Police Blotter: 13 Jul 2010

via Khmer NZ

Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:00 Tha Piseth

HUNGRY MAN ACCUSED OF SERIOUSLY BEATING WIFE

A 29-year-old man in Siem Reap province has been arrested and charged in connection with the violent beating of his wife last Thursday. Police said the man became enraged when, after inquiring about dinner at around 4pm upon his return from working in the rice fields all day, he was told by his wife that their meal was a long way off. In response, the man took a large piece of wood and allegedly struck his wife, who is 20 years his senior, six times in the head. The woman has been taken to hospital, and police have sent the case against the man to the provincial court.

KAMPUCHEA THMEY

MOTORIST DIES AFTER HEAD-ON BUS CLLISION

A high-speed collision in Siem Reap province has led to the death of a 20-year-old man, police said. The victim, who was riding on a motorbike, inadvertently ran head-on into a bus while trying to pull over to the side of the road, police said. His body has been sent to Siem Reap Referral Hospital, as police have been unable to identify him. The bus has been sent to the provincial police station.

RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

LEMONGRASS DISPUTE A MOTIVE FOR MURDER

Police in Takeo province are investigating the case of a lemongrass field owner who was found dead Sunday with cuts to her neck, hands and eyes. The victim’s daughter said she found her mother’s body underneath a bamboo tree roughly 100 metres from their house. Police suspect that the 44-year-old victim was killed because she constantly cursed thieves who dared to steal lemongrass from her field. But they have been unable to identify any possible perpetrators.

KOH SANTEPHEAP

SPEEDING BLAMED FOR CRASH BET

Speeding blamed for crash between car, bike

A 20-year-old motorbike driver suffered serious injuries during an accident in Phnom Penh that police said was caused by excessive speeding. Police said an 18-year-old who was driving a car hit the victim’s motorbike while travelling at a very high speed, and that both drivers are believed to have been driving recklessly. Their vehicles have been sent to the police station, and the 20-year-old has been sent to hospital.

KAMPUCHEA THMEY

TWO HELD IN DRUG RAID SET FOR RE-EDUCATION

Police in the capital’s Daun Penh district arrested two men suspected of using illicit drugs on Friday. The men, both 28, were nabbed during a raid carried out at a house near Old Market. One of the men is from Tuol Kork district, while the other lives in Daun Penh. Police said the case has been sent to a local “educational centre”.

KAMPUCHEA THMEY

Bars score Cup custom

Spain fans cheer in front of the big-screen television at 3Rivers on Street 258, Phnom Penh, during the World Cup final early Monday. NICK SELLS

via Khmer NZ

Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:01 Jeremy Mullins and Sun Narin

THE World Cup football tournament proved a boon for Phnom Penh’s bars and restaurants, and owners reported that customer numbers had risen by up to 20 percent during the contest.

Though many tired owners said that late starting times in the Kingdom and poor performances from punters’ favourite sides limited the benefit to business, promotions and thirsty fans still arrived in scores to boost the capital’s eateries.

V Friend restaurant in Teak Laok commune, Phnom Penh, focused on attracting a Cambodian clientele, and executive manager Cheng Vanny said patrons had increased by 20 percent during the contest.

“Most of them wanted to eat food, drink beer and watch World Cup football,” he said.

A lucky draw promotion and sponsorship from San Miguel beer helped attract punters, he added.

Tuol Tom Pong commune’s Rohat Leap restaurant also saw a 20 percent increase in custom while screening the matches, according to cashier Yous Sereypiseth yesterday.

“Sometimes there were no available seats,” he said.

“The World Cup is the biggest sporting event,” agreed 3Rivers bar and restaurant owner Eden Thomas, who said it was too early discuss revenues.

3Rivers had been packed with sporting fans particularly during the bigger games, he said, but England’s early departure from the tournament had slowed custom from the nation’s backers.

Noel Hunt, owner of Hunter’s restaurant and bar, located in Boeung Keng Kang, said his business had been particularly strong in the first week of the tournament, but that early defeats of England and the United States and the late timing of some games had taken their toll.

He said staying open until 4am for some of the games had been a challenge.

“I wouldn’t want it to last another week,” he said, and added that his cooks had served the last chili dog at 4:20am during one match.

Raffles Le Royal’s Elephant Bar saw a similar number of customers compared with the regular turnout for happy hours, marketing manager Catherine Lapierre said, but patrons generally stayed longer to take in the matches.

Owner of the sports mainstay Gym Bar, Randal Laurence, saw a major increase in punters.

“Business was probably on par with the tournament four years ago,” he said.

Several bar owners declined comment for this story, citing after-effects of the tournament final held yesterday.

Utility growth: Revenues at PP Water up by 10pc

via Khmer NZ

Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:00 Chun Sophal

REVENUES at the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority grew 10 percent to US$12 million for the first six months, compared with the same period last year, and officials say its customer base has been steadily increasing.

“We hope water-supply revenue will keep growing until the end of the year because customers have been increasing by a stable amount,” director general Ek Sonn Chan said yesterday.

Sales of water do not vary like most goods, he said, and this results in relatively constant revenue for the utility. Last year, PPWSA earned $21.6 million in revenues.

Presently supplying water to 196,500 customers, it expects to add an additional 12,000 to 13,000 customers during 2010, according to a report.

The authority is capable of producing 300,000 cubic metres of clean water per day, which is sold for an average price of $0.25 per cubic metre, the report said. It is powered primarily by two large water-pumping stations in Prek village and in Chroy Changvar commune.

Work on an $80 million water treatment station is slated to start later this year, Ek Sonn Chan has said previously, and is eexpected to produce another 130,000 cubic metres of water per day.

Funding for the planned Nirouth water treatment plant will be provided by a $40 million loan from Japan and $20 million from Agence Francaise de Developpement. The remainder will be self-financed by the authority.

The PPWSA plans to produce 430,000 cubic metres of water per day through a 2,300-kilometre pipe network by 2015, and targets 560,000 cubic metres per day by 2020.

Cambodia's first biofuel plant set to reopen

Photo by: SAM RITH
A sign outside of the MH Bio-Energy plant before its official opening.

via Khmer NZ

Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:00 Nguon Sovan

CAMBODIA’S only biofuel production plant is set to reopen in October, at the start of this year’s cassava harvest, after closing due to high crop prices recorded earlier this year.

MH Bio-Energy Cambodia, located in Kandal province, opened in November 2008 with an initial investment of US$30 million.

The factory needed at least 10,000 tones of cassava a month to produce ethanol, a compound that can be blended with petrol to reduce carbon emissions.

But production costs for the company were squeezed at both ends earlier this year by high domestic cassava prices coupled with a low final selling price on European markets.

“We stopped production since April due to the high price of dry-chip cassava,” Kim Jung-ho, MH Bio-Energy Cambodia director of administration said yesterday.

“We will restart production in October when the annual seasonal harvest of cassava comes because the tapioca [processed cassava] price will be going down at that time.”

Kim said 1 tonne of dry-chip cassava currently costs $210, about 45 percent more than $145 per tonne recorded last December. Meanwhile, the price of the biofuel on the European market is still low, at about $500 per tonne.

“The price of ethanol goes hand-in-hand with the price of oil, so when oil prices go down, bio-ethanol goes down. There was no room for us to increase the price of ethanol in the EU market; that’s why we decided to stop production,” he said.

He said the South Korean-owned plant had been affected by the suspension; however, he declined to put a monetary cost on the halt.

“It’s affected our revenues and our customers, but we discussed this issue with them before we stopped production,” he said.

The company had been contracting farmers to grow the crop in order to combat high prices by increasing supply, Kim said. The firm hopes that prices will decrease as farmers harvest the crop.

But Som Yen, director of Malai Trading Co in Banteay Meanchey province, which purchases cassava and corn for Thai markets, said yesterday that farmers were still discouraged from growing cassava following low market demand during the 2008 season.

“At that time, a tonne of dry chip of cassava purchased from farmers was $24 per tonne.

“That cheap price deprived farmers of their investments. That’s why they still hesitate to grow this type of crop and instead they grow corn,” he said.

Last year, the plant exported 29,406 tonnes of ethanol to European markets.

Data demand drives NTT's Kingdom entry

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Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:00 Jeremy Mullins

TOKYO-based NTT Communications opened its first Cambodian branch in response to increased demand for data services from Japanese companies, a company official said yesterday.

“We’re focusing on Japanese companies operating in Cambodia,” Miyazaki Hajime, NTT’s Bangkok-based general manager of products and services, said.

Operating as a subsidiary of NTT Communications (Thailand) Co, he said the new Phnom Penh branch, which opened late last week, would concentrate on data-communications services, such as setting up local area networks.

“We’re still assessing the market situation right now,” and discussions were under way with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications to determine what businesses it could pursue, he said.

Hajime said NTT decided to enter the Kingdom after existing Japanese business partners requested that NTT provide data services for their operations here.

“There’s been gathering voices of business wanting to expand in Cambodia,” he said.

NTT Communications is owned by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, the parent company of large mobile-service provider DoCoMo

.

However, Miyazaki Hajime says the firm has no intention of fighting for market share in Cambodia’s crowded mobile-service sector.

DoCoMo had been involved in bidding for Mobitel last year, sources say, but Miyazaki said he had no knowledge as to whether other NTT divisions were considering another move for Cambodia’s largest mobile provider.

Cambodia stays confident as IMF conference outlines risk

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn delivers a speech at a conference hosted by the IMF and South Korea in Daejeon yesterday. AFP

via Khmer NZ

Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:00 May Kunmakara

Daejeon

ASIA’s high dependence on external economies could make it vulnerable to shocks, a Korean official told the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conference in South Korea yesterday, as stakeholders convened to assess the region’s role as the engine for global growth.

Yoon Jeung-hyun, Korea’s Minister of Strategy and Finance, said in his opening remarks that despite the recent rapid growth, the region’s “high dependence” on other economies remains, which “leads to inherent vulnerabilities to external shocks”.

Furthermore, “24 percent of population in the Asia Pacific region is still living in poverty, and poverty percentages in individual countries vary widely from 0.4 percent to 55 percent”.

Cambodian representatives at the two-day conference in South Korea’s central city Daejeon were confident the Kingdom’s 5 percent economic growth forecast for this year was a realistic target, although it was higher than the IMF’s projections.

The IMF projected that Cambodia’s economic growth rate would be 4.5 percent, compared with a regional growth rate of more than 7 percent.

Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon, who is attending the conference, said Cambodia’s marginally higher aim of 5 percent was feasible.

The conference “is talking about the leadership of Asia – our country is also part of this leadership, and this year we will aim to reach about 5 percent [economic] growth”.

He said the government had come to the conference “to listen to the many countries of Asia, to collect knowledge, and take it to implement in our country”.

National Bank of Cambodia Governor Chea Chanto, also in attendance, said the Kingdom’s finance and banking sector had stood firm during the global economic crisis as the government, heeding signs of crisis in Western countries, took action to curb the fallout.

“We set a strategic plan to curb the impact of the crisis before it came,” he said. “It does not mean we took no impact – we did – but we managed well as we saw many foreign commercial banks come during that period because they trusted us.”

IMF’s managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn told conference delegates “Asia’s time has come. No one can doubt that Asia’s economic performance will continue to grow in importance.”

New residents living in capital’s Camko City

via Khmer NZ

Tuesday, 13 July 2010 15:00 Soeun Say

THE first residents have begun moving into Camko City’s two newest 14-storey condominiums in Phnom Penh, project management team member Kheng Ser said yesterday. The firm intends to complete construction on four more blocks in August, as part of its US$109 million first phase.

Agent Orange

Moscow Time

via Khmer NZ

Jul 12, 2010

Vietnam. © Flickr.com/lecercle/cc-by-nc-sa 3.0

The history of mankind consists of many wars. Historians say that conflicts have killed both civilians and soldiers each and every year over the past 2000 years. In 1961, the U.S. unleashed the first war in mankind’s history against the environment - farmlands, forests and rivers - in South Vietnam, eastern Laos and part of Cambodia.

Here is an opinion from Colonel Anatoly Sozranov, a military expert at the Civil Defence Academy of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry: "The Americans started spraying herbicides and defoliants on South Vietnam, especially on guerrilla bases and the Ho Chi Min Trail killing all living beings and plants. More than 2 million people were exposed to these chemicals in Vietnam. The impact of these chemicals can be seen even today. Children were born with defects. This is the most horrible echo of the herbicidal warfare by the U.S. "

Anatoly Sozranov spent almost a year in Vietnam in 1971 and 1972 and gathered evidence of the chemical war by the Americans in South Vietnam. He is still studying the topic. He has this to say concerning the chemicals used in South Vietnam: "The Americans sprayed over 100 thousand tons of herbicides and defoliants on 44 percent of forests. The overall territory affected by these chemicals is estimated at about 50 thousand square kilometers. This can be considered only as genocide. Americans have tested 15 chemical recipes for destroying food crops and plants. Over 72 thousand tons of Agent Orange was sprayed. The U.S. used Agent Blue to target crops, while the Agent white, to destroy forests. All these contained dioxin."

Dioxin is one of the most toxic chemicals. It does not dissolve in water and does not disintegrate for decades and passes from one generation to other by heredity. American scientists, who published the book “Ecocide in Vietnam”, say that at least one century will be needed to restore forests in Vietnam.

At present, dioxin in waters is poisoning flora and fauna in rivers and is affecting the health of people, says Anatoly Sozranov: "The Soviet and Russian experts have been involved in deintoxication programme since the liberation of South Vietnam. They have developed highly effective medicines that help to weaken the affect of toxic chemicals sprayed on the territory several decades ago. The Russian-Vietnamese Tropical Centre is engaged in studying the consequences of the ecocide in Vietnam and the development of ways to eliminate them."

The United Nations has recently allocated 5 million U.S. dollars to overcome the consequences of the chemical war waged by the U.S. in Vietnam. This is a good amount, but much more money and many decades will be needed to achieve this goal.

Shameful marriage practice

via Khmer NZ

July 13, 2010

For years, growing numbers of Korean men have gone looking for wives in countries overseas, mostly in Southeast Asia.

Today, one in 10 Korean men are married to a non-Korean citizen. The ratio is true in four in 10 rural neighborhoods.

But the trend has had serious repercussions - especially for women. Brokers seeking easy money recruit foreign women and arrange marriages that, in many cases, amount to human trafficking. Local girls and women are lined up and paraded in front of prospective husbands. Rarely are the women given accurate information about the man they are about to marry.

According to a government poll from 2006, 1.3 in 10 marriage migrants said they discovered they had been deceived in some way after their marriage to a Korean man.

That’s what happened to a young Vietnamese woman who was stabbed to death by her husband just eight days after she started her married life in Korea. She, like many of the young women who immigrate through marriage seeking a better life for themselves or the families they’ve left behind, arrive here with hope. She, like many of her peers, had her life ended tragically and much too soon.

Many of the women in her situation are murdered or find themselves having to run from their new husbands to escape continued physical and mental abuse. Some have even taken their own lives. If they had known of the true nature of their husbands-to-be, it is unlikely they would ever have agreed to get married.

One country, Cambodia, has taken action to protect its citizens. It banned its citizens from marrying Korean men. When Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen met with President Lee Myung-bak last October, he asked Korea to give special attention to Cambodian women married to Korean men.

But we cannot expect other countries to solve the problem. We must find a solution for what has become a serious social problem. Abuses of foreign wives by Korean men could also create a diplomatic stigma against us.

In a positive step forward, the Ministry of Justice has announced that all men planning to take marriage trips overseas will soon have to take a government-led class before they depart. It also plans to prohibit men with a history of mental illness, incarceration or three previous international marriages from getting a visa.

We must address these disgraceful cases of international marriages before they leave a lasting stain on our country.

Tiger countries meet in Indonesia to map rescue

An endangered five-year old Sumatran tiger is placed in a transport cage in Banda Aceh to be relocated to a safari park

A rare 12-year-old Sumatran tiger named "Trenggani" swims in the water within its enclosure at Ragunan Zoo in Jakarta

via Khmer NZ

NUSA DUA, Indonesia — Representatives from 13 "tiger-range countries" met in Indonesia on Monday to draft a global recovery plan ahead of a summit in Russia in September.

"We're gathering here because we share concerns about the sustainability of tigers," Indonesian Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said in an opening address to delegates on the resort island of Bali.

"It is alarming that out of the nine tiger subspecies in the world, only six are remaining."

The plan to be drafted in Bali will be used as the basis for discussion at a "tiger summit" in St. Petersburg from September 15 to 18.

"In Indonesia alone, only the Sumatran tiger still exists, while the other two subspecies have become extinct," the minister said, referring to Javan and Balinese tigers which were wiped out in the 1980s and 1940s respectively.

He blamed a "lack of law enforcement" for the continuing losses of Sumatran tigers, which number only about 400 in the wild.

Several are killed every year by poachers and villagers who compete with them for dwindling forest resources.

WWF says the global, wild population of tigers of all species has fallen from about 100,000 to an estimated 3,200 over the past century.

Countries invited to attend the St. Petersburg summit are Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The pre-summit talks in Bali from Monday to Wednesday will hear details of each country's tiger protection plans and funding proposals.

Indonesian conservation official Harry Santoso said ahead of the talks that Jakarta would ask for more than 175 million dollars in foreign aid to implement its plan to double the Sumatran tiger population by 2022.

The plan focuses on mitigation of human-animal conflict and better law enforcement, including stiffer penalties, to stop poaching and forest destruction.

Human-animal conflicts are a rising problem in the massive archipelago as forests are destroyed for timber or to make way for palm oil, forcing animals such as elephants and tigers into closer contact with people.

World Bank tiger initiative director Keshav Varma said the trade in tigers and tiger products is growing despite an increasing awareness among governments that the species was on the brink of extinction.

He said poachers and illegal traders were "better equipped" than ever before with weapons and communications technology.

"They have become more sophisticated and there is a bigger market, not only for traditional medicine but now people want more tiger product for fashion," he told reporters.

"Unfortunately countries have not done enough to stop these people."

Cambodian-flagged ships held up by coast guards in Russian waters in the Sea of Okhotsk off the Sakhalin Island

via Khmer NZ

Today at 09:27 | Interfax-Ukraine A rough total of 75 tonnes of live snow crabs were found aboard two Cambodian-flagged ships held up by coast guards in Russian waters in the Sea of Okhotsk off the Sakhalin Island on suspicion of poaching, the Sakhalin coast guard branch said.

There were 13 tonnes of crabs on board one of the ships, the Eliant, which was detained east of Sakhalin and had a 15-member crew, 14 of the sailors being Russian and one Ukrainian, a branch spokesman told Interfax-AVN.

The other vessel, the Seven, with an all-Russian crew of 17, had about 62 tonnes of crabs on board. It was detained east of Sakhalin's Cape Aniva.

"The captains of both ships were unable to show documents to prove the legality of the crabs being on board the vessels. An investigation is under way," the spokesman said.

Phnom Penh is the home port of both ships, which were detained on Thursday and taken to Sakhalin's Korsakov port.

Abhisit thanks Cambodian government for handing over 2 bomb suspects to Thai authorities

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/

via Khmer NZ

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva Monday thanked the Cambodian government for handing over two bomb suspects to Thai authorities.

The two suspects, who were accused of being involved in the bomb attack at the Bhum Jai Thai, were sent back to Thailand Monday.

"We must thank the Cambodian government for the cooperation and we will seek more cooperation if there are other people involved," Abhisit said.

The Nation

Warmer Relations, But Cambodian Debt Remains

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC
Monday, 12 July 2010

via Khmer NZ

Photo: by Im Sothearith
Cambodian Ambassador Hem Heng shakes hand with US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.

“I think we’re on an upswing...so we’re pleased with the relations.”

National anthems, traditional Khmer music and big smiles were all a part of a celebration dinner held by Cambodian diplomats Friday to mark the 60th anniversary of US-Cambodia relations. But Cambodia still wants debt forgiven and a chance to see more deductions in tariffs.

“I think we’re on an upswing...so we’re pleased with the relations,” US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told reporters.

Cambodian Ambassador Hem Heng noted the improved relations but said he still wanted to see Cambodia forgiven more than $300 million in debt incurred prior to the Khmer Rouge. He said he was optimistic the US would consider the possibility.

About 200 guests from the US State Department, Cambodian diplomatic corps, US government agencies and Congress joined Friday’s dinner, which was held in a Chinese restaurant in a Virginia suburb of Washington.

The US and Cambodia are celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations this month, which talks and performances planned in Cambodia throughout July.

Worries Delay Opening of Stock Exchange

Ros Sothea, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh
Monday, 12 July 2010

via Khmer NZ

Photo: AP
In 2007, senators passed a law on the issuance and trading of stocks and bonds in the latest move to prepare the country for establishing its first stock market by 2009.

“We have to be careful and take a close look to see if we have more things to do relating to regulations to avoid risk.”

Cambodia’s much-touted stock exchanged will not be opened at the end of the year as planned. Instead, worries after the Greek debt crisis and internal problems will delay the opening of the bourse until 2011.

Finance Minister Keat Chhon made the announcement at a business conference in Daejeon, South Korea, on Sunday. South Korea has been a main backer of the stock exchange, which has proven elusive, having first been delayed in 2009.

“We have to be careful and take a close look to see if we have more things to do relating to regulations to avoid risk,” Keat Chhon told the regional conference, “Asia 21: Leading the Way Forward.”

“Meanwhile, there are two internal problems regarding governance of regulators and companies,” he said.

Economic officials hope the exchange will boost growth. Already, the government has ordered three state-owned companies to prepare for a listing on the exchange: Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority and Telecom Cambodia.

Keat Chhon said Sunday these companies need more time to get ready. He declined to elaborate on an exact month the exchange might open in 2011.

Cambodia’s Securities Exchange Commission is also now looking for a partner to provide training to government officials to help them educate the public about trading on the exchange.

“We will provide training at universities, the business community and the general public about the benefits of stock trading and the difference between doing simple business,” SEC Secretary General Minh Ban Kosal said.

The exchange is also wrestling with which currency to use—dollar or riel. And it remains unclear how popular the exchange will be in the private sector.

No private companies have yet to sign up for listing on the exchange, though some interest has been expressed in the past from businesses in banking, agriculture and the garment sector.

Peacekeeping Exercises Open Amid Concerns

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh
Monday, 12 July 2010

via Khmer NZ

Photo: AP
Multiple peacekeeping exercises that include troops from 26 countries began today and will carry through the end of the month.

“This is the first time in the history of the Cambodian military that we have hosted multi-national exercise training.”

Cambodia opened a massive peacekeeping exercise Tuesday that is supported by the US. But Human Rights Watch says the choice of Cambodia for the operation, Angkor Sentinel, undermines US human rights diplomacy.

Multiple peacekeeping exercises that include troops from 26 countries began today and will carry through the end of the month as part of a global peacekeeping initiative supported by the US.

“For the Pentagon and State Department to permit abusive Cambodian military units to host a high-profile regional peacekeeping exercise is outrageous,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. “The United States undermines its protests against the Cambodian government for rampant rights abuses like forced evictions when it showers international attention and funds on military units involved in grabbing land and other human rights violations.”

However, Cambodian military officials welcomed the exercises, which will include more than 1,000 troops from countries as diverse as China, India, the US, Tonga and Brunei and are aimed at improving the abilities of those countries to conduct UN operations together.

“This is the first time in the history of the Cambodian military that we have hosted multi-national exercise training,” said Nem Sowath, a three-star general and chairman of the exchange subcommittee.

The training will include command post exercises at a hotel in Phnom Penh followed by field training exercises in Kampong Speu province.

CAMBODIA LURES TOURISTS: CATCH AND EAT A TARANTULA

http://www.tourism-review.com/

via Khmer NZ

Date 12.07.2010

Cambodia has a new attraction for tourists - a tarantula hunt. No tour operator has offered the strange activity yet, however locals do invite tourists for the hunt on their own.

Cambodians from around the city of Sukon offer a new attraction to tourists - an extraordinary hunt where the prey is a spider, a tarantula to be precise. Tourists who love extreme experience first hunt down the spider and then eat it. Some foreigners actually enjoy joining locals when looking for the spiders. They hunt tarantulas in their nests and then prepare them with soya sauce or fry them with salt and garlic.

According to news.com.au, the hunting is easy. You go to the jungle or to cashew nut plantations and poke in tarantula's nests. The terrified venomous spiders run out right into your hands. Because tarantula is a night animal, the hunting usually takes place during daylight. You are likely to catch more spiders then.

No tour operator has offered the experience yet. However, the Cambodians from the cities of Sukon and Kampong Cham who eat the spiders most often offer tourists to participate in the hunts.

As lidovky.cz reported, tarantulas are considered a delicacy in Cambodia. They were first eaten and sold for food in the 70s when people flee into the jungle to escape the murderous regime of the Khmer Rouge. In order to survive, they ate spiders and other insects. However, people grew fond of eating tarantulas so they started with culinary experiments.

Many Cambodians even believe that tarantulas can help with certain health problems. They are said to cure backache or respiratory diseases. The spiders can heal the best when soused in rice wine.

DAP News

via Khmer NZ

Cambodia-US Host the First Large Scale Multilateral Peacekeeping Exercise

Monday, 12 July 2010 11:08 DAP-NEWS

Cambodia,Phnom Penh,12,July,2010 -Angkor Sentinel 10, the first large scale multilateral peacekeeping exercise in Cambodia, co-hosted with the United States, will be held July 12-30 near Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The Royal Cambodia Armed Forces (RCAF) and the U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) will participate in the multinational exercise. The Global Peacekeeping Operations Initiative (GPOI) is co-sponsored by RCAF and the U.S. Pacific Command.

“Angkor Sentinel 10 focuses on developing participating nations’ contributions to United Nations peacekeeping efforts. The training emphasizes multinational peacekeeping challenges such as insurgency, terrorism, crime and ethnic conflict. The exercise strengthens readiness and interoperability for each nation to succeed in overcoming these challenges, the statement from US embassy here said.

It added that the training exercise is the latest in a continuing series of regional GPOI exercises designed to promote peacekeeping capabilities within Cambodia and among regional partners. It also supports the institutional reform of the RCAF and promotes Cambodia’s participation in multilateral and regional events.

Training focuses on peacekeeping operations and UN recognition. Events include a multilateral UN force headquarters computer-simulated command post exercise which opened today at the Phnom Penh Hotel, a field training exercise, and a humanitarian and civic assistance project, it noted.

It said that the field training exercise consists of lane training in checkpoint operations, patrolling, securing a distribution site, convoy operations, conducting a cordon and search, and securing a disarmament area.

In addition to U.S. forces and the RCAF, several other nations have been invited by the RCAF to participate in and observe the exercise. It expected about 26 countries and hundreds of soldiers joining the event.

Cambodian Police Confiscated 500 Boxes of illegal Cosmetics Product

Monday, 12 July 2010 11:02 DAP-NEWS

Cambodia,Phnom Penh,12,July,2010-Cambodia’s economic police authorities on Monday stormed a house near the council of ministers of Cambodia found 500 boxes of fake cosmetics products which imported from foreign countries.

“All these products are cosmetics products that named made in USA and South Korea byt actually they all are fake,” Seang Bun Leng, police chief of combating economic crimes told reporters at the scene in Phnom Penh downtown.

“These products did not have permission licensing from health ministry and it could damage local people’s health and skin complex,” he added.

This is first time that we have arrested the cosmetics products and the owner will face legal punishment,” he added.even though he did not reveal the price of fake products.

REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea; Garment Workers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Workers alight from a van as they arrive for work in a garment factory on the outskirts of Phnom Penh July 12, 2010. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Garment worker Lim Luck Hoeung (C), 20, looks at the photographer as she works at the W & D Cambodia Co. Limited garment factory in Phnom Penh July 12, 2010. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Garment worker Kim Koe, 24, (L) works in the W & D Cambodia Co. Limited garment factory in Phnom Penh July 12, 2010. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Women work at the W & D Cambodia Co. Limited garment factory in Phnom Penh July 12 ,2010. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Men work in the W & D Cambodia Co. Limited garment factory in Phnom Penh July 12, 2010. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Explosive Substances Found at Home of Bombing Suspect

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/

via Khmer NZ

Published : July 12, 2010

Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI) on Monday revealed that an unknown quantity of explosive material has been found at the residence of one of the Bhumjaithai bombing suspects. Investigations continued following the deportation of two suspects by Cambodian authorities last week.

Bangkok, the 12th of July 2010: DSI Director General Tharit Pengdit stated that police had searched the home of Miss Varissareeya Boonsom, a suspect in the Bhumjaithai party bombing, finding traces of RDX explosives in several locations.

The searches were conducted based on the testimony of Miss Boonsom, who revealed that the explosive devices were made at her residence. She has since insisted that she had no direct involvement in the bombing and merely gave shelter to the other arrested suspects. Although, police have since found a notebook with handwritten bomb-making instructions in her baggage.

Miss Boonsom was arrested, along with Mr. Korbchai Boonplod, by Cambodian authorities and deported back to Thailand over their alleged involvement in the June 22 Bhumjaithai Party headquarters bombing. Red Shirt lawyer, Karom Ponthaklang, has reportedly withdrawn as Miss Boonsom’s legal counsel over concerns expressed by still incarcerated Red Shirt leaders and the opposition Puea Thai Party.

Meanwhile, the DSI chief revealed that the department has listed so far 231 cases: 131 as terrorism, 20 as threats to the state, 20 as threats to state officials and public and 15 arms-related cases. Investigations into nine cases have been completed and prosecutors have issued seven indictments. Among 562 suspects, 194 have been arrested, 367 are still fugitive and one has since died.

_______________

Cambodia Deports Thai Bomb Suspects

Foreign bride’s death

via Khmer NZ

07-12-2010

Shock may not be the word. It is with an extreme sense of shame and embarrassment that most Koreans face yet another report on the family violence leading to the death of a young foreign bride.

A 20-year-old woman would never have married a 47-year-old man with a long ― and very recent ― record of treatment for a mental disorder, had she known about it. It's almost as if three culprits had conspired to throw the Vietnamese wife into a tragic end by denying her that critical information; the unjustifiable selfishness of the Korean man and his family, money-blind matchmakers, and the authorities responsible for their supervision.

It was only this March that Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia asked President Lee Myung-bak to take good care of young Cambodian women married to Koreans, regarding them as Korea's own ``daughters-in-law." The Southeast Asian country once banned marriages with Korean men in protest of the 20:1 group interview-style matchmaking arrangement.

The latest incident, in which the near-deranged Korean husband beat and stabbed his Vietnamese wife to death just a week after her arrival here, indicates not much has changed on the part of not a few husbands-to-be, marriage brokers and even the government officials responsible.

This is unthinkable for a country, which has about 136,000 immigrant wives and four out of 10 farmers mostly marry other Asian nationals.

The Korea Immigration Service said Sunday it would enhance education for would-be husbands and refuse visa issuance for those with criminal and serious pathological records. These are necessary ― if belated ― steps, but fall way short of fundamentally tackling the chronic problem. What matters are not new decrees or laws but how the central and provincial governments implement them to drastically tighten their control on international matchmaking agencies.

In the longer term, the government's handling of multicultural family issues will also need to be checked from the ground up. Most urgent is the proper education of their children, as seen by the fact that the share of biracial students advancing to high schools remains at just 30 percent of the total.

In the best-case scenario, Korea can make the most of the growing multicultural population as a bilingual work force that supports its industry, especially the agricultural sector. In the worst, the nation could let them fall to a disgruntled minority suffering from the shortcomings of two cultures and factors of social unrest like the case of some European countries.

The economy aside, the time has long past for this would-be advanced country to improve the related system to fundamentally prevent the recurrence of such disgraceful incidents. Wasn't a ``nation with dignity" one of this administration's pet phrases, too?

“The King Called on All Development Partners of Cambodia to Provide Financial and Technical Support for Forestry Reform in Cambodia” – Sunday, 11.7.2010

http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/

via Khmer NZ

Posted on 12 July 2010

The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 672

On Saturday, 10 July 2010, it was reported that the King had called on all development partners of Cambodia to provide financial and technical support for forestry reform in Cambodia.

At this occasion, we reprint part of the history before this call by the King, starting with an old statement by Global Witness from December 2004, continuing with texts which had all been in Cambodian newspapers in 2010 and had been translated and published in The Mirror – a historical review for further consideration.

Resign or be sacked

3.12.2004

With the advent of Cambodia’s Consultative Group (CG) donor meeting on 6 and 7 December 2004, combating corruption is once more at the top of the political agenda. In line with this renewed emphasis, Global Witness is calling on the Director of the Forest Administration to be made accountable for the rampant corruption within his own department.

“Ty Sokhun should do the honorable thing and resign. If not, the Prime Minister should sack him.” said Jon Buckrell of Global Witness.

Ty Sokhun was made Director of the Department of Forestry and Wildlife1 in 1998. Since then, corruption within the department has if anything got worse. The May 2000 Asia Development Bank [ADB] Forest Concession Review characterized the crisis situation in Cambodia’s forest as “…total system failure; resulting from greed, corruption, incompetence and illegal acts…” Since that time not one forest department official has been charged with corruption, let alone convicted…

“How can the new Forest Administration hope to address corruption if the people at the top remain the same?” said Buckrell. Ty Sokhun is hopelessly compromised by his familial links to the timber trade. His father-in-law, Khun Thong, is one of Cambodia’s most prolific illegal loggers. “Ty Sokhun’s failure to make public his familial links to the timber trade is a massive conflict of interest and is in itself reason enough to dismiss him.” …

Global Witness agrees with Prime Minister Hun Sen’s sentiments, of more than two years ago, that “while good policies do matter, their rigorous and consistent implementation remains vital.” … Global Witness Press Release

And from the Khmer press in 2010:

It Is Time to Stop: Military Officials Who Do Illegal Activities

Are Not Fit to Work in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces

29.1.2010

“Phnom Penh: The top Five-Star General, Samdech Akkak Moha Senapadei Dekchor Hun Sen, announced that from now on, military officials who are involved in illegal activities are not fit to work in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, because they destroy the reputation of the armed forces, the reputation of the soldiers. …

“… ‘All military commanders, please remember that you have no authority to order soldiers to guard your mangroves. I tell you this for the future, because previously this happened… The role of the military is to fulfill obligations for the nation, not to guard your mangroves, please check this again! Please do not use soldiers and the military’s machinery to serve individual interests. If it still continues, do not say that I have not told you. How many stars showing your military rank you wear, though I wear only five stars, I will dismiss you even if you are wearing the big moon as the sign of your rank, I will dismiss you!’” – Koh Santepheap, Vol.43, #6870, 29.1.2010

The Authorities Intercept Wood Every Day, but Never Arrest the Wood Traders

24.3.2010

“After the Cambodian Prime Minister, Mr. Hun Sen, ordered to crack down on forestry crimes, the logging seems to continue even stronger, and some perpetrators drove luxury cars loaded with luxury wood in a procession of cars of high ranking officials to deceive the authorities.

“The authorities, including forestry administration officials, police, military police, and committees from the agencies from military and other units charged with suppressing forestry crimes and forestry criminals, intercepted cars and trucks loaded with wood and checked wood storehouses of some powerful people. But by now, the authorities have not arrested any traders to show their accomplishment to the Khmer public on television. …” – Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.4, #634, 24.3.2010

Samdech Hun Sen Considers Forestry Crimes to Be Acts of National Betrayal

27.3.2010

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

“During the cabinet meeting yesterday, which took from morning to noon, Samdech Dekchor Hun Sen spoke to all members of the Royal Government, saying that all related institutions, whether on the national or on regional levels, have to cooperate to intercept forestry crimes, and to reach the ringleaders. All authorities have to investigate this at every place to find the offenses and to arrest the offenders, the principal leaders, and other relevant persons, to be prosecuted without any exception regardless of how powerful those persons are, and whatever their relationships, because the suppression of forestry crimes is the suppression of criminal groups – their activities have to be considered as activities of national betrayal. …” – Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.9, #2212, 27.3.2010

Considering Forestry Crimes, Ty Sokun Should Not Be Allowed to Hold a Position,

but Should Be Punished according to the Law

7.4.2010

“Prime Minister Hun Sen announced yesterday morning, in a conference at the Chamkar Doung Royal University of Agriculture, to remove the director of the forestry administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries. Such a removal of the holder of the same position, of a former head of the forestry administration – Mr. Ly Kim Han – happened also some years ago, making him feel heart-broken, and he died. But in Ty Sokun’s case, according to opinions expressed among the general public, he should face the law and receive punishment. To remove Ty Sokun, but to appoint him at the same time as Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, shows the great tolerance of the Prime Minister.

“Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly announced the decision to take out Mr. Ty Sokun from the position of Director General of the Forestry Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, because he was involved in illegal wood trading. But Mr. Hun Sen did not specify any measures to be taken against Mr. Ty Sokun, and he reassigned him to the position of Under-Secretary of State of Agriculture. Prime Minister Hun Sen said on 6 April 2010 at the Chamkar Doung Royal University of Agriculture, that the head of the forestry administration, Mr. Ty Sokun, was involved in corruption related to forestry crimes, and that the authorities had recently started investigations to intercept them. …

“… Prime Minister Hun Sen stressed that at this time, there will be no tolerance for any official who got involved in forestry crimes. ‘We take hot measures to hit the heads of the main leaders. Therefore, the Prime Minister has to decide to do things, even if they hurt, in order to create models of law enforcement in the campaign to intercept forestry crimes.’ …” – Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.17, #3852, 7.4.2010

Important Officials from Sixteen Countries Come to Cambodia

to Discuss Appropriate Control Systems for Forestry Resources,

after an Unclear Suppression Campaign

6.5.2010

“… Recently, Cambodia has started to crack down on luxury grade wood trading, and after activities for one month, the authorities confiscated 6,000 cubic meter of such wood that was to be transported to China and Yuon. Some was to be exported to the international market via Singapore. …

“The illegal wood trading in Cambodia reduced the rich forestry resource during the 1960s of about 75% of the whole country to drop to only more than 30% at present, according to some environmental organizations. Forestry expert officials and some sectors of the authorities have been blamed for their collusion, committing illegal wood trading, but most of the actors are not brought to the courts.

“According to reports from forestry administration officials, 207 forestry crimes have been reported to the courts, but some traders with a title as an Oknha, or with close relations to high government officials, have not been charged, though they colluded to commit forestry crimes in Cambodia. Some forestry administration officials enjoy their lives with the wealth they gained from the illegal cutting down of trees. …” – Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.17, #3872, 6.5.2010

Records show 17 held for forestry crimes

9.7.2010

A total of 17 people are being held in pretrial detention in Koh Kong provincial prison on forestry-related charges dating back to 2008, according to a document provided this week by a prison worker who expressed frustration with the release last month of four forestry officials charged with involvement in an illegal logging ring.

The document shows that an additional seven people in the province have been convicted of forestry crimes and are serving sentences at the prison.

The official, who asked not to be named, said that all the people on the list were “poor” Koh Kong residents who had been arrested for such crimes as “collecting wood” and “clearing farmland.”

“It doesn’t seem very fair,” the official said. “Poor people who depend on clearing forest for their livelihood are convicted for up to five years for forestry crimes, while forestry officials involved with illegal logging rings are released.”

Although their case remains under investigation, the four Koh Kong Forestry Administration Cantonment officials were released on June 24 after being arrested in a raid amid a crackdown on illegal logging called for by Prime Minister Hun Sen.

“The small fish is punished, but the medium and big fish never get punished.”

Chhin Long, the chief clerk for the prosecution at the provincial court, said Tuesday that he had seen a document signed by Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun and the prime minister requesting the officials’ release.

Chheng Kim Sun, director of the Forestry Administration, noted on Thursday that the officials were still being investigated and could be summoned back to court at any time. He defended the release of the prisoners, describing it as part of standard legal procedure.

“The court is independent, and the court’s decision-making process in this case would be the same for rich and poor people, powerful and powerless people. It is not biased to one side,” Chheng Kim Sun said.

But Un Than Aan, provincial coordinator for the rights group ADHOC, said that although the releases might have been legal, the poor are bearing the brunt of the government’s logging crackdown.

“The release of the four officials can be done according to court procedure, because they are able to provide the court with a permanent job and address,” Un Than Aan said. “Poor people aren’t released because they have no permanent job or address, and they are often found guilty of forestry crimes because there’s enough evidence against them.”

ADHOC President Thun Saray said the pattern was consistent with past crackdowns.

“The small fish is punished, but the medium and big fish never get punished,” he said. “That’s been my observation for the last 15 years.” – Phnom Penh Post, 9 July 2010

“The King Called on All Development Partners of Cambodia
to Provide Financial and Technical Support for Forestry Reform in Cambodia”

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.18, #5246, Saturday, 10.7.2010

“Financial and technical support” – plus, as Global Witness had quoted a 2002 statement of the Prime Minister in 2004 – “While good policies do matter, their rigorous and consistent implementation remains vital.”

Please recommend The Mirror also to your colleagues and friends.

'He's running and hiding, but we are looking'

via Khmer NZ

July 12 2010

By Robert Carmichael

A manhunt is underway for a soldier who shot dead three people and injured four others, local media reported on Monday.

Sles Yeb, 50, is being sought after going on a shooting spree following an argument with his wife and son, whom he tried to stab with a knife late Thursday. The two escaped unharmed.

Commune police chief Khieu Pov said after the argument Sles Yeb walked the streets of Ty Pram Muoy village in Kampong Cham province in southeast Cambodia shooting people at random.

"The suspect shot a lot," Khieu Pov told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper, adding that police recovered more than 50 cartridges casings.

More than 100 civilian and military police then spent 48 hours staking out a cornfield where they thought the suspect had fled.

"We did not dare to go deeper into the cornfield to look for him because the suspect has an AK machine gun with 160 bullets, a pistol and bombs," said district police chief Lay Nguon. "He is running and hiding, but we are looking to arrest him."

He said the suspect might have fled to another province.

Cambodian security personnel involved in crimes often escape prosecution, but an army officer said Sles Yeb would be brought to justice.

"We do not support him even though he is a soldier," said district commander Sim Uy.

Incidents of multiple killings such as this one are highly unusual in Cambodia. - Sapa-dpa

Cambodia's peacekeeping military exercise kicks off

via Khmer NZ

July 12, 2010

First phase of large scale military exercise kicked off in Phnom Penh on Monday with more than 20 multi-nation participations.

Speaking at the opening of the "Command Post Exercise (CPX)", Gen. Moeng Samphan, secretary of state of Cambodia's National Defense Ministry said the exercise "aims at enhancing capacity for both the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) and military from various countries through the process of multi-national operations exercise to fulfill the requirements of the U.N. standards in the purpose of serving the United Nations Peacekeeping Operation."

"I strongly believe that the results of this exercise not only proved the great opportunities for the RCAF and multi-national forces in performing some regional missions but also give us a chance to demonstrate our capacity, coordination, and cooperation since our military concepts are varied from one another, but to have the common ground for working as a team together if there is a need for PKO in the region and in the world," he added.

It is the first of two forms of "military exercise" or in softer terms "peacekeeping exercise" after which the second part of "field exercise" will officially take place on July 17 at the presence of Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen in Kompong Speu province, about 50 kilometers from Phnom Penh.

"This is the first time in the history of Cambodian military that we are hosting the Multi-National Exercise Training 'Angkor Sentinel 2010' with the participations from many countries in the international committees and which encompasses such a multi- national military basis," said Lieutenant General Nem Sowath, chairman of the sub-committee of the CPX.

Both of the military exercises with official name as "Angkor Sentinel 2010" --are part of the Global Peace Operations Initiatives (GPOI), a UN-US peacekeeping-training program for strengthening peace and security.

Chhum Socheat, spokesman of the Ministry of National Defense said the military exercise will be conducted through July 30 with participations of 26 countries and more than 1,000 forces.

Of those forces, the largest number will be coming from Cambodia as a host country and from the United States, the co- organizer of the exercise.

The other participating countries, the majority of which are the members of the United Nations include France, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, India, Italy, Germany, Japan, Mongolia and the United Kingdom among others.

Source: Xinhua

Spain triumphs iniesta strike secures first Cup

via Khmer NZ

Monday, 12 July 2010 16:08 AFP

Spanish keeper Iker Casillas hoists the FIFA World Cup trophy after defeating the Netherlands in extra time early this morning at Soccer City in Johannesburg. AFP