broke down in July because of a dispute among India, China and the U.S. over tariffs to protect farmers in developing markets.

Protectionism will only cause more pain to the development prospects of poor countries that are now facing "profound and possibly prolonged effects" from the global financial crisis, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said at the conference.

He urged WTO members to agree by the end of the year on methods for settling disagreements on agriculture and industry in order to provide "a stepping stone" toward the conclusion of the Doha Development Round in 2009.

Farmers Want Campaign Promises Kept

Cambodian farmers want restrictions on the import of products they can grow inside the country.

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
19 November 2008

Khmer audio aired 19 November 2008 - Download (MP3) Khmer audio aired 19 November 2008 - Listen (MP3)

Cambodian farmers called on government officials Wednesday to keep to their election campaign promises to improve agriculture, as a two-day meeting among regional representatives wrapped up.

The farmers said they were promised increased irrigation, more technical training and fertilizer and seeds, but were disappointed by the sector’s meager portion of the national budget.

“The budget for agriculture is so small compared to the budgets of other sectors, like defense, when in fact 80 percent of the population are in agriculture,” Farmers and Nature Net, a national farmers’ association, said in a statement.

The government should prevent imports of agricultural products that local farmers can grow, and Asean members should to exchange agricultural products on an equal balance, the farmers said. The group also called on the government to provide low-interest loans to farmers to help them develop the sector.

The farmers made their appeal at the end of a two-day seminar of the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development, held in Phnom Penh.

The association hopes to propose to Asean leaders funding for developing regional agriculture, said AFA Secretary-General Esther Penunia.

“In December in Thailand, we know there will be a summit of Asean leaders,” she said, referring to the 14th Asean Summit, scheduled for mid-December in Chiang Mai. “We are planning to hold a dialogue with some Asean agriculture officials for an initial presentation of this recommendation. The recommendation includes the establishment within Asean of an agriculture development fund, establishment within Asean of a services council and Asean regional policies.”

Cambodia has some competitiveness in free trade, much of it rubber, as well as rice. Cambodia is also importing rice and “surprisingly” cigarettes, said Riza Bernabe, an AFA researcher.

Multiple Parties a Worry for Opposition Voice

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
19 November 2008

An independent election monitor expressed concern Wednesday that the increase of political parties in the National Assembly could weaken the political voice of the opposition.

In July’s elections, the Sam Rainsy, Human Rights, Norodom Ranariddh and Funcinpec parties all won seats, and if they remain disjointed, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, with its 90 seats, will run the lawmaking body, according to the Committee for Free and Fair Elections.

“The increase of the political parties will be able to disqualify the opposition if they are not united, while the ruling party has major success,” Comfrel said in a statement, announcing a monthly analysis.

CPP lawmaker Cheam Yiep said the many parties within the Assembly conformed with the constitution, which supports a liberal, plural democracy.

“The implementation of all state affairs cannot become a dictatorship or be of legal wrongdoing, and the five parties in the National Assembly demonstrate the will of the people, who were confident in five parties among 11,” he said.

SRP lawmaker Ke Sovannaroth, who is the party’s acting secretary-general, said Wednesday the weakening of the opposition in the National Assembly “is not our concern.”

“However, we are concerned about human rights violations and land grabbing, which we must help to solve,” she said.

Typing? Consider Khmer Unicode Font

By Poch Reasey, VOA Khmer
Washington
19 November 2008

Khmer audio aired 17 November 2008 (6.20 MB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired 17 November 2008 (6.20 MB) - Listen (MP3)

The development of the Khmer Unicode font has many benefits for Cambodia, according to Be Chantra, a communications officer of the Open Institute, a local organization that designed the font and the operating system Open Office.

“First of all, the Khmer Unicode font allows users to type faster and follow the Cambodian grammar, for example, you type the way you spell the word,” Be Chantra said, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

Cambodia has had difficulty in the past providing a font that operating systems can work with, or that is universal. With Khmer Unicode, the designers hope to make it easier.

Another benefit is that computer programmers can use Khmer Unicode to design a whole program or operation system in Khmer, Be Chantra said.

Lastly, people can search for news and information relating to Cambodia, in Khmer.

“The other cool thing is that people can also chat and email using the Khmer Unicode font on the line if both sides have the font,” he said.

The Khmer Unicode font is free for all. Those who live in Phnom Penh can go to the Open Institute office and get a free CD-Rom for installation. Overseas Khmer-speakers can download the font free of charge at www.khmeros.info.

Impunity Hurting Political 'Maturity': Official

Ambassador Sichan Siv with President George HW Bush (Courtesy of Sichan Siv)

By Poch Reasey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
19 November 2008

Khmer audio aired 16 November 2008 Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired 16 November 2008 Listen (MP3)

Cambodia has the potential to be an industrialized nation, but corruption and impunity have kept it politically immature, a former US ambassador said.

Sichan Siv, who serverd as US ambassador to the United Nations, said Cambodia has slowly overcome its problems since the early 1990s, but certain impediments remain.

“The problems of corruption, crime and impunity still exist in Cambodia,” he told VOA Khmer. “However, I believe that when the government and society can solve these problems, our country can achieve political maturity.”

The former ambassador was at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Texas last week, where he paid a call on former president George HW Bush and addressed 200 Boy Scouts on leadership and patriotism.

“I have hopes that Cambodia has the potential to become industrialized, because Cambodian people are hard working, have a strong culture and have a strong civilization,” he said. “Our ancestors built the Angkor temple. This is a symbol of our strong civilization.”

Sichan Siv also said Cambodia could industrialize thanks to the Cambodians’ love of study.

“Just look at the French language,” he said. “Everyone my generation speaks French. Now people speak English. Cambodians like to learn what’s new, to adapt to change.”

Cambodia had enjoyed the double-digit economic growth for the past several years, but the global economic slowdown has drastically reduced projections for 2009.

Russey Keo floods halt lake reclamation

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Teacher Chea Meng, 47, checks his fishing nets in the flooded courtyard of Russey Keo district's Chea Sim Chamreoun Rath High School.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Chrann Chamroeun and Thomas Gam Nielsen
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

THE filling in of Boeung Kak lake has been suspended until flooding in the capital's Russey Keo district is under control, putting a temporary halt to one of Phnom Penh's biggest development projects, city officials said Tuesday.

"We have stopped [pumping sand into the lake] for a while, and when the flooding in Russey Keo has gone down, we will have a discussion with the company about pumping or not pumping," said Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Pa Socheatvong.

He added, however, that a "technical problem" had also halted the pumping, which he did not believe was directly responsible for the flooding that has left large swaths of Russey Keo under water for weeks.

"Heavy rain is the main source" of the flooding, he told the Post.

Boeung Kak residents have been engaged in a drawn-out fight with City Hall over compensation since a private company began reclaiming the lake in August, protesting several times for fair-market value for the homes they are losing.

Some 4,000 families will eventually be affected by the project.

An official with HSC, the company behind the pumping, said it had only stopped operations for last week's Water Festival but declined to comment further.

Several residents in the lake's Village 22 said that since the pumping stopped earlier this month, the water levels in their flooded homes have gone down significantly. "Before, when they were pumping, the water was almost one metre deep in my house, but now it is gone," one villager told the Post.

Officials at the Boeung Kak Development Committee's offices said Tuesday that they did not want to comment on the situation.

The 133-hectare Boeung Kak development will feature residential and commercial facilities.

But it has come under fire for its impact on the surrounding area, from expected flooding to the mass evictions.

City Hall has long maintained the land surrounding the lake - parts of which were a former Sihanouk-era park - is state land and could not be claimed by squatters under the Land Law.

Related Story

Villagers say troops torched 300 homes

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Cheang Sokha and Sebastian Strangio
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Villagers living on disputed land near Bokor National Park violently evicted for the second time in six months, say human rights groups

HUNDREDS of families are homeless after their violent eviction from their village on the outskirts of Bokor National Park in Kampot province, according to local residents and rights groups.

Villagers from Anlong Krom, in Kampot's Taken commune, say hundreds of troops from RCAF's Brigade 31 arrived without warning Monday and Tuesday and set fire to 300 wooden homes belonging to the residents - the second eviction from the area this year.

In June 300 armed soldiers from Brigade 31 demolished the homes of 200 families, who fled to the nearby hamlet of Kbal Damrey.

Anlong Krom resident Hem Da said villagers gathered to protest Monday morning but were threatened with arrest by the soldiers.

"When villagers protested, [the soldiers] hurt them and threatened to arrest and imprison them," he said. Rights groups say six local villagers were injured - three seriously - as they protested the destruction of their property.

Hem Da added that no replacement housing has been provided to the affected residents. "They have not found a relocation site for us," he said. "We have nowhere to live."

The eviction came a day before four residents from a nearby village are scheduled to stand trial on charges of robbery and damaging private property in an earlier confrontation with Brigade 31 soldiers.

Nhek Chantha, 52, Vong Ma, 46, Moeu Sopheak, 19, and Noeu Kak-Kada, 18, were arrested in June for protesting the subdivision of land in Kbal Damrey village, needed to house the villagers evicted from Anlong Krom.

Related Story

Water, water everywhere and not an exam in sight

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
Children are towed through the Russey Keo district floodwaters Tuesday in an inner tube.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Khouth Sophak Chakrya
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Students in Russey Keo may have their December exams cancelled because their schools will still be underwater

THOUSANDS of students, some of whom have already missed more than two months of school, will have their first semester examination cancelled if authorities in Phnom Penh are unable to drain floodwaters from their schools on time, an education official said.

Hout Samrith, the vice director at the Municipal Department of Education, Youth and Sport, told the Post on Sunday that the first-semester examinations for the 2008-09 school year will start next month, but some Russey Keo schools are still flooded.

"The flood was a setback. Thousands of students are not going to school because their schools are still flooded," said Hout Samrith."

The first semester's examination program is coming in December, and if the schools are still flooded, then my students cannot take the exam. This will be a problem for us," he said.

Stuck at home

Dy Tep Kosal, the director of Chea Sim Chamreoun Rath High School, told the Post that he closed the school's doors a month ago because of flooding. More than 1,000 students from his school have been stuck at home since then, with only about 300 students from grade nine through 12 being sent to study temporarily at another school.

"More than 20 days of flooding will set back any school. The students here would be able to learn as well as the students in other schools in Phnom Penh if there were no rainfall," Dy Tep Kosal said.

"But if rainfall continues and the flood does not recede from my school, the first semester's examination will be cancelled," he added.

A new phenomenon

He said that his school has never flooded like this before, but since City Hall started to develop the Russey Keo district, the facility and others have become swamped.

"I think if City Hall can move the water to the Prek Thnaot canal, then my school and others in the zone will no longer be flooded," Dy Tep Kosal said.

Kem Sophany, 17, a student at Chea Sim Chamreoun Rath High School, said that her home was also flooded, but that was not a serious problem because she could leave by boat. The bigger issue is that her school is under 135 centimetres of water, causing her to put her studies on hold.

"I want to be a good leader in the future, but I will not be able to ... if flooding continues. I want all the students to be able to go to school happily," said Kem Sophany.

Poch Thavirak, director of Tuol Sangke Primary School, said that he has about 500 pupils who are stuck at home due to flooding. He said that the floodwaters will not recede from his school in time for exams.

"I hope City Hall will be able to remove the water from the Russey Keo zone in order for the students to go to school," he said.

Two months of floods

Two months ago, 21 schools in Russey Keo district were flooded. Now, some of these schools have reopened their doors. But despite efforts, the problem remains. Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema said that City Hall has tried everyday to get rid of the water, but with the almost daily rains, the flooding will not ease anytime soon.

"We cannot say when the flood will completely recede from this zone, but we are trying hard to remove the water everyday," Kep Chuktema said. "Now, we are not only fighting with flooding in Russey Keo, but also global climate change."

But education officials in Russey Keo district claim that, rather than climate change, a poorly planned development project that filled in a nearby drainage lake to make room for residential housing, a new dry port and a power plant, is to blame for the flooding.

Residents say the months of high water has brought pollution and sickness to those living there.

Khieu Samphan's pretrial detention extended one year

LANGUAGE BARRIER
Co-lawyers for Khieu Samphan will be in town December 4 for a public hearing on the issue of translation. Lawyer Jacques Verges said in April he could not properly defend his client until more than 10,000 pages of documents were translated into French.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Neth Pheaktra and Georgia Wilkins
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

The Khmer Rouge head of state is the last of five former regime leaders whose release was rejected by Cambodia's war crimes tribunal

CAMBODIA'S war crimes tribunal extended Khieu Samphan's pretrial detention for an additional year Tuesday as delays continue to hamper the UN-backed court.

The 77-year-old former head of state's initial yearlong detention ends today, days after co-investigating judges ruled that two other former regime leaders, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith, would also remain jailed for another year.

"The co-investigating judges of the ECCC have decided to prolong the detention of Khieu Samphan for one more year," said co-investigating Judge You Bun Leng, who made the ruling with his international counter-part, Judge Marcel Lemonde.

"We respect the internal rules of the ECCC in regards to the conditions of detention," he told the Post Tuesday.

"But if we don't extend his detention, we would have to release him. And if we released him, it may provoke many problems in regards to security, public order and witnesses. We have rejected his appeal for release one time already, so he will still be in detention."

According to the internal rules, judges may renew pre-trial detention only twice after a suspect's initial detention, and must justify their decision with evidence directly linking the charged persons to the crimes that they allegedly committed.

Khieu Samphan is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Sa Sovan, a co-lawyer for Khieu Samphan, told the Post Tuesday that they would protest the extension.

" If we released him, it may provoke many problems in regards to security. "

"We will appeal against the co-investigating judges' decision. One year ago, the tribunal did not find any arguments for Khieu Samphan's detention, and he is provisionally in jail. Now that the provisional detention has expired, I request that the tribunal release Khieu Samphan," he said.

Sa Sovan and French lawyer Jacques Verges have also appealed their client's detention on the basis that the failure of the court to fully translate their client's case into French has resulted in a serious violation of his rights.

A public hearing on the translation issue will be held on December 4.

The court's first public trial, that of former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, is expected to begin next year after delays, both procedural and budgetary, pushed back the process by several months.

The tribunal opened in 2006 with a three-year schedule that has since been extended to 2010.

Thais protest Cambodian flags, signage at Preah Vihear

Photo by: HENG CHIVOANA

Cambodian Unesco Commission flag flies over Preah Vihear temple.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Meas sochea and Brendan Brady
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Bangkok cries foul, claiming Cambodian officials violated Thailand's sovereignty during a November 7 temple ceremony

THE Thai government has lodged an official complaint with Cambodia for having put up flags and signs at the hotly disputed Preah Vihear temple, saying they were raised in Thai territory.

"The Royal Thai government will not tolerate the construction or erection of signpost/emblem or any structure outside" the area defined as belonging to Cambodia by the World Heritage Committee in July, the Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a letter obtained Tuesday.

A separate statement posted on the Thai foreign affairs website called the move "a flagrant and willful violation of Thailand's sovereignty and territorial integrity".

Cambodian officials on November 7 raised Cambodian and World Heritage flags at the 11th-century monument and unveiled signs declaring the temple international cultural property under special protection, in a ceremony not attended by UN officials.

They said the effort was to protect the temple and accused Thai troops of damaging it during a border clash the previous month.

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan defended Cambodia's action, saying, "Raising the national flag and Unesco flag was proper to protect that area because it has been listed as Cambodian, and as a World Heritage site".

"Since 1962, the map accepted by the International Court of Justice has been used and shows this land belongs to Cambodia, so we're not sure why they should be complaining."

But he was confident the latest spat would not interrupt progress in negotiations over border demarcation.

Preah Vihear, which sits on an escarpment on the Thai border, was given heritage status in July.

A tense military standoff over contested border territory has followed.

Chinese party officials wind up goodwill tour

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Sebastian Strangio
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

A DELEGATION of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials departed Cambodia Tuesday morning, following talks with King Norodom Sihamoni and senior government figures.

The delegation, led by Zhang Gaoli, a member of the CCP Central Committee's political bureau, met with King Sihamoni, Prime Minister Hun Sen and other government officials in a series of meetings Monday, Chinese state media reported.

At the talks, Zhang thanked the King for his efforts to push forward ties between the two countries and pledged China's continuing commitment to the "independence, peace, reconstruction and development" of Cambodia, the report said.

It also said he praised the efforts of former King Sihanouk, who is close to senior Chinese leaders and maintains a residence in Beijing.

"The King Father has long been a very good friend of China," said Qian Hai, first secretary of the Chinese embassy in Phnom Penh. "He has made a great contribution to the national friendship."

According to the report, in a separate meeting, Hun Sen reaffirmed Cambodia's support for the Chinese government's One-China Policy, something Qian said was a pillar of the bilateral relationship.

"For a long time they have supported the One-China Policy. We are very [grateful] for Cambodia to have granted support to [reunification]," he said.

The 17-member CCP delegation arrived in Siem Reap Thursday and is scheduled to visit Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, where it will hold talks with key ruling party officials.

Silver lining to property cloud

Photo by: TOUCH ROATHY

If land prices fall , vacant lots like this one near Northbridge International School may become more attractive to developers.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Nathan Green
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

The end of Cambodia's construction boom spells bad news for the country and its workers. But if land prices also fall, it could kick-start a new wave of development in the Kingdom

Asharp downturn in activity on construction sites across the capital Phnom Penh is the clearest sign yet that the construction boom that has propelled Cambodia's economy in recent years is grinding to a halt.

The big question now is what effect the downturn will have on property values, which have soared in recent years as land has been snapped up for a raft of ambitious development projects, the majority funded from offshore.

According to Sung Bonna, president of the National Valuers Association of Cambodia and the Bonna Realty Group, property prices in Phnom Penh rose somewhere between 50 percent and 80 percent in 2007, and between 80 percent and 100 percent in the first half of this year.

Prices reached as high as US$5,000 per square metre in June in some prime central city locations before easing off in the lead-up to the July election.

Many expected the respite from soaring prices to be brief, but the prolonged border dispute with Thailand and regulatory uncertainty following the botched implementation of new rules on housing development financing prevented the market from taking off.

The global credit crunch then kicked in, eroding credit lines for international developers, who were responsible for the bulk of the Kingdom's major development projects.

Sung Bonna believes land prices have already started falling, at least in Phnom Penh. He puts the decline at somewhere between 20 and 25 percent from a historic peak in June.

"It seems like the storm has come to hit Cambodia," he said. "More investors are moving out of the country and there are no new investors. Everybody needs the money, so they are trying to sell to get whatever they can."

But even with asking prices dropping, no one is buying, he said. "We are waiting to hit the bottom. I think there is a little further to go, and it will take a little more time."

But Jean-Benoit Lasselin, business development manager at Cambodia Properties Limited (CPL), disagreed, saying a lack of transactions was not evidence that prices were falling.

"We have information that people are selling, but we have no customers looking to buy land," he said.

Rather than drop prices to secure a sale, owners were waiting for confidence to return, meaning at worst the market would stagnate.

"The price is going to stay stable, but there is no fear it is going down," Lasselin said.

Firesales coming

ANZ Royal chief executive officer Stephen Higgins agreed with Lasselin that there had so far been no fire-sale prices in Cambodia, but only because people hadn't yet been forced to sell.

He expected that to change as speculators started to come up against the cold, hard reality of financing. Although investors tend to use cash for property purchases in Cambodia, many of the larger developments had borrowed a small amount against the total value of their investment.

"You are starting to see some people getting into financial trouble because they were always reliant on trying to off-load the property," he said. "It's like a game of musical chairs.

" Most people here haven't borrowed, but you still have enough that have borrowed that are going to get hurt. I suspect in the coming months we will start to see some forced sales."

Silver lining

But if prices are also falling, is that a bad thing? Not according to Toby Dodd, general manager for Cushman Wakefield Vietnam. He has long warned a real estate correction was needed in Cambodia or the country risked stunting economic growth through excessive land prices.

"The market is running away with itself and needs to regain affordability. Otherwise, Cambodia will face the same problem as Vietnam," he said.

Vietnam also experienced soaring property prices this decade as economic growth encouraged speculators to snap up land for development. But the speculation pushed prices beyond the reach of locals and foreigners seeking to do business in the country, forcing many to pull out. Ironically, many of those escaped to Cambodia where, until recently, prices were much lower.

"If land prices get too high, then the answer is no, developments won't stack up," he said. "Construction costs in Cambodia are about 15 to 20 percent higher than in Vietnam, so the result is either rents have to be higher or land prices are lower. But if rents are higher, MNCs [multi-national corporations] won't set up shop.

"It's simple: If you can't cover your costs and make money, why bother?

"Bernard Wouters, senior architecture design manager at Archetype, said high land prices constrained end-uses, requiring developers to undertake ambitious projects rather than build the more modest office buildings that Phnom Penh was arguably in more urgent need of.

Keith Oi, country head for property consultancy Knight Frank Cambodia, warned that property values had to be taken with a grain of salt in Cambodia due to the absence of an official body to publicise transactions.

However, he agreed that land was overpriced, and that excessive valuations could impede future development.

"If you are ready to purchase land for $3,000 a square metre, you need to work out what is the best use for the site," he said. "A lot of times when you work backwards, the land value is not worth $3,000. It is much lower."

He said a rule of thumb is that the cost of land should be between 10 percent and 15 percent of the total gross development value, or GDV, of a new project.

With around three acres, or 12,140 square metres, required for a good grade A office development, at $5,000 per square metre the total GDV needs to be in the vicinity of $60 million, a substantial amount for a country of Cambodia's economic potential.

The projected cost of ANZ's planned 10-storey office tower, by comparison, was just $20 million, according to a source close to the company.

"We have talked to a lot of foreign investors who say prices are ridiculous for what they can develop the land into," Oi said. "The asking price for the land is well above any reasonable demand."

But if the bubble really has burst in Cambodia, respite may be on its way for the next wave of developers to hit the country.

Cambodian workers ask for pay parity with Vietnam builders

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Soeun Say
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Cambodian construction workers have hit out at the higher wages typically paid to their Vietnamese counterparts, asking for similar pay for similar work.

"We work the same as Vietnamese construction workers but we get smaller wages," said Chub Chom, the chief of construction workers at the Chip Mong Construction Co.

"But, if you compare the quality, we are better than Vietnamese construction workers because we are serious about doing high-quality work."

Sok Sovandeith, president of the Cambodia National Federation of Building and Wood Workers, said the 2,000 to 3,000 Vietnamese working in the construction sector in Cambodia earned around US$7.50 per day, compared with between $4 and $6 for Khmer workers.

He said the perception among many construction managers was that Vietnamese workers were more productive. "They think that Cambodian workers do not have sufficient construction skills and also work slower than Vietnamese workers," he said.

The attitude held, regardless of whether the project was funded from Cambodia, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea or Singapore, he said, adding that Cambodian construction workers had a similar skill level to their Vietnamese counterparts.

Chung Savoeun, the chief of construction workers at Senmonorom City in Phnom Penh, said Vietnamese construction workers worked faster, but quality suffered as a result.

"I don't recognise their quality of work," he said. "The quality is lower than from Khmer workers, who are more serious about their work."

He added that Vietnamese construction workers were paid more, irrespective of their skill level. "I don't understand," he said. "Some Vietnamese construction workers have no skill in construction but they get higher wages than us. I don't know why."

A 34-year-old Vietnamese construction worker, who asked to remain anonymous, said he had worked as a construction worker in Cambodia for more than two years. He said that he earned between $6.50 and $7 per day, despite having only basic skills in construction work.

At home with Chhin Sotheary, TV presenter

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Soeun Say
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

My favourite part of my home
My favorite parts of my home are my living room and my bedroom. If I am in these rooms, I feel very relaxed. I like my bedroom because it has a modern style and looks very beautiful.

How I relax at home
When I want to relax at home, the first thing I do is go into my kitchen and cook. I also like to relax by cleaning the house, and when everything is clean, I like to read books and use the computer. Sometimes I like to listen to music in my bedroom or watch TV. I'm so busy with my job, I haven't got time to go anywhere, so I like to just stay at home whenever I can.

When I entertain
When I invite friends or relatives to come to my home, I like to serve nice food and talk.

My decorating style
My home is decorated in a modern style, mixing Khmer and Western elements. I like modern styles, but I will never forget my Khmer culture. The Khmer style is very simple, which suits me because I don't like clutter. I also have many pictures on the walls, and I have put statues of King Jayavarman VII and the Apsara in my living room.

What would I change
In the future I want to have a modern villa. In my villa, I want to have a swimming pool, gazebo and garden, and I will fill my villa with modern luxuries.

Motorbike sales nosedive as local economy slumps

Photo by: Sam Rith

Motorbike shops along Sihanouk Boulevard near Olympic Stadium. Dealers report slower sales compared to last year.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Sam Rith
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Local motorbike dealers report slower sales as the falling property market and declines in foreign investment hit consumer spending at home

THE global economic crisis and a weakening property market have hit local motorbike sales, with dealers reporting drops of as much as 70 percent this year.

"Last year I did not have enough motorcycles to meet demand, and a lot of customers booked their vehicles in advance. But this year I have a lot of remaining bikes in my shop," said Chhay Ly, owner of Chhay Ly Honda Motorcycle Shop on Kampuchea Krom Boulevard.

He said his profits have nearly evaporated and he now sells only four or five bikes per month, at US$980 to $2,300 each, down from about 12 last year.

"The drops are caused by the slow economy," he added.

Motorbike sales soared last year and in the first half of 2008 as Cambodians cashed in on the strong property market and record foreign direct investment.

But with the economic crisis spreading to local markets and property values in freefall, motorbike dealers are feeling the pain of consumer belt-tightening.

Principal form of transport

Motorcycles are the Kingdom's most common form of transport, and the government says that 800,000 bikes are registered in the country.

" This year has been very quiet. Last year, a lot of people bought bikes at my shops. "

"This year has been very quiet. Last year, a lot of people bought bikes at my shops - most were people who made money from selling their land outside of Phnom Penh," said Chhim Neang, owner of Chhim Neang Selling Motorcycle Shop. She reported a 40 percent sales drop, which she blamed mainly on the property market.

Keo Rottana, director of MCT Motorcycle Manufacturing (Cambodia) Co Ltd, which is a wholesaler of electric bikes, all-terrain vehicles and small electric cars from China, said his sales have dropped significantly, even after he cut prices from $600 to $550 each.

"We have seen a lot less buy orders from the provinces."

He said last year his company sold about 2,000 units, but this year sales dropped about 30 percent.

Another wholesaler, Pok Phalra, director of JM Japan Motorcycles Shop, said he has sold virtually no second-hand motorcycles imported from Japan.

"This year, sometimes I sell one bike and sometimes none," he said. "Last year I could sell up to eight bikes per day."

Cheng Song Heap, owner of Cheng Song Heap Motor Shop, a major motorcycle retailer in Phnom Penh, also said he has been affected by a drop-off in business.

"People are now depending on their salaries. They are not seeing large profits from land sales like last year."

According to a local property expert, the real estate market may not recover any time soon.

"It takes about one to two years before land prices will return to normal," said Sung Bonna, director of Bonna Reality.

Finance Minister Keat Chhon confirmed early this month that Cambodia's economic growth would slow to 6.5 percent next year.

LDC commerce ministers start trade talks in Siem Reap

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Erica Goldberg and George Mcleod
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Forty-nine ministers from the world’s poorest countries to discuss commerce, aid and the effects of the global economic meltdown

Siem Reap

COMMERCE Ministers from 49 of the world's least developed countries (LDCs) converged on Siem Reap Tuesday to kick off a two-day summit on trade liberalisation and aid.

"We are looking for participants to draft a declaration on the issues raised in this conference, but with the global economic situation, we expect to have a very interesting debate," said a spokesman at the conference.

The talks are sponsored by the World Trade Organisation and the UN Industrial Development Organisation (Unido) and will be attended by donor agencies and NGOs.

Mao Thora, a secretary of state at Cambodia's Ministry of Commerce, said that developing countries will continue to liberalise trade, even with the difficult economic times.

"By joining the international community, we can increase production, lower rates of tariffs and continue to open our markets.... Progress will need to happen through local efforts, but we will need guidance from international agencies," he said at the conference.

Focus on int'l markets

A spokesman for the conference said that the talks will focus on improving developing countries' ability to compete on the international market.

"[The conference] will help enhance capacity for the supply-side.... There is a global move to open up trade, but LDCs face special challenges."

The meeting will allow developing countries to discuss the outcomes of the recent G20 meeting in Brazil, as well as the WTO's Doha round of talks on trade liberalisation.

" you might be open to trade, but it doesn't mean that anyone is going to buy what you're selling. "

The Doha round produced an agreement to remove trade barriers by rich countries on at least 97 percent of exports from the poorest countries. Western subsidies on agricultural goods, which are a key LDC export, would also come down under the Doha agreements.

Adrie De Groot, a director of Unido, said that he is optimistic that the talks will help developing countries to adapt to the international economic crisis.

"Although there is a shortage of credit, the impacts [of the crisis] aren't felt much in developing countries because investor money will flow into growing economies. There may be a positive impact on developing countries, although trade ... may be less."

Free trade policies moot?

Least developed countries have come under pressure by the global economic crisis as commodity prices plummet and foreign direct investment dries up.

One London-based analyst wondered whether slower demand might make free trade policies for developing countries moot.

"You might be open to trade, but it doesn't mean that anyone is going to buy.... Trade liberalisation doesn't make up for falling trade and economic growth," said Vanessa Rossi, a senior research fellow with the International Economics Program at Chatham House.

She added that the Aid for Trade programs spearheaded by international institutions would have difficulty succeeding in a global recession.

"Aid will not drop ... but the problem with the Aid for Trade initiative is that LDCs are seeing a headwind of falling trade."

[LDCs] have to look at how they are going to survive a very rough ride," she said.

A lifeline to Cambodia's poor

Photo by: Camilla Bjerrekaer

Li Afini, 13, is examined by dentist Rick Northen. A piece of the tooth has been causing her pain for several months.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Camilla Bjerrekaer
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Fully equipped floating outpatient dental and medical clinic provides free care and education to people in Kampong Cham and Kandal provinces

ASHIP, a doctor, a dentist and a very dedicated crew have helped thousands of people in poverty along the shores of the Mekong and Bassac rivers to cure disease and alleviate toothaches since they set sail in March 2007.

The project, called the Ship of Life, offers a fully equipped floating outpatient dental and medical facility, a laboratory and a pharmacy dispensing free medical care to people in need in Kampong Cham and Kandal provinces. The ship is run by the Christian NGO Partners in Progress.

Rick Northen heads the operation as chief dentist and project director.

Many of his patients have never been to a dentist, while those who have never received treatment from a qualified practitioner.

"We combat a lot of ignorance and superstition. It is very common for me to hear, ‘If you take out my tooth, will I go blind?'" Northen said.

Northen and his wife, Gail, have been living and working on the ship for more than a year. Some 13 other staffers also share quarters aboard the ship - four Americans and nine Cambodians, including a doctor, pharmacist, ship's captain and engineer.

Reaching out

"Our primary goal is to reach out to those who cannot afford [medical treatment]," Northen said.

" Our primary goal is to reach out to those who cannot afford [medical treatment]. "

Northen said the ship typically gets about 125 patients on any given day. "Sometimes, we have had as many as 800 people seeking treatment in a day, so we can only see a fraction of those," he said.

The ship's doctor treats minor injuries and illnesses, and prescribes free medication and vitamins. More serious or surgical cases are referred to provincial hospitals or facilities in Phnom Penh.

The crew also tries to educate patients while they are on board. "We show videos ... on hygiene, nutrition, disease prevention, bird flu, dengue fever and mosquito [bite] prevention while they wait," said Gail Northen, who operates the ship's triage station.

Typical day

On this day, the ship is offering a single-day session on the Chruoy Changvar side of the Tonle Sap in Phnom Penh - its final day of operation before going into dry-dock for six weeks to undergo repairs.

Patients line up along the shore to receive numbered slips before hurrying up the gangplank to the ship's triage station, where Gail and her staff check their vitals before they see the doctor or dentist.

Sisters Ya Afini, 18, and Li Afini, 13, have come aboard with the hope of easing toothaches that have troubled them for months. Li Afini is first up. Most of her right front tooth is missing, except for a gray stump sticking out of her gum. She has been in constant pain for the better part of a year.

She winces as Northen administers a local anesthetic, her eyes wide with fear.

"I am scared because I think it will hurt," she said, but feels nothing but relief when the rotted tooth is extracted.

Northen does tooth extractions on most of his patients, but he also does fillings and teeth cleaning.

With the help of an additional volunteer doctor from Phnom Penh, 134 patients receive medical treatment during the session, and another 60 receive dental work.

"It breaks my heart to have to take the...teeth out of these little girls, but there is nothing I can do.... So we simply try to make it not hurt," Northen said.

Moto-library brings books to all

Photo by: ANNE-LAURE POREE
Nom Soklot reads to children from the Hun Sen Chunloeung school in Kandal province.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Anne-Laure Poree
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

KANDAL

Thanks to the efforts of Kandal's rice-farmer-turned-librarian Nom Soklot, thousands of villagers have access to a travelling library and are getting increasingly into books

FOR six months, Nom Soklot has been riding around Kandal province's Rokhar Chunloeung commune on a small motorbike with a box of books strapped on the back.

In a desperately impoverished province, the 33-year-old is the only access to reading material many residents have.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of her small moto-library, the 5,400 inhabitants of the five villages in her area have had access to books and magazines - which they can read at their houses or borrow until the moto-library returns the next time.

"They really like to read a lot in this area," said Nom Soklot, laughing.

"They love everything related to cattle breeding and to farming. They also enjoy a lot of magazines.

"Despite the fact the commune she serves is one of the poorest in the district, it is filled with curious people hungry for knowledge.

Many villagers - adults and children alike - visit the nearby library, which is run by one of Nom Soklot's colleagues, Ngoy Phat, who supplies her with books.

A big event for a village

Villagers know when Nom Soklot's moto-library is coming because she lets the local authorities know three days in advance.

When she arrives, it is something of an event: She stops outside the village chief's house and unstraps the box of books from her bike.

" I regret that my motorbike cannot carry more... I would bring more books. "

Word gets out and villagers start to gather. Children come running back from nearby fields and crowd around to read. "

If the time of Nom Soklot's visit does not suit villagers, they can go to the Education for All centre which was created - at the community's request - by the NGO Sipar in order to offer information and training to villagers.

The activities of this centre focus on the library, which was established in a nearby school.

Ngoy Phat plans Nom Soklot's tours of the area in response to demand.

"I regret that my motorbike cannot carry more weight; I would bring more books," Nom Soklot said.

She added that she had to be careful about the tiny scooter breaking down on one of the small, muddy tracks she must cross daily.

The motorbike was donated by Sipar, which builds libraries in Cambodian schools and publishes books in the Khmer language aimed at young people. "

The perfect librarian

Last Thursday, Nom Soklot's moto-library was due at Hun Sen Chunloeung school, which has been open for three years in its new premises but still lacks a library.

At around 7:30am, she arrived and unfolded mats under the covered part of the school playground, where about 200 children soon joined her.

In this under-the-sky library, reading came as a welcome break for the children, who were laughing, talking and sitting with friends as they devoured the moto-library's offerings.

Some exchanged magazines, some answered puzzles, while others listened attentively as Nom Soklot told them a story - concentrating so hard her cheeks turned red from the effort.

Her audience did not miss a single word.

"I've just finished a librarian training in Prey Veng. I feel that I have learned a lot. I have become more clever and more qualified," said Nom Soklot.

"Now I understand how to code books, I know how to make an inventory and I tell the stories much better. Before the course I read too fast without taking time to show the illustrations in the books to the children.

"Nom Soklot is a wonderful example for the young pupils whom she visits.

She smiled when she heard someone call her teacher, or neak krou, as she only went to school through third grade when her mother's illness forced her to drop out.

Until the age of 31, this rice-farmer's daughter worked in the fields.

When the Education for All centre opened in 2006, she went there regularly to borrow books to read to family and friends in the shade of a tree in front of her house.

As her audience wanted more and more stories, she went to the library more often. When one of the librarians resigned, the director of the centre though it a good idea to ask this ardent reader to replace him.

"I was so panicked with this idea," she remembered.

"It made me sick. I did not think I was able to take this kind of job with these responsibilities."

After consulting with her family, she finally accepted the offer. The director trained her step-by-step.
"I have made a lot of effort; I have read plenty of very interesting books," she said.

"After that, I did not want at all to go back to work in the rice fields," she added.

Being a native of the area, Nom Soklot knows everyone and has an incredible power to pass on her enthusiasm for books.

She picks books according to her audience, and the moto-library has become its own success story, with more than 50 books a week now being loaned out to villagers in the area.

The only thing Nom Soklot could wish for is more books.

Working for Cambodia's future

Photo by: SOVACHANA POU

Cambodian students at Phnom Penh's Wat Ounalum.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by SOVACHANA POU
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

COMMENT

Why education is the only answer to Cambodia's problems

LIFE is calling. Cambodia is calling. Being back home makes me think in a different perspective. I feel as an outsider stepping into, and an insider stepping out of, the same country. I look forward to contributing to the educational wealth of my beloved country through teaching. I am at the stage of my life where my primary goal is to help develop the younger generation to lead useful lives for the benefit of human kind.

I feel my work has just begun.

As any patriotic Cambodian, I am proud of my heritage and my tradition. After many wars, our country and our people suffered enormously and faced many setbacks, such as deep-rooted mistrust, Khmer killing Khmer, grinding poverty, injustice, greed, corruption, land grabbing, nepotism, a culture of impunity, oppression of thoughts and actions, fear, destruction of our natural resources, safety, security, education, lack of respect of the rules of laws, etc.

Poverty is rampant all over the world, but there is nothing like being poor in Cambodia. It is very fashionable to talk about the poor so the top leaders can get more foreign aid. Unfortunately, it is not fashionable to talk with the poor to find out the reality of their sufferings. The environment most Cambodians are living in now is hurting the next generation. We have lost many traditional values.

The reality is Cambodia is still a very poor country, plagued by uncertainties and a mess of contradictions. I don't have all the answers to the complex problems. I am far from perfect, but as a teacher I learned early that I can't fix everything but can help most things. I know I cannot offer material goods or gifts to the children but I always can offer pieces of my love through teaching and learning.

I cannot erase all the dark sides of the current government, but I can change the way I deal with it. I can rise above it and stay strong and true to myself by applying the teachings of Buddha: "abstain from all unwholesome deeds or do not engage in any harmful actions; always perform only wholesome ones, those that are good, subdue and purify your own mind". By practicing Sila (morality) and following the five precepts (refrain from killing, stealing, telling lies, all intoxicants and immoral sexual activity) I can inspire others to think and act with integrity and vision for a sustainable and just society.

I just want to bring hope to hopeless people, knowing that sometimes the joy of doing good for my country may be the only reward I receive. To me, it is better to suffer for doing good than doing evil. Once again, may all Khmer people see the truth of what really happened so we can still have a place to call home.

A land torn apart

Cambodia and her people are torn apart in the hands of a regime practicing dictatorship, nepotism, extreme corruption, deforestation and many unimaginable acts of destruction to the social fabric, while silencing opposition. Disparities exist across the country. Inequalities increase dramatically among the rich and the poor, the powerful and the vulnerable, the strong and the weak.

I witness all of these disparities and inequalities myself in my daily life in Cambodia. Denying this real problem in Cambodia will only contribute more and more to the decline. It is only when we don't understand things deeply that we create problems, more problems for our next generation to solve.

The majority of Cambodian people continue to suffer because of shortsighted decisions made by the current and ineffective, yet very powerful and too cohesive regime. Once again, Cambodia has been mismanaged by greed and extreme corruption. According to the latest annual Transparency International index, Cambodia ranked 166th out of 180 countries. It has gotten worse from last year, the year before last, and so on. Yet the top government officials dismissed the findings as well as any well-documented findings. The poor are poorer.

The rich are richer by extracting the wealth from their own people and the natural resources that belong to all of us. The "Money Is Everything" doctrine can be seen and felt in Cambodia. This inequality of wealth distribution creates a very unbalanced society. The thinking that "what powerful people say will always be right, and what small people say will always be wrong" must be also changed. The corrupted and powerful leaders fail to see the consequences of their own actions.

Education means a future

I want to do something to help the new Khmer generation. "If your plan is for one year, plant rice; if your plan is for 10 years, plant trees; if your plan is for 100 years, educate children," said Confucius. When all Cambodians have a good education, they can think and make good rational decisions based on morality, national interest and patriotism, instead of "self-interest" and nepotism. Then they will become more aware of the situation, begin asking questions, have debates, offer dialogues, seek answers, find common solutions and act conscientiously.

In this context, education is not a matter of always seeing new things. Education means seeing the same things in a new light. Education is liberation. It frees people from their pasts and inequalities, so they learn to live in the present and have hope for the future. It frees them from obstacles, oppression and a lot of other things that can set them back. Once achieved, education can never be bought, bartered, sold or even stolen.

Quality education for all is the answer to breaking the cycle of poverty and destruction. Don't fight darkness. Just bring the light in and darkness will disappear. These are my feelings about Cambodia.

Sovachana Pou is a volunteer teacher at Wat Ounalum in Phnom Penh, and former Funcinpec minister of industry, mines and energy.

Funky ‘rice’ bags help Khmer lives

The Gisborne Herald (New Zealand)
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
By Darnelle Timbs

Khmer Life is a vocational training project in Cambodia that provides poor people with training and employment in handicraft production. Darnelle Timbs discovered Khmer Life while living and working in rural Cambodia. Inspired by the project, she has brought the products home with her to Gisborne.

“No way! There are those colourful, groovy-looking bags I saw in that fancy shop in England,” I thought to myself as I passed by a store on my old hired bicycle.

I was in the city of Siem Reap, Cambodia on my way to see the Angkor temples (one of the wonders of the world) when I got side-tracked. The delightful shop assistant explained how the women who make these bags work in decent conditions so the products are not at sweatshop prices.

My ears pricked up. I had heard countless stories about the horrendous working conditions of the garment workers of Cambodia. Cheap labour for garment production is a big industry in the country, so I was interested to hear of a company that was fighting the trend.

The shop assistant continued to explain that the material used for the bags was recycled rice sacks.I’m a sucker for a good cause, so something combining recycled materials with social responsibility was ideal.

“Right,” I asked, “where is this workshop? I might like to sell some of these in my home country.”

I made friends with the assistant and she gave me her details, explaining that the workshop was in the capital city Phnom Penh, near the Genocide Museum.

Three weeks later on my next break from work I headed to Phnom Penh to extend my travel visa.

After seeing the horrors of the Genocide Museum, also known as S-21 — the high school that became a torture centre during the reign of the Khmer Rouge, from 1975-79 — I visited the neighbouring Khmer Life outlet shop.

I got chatting to the manager and I told him about my interest in his product. In line with Cambodian hospitality, he offered to take me on his motorbike to visit the workshop.

It was an awesome experience. He introduced me to all the workers and explained their disadvantaged backgrounds.

The profits of their work are used to pay for the employees to live at the workshop, eat there and attend university.

A tag on the bags reads: “The profit we make is ploughed back into the project, helping us to extend the opportunities we provide to disadvantaged people.”

I loved the philosophy.

I had already maxed out my overdraft to stay in Cambodia to volunteer for a rural development organisation, so I went ahead and maxed out my credit card on a box of bags.

It was a complete gamble, but I have a tendency to trust my gut feeling above logic.

Alongside my belief in the philosophy of the company; I lived in the rural areas of Cambodia for months and these rice sacks featured in my daily life — my family used one to store the charcoal for our cooking fire, the farmers would use them for housing materials, they were always in the markets, strapped on to bicycles, used to build dams and loaded on to trucks: everywhere, every day.

Besides being a good cause, these products are fun, bright, funky and perfect for a Gisborne summer.

The Khmer Life manager explained how they have taken off in the UK, USA and Australia, so I think he was pleasantly surprised to have a random New Zealander track him down and want to meet his workers.

If you want to support Khmer Life, the bags are for sale at Retro in the Ballance Street Village.

WORLDHOTELS Angkor Palace Resort & Spa launches new website promoting 'responsible tourism'

e-Travel Blackboard
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

WORLDHOTELS Angkor Palace Resort & Spa in Siem Reap has launched a new website, promoting its vision for 'responsible tourism' at the World Heritage-listed Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

The website www.angkorpalaceresort.com introduces a new 'communities' connection program to proactively involve guests in a campaign to minimize the negative economic, environmental and social impacts of tourism.

The new website is user friendly and incorporates an efficient booking engine as well as attractive features including videos and a facility for guests to book directly on the site.

“The 5-star Angkor Palace Resort & Spa is just 15 minutes from the legendary temples of Angkor, which attract thousands of tourists a day but struggle to contain the impact of littering,” said Weng Aow, General Manager of Angkor Palace Resort & Spa.

"Our aim is to provide more meaningful experiences for guests by promoting connections with the local population and giving them a greater understanding of the culture, as well as educating them on social and environmental issues," he said.

The first luxury resort style hotel in Siem Reap, Angkor Palace Resort & Spa is an affiliate hotel of WORLDHOTELS' exclusive Deluxe Collection. It is set amidst 11 hectares of exotic tropical gardens combining traditional Khmer architecture with modern facilities.

“Since joining WORLDHOTELS, Angkor Palace Resort & Spa has recorded a 200% increase in e-commerce revenue”, noted Roland Jegge, Vice President, Asia Pacific, WORLDHOTELS.

"It contributes to 40% of the hotel's revenue now," he said. "This underlines the value of online distribution, and the benefits of a well-planned web strategy for independent hotels and resorts like Angkor Palace Resort & Spa."

With 500 outstanding hotels in 300 destinations, across 70 countries, WORLDHOTELS is the most established Europe-based global marketing and distribution network for independent hotels and regional hotel brands, with a strong emphasis on properties with character and distinction. WORLDHOTELS was recently voted 'Best Independent Hospitality Organization' in the TravelWeekly (Asia) 2008 Awards.

Ex-Khmer Rouge admirer says sorry

Almost two million people died under Pol Pot's regime

By Guy De Launey
BBC News, Phnom Penh

Gunnar Bergstrom has the slightly bemused air of a man who has just realised the joke is on him.

Finding himself back in a much changed Phnom Penh after a 30 year absence probably has a lot to do with it.

But repeatedly explaining how his younger self was conned must surely have had an impact as well.

This former Khmer Rouge supporter is here on a mission of redemption and reconciliation.
In just two days he has already visited genocide memorials and former torture centres, faced a grilling on Cambodian television, and a seminar audience full of survivors of the Pol Pot era.

Over the next two weeks, he will take a similar message of contrition to the provinces.

'Liberators'

It might not be possible to turn back the clock, but Mr Bergstrom is at least going to try to explain why he and his colleagues in the Swedish Cambodian Friendship Association not only sympathised with the Khmer Rouge, but enjoyed the organisation's hospitality on a two-week visit in 1978 - even dining at the same table as leader Pol Pot.

" We didn't want to believe that the liberators had become oppressors "

"I was at that time a member of a friendship association which was a remnant of the anti-Vietnam/Cambodia War movement in Sweden, which was very strong in the Western world," Mr Bergstrom told the BBC.

"Of course we didn't want to believe that the liberators had become oppressors."

The Swedish group were far from unique in their long-distance support of communist groups in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

And they were not the only ones who were reluctant to accept that the supposed "good guys" who had fought against US-backed forces might possess serious flaws of their own.

The poet and foreign correspondent James Fenton faced a similar dilemma when he arrived in Cambodia shortly before the shambolic Lon Nol regime fell to the merciless, black-clad Khmer Rouge.

Serious flaws

"I admired the Vietcong and, by extension, the Khmer Rouge," he writes in All The Wrong Places. "The theory was, and is, that where a genuine movement of national liberation was fighting against imperialism, it received our unconditional support."

With first-hand experience of the situation, the reporter soon came to fear the Khmer Rouge in the same way most Cambodians would.

But once Pol Pot and his men were in power, they closed the country to foreign journalists, so long-distance admirers like Mr Bergstrom knew little of the true picture.

Gunnar Bergstrom accepted a rare invitation to tour Cambodia in 1978

"We thought that the movement, the revolution here, was an example to the third world," he says now.

"They didn't take foreign aid, they relied on their own forces, no money, egalitarian… 'The atrocity stories cannot be true totally anyway; probably just slander.' That maybe was the picture in 1978."

So the Swedish group were happy to accept a rare invitation to tour Cambodia.

Their movements were closely controlled, and sightseeing opportunities put forward only the best face of the revolution.

Modern rubber factories, efficient collective farms and smiling workers were all presented for the delegation's edification.

Mr Bergstrom says that even then he knew that everything could not be as it appeared, that all the refugee stories about atrocities could not be lies, but he admits to suppressing his doubts.

"I was crazy enough to support the Khmer Rouge when I came home, and I quieted that voice," he sighs.

Full horror

Within months of his visit, Vietnamese-backed forces ousted the Khmer Rouge, and the full horror of the Pol Pot era finally became public knowledge.

Mr Bergstrom's support of the revolution came to an abrupt halt.

Now the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, which has been gathering evidence for the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, has arranged for the former Swedish solidarity group member to return.

" People say, 'Now he's apologised, we accept it.' It's important for many people to hear such things "

The centre's director, Youk Chhang, hopes that Mr Bergstrom's latest tour will help the reconciliation process.

"People say, 'We were right - foreigners were here to help the Khmer Rouge and now he's apologised, we accept it.' It's important for many people to hear such things."

It is important for Mr Bergstrom to say it as well.

He has donated his photos from the 1978 trip to the centre, and they will be displayed permanently at the Tuol Sleng genocide museum.

Each snap - smiling women, deserted bus stations, a riverboat party - has two contrasting captions, labelled "Thoughts from 1978" and "Thoughts Now".

Some have a third caption: "Forbidden Thought at the Time".

The "quieted voice" is no longer silent.

Cambodia not to boycott ASEAN Summit in Thailand

www.chinaview.cn

2008-11-19

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The bilateral armed clash at the border area in October will not stop Cambodia from attending the upcoming ASEAN Summit in Thailand, Chinese-language newspaper the Jian Hua Daily on Wednesday quoted an official as saying.

"We will not boycott the summit in December, even as we have border dispute," Phay Siphan, secretary of state of the Cambodian Council of Ministers told a seminar here on Tuesday.

The clash in October killed two Cambodian soldiers and wounded two others, after Thai troops entered the disputed area over sovereignty claim.

"We want to keep the friendship and cooperative ties with our neighbor countries," said Phay Siphan.

The official said both Cambodia and Thailand currently need to realize their border demarcation in accordance with the conventionally recognized maps 100 years ago by the French colonialist.

The map was made with the agreement of the Thai authority then, he added.

There are now 73 demarcation posts along the 805-km border between Cambodia and Thailand, 50 percent of which are recognized by the Thai side. Cambodia still plans to plant hundreds more posts there in order to specify the border line.

Editor: Jiang Yuxia

Cambodia stresses security, education in 2009 budget

www.chinaview.cn

2008-11-19

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- A draft of the 2009 national budget indicates that the Cambodian government intends to increase funding for the country's defense and education sectors, English-language newspaper the Cambodia Daily said on Wednesday.

The 2009 national budget totals 1.8 billion U.S. dollars, 19 percent of which, or 223 million dollars, will be reserved for national defense and internal security, the paper quoted official source as saying.

Most of the money will go toward salary increase for military and police officers and marks a 64 percent increase on such spending compared to the 2008 budget law, it said.

The increased defense budget will be used to reform Cambodia's defense sector and implement a conscription law, parliamentarian Cheam Yeap told the paper.

"We can't reduce the budget. Even during a time of peace, we must prepare for war," he added.

The improvement of military budget was widely reported during the last couple of months, right after an armed clash in October at the border area with Thai troops killed two Cambodian soldiers and wounded two others.

Due to the Thai side's massive military presence, the confrontation immediately stirred up arguments about the Cambodian troops' true power and equipment situation.

Meanwhile, the 2009 budget also allocates 34 percent of the total, or 399 million U.S. dollars, to the ministries of health and education, a 22 percent rise over last year.

The National Assembly is set to discuss the draft budget law with non-governmental organizations on Thursday in preparation for its final approval at unspecified date.

Editor: Jiang Yuxia

Three former Khmer Rouge leaders to remain in custody: court

Photo: AFP

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Former Khmer Rouge head of state and two other regime ministers will remain in custody of Cambodia's UN-backed genocide court for at least another year, a court official said Tuesday.

Investigating judge You Bunleng said they had on Tuesday decided to renew former head of state Khieu Samphan's detention -- due to expire Wednesday -- as they feared he may flee or that the 77-year-old's safety may be in jeopardy.

Khieu Samphan's lawyer Sa Sovan said he would appeal the decision against his client, who is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged role during the regime's brutal 1975-1979 rule.

Judges had already decided to continue to hold the regime's former foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife Ieng Thirith, the ex-Khmer Rouge social affairs minister, according to documents dated November 10 and placed on the tribunal's website late Monday.

Ieng Sary, 83, is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes while Ieng Thirith, 76 -- also known as the "first lady" of the brutal regime -- is charged with crimes against humanity.

Investigating judges Marcel Lemonde and You Bunleng said both suspects had refused to speak to judicial investigators, which is their right, but the judges warned that "it is not conducive to speedy proceedings".

They said the pair's detention "cannot be considered excessive in the view of the scope of the investigation".

Since they were placed in the tribunal's detention last year, "the co-investigating judges have collected a large body of evidence", the judges said.

Ieng Sary, Ieng Thirith and Khieu Samphan are among five senior Khmer Rouge leaders, mostly in their 70s and 80s, in detention awaiting trial for their alleged roles in the atrocities.

Up to two million people died of starvation, overwork or were executed under the Khmer Rouge, which dismantled modern Cambodian society in its effort to forge a radical agrarian utopia.

Established in 2006 after nearly a decade of negotiations between Cambodia and the UN, the long-stalled tribunal seeks to prosecute crimes committed 30 years ago by senior Khmer Rouge leaders.

The first public trials are expected to begin early next year.