Laos dam could cause extinction of world's largest catfish

A fisher returns to shore with a Mekong giant catfish caught at Khone Falls in Laos last year. The huge species is illegal to catch and is generally caught accidentally. Today there may only be a few hundred adult giant catfish left in the entire Mekong River system. The group of fishers who caught this giant catfish initially hoped to sell it. But when they could not find any buyers, they ended up distributing the meat among people in their village.

April 8, 2008—Children pose with a Mekong giant catfish caught at Khone Falls in Laos, near the border with Cambodia, in August last year. While the weight of the fish in the photo is unknown, the species holds the world record as the largest freshwater fish ever caught, weighing in at 646 pounds (293 kilograms). The Mekong giant catfish is listed as critically endangered by the World Conservation Union. "But a new dam project planned for Khone Falls threatens the migration of this so-called megafish, according to Zeb Hogan, who heads the National Geographic Society's Megafishes Project.

From ANI
DailyIndia.com

Washington, April 9: The construction of a large hydroelectric dam in Laos might endanger the existence of the Mekong giant catfish, which is the world's largest catfish species.

According to a report in National Geographic News, the Don Sahong dam, being constructed at Khone Falls in Laos, would permanently alter one of the most pristine areas in Southeast Asia.

The dam is one of several being planned on the mostly untouched Mekong River, which meanders through six countries-China, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

The Don Sahong dam, which is one of five dams that Laos is planning along the Mekong, will block the deepest channel on the section of the river that migratory fish pass through when the water level is at its lowest, according to conservationists.

One of those migratory fish is the critically endangered Mekong giant catfish, which holds the record as the largest freshwater fish ever caught.

The record catch, made in northern Thailand in 2005, tipped the scales at 646 pounds (293 kilograms).

"An impassable dam at the falls could cause the extinction of the Mekong giant catfish species," said Zeb Hogan, a fisheries biologist at the University of Nevada in Reno.

According to Hogan, giant catfish were once plentiful throughout the Mekong River basin, but in the last century, the population has declined 95 to 99 percent.

Though fishermen do not target the massive fish, it is sometimes caught as a bycatch. In Cambodia, where the largest population of giant catfish is found, eight of the giant fish were caught last year.

"Although fishing is the biggest immediate threat to the giant catfish in the Mekong, dams and habitat fragmentation could disrupt the animal's ability to reproduce," said Hogan.

Hogan indicates that there is only one known spawning ground for Mekong giant catfish, which is in northern Thailand.

"Until we know better, we have to assume that fish from Cambodia may migrate to Thailand to spawn," he said.

"The construction of the Don Sahong dam, which is slated for completion in 2010, would make that migration impossible," Hogan added.

The dam will block Hoo Sahong, the deepest channel and the only one that migratory fish can pass through at the peak of the dry season, in April and May, when the Mekong is at its lowest.

"From a migratory fish's perspective, there is nothing worse than a dam," said Hogan.

The Big Hurt: Clubbing baby seals: not okay

By DAVID THORPE
April 8, 2008
The Phoenix Media

Pop icon RICKY MARTIN paid a humanitarian visit to Cambodia recently in support of victims of sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

Although he’s remembered as the radiant Latin heartthrob behind “La Vida Loca,” Martin has shown an admirable commitment to philanthropy.

As president and founder of the Ricky Martin Foundation, he seeks to put an end to the egregious international nightmare of human trafficking, which affects more than a million children per year.

For Martin, the fight is personal; he himself is a victim of MENUDO, the notorious child-exploitation ring that’s claimed the innocence of dozens — maybe hundreds — of Puerto Rican youths.

Manoora sojourn for Cambodian dancers

The Cambodian group uses the mystical language of dance to tell the story of their culture, traditions, life experiences and challenges.

clare.yourguide.com.au
09 April 2008
Glenys Quick

Thirty members of a Cambodian dance group visited Manoora on the weekend as house guests of Deirdre and John McInerney.

A garden lunch was arranged for the visitors to relax and meet the Manoora community before their performance at St Michael’s Hall, Clare, on Saturday night.

The group arrived in Australia in March from the village of Tahen in northeast Cambodia which has encountered many adversities.

They are touring Australia performing “Dance Together for Peace” using the mystical language of dance to tell the story of their culture, traditions, life experiences and challenges.

Aged from 14 to 22-years, most are high school students while a few attend university, travelling up to 20km by bicycle every day to attend school.

Accompanying the group was tour organiser Sacha Goldman SJ and Bishop Kike Figaredo SJ who is very well known in various parts of the world for his humanitarian work, particularly in Spain where he has just received a distinguished award (while on tour) presented to his mother in his absence by Prince Phillip of Spain.

The dancers have previously performed for the Queen of Spain when she visited Cambodia in 2004, and are now planning a five-week tour of that country in October.

The dancers were a happy and friendly group with plenty of enthusiasm and are willing to interact experience in new environments and activities and share their country’s culture.

The toupe performed in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide, and will wind up their 2008 Australian tour with two more performances in Melbourne this week before returning home.

The Kroma head dress, which is a symbol for Cambodia, has multiple roles such as a towel, in the Temples for prayer, carrying goods to and from market, protection when working in the rice fields, and a shirt to name a few.

Culture Shock: Activist served as example of peace

domapp01.shu.edu

The name Dith Pran probably means nothing to you. His death on Sunday from pancreatic cancer is likely just another name among the obituaries in newspapers everywhere. But whether you know his name or not, the contributions he has made toward understanding the value of peace in our time cannot be underestimated.

Born in Cambodia in 1942, Dith led a normal life as an interpreter for New York Times correspondent Sidney Schanberg. When the Khmer Rouge, a Communist regime led by ruthless dictator Pol Pot, seized Cambodia in 1975, Dith and millions of fellow Cambodians were forced to work in brutal labor camps.

Miraculously, Dith escaped to Thailand in 1979; he then began a new life in America devoted to raising awareness of the Cambodian genocide and bringing Pol Pot to justice. This movement gained prominence in 1984 with the release of “The Killing Fields,” the Oscar-winning biopic of Dith’s experiences.

In the years since, Dith took pictures for The New York Times and served as the international figurehead for bringing the Khmer Rouge to justice.

In 2005, I was lucky enough to interview Dith about his experiences for my local paper. It was a formative moment for a young journalist, but it was also fascinating hearing him recount experiences I could wish upon nobody.

Dith’s recollections were not what you would expect from a survivor of a tragedy, such as a train wreck or the Sept. 11 attacks. He did not grieve for the brothers he lost to the Khmer Rouge. More importantly, he did not express a hatred for his captors, just a desire to see justice served.

The fact that Dith was a peacemaker and humanitarian after those grueling years of suffering is overwhelming. In 1996, fellow survivor Haing S. Ngor, who won an Oscar playing him in “The Killing Fields,” was shot to death by Asian gang members. In 1998, Pol Pot died without ever facing a court for his war crimes - and in only a few months, Khmer Rouge leaders finally stood up for their wrongdoing.

But he showed no anger or remorse, only a sense of upbeat determination that someday these wrongs would be righted.

“I never give up,” he told me, “and I believe that evil will never live forever.” It is as crazy a sentiment now as it was then, but he believed it.

In his time on Earth, Dith Pran carried out messages of peace and understanding with a grace that seems too good to be true - but somehow is. And if we can muster one-tenth of his grace and courage in this mixed-up world, then evil may someday be as short-lived as Dith had hoped.

Phnom Penh's totem elephant – Sambo – survives

Together again: When the Khmer Rouge was ousted, Sin Son (r.), arranged to trade a buffalo for his family's last surviving elephant, Sambo.Suzy Khimm

Tourists and children line up to take rides on Sambo (below) at the Wat Phnom temple in Phnom Penh.Suzy Khimm

The speckle-eared pachyderm escaped machetes and famine, and now rests as Phnom Penh's totem of good things.

By Suzy Khimm
Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
April 9, 2008

Phnom Penh, cambodia - In the center of a traffic-mobbed roundabout, encircled by the crush of cars and motorbikes, a small act of veneration regularly takes place. A small gray-haired woman buys a bunch of bananas and toddles with her cane up to Sambo, a 10-foot-tall, 4,000-pound elephant standing calmly in the urban chaos.

Sambo grasps the offering with her trunk, gobbling the entire bunch in one bite as the woman brings her palms together in a sign of respect for the last remaining elephant in Phnom Penh.
Once plentiful in the Cambodian countryside, elephants like Sambo were historically fixtures at the royal palace. While the animals still evoke the nation's ancient legacy of kings and warriors, Sambo also represents a more recent piece of Cambodian history. Having survived the machetes of the Khmer Rouge she has become one of the capital city's most visible cultural icons – a magnet for tourists, children, and those who venerate her as a sacred beast.

• • •

For Sin Son, a fourth-generation elephant handler, Sambo is a beloved link to life before the Khmer Rouge regime: "For me, elephants represent God – they represent people who have been saved, who have lived a long time."

For more than a century, Sin Son's relatives kept elephants on the family's five-acre plot to transport rice, clear forests, and haul logs. Following tradition, at a time when wild elephants were abundant in the wild, they captured and trained them.

In mid-1977 Khmer Rouge cadres descended upon Sin Son's farm near Samrong Tong, a district west of Phnom Penh. They attacked the family's five elephants with machetes. Sin Son, 24 at the time, watched in horror as the Khmer Rouge seized the animals that his family had raised for generations. When the cadres struck 17-year-old Sambo – the youngest elephant – on a hind leg with a machete, Sin Son could no longer contain his anguish.

At the risk of being killed, says Sin Son, he protested, "Friend, friend! Please, do not kill her, she is so small – take pity on her!"

In his final glimpse of Sambo, Sin Son saw the wounded elephant running from her captors, fleeing into the chaos of the evacuation.

Sin Son was sent to a labor camp in the northwestern Battambang Province. He says he wept openly after hearing reports that the four older elephants had been killed.

"We took care of Sambo since she was 8," Sin Son says, describing how the elephant learned to come when he called and bumped him playfully with her trunk. "I thought of her as my blood relative, my sister."

Sin Son spent two years in the labor camp, where his parents, two brothers, and two aunts would be among the 1.7 million Cambodians who perished as a result of execution, starvation, disease, and overwork under the regime.

After the Khmer Rouge was ousted in 1979, Sin Son returned to his village to find that only one neighbor had survived. He was astonished to hear that Sambo, too, was still alive. Sambo had been taken in by a chief cadre and was living hundreds of miles away in the Cardamom Mountains, the neighbor told Sin Son.

Sitting today with his elephant in front of Wat Phnom's ornate steps, Sin Son breaks into a smile as he tells – for the umpteenth time – the story of his remarkable reunion with Sambo.

Sin Son pedaled his bicycle for three days to get to the small farm where Sambo was being kept.
"At first they did not believe I was her owner," he says. "But when I called her name, she came out from the jungle behind their house. I was so happy, so excited – I never thought she'd be there, or that they'd give her back to me."

He arranged Sambo's release in exchange for a buffalo he scrounged to buy from a neighboring farm.

"The Khmer Rouge destroyed pagodas, they killed monks and cut their throats ... but maybe they took pity on [Sambo]," Sin Son says.

Sin Son moved to the capital in 1980 to rebuild – bringing his huge "sister" with him.

• • •

Having served the powerful and elite for centuries, elephants are still venerated in Cambodia, says Dougald O'Reilly, director of Heritage Watch, an archeological preservation group.

At Angkor Wat, stone reliefs depict elephants carrying warriors into battle and parading in royal processions. According to legend, elephants hauled the stones for building the world-famous temple, though it's more probable that they helped create the canal network around the complex, says Mr. O'Reilly.

Though she's served neither gods nor kings, Sambo has served a newer form of authority in Cambodia: democracy. Since the country's first UN-organized elections in 1993, civil society groups and political parties have made Sambo the outsized centerpiece of their public demonstrations. She has marched to protest global child labor, to raise awareness about UN's Millennium Development Goals, and to promote children's vaccinations. During election season, she's routinely trotted out to support the ruling party – and even its opponents.

"[Elephants] are a symbol of force that helped Cambodia when we didn't have trucks and machines in the past," says Kek Galabru, founder of Licadho, a rights group that has included the elephant in multiple demonstrations. "It's the animal of Cambodia."

• • •

Though city life was a huge adjustment for the farm-dwelling elephant – "[Sambo] was terrified of cars," says Sin Son, and train whistles caused her to cry deafeningly – she became accustomed to it. Eventually, the pair set up shop at Wat Phnom, a 14th-century pagoda surrounded by a park of shady trees. In 1982, Sin Son built a staircase and began selling elephant rides for 25 cents.

Sambo now ambles daily to Wat Phnom at 7 a.m. Surrounded by monkeys, incense-sellers, beggars, and snack vendors, Sambo flaps her speckled ears and waits under a tree for her visitors. On a recent day a family of Korean tourists finished a photo session as a young woman carrying her son walked under Sambo's trunk three times for luck. Pregnant women will also come to pass underneath her belly.

Though Sin Son has hired a cousin to guide Sambo to work, he still sits next to his lifelong partner each day, to monitor Sambo's condition in the heat, hose her off, and make sure she gets her 150 pounds of sugar cane and bananas.

"I feed her, she feeds me. We go back and forth, like siblings," says Sin Son, whose rate for the popular ride has risen to $15.

Such prosperity has enabled Sin Son to send four children to college; his oldest son even went to Utah to study information technology.

But while his family's partnership with its elephants survived the horrors of war, Sin Son doesn't expect his children to carry on the tradition.

"They like school, they like to study," he says. "Maybe it's finished with me."

Participation of int'l peace-keeping exercise good for Cambodia's reputation

April 09, 2008

The participation of 40 Cambodian soldiers in a three-week multinational peace-keeping exercise in Bangladesh will help improve the country's international military reputation, national media on Wednesday quoted official as saying.

"We are really proud of our armed forces joining this international peace-keeping exercise," Tea Banh, minister of National Defense, told English-Khmer language newspaper the Mekong Times.

"We hope the exercise will help our soldiers improve their capacity in peace-keeping for the region and the entire world," he added.

The U.S.-led mission, named "Ambassador of Peace," began this week and involved 400 soldiers from 12 countries including Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Nepal, Brunei, Mongolia, Tonga, Cambodia and the United States.

The drills involve checkpoint and convoy operations, patrols, search, relief mission and disaster management.

Cambodian soldiers previously took part in multinational peace-keeping exercises in Mongolia and Bangladesh as well as U.N. peace-keeping missions in Sudan.

Source:Xinhua

Cambodia lifts ban of rice exports for three provincesl

April 09, 2008

Prime Minister Hun Sen has lifted the ban of rice exports for three provinces neighboring Vietnam due to their difficulty of processing and storing newly-harvested paddy, English-Khmer language newspaper the Mekong Times reported on Wednesday.

The premier made the decision on Monday under the request of Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh to allow Prey Veng, Kandal and Takeo provinces to export rice, while the ban still remain valid for other provinces.

Hun Sen imposed the two-month-long ban of rice exports on March26 in order to help curb the spiraling price of the staple food.

Minister Agriculture and Fisheries Chan Sarun said that the permission is being offered because the farmers in these three provinces have harvested dry-season rice and found it difficult to store.

"Cambodia will not face a problem of food security because plenty of rice is already in stock," he added.

At the end of March, as another measure to help bring down the price, the government released national stockpile of rice into the market.

High-quality rice once sold one U.S. dollar per kilo, almost two times the previous price.

Experts believed that the decrease of global rice production and the over purchase by Vietnam and Thailand from Cambodia had caused the price hike on the Cambodian market.

Source:Xinhua

Tibet Freedom and its People Life is NOT a Game

By Kok Sap
April 8, 2008
http://neokhmer.wordpress.com

During his terms, the U.S.A President Reagan famously called on U.S.S.R to tear down its evil wall in Berlin. The last and former U.S.S.R President Mikhail Gorbachev took heed. Afterward the eastern bloc of U.S.S.R evil axis was shattered and several countries including East Germany were released from Iron Grip of Russian Communism. Then the U.S supported resistance invited U.S.S.R out of Afghanistan. Since Russia reemerged as its own nation out of world condemnation and took no notice in world affairs.

It has been 49 years since Mao invaded Tibet and the mighty world slowly accustoms to China abuses. Imperialist Beijing tried hard to incriminate Revered Dalai Lama in the wakening call from the people around the globe to let go Tibet. Now the momentum is rising, the U.S.A needs to see China let go Tibet and other autonomous regions for own self rule and sovereignty. This may be the last evil needed to be condemned and pressed upon by the absence of the peace loving Olympics athletes around the globe.

Often times, people misunderstand One China policy. China is not a homogenous country in demographic make up, culture, language, custom, and religion. There are over 80 ethnic distinctions in China. Also China has colorful past in committing heinous crimes against millions of people in China during its Cultural Revolution in the 60’s.

In open war records China and U.S had fought each other personably in Korea, North Viet Nam, former Khmer Mekong delta, and impersonally via Thailand in Cambodia, and Laos. Communist Caesar Mao used strategic warfare from Art of War book, to lose no war is to fight war in someone house. The end result someone houses like Cambodia lost millions of life, Viet Nam annexed its Khmer Mekong Delta completely, and Hanoi slowly assimilates Laos.

The winner of Ideological War is the Red China. Needless to say it got both worlds in its bloody hands, in addition it was elevated from non member of U.N to U.N Permanent Security Council that each member has veto power to put a stop on any agenda. Subsequently this seems U.N meriting China to police its own hands in cookie jar. Out of all expert theories, Red China checks mate the U.S.A, world leading democracy at U.N located on its own soil.

Today China almost single handed invests in US markets ranging from selling soap dish to micro chips, pet food, banking and mortgage industry. The prime example is Wal-Mart conglomerate that reaps phenomenal profits from Red China cheap laborers who had no choice but compliance to their communist state mandates. More than half of Wal Mart home supplies are imported from Red China.

Nonetheless in order to defeat One China abusive behavior, U.S must realign itself with Africa, Europe, Russia, Taiwan, Japan, Western hemisphere, ASEAN, and India, once a lead proponent of non aligned nation movement. Not too late, U.S still can urge its allies and friends to step back from this evil sponsored 2008 Olympics game and ONE China Policy altogether. Also individual athlete can make impact too by not participating.

Imagine seeing the US ban China airlines from landing on U.S and vice versa U.S airlines stop flying to China during the game event. Also imagine seeing every world press printed a page of ads “Free Tibet is not a Game.” With this eruption of protest, the world may see the only strong communist state shame in standing down to the will of true Olympians.

Anti-inflation Protest: A Moral Victory for Sam Rainsy And Democracy

Courtesy of Khmerization at http://khmerization.blogspot.com/

Monday, April 7, 2008

“Price rises can be contained if the right and effective measures are applied. Salary increases can be achieved if Hun Sen has the political will to get tough with corruption. Money to fund the pay rises can be found through the elimination of corruption.”

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Editorial by Khmerization:- However small in size and not able to march in a grand scale, the anti-inflation protest on Sunday was a moral victory, not just for the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), but for the democratic process as a whole. To a degree, it was seen as a victory of democracy over dictatorship (Read link 1 below).

Sam Rainsy has not only killed two birds with one stone, he has killed three birds with only one stone. The protest had produced three vital outcomes. First, by able to obtain a permission to protest is a victory in itself. It is a victory over Hun Sen’s draconian rules which had long banned public demonstration. By persistently pushing for a permission to hold that protest, Sam Rainsy had opened a gate and set a precedent for more protests of this sorts, while at the same time succeeded in sending Hun Sen’s anti-demonstration draconian rule to its eventual death. Secondly, the protest, if anything at all, has succeeded in drawing national and international attention to the plight of the poor, the high costs of living and the lower wages of the Cambodian workers- public servants in particular. Thirdly, as it is election time, the protest itself and Rainsy’s demand for a pay rise to hundreds of thousands of public servants can be seen as a huge electoral drawcard and a shrewd political manoeuvrings which can possibly translate into an election victory in the July election, if the election is free and fair. With these three factors looming in Hun Sen’s head, he cannot ignore the reality. First, Hun Sen cannot ban public demonstrations anymore because he has given permission to Sam Rainsy to hold one. Secondly, to make an electoral impact, Hun Sen cannot ignore low wages and the skyrocketing of commodities prices. He has to raise public servants’ salary in commensuration with the high costs of living. He must also take actions to bring down the prices of other commodities as he had done with the prices of rice.

On another note, I wish to opine on the decry of the Human Right Party (HRP) over Sam Rainsy’s success in obtaining the permission to hold this protest (Read link 2 below). While I do sympathise with the fact that their request for the permission to hold a protest against the skyrocketing of fuel prices was not granted, I do not sympathise with their decry over the permission granted to the SRP. If the HRP was fair dinkum, to use an Australian phrase, in their concerns for the welfare of the people, they would have called on their supporters to join in with the SRP supporters in order to maximise an ability to mobilise and motivate the affected general population to participate in large numbers. This sort of decry can only come out of jealousy, and with the two parties having the same goal- and that is to defeat Hun Sen at the election- this sort of decry against one another is not helpful to their cause. It can only play into Mr. Hun Sen’s hands. Therefore, I call on these two parties to support each other in future actions.

On a last note, I wish the authority, and in particular Mr. Hun Sen, to open up to the reality by solving these crises sooner rather than later. Price rises can be contained if the right and effective measures are applied. Salary increases can be achieved if Hun Sen has the political will to get tough with corruption. Money to fund the pay rises can be found through the elimination of corruption. And this, I mean, the incomes from illegal logging, Angkor Wat concessions and the proceeds from the sales and concessions of public lands and properties etc., must be deposited into the state treasury accounts, instead of allowing them to flow into the pockets of corrupt officials.
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Links 1:http://khmerization.blogspot.com/2008/04/hundreds-of-cambodians-protest-against.html
Links 2:http://khmerization.blogspot.com/2008/04/rights-party-decries-opposition-rally.html

Families Fear Loss of Land, Loved Ones

By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
08 April 2008

Khmer audio aired April 8 (2.49 MB) - Download (MP3) Khmer audio aired April 8 (2.49 MB) - Listen (MP3)

[Editor's note: In the weeks leading into national polls, VOA Khmer will explore a wide number of election issues. The "Election Issues 2008" series will air stories on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a related "Hello VOA" guest on Thursday. This is the first in a two-part series examining land grabs in Cambodia.]

Sitting in front of her thatched-roof home in Kampong Chhnang province, about 1 kilometer off National Road 5, Sar Saing sat with a group of eight people. One woman carried a baby, and others sat on bicycles. At times, Sar Saing would seem happy, but then her face would darken.

Her father, Sar Song, has been incarcerated since Feb. 28, one of nearly 40 people rights groups say are currently being held in land disputes.

"Everyday, even though people do not sell their land, their land is grabbed," Sar Saing said. "The grabbers probably bribe the court officials to legally own the land of the people."

Rights groups say the trend of land-grabbing is continuing, at a high cost to many rural villagers, not only in land, but in the seizure of loved ones.

Victims say they fear corruption by courts, police, military and other government officials.
A spokesman for Cambodia's land dispute authority told VOA Khmer accusations of land grabs are being inflated ahead of July's general elections.

Numbers tell one story.

The price of land in Sar Saing's village, Lor Peang, has gone from $100 per hectare five years ago to $10,000 per hectare today, part of a nationwide land boom that has led to the increase in land theft.

The villagers here say they are in a fight for their land with a local company, known here by its initials, KDC.

Sar Saing's father was arrested with one other man and sentenced to eight months in jail by the Kampong Chhnang provincial court. A third man was charged in absentia but remains at large.
All three were charged with a violation of KDC's land ownership.

But villagers here, echoing the worries of many across the country, say they have had their land stolen.
A representative of KDC named Thai Hy brought in workers "who looked like gangsters" to remove villagers from the land, Sar Saing said.

A man claiming to be Thai Hy's brother denied the claims by phone recently, referring questions to the court.

Veng Hut, the provincial court's investigating judge, told VOA Khmer he had judged in accordance with the law and was not involved with corruption.

Lor Peang Village Chief Toch Ly said the government and provincial leaders must work to ensure the people are not removed from their land without proper compensation, though she acknowledged many of her residents felt victimized.

Chum Bun Rong, spokesman of the National Land Dispute Authority, defended the judicial and relevant institutions, saying officials were "almost getting sick" from hard work on many cases.

Nearly 700 land dispute cases were under review at the agency, he said.

But, he said, "there is no serious land dispute in the country."

"It is only a political issue being raised prior to the election," he said.

With elections to be held in July, Sar Pek, brother of Sar Saing and son of Sar Song, said he planned to vote, even if his father was in prison.

More numbers; another story.

A 2007 report by the aid agency Oxfam says about 63.7 percent of Cambodians are either landless or own less than half a hectare.

Of those who owned more land that that, about 30 percent were businessmen, 23 percent were high-ranking military officers and 23 percent were a special class of wealthy, known by the honorary title "Oknha," according to the report.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has pushed for land grabs to cease, but his warnings have apparently gone unheeded, as land grabs have continued across the country, including in Phnom Penh.

In February this year at least 10 families in the Prek Leab commune of the capital's Russei Keo district lodged a complaint to Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema, fighting against the proposed widening of a road through the village.

Residents said they suspected a commune chief had sold the land to a private company, a claim the chief, Preab Mony, denied.

Land grabbing shot up between 2003 and 2006, the rights group Licadho reported.

The group had been monitoring 25 land-grab cases in 2003, but that number jumped to 112 in 2006.

More than 5,000 families lost their homes in land grabs in 2007, said Am Sam Ath, Licadho’s technical supervisor.

Land grabs have also turned more violent; two people were killed in Preah Vihear province in 2007, and six other people across the country were injured, Am Sam Ath said.

Ny Chakriya, head of Adhoc’s monitoring unit, said institutions like the Land Dispute Authority must resolve such disputes. The judicial system needs to take a strong position, he said.

Otherwise, he said, land disputes will become a more serious issue, leading to more deaths.

Growing Economy Has Faults: UN Agency

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
08 April 2008

Khmer audio (1.01 MB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio (1.01 MB) - Listen (MP3)

Strong exports in garments have continued to support a high economic growth rate, but Cambodia's reliance on garment manufacturing is a "key concern," a UN economic group said Tuesday.

In an annual report on the region, the UN Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific found Cambodia maintained one of the fastest growing economies in the region, but the "narrow export base" from garments made it vulnerable.

Growth in the agricultural sector is necessary for Cambodia to reduce poverty, the group said.
UN resident coordinator Suomi Sakai called the link between agriculture and poverty reduction "fundamental."

The government must find a balance between producers, who want high prices, and consumers, who don't, said Hang Chhuan Narong, secretary-general at the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The government must also balance high growth rates with high inflation pressure, he said, adding that the government would also continue a "reform program" to increase agricultural productivity.

Police Arrest Man Smuggling Out Heroine

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
08 April 2008

Khmer audio (613 KB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio (613 KB) - Listen (MP3)

Customs officers at Phnom Penh International Airport arrested one man attempting to leave the country Tuesday morning with more than 2 kilograms of heroine, police officials said.

Wang Kuo Lin, 28, a Taiwanese national, was leaving for Hong Kong, officials said, adding they did not know the source of the heroine.

Wang was detained at the anti-drug office of the Ministry of Interior and will be sent to Phnom Penh Municipal Court Wednesday, said Maj. Gen. Lour Ramin, secretary-general of the secretariat of the anti-drug office.

Wang had wrapped the heroine in a package around his torso, Lour Ramin said.

The arrest follows at least two airport busts last year: a Taiwanese man carrying 800 grams of heroine in October, and a Malaysian man with 580 methamphetamine tablets and a small packet of "ice heroine" in June.

Opposition Lawmakers Forgo Medal Ceremony

By Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
08 April 2008

Khmer audio aired April 8(614 KB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired April 8(614 KB) - Listen (MP3)

Twenty-four opposition lawmakers boycotted a ceremony Tuesday where National Assembly members were giving themselves medals.

The medals were to be issued to each lawmaker for "positive work" during the past legislative session. The next legislative session will not take place until after July's general election.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said his party "did not want to receive this kind of medal, because such medals are nonsense and valueless.

"Contrarily, I think that it is a shame for those who wear these medals," he said. "It is not an honor, because, in general, those who receive the medal are especially tainted, people with illegal businesses, and we do not want to compare ourselves with those people."

The party recommended in a statement that the National Assembly use its time to strengthen its capacity in order to improve social and moral values, through passing an anti-corruption law and pushing the government to apply responsibility for the national interest.

Lawmaker Chiem Yeap, of the ruling Cambodian People's Party, said the opposition's attitude, posting the statement and boycotting the ceremony, was in contempt of the king.

"The king signed the royal decree allowing the medal, via a proposal of the National Assembly medal committee," said Chiem Yeap, who is a deputy in the committee.

The SRP said in its statement the medal was given to several people, including foreign and Cambodian businessmen, as well as officials, and among them were "good people" and "criminals," like drug traffickers, smugglers, illegal loggers and land grabbers.

The medal did not represent merit, the statement said, but money and power.

Tuesday's medal ceremony came at the end of this five-year legislative term.

New lawmakers will meet again after the elections. The National Assembly failed again this session to pass a much-anticipated anti-corruption law.

Opposition: High Prices Preventable

By Poch Reasey, VOA Khmer
Washington
08 April 2008

Khmer audio aired April 7 (6.53 MB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired April 7 (6.53 MB) - Listen (MP3)

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Monday one factor in the high price of rice was local middlemen who buy unhusked rice for cheap, process it, and sell it back at a higher rate.

The high mark-up on processed rice was too much to ask most consumers and farmers, he said, and it was only one domestic reason prices have been hurting Cambodians.

"We are all victims," Sam Rainsy said, as a guest on "Hello VOA."

"The rogue businessmen make a huge profit at the expense of farmers and consumers," he said.

The government has faced increasing pressure to curb inflation and last month put a ban on the export of rice and injected subsidized rice into the marketplace.

Sam Rainsy meanwhile held a demonstration of a few hundred people Sunday to protest the rising cost of living.

Sam Rainsy said that middlemen pay only 900 riel for a kilogram of rice, then process it and sell it back on the market for almost 4,000 riel.

He said a reasonable price of rice should be about 1,500 riel.

In the last few months, prices of rice and other foods have gone up across Asia and around the world.

Many governments, including Cambodia, have taken steps to stabilize the price and to ensure enough supply in their countries.

They have temporarily suspended rice exports and have issued government-owned rice to alleviate the problem.

In another measure the Cambodian government last week boosted the wages of garment factory workers by $6.

However, Sam Rainsy said he was not impressed.

That amount was not enough to counter inflation, he said.

"The price of consumer goods has doubled. Therefore, salaries have to double too," he said.

"What can you do with six extra dollars? I have met some farmers who told me that their children used to send them money from the cities to help them out. But now, they say they have to send rice to their children in the cities because their children no longer make enough money to support themselves."

Sam Rainsy admitted that food prices increase everywhere in the world. However, he said, in other countries they don't go up as drastically as Cambodia. Also, in other countries, incomes are higher than Cambodia, so people's lives are not affected as badly as in Cambodia.

The key to lower food prices is land distribution, he said.

"In order to lower the price of rice and other foodstuffs, land must be distributed to farmers to increase food production," he said. "When food production is increased, prices will go down.

Therefore, we have to give the land back to the people so that they can grow crops."

Regional Journalists Share Common Stories

By Kong Soth, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
08 April 2008

Khmer audio aired April 6 (1.80 MB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired April 6 (1.80 MB) - Listen (MP3)

Journalists from six neighboring countries met for four days last week to discuss common issues and compare stories of regional significance.

The journalists, from the Mekong sub-region countries of Burma, Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam met to review works on issues ranging from bird flu, smuggling, AIDS, the environment and culture.

Johanna Son, director of the Inter-Press Service Asia-Pacific, which organized the meeting, told VOA Khmer the event was meant to balance news coverage in the region.

More stories were happening in Cambodia than told through foreign media, she said.

"This program is to help correct this unbalance by giving some training to journalists from these countries," she said.

One participant, Sroy Ny Ka, a reporter for the Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper, called the meeting of regional journalists "useful," especially when journalists faced stories that crossed borders. He reported on cock fighting and bird flu for the forum.

Thai journalist Chrkra Vathdy Buckalee said the forum offered a chance for journalists to learn from each other. She wrote about a lingering haze that affects the air of both Thailand and Laos.

Providential Holdings Forms IndoChina Mining Corporation

CNN Money.com
April 08, 2008

Providential Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: PRVH), a company providing advisory, merger and acquisition services as well as independently investing in Vietnamese economic opportunities, has formed IndoChina Mining Corporation with the view of acquiring mining rights and equity interests in mining corporations located in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

IndoChina Mining Corporation is expected to form joint ventures for the exploitation of mineral deposits that Providential has already located and is currently targeting. The company has identified mining opportunities for copper in Cambodia, tin and gold in Laos and bauxite, diatomite, flourite and ilmenite (iron titanium oxide) in Vietnam.

Tai Vo, President of Providential Vietnam (PHI Vietnam), said, "IndoChina Mining Corp. plans to leverage Providential's existing relationships with mining companies in the region and pursue other opportunities there. We have already located a current diatomite mine with a capacity estimated to be more than two million tons and have also begun searching for skilled personnel to lead Providential's new venture."

Henry Fahman, CEO of Providential Holdings (PHI), said, "Forming IndoChina Mining Corp. is a natural progression of PHI's increasing focus in this area as we have considered participating in the mining sector in Indochina for some time. Not only have we been able to locate highly promising sites for mining opportunities, we have also been in advanced negotiations with a number of local mining operators which may lead to some imminent transactions in the near future."

About Providential Holdings, Inc.

Providential Holdings and its subsidiaries engage in a number of diverse business activities, the most important of which are M&A advisory services and investing in the rapidly growing economies of Vietnam and Asia. As part of its activities in Vietnam, Providential has been hosting seminars in conjunction with the Nasdaq Stock Market, the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a leading U.S. investment banking firm, to help Vietnamese companies go public and raise capital through the U.S. financial markets. For more information on Providential Holdings, visit http://www.phiglobal.com.

A profile for investors can be accessed at http://www.hawkassociates.com/profile/prvh.cfm.
For investor relations questions regarding Providential, contact Antonella Montagna or Frank Hawkins, Hawk Associates, at 305-451-1888, e-mail: Providential.Holdings@hawkassociates.com or visit http://www.americanmicrocaps.com or http://www.hawkassociates.com. To sign up for free e-mail notification of future releases, visit http://www.hawkassociates.com/about/alert.

Thailand, Cambodia reopen talks on disputed waters

By an OGJ correspondent

BANGKOK, Apr. 8 -- Thailand and Cambodia plan to resume negotiations Apr. 21 in Bangkok over long-standing differences covering ownership of gas reserves in disputed waters.

An impasse has prevented development of 26,000 sq km area in the Gulf of Thailand. The area is believed to hold substantial hydrocarbon deposits.

Negotiations are being prompted by skyrocketing oil prices and the need of both Thailand and Cambodia to find indigenous energy supplies.

In 2001, both sides agreed to adopt the Joint Development Area (JDA), a scheme embraced earlier by Thailand and Malaysia, for developing oil and gas in the disputed zone without resolving exact maritime boundaries.

The original model negotiated by Thailand and Cambodia called for a 50-50 split of resources arising from the middle portion of the JDA, with sharing ratios differing on areas flanking the plot, depending on the proximity to their territorial claims.

However, Phnom Penh authorities are pressing for a 60-40 sharing ratio, unlike the 50-50 split adopted by Thailand and Malaysia on the 7,250-sq-km triangular JDA (OGJ Online, Aug. 15, 2006).

Songpop Polachan, deputy director-general of Thailand's Department of Mineral Fuels, said Thailand will insist that the Malaysia-Thailand JDA sharing model is adopted for the Thailand-Cambodia pact.

Filed complaints bolster Cambodian trials

Radio Australia

More than 1,000 survivors of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime have filed complaints with the country's genocide tribunal.

The United Nations-backed court says it marks greater public participation in the prosecution of those who organised the killing fields.

It says as well as giving victims an active role in the proceedings, the complaints provide key evidence for investigators trying to unravel the inner workings of one of the world's most secretive regimes.

Five former Khmer Rouge leaders have been detained by the tribunal.Up to two million people - or a third of Cambodia's population - were killed by the regime between 1975 and 1979.

RFA interview with Bradly Cox

Bradly Cox, The Producer of The Plastic Killers

Radio Free Asia interview Bradly Cox






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Part7

China Confirms Human H5N1 Transmission

auburnpub.com
Monday, April 7, 2008

LONDON - Chinese health officials have confirmed that a father caught bird flu from his son last December, according to a report released Tuesday.

Human-to-human transmission of bird flu has happened about a dozen times in the past, in countries including Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Turkey. In nearly every case, transmission has occurred among blood relatives who have been in close contact, and the virus has not spread into the wider community.

In the case in China, a 52-year-old man and his 24-year-old son in Jiangsu province were diagnosed with H5N1 bird flu within a week of each other last December. At the time, officials from the World Health Organization said they could not rule out the possibility of human-to-human transmission.

After the son died, his father was treated with antivirals and participated in an H5N1 vaccine trial. He survived.

The son's only exposure to bird flu was at a poultry market, while the father apparently had no direct exposure to sick birds. His only known exposure to bird flu was close contact with his ill son.

"Limited, non-sustained person to person transmission of H5N1 virus probably occurred in this family cluster," wrote researchers at Beijing's Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the medical journal, The Lancet.

"There is no indication from this data that we are any nearer to a pandemic," said Ian Jones, a professor of virology at the University of Reading. Bird flu remains difficult for humans to catch, and experts think most cases are linked to close contact with infected birds.

Health officials monitor every potential case of human to human transmission with particular concern to see if the virus might have mutated into a form that is more easily spread. So far, that has not happened.

Many flu experts worry that H5N1 will spark a pandemic, potentially killing millions worldwide. But despite circulating widely in Asia and beyond since late 2003, the virus only rarely infects humans. As of April 3, WHO reported 378 cases and 238 deaths worldwide.

Need to boost rice production

thestar.com.my
Tuesday April 8, 2008

THE global food crisis was precipitated largely by a significant drop in food production in grain-producing countries due to severe weather and an increased demand for food in developing countries.

This coupled with rising fuel prices has produced a frighteningly bleak future for the poorer people of Asia who spend about 60% of their income on food.

Worries over rising prices and adequacy of domestic supplies have recently forced major rice exporting countries in the region including Vietnam, Cambodia and India to introduce curbs on overseas sales.

Most of Malaysia’s rice supplies are sourced from countries such as Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

While it is true that locally produced rice is heavily subsidised, it will still be prudent – as an insurance to ensure our food security (to avoid the possibility of any food emergencies), to raise the local rice production to meet reasonably adequate levels of self-sufficiency.

The knee-jerk reaction of rice producing countries to curb rice exports in the face of lower production (to ensure adequate supplies for themselves) will restrict farmers (who would otherwise produce extra for the export market) to producing only sufficient to meet local demand.

Thus only a smaller percentage of rice from the world’s rice production will be available in the international market for rice importing countries causing food prices to soar.

M. GANESHADEVA,
Kuala Lumpur.

Sacravatoons : "Nom Benh's Baboon in Long Bitch"

Courtesy of Sacravatoon at http://sacrava.blogspot.com/

Sacravatoons : "A blind Man & a Guide Dog"

Courtesy of Sacravatoon at http://sacrava.blogspot.com/

Sacravatoons : "Khmer-Chen's Relationship"

Courtesy of Sacravatoon at http://sacrava.blogspot.com/

Cambodia Weeds out Marijuana Plantation

2008-04-08
Xinhua

The National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD) of Cambodia has announced it has completely stubbed out marijuana plantations in the kingdom, local media reported Tuesday.

"We have gained victory in rooting out marijuana, but what we are worrying about is the trafficking of synthesized drugs secretly produced in the country," NACD Secretary General Lou Ramin was quoted by the Mekong Times newspaper as saying.

"This is the first successful step in reducing drug trafficking in Cambodia, but we are not satisfied with the results as drug trafficking persists," he said.

In addition, Lou Ramin said that Cambodia's former reputation as a narcotics Mecca is beginning to change.

"We formerly suffered from accusations that our country is both a marijuana producer and a big marijuana exporter," he said, claiming that "marijuana is no longer available in Cambodia".

In 2000, Asean nations made a joint pledge with China to eliminate or drastically reduce narcotics production by 2015, he noted.

Political Will of Samdech Euv: Royal Government Declares to Continue Tradition of Cambodian-Chinese Friendship

Posted on 8 April 2008.
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 555

“Samdech Akak Moha Senapadei Dekchor Hun Sen mentioned, on the morning of 5 April in Preah Vihear, during the inauguration ceremony of a site for the reconstruction of National Road 62 from Tbaeng Meanchey to Preah Vihear of 116.36 km, and National Road 210 from Road 62 to Srayang Koh Ker of 34.15 km,, that this year China is the organizer of the Olympic Games. Our King is going to participate in the official opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

“Moreover, Samdech Dekchor stated, ‘I will have to go to China for two occasions this year; in October for the Asia-Europe meeting, where France and Germany participate, in Beijing [7th ASEM Summit in Beijing, China, 24-25 October 2008]. As for Cambodia, it is one among about 30 countries in the meeting. The second occasion is to be an honorary guest at the Nanning China-ASEAN Exhibition [Nanning, Guangxi, China, 20-23 October 2008], because this year Cambodia will deliver a speech. Therefore, we have many other activities to strengthen the relations between Cambodia and China at the occasion of the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations.’

“During this important and meaningful ceremony, Samdech Dekchor Hun Sen expressed his gratitude to the former King Preah Norodom Sihanouk who has organized the policy of relations with China since 50 yeas, and left it for the children of next generations; and Cambodia keeps to adhere to the One-China-Policy which cannot be changed. ‘Some people said that Mr. Hun Sen does this to please China, but that is not what I do,’ said Hun Sen.

“Samdech Dekchor asserted that if it is reasonable for South Korea and North Korea to have become members of the UN, this one thing. However, Taiwan is just a province of China. Thus, in this case, there is an obligation to respect independence and sovereignty. For us, we would not agree if someone wants to take one of our provinces to be independent. Samdech Dekchor raised as an example Preah Vihear, which is the most distant province; if the provincial governor would declare independence, and would be supported by foreign countries, who would agree? Another point is that Cambodia also does not agree to the use the Olympic activities to take them hostage over the issues of Tibet and Sudan.

“Samdech Dekchor said that was an attempt in Phnom Penh, they prepared to hold an activity in Phnom Penh in order to urge Chinese government to put pressure on the government of Sudan, and to hinder Olympic activities. ‘That is why I told the Minister of Interior and the municipal authorities, “Cambodia will not let someone come to quarrel with others. I am sorry; if you want to quarrel with others, please get out the Khmer land, because Cambodia is not a base for one country to oppose another.” If other countries want to oppose China or China wants to oppose other countries on Khmer land, I will also not agree.’

“Samdech Dekchor said that regarding the Olympic case, they raised the Darfur dispute for an activity in Cambodia. Recently the issue of Tibet has been used to hinder Olympic activities. The Olympics are just a sports event, but some people use them for other purposes; that creates endless issues.

“Samdech Dekchor emphasized that Cambodia will not join activities that are contrary to its policy.”

Koh Santepheap, Vol.41, #6316, 7.4.2008

China, New Zealand sign FTA pact

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao meets New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark in Beijing on April 7, 2008. The two attended the signing ceremony of the free trade agreement and respectively delivered speeches.(Xinhua Photo)

www.chinaview.cn

2008-04-07

BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- China and New Zealand signed a free trade agreement, the first such pact between China and a developed country, on Monday.

The deal was inked by Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming and New Zealand Trade Minister Phil Goff. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark attended the signing ceremony after bilateral talks that took over an hour.

The signing and implementation of the agreement will "further the friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries, promote each other's economic growth, and bring practical benefits to the two peoples," Wen said at the beginning of the talks.

He described the signing as "a day of historical significance" and said the move "met the goal" the two countries set during negotiations.

The two nations formally launched free trade negotiations in December 2004 and concluded the talks in December 2007 following 15 rounds.

According to the agreement, all goods exported from China to New Zealand will be tariff free from 2016, while tariffs on most New Zealand exports to China will be eliminated from 2019.

Beyond trade in goods, the agreement covers the services sector, ranging from banking, environment, education and entertainment, to construction and transport.

The FTA called for up to 1,800 Chinese people to enter New Zealand each year to work in areas such as traditional Chinese medicine, language teaching, Chinese martial arts training, tourism, auditing and food service.

The agreement would also sets up mechanisms for investment promotion and corporations in customs, quality inspection and quarantine, and intellectual property rights (IPR) protection.

"The agreement will push forward bilateral comprehensive ties of cooperation to a higher level, open up new opportunities in trade and investment, and help both countries develop a more open, stable and competitive business environment," said Wang Xinpei, the Ministry of Commerce spokesman.

The pact not only facilitated the access of enterprises looking to the markets of China and New Zealand but also provided consumers with cheaper and better products and services, he added.

The deal came after three years of negotiation as the bilateral trade expanded year on year by 26 percent to 3.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2007.

The agreement with China is the largest for New Zealand since the Closer Economic Agreement with Australia was signed in 1983.

New Zealand is also the first developed country to recognize China's full market economy status.

Clark called the pact "a very significant achievement for New Zealand".

"The signing of this agreement is a very significant achievement for New Zealand. It opens up new opportunities for businesses looking to engage with, or grow their existing links with, China," she said in a statement.

Experts explained the significance of this agreement from the perspective of bilateral relations, specifically economic and trade areas.

"From a point of view of lasting political and economic relations, New Zealand has recognized the importance of China, a large developing country. Both sides have recognized the mutual economic and trade complementarity and common interest," said Zhang Hanlin, president of the WTO Research Institute under the University of International Business and Economics.

Mei Xinyu, an analyst with a research institute under the Ministry of Commerce, added China would get more fair access to the New Zealand market and more guaranteed supply of raw materials.

"New Zealand consumers will get Chinese goods at a further lower price and such products as the agricultural and livestock products of New Zealand will get a larger share in the fast-growing and broad Chinese market."

Free trade with China would also help New Zealand to merge with the development of East Asia, a process in which China would play a crucial role, said Han Feng, deputy director of Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies under Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

To date, China had signed six free trade agreements with trading partners that included Chile and Pakistan. Negotiations were continuing with Peru, Australia, Iceland and other nations.

Clark arrived here on Sunday for an official visit to China as a guest of Wen. She was accompanied by a 150 member trade delegation.

Marriage vs. Trafficking

Courtesy of The Korea Times
04-08-2008

Cambodian Move Indicates Exploitation of Foreign BridesSouth Korea has increasingly come under attack for the abuse and exploitation of foreign wives, especially those from Southeast Asian countries. The plight of Vietnamese wives married to Koreans has already invited international criticism over rights abuses and human trafficking. It is heart-wrenching to read frequent stories that Vietnamese spouses were beaten to death or committed suicide ― far from realizing their ``Korean dream.

''What's more worrisome is that such a story does not stop with the ill-fated Vietnamese. The problem is now spreading to Cambodia. The Cambodian government has recently suspended processing all documents for marriages of its citizens with foreigners as a measure to minimize the possibility of human trafficking. You Ay, Cambodia's deputy minister of women's affairs, said April 3 that the suspension was prompted by concerns about exploitation and trafficking amid a surge in the number of Cambodian women marrying South Koreans.

She said the suspension affects all foreigners, not just South Koreans. But it is apparent that the measure was closely related to soaring cases of abuse of foreign wives in South Korea. She was quoted as saying that seven Cambodian women recently returned to their country because they could not endure pain from their married life with their Korean husbands. However, the official said the country has yet to uncover systematic exploitation.

The Cambodian move came after the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration (IOM) disclosed a report that thousands of South Korean men went to the Southeast Asian country to marry Cambodian women through brokers. The report featured the plight of a rising number of Cambodian brides migrating to South Korea in marriages hastily arranged by brokers who make huge profits.

The report noted that each man would pay up to $20,000 to marry a woman but that a bride's family would collect only about $1,000. The rest of the money would go to the brokers. There are growing concerns that brokered marriages could become a cover for human trafficking. Critics pointed out that marriage brokers have made inroads into Cambodia following a series of deaths, including suicides, of Vietnamese wives.

According to official statistics, about 1,800 Cambodia women married South Korean men in 2007, recording a fourfold increase from a year before. The figure was the third largest after Korean-Chinese women and Vietnamese brides. No doubt underground matchmaking businesses and marriage brokers have women trafficked and forced into marriage, tarnishing the image of South Korea.

A revised interracial marriage brokerage law is to go into effect in June in a bid to crack down on brokers for human trafficking-style methods. And a multicultural family support law is scheduled to take effect in September. It is urgent for the country to establish a firmer system to embrace foreign wives as well as migrant workers as indispensable members of our society. Interracial marriages now account for 10 percent of total marriages. Therefore, we have to roll up our sleeves to ensure human rights and equal opportunity for brides and workers from other countries.

UN: Cambodian economic growth expected to go down to 7% in 2008

www.chinaview.cn

2008-04-08

PHNOM PENH, April 8 (Xinhua) -- The growth rate of Cambodian economy will go down to 7 percent this year due to its over reliance on export of garments, said a report issued by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) here on Tuesday.

"Cambodia's export growth is fragile due to its concentration in the garment industry, which accounts for more than 70 percent of the country's exports," said ESCAP in a relevant press release.

In the report, ESCAP said that "a key concern lay in the country's narrow export base which was considered vulnerable because of its dependence on garment exports."

Meanwhile, low cost competitors from Vietnam and India are also gaining market shares, it said.

The sector is the country's largest generator of foreign exchange but only grew by 8 percent in 2007 over 2006, it added.

Earlier this month, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) predicted that Cambodia's Gross Domestic Products (GDP) growth is expected to slow to 7.5 percent this year due to the nation's narrow industry base and a slump of its garment sector

"The prolonged economic expansion is forecast to slow, both this year and next, in large part reflecting reduced external demand for domestically-made clothes," said the bank in its annual report, which predicts GDP will further drop to 7.0 percent in 2009 for Cambodia.

The garment industry will suffer in the next two years due to less demand from the United States and Japan, it said.

Cambodia's GDP growth soared to 13.4 percent in 2005,. It has hovered around double-digits since and reached a respectable 9.6 percent last year, according to ADB statistics.

Editor: Sun Yunlong

Cambodian economic growth to slow in 2008: UN

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodia's economic growth is expected to slow to 7.0 percent this year, the United Nations said Tuesday, warning that the country's exports remained too narrowly based on garments.

Growth is expected to be slower than last year, when the economy expanded by 8.5 percent, according to a report from the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

While Cambodia's economy remains one of the region's most vibrant, "a key concern lay in the country's narrow export base which was considered vulnerable because of its dependence on garment exports," the report said.

The garment industry grew only 8.0 percent last year after suffering a dismal fourth quarter that saw orders plummet by nearly half, according to the World Bank.

The sector -- the country's largest source of foreign exchange -- faces increased competition from China and Vietnam, with further risks looming due to an economic downturn in the US, Cambodia's biggest market for textiles.

"For Cambodia, a significant slowdown of the US economy could have an economic fallout," said Suomi Sakai, acting UN resident coordinator.

Hang Chuon Naron, a secretary-general at Cambodia's finance ministry, said the government would try to prop up the garment sector by seeking higher wages for factory workers.

But he also said Cambodia needed to diversify its economy, and placed special emphasis on the country's tourism sector, which brought in 1.4 billion dollars last year.

Tourism revenues are expected to grow by at least 20 percent in 2008, according to the government.

The government "needs to look at how to ensure the development of tourism by developing the coastal areas," he said, adding that other tourism sites also needed to be created.

Qatar sets up ties with Cambodia

Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani (L) shakes hands with Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen upon his arrival at Phnom Penh international airport April 1, 2008. Sheikh Hamad is on a two-day official visit to Cambodia.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Courtesy of www.gulf-times.com
Tuesday, 8 April, 2008,

NEW YORK: Qatar and Cambodia established diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level as of April 1, 2008.

A joint communique to this effect was signed by HE Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations for the Qatar side, while Dr Kosal Sea, Permanent Representative of Cambodia to the United Nations signed for Cambodia.

“Desirous of strengthening the bonds of existing friendly relations and developing bilateral co-operation between their two countries and peoples in the political, economic and cultural fields, and based on the principle of mutual respect for territorial integrity and non-intervention in internal affairs of each other, as well as norms of international law and the objectives and principles of the United Nations Charter, the Government of the State of Qatar and the Royal Government of Cambodia, have agreed to establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level, in accordance with the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 18 April 1961, as of 1 April 2008,” the joint communique said.

“The Government of the State of Qatar and the Royal Government of Cambodia express their assurances that the establishment of Diplomatic Relations responds to the national interests of both states and will consolidate the strengthening of international peace and co-operation,” the joint communique added.

Angkor Wat: Hope for a better future

Syed Nazakat
08 April 2008, Tuesday
Courtesy of http://www.merinews.com

Khmer rouge regime has left Cambodia scared. As the country settles down in peace slowly, Angkor Wat is being replaced to its original glory and is attracting tourists. This has given new hope to the people and the country.

IT WAS once dangerous to visit Angkor Wat and the other temples surrounding it. The area was within the reach of Khmer rouge guerrillas who had decamped to the wilds of northwest Cambodia after being driven from power in 1979. But today, the country is at peace, and its glorious temples are crowded with tourists.

A couple of miles to the south of Angkor, the once dusty streets of deserted Siem Reap are full of tour buses and the tuk tuks of motorcycles. The city is abuzz with energy. The shopkeepers call prospective customers to come inside their shops. Along the road near the city’s international airport, hotels are opening up quickly and they are doing good business. "We are having one of the best tourism seasons. All our rooms are already booked," Chea Sokhon, sales executive of La Residence d’ Angkor hotel, told Asia News Network. The city of Angkor comprises of over 70 temples, lying in various states of repair, spread across more than 30 sq km. The city was built between 9th and 14th century at the height of Cambodia’s Khmer empire, which once governed much of modern day Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos as well as parts of southern China and Burma.

Today it is only the temples that survive the remnants of a metropolis that was the envy of the ancient Southeast Asian world. But it is Angkor Wat, which is the most popular tourist attraction. Certainly the temple itself is an architectural marvel of the ancient world, built in a perfect square more than a kilometre on each side and listed by the United Nations as a world heritage monument.

"Angkor Wat is a treasure of Cambodia and of the world," says Sermkhun Kunawong, vice president of Bayon CM Organiser, which is organising the mega theatre performance of US$1.5-million The Legend of Angkor Wat. Bayon CM Organiser is a joint venture between Cambodia’s Bayon Radio & TV, and the Bangkok-based CM Organiser, an event and production company.

Sermkhun Kunawong is a modest, quiet-spoken man — part of the generation that survived the Khmer rouge and the ensuing years of civil war. He says whenever he looks at Angkor Wat, he is inspired to do something to spread the rich culture and history of Angkor Wat. Shifting projected light, sound and special effects, colour, and silhouette embracing the architecture of the temple, brings out unexpected aspects of its beauty. Apsara dances and contemporary Khmer performances have been used to tell the historical story of Angkor Wat. The show, which will end on Jan 20, 2008, is believed to boost tourism in Cambodia.

"The show will transport you back in history during a time when this ancient wonder of the world was once the centre of a powerful empire. I hope people will come to have an understanding of pre-Angkor times through this show," says Kunawong.

The temples of Angkor still bear the scars of the brutal regime of Khmer rouge during which an estimated two million people died. The regime destroyed anything they regarded as decadent or culturally impure, including many buildings and temples. But the temples are being reclaimed and efforts are being made to promote the Cambodian culture by individuals like Kunawong.

"Angkor is our identity. It is our strength and hope for better future," says Kunawong. "We hope that more and more people visit the great temple and our rich culture and heritage spreads all across the world," he adds.

In some ways things are changing. Foreign visitors are flooding in.1.7 million tourists visited Cambodia in 2006 and during the first seven months of last year the temple saw around 975,349 visitors. Siem Reap arrivals have increased with 615,445 visitors while Phnom Penh and other destinations had brought in a total of 359,903 visitors. And while there are no official figures on how much each tourist spends in Cambodia, the dizzying array of luxury hotels in Siem Reap—ranging from the Raffles Grand Hotel d’ Angkor to quirky boutiques like Hotel de la Paix—testifies to the emergence of a new generation of high-end travellers.

With the tourists, comes money, desperately needed in a country where people are still mired in grinding poverty. In Siem Reap’s old market, where tourists gather, so too, do maimed land mine victims who have been reduced to beggary.

On a visit to the old market in Pokambor, I met Chang, a roadside bookseller. Her husband, Chan Vanna, a former member of the Cambodia army, had lost both legs in a landmine explosion in 1993. "After he lost his legs, we turned to begging as we had no other way to support our family. It was terrible, humiliating," remembers Chang. "But now we have decided to work and never to beg. We just hope that more tourists come here so that we get more customers," says Chang.

Perhaps if Cambodia has to come out from the decades of despair, it needs the kind of resilience Chang has. "Sometimes we need to be tough and strong. We need to fight back", says Chang.
Behind her the light creeps across Angkor Wat. The great temple stands in the bright sunlight as it has for hundreds of years as a symbol of hope and faith for the Cambodian people, who are still trying to come to terms with the turmoil and bloodshed inflicted by the Khmer rouge regime.

Stung Treng Province

Me in Stung Treng

All hand made

Clay pot Vendor

Along the river in Stung Treng


Snacks for the bus, Sticky rice and coconut juice!

Courtesy of Travel Pod at http://www.travelpod.com/

Sunday, Apr 06, 2008

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Stung Treng was our least favorite place so far. Very hot and no trees. Trying to find some relief here was impossible. Strung Treng is kinda of stuck between Laos and our next destination of Ratanakira. There is nothing to see here and nothing to stop for. The only reason I got off here was because I was told they had a ATM. So one night in Stung Treng... so I thought. Yes they have a ATM but it does not accept my card! Great stuck out in the middle of nowhere with enough money for one night at the guest house. The bank does have a Western Union but it's Sunday and won't open until Monday. Thanks to my great friend Josh in California. He made sure there was a money transfer waiting for me on Monday morning. Thanks again Josh! I was at the bank at 7am and made the only bus headed for Ban Lung that day! If you ever come to Cambodia skip Stung Treng!