NBC to spend $6m to maintain value of riel

The Phnom Penh Post
Monday, 31 August 2009
Nguon Sovan and Nathan Green

THE National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) has announced it will dip into its foreign reserves and buy US$6 million worth of Cambodian riels this week to hold up the value of the local currency, but an economist has warned that downward pressure will persist at least through the end of 2010.

In an announcement Friday, the central bank said it would take bids today, Wednesday and Friday at its Norodom Boulevard headquarters, putting up $2 million in US dollar holdings on each of the three days to buy riels.

Permitted bidders include commercial banks, licensed money changers and listed businesses.

NBC Director General Tal Nay Im said that because Cambodia was between harvests there was low demand for riels to buy agricultural produce, putting downward pressure on the value of the riel.

That pressure has been strong since the global financial crisis kicked in last year, she added, with plummeting business activity reducing demand for riels to pay workers.

The central bank intervenes regularly in the foreign exchange market to prop up the value of the riel. In early August it bought $2 million worth of riels daily for five days after the local currency hit a low of 4,191 against the greenback during the first week of the month.

The intervention had the desired effect, with a sharp appreciation to 4,116 on August 12 before the value edged back down to 4,136 to the dollar. It was at a similar rate last week.

"Given the small market for the riel, this sharp rebound clearly reflects the NBC's intervention," the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Cambodia economist Danny Richards told the Post earlier this month.

However, he also warned that downward pressure on the riel would continue and questioned how long the central bank could continue dipping into foreign reserves to prop up the local currency.

"The NBC will continue to intervene in foreign-exchange markets to prevent the riel from depreciating too quickly against the US dollar," he said by email. "However, its international reserves position will remain precarious. The US dollar is strengthening against major trading currencies, and given that there is still a lack of confidence in the riel, the dollar will remain the currency of choice in Cambodia for trade and investment."

In the EIU's August country outlook, Richards predicted that the riel would fall to 4,304 to the dollar by the end of 2010 as falling merchandise exports widened the current-account deficit from 9.6 percent of GDP in 2008 to 10.2 percent in 2009, putting downward pressure on the currency.

In a recent country risk service, the EIU also noted that Cambodia's real trade-weighted exchange rate had appreciated 20.3 percent over the past 48 months, "suggesting that the currency remains overvalued and thus vulnerable to a correction".

Tal Nay Im said that official exchange rates were determined by the NBC as an average of exchange rates at "five large markets in Phnom Penh".

The official exchange rate was always within 1 percent of market exchange rates, she added.

Canadia Bank Executive Vice President Dieter Billmeier said he expected the value of the riel to pick up against the US dollar and currencies in neighbouring countries between November and February because of the harvest season.

Documenting the forest in addition to the trees

Photo by: Photo Supplied
Logging on: Vandy Rattana hones his focus.

WHERE?
"WALKING THROUGH"
an exhibition of photography by Vandy Rattana can be seen through September at Baitong Cafe and SaSa Gallery, 7 St 360
(between Street 51 and Norodom Boulevard)
http://www.baitongcambodia.org/

The Phnom Penh Post
Monday, 31 August 2009
Lim Seng Haeng

Local fine-arts photographer Vandy Rattana hopes to harness a collective of local Khmer artists who are willing to work toward international standards.

VANDY Rattana, 29, is a successful photographer and one of the six founders of Stev Selapak, a Cambodian photographers' group created in early 2008. The group aims to promote world-class Cambodian photographers to an international audience.

(Disclosure: Vandy Rattana is a former Post staff photographer.)
Vandy Rattana has already represented Cambodian artists overseas, joining a contemporary art collective in Beijing called "The Long March", which recently invited contributors from each country on the historical Ho Chi Minh Trail for a collaborative creativity session.

Vandy Rattana says his love of photography could well be genetic because his father dedicated his whole life to art. Vandy Rattana realised his love for art at the age of six and has also been able to draw very well since childhood.

During this time, he also developed an appreciation for film, absorbing movies from Russia, Vietnam, India, China, America and Japan - but he preferred India's because of the artful compositions and framing. Indian movies also often portrayed pertinent family and social issues.

Since early 2005, Vandy Rattana has devoted his life and career to photography. His first photo exhibition, a treatise on interior spaces for a local art collective called Visual Arts Open (VAO), was titled "Looking In", which made him well-known locally.

At the end of the year, he will leave Cambodia to advance his studies in France. But before he leaves he will present his latest exhibition, "Walking Through", documenting the rubber plantations of Kompong Cham province in 2008 and 2009.

What inspired you to create this group?
I have seen that, in France or other Western countries, they create diverse groups or unions. And they really work well, so I think this group will contribute a lot to Cambodian photography.

If we have a group, our voices will be heard more widely, and we will have solidarity. We can help each other by giving advice or innovative ideas.
Logically, we can share knowledge among each other. We will screen our photos locally and, one day, when we are stronger, we can compete internationally. Khmers can be the best if they are willing.

What are the criteria to become a member?
Now we have six founding members - though more people will join soon.
We don't require much for membership, although you should be under 35 years of age, have a strong commitment and be ready to learn. You will not earn any money, but you will learn a lot about photography.

Do photographers need a lot of knowledge?
A good photographer needs to have a great deal of understanding, which requires a lot of reading and listening. Anyone can be my teacher; I listen to everyone, so I can learn from them.

Cambodians are not really socialised, and if they so socialise, they usually just meet to drink together. I mean socialising in terms of meeting someone to whom you can talk, share and learn from. You can learn from scholars - even celebrities, common folk or dumb people. Knowledge is borderless. You know this; others know that - so you have to keep learning, creating and sharpening your knowledge every day.

Recently I've started to love Japanese movies because they require a lot of critical thinking, and the endings are often unexpected. They work your brain better than simple, easily predictable movies.

So what are the main problems currently facing Cambodian photographers?
Cambodian photographers' lack of assignments - and they are not willing to work independently on their own. Some have worked for media agencies, and they can survive, for sure, but they do not gravitate towards creative work.

To be a photographer in Cambodia you have to be self-inspired and self-motivated or you will get lost because Cambodian people do not really welcome innovative ideas.

People call us crazy because we create new phenomena, regardless of whether it is art. So being a photographer is not really a ... nice profession. You need to try it first to be able to capture great things in life.

How can we improve?
We need more high-quality photography. There are still insufficient documentary photos showing the changes in our society and the culture.

Like I have done for each of my exhibitions, I need to spend a lot more time doing research and thinking topics though.

Recently, I have just photographed rubber trees, which could be my last exhibition in Cambodia. I spent an entire month observing and photographing the rubber trees in many places in Kampong Cham Province.

I slept with the local community in the rubber plantation and faced many obstacles just to get good and meaningful photographs.

You need to make an effort and to be positive about what you are doing.

Lakhaon Festival to put 1,000 years on stage

Photo by: Bennett Murray
Kor Borin, Alain Arnaudet and Sophiline Shapiro.

The Phnom Penh Post
Monday, 31 August 2009
Bennett Murray

From September 4 to 11, the exhibition of Khmer theatre and drama will bring to light ancient dynasties and postwar poverty.

THE French Cultural Center (CCF) is treating Cambodia to a week of both old and new Khmer theatre. From September 4 to 11, the CCF will host their third annual Lakhaon Festival at Chenla Theatre, where Khmer and French artists aim to revive traditional Khmer theatre while promoting new forms of Khmer drama.

"The Cambodia of today is full of special people," said CCF director Alain Arnaudet. "It is a good thing for this country to be conjured in our imaginations."

This year's event will add six new "creations" to the Lakhoan Festival, featuring traditional stories, such as the Ynav Bosba, performed by the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, and contemporary plays, such as Daytime's Darkness, performed by The Khmer Action Arts Company.

The Ynav Bosba is the classic Khmer version of the Rayamana. In this legendary Hindu epic, a princess is kidnapped from her wedding alter by an evil prince. The story progresses as her fiancé travels from afar to rescue her. Fast-forward 1000 years, and Daytime's Darkness brings the audience to the uglier side of post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia. In this modern spoken-word drama, an ultra-impoverished family works in the hellish Stung Meanchey garbage dump collecting reusable rubbish to sell for a few hundred riels. Although it is a dramatised portrayal, Daytime's Darkness is based on the experiences of the actors and their families.

A more unusual performance will arrive with the Pamas Company's rendition of The Girl Without Hands. A German classic, French and Khmer artists have collaborated on this Brothers Grimm fairy tale to bring about a Khmer adaptation of the play in what the CCF says is a "privileged moment of mutual enrichment" for both countries.

The story, which is about a girl who is unwittingly sold to the Devil by her father, is unfortunately all too relevant to contemporary Southeast Asia.

To make the plays as accessible as possible, all of the shows will be subtitled in both French and English. The plays are free for all to attend.

'Mission accomplished' for Ek Chamroeun at 2009 Open

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
Men’s singles tennis players take the podium after Sunday’s finals. Vietnamese player Traing Ngoc Tri won the final, beating Cambodia’s Ek Chamroeun, while last year’s champion Sok Sambath took third. TFC president Chan Prasidh (second left) presided over the event, organised by the federation, including General Secretary Tep Rithivit (right).

The Phnom Penh Post
Monday, 31 August 2009
Dan Riley

Ek Chamroeun, just 14, becomes the pride of the Cambodian Tennis Federation after making the men's singles finals, only losing to a Vietnamese 25-year-old.

THE 2009 Cambodian Open Tennis Tournament concluded Sunday in the glorious sunshine at Phnom Penh's Cambodian Country Club (CCC), with top Vietnamese players taking the spoils over their Cambodian counterparts. More than 150 avid spectators, dignitaries and journalists surrounded the main court to watch the men's finals play out in the morning before being entertained by Apsara dancers and viewing a prize-giving ceremony presided over by Tennis Federation of Cambodia (TFC) President Chan Prasidh.

In Sunday morning's final, 14-year-old Cambodian tennis sensation Ek Chamroeun finally succumbed to nerves as he was comprehensively beaten 6-0, 6-2 by Vietnamese semiprofessional Traing Ngoc Tri. The star youngster seemed to crumble under pressure, with the nation's media, including many local TV companies, with the 25-year-old Vietnamese talent storming to victory in an hour and 15 minutes.

"I was rather nervous at first to play in front of such a big crowd," said Chamroeun after the game.

"I was also nervous to play the No 5 Vietnamese player, who is 11 years older than me."

The teenage talent who won the U18 tournament with consummate ease earlier in the week, noted that he thought he had played well, despite the nerves, but respected that his opponent also played well.

"I am not disappointed with the result because I have beaten all the top Cambodian players [during the tournament]," he asserted. "I want to be the Cambodian champion for as long as possible. When people speak about the No 1 Cambodian, I want them to use my name."

Chamroeun stated that Sunday's defeat was a good lesson for him to train harder, and gave him confidence for the future. "I think when I meet him [Traing Ngoc Tri] again, I will beat him," he declared.

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
Cambodian star youngster Ek Chamroeun hits a return during the men's singles final Sunday at the CCC.

Though unsure where his trainer would be sending him next, the 14-year-old expressed his desire to do well in the forthcoming Tep Khunnah Memorial Cup in November and the SEA Games in Laos in December. For his successes in the Cambodian Open, Chamroeun collected US$300 to go with his first-and second-place trophies from the U18 and men's categories.

"What a story!" expressed a breathless TFC General Secretary Tep Rithivit after Sunday's events. "[Chamroeun] behaved himself so well throughout the whole week. He freaked out a little bit in the final, but said to him "Mission Accomplished" for winning the semifinals [Saturday]."

The TFC executive also revealed the extent of problems caused by the weather during the nine-day competition. "We had to battle with thunderstorms ripping through our covers, forcing us to work through the night to have the courts ready for the next day," he said.

Ek Chamroeun had booked his place in the final by means of a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Sok Sambath Saturday, whereas opponent Traing had made his way past Chhit Davin Thursday in a 6-1, 7-5 match.

Saturday evening saw the finals of the men's doubles play out, with Vietnamese pair Huyin JP and Traing Ngoc Tri smashing Cambodian duo Chhit Davin and Thun Tola 6-0, 6-1.

In the women's event, 24-year-old Vietnamese No 2 Noelle Hyunh Mai Hyunh made quick work of her competitors, and went on to breeze through Thursday's final against Cambodian Chheng Srey Pich. Sixteen-year-old Chheng Srey Pich had beaten Cambodian No 1 and younger sister Chheng Chorney, 15, to make the final, but the star Vietnamese player proved simply too much, winning 6-0, 6-0.

To round the day off, TFC President Chan Prasidh announced that plans for construction of three tennis courts on land granted to the federation by the CCC was in motion, with the hope of completion in time for the Tep Khunnah Cup.

Royals open up a two-game lead in series

The Phnom Penh Post
Monday, 31 August 2009
Dan Riley

Royals overwhelm a tired-looking Braves outfit 15-3 Friday to improve their record to 6-4 in their 30-game national series.

FRIDAY saw the two Cambodian National Baseball teams lock horns in Game 10 of their 30-game series. In the match, the Royals overwhelmed the Braves 15-3 to take a 6-4 lead.

The Royals started their pregame warmup at 8am Friday, with Mich Phea returning to the lineup for the first time since August 8, having left the national team to help his family on their farm. He was picked up by the Royals, who signed him to a contract worth US$92 per month, making him the highest-paid baseball player in the country.

The 24-year-old right-handed batter has the best statistics of anyone in the league. "If you're talking abut stats, Phea's got it all," said Cambodian Baseball Federation President Joe Cook by email. "He's way beyond comparison."

The Royals worked out early to ensure their team was well prepared, with Phea playing third base, and hitting fourth as the cleanup man.

The Braves also took all day working on and off the field, but looked tired, and none of their players seemed to be in good condition.

Braves hurler Chea Theara got into trouble from his very first pitch, and by the fourth inning he had given up eight runs and eight hits for his worst game so far.

"I had a bad day, I wasn't focus,"said Theara. "I got so tired today, been trained so much. I couldn't relax."

"I gave my personal best, but they got a good team, and our offense was flattened," he added.

Braves new signing Nget Vanna said of the Royals: "They've got a serious team. They knew what they were doing better than we did. Our players went silly and careless during the game time: One mistake to the next. The errors killed us throughout the game. They played hard ball, and hit very hard at us."

Joe Cook opined that the Braves has many rookies in their lineup, and that although they were very tired, they also didn't use much thinking.

"Overtraining will lead to exhaustion and losing [games]," said the CBAF President. "The Braves need to stay focused, and not worrying about the Royals' superstars, Mich Phea or Moun Chanton. [They need to] get their head in the game and be smart, not overloaded.

"If [they play] this kind of game, they can't beat Malaysia or Vietnam."

A trade was made between the national teams over the weekend that saw the Royals' Choey Sovann swap places with the Braves' Lim Sophal.

Sovann, who played in the Asian Cup earlier in the year, signed to the Braves on a $47-per-month contract, while Sophal signed to the Royals for $32 per month, to become the best-paid rookie in the league.

Currently, 32 players remain playing with no contract or salary out of a total of 68 players on the national team, with the CBAF still desperate to attract more sponsorship and donations to pay for the running costs.

CBAF overheads run to around US$1,300 per month, and the national team demands a monthly input of $3,200, to pay for food, shelter, transport, and salaries for the players.

CBAF pays for coaches, scorekeepers, umpires, managements, and field crews.

Referee stamps authority as Khemara overtake Naga

Photo by: Nick Sells (www.nicksellsphotography.com)
Khemara Keila’s Keo Ravuth (centre) gets pulled back by Naga Corp’s Pok Chanthorn (right) in front of referee Toy Vicheka during their CPL match Saturday.

The Phnom Penh Post
Monday, 31 August 2009
Andy Brouwer

With the referee handing out cards like it was Christmas, Khemara Keila took a solid 2-0 win Saturday over Naga Corp to jump up to third in the CPL table.

KHEMARA Keila leapfrogged over Naga Corp into third place in the Cambodian Premier League's penultimate week of the season with a straightforward two-goal success Saturday. Khemara have the hoodoo over Naga in meetings between the two teams and this encounter was no different, even though match referee Tuy Vichheka was determined to stamp his mark on proceedings.

Six bookings and two dismissals might infer that the game was fiery, but it was more a reflection of the referee's pedantic nature.

It was even stevens in the opening exchanges, as the two teams traded punches to little effect, with Yemi Oyewole for Naga and Nelson Oladiji for Khemara failing to convert the pick of the chances that came along.

However, a needlessly conceded corner undid Naga on 26 minutes. Arriving late and unmarked, Joel Omoraka headed powerfully past Naga stopper Chaom Veasna for the opening goal.

Naga responded positively with Oyewole and Sunday Okonkwo cracking open the Khemara backline, but without finding a way around goalkeeper Mak Theara.

Naga must've been encouraged when Khemara's hardman centre-half Omoraka saw red for an off-the-ball clash with Okonkwo on 41 minutes. But they didn't account for referee Tuy Vichheka.

On the stroke of halftime, the man in the middle appeared to deliberately even it up, with an undeserved straight red card to Naga's Friday Nwakuna for a mistimed tackle, to leave both teams a man light.

After the break, it was makeshift centre-half David Adeyinka who stole the limelight. As smallest player on the pitch, he filled in after Omoraka's dismissal, and was simply immaculate in snuffing out Naga's meagre efforts to equalise.

On 57 minutes, Adeyinka's teammate Oladiji killed off the game with an unstoppable drive from 20 yards that nearly burst the net, as he increased Khemara's lead and sank a dispirited Naga.

Photo by: Nick Sells (www.nicksellsphotography.com)
Build Bright United's Rim Bunheang (right) tussles with Preah Khan Reach's Prak Monyoudom Saturday.

BBU 1-3 Preah Khan Reach
Comfortable resting in second spot in the CPL, Preah Khan Reach (PKR) always had enough in the tank to extinquish Build Bright United's (BBU) mostly ineffectual opposition Saturday, in the student team's final game of the season.

PKR could even afford to field a youthful starting lineup, shorn of their African contingent who kept the bench warm. In teenager Prak Monyoudom, PKR have one of the country's brightest talents, and he was at the center of all that was good in an otherwise featureless first half of limited goalmouth action.

As the half petered out, an ankle-tap by BBU's Nhim Sovannara on Tum Saray as he burst into the penalty box gave Samel Nasa a penalty kick, which he converted with aplomb.

Three substitutions at the start of the second half gave BBU much-needed impetus, and they snatched the equaliser within a minute of the restart.
Hesitation in the PKR defence in dealing with a high ball into the box allowed Augustine Ogbemi to nip in and sweep the ball past keeper Ouk Mich.

It was Prak Monyoudom who sparked PKR out of their second-half lethargy, with surging runs down the right flank. Tum Saray failed by inches to convert one of Prak's low crosses, and then the star of the national U19 team weaved his way past three defenders, only to see his shot blocked by keeper Chhim Rotha's body.

The introduction of substitute Michael Ikenwa added muscle to Prak's youthful gusto, and it was Ikenwa who fed Tum Saray on 71 minutes. With a quick look up and little backlift, Tum curled an exquisite shot over the BBU keeper and into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area.

PKR continued to dominate, and added a third five minutes before the end when Prak sent Kao Kiry clear. Chhim Rotha left his area to kick thin air instead of the ball, and Kao Kiry rolled the ball into an empty net.

There was still time for Ouk Mich to replicate the Gordon Banks save from Pele in the 1970 Mexico World Cup, when the PKR keeper's acrobatics thwarted In Puthearith's downward header to deny BBU a late consolation.

MND get back in the race for fifth place

Photo by: Nick Sells (www.nicksellsphotography.com)
National Defence Ministry’s Nov Sokseila (right) celebrates his goal against Kirivong Sok Sen Chey Sunday at Olympic Stadium.

The Phnom Penh Post
Monday, 31 August 2009
Andy Brouwer

IN humid conditions after a brief rainstorm Sunday, National Defence Ministry (MND) taught Kirivong Sok Sen Chey a lesson that the direct approach rather than pretty passing can often be more effective. Indeed, with the 2-0 victory over the Takeo-based club, the Army team reinstated their bid for the lucrative fifth-place finish.

It took MND just five minutes to get off the mark when Chhin Chhouern's mis-hit cross eluded everyone but Phuong Soksana, who lashed his shot into the roof of the Kirivong net with an accomplished first-time strike from the far post.

He nearly added a second five minutes before the half-time break, but his neat chip over goalkeeper Kem Makara was cleared acrobatically by covering defender Lam Than Yang.

MND took control after the interval, and with halftime substitute Nov Sokseila they had the key to unlock any defence, the tricky winger showing fleetness of foot and a steely determination to get in his crosses whatever the obstacle. It was his pinpoint center on 55 minutes that Sin Dalin should've put to bed, but failed to even touch.

On 75 minutes, Nov Sokseila showed everyone how it should be done, when he met an Um Kompheak cross with a sweetly struck drive that arrowed into the corner of the net past a helpless Kem Makara. It was no more than Sokseila and MND deserved for their endeavours, and with results most definitely going their way over the weekend, they are now firmly back in contention of claiming the 5 million riels (US$1,211) attributed to fifth.

Post Tel Club 1 - 0 Spark FC
Already-relegated Post Tel Club struck a note of defiance with a deserved win over Spark on Sunday, dealing their opponents a blow to finishing in the fifth spot of the CPL final standings.

Prince Justine, Spark's lethal marksman and CPL top scorer, was kept shackled by experienced defender Khun Khoun, and that was the key to Post Tel's narrow success.

On 14 minutes, Post Tel's leggy African striker Gafar Durosinmi broke through defensive ranks but blazed wide when more precision was called for.

Two minutes later, he showed he'd learnt his lesson, and his cool finish after rounding goalkeeper Por Bunchhoeun proved to be the game's decider.

With Prince Justine's main contribution coming on 27 minutes - a powerful header that rebounded back into play off an upright - Post Tel should have extended their lead on the half-hour. Than Rachanaoudom tripped the busy Tek Dam as he burst into the penalty area, but Jonathan Onyeahiri's penalty was saved by the feet of the Post Tel stopper, and Spark remained in the hunt, though the second period wasn't one to remember.

Two chances came the way of Post Tel's Touch Sokheng, but he squandered both as Spark failed to ignite, leaving Post Tel to celebrate only their third victory of the season.

CPL Football: Referees play a tough game in CPL

Photo by: Nick Sells (www.nicksellsphotography.com)
Referee Toy Vicheka was praised and condemned for his decisions in Saturday’s match between Khemara and Naga. NICK SELLS

The Phnom Penh Post
Monday, 31 August 2009
Ken Gadaffi

CPL Football

The Asian Football Confederation named 2009 as Asian Referees' Year, but the designation has carried little weight this season in the Cambodian Premier League (CPL), with many clubs reacting with venom to a number of decisions. Indeed, in the aftermath of a June 3 match between Phnom Penh Crown and Khemara Keila, assistant referee Yem Manoura was suspended for an error of judgement in disallowing a last-minute goal by Crown. On Saturday, Naga manager Lam Thiny was infuriated by match referee Toy Vicheka, as his team went down 2-1 to Khemara Keila. Toy seemed too liberal with his cards, critics said. Lam Thiny lambasted the sending off of his midfielder Friday Nwakuna with a straight red. "It should be a yellow card at worst, not a red card" Lam remarked. "You can see from the stands clearly that the Khemara manager was scolding the referee for sending off their player [Joel Omoraka earlier]. He put pressure on the referee, that's why he sent my player off, to balance the game up." Khemara manager Salang Kang saw things differently, applauding the official. "For me no problem," said Salang, protesting his innocence of intimidation tactics. "The referee did well, and we deserved to win."

Cambodian referee instructor Tetsu Karakida of Japan absolved Toy Vicheka, suggesting that clubs and players should share the blame. "A referee is in a no-win situation," Tetsu said. "He is abused by players, spectators, everybody." The referees' chief said that part of the problem lies in the way the rules are interpreted, but clarified that systems and programmes are in place to help referees improve. Those include monthly sessions for CPL referees, in which games are analyzed. "I didn't see the second red card clearly," admitted Tetsu. "But the first was the correct decision. The referee [Toy Vicheka] maintained good positioning in the match, so I think he was in the right position to make the decision. "Both set of players were hot. They were quite temperamental, so the referee had to calm things down using his cards."

The Phnom Penh Post News in Brief

In Brief: Leopard raises funds
Monday, 31 August 2009
Steve Finch

AFTER reopening its investment fund last month, Leopard Capital announced in its August newsletter total capital had now reached US$28.55 million. The fund will close again at the end of September, it added. At the end of April, Leopard closed the fund after announcing it had raised $27 million, considerably less than its initial $100 million target that Managing Partner Douglas Clayton said had been revised downwards after the onset of the economic crisis. Clayton said in April he expected Cambodia's economy to rebound in a few years.


In Brief: Scotch whisky boost
Monday, 31 August 2009
Nathan Green

GLENMORANGIE aims to double its Cambodia sales of single-malt scotch every year over the "coming few years", Chief Executive Paul Neep said Friday evening at a tasting event at NagaWorld in Phnom Penh. He refused to disclose sales figures, citing "commercial sensitivity". Neep said the market for single-malt scotch was largely untapped in Cambodia, where blended whiskies dominate. He said the company - which distributes through Attwood Import Export Co in Cambodia - would focus on supplying hotels, restaurants and karaoke bars in an attempt to reach "opinion formers".

Kampuchea krom

cppcanada
Life in Kampuchea krom (Ban tea dek - Tritôn - An Giang).

Sam Rainsy to face off with Hor Namhong in Paris

Written by DAP NEWS
http://www.dap-news.com

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy is going to face Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong, Minister of Foreign Affair and International Cooperation, again at the Appeal Court in Paris, France.

Sam Rainsy has been ordered to appear before a French appeals court on October, 8, 2009 in connection with a defamation and disinformation lawsuit filed against him by Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong. Hor Namhong filed the lawsuit against Sam Rainsy following the May 2008 publication of this autobiography Rooted In Stone in which the opposition leader accused the minister of heading the Boeung Trabek prison in Pol Pot Regime where diplomats and government officials from the Lon Nol and Norodom Sihanouk regimes.

“The French appeal court will not allow a real offender break the law,” Koy Koung, a ministry spokesman, told DAP News Cambodia on Friday.

“Hor Namhong was also a victim in the Khmer Rouge Regime—two of his sisters and more than 40 of his relatives were killed by starvation and torture during the regime,” Koy Koung noted.

He was unsure whether Hor Namhong would travel to France himself or if he would send a representative. However, Koy Koung opined that, “The French appeal court will give real justice and fair ruling to Deputy Prime Minister Hor Namhong.”

Yim Sovann, a spokesman for the Sam Rainsy Party, on Friday declined to comment to DAP News Cambodia about the case. “I could not give any details related to this case as I so far have not got many details from Paris yet, and wait for my meeting with my leader, Sam Rainsy.”

Koul Pahna, COMFLEL director, told DAP News Cambodia that he had no details of the case. “However, both parties are much more likely to agree to the ruling of the French Appeal Court compared to a Cambodian court,” Kul Pahna added.

The Tribunal Court in Paris ordered Sam Rainsy’s publisher, Calmann-Levy, to remove from any reprinted copies a passage calling Hor Namhong a collaborator and suspect of causing the death of several people.

Oddar Meanchey warns locals against logging in Thailand

Written by DAP NEWS
http://www.dap-news.com

Oddar Meanchey provincial governor on Friday strongly warned all district governors not to allow their citizens to cross into to Thailand for logging.

The warning comes in the wake of arrests and killings of Cambodian citizens by Thai provincial authorities bordering Cambodia.

“If any district governors cannot stop citizen’s crossing over to Thailand, those governors should quit the job,” said Pech Sokhen, Oddor Meanchhey’s governor.

The forests along the Cambodia-Thailand border are being exploited illegally by both Cambodian and Thai businessmen. “The offense of logging is often happens in the deep forest and it is very difficult to walk the long distances there because there are many mines buried in the land, so we cannot crack down,” Chhen Sivuth of the Provincial Inspectation Working Group told DAP News Cambodia on Friday. Provincial authorities squarely pointed the finger of blame for alleged illegal logging at “black [corrupt] Thai soldiers who cooperate with some bad Cambodian businessmen.”

The status of a group of Cambo-dian citizens recently convicted by Thai court in U Bon Province is unclear.

The Cambodians were arrested on July 23, 2009 by the Thai provincial authority Thai U Bon Provincial authority and charged with illegal encroachment and deforestation. All the men, who come from Preah Vihear and in Oddor Meanchey provinces bordering Thailand, are very poor.

Deputy Governor of Preah Vihear Sor Thavy on Thursday told DAP News Cambodia that, according to his research and investigations, the 16 Cambodian citizens were just workers hired to clear forest by a Thai businessman.

“We are watching and investigating very carefully in this case,” Sor Thavy stressed. “The Cambodian consular officials for that area are finding independent lawyers for them,” Koy Koung, a spokesman of the Foreign Affair and International Cooperation added.

Recently, Thai provincial authorities bordering Cambodia arrested many Cambodian citizens on separate allegations. Some citizens were allegedly shot to death at the scene of the crime and some were arrested after claimed illegal encroachment and deforestation. Some reports claim that on Wednesday one Cambodian aged 35 living in Tropang Prasat, Preah

Vihear was killed in the forest after Thai police shot at Cambodians who had illegally crossed the border into Thailand.

Locals in Oddar Meanchey province became concerned after Thai authorities aggressively cracked down on deforestation offenses with deadly force. Those who regularly cross the border unofficially, until recently an offense the Thai authorities turned a blind eye to, have become very nervous.

Six forestry officers convicted over logging

Written by DAP NEWS
http://www.dap-news.com

A Phnom Penh court on Friday convicted 6 forestry officers for taking bribes to allow logging of forests in Preah Vihear, Kampong Thom and Siem Riep provinces, a court official said.

The court convicted the men for offenses dating to November 12-17, 2006.

The 6 forestry officers convicted were identified as Em Vicheth from Prasat Balaing district, Kampong Thom, Chann Vichea from Kam Rieng district, Preah Vihear province, Hang Samrith from San Dann district, Kampong Thom province, Yours Sarith, an officer in both Preah Vihear and Kampong Thom provinces, Hem Savath of Kam Rieng and Tbeng Meanchey district, Preah Vihear province, and Chea Phally, an officer in both Prasat Boribo and San Dann districts, in Kampong Thom province. Two businessmen linked to the case, Chea Heng and Koy Kim Hour, were also identified. According reports from the vice director of Wildlife of Beung Pe in Chi Oak village, the Ministry of Environment and National Authority filed a complaint with the court over land grabbing and illegal logging, as the two businessmen cleared all the trees in the area.

After reports dating to November 12-17, 2006, the National Authority cooperated with Forestry Administrative Officers to confiscate evidence including 190 cubic meters of wood, one car, one truck, and many different logging tools, though no-one was initially arrested, the officer said.

Another mission uncovered the involvement of local officials and two businessmen jointly working together to deforest and appropriate land belonging to the Cambodian Government.

At the hearing, one of attendant said that “Ministry of Environment officers said Forestry Administrative officer’s wrongdoing, and the Forestry Administrative officers replied that we are not wrong, you are wrong, in conclusion, no body has mistake.”

“Maybe they both took bribes,” the attendant added.

“The Cambodian Government should draw them out to warn all corrupt men who try to do like this later.”

The Cambodian Government has ordered all officials in these regions to protect the forests and care for wildlife.

Cambodia Wants Closer Relationship With Next Japanese PM

Written by DAP NEWS
http://www.dap-news.com/

Cambodian-japanese cooperation will increase in all fields and a closer relationship with newly the elected Japanese Prime Minister will help ties “become more developed and better than before,” a Foreign Affair and International Cooperation spokesman told DAP News Cambodia on Friday.

A general election will be held in Japan on August 30 as the Liberal Democratic Party (CDP) leader, Taro Aso, is unpopular among voters having led Japanese into one of the worst economic crises in living memory. According to a survey in Japan, opposition party leader, Yukio Hatoyama, of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) is expected to be voted in as the next PM.

“Cambodia’s relationship with Japan will not be changed whoever will be the next Prime Minister,” said Kuy Koung.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman said that world leaders are promoting globalization so that all fields of cooperation among Cambodia and Japan, especially assistance and aid, will be not be changed, Kuy Koung reiterated.

Yim Sovann, a spokesman for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), on Friday claimed to be too busy to give comment.

Hatoyam, a founder of the DPJ who would be a senior minister in any future government, emphasized the need for political and economic integration with East Asia, especially with China, and warned that, under a DPJ government, Japan would be as likely to criticize the US as to support it. He rejected the habit of past LDP government of virtually worship the US in the belief that everything will be all right if Japan does whatever the US does, according to Japanese local news agency.

Yukio Hatoyama has called for a single Asian currency to strengthen the region´s economic and political ties. A single currency would help Asia fend off the impact of any future global economic crises and also reduce political confrontation in the region, his saying quoted by article in monthly magazine. Japanese government has donated a great deal of aid and support to Cambodian government aiming at reducing poverty in Cambodia as the government’s core policy.

Japan on August 13, 2009 provided US$72 million in concessionary loans to develop Cambodia’s Sihanoukville port to expand its capacity.

“The fund is to improve the capacity of Sihanoukville port, the only international deep sea port in Cambodia, by constructing multipurpose terminals including a bulk terminal and oil supply base, and developing infrastructure related to the terminal at the port,” Hor Namhong, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation told reporters. The minister signed the exchange note with Shinohara Katsuhiro, Japanese Ambassador to Cambodia, with the presence of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

It will also help contribute to industrial development and economic growth in Cambodia. And it is the third time that Japan has helped Sihanoukville port since 1999 aimed at improving handling capacity of containerized cargos, Namhong said.

Japan also provided about US$10 million non-project grant aid for promotion of economic and social development efforts in Cambodia, Hor said, adding that since 1993, under the type of grant aid, Japan has extended to Cambodia a total amount of US$187 million.

Electric Crematorium Online

Written by DAP NEWS

http://www.dap-news.com

Cambodia’s newly-constructed electric crematorium will soon open to replace the wood burning crematorium located in Resey Sanh pagoda, Preysor commune, Dongkor district, Phnom Penh, according to the Phnom Penh Governor on Thursday.

“This news electronic crematorium cost US$500,000 and will much reduce environmental affects by replacing burning by wood,” Kep Chuktema told reporters on Thursday.

“This cremation will serve all class of citizens and we do not charge poor people. We don’t force to those who do not want to use this crematorium, but it shows the attention of the Phnom Penh authorities.”

The governor dismissed criticisms that the site is too far from the city centre.

High ranking officials and the rich who wish to be buried at Wat Unaloum and Wat Langka could continue to use these city-center sites, he said. “They have a full right to choose; it is their decision,” he confirmed.

Both the crematoriums at Wat Unaloum and Wat Langka have been demolished, as will other crematoria around the capital.

Wife found her husband after he went missing for 20 days

The woman standing in front of her husband's car to block him from driving off.

Source: Deum Ampil newspaper
Reported in English by Khmerization

A woman found her husband, 20 days after he went missing. But when she found him, instead of a scream of joy, she screamed in anger causing panic and curiosity among passersby.

A 45 year old man went missing for 20 days with his luxury Lexus at a time when one of his children was very sick and when his wife went to do business in Siem Reap. After the man failed to return home, the wife cut short her trip and returned to look for him across Phnom Penh City.

At 11:40 pm today (30th), passersby and shoppers were alerted by a loud scream. They looked toward to the scream and saw a lone woman standing in front of a luxury 4-wheel drive Lexus. Fearing that she was hit by the luxury Lexus, they all ran to investigate. But the woman was fine. She was not hit by the car, instead she screamed because her 'lost' husband was driving his luxury Lexus with a young beautiful girl by his side.

The police was called. At the police station, the alleged wife accused the young girl of being her husband's mistress. The husband responded that the girl is merely a relative. The young girl also concurred the man's story. But the wife responded "if she is your relative, how come I never knew her?" The man and the young girl were dumbfounded.

Now, it is the turn to verify if the woman is really the real wife of the man as the man did not admit either way whether she is his wife or not. In order to prove that she is his real wife, she called all her children to come to the police station to prove it.

After a long talk, the parties reached a reconciliation and the husband agreed to return home leaving a teary young mistress distraught.

The woman said when she went to Siem Reap she got a call from a neighbour that her husband was going out with a young girl everyday. As a result, she cut short her trip to Siem Reap to return home to confront him and caught him red-handed with his young beautiful mistress by his side in their luxury Lexus.

Mr. You Hok Sim, commander of Monorom Police Station, confirmed the story to Deum Ampil. "Yes, there is a case happening as described above, but when the police called them to a round table discussion, they were reconciled and have now returned back home happily together."

According to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity, the unnamed man is a senior anti-drug trafficking police officer and is also a senior advisor to the leader of the Cambodian parliament .

Police shooting at each other over corrupt money

Source: Koh Santepheap Daily
Reported in English by Khmerization

Police Inspector of Phnom Penh's Sen Sok District and his deputy have shot at each other in a dispute over bribery money they received for helping people to settle disputes.

According to Koh Santepheap, Police Inspector of Sen Sok District, Mr. Mok Hong, received $1000 in bribery from a person whom he helped to settle the disputes. Mr. Mok Hong gave only $50 to Mr. Cheav Vibol who is his deputy. Mr. Cheav Vibol was upset that Mr. Mok Hong didn't share a reasonable amount of the bribery money with him so he went to see Mok Hong in a carpark at 8 pm on the night on 26th August.

After a short talk, the discussion culminated into heated exchanges and Inspector Mok Hong allegedly pulled out a loaded AK-47 from his car intending to shoot, but Deputy Inspector Cheav Vibol's bodyguard named Makara pulled out his revolver and fired 5 shots into the air by also calling to his boss to duck for cover and demanded that Mok Hong drop his gun.

Inspector Mok Hong then got into his car and drove off. Deputy Inspector Cheav Vibol and his bodyguard followed and when they got to Dey Hoy Market they got into another verbal exchange again, but the police based on the spot intervened for them to stop.

The incident has caused panic to Sen Sok residents who run for cover, but no one was hurt during the gunfires.

Koh Santepheap also reported that in the past Inspector Mok Hong has upset many of his subordinates because he refused to share bribery money he received from people with them. On top of this, he was always very disrepectful and rude to his subordinates when giving orders.

Crackdown on forced begging and child labour

http://www.pattayadailynews.com

Pattaya, Friday 29th August,[PDN]: Tourist Police Break a human trafficking gang; - A nest of Cambodian children being forced into begging, but gang members managed to escape.

At 09:00 pm on 28th August, Police Lieutenant Colonel Suwan Aun-Anan of the Pattaya Tourist Police with his team of 20-officers, were patrolling the nightlife area and managed to arrest a group of 25-Cambodian mothers, [aged 30-40 years] and their children [between 3-5 years old].

The poor mothers and their children confessed that they were beggars and that they worked for five Thai men, who had been forcing them to beg at many various points in the Pattaya area. The men had taken them by motor bikes to different area, and at each stop had sometimes left a mother and her child. However, in some areas they had left only a poor young child to sit alone, in order for them to get more sympathy.

Every 3-4 hours, the Thai men had come back to pick up the money that was earned, and the poor mothers and their children were given only 100-baht each day, out of 400-500 baht they had normally made.

After receiving initial information, the police team raided a row of houses on Pattaya’s North (Naklua) Road, (Moo 5), that the Thai human trafficking gang had rented out as accommodation for their beggars.

At these houses, police found another 16-Khmer beggars, and none of the Cambodian forced beggars had any legal documentation to access the Kingdom of Thailand. They had sneaked in through the Chanthaburi and Sa-Kaew borders, and they claimed that after this, they were trickily persuaded to work in Pattaya by the Thai men.

The Pattaya Tourist Police inspector, Lt. Col. Suwan, revealed that his police team had been watching the criminal gang for quite some time. The police had a collection of photos and videos of the gang’s operations, but at the time of the arrests, the gang members had managed to escape.

However, the police already have their details, with enough evidence to bring them to justice. The Cambodian mothers and children will be prosecuted and deported back to their own country. Everyone is appalled that poor young children, who cannot defend themselves, should be treated in such a callous manner, and our police are to be applauded for stamping out such disgraceful criminal activities.

E.Timor marks historic vote

East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta (left) inspects the troops in a ceremony marking 10 years since East Timor's vote for independence. --PHOTO: REUTERS

The Straits Times
http://www.straitstimes.com

Aug 30, 2009

DILI - EAST Timor on Sunday celebrated the 10th anniversary of the UN-backed vote that ended a bloody 24-year occupation by Indonesian forces and ushered in the birth of Asia's youngest nation.

President Jose Ramos-Horta paid tribute to the thousands of people who died in what he called East Timor's 'epic battle' for freedom from Indonesian occupation between 1975 and 1999.

But he again ruled out any possibility of an international tribunal to try Indonesian generals and militia leaders responsible for the deaths of around 1,400 people in the aftermath of the historic referendum.

'My stated preference, both as a human being, victim and head of state, is that we, once and for all, close the 1975-1999 chapters of our tragic experience and forgive those who did harm to us,' he said in a speech.

'Those who committed crimes are the ones who have to live with these crimes and the ghosts of their victims haunting them for the rest of their lives.' Indonesia's former army chief Wiranto is among the senior Indonesian officials indicted by UN prosecutors for crimes against humanity over the referendum violence.

But Nobel laureate Ramos-Horta spoke of the 'shared sorrow' that Indonesians also feel for their soldiers who died during the occupation, as he addressed dignitaries including representatives from Indonesia and former colonial power Portugal during celebrations at the government palace.

'While I am respectful of all those in the US and UK who are most insistent on an international tribunal, I beg to disagree with their simplistic assertion that the absence of prosecutorial justice fosters impunity and violence,' he said.

The referendum saw 78.5 per cent of East Timorese vote in favour of splitting from Indonesia, which invaded in 1975. Just 21.5 per cent supported the idea of limited autonomy within Indonesia.

Elation soon turned to terror as the Indonesian Army and its proxy militias went on the rampage, destroying infrastructure and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee to other parts of Indonesia.

Australian-led United Nations peacekeepers restored order, ending an occupation that is estimated to have claimed around 100,000 lives through fighting, disease and starvation.

East Timor formally became independent in 2002 but its people remain among the world's poorest, with 40 per cent of the population earning less than one dollar a day, despite vast offshore gas wealth. -- AFP

Japanese election upends long-ruling party

Japanese Prime Minister and leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Taro Aso (R) bows next to the party's General Council Chairman Takashi Sasagawa at the start of a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo August 30, 2009. Japanese voters swept the opposition to a historic victory in Sunday's election, exit polls showed, crushing the long-ruling conservative party and handing the novice Democrats the job of reviving a struggling economy.REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao

Yukio Hatoyama, leader of Japan's main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, smiles surrounded by red rosettes attached on victorious candidates' names during the ballot counting for the parliamentary elections at the party's election center in Tokyo Sunday, Aug. 30, 2009. The DPJ was set to win 300 of the 480 seats in the lower house of parliament, ousting the Liberal Democrats, who have governed Japan for all but 11 months since 1955, according to projections by all major Japanese TV networks.(AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

By ERIC TALMADGE, Associated Press Writer

TOKYO – Japan's opposition swept to a historic victory in elections Sunday, crushing the ruling conservative party that has run the country for most of the postwar era and assuming the daunting task of pulling the economy out of its worst slump since World War II.

A grim-looking Prime Minister Taro Aso conceded defeat just a couple hours after polls had closed, suggesting he would quit as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, which has ruled Japan for all but 11 months since 1955.

"The results are very severe," Aso said. "There has been a deep dissatisfaction with our party."

Unemployment and deflation — and an aging, shrinking population — have left families fearful of what the future holds.

Fed up with the LDP, voters turned overwhelmingly to the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which ran a populist-leaning platform with plans for cash handouts to families with children and expanding the social safety net.

"This is a victory for the people," said Yukio Hatoyama, leader of the Democrats and almost certainly Japan's next prime minister. "We want to build a new government that hears the voices of the nation."

Hatoyama and his party — an eclectic mix of former Liberal Democrats, socialists and progressives — face a daunting array of challenges, economic and demographic.

Japan's economy has been hit hard amid the global recession and falling demand for its exports. The unemployment rate has spiked to a record 5.7 percent and younger workers have watched the promise of lifetime employment fade. Incomes are stagnant and families have cut spending.

The country also faces threats as its population ages, which means more people are on pensions and there is a shrinking pool of taxpayers to support them and other government programs.

The Democrats' plan to give families 26,000 yen ($275) a month per child through junior high is meant to ease parenting costs and encourage more women have babies. Japan's population of 127.6 million peaked in 2006, and is expected to fall below 100 million by the middle of the century.

The Democrats are also proposing toll-free highways, free high schools, income support for farmers, monthly allowances for job seekers in training, a higher minimum wage and tax cuts. The estimated bill comes to 16.8 trillion yen ($179 billion) if fully implemented starting in fiscal year 2013 — and critics say that will only further bloat Japan's already massive public debt.

In foreign relations, the Democrats have said they want Tokyo to be more independent from Washington on diplomatic issues, though they have stressed that the U.S. will remain Japan's key ally and that they want to keep relations good, while also strengthening ties with their Asian neighbors.

Official results were to be announced midmorning Monday, but media exit polls indicated the Democrats would win 300 or more of the 480 seats in the more powerful lower house of Japan's parliament. That would be enough to give them the power to establish a new Cabinet and name Hatoyama as prime minister by the end of next month.

The LDP was seen winning about 100 seats — a third of its strength before the vote.

"It's a historic election in that a clear alternation of power has happened for the first time in the postwar period," said Koichi Nakano, professor of political science at Sophia University in Tokyo. "It's kind of hard to know whether this is going to lead to a real change in policy, at least for the short term."

The loss was only the second the Liberal Democratic Party — traditionally the champion of big business and conservative interests — has suffered since it was founded in 1955. The only other time it was out of power was for less than 11 months in 1993-1994, and that was to a coalition of eight parties that quickly collapsed.

The LDP had survived through previous recessions in Japan but since then families have grown less secure about the future.

With only two weeks of official campaigning that focused mainly on broad-stroke appeals rather than specific policies, many analysts said the elections were not so much about issues as voters' general desire for something new after more than a half century under the LDP.

"All the bad things over the last 54 years finally caught up to them," said Fumio Morita, 45, who runs a bar in Tokyo. "It's good that they are no longer in power."

Japan has had three prime ministers in three years, all of whom were deeply unpopular for their perceived lack of leadership and for failing to get the country out of its deepening economic morass.

The LDP tried to fight back by reminding voters that their party led the nation out of the ashes of World War II. They also argued that the Democrats, who have never run the government, were irresponsible and inept.

Hatoyama's party, which already controls the upper house with two allies, held just 112 seats in the lower house before parliament was dissolved in July.

The Democratic Party needed to win a simple majority of 241 seats in the lower house to ensure it could name the next prime minister. The 300-plus level would allow it and its two smaller allies the two-thirds majority they need in the lower house to pass bills.

___

AP reporters Mari Yamaguchi, Kelly Olsen, Shino Yuasa and Tomoko Hosaka contributed to this report.

Cambodia cuts troops at temple

By The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com

Agencies
Published on August 31, 2009

Fifty per cent of soldiers withdrawn from controversial temple

Cambodia has cut back its military presence at Preah Vihear Temple - a trigger point in the past year - while Thailand's Parliament is expected to allow the two countries to move ahead with boundary demarcation in the overlapping area.

"We have pulled out 50 per cent of the troops from Preah Vihear Temple," Chhum Socheat, spokesman for Cambodia's National Defence Ministry, said yesterday.

"This shows that the situation at the border is really getting better, and that both countries have a mutual understanding of peace," he said.

Thailand and Cambodia have been at loggerheads over the controversial Hindu temple since last year when Thailand opposed Phnom Penh's move to inscribe the Khmer sanctuary on Unesco's list of world heritage sites.

After the UN World Heritage Committee granted the coveted status in July 2008, both countries boosted their military forces in the area, with clashes following twice in October and April, leaving seven soldiers of both sides dead.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen last week said Thailand had just 30 soldiers stationed on the border, meaning Cambodia could stand some troops down and send them back to their provincial bases.

"We still have enough troops remaining to protect our territory," said General Chea Dara, deputy commander of Cambodia's armed forces.

If Thailand "shows a softer manner" they could cut the numbers further. "However, if anything happened, our troop mobility would be very swift," he said.

The Thai government in June re-ignited the row over the temple when it asked Unesco to reconsider its decision to list the temple located in Cambodia.

However, Unesco did not take the Thai request into consideration. The foreign ministries of the two neighbours maintained peaceful means to resolve the dispute through the Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC).

The JBC met last November, February and April to set a framework on boundary demarcation and provisional arrangements for the disputed area near Preah Vihear.

The results of the three meetings need approval from Parliament so further discussions on the details can be held.

Parliament is set to meet today to consider the minutes submitted by the Foreign Ministry, after the motion was postponed from last week since the Lower House was busy with the marathon debate on the budget bill.

Some senators, however, said they would reject the JBC minutes and demanded the government take a tough position to evict a Cambodian community from the contested area that they considered was under Thai sovereignty.

Kien Giang boosts friendship with Cambodia’s Kep province

VOV News

08/30/2009

The southern province of Kien Giang on August 29 presented 50 wheelchairs to the disabled in Cambodia’s Kep province and granted scholarships worth US$2,000 to the Cambodian students there.

The gifts were handed over by the Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Association’s Chapter in Kien Giang and Kien Giang’s Union of Friendship Organizations at a debut ceremony for the executive board of the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Association in Kep province.

Private computers and US$500 in initial financial aid were also given to the province on this occasion.

The event was attended by the Cambodian Standing Deputy Prime Minister, Men Sam An, and the Chairman of Kien Giang’s Union of Friendship Organizations, Le Van Hong, who is on a working visit to Kep province.

Mr Hong and his entourage toured the local scenery as well as cultural and historical relic sites in Phnom Penh during their stay in Cambodia.

Remembering KHAO I DANG Refugee Camp in Thailand

http://www.websitesrcg.co

Khao-I-Dang

Khao-I-Dang Khmer refugee camp was located 20 Km north of Aranyaprathet in Prachinburi (now Sakeo) province Thailand.

Background

Khao-I-Dang was the oldest and most enduring camp on the border. It opened Nov. 21, 1979 and closed in 1992 during the UNTAC repatriation when all remaining residents were moved to Site II to await their personal repatriation.

During its peak period, 1979-1985, KID was sometimes the equivalent of Site II in population but the population was in flux and transit, some going to third countries, some only seeking shelter until they could see what the future would bring.

KID became a unique camp on the border, it was the only camp not controlled by one of the resistance factions, it was a UNHCR / Thai MOI camp, its residents were recognised as "Refugees" and were entitled to a higher level of protection, care and nutrition than people in the UNBRO administered camps (not a criticism of UNBRO, the Thais ultimately decided what UNBRO was allowed to do). KID was also the only camp whose residents were eligible for resettlement in third countries.

ICRC chose KID for their first border surgical hospital where acute trauma patients were cared for, this was initially war wounded but came to be dominated by landmine victims.

When I started working in KID in 1990 is was only a shadow of what it had been in terms of population. It was the only camp whose residents were eligible for resettlement, although by 1990 all of the remaining residents of KID had been turned down for resettlement and had little hope of being accepted by any country in the future. In many cases they had been turned down because of past activities or associations as KR, they could not go back and they could not go forward, this made for a sense of helplessness and a lethargy in the camp.

During repatriation the residents of KID were the most vocal in opposition to what they felt was a forced repatriation and held numerous demonstrations both as a group and occasionally as individuals.

Programs
KID had the most extensive coverage by programs operated by NGOs - medical, health, sanitation, education, social, vocational..... Many long term residents had been through multiple programs and were qualified health care workers, teachers and / or in some other vocation such as mechanics.

Medical - (see glossary for abbreviations)
IRC - Medical Coordination, OPD, Public Health & Training
HI - Hospital
COR - Mother Child Health clinic
ICRC - ICRC surgical hospital
Khmer Traditional Medicine

Education -
IRC - Primary, secondary, ESL, teacher training
YWAM - secondary
COR - vocational skills

Social -
IRC - Khmer Arts & Dance

Printing -
IRC - educational materials, literature, materials for NGOs, export
JSRC - literature, export

Population
average monthly population between December 1981 and November 1982 - approximately 42,700 (ref. CDC report)
December 1982 - 40,134 (ref. CDC report)
mid-June 1983 - 57,500 (ref. CDC report)
1991 - 14,734

Khao I Dang Snaeh Kam

PanhJaPor

For all of us that went through the Khmer Rouge Regime and refugee camps, this video reminds us of who we are and where we are coming from. This video is dedicated to all Khmer people! Please enjoy!

Cambodia halves troop numbers at border temple

Sun, Aug 30, 2009

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Cambodia has halved the number of troops around an ancient border temple that has been the scene of bloody clashes with Thailand, the defence ministry said Sunday.

There have been several skirmishes between the two countries on the disputed frontier around the 11th century Preah Vihear temple in Cambodia since the ruins were granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008.

"We have pulled out 50 percent of the troops from Preah Vihear temple," said Chhum Socheat, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defence.

"This shows that the situation at the border is really getting better, and that both countries have a mutual understanding of peace," he added.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen last week said Thailand had just 30 soldiers on the border, meaning that Cambodia could stand some troops down and send them back to their provincial bases.

"We still have enough troops remaining to protect our territory," said General Chea Dara, deputy commander of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.

He said if Thailand "shows a softer manner" they could cut the numbers further. "However, if anything happened, our troop mobility would be very swift," he told AFP.

Thailand in June reignited the row over the temple when it asked world heritage body UNESCO to reconsider its decision to formally list the temple in Cambodia.

Cambodia and Thailand have been at loggerheads over the land around the Preah Vihear temple for decades.

Although the World Court ruled in 1962 that it belonged to Cambodia, the most accessible entrance to the ancient Khmer temple with its crumbling stone staircases and elegant carvings is in northeastern Thailand.

The last gunbattle in the temple area in April left three people dead while clashes there in 2008 killed another four people.

The border between the two countries has never been fully demarcated, in part because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia.

Typhoon heads for Japan

The Strait Times
http://www.straitstimes.com

Aug 30, 2009

TOKYO - A TYPHOON churned towards the Tokyo region on Sunday as Japan went to the polls for a vote widely expected to end more than half a century of almost unbroken conservative rule.

Typhoon Krovanh, named after a Cambodian tree, was over the Pacific Ocean, more than 600 kilometres southeast of the Japanese capital early on Sunday.

'There is a possibility that it will hit eastern Japan' early on Monday, an official from Japan's meteorological agency said.

The storm was packing gusts of up to 90 kilometres per hour near its centre and moving northwest.

The agency has warned of heavy rain, strong winds and high waves for areas along the Pacific coast.

The landmark election is expected to see the untested centre-left Democratic Party of Japan oust the Liberal Democratic Party from government. -- AFP

Veterans who saved 100 soldiers ask Obama to present citation

Lake Fong/Post-GazetteVietnam veterans Ray Tarr, left, of Kittanning, and Donnie Colwell, of Emerickville. For a video of the interview, go to post-gazette.com

http://www.post-gazette.com

Sunday, August 30, 2009
By Torsten Ove, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Ray Tarr, 59, has a fake eye, a dent in his head, a withered arm and wince-inducing scars on his back, all courtesy of a rocket-propelled grenade that slammed into his tank in Cambodia in 1970.

"We had a saying in Vietnam," he shrugged last week in recollection. "When someone died or something bad happened, we just said, 'It don't mean nothing.' "

But the actions of his unit on March 26, 1970, a few months before he was wounded, did mean something -- resulting in a Presidential Unit Citation issued in March, 39 years after the fact.

Now the veterans of that battle are asking President Obama to present the citation to them personally in the East Room of the White House this fall. It could happen as early as October.

With a First Cavalry infantry company pinned down, outnumbered and out of ammunition, Mr. Tarr's Alpha Troop of the 11th Armored Cavalry rushed to save 100 men.

"I'm proud that I'm an American and could serve my country and that I could help those guys," said Mr. Tarr, of Kittanning, who was a 20-year-old tank loader.

"They were not going to live through the night," said his friend, Donnie Colwell, 61, of Emerickville, Jefferson County, who won the Silver Star for gallantry as commander of the unit's medical armored-personnel carrier.

"There were some other things that happened [in the war] that we could have gotten awards for. But the point is, we saved 100 grunts. They would have been massacred."

Alpha's commander at the time, Texas multimillionaire John B. Poindexter, 64, wrote a book about the rescue in 2004 called "The Anonymous Battle" and pushed for the citation.

The White House won't comment on whether President Obama will make the presentation. Presidents rarely do. Usually, another official does the job, typically at the unit's base, which in this case is California.

But Mr. Poindexter, owner of J.B. Poindexter & Co. in Houston, said all of his men deserve the honor of a White House ceremony. He said he'll pay for the trips for the 100 or so men who want to go.

"The Presidential Unit Citation is a tiny affirmation of my obligation to those men," he said. "On an institutional level, I feel the men who served in Vietnam, like those who served in Korea, Afghanistan and Iraq, fought a particularly unpopular war. This is a much-belated gesture of great importance."

Months in combat
Ray Tarr and Donnie Colwell first met in the motor pool at Quan Loi in 1969 and learned that they had lived near each other before they were drafted and sent overseas. Ray had been an apprentice bricklayer with his own car; Donnie had been attending Allegheny Technical Institute for electronics.

Times were turbulent and they knew the war was going badly, but they were too young to think much about it.

"We had no idea what we were getting into," Mr. Tarr said.

When they met, Mr. Colwell was commander of the unit's armored carrier that transported the chief medic, Gary Felthager, and had already earned two Purple Hearts for injuries suffered in mine explosions. Mr. Tarr became a loader in a Sheridan tank.

The men served under Mr. Poindexter, their bright, aggressive 25-year-old captain.

By March 1970, Alpha Troop had been in combat for months near the Cambodian border, where construction battalions were building a road through the jungle in anticipation of a May invasion of Cambodia.

The 11th Cavalry's job was to seek out North Vietnamese Army units in the region and destroy them.

They endured numerous firefights, and each evening parked their tanks and armored vehicles in a ring to protect against attack or infiltration by highly trained troops, who crept up at night.

But one of their worst episodes was an accident. On the night of March 25, three men died and five were wounded in explosions that also destroyed one of their armored carriers.

The soldiers initially thought the blasts were the result of enemy action and braced for combat. They later learned that one of their own mortar shells had detonated inside its tube and set off other shells.

Mr. Colwell tried to help the wounded. One man, he recalled, had lost both arms and both legs. He died a short time later.

'Get ready, let's go'
When morning came after a sleepless night, the Alpha platoons moved out on reconnaissance patrols. By late morning, everyone heard sounds of a battle in the distance.

They learned from the radio that Charlie Company had wandered into an elaborate hidden North Vietnamese bunker complex and had come under heavy fire. U.S. fighter jets swooped in, dropping bombs in support of the trapped company, while Cobra helicopter gunships fired rockets and machine guns at the North Vietnamese.

But C Company was outnumbered 3-to-1 and taking heavy casualties. Its men were also out of water and ammunition.

Capt. Poindexter knew what he had to do.

"He just told us, 'Get ready, let's go,' " Mr. Colwell said.

"There was no hesitation," Mr. Tarr recalled. "In the Army, you follow orders. But you could tell by the looks on guys' faces that no one really wanted to go."

They hadn't slept in 30 hours and they were scared, but they moved out. It took more than an hour for the armored column to plow 2.5 miles through the triple-canopy jungle.

"We broke into a clearing, and there they were," Mr. Tarr recalled. "I remember seeing the wounded men. I saw three soldiers lying under ponchos, obviously dead."

But C Company rejoiced as Alpha Troop opened fire with .50-caliber and M-60 machine guns.

"It was just relief on their faces to see us," Mr. Tarr said.

"We were fighting for our lives," recalled Paul Evans, then an 18-year-old private, in "The Anonymous Battle." "Then out of nowhere, the tanks and [armored carriers] came busting out of the jungle. ... For 34 years, they have been my heroes and always will be."

Mr. Colwell, whose job was to protect Doc Felthager as he worked on wounded men, was one of the first Alpha troopers on the ground. He saw one man who had been shot through the forehead and had died, and another who had been shot in the leg and later died of blood loss. At least 66 other men were wounded.

A mad minute
Waving his pistol, Capt. Poindexter immediately ordered his vehicles to line up in a row with the Sheridans in the center. Alpha then launched what the men called a "mad minute," in which every vehicle fired all of its weapons for 60 seconds. They moved ahead another 50 yards and did it again. The North Vietnamese fired back.

"It was pandemonium," Mr. Tarr said. "You can't believe the noise, the smoke, the confusion."

The Sheridans and the armored carriers advanced, crushing the underground bunkers under their treads while infantrymen hurled grenades and fired at enemy soldiers.

Alpha lost one man: Robert Foreman, Mr. Tarr's platoon sergeant, who was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade behind his gun shield on a Sheridan.

The North Vietnamese suffered at least 80 killed and an unknown number of wounded. The rest fled. After dark, Alpha Troop carefully backed out and evacuated the wounded to a landing zone, where helicopters carried them to safety.

All told, the two units lost seven men in two days. More than 70 were wounded, Capt. Poindexter among them.

But had Alpha not come to the rescue, the survivors insist, every man in C Company would have died. The North Vietnamese units were tenacious and ruthless.

The war went on for Mr. Tarr and Mr. Colwell. There were other battles, including the one that sent Mr. Tarr to Walter Reed Army Medical Center and earned him his Purple Heart.

They moved on
When the Alpha troopers came home, no one thought much about March 26. For them, it was like many other firefights, and Vietnam was a war everyone wanted to forget.

Mr. Poindexter did put in for individual medals for some of his men, but a unit citation didn't enter his mind for decades. He put aside the war, built a manufacturing empire and got rich.

In Pennsylvania, Mr. Colwell became a coal miner and Mr. Tarr a dental lab technician for the Veterans Affairs hospital in Butler. They raised families and moved on with their lives.

During his last days in Vietnam, Mr. Poindexter wrote a clinical account of the battle. After it was rejected by Armor magazine, he set it aside until 1999, when the regimental commander of the 11th Cavalry invited some veterans to discuss their Vietnam experience.

Mr. Poindexter revised the old manuscript, and Armor published it in 2000. He later developed the account into his self-published book, which included his recommendation for the Presidential Unit Citation and the recollections of his old comrades.

Mr. Tarr and Mr. Colwell both contributed.

Mr. Poindexter describes the book as a "faint eulogy for America's first wartime defeat." For him, the presidential citation is similarly symbolic.

There are veterans of Alpha Troop who don't see it that way. Some want nothing to do with reunions or commendations. Mr. Colwell said Doc Felthager, the medic who saved so many men before his eyes, has never responded to e-mails or calls.

Mr. Tarr and Mr. Colwell said they understand.

When Mr. Tarr was wounded in Cambodia, a young man on the tank behind him, Danny Ray Schmidt, of Indiana, took an AK-47 slug in the head and died.

"I was treated as a hero at Walter Reed and when I came home," he said. "What did Danny Ray Schmidt get? I think about that and I feel bad."

Mr. Colwell said he came home from the war an angry, confused young man. He struggled with bad dreams and a violent temper for years, and he drank too much.

It wasn't until a religious conversion a few years ago, he said, that he became a different person.

"I'm much calmer now," he said. "But the demons still chase me."

Torsten Ove can be reached at tove@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1510.