Kasit lays down the law

Kasit: Submits letter to WHC members

via Khmer NZ

Published: 30/07/2010

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya has submitted a strongly worded letter to World Heritage Committee members outlining Thailand's fierce objections to Cambodia's management plan for the Preah Vihear temple.

The Foreign Ministry also began furious lobbying yesterday for the WHC to postpone consideration of the plan.

Deputy permanent secretary for foreign affairs Chittriya Pinthong met with diplomats from 10 countries who sit on the 21-member committee: Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, China, France, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. France, Sweden, Switzerland and Brazil sent their ambassadors to the ministry.

"As long as the demarcation has not been finished, Thailand cannot cooperate with any decision by the WHC," Mr Kasit said in his letter.

He also said Thailand was upset as the WHC appeared not to have realised the sensitivity and importance of the temple issue. Any decision made now on the management plan would raise tensions between the two countries, he said.

"The WHC has also neglected the fact that the management plan for the Preah Vihear temple cannot achieve concrete results and be a success because it has ignored the Thai role in helping preserve the temple," he said.

The temple has been listed as a world heritage site since 2008.

The Thai lobbying came as Thailand and Cambodia were unable to break their deadlock over the issue in Brasilia, the Brazilian capital serving as the venue for the WHC meeting.

Talks between Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, brokered by Brazilian chairman Jao Luiz Silva Ferreira, took place on Wednesday after the WHC adjourned its discussion of Cambodia's management plan for Preah Vihear to allow both countries to try to patch up their differences.

In tense 30-minute talks, Sok An told Mr Suwit Cambodia had made compromises with Thailand and it could not make any more changes, a source close to the meeting said.

The Cambodian deputy premier stressed that Cambodia's management plan included the eastern part of the temple, but the Thai delegation argued that demarcation of the area had not yet been settled, the source said.

The government on Wednesday threatened to withdraw from the WHC if the committee members approved the Cambodian plan.

The source said at this stage the option of Thailand giving up its membership of the WHC was not needed.

The source said Thailand would make its stand clear by rejecting Cambodia's management plan.

If the WHC continued to consider the plan, the delegation would issue a statement denouncing the WHC, saying it had failed to comply with regulations and had allowed Cambodia to submit its management plan late.

Cambodia should have handed in its plan six months ahead of the meeting but it made its submission less than 24 hours before the meeting began.

The source said the delegation would walk out if the denunciation failed to change the WHC's mind.

The controversy surrounding the Preah Vihear temple is expected to intensify tensions along the Thai-Cambodian border even though authorities insist the border situation is relatively calm.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan and the leaders of the three armed forces met yesterday to discuss the matter.

Mr Suthep faulted the WHC for listing Preah Vihear as a heritage site because it sits next to an overlapping 4.6-square-kilometre zone claimed by the two countries. He said the WHC's listing of the temple triggered the dispute between the neighbours.

"The WHC shouldn't be an agency which creates a conflict between two countries," he said.

Mr Suthep said the border situation was normal but the military was prepared and on full alert for any untoward events.

"Don't speculate about what they will do. We are just prepared," he said.

Gen Prawit said the armed forces had a plan to deal with the border situation. He insisted that joint border committees had been working well.

In Brazil, Thailand Objects Again to Preah Vihear Plans

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC
Thursday, 29 July 2010

via Khmer NZ

Photo: AP

At a meeting of Unesco in Brazil, Thai officials said they do not agree with a Cambodian management plan for the 11th-Century temple.

“Protecting and enhancing our natural and cultural heritage means building the peace, respect and solidarity which lies at the heart of Unesco's mission.”

Thailand has re-raised objections to the World Heritage status of Preah Vihear temple on the northern border.

At a meeting of Unesco in Brazil, Thai officials said they do not agree with a Cambodian management plan for the 11th-Century temple, which is now at the heart of an ongoing military standoff on the border.

Both Thailand and Cambodia have had troops amassed along the border since the July 2008 inception of the temple as a Heritage site under Cambodian control.

Unesco spokeswoman Sue Williams told VOA Khmer from Brazil that Cambodia had presented a plan for consideration. However, she said the border dispute between the two countries was “strictly bilateral” and declined to comment further on the Thai objections.

Cambodia's management plan, submitted by a delegation led by Cabinet Minister Sok An, has provoked strong disapproval from Thailand, which claims a 4-kilometer strip of land near Preah Vihear temple.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was quoted in the Bangkok Post saying Thailand would reconsider its ties with Unesco if the body approves the plan.

Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan said Thailand’s argument was to ultimately co-manage the temple, which sits on a high precipice overlooking the plains of Preah Vihear province.

Unesco Director General Irina Bokova said in a statement that the Brazil meeting, which ends Aug. 3, will examine the state of conservation of the temple.

“Protecting and enhancing our natural and cultural heritage means building the peace, respect and solidarity which lies at the heart of Unesco's mission,” she said. “It is our common responsibility to makes these sites emblems of peace, dialogue and reconciliation.”

At least eight soldiers have died in ensuing skirmishes since the military standoff began, along a border that has yet to be fully demarcated by either side.

Fishermen Say They Are Forced Into Illegal Catches

Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC
Thursday, 29 July 2010

via Khmer NZ

Photo: AP

Commercial fishing for the next three months is forbidden.

“If we didn’t do it, we would have nothing to eat,” he said, looking at fishing nets hanging on a nearby wall. “Fishing is our farming here.”

Local fishermen on the Tonle Sap lake in the province of Battambang say they continue to fish illegally during the off-season.

In interviews with VOA Khmer, the fishermen said they have no choice but to continue fishing, sometimes with banned equipment, in order to feed their families, despite a three-month ban instituted by the government that begins each July.

“The ban is like breaking our rice pot,” said 53-year-old fisherman Chhun Leang.

He sat in a wooden house on the great lake, in the floating village of Anlung Ta Our, in Ek Phnom district, and when boats passed their wakes shook his home.

“Unlike the people on land who are farmers, we fishermen have no land for farming,” he said. “We only depend on fishing.”

Commercial fishing for the next three months is forbidden. This is the breeding season. Small nets and handmade gear are allowed, but fishermen like Chhun Leang say that isn't enough.

He earns about $250 a month, working a medium-sized net rig that is banned this time a year. Even if these were permitted, he said, these days he barely catches enough fish to feed his family.

“So despite the ban, myself and other fishermen in the commune still secretly fish with our rigging,” he said. There are crackdowns, he said, but he keeps fishing. “Otherwise, we cannot survive.”

His neighbor five houses down, Yon Phann, agreed.

“If we didn’t do it, we would have nothing to eat,” he said, looking at fishing nets hanging on a nearby wall. “Fishing is our farming here.”

More than 70 percent of the 10,000 people living in this commune, Koh Chi Verng, are fishermen. The rest sell goods or repair boats.

Commune Chief Bun Beng said that every year people face hard times during the three-month ban, so at times he turns a blind eye to some illegal fishing.

“They can catch just a kilo or two of fish a day, and they sell it for rice to eat,” he said in an interview at his own floating house. “This is all they can do here because we have no rice to harvest.”

On the other hand, he said, he advises people not to use heavy rigging during the ban, and he encourages them to breed fish and raise eels to supplement their catches.

Nao Thuok, head of Agriculture Ministry’s fishery administration, said there is no exception for any particular fishing community in the use of banned gear this season.

“Any such act will be cracked down on,” he said. “This is according to the law, which must be implemented to benefit all the people across the country, not just that particular community or a small number of others.”

“All floating communities around the Tonle Sap should only fish for family consumption during this ban season,” he said, “so that more fish can breed for them to catch at the end of the season.”

Duch Sentence Brings Tears, Relief Among US-Cambodians

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC
Thursday, 29 July 2010

via Khmer NZ

Photo: AP

Duch, a former S-21 prison chief.

“I think this is an injustice, to reduce his sentence to 19 years.”

Among US-Cambodians, this week's sentencing of Kaing Kek Iev, the Khmer Rouge torture chief better known as Duch, brought with it mixed emotions.

Tears, sobs and disappointment combined with endeavors toward calm among the immigrant community, after Duch was handed a commuted sentence of 19 years for the torture and execution of more than 12,000 people at the notorious Tuol Sleng prison.

“I think this is an injustice, to reduce his sentence to 19 years,” said Kuch Chanly, a Cambodian resident of Maryland.

Judges at the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal issued a 35-year sentence that was reduced for time served on Monday in a landmark case for the court. But that sentence did little to allay Kuch Chanly's mistrust of the tribunal.

“From the beginning, I never trusted this court, which has been conducted in Cambodia, in a place controlled by the former Khmer Rouge themselves,” he said. “Millions of Cambodian victims like myself, who lost both parents, siblings, uncles, aunties, nieces and nephews, must consider taking legal action and peaceful action to demand a retrial from this court so that we can get a fair trial.”

The tribunal's mandate is to try the senior-most leaders of the regime, but there are in fact members of the government who were lower-ranking cadre. A 1998 amnesty for the Khmer Rouge, which brought peace to a protracted civil war, also brought many Khmer Rouge under the government.

“For millions of Cambodian victims like me who lost both my parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, nieces and nephews have to consider taking a legal and peaceful action to demand this court for a retrial so that we can get a fair trial,” Kuch Chanly said.

Duch, now 67, was the first to be tried under the new court, which formed in 2006 after years of wrangling between the government and the UN.

“When I heard the verdict, I found it hard to believe that he had this day,” said Him Chanrithy, the author of a Khmer Rouge memoir. She wept as she discussed the sentencing, issued Monday in a public declaration at the court outside Phnom Penh.

“I think the sentence handed down to him was too little,” she said. “But in another thought, I feel that my parents and other Khmers who were killed have begun to receive some justice now, after a long wait.”

Not everyone disapproved of the sentencing.

“We Cambodian-Americans living in the US are happy to see that the court has sentenced Duch for his crimes during the Khmer Rouge regime,” said Yap Kimtung, president of the group Cambodian-Americans for Human Rights and Democracy. “Either 35 or 19 years is acceptable,” he said. “The main point is that we have seen the culprit punished at last.”

“This verdict is right, but for those who suffered under the regime, it is not yet enough,” said Sok Nen, president of the Cambodian Association in Illinois. “However, we have to follow what is the judge's decision.”

The reach of Khmer Rouge trauma went well beyond Cambodia. Those who fled the regime and settled in the US experience trauma as acutely as the survivors who remained behind.

“Many of my patients and those known by my colleagues called us up and said this trial was just a joke,” said Kuoch Theanvy, executive director of the Cambodian Health Initiative, which is based in the US. “Some of my clients cried on the phone and told me the judgement had not delivered justice for them.”

Cambodia mass killings: Victims' relative tells her story

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via Khmer NZ

The first man to be sentenced over his part in Cambodia's Khmer Rouge mass killings, Comrade Duch, was convicted on Monday of war crimes and crimes against humanity for running a prison centre where thousands were tortured and killed in the 1970s.

The judges jailed him for 35 years, but because of time served, he will spend only another 19 in prison.

Survivors have expressed outrage and prosecutors are considering an appeal.

A former pupil of Comrade Duch, Channary, was taught maths by him when attending Skuon high school in Cambodia's Kompong Cham province in the 1960's.

She lost many members of her family under the Khmer Rouge and now lives in the United States where she's the leader of the Cambodian Women's Organisation in San Jose.

Cambodia Garment Strike Spotlights on Labor Rights

via Khmer NZ

7/29/2010

The wraith of global meltdown is still resonating in some form or the other in most outsourcing dependent countries. The recent Cambodia garment workers’ strike turns out to be a perfect case in point to the premise.

On Tuesday, the Cambodian police with riot gears thwarted a week-long strike sparked off by the suspension of a union official at a Malaysian-owned garment factory, which produced goods for international brands including Gap, Benetton, Adidas and Puma. It has been reported that the clashes between more than 100 armed police force and 3,000 garment workers in Phnom Penh had resulted in nine women being hurt, though authorities maintain the operations did not hurt anyone.

The BBC's Guy De Launey in Phnom Penh says the unrest could be a symptom of a wider social malaise owing to dwindling orders in Cambodia's crucial garment industry which resulted in tens of thousands of job losses. Early this month, government increased the minimum wage from about $50 to $60, but the double-digit inflation and the trade unions demands of above $80 seemed to be bogging down the effect.

Albeit the unions retracted from a three-day general strike in protest against the meagre rise, the union official’s suspension is believed to have aggravated the situation. But last week’s Huffington Post report interpreted these strikes as a knee-jerk reaction to irrational calibration of wages by the outsourcing firms or associated agencies.

Interestingly, in last week’s blog by Auret van Heerden, President and CEO of the Fair Labour Association visualizes firms that build strong Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes into their operations and culture would have the edge in many markets. Nevertheless, evidences show such practices by firms are beyond procurement principles as it solely reckons pricing and related aspects devoid of labour rights - especially post-meltdown.

Cambodia’s textile industry accounts for around 85 percent of exports, and is the country’s third-largest source of income after tourism and agriculture. The Southeast Asian state continues to be in the grip of labour problems particularly after the global economic crisis that bombed exports severely to create an economic landscape of joblessness - and desertion of production units by the employers.

By Jose Roy

DAP News. Breaking News by Soy Sopheap

via Khmer NZ

Cambodia Completely Rejected Thai Proposal

Thursday, 29 July 2010 14:59 Edited by Mr. Rasmey

Cambodia, Phnom Penh, July 29, 2010- Mr. Sok An, Special Envoy of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Minister of the Council of Ministers, completely rejected a proposal made by the Thai government for the cancellation of an agenda for the development and conservation of the Preah Vihear temple areas at a meeting to be held at 11pm in Cambodia.

The rejection of Thailand's proposal occurred after Deputy Prime Minister Sok An had met for talks in Brazil with Mr. Suwit Khunkitti, Minister of Thailand's Natural Resources and Environment.

“ Deputy Prime Minister Sok An's rejection occurred after Cambodia had kept a lot of patience and given a lot of understandings to Thailand, which is Cambodia's neighboring country, but now Cambodia no longer keeps its patience and can not accept Thailand's proposal,” a report from Brazil said.

Cambodian Court sentenced three years for illegal bond issuer

Thursday, 29 July 2010 13:34 DAP-NEWS

Cambodia’s Phnom Penh Court on Thursday sentenced Khim Oudumvithyrith, 43, a Cambodian citizen for three years in jail for first ever illegal bond issuer.

Khim violated the law of issue of selling securities of the country, and court ruled three years for Khim over the charge of the illegal security selling but Khim needs to serve his term in jail for four months only and the rest of the jail term is abolished,” Judge Chea Sokheang announced the verdict.

Chea added that the jail term has included the time of arresting Khim since 28 March, 2010.

Tomorrow Khim will be released from prison because he already served four months already in detention in jail. An Analyst said the condemnation of Khim is just for a warning of issuing security before the stock market in Cambodia opening in 2011.

Khim used to conduct several times of training students about stock market through seminar.

Enemies of the People

via Khmer NZ

How a low-budget film helped to catch a Khmer Rouge leader

Jul 29th 2010

THE Khmer Rouge “Brother Number 2”, Nuon Chea, plays with his grandchildren, watches a broadcast of Saddam Hussein’s execution and dreams of Democratic Kampuchea. For years Pol Pot’s right-hand man has had visits from Thet Sambat, a journalist whose parents and brother died in the genocide. The writer wants to learn why, but does not tell his story, hoping that the taciturn ex-leader will volunteer an explanation. He also tracks down Khuon and Suon, low-level cadres who executed villagers, slit stomachs to eat their gall bladders and buried victims in ditches.

The edgy and often surreal conversations of these men are shown in “Enemies of the People”, a prize-winning documentary made on a shoestring. It has drawn interest from the tribunal that will try Mr Nuon Chea and three other regime leaders next year, and which has tried to subpoena the footage.

The film has two climactic moments. First, when the writer brings the cadres to Mr Nuon Chea, who initially says Cambodians were not responsible for killings and then assures his former underlings: “You did not have any intention, therefore you did not commit any sin”. His hybrid Buddhist-Maoist logic is chilling. “Ours was a clean regime”, he insists. Even now he calls his victims “enemies of the people”, their deaths justified by the revolution. Then the writer reveals (just before Mr Nuon Chea’s arrest) how his family suffered. Brother Number 2 seems moved—he too lost many relatives to a regime which he helped run. Distinctions between victims and perpetrators are blurred in a traumatised country.

Never before have cadres confessed to murder on screen; and never since has this leader spoken frankly of his role. Mr Thet Sambat shows a smiling determination to uncover terrible histories, but says that “I need to stop researching the past.” Others will conclude the opposite.

The Phnom Penh Post: Duch Sentence rejected in Pol Pot village

Border situation remains normal: Thai diplomat

via Khmer NZ

July 29, 2010

The situation along the Thai- Cambodian border has remained normal, Chalotorn Phaovibul, charge d'affaires of Thailand's Embassy in Cambodia, said on Thursday, the website by the Bangkok Post reported.

His remark was made amid Thailand's opposition to Cambodia's management plan for the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple.

Chalotorn said he has believed Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen would not react until the World Heritage Committee (WHC) decides whether to go ahead and approve Cambodia's management plan for the ancient temple.

Reinforcement of troops along the border is normal, he said, adding that he has not been reported of any unusual situation there.

Thailand's Foreign Ministry has instructed him to monitor Phnom Penh's movement and reported it back to Thailand, he said.

No matter what the WHC's decision would come out, Chalotorn said he has believed Thailand and the neighboring country would not resort to violence, but to adopt diplomatic means to solve the conflict.

Interior Minister Chavarat Charnvirakul has re-affirmed of the normal situation at the border as the ministry is continuously reported of the development there by the northeastern Si Sa Ket province's administration, the Matichon online said.

Deputy Prime Minister in charge of security affairs Suthep Thaugsuban said in the morning he was not worried about the situation at the Thai-Cambodian border, the Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.

Troops can manage the situation along the Thai-Cambodian border, the Thai deputy prime minister said.

Thailand and Cambodia have historically laid claim to the site, which is located on a mountain top on the Thai-Cambodia border. The disputed area of 4.6 square kilometers has not been demarcated.

In 1962 the International Court of Justice ruled that the 11th- century Preah Vihear temple belonged to Cambodia.

Source: Xinhua

WHC to decide on Preah Vihear temple plan tonight

via Khmer NZ

Published: 29/07/2010

The World Heritage Committee is expected to decide on Cambodia's proposed management plan for Preah Vihear temple on Thursday night Thailand time, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti said in a television interview from Brazil on Thursday.

The committee, meeting in Brasilia, earlier postponed a decision on the issue for 24 hours to allow Thailand and Cambodia to iron out their dispute on the sidelines of the meeting.

The issue has been put on the agenda for 10am Brazil time, about 10pm Thursday Thailand time.

The postponement followed a protest in Bangkok and the Thai government's threat to resign its membership of the committee if it approves Cambodia's management plan.

Mr Suwit said Cambodia insists on pressing ahead with its management plan, which Thailand strongly opposes.

Speaking after a 45-minute discussion with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who heads the Cambodian delegation, Mr Suwit said he would work to his best ability to protect Thailand’s national interest, but that what actually happens is up to the decision of all 21 WHC members. He however hoped that the WHC will comprehend the adverse impact that might occur if it endorses Cambodia’s plan.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said in the afternoon that the conflict over Preah Vihear should be brought back into the framework of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Thailand and Cambodia in 2000.

The MoU was about demarcating the boundary of Preah Vihear temple. The work was carried out by the Thai-Cambodia Joint Commission on the Demarcation of the Land Boundary (JBC).

Mr Abhisit said the sidelines meeting between Thai and Cambodian diplomats during the World Heritage Committee meeting in Brazil had not been fruitful.

"Thailand has made it clear that we will accept Cambodia's management plan for the temple only if the temple is jointly listed between the two countries," he said.

The WHC approved Cambodia's listing of Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site two years ago.

Responding to Cambodia foreign minister Hor Namhong's comments that Cambodian troops would fire at Thais who intrude into the disputed land, Mr Abhisit said that Thai security forces were prepared in case of violence.

He also said that Thailand's stance is not that much different from Cambodia's.

In Phnom Penh, Thai charge d'affaires Chalotorn Phaovibul, said that the situation along the Thai-Cambodia border was normal following Thailand's opposition to Cambodia's management plan for the temple.

Mr Chalotorn said he believed Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen would not react until the World Heritage Committee decides whether to approve Cambodia's management plan for the ancient Hindu temple.

Any reinforcement of troops along the border is normal, he said, adding that he has not received reports of any unusual situation there.

The Foreign Ministry has instructed him to monitor Phnom Penh's reaction and reported back to Bangkok, he said.

No matter what the WHC's decision would be, Mr Chalotorn said he believed Thailand and Cambodia would each refrain from violence and use diplomatic means to solve their conflict.

Big Las Vegas Developers Sought For New Cambodia Casino

via Khmer NZ

July 29, 2010

Posted By April Gardner

Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com  

To build a successful casino that can compete with the top casinos in Asia, name recognition is needed. For a South Korean developer, that means going after some of the biggest gaming operators based in Las Vegas.

Intercity Group has plans of building a $400 million casino in Cambodia, and the company is looking for potential investors. Two of those investors are MGM Resorts International and Harrah's Entertainment, two gaming giants.

MGM has plenty of experience in Asia with casino properties in the biggest gaming destination in the world, Macau. Harrah's has no presence in Asia, and a casino in Cambodia would give the company a way to compete with Macau casinos.

Intercity is pinning their hopes of success on the cheaper area of Cambodia. The company's Vice-President, James Cho, believes that some gamblers will want to stay away from the big lights of the casinos in Macau and Singapore. The casino plan for Cambodia, if carried out, would make the property the biggest casino outside of Macau and Singapore.

The casino project will be massive, with three hotels, a water park, and three golf courses planned. While Cambodia may be cheaper than the other Asian areas, there will be nothing cheap about visiting the Bellus Angkor Resort & City. World class golf course developer David McLay Kidd will develop the courses.

The credit market has still not fully recovered from the global economic recession. Finding funding for the project may prove to be difficult for the Intercity Group. Currently, the company has not revealed how much of the $400 million they have already secured.

South Korean Developer Courts Harrah's for Casino at Cambodia's Angkor Wat

via Khmer NZ

By Daniel Ten Kate - Jul 29, 2010

South Korean developer Intercity Group plans to start construction in October on a $400 million casino resort complex near Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temples that aims to draw high rollers from Macau and Singapore.

Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., the world’s biggest casino owner, and MGM Resorts International, the largest casino owner on the Las Vegas strip, are among potential investors to visit the site, James Cho, Intercity’s vice president, said in an interview yesterday. The first phase of the project, Cambodia’s largest casino to date, is set to finish in 2012, he said.

“All these big guys are interested in operation management deals,” said Cho, who holds a graduate degree from Columbia University. “We’re confident because the feasibility is there and gaming concessions in this region are so rare.”

Intercity is betting the casino complex, with an investment value equivalent to about 4 percent of Cambodia’s gross domestic product, will draw Asian gamblers looking for an alternative to more established gambling centers. Singapore opened Resorts World Sentosa in February and Marina Bay Sands in April, and Vietnam has approved a $4.2 billion casino set to open in 2013.

Raising funds may prove difficult in the current financial climate given the project’s scale, which is bigger than most casinos outside Singapore and Macau, said Sean Monaghan, an industry expert who formerly worked as a gaming analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co. Success may hinge on showing investors ties to junket operators in Thailand and China, he said.

“Even though Siem Reap sounds goods, most of the people that go there aren’t really casino players,” Singapore-based Monaghan said. “You have to have a very, very solid team to pull that financing off.”

Temples, Incentives

Yvette Monet, an MGM spokeswoman, and Jacqueline Peterson, a spokeswoman for Las Vegas-based Harrah’s, didn’t immediately respond to e-mails sent after regular office hours or answer calls to their mobile phones.

Intercity declined to reveal how much funding has been raised so far. The tourist draw of Angkor Wat, the 12th century Hindu temple, an international airport and “tons” of incentives from the government, including corporate tax holidays and low gaming levies, will make the project viable, Cho said.

“Not everybody’s going to gamble in Macau or Singapore,” Cho said. “Cambodia is family friendly and it’s cheaper.”

Hyung Joo Kim, Intercity’s chief executive officer, is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Hun Sen today in Phnom Penh, Cho said. He will be accompanied by several partners in the project, including Tobin Prior, a former executive with Kerzner International Ltd. who led the company’s bid for the Singapore concession in 2006 that was eventually awarded to Genting Bhd.

Golf Courses, Water Park

Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan referred questions to the country’s investment board. Sok Chenda, secretary-general of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, declined to comment on the project when reached by phone.

Intercity Group is a Seoul-based global real estate and investment firm founded in 1994, according to its website. It has developed $387 million worth of commercial and residential properties in South Korea, according to the site.

Intercity received a license to develop the Angkor casino in 2008, according to the website.

The Bellus Angkor Resort & City will feature the casino, three hotels, three golf courses and a water park. The 18-hole course will be designed by David McLay Kidd, who created the Bandon Dunes course in Oregon and Castle Course in St. Andrews, Scotland, Cho said.

Cambodia attracted 2.2 million tourists last year, with about 580,000 flying directly into Siem Reap, according to government statistics. The resort will be located about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) north of Angkor, about a 30-minute drive from the airport, Cho said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Ten Kate in Bangkok at dtenkate@bloomberg.net

PM: Conflict's solution is demarcation

via Khmer NZ

Published: 29/07/2010

The conflict over Preah Vihear should be brought back into the framework of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Thailand and Cambodia in 2000, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Thursday.

The MoU was about demarcating the boundary of Preah Vihear temple. The work was carried out by the Thai-Cambodia Joint Commission on the Demarcation of the Land Boundary (JBC).

Mr Abhisit said the sidelines meeting between Thai and Cambodian diplomats during the World Heritage Committee meeting in Brazil had not been fruitful.

"Thailand has made it clear that we will accept Cambodia's management plan for the temple only if the temple is jointly listed between the two countries," he said.

The WHC approved Cambodia's listing of Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site two years ago.

Responding to Cambodia foreign minister Hor Namhong's comments that Cambodian troops would fire at Thais who intrude into the disputed land, Mr Abhisit said that Thai security forces were prepared in case of violence.

He also said that Thailand's stance is not that much different from Cambodia's.

INTERVIEW - Huge Cambodian casino complex planned to lure Chinese

via Khmer NZ

Thu Jul 29, 2010

By Prak Chan Thul

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A South Korean real-estate developer is to build a $400 million integrated resort and casino in Cambodia to target the growing number of Chinese visitors to Southeast Asia and its burgeoning gambling sector.

The resort will be in Siem Reap province, 314 km (195 miles) northwest of the capital Phnom Penh, which attracts over a million tourists a year to its famed Angkor temples, James Cho, vice-president of Intercity Group, told Reuters in an interview.

Construction of the Water Park complex, with hotels, a gaming centre, shopping and convention centres and an 18-hole golf course, will start in October and it should open in early 2012.

Cho said it aimed in particular to draw visitors from other Asian countries, including Thais, Malaysians and Singaporeans.

But the Chinses are a big target clientele.

"They're visiting Singapore, they're visiting Southeast Asia, and we just think that right now it's a very good time, it's the right time. Asian gaming is hitting Cambodia right now," Cho said.

"With the Chinese, the increase in the middle class from China, Southeast Asia is a very good market. There is no visa restriction like they have in Macau," he said.

China has periodically placed restrictions on visits to Macau and its casinos by citizens from the mainland.

Tourism is Cambodia's second-biggest currency earner after its agricultural sector.

The government gained revenue of $19 million from its 29 casinos in 2008, according to Finance Ministry data. That fell to $17 million last year, squeezed by a drop in tourist arrivals and border tensions with neighbouring Thailand.

Thais are a vital part of Cambodia's casino industry. Most forms of gambling are forbidden in Thailand but thousands of Thais regularly visit massive casino complexes just over the border with Cambodia.

Cho said around 2.2 million tourists a year visited Cambodia and 1.3 million of them went to the temples in Siem Reap. The new resort was hoping to attract 60 to 70 percent of them.

NagaCorp, listed in Hong Kong, is currently the only casino operator in Cambodia, with a licence to run casinos within 200 km (124 miles) of Phnom Penh until 2065.

Cho said the Intercity Group casino would be the first sited away from country's borders, part of the Cambodian government's wider efforts to attract more tourists into the country.

"They're making it a very rare exception and allowing a resort with gaming to be built," he said.

(Editing by Alan Raybould)

Cambodian community misses friend at Long Beach Catholic parish

via Khmer NZ

VOID: April departure of pastoral director leaves center desolate.
By Greg Mellen, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/28/2010

Mt. Carmel Cambodian Catholic Church, 1851 Cerritos Ave., Long Beach. (Stephen Carr / Press-Telegram)

LONG BEACH - For 18 years, members of the Cambodian community knew they could always wander over to the small church near Martin Luther King Jr. Park if they wanted a sympathetic ear or sage counsel.

But not anymore.

Mary Blatz, the pastoral director at Mt. Carmel Cambodian Center since 1992, left in April when she says Catholic church leadership decided it "had a different use" for Mt. Carmel, which has been a cornerstone in the Khmer community since Blatz took the reins.

Blatz doesn't like to talk about the specifics of her departure, and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles would only say Blatz's departure was a personnel matter and could not be discussed.

The Archdiocese also said little about future plans for the parish, which as a mission does not have a regular priest. It holds Mass once a month and prayer services on Fridays conducted by clergy from St. Anthony Church. In an e-mail, an Archdiocese spokesman said there were no plans to close Mt. Carmel.

Most days, the property seems deserted except for several no trespassing signs.

This is in contrast to recent years, when Blatz and Cambodian and other community members could almost always be found on the premises in a buzz of activity.

Blatz helped Cambodians with literacy, citizenship and deportation issues, medical information, connecting them with social services or whatever came across her desk.

The house next to the church, where Blatz resided, was part domicile, part office, part drop-in center.

Since 2007, the fledgling nonprofit Friends of Mt. Carmel, of which Blatz is president, dealt with a number of social issues, while the church ministered to spiritual needs.

When Cambodian seniors wanted to start a garden, Blatz wrote a grant with the City of Long Beach and turned over a portion of the back property.

When Blatz left, the seniors had to move their garden into pots which are now tended behind the gymnasium at McBride Park.

However, in recent years Blatz felt a strain between what she saw as her pastoral calling and church rules.

Fundamental to that was providing shelter.

Blatz often let displaced and destitute residents sleep on the property, which she said was against church rules.

They were people like Kea Cheng, who wandered in, in need of medical and legal help and a place to stay. He lived on the premises and helped prepare meals and performed other duties until Blatz left.

The help Blatz provided could be unofficial and off the books, but she says it was nonetheless vital.

"We've helped a lot of people to transition (into the mainstream). We couldn't do that in the church anymore," Blatz said.

Although Blatz left the employ of the church, she says her faith remains.

"I don't want social and pastoral needs to separate, but I can't do anything about that now," Blatz said.

Blatz says her work with Cambodians will continue.

"We're trying to relocate," Blatz said from an office at the UCC Plaza.

Blatz said her goal is to find an apartment or property where needy community members can stay.

At a recent event with Cambodian seniors, Blatz said several members mentioned they had gone to Mt. Carmel in search of her and wondered where she was now.

"I said `I'm up in the air,"' Blatz said with a laugh. "I'm up in the air, but I'm hoping to land."

greg.mellen@presstelegram.com , 562-499-1291

DAP News. Breaking News by Soy Sopheap

via Khmer NZ

Phnom Penh Government on Full Alert for Thailand´s Invasion

Thursday, 29 July 2010 10:24 DAP-NEWS

CAMBODIA,PHNOM PENH, 29 July, 2010-“According to Prime Minister Hun Sen´s orders, The Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Standing along the Cambodia-Thailand borders are now ready to respond to any invasion of Thai soldiers,” Mr. Khieu Kanharith, spokesman of the Royal Government of Cambodia and Minister of the Ministry of Information, said on Thursday of July 29, 2010.

Mr. Khieu Kanharith had said in terms of the Royal Government of Cambodia´s political position after Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva attempted to deploy the Thai soldiers along the Cambodia-Thailand borders, and especially near the Preah Vihear Temple areas.

However, the public is now looking forward to seeing any invading activities of the Thai soldiers along the borders after a UNESCO´s meeting will be held in Brazil in order to talk about Cambodia´s management plan for Preah Vihear temple.

Soldiers at Border Standby: Officials

Thursday, 29 July 2010 08:29 DAP-NEWS

CAMBODIA,Phnom Penh,JULY-29-2010 : Cambodian Government Spokesperson on Thursday said that Cambodia’s armies are standby to respond any violation from Thailand at borders.

Cambodian spokesman Khieu Kanharith, also Minister of Information told DAP News Cambodia that, “Our troops are ready to respond if Thai PM Abhisit sends troops to the borders.”

The spokesman’s reaction came after Thai Abhisit said he would deploy his soldiers at the borders, especially at Preah Vihear Temple, which was concluded as world heritage status.

Howevers, Kanharith confirmed that the situation at borders is normal.

Think of the children

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 29 July 2010 15:00 May Titthara

Roughly 225 families from Kampong Thom province’s Kampong Svay district gathered in front of Wat Botum yesterday to request Prime Minister Hun Sen’s intervention in a dispute over 800 hectares of land that are also claimed by the Duong Heng Company. The dispute between the families and the company dates back to 2005, and arrest warrants were issued for four villagers in 2007. The families dispersed at 10am yesterday.

No survivors

Photo by: AFP

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 29 July 2010 15:04 AFP

Emergency personnel comb the wreckage at the site of a passenger plane disaster in the Margalla Hills on the outskirts of Islamabad yesterday. A Pakistani jet carrying up to 152 people crashed amid heavy rain and poor visibility, erupting in a ball of flames. The airline said there were no survivors.

Lake development blamed for fatality

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 29 July 2010 15:03 Khouth Sophakchakrya

RELATIVES of a man who was electrocuted while standing in floodwater are blaming the death on flooding caused by the massive Boeung Kak lake real estate development.

Biv Thuong, 61, died while he was repairing a neighbour’s home in Srah Chak commune’s Village 3.

The village, which sits on the southern end of Boeung Kak lake, has been inundated with floodwater this year – an occurrence that many in the village have blamed on the controversial land development, which has seen the lake gradually filled with sand since 2008.

Chau Kheang said he and Biv Thuong had been hired to change mouldy wooden support beams under a neighbour’s house on Tuesday. The task required the two men to wade through knee-high floodwater on the ground level of the house.

When Biv Thuong tried to remove a lamp, the circuits started sparking, sending an electric shock through both men’s bodies, Chau Kheang said.

“I rushed out from the ground floor of the wooden house after me and my partner were shocked,” he said. “I am very sorry. I could not save him.”

The village’s 339 families had designated Biv Thuong to lobby on behalf of the village on flood-related issues.

The man’s wife, Uk Savin, yesterday blamed her husband’s death on the real estate project that she believes caused the flooding. “If they did not fill land in the lake ... my village would not flood and my husband would not have been electrocuted,” Uk Savin said.

Municipal officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.

However, Chhay Thirith, the chief of Srah Chak commune, blamed the death on Biv Thuong.

“He has an overbearing attitude and was careless,” Chhay Thirith said. “He handled an uncovered electricity line when his legs were standing in water.”

The house’s owner, Taing Phuong, said she turned the power off before the men started working.

SRP censures strike bust-up

Photo by: Pha Lina
Police charge protesting employees at a factory in Sen Sok district owned by PCCS Garments Limited. About 50 officers dressed in riot gear and toting electric batons and tear-gas guns scuffled with the workers, mostly women, who retaliated by throwing chairs and fruit.

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 29 July 2010 15:03 Meas Sokchea and Kim Yuthana

THE opposition Sam Rainsy Party yesterday condemned an armed crackdown on striking garment factory workers this week, saying that peaceful means should be used to resolve their dispute with factory management.

On Tuesday, around 50 riot police descended on a factory owned by PCCS Garments Limited in Sen Sok district and tried to force an estimated 3,000 employees back to work. In the process, several workers were pushed to the ground and stunned with electric batons, and some demonstrators retaliated by throwing water bottles and plastic chairs at police.

“The use of violence on workers like this is a serious violation of individuals’ rights and the freedom of expression of the workers, which is guaranteed by the Cambodian Constitution and the Law on Peaceful Demonstrations,” the SRP said in a statement.

The strike followed six days of protests at the factory that were triggered by the dismissal of union representative Morn Channa last week.

“Once again SRP condemns the use of violence against workers of PCCS Garment Factory and would like to call for the authorities and garment factory owners to resolve the problems and allow Morn Channa ... to be re-employed,” the statement said.

PCCS workers continued their strike yesterday, and garment worker Phan Sreypov pledged that they would continue their strike until Morn Channa was reinstated.

“We still must keep our stance and demand the same until the factory owner has a resolution for Morn Channa,” she said.

But You Meng Try, a PCCS representative, said Wednesday that if the workers do not return to work by today, their salaries will be docked and they could face dismissal themselves.

“The stance of the factory is the same, not to allow their representatives back for employment,” he said.

Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, of which Morn Channa is a member, said that more than 10 workers were injured by the police actions on Tuesday.

He also said that if the factory continued to deny workers’ demands, it would lose profits as well as the confidence of overseas clients.

“So the factory should find a way to have negotiations with workers so both sides can profit,” he said.

Phnom Penh Municipal police chief Touch Naruth dismissed the SRP’s concerns, saying the party was not considering the issue of “public order”.

Striking workers “threw stones at police”, the strike had blocked the main avenue to Phnom Penh International Airport, he said.

“We must have legal action; Russian Federation Boulevard cannot be allowed to have disorder. If Russian Federation Boulevard is blocked by disorder, it is very bad for us,” he said.

He also denied that any workers had been injured.

Man gets prison for posing as late prince

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 29 July 2010 15:03 Mom Kunthear

A 66-YEAR-OLD man was sentenced to three years in jail at Kampot provincial court on Wednesday for extorting money and gifts from local residents on the pretence that he was the late Prince Norodom Naradipo.

Kampot provincial deputy prosecutor Seang Sok said that although the province had seen similar cases of fraud in the past, appropriating the identity of a member of the royal family was particularly egregious. Prince Naradipo, a son of King Father Norodom Sihanouk and half-brother of King Norodom Sihamoni, was born in 1946 and died under the Khmer Rouge regime.

“This man impersonated the King’s relative in order to cheat the villagers and convince them to give him money,” Seang Sok said. “This could affect the King’s reputation, so the court charged the man with fraud.”

Tep Vanna, head of the Kampot provincial military police, said police had apprehended the suspect, Prum Sokkak, after receiving complaints about him from local residents. Prum Sokkak, who had apparently been running similar schemes throughout the country, was thwarted when his wife arrived and identified him, he added.

Prince Sisowath Thomico, assistant to the King Father, said in an email that Prum Sokkak was “not the first” fraudster to impersonate the late Prince Naradipo.

“The identity problems in Cambodia is in fact a direct and lasting consequence of the Khmer Rouge regime,” Prince Thomico said. “Thousands of people have since changed their names or have taken other persons’ identities. To my knowledge, there is no law to deal with this problem.”

Brick attack investigation proceeding

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 29 July 2010 15:03 Cameron Wells and May Titthara

A CANADIAN man said yesterday that local police were investigating an attack in which he was hit in the head by a brick while walking near the riverside, and the municipal police chief said no complaints had been filed in connection with similar cases.

Patrick Falby, a former Post reporter, said last week that he was hit in the jaw with a brick while walking along the riverside last month. He reported to police that the brick was thrown from a Toyota SUV.

He said yesterday that police had been in contact with him since news reports about the attacks appeared in the media late last week.

“They told me they were still following the case,” he said. “Then I got a call last week, and they asked if I had been attacked by a brick again.”

He said his landlord informed him that police had visited his residence while he was absent, and had asked the landlord “if I was OK”.

Phnom Penh police chief Touch Naruth said he was aware that the case was being investigated, and speculated that Falby might have provoked the attack.

“Maybe the foreigner made an argument with other people, so then they threw a brick at the foreigner,” he said.

He added that police were unable to launch investigations into the other cases because no complaints had been filed. But he said police had ramped up their riverside presence in an attempt to ward off similar future attacks.

“We have not investigated because we do not have the victim’s complaint,” Touch Naruth said. “But we have deployed police along that road to prevent any more cases.”

Mom Sitha, director of the foreigners bureau of the Phnom Penh municipal police department, said police had still not identified potential suspects in any of the attacks.

“We have not identified who is a suspect yet,” he said. “If we knew, we would arrest them.”

He said the police presence had been increased along the riverfront in order to make the area “safer for tourists”.

Angkor Thom bus ban delayed

Photo by: Rann Reuy
A bus leaves Angkor Thom. The Apsara Authority has postponed implementation of a ban on buses with more than 12 seats in the site.

via khmer NZ

Thursday, 29 July 2010 15:03 Rann Reuy

Siem Reap province

THE Apsara Authority has decided to postpone implementation of a ban on buses containing more than 12 seats within Angkor Thom, and an official said yesterday that the body hoped to discuss the issue at length with the Tourist Transport Association.

Earlier this month, Chrun Sophal, the body’s communications director, said the ban would go into effect on August 1. He said yesterday that the deadline had been delayed, though he could not provide a new date.

“We will implement it in the future,” he said.

The Tourism Department at the Apsara Authority found that 15,000 vehicles entered the Angkor Wat temple complex each day in 2008, the last year for which statistics are available. Of those, about 900 were minibuses containing between 12 and 35 seats.

An official at the department who declined to be named said an estimated 90 percent of those vehicles entered Angkor Thom.

Chrun Sophal said the ban on buses with more than 12 seats was necessary so as to ensure the safety of the temples.

“We are concerned that those buses make the temples shake,” he said. “We want good order in the temples.”

Kanh Peou, the director of the TTA, said he had not heard of the pending ban, but that he believed the Apsara Authority should allow buses with up to 15 seats to enter Angkor Thom.

Juvenile Justice: Children’s court pilot planned

via Khmer NZ

Thursday, 29 July 2010 15:03 Khoun Leakhana

Juvenile Justice

The Ministry of Justice plans to spearhead a children’s court pilot programme – an early step in a bid to introduce a juvenile justice system in Cambodia.

Ith Rady, secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, said officials and legal experts were discussing ways to help children who break the law.

It is hoped that a pilot project, which does not yet have a firm start date, will be a key part of creating a justice system that deals exclusively with people under the age of 18.

“We are going to train judges who will be in charge of child cases, so that they will understand the legal procedures for convicting children and how to use the law in this court system as well,” Ith Rady said during a workshop on the issue yesterday.

Cambodia currently lacks a separate juvenile justice law. Among the few provisions for children in the current penal code is a provision stipulating that sentences for minors should be halved.

Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana said: “I believe that the child court will be useful for children in enhancing their rights and preventing discrimination or immoral acts in society.”