Ruling on Preah Vihear charge deferred

http://enews.mcot.net/

BANGKOK, Sept 22 (TNA) - Thailand's National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) on Tuesday postponed its ruling on the previous government's resolution which supported Cambodia's listing of the Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site.

It agreed to reconvene and decide the issue next Tuesday.

The NACC decided last November to press charges against 44 persons including 28 Cabinet members in the Samak administration and state officials in connection with the signing of a joint communique with Cambodia without seeking parliamentary approval as required by the Constitution.

The joint communique was signed by the Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An on June 18, 2008.

NACC Commissioner Klanarong Chantik said the NACC agreed to consider the case on two separate issues: impeachment and criminal prosecution following the Constitutional Court's ruling that the joint communique was unconstitutional.

He said the anti-graft commission would tackle whether each of the 44 was intentionally involved in malfeasance that caused damages to the country.

The commission, he added, has finished its investigation on 12 people while the other 32 would be scrutinised and disclosed next Tuesday.

Of the 28 accused ministers, four are members of the Abhisit government. They include Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachornprasart, Deputy Finance Minister Pradit Pattaraprasit, Information and Communication Technology Minister Ranongrak Suwanchawee and Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suvit Khunkitti.

The accused were charged with negligence of duty and violating Article 190 of the 2007 Constitution which imposes that any treaty affecting Thailand's society, economy and integrity of its borders must be approved by Parliament. (TNA)

Thaksin: I'll be back to Thailand

http://english.people.com.cn/

September 22, 2009

The convicted former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Tuesday he is ready to return to Thailand to be the prime minister again as long as it is "the people's wish", Thai media reported.

The self-exiled ex-premier, talking through a video link, also called for the incumbent Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve the House to return power to the people, Bangkok Post online reported.

Thaksin made the remarks to the seminar "Three years after the Sept. 19 coup", organized by the 111 Thai Rak Thai Foundation, which was set up by the 111 former executives of the dissolved political party Thai Rak Thai, whose leader was Thaksin.

"Many people ask whether I want to return to be prime minister. If it is the people's wish, I would be ready to do so," said Thaksin, adding he was grateful to the red-shirts who had done considerably for him.

The pro-Thaksin red-shirts movement held a mass rally on September 19 to mark the third anniversary of the military coup that toppled Thaksin's administration. More than 20,000 red-clad supporters of the anti-government United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship came up to the Royal Plaza in Bangkok, calling for Abhisit to dissolve the House and to call a new election.

Thaksin, who was sentenced in absentia in 2008 by Thai court to two-year in jail before he managed to flee abroad, said the coup created a few new rich who hold the rank of general. After the coup, Thaksin said, the people got a dictatorial 2007 constitution and a weak politics; the country has been indebted and more divided; the military became stronger but the police weaker; the judicial system has apparently applied double standards.

Yongyuth Wichaidit, the leader of opposition Puea Thai party, said the 2006 coup has caused the severest damage to the country. The people are living in the hope to see Thaksin's return, he added.

Earlier this month, Thaksin at his Twitter page expressed his patience on waiting to talk to the Abhisit, before the latter, in his probably first twitter interview, saying Thaksin must return to Thailand to serve his jail term to make a talk possible.

Source: Xinhua

Cambodian court convicts 2 journalists, including Irish national, of defaming army officers

By Sopheng Cheang (CP)

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A Cambodian court found two journalists, including an Irish national, guilty of defamation Tuesday for publishing an article in which an opposition leader allegedly criticized dozens of high-ranking military officers.

The ruling was the latest in a series of legal judgments this year that human rights groups charge are part of a campaign of intimidation against critics of the government.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court Judge Sin Visal ordered Cambodian Daily Editor-in-Chief Kevin Doyle and Neou Vannarin, a Cambodian reporter at the same newspaper, to pay a total of 8 million riel ($1,927) in compensation to a group of senior military officers about whom the paper reported.

"The article published in their paper caused confusion among the Cambodian people and damaged the dignity of the military officers," Sin Visal told the court.

Doyle, 41, refused to comment when leaving the court after the ruling.

Last month, the same court convicted outspoken opposition legislator Mu Sochua of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen and ordered her to pay 8.5 million riel ($2,000) to the state and another 8 million riel ($1,882) in compensation to Hun Sen.

In July, the U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch called on Hun Sen's government to "end its campaign of harassment, threats, and unwarranted legal action aimed at consolidating its rule by silencing the political opposition and peaceful critics."

It said senior Cambodian government leaders and military officials had filed "at least nine politically motivated criminal defamation and disinformation cases against journalists, opposition members of parliament, lawyers, and government critics."

"The Cambodian government is imposing its most serious crackdown on freedom of expression in recent years," the group quoted its Asia director, Brad Adams, saying.

Tuesday's case began after The Cambodia Daily ran a story in April in which opposition lawmaker Ho Vann was cited describing as useless military certificates received by 22 well-connected officers in a yearlong program in Vietnam.

The officers sued Hor Vann for defamation. He insisted the newspaper had misquoted him and said he had repeatedly asked it to run a correction but it failed to do so.

Sin Visal on Tuesday dropped the defamation charges against Hor Vann.

Cambodia Criticized for Curtailing Freedom of Expression

Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy (file photo)                        By Daniel Schearf
Bangkok
22 September 2009

Cambodia has been accused of silencing critics with lawsuits, jail time, and assassinations. Cambodia's opposition leader says the crackdown is the government's attempt to deal with what he claims is a growing discontent over the economy and who benefits from economic growth.

At a panel discussion Tuesday at the Bangkok press club, the Cambodian government was accused of doing everything in its power to muzzle voices critical of its policies.

Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy says grassroots activists, politicians, and village leaders have been killed, jailed, and forced into hiding for disagreeing with the ruling party.

He says the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen is attempting to silence growing discontent over land confiscation and most Cambodians not benefiting from the growing economy.

Sam Rainsy says part of the problem is that many of Cambodia's leaders like Hun Sen are former Khmer Rouge, the brutal communist government that ruled in the 1970s and was responsible for the deaths of up to two million Cambodians.

"They still have the Khmer Rouge mentality," he said. "They do not tolerate critics and they are paranoid. They see enemies everywhere around them and they take preemptive moves to eliminate their enemies or potential enemies by killing them, by silencing them."

Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists Vice President Duong Hak Samrithy says recent defamation lawsuits against outspoken media by Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party shows a clear pattern of intolerance. He says journalists have also been targets of violence that he linked to the government.

"Until now, about, around 10 journalists has been assassinated," said Samrithy. "But, there is no clue, no lead has been declared by the police, even a single case. So, you can say this is a clear attempt of the CPP to silence the opposition press."

Duong Hak Samrithy says international donors, who keep Cambodia's government running, should use their leverage to pressure the government on rights issues.

But a lecturer in International Relations at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, Puangthong Pawakapan, says major donors like Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are showing little willingness to pressure Phnom Penh.

"The task, while we cannot hope much from the governments of these countries, the donors and ASEAN, and the major investors, I think, the task will be left on the international NGOs and local NGOs inside Cambodia," said Puangthong.

The panel was organized by the Southeast Asian Press Alliance, a non-profit rights group based in Bangkok that campaigns for press freedom in Southeast Asia.

Research and Markets: This Essential Report on Telecoms, Mobile, Internet & Forecasts in Cambodia is Now Available

Press Release

Source: Research and Markets

On Tuesday September 22, 2009

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/41c97a/cambodia_telecom) has announced the addition of the "Cambodia - Telecoms, Mobile, Internet & Forecasts" report to their offering.

 

The Cambodia - Telecoms, Mobile, Internet & Forecasts report includes all BuddeComm research data and analysis on this country. Covering trends and developments in telecommunications, mobile, internet, broadband, infrastructure and regulation.

 

Despite its status as a least developed country and remaining one of the poorer countries in Southeast Asia, Cambodia's efforts to expand and upgrade its telecom infrastructure are bearing fruit. There was very little infrastructure remaining from before the tumultuous Khmer Rouge days. As a result, Cambodia bypassed rebuilding the fixed-line market and quickly launched into alternative technologies, jump-starting its telecommunications infrastructure with digital technology. Not surprisingly, mobile services have completely overwhelmed the market. By early 2009, there were nine mobile operators vigorously competing with each other in a market segment that was growing at an annual rate of more than 50%. There were 4.3 million mobile subscribers (penetration 29%) in the country by March 2009. The market was still in a very strong growth phase, as evidenced by the keenness shown by foreign operators seeking to be part of it.

 

Some limited fixed-line growth had earlier come about through investment under foreign assistance, but this has mainly benefited Phnom Penh and geographical coverage has not increased significantly since that effort in the 1990s. The number of fixed-line services was relatively static at around 40,000 by 2008. In the absence of any real fixed-line growth, mobile telephone services continue to completely dominate the overall telecom market in Cambodia, with mobiles representing more than 99% of the total number of telephone services in the country. This disparity has been growing more significant each year.

 

The expansion of Internet services has also been overshadowed by the mobile phenomenon. In fact Internet take-up remains disturbingly low, one of the lowest penetrations in the region. Of course, the limited fixed line infrastructure has been a major inhibiting factor in the roll-out of both dial-up and ADSL Internet services. One encouraging feature has been the general availability of Internet access in provincial towns.

 

It is worthwhile noting that wireless technology has been especially advantageous for Cambodia in achieving rapid network rollout and replacement of a fixed network badly damaged by 20 years of war. In addition to the thriving mobile networks, Wireless Local Loop has been useful for rapid provision of a limited number of fixed-line services. However, while Cambodia has exemplified the fact that WLL offers a viable option for rapidly expanding telecom access in developing countries with low levels of fixed infrastructure, the potential of this technology has yet to be fully exploited in the country.

 

Key highlights:

• The year 2008 saw Cambodia's mobile market continue on its positive expansion path, with annual growth of 56% for the year and continuing at 50%+ into 2009;
• With 29% mobile penetration by March 2009, the mobile market had passed the 4 million subscriber milestone earlier in 2009;
• With 3 new mobile operators coming to the market in 2008/09, Cambodia has a total of 9 operators in what has become a crowded and highly competitive market;
• The development of fixed-line and Internet services continue to languish; the latter is particularly disconcerting as online access is crucial to national growth;
• This report provides an overview of the trends and developments in the telecommunications markets in Cambodia.

 

Subjects covered include:

• Key Statistics;
• Market and Industry Overviews;
• Major Operators (Mobile and Fixed)
• Regulatory Environment;
• Infrastructure;
• Mobile Market;
• Internet Market;
• Telecom market forecasts for selective years to 2018.

 

Key Topics Covered:

• Executive summary
• Key statistics
• Telecommunications market
• Regulatory environment
• Telecommunications infrastructure
• Internet market
• Mobile communications
• Cambodia's broadcasting market
• Forecasts

 

Companies Mentioned:

• Cambodia GSM (MobiTel)
• CamShin
• TMIC
• AZ Communications
• Viettel
• Applifone (Star Cell)
• CadComms
• GT-Tell
• Smart Mobile (Latelz)
• VimpelCom

 

For more information visit

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/41c97a/cambodia_telecom

ADB raises Asian growth

Pedestrians cross a street in the Central business district in Hong Kong on September 11, 2009. ADB said Asian governments needed to broaden their growth options by developing more intra-regional trade and reducing their risk to external shocks. -- PHOTO: AFP

Sep 22, 2009

HONG KONG - THE Asian Development Bank Tuesday raised its regional growth outlook for this year, with a huge dose of stimulus spending putting Asia on course to lead the world out of its economic slump.

But the Manila-based bank said that signs of recovery were not strong enough for Asian governments to remove the stimulus prop yet.

In an update to its annual outlook released in March, the ADB raised its 2009 forecast for Asia's gross domestic product (GDP) to 3.9 pe rcent growth from 3.4 per cent.

It also upgraded its 2010 estimate to 6.4 per cent from 6.0 per cent. 'Despite worsening conditions in the global economic environment, developing Asia is poised to lead the recovery from the worldwide slowdown,' said ADB chief economist Jong-Wha Lee.

'Firm action by many governments and central banks, the relatively healthy state of financial systems prior to the global crisis, and the rapid turnaround in the region's larger, less export-dependent economies, all enhanced developing Asia's growth prospects,' the report said.

But the ADB said Asian governments needed to broaden their growth options by developing more intra-regional trade and reducing their risk to external shocks.

Mr Lee added that economic activity in the larger developing Asian economies had rebounded and output looked set for a so-called V-shaped comeback. However, he cautioned: 'The improved regional outlook should not make developing Asian economies complacent.

'A protracted global slowdown or the hasty withdrawal of stimulus packages can degrade the region's ongoing recovery.' The report looked at prospects for countries stretching from the former Soviet states of Central Asia to some of the tiny Pacific islands, excluding developed countries such as Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

The ADB said it boosted China's GDP outlook by 1.2 percentage points to 8.2 per cent this year thanks to huge pump-priming in the world's third-biggest economy. Beijing has targeted growth of eight per cent to keep unemployment at bay and avoid social unrest. The ADB has forecast 8.9 per cent growth next year, up from 6.5 per cent projected in March.

It highlighted a US$585 billion (S$842 billion) government stimulus late last year, a massive surge in bank lending in the first half of this year and 'aggressive monetary easing'.

Export-dependent China announced its huge spending policy last year to boosting domestic consumption and infrastructure projects, as key overseas markets in the United States, Japan and the eurozone went into recession. The move led to a surge in imports, which in turn helped regional exporters. -- AFP

Activist Somaly Mam stills UCF ballroom with stories of human trafficking

Activist and author Somaly Mam signs a copy of her book for a student at UCF on Monday night. (GORETTI DUNCKER/SPECIAL TO THE SENTINEL)

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/

By Goretti Duncker

Special to the Sentinel

In a room of nearly 200 chairs, there was not an empty seat. There were people standing, watching, all along the walls, trailing out the doors and into the halls, all gathered to hear the story of one woman.

In the UCF Student Union Cape Florida Ballroom Monday night, Somaly Mam, author of "The Road of Lost Innocence,'' spoke to this crowd about her fight to end human trafficking in her country, Cambodia.

Like Mam, many Cambodian women and girls are sold as sex slaves to brothels because of the severe poverty in the country. When families need money they give up their girls, many still pre-pubescent, and some as young as 4 or 5 years old. She said these girls grow up without a sense of love or family.

"I don't know my name, I don't know my parents, I don't know my age," said Mam, who sat in a black office chair. Because of the sensitive nature of the subject discussed, rather than give Mam a podium to stand on, the room was set up for a quiet, intimate, studio-type conversation.

In Cambodia, Mam always dreamed of being part of a family, and thought she had found one when a man offered to be her grandfather when she was a young teen. Instead of love he physically and sexually abused her, and soon sold her to a brothel. Mam spoke about the dangers of living in the brothel and how difficult it was to escape. Some girls who tried to leave, including one of her friends, were murdered.

Girls who are raped in the brothels are rejected by their families and are made to believe that they caused the abuser to attack. Mam said that girls could not understand why anyone would leave the brothel.

"They ask why escape from the brothel? Who would love you, who would give you life? People don't understand," said Mam.

Mam was a rare case. After escaping the brothel, she helped found the Agir Pour les Femmes en Situation Précaire (AFESIP), which translated in English means "Acting for Women in Distressing Circumstances.'' AFESIP is dedicated to stopping sex trafficking by setting up rehabilitation and reintegration centers in Cambodia. She later teamed with American human rights activists to establish the Somaly Mam Foundation, a charity that also works to combat trafficking.

Human trafficking is an acute problem worldwide. According to the U.S. State Department's 2009 "Trafficking in Persons Report,'' 1.39 million children and adults are victims of commercial sexual servitude, with 56 percent of these victims being women and girls. While trafficking occurs all over the world, it is a particularly bad problem in Southeast Asia, according to the report, especially in countries such as Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.

Bill Livermore, executive director of Somaly Mam Foundation, said it's difficult fighting trafficking in a country like Cambodia because the citizens don't see why the women should be helped.

"The biggest challenge is that we don't empower women. Women are treated like a legal minority," said Livermore. "If we can champion that, if we can move that benchmark up, it will have a dramatic impact on trafficking."

Livermore said that the foundation has had significant help in raising money in areas of the U.S. where sex trafficking has become an issue.

"The most critical thing is to raise awareness about the issue," said Livermore. "Governments will not change unless they are embarrassed into changing. If none of you gave us a penny but you committed to telling five of your friends [about what's happening] that would make us even happier."

Stephanie Nicholas, freshman and political science major, learned about human trafficking after reading Mam's book. When she discovered Mam was coming to UCF to speak she said she had to go, and she even brought two friends along. After obtaining her law degree, Nicholas wants to do pro bono work with victims of trafficking.

"[I want] to hear her story, from her point of view," said Nicholas, inspired by Mam's experiences. "No matter where you come from and no matter what people do to you, you can still make something of your life."

Goretti Duncker is a UCF journalism student.

Cambodia, Vietnam sign MOU of rubber investment cooperation

www.chinaview.cn

2009-09-22

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and Vietnam on Tuesday signed a MOU of rubber investment cooperation to expand area of rubber plantation of Vietnamese companies in Cambodia.

The agreement was signed in Phnom Penh by Chan Sarun, Cambodian minister of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, and Cao Duc Phat, visiting Vietnamese minister of rural development and agriculture.

According to this bilateral agreement, Vietnamese companies will plant rubber crops in 100,000 hectares of land in Cambodia, Chan Sarun told reporters after the signing ceremony.

The Vietnamese companies have already invested in rubber plantations in Cambodia, but through the agreement, they will be able to plant more rubber crops, he said.

According to the agreement, the Vietnamese side will also build a refinery factory of rubber products in Cambodia, he said.

"The agreement will also provide opportunity for local people to sell their rubber products to Vietnamese companies and it will offer more jobs for local poor people," he added.

"So far, our local people and local private companies have planted rubber crops on 100,000 hectares of land," he said, adding that Vietnamese companies already got the economic concession land for planting the rubber crops.

"Through the MOU we will also strengthen the bilateral cooperation on other fields like fighting against communicable diseases and other things including bird flu and swine flu, and encourage investing more on other agro-industrial crops."

This investment will help to push economic development and social affairs in the country, he said, adding that Vietnamese side also will help train human resources for Cambodia.

Editor: Yan

ADB revises GDP growth forecast for Cambodia

http://www.chinaview.cn/

2009-09-22

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday revised the GDP growth forecast for Cambodia from slight growth to a 1.5 percent contract in its latest outlook report.

According to ADB's Asian Development Outlook 2009 Update (ADO 2009 Update) released on Tuesday, a sharper than expected downturn in clothing exports, construction activity, and tourism arrivals has prompted a downward revision in the GDP forecast for Cambodia. The economy is now expected to contract by 1.5 percent in 2009, rather than record slight growth as anticipated in ADO 2009.

The report, which revised the GDP growth forecasts for countries in Asia, also quoted U.S. Department of Commerce data which shows that Cambodian clothing exports to the U.S. dropped by27 percent in the first five months of 2009 from the corresponding period of 2008. Order books for clothing in May were significantly lower than a year earlier. Tourist arrivals fell by 3 percent in the first four months of 2009. The decline in construction activity was a consequence of falling FDI, notably from South Korea.

Meanwhile, ADB report said that growth is projected to resume in 2010 at about 3.5 percent, as a gradual recovery in the global economy stimulates clothing exports and tourism. That should provide support for growth in incomes and consumption.

Inflation has decelerated faster than expected, owing to lower international oil and food prices and weaker domestic demand as the economy contracts. The inflation rate for 2009 is now forecast at just 0.8 percent, revised down from ADO 2009. It is expected to quicken to about 5 percent in 2010, reflecting higher prices for imported oil and the improvement in domestic demand.

In the external accounts, imports fell by 18.1 percent in the first half of 2009, a sharper decline than that recorded for exports (10.3 percent). Tourism arrivals are expected to pick up in the second half of 2009 and the rate of decline in exports may well slow.

The current account deficit will be narrower than forecast in March, at about 5.0 percent of GDP this year and 7.0 percent in 2010. Gross international reserves edged up to 2.18 billion U.S. dollars at mid-year, from 2.16 billion U.S. dollars at end-2008.

The report forecasts that next year, all the Southeast Asian economies are expected to grow, with aggregate GDP rising by 4.3 percent in 2010, similar to the projection in ADO 2009. This would represent a rapid acceleration from 2009, but growth would still be relatively subdued compared with the 6.3 percent average of 20062007. A gradual recovery of the global economy and increased trade flows will impart some growth momentum to the sub region.

Editor: Lin Zhi

NZ woman finds husband's body in Laos river

Tuesday Sep 22, 2009

A Waikato woman has found her Irish husband's body in a Laos river three days after he went missing in a tragic end to their Asian honeymoon.

Michael O'Sullivan, 39, a publican, got into difficulty after a river "tubing" ride with his wife Ilana James 29, and 18 other holidaymakers.

Mr'O'Sullivan and Ms James, from Raglan, had been enjoying a belated honeymoon backpacking around Asia after marrying last November, the Evening Herald in Dublin reported.

They had planned to renew their vows in the presence of Mrs O'Sullivan's mother in New Zealand.

Last Thursday, the pair went on the "tubing adventure" on the Nam Xong river in Vang Vieng, in the north of Laos, described by backpackers' guide Lonely Planet as "one of the rites of passage of the Indochina backpacking circuit".

But the river had swollen dangerously because of the rainy season, and locals had to use ropes and sticks to rescue them.

Mr O'Sullivan was the only one not to be rescued. He was not wearing a lifejacket.

Ms James insisted on being part of the search team that combed the river.

For three days she hired boats and scoured the river banks looking for her husband and she was among a search party that found his body yesterday.

Ms James suffered a further blow when she was mugged on the way back to her hotel during the search.

The couple met in England. They were married last year and moved to Ireland.

They had already visited India, Malaysia and Thailand after heading off backpacking in June

- NZPA

P. Vihear communique ruling deferred

Writer: BangkokPost.com

Published: 22/09/2009

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has deferred until Sept 29 its ruling on the 44 people, the majority former ministers of the Samak Sundaravej government, charged in connection with the cabinet approval on June 17 last year of a joint communique with Cambodia without parliament's approval, commissioner Klanarong Chanthik said on Tuesday.

The anti-graft agency had been expected to decide today whether to indict any of the accused on negligence of duty and/or disciplinary charges.

However, today's meeting was able to consider only 12 of them, because the NACC chairman had to attend another meeting on the selection of senators, Mr Klanarong said.

He did not confirm whether the 12 were politicians or permanent ministry officials.

Mr Klanarong said the NACC will meet against on Sept 29 to look into the evidence against the 32 others, individually. He expected a ruling would be issued that day.

He was adamant the NACC did not intend to specifically find fault with former foreign minister Noppadon Pattama.

Mr Noppadon on June 18 last year signed the joint communique to support Cambodia's bid to list Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site after receiving the cabinet's approval.

This led to other cabinet members who attended the meeting on June 17 last year also being charged with violating Article 190 of the constitution. which requires parliamentary approval for all foreign agreements.

Cambodian couple finds new home for 41st Donut House

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/

By JONDI GUMZ

Posted: 09/22/2009

CAPITOLA -- It cost a lot of dough -- close to $100,000 -- to move the 41st Ave. Donut House across the street.

Keang Siv Lim and Hour Chiv, who have been in the doughnut business locally for 23 years, discovered the exhaust hood and fan would not fit through the door of their new smaller location in the King's Plaza shopping center.

That didn't stop them.

They paid a contractor to cut a hole in the roof and use a crane to set the equipment in place. When they opened for business Monday morning, they were all smiles.

"First day," said Lim, handing over a doughnut and coffee to Marshall Jones, who lives nearby.

Jones, 68, admitted, "I'm a doughnut lover."

Lim, 61, and her husband Chiv, 62, are Cambodian natives of Chinese descent. They lived near the Thai border and made a living selling merchandise at a local marketplace until their country was taken over in 1975 by the Khmer Rouge.

They lost everything.

When Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1979 and fought off the Khmer Rouge, the couple escaped and spent two years in a refugee camp in Thailand. After another six months in a refugee camp in the Philippines, Lim and her husband, their five children, including one born in the refugee camp, and Lim's mother were allowed to resettle in the United States.

They arrived in November 1982.

The couple found work at a garment factory in Los Angeles, then in 1986 got an opportunity in Santa Cruz.

A fellow Cambodian who had purchased Ferrell's Donuts on Mission Street offered them jobs.

Lim took care of customers at the counter; her husband made the doughnuts, a job for early risers.

They learned the business, and in 1989, bought the shop. Two years later, they bought another doughnut shop on Ocean Street in Santa Cruz and changed the name to Ferrell's.

Their friend Yong Sip said most of the doughnut shops locally are owned by Cambodians.

That is true across California, according to Henry Chen, who married Lim and Chiv's second oldest daughter, Lena.

"When we first arrived, we were very hungry for the opportunity to succeed and bring about a better life for ourselves and our families," Chen said. "Most of us knew very little English."

For that reason, the seven-day-a-week doughnut business was a very good fit.

In the mid-1980s, it was not uncommon to find a Cambodian baker working in a doughnut shop at night, training four or five of his friends, Chen recalled. Most of these friends went on to become bakers themselves, and they in turn taught others.

Chen, for example, has a doughnut shop in Alameda.

He also has an expresso shop in Pacifica, managed by the youngest of Lim and Chiv's children, who was born in America.

That's another family tradition: Having the children help out at the doughnut shop.

After the children were on their own, Lim and Chiv downsized, selling the two Santa Cruz shops and buying 41st Ave Donut.

When Goodwill bought the shopping center where they were located for the Shoreline cosmetology school, they were not ready to retire.

They found space at the Kings Plaza shopping center owned by the Ow family.

Patriarch George Ow Jr., whose father immigrated to America at 16, is impressed by their resilience.

"They are grandparents and still working longer and harder than most 20- to 30-year-olds," he said. "Definitely the American work ethic."

VN to help fight AIDS in Cambodia

VNS

22-09-2009)

Phnom Penh — Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong has assured Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen that Viet Nam was willing to share its experiences in drug prevention and HIV/AIDS control with Cambodia.

Trong was received by PM Hun Sen yesterday during his trip to Cambodia to increase bilateral ties and to discuss HIV/AIDS prevention and drug abuse.

The Vietnamese government has been conducting a nation-wide campaign to implement prevention and containment of drugs and HIV/AIDS at all levels, said Trong, who is also Chairman of Viet Nam’s National Committee for AIDS, Drugs and Prostitute Prevention.

"As a result, initial and important achievements have been made, including the decrease in the numbers of drug addicts and HIV carriers in communities," he said.

Both men agreed that preventing drug addiction and controlling HIV/AIDS was a difficult, complicated and time-consuming task. They also concurred that if the task was not carried out effectively, then these problems would badly affect the economic development and social order of each country.

PM Hun Sen wanted Viet Nam to help Cambodia build detoxification centres, train personnel and strengthen co-operation between the countries’ security forces to help combat transnational drug smugglers.

Regarding bilateral economic co-operation, deputy PM Trong said he hoped the Cambodian government would continue to facilitate Vietnamese investors’ search for opportunities and the implementation of long-term projects in finance, banking, energy, infrastructure development in Cambodia.

Also yesterday, Trong and his entourage paid floral tributes to the Independence Monument and the Monument to the Vietnamese volunteers in Cambodia. — VNS

Duty-free zone boosts trade with Cambodia

Customers shop at the Tinh Bien commercial zone in the southern province of An Giang. — VNA/VNS Photo Thoai Trung

VNS

22-09-2009

AN GIANG — The opening of the Tinh Bien Commercial Zone late last month has significantly energised two-way trade between Viet Nam and Cambodia, a local trade official says.

"Trading at the newly opened commercial zone has been rather exciting, with an average turnover of more than VND1 billion (US$56,000) per day," said Nguyen Minh Tri, head of the zone’s management board.

Tri said southwestern An Giang Province has mobilised domestic manufacturers to bring their products to the Tinh Bien Commercial Zone to export and sell goods for residents of both countries living in border areas.

The Tinh Bien Commercial Zone has become a hub for high quality Vietnamese goods while other tax-exempted areas at commercial zones lying near border areas are full of imports from other countries, Tri said.

"Vietnamese goods at the commercial zone are exempted from value added tax, export tax, and need to follow very simple procedures for exporting," Tri said. "We focus on promoting high quality Vietnamese goods, as well as creating the most favourable conditions for businesses from either country to contact each other directly."

Some Cambodian buyers said they used to buy goods from Thailand or China, but the the tax exemption on many high quality Vietnamese goods, ranging from textiles and garments, foodstuff, chemicals and consumer goods to household utensils, interior decorations, and electricity equipment, has enticed them to visit the zone at least once a week.

Many Cambodian retailers also buy a large number of Vietnamese goods for selling in the provinces of Kampot, Kampong Speu, Kampong Cham and Ko Kong in their country.

Vuong Dinh Ngan, deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Department for Trade Promotion, said this was the first time Viet Nam was exporting high quality domestic goods through a tax-exemption area.

The Tinh Bien Commercial Zone was not merely a duty free trade zone, but offered an opportunity for domestic businesses to introduce their products and set up long-term partnerships with Cambodian distributors, Ngan said.

Chanh Thon, a dealer from Cambodia’s Kampot Province said he had contacted Vietnamese exporters for interior decoration and handicrafts at the commercial zone. "We recognise the variety of sophisticated, well designed and reasonably priced Vietnamese goods," he said.

Hua Muoi Tu, sales manager of Duy Tan Plastic Co, said the company had appointed a distributor in Phnom Penh. Another one at the Tinh Bien Border Gate would facilitate deeper penetration of the south-east Cambodian market, he said.

Cong Danh Co Ltd, which previously sold small volumes of its products to Cambodia, has invested in the tax-exempt supermarket to serve tourists.

Director Ung Van Thanh of the company said: "Bringing domestic goods to the border gate can easily attract customers from the other side of the border. Relying on this, the turnover is increasing every day."

Instead of going to HCM City and eastern provinces to seek partners, enterprises in the Cambodian province of Takeo would just go through the border gate, said Ung Chea Kuk, chairman of the province’s Enterprises Association.

At the An Giang Commercial Zone, domestic and international tourists are allowed to buy imported products exempted from import tax, value added tax and special consumption tax for the first VND500,000 worth of purchases.

The zone has attracted six investors so far in its supermarket and more than 40 companies have registered to lease space in it, accounting for a total investment of more than VND350 billion ($19.5 million). — VNS

People of faith pray on UN Day of Peace

People of different faiths prayed for peace on the UN International Day of Peace(AP)

People of faith around the world prayed for peace on Monday to mark the United Nations International Day of Peace.

by Jennifer Riley, Christian Post

Posted: Tuesday, September 22, 2009

From Cambodia to Texas, September 21 was commemorated with symbolic acts and prayers for peace.

The Odyssey Networks – the largest US coalition of Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith groups that seeks to build understanding through media – launched an online campaign weeks in advance to collect a million prayers for peace.

Meanwhile in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Buddhist monks and nuns sat to pray for peace during a ceremony for the day.

“Prayer is a powerful thing that can bring the world peace,” said Abdikani Abdi, 19, in a webisode posted in the Peace Video Festival section of the Odyssey Networks website.

Abdi, his younger brother and their widowed mother are refugees from Somalia who were accepted into the US refugee programme and arrived in Kenya in 2007. They were later resettled to Pennsylvania by Church World Service, a Christian relief and development agency that partnered with the Odyssey Networks for the “Million Minutes for Peace” campaign.

September 21 was formally designated by the United Nations in 2001 as the International Day of Peace. Every year since, the United Nations has called for a global ceasefire and non-violence on this day.

The day is usually observed at the UN headquarters with a traditional ceremony in which the secretary-general rings the Peace Bell.

This year, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon rang the Peace Bell on Friday because Monday is a public holiday in many regions of the world.

Among this year’s participants were members of The Salvation Army who were called earlier this month by their leader, General Shaw Clifton, to devote the month of September to praying for peace and for the victims of sex trafficking.

“Conflicts between nations and conflicts within nations still claim lives on a daily basis, destroying stability, disrupting education and creating poverty,” Clifton stated in this year’s call to prayer.

Clifton urged Salvationists to pray for peace on the U.N. International Day of Peace on and for victims of sex trafficking on September 27.

Development bank predicts Cambodian economy to shrink this year

M & C

Sep 22, 2009

Phnom Penh - The Asian Development Bank has revised downward its prediction for Cambodia's gross domestic product this year, saying it now expects the kingdom's economy to shrink 1.5 per cent.

It had previously forecast modest growth for 2009.

In its update released Tuesday, the bank blamed worse-than-expected garment export figures, less construction activity and fewer tourism arrivals. Along with agriculture, these sectors make up the four pillars of Cambodia's economy.

However, the bank said it expected matters would improve next year, albeit at a much lower rate than the double-digit annual growth the country has enjoyed for much of this decade.

'Growth is projected to resume in 2010 at about 3.5 per cent as a gradual recovery in the global economy stimulates clothing exports and tourism,' the bank's Asian Development Outlook 2009 Update said. 'That should provide support for growth in incomes and consumption.'

The bank said the decline in construction was because of falling foreign direct investment in the sector, particularly from South Korea.

South Korean companies have invested heavily in Cambodia's property sector in recent years, helping to propel land prices to record highs and creating a bubble that burst last year.

The bank noted that local inflation had dropped faster than expected and ascribed the trend to lower food and oil prices internationally.

'The inflation rate for 2009 is now forecast at just 0.8 per cent, revised down,' the bank said. 'It is expected to quicken to about 5 per cent in 2010, reflecting higher prices for imported oil and the improvement in domestic demand.'

Tourism numbers were down 3 per cent through April although the bank said it expected arrivals to pick up later in 2009 in line with predictions from Cambodia's Tourism Ministry.

Imports dropped by 18.1 per cent in the first half of 2009 with exports down 10.3 per cent although the bank said the rate of decline in exports could slow.

3 men accused of sex tourism plead not guilty

Mon Sep 21,

LOS ANGELES – Three men charged with traveling to Cambodia to engage in sex acts with children have pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles.

Ronald Boyajian, Erik Peeters and Jack Sporich entered their pleas Monday in federal court.

The men are being held without bail and each has been scheduled for trial Nov. 10, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.

All were expelled from Cambodia and brought to the United States last month under a new initiative targeting child sex tourism in Cambodia, which authorities described as ground zero for child sex tourism.

Sporich and Peeters are each accused of molesting three children and Boyajian one child. If convicted, each could face up to 30 years in prison for each victim.

Danny Davis, Boyajian's attorney, says the charges are false and fabricated. He says his client was defending himself against the allegations in Cambodia but the process was interrupted when the U.S. brought Boyajian to the United States.

Peeters' attorney declined to comment. A message was left for Sporich's attorney.

Recent grad takes his hospitality training to Cambodia

Provided

Ben Justus '08, founder of the EGBOK (Everything's Gonna Be OK) Mission, visits with children at the Palm Tree Orphanage in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

By Lauren Gold

When Ben Justus '08 visited Cambodia for the first time in 2006, he was struck by the warmth and hospitality of the country's people -- especially its children.

A student in the Hotel School, he began thinking about how he could use what he was learning about the hospitality industry to help the young people in developing countries create better lives for themselves.

A year later, while still a student, Justus founded the EGBOK (Everything's Gonna Be OK) Mission, a philanthropic organization to support education and vocational training for children and young adults in the developing world. And this month, he will head back to Cambodia for six months at the Palm Tree Orphanage in Phnom Penh, where he'll begin putting some of the organization's goals into practice.

The orphanage, which houses and supports 93 children, is run by Cambodia's Hope, a nonprofit organization led by two New Mexico psychologists to support needy children in that country. Justus met the founders while participating in the Semester at Sea program in his junior year and visited the orphanage the following year.

"It was amazing experience," he said. "[The kids] are never not smiling ... they're so curious -- they're motivated to learn, they just need to be given that opportunity."

On his upcoming trip, Justus will work with the orphanage's teachers and students to establish classes and hospitality-related vocational training; and also with Phnom Penh hotels and restaurants -- including a restaurant owned by the orphanage -- to build a network of internship and job opportunities.

So far EGBOK has raised more than $35,000 through events, corporate sponsorship, online donations and word of mouth. Justus' friends and fellow Hotel School alumni have pitched in pro bono with help in marketing, logo design, event planning and more; and 100 percent of donations to EGBOK go to Cambodia's Hope and are earmarked for hospitality-related projects and education.

The organization's most recent fundraiser, an event at Tavern at the Park in Chicago, was a success despite the difficult economy. "People have been overwhelmingly gracious," Justus said.

The partnership with Cambodia's Hope is just the first element of what he hopes will be a global philanthropic reach for EGBOK, he added. A project in South Africa may be next; and projects in other countries, including the United States, may be down the road.

The King cometh

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Tuesday, 22 September 2009 15:03 Heng Chivoan

King Norodom Sihamoni from Beijing at Phnom Penh International Airport arrives on Sunday. On September 3, the King accompanied King Father Norodom Sihanouk and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath to China, where the former monarch Sihanouk was scheduled to receive medical treatment.

Battling the blaze

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

Tuesday, 22 September 2009 15:04 Heng Chivoan

A fire fighter struggles to control the flames consuming a garage on Street 163, close to Tuol Tompong 1 commune in Phnom Penh’s Chamkarmon district. Neth Vantha, director of the Phnom Penh Fire Department, told the Post that 13 firetrucks were needed to quell the blaze, which spread out of control after igniting fuel at the garage. No one was injured in the blaze, Phnom Penh Municipal Police Chief Touch Naruth told reporters at the scene.

Brigade leader denies abuses

Tuesday, 22 September 2009 15:03 Cheang Sokha

THE commander of a Cambodian military brigade singled out for criticism by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and US congressmen denied Monday that his soldiers committed human rights violations, as the Kingdom’s top military official prepared to meet his American counterpart for key talks on US involvement with Cambodia’s armed forces.

On Friday, eight lawmakers from the US House of Representatives sent a letter to US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates questioning US military aid to RCAF units accused of abuses.

The letter cited testimony from Sophie Richardson, the Asia advocacy director for HRW who appeared before a US Congressional hearing on Cambodia on September 10, as the basis for its concerns and came in advance of Monday’s planned meeting in Washington between Gates and Minister of Defence Tea Banh.

Defence Ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat said that Gates and Tea Banh were to discuss improving military cooperation between their two nations.

In addition to RCAF brigades 911 and 70 – Prime Minister Hun Sen’s bodyguard unit – the congressmen named Brigade 31 as suspected of committing “serious abuses” during land disputes.

On Monday, however, Brigade 31 commander Sun Saroeun said that his forces had never used violence against civilians.

“As soldiers, we never treated badly any people in our community,” he said.

“We have helped them build their houses and have provided plots of land for social economic land concessions in accordance with government policy.”

But in a hearing of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, a US congressional body that monitors human rights norms around the world, Richardson noted several incidents that challenged Sun Sarouen’s claim. In 2008, Richardson said, soldiers of Brigade 31 forcibly evicted villagers in Kampot province. The brigade has also been accused of participating in illegal logging schemes and unlawfully executing Funcinpec forces during the 1997 factional fighting, she said.

Following an October 2006 agreement, Brigade 31 was designated as a special “maritime security” unit eligible for US assistance. Sun Saroeun said that the US has since donated five trucks and a generator to his brigade and has also worked with it in a two-week workshop on military medicine.

The letter from the US congressmen, which was signed by Lantos commission co-chair Representative Frank Wolf, questioned the thoroughness with which the US Defence Department vetted Cambodian forces that have received US$4.5 million in military aid since 2006.

“While the United States should work with foreign governments to professionalise and train security forces to respect human rights and the rule of law, we must ensure that such assistance and training is not awarded to members of the security forces that have committed serious human rights violations and continue to operate with impunity,” it read.

Officials dismiss threat of protest

Photo by: Chris Kelly

Cambodian soldiers remain on standby Saturday following clashes between Thai protesters, villagers and riot police in Thailand’s Sisaket province.

Tuesday, 22 September 2009 15:03 Vong Sokheng

GOVERNMENT officials dismissed Thai protesters’ threats to hold more demonstrations at Preah Vihear temple after violent clashes erupted between Thai police and protesters on Saturday, and lauded Thai efforts to keep a tight rein on the weekend’s demonstrations.

On Saturday, 5,000 yellow-shirted protesters from the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) converged on Thailand’s Sisaket province to protest Thai government inaction over the 11th-century ruins, claiming that Cambodia has infringed on a 4.6-square-kilometre disputed area surrounding the temple.

Dozens were injured as protesters fought Thai riot police and villagers who attempted to block their way.

Chhum Socheat, spokesman for the Ministry of Defence, said that the Thai government’s efforts to prevent protesters from entering disputed areas along the border showed its dedication to a peaceful bilateral solution to the dispute.

“We learned from the protest that our government’s win-win policy to resolve the border dispute through peaceful negotiations has been recognised by the Thai government,” he said.

“During the [protest], I received many phone calls from the Thai authorities in Sisaket province asking me to send a message to Prime Minister Hun Sen not to worry because they were not allowing the protesters to intrude into Cambodian territory.”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said Sunday that police had been deployed at the temple during the protests. “But we’re not worried at all because the Thai government said they would handle it and prevent the protesters from entering the temple,” he said.

Chhum Socheat said that according to military reports, three Yellow Shirts were killed and 41 injured in clashes, after Thai locals refused to open hotels or sell petrol to them.

But PAD leaders have vowed to keep up their pressure over the temple, threatening future protests if Bangkok does not reassert Thai sovereignty in the area. “We do not accept the World Heritage Committee’s decision to grant Cambodia the right to list the Preah Vihear temple as well as land around it as a World Heritage site,” said a statement read out by PAD protest leader Veera Somkwamkid on Sunday.

“The government and army should do everything under the law to regain the area around the temple for Thailand.”

Srey Doek, commander of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Brigade 12, stationed at the temple, said the PAD was politically isolated, and that further protests were useless.

“Our armed forces are not concerned about any future threats of demonstrations by Thai Yellow Shirts,” he said.

“We are determined to obey the orders of Prime Minister Hun Sen to defend the territory, to prevent the loss of even one millimetre.”

Thai Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon echoed the Cambodian sentiment on Monday, according to the Bangkok Post, which quoted him as saying that “both governments have always been closely working together” on the border issue.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP

Rights worker called to court

Tuesday, 22 September 2009 15:03 Chrann Chamroeun

CCHR chief calls request to appear in R’kiri a form of payback.

THE head of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR) told the Post Monday that a recent summons requesting his appearance before the Ratanakkiri provincial court was likely a form of payback for the group’s decision to call for an investigation into the judge’s “alleged improper conduct”.

Judge Thor Saron said Monday that he issued the summons so the court could question Ou Virak about “several cases” in the province, including at least one land dispute. But Ou Virak said the summons was probably a response to the investigation request, which was sent to the Supreme Council of the Magistracy (SCM) on September 10, rather than part of a genuine attempt to obtain information.

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I think there’s an element of conflict of interest in this investigation.
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A media release accompanying the request cited media reports claiming that Thor Saron released villagers who had been arrested for protesting against DM Group, a developer at the centre of an ongoing land dispute, in exchange for 100 hectares of land. The release also said Thor Saron’s suggestion to former Adhoc provincial coordinator Pen Bonnar that he leave the province to avoid prosecution on charges of defamation, incitement and terrorism could have amounted to an ethics violation.

“I think there’s an element of conflict of interest in this summons. The judge is doing this mainly to harass activists,” Ou Virak said.

He added that he did not think his appearance would be worthwhile, saying: “If you look at the whole picture, I don’t think I could give much” new information.

Nevertheless, he said he would appear despite the fact that, under Cambodian law, the court could opt to charge him as a suspect in one of the cases and detain him. Thor Saron said the summons requested his appearance any time after the Pchum Ben festival.

Ou Virak said he had heard nothing from the SCM regarding the investigation request. Chiv Keng, head of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and a member of the SCM, said he knew nothing about the request and referred questions to Dith Munty, head of the council’s disciplinary committee. Dith Munty could not be reached for comment Monday.