Google says it will look into complaint from Cambodia that border map with Thailand is wrong

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Google Inc. says it will look into a complaint from Cambodia that a map of a disputed border with Thailand is wrong, though it stopped short of saying it would change the document.

The company is responding to a complaint last week from Cambodia about the Google Earth map that it called "devoid of truth and reality, professionally irresponsible, if not pretentious." Cambodia is calling on Google to replace the map with one that is internationally recognized.

The border area near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple just across the border in Cambodia has been the focus of a long-running dispute between Cambodia and Thailand. The World Court awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but sovereignty over the surrounding land has never been clearly resolved.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Experiencing life in Cambodia

After an invitation from the Catholic Agency for International Aid and Development, Caritas Australia, a group of Queensland educators along with Caritas representatives travelled to Cambodia last November for 10 days to see the work of Caritas first hand. QCEC executive officer for communications Gerard Delaney reports

CARITAS is a Latin word for love, and love was clearly evident in the work that Caritas Australia is doing to support some of the poorest of the poor in Cambodia.
Our group flew into Phnom Penh on a rainy afternoon last November.

The bustling capital city of about 1.3 million people, despite pockets of obvious affluence, is clearly "developing world".

Rubbish and powerlines are strewn between the shacks and sheds that pass for houses and shopfronts.

Motor scooters are everywhere and many have three, four or even five people crammed onto them.

On the day we arrived, people were huddled together beside the road under whatever shelter they could find to wait out the storm.

A police officer asked our driver for money in order to be allowed to pass through an area of the city that was closed off due to the annual water festival, but the driver declined, refusing to be part of the corruption.

Despite the obvious challenges, people seemed to be happily going about their business.

Happy, peaceful and dignified were qualities we found consistently among the people we met during our 10 days in this intriguing nation.

An estimated 36 per cent of Cambodia's 14.2 million people live below the poverty line and about 85 per cent of these live in rural areas.

The average daily income of Cambodians is less than $1.20 per day.

Among other health issues, about 170,000 Cambodians live with HIV/AIDS and more than 60,000 children are orphaned by the disease.

Caritas Australia, known in Cambodia as Australian Catholic Relief (ACR), has been working there since 1979 when the Khmer Rouge genocidal regime collapsed.

The dictator Pol Pot seized power in mid-1975 with the aim of returning Cambodia to a purely agricultural-based society. He forced city dwellers out to rural areas to work on farms and labour projects.

Over the next four years, the combined effects of slave labour, malnutrition, poor medical care, torture and executions resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 to 2.5 million people or about 20 per cent of the Cambodian population.

In many ways the country is still recovering from this horrific chapter in its history.

From 1979-1987 Caritas focused on providing emergency relief support and from 1988-97 on reconstruction work through the government ministries of agriculture, primary health care and education.

Since 1998 Caritas has worked in partnership with several local non-government organisations (NGOs) and has focused its energies on two main areas of support - integrated community development projects in both rural and urban settings, and HIV/AIDS care and prevention.

The partnership approach is central to the Caritas philosophy that local people are best placed to make decisions about their own needs and priorities.

The approach also helps ensure that improvements are sustainable as local people are empowered to design and manage their own development programs in a way that is culturally appropriate and therefore "owned" by the communities.

Caritas provides assistance to 560 Cambodian families with 2746 members in 73 villages and one urban slum area.
Support is also provided to 114 people living with HIV/AIDS and 162 orphaned and vulnerable children.

Caritas' community development work includes construction of school buildings and water wells and the provision of small loans to increase income generation capacity and food security through small businesses or growing vegetables and livestock.

Education about hygiene and health care is a high priority, along with HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support.

The positive impacts of the community development programs are obvious when comparing the villages working with Caritas and those nearby that are not.

The project villages are much cleaner, the poultry and other animals look healthier and gardens are thriving.

The people are engaged in meaningful activity such as weaving, handicrafts and farming, and the children have the opportunity to attend school.

The role and dignity of women in the communities is also a focus of self-help group meetings along with emotional health and well-being in general. In some communities a "Happy Happy Club" has been formed for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS to come together to play and talk about their hopes and aspirations for the future.

Seeing children in circumstances of such poverty was, for me, the most challenging aspect of this immersion experience.

In each of the rural communities we visited, we met the children at their school, which consisted of a concrete slab and an iron roof. There were no resources and the availability of a teacher was sporadic.

Despite the circumstances, the children were happy and vibrant. They beamed with delight and some joined in as we did impromptu performances of the Hokey-Pokey and I'm a Little Teapot. It was hard not to be moved by their joy, but equally difficult not to ponder what their future might hold.

In addition to its community empowerment programs, Caritas also provides funding support for programs for people living with HIV/AIDS, education programs for deaf children and adults, and a youth-for-peace project that are implemented by partner aid organisations Maryknoll, Caritas Cambodia and Catholic Relief Services (Caritas USA).

Caritas Australia maintains an office in suburban Phnom Penh. The team of six staff are all local people and the professional, dedicated way they go about their work is highly impressive. The support projects are all carefully planned and outcomes are measured and documented right down to the number of chickens in each village.

The office is headed up by 49-year-old Lay Sothy ("So - tee") who as a teenager in 1975, like hundreds of thousands of others, was forced out of Phnom Penh and separated from his family under the Pol Pot regime.

Sothy returned to the city in 1979 and his involvement with Caritas happened by accident. He was working two jobs as a taxi driver and government factory worker and secretly learning English at night.

In 1990 he delivered a Caritas visitor to the office in his cab and at the time the religious sister in charge was looking for a driver and offered him a job.

He soon became the office book keeper and the rest as they say is history. Caritas encouraged and supported Sothy to study and he graduated with a masters degree in development management from the University of Cambodia in 2007.

This immersion program has been particularly important in helping strengthen relations between Cambodia and Catholic education. ACR program officer Sothun Nop will visit Brisbane as a guest of Brisbane Catholic Education from April 14-25 to work with students and staff in the archdiocese including a presentation at BCE's "Powerhouse of Leadership" event on April 19.

While there are indicators that things are improving, there is still a long way to go before all Cambodians can live with an acceptable level of human dignity.

Caritas Australia is committed to working with the poor and striving to empower them to improve their quality of life.

I believe the Australian Catholic community, in supporting Caritas, can be extremely proud of the contribution it is making to this challenge.

Caritas' annual Project Compassion Appeal will be officially launched by Governor Penelope Wensley on Shrove Tuesday, this week, at the Australian Catholic University at Banyo.

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Cambodia asks US to cancel $339M debt from 1970s

Associated Press


PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Cambodia asked the United States on Tuesday to cancel $339 million in debt that dates to loans from the 1970s - or consider converting most of it into development aid for the impoverished country.

The proposal, which came during a visit by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel, was the latest in a long-running exchange about how to handle the debt and how the money was used 40 years ago.

"Cambodia has asked the United States government to cancel the debt but if it cannot do that, at least turn 70 percent of the debt into aid for the social development of the country," Deputy Foreign Minister Ouch Borith said after the meeting. He said if the latter option were accepted, Cambodia would discuss repayment plans for the remaining 30 percent.

Marciel, who is Washington's ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, later explained to reporters that the debt could only be waived if Congress passed a law authorizing it.
The low-interest loans financed rice, cotton and other agricultural commodities during the regime of Gen. Lon Nol, who came to power in a 1970 coup that ousted Prince Norodom Sihanouk. The United States was the main financial and military supporter of Lon Nol's regime until it was toppled by the genocidal Khmer Rouge movement in April 1975.

Cambodia's government says the money was also used to "buy weapons and support the war, which caused great suffering to the Cambodian people," Ouch Borith said.

The countries have not set a repayment plan in part because the Cambodian government refuses to accept responsibility for debts incurred by the Lon Nol regime and because they disagree over the amount owed. Read more!

Tim Etchells on performance: Cambodia's beat goes on

Can Cambodia begin to rebuild its shattered cultural heritage? Tim Etchells wonders if the answer lies with a team of Khmer dancers ... and a specially modified laptop

I've recently returned from two weeks in Cambodia, travelling with 18 other artists, dancers, choreographers and performance-makers at the invitation of Ong Keng Sen's Flying Circus Project. Based in Singapore, Keng Sen's Theatre Works outfit has been running these exchanges – predominantly Asian in focus, but with routes out in all directions – for something like 10 years. The intention varies with each incarnation, but the broad hope is for a two-way artistic exchange between invited and local artists, and between the invited artists themselves. To call this latter group diverse would be an understatement: our trip saw passports from Indonesia, Slovenia, Turkey, South Africa, India, UK, Lebanon, Singapore, USA and Austria, among others, landing on the immigration desk in Phnom Penh.

Highly organised and efficient on one hand, Flying Circus also courts a creative openness that at times borders on chaos. The logic for Keng Sen is that the encounter must have its own energy, that the group itself must conjure something new from the situation. An approach like this takes time and nerve, but it undoubtedly pays off.

Looking back, it's hard to say what made the biggest impression on me. The country itself remains blighted by poverty, and still in recovery from the devastation of the Pol Pot era and subsequent years of civil war and instability. Culturally, there's a determined attempt to recover what the Khmer Rouge tried to wipe out in its brutal five-year drive to Year Zero, which involved – alongside much else – killing intellectuals, artists, teachers and anyone who spoke French. For this reason, there's much talk of archives, of remembering and preserving. Around 300 feature films were made in Cambodia before 1975, of which as few as 30 now survive. They have been gathered in the last five years and preserved along with other film, sound and photographic materials at the Bophana archive in Phnom Penh, our base for half of the workshops.

The situation is equally dire in the performing arts, since only a handful of classical Khmer dancers survived the killing fields. These old masters are now a precious resource, teaching new generations techniques that otherwise would have slipped away for good. Back home in England, I generally run a mile from people attempting to rescue traditional forms; but in Cambodia, the initiative made more sense – the difference, perhaps, between a past that is dying from irrelevance or lack of interest, and one that has only recently survived assassination.

What I sensed in the younger artists and dancers we worked with, though, was a desire to move forwards with the past, and not to retreat into it. These Cambodian twentysomethings are savvy and hungry, and well aware that their country is opening up, and that internationally financed redevelopment and tourism have been following the inflow of NGOs. They know that they'll need new approaches in the arts, and new political voices to meet the challenges ahead.

I asked Keng Sen what he feared the most from his project. We talked about economic and political dangers (artists as the vanguard for property developers) and about the cultural dangers (Cambodians caught in retreading western postmodern art practice). Then we talked about the positives: the meetings, the collisions, the insistence on and the articulation of differences. There was one moment in the workshops that crystallised these possibilities for me. Tarek Atoui, Lebanese sound artist, ran a session with the Khmer participants that involved sounds collected by the dancers played out from a laptop and a complex array of homemade sensors, motion triggers and pressure pads. It was late in the afternoon when the dancers from Amrita Performing Arts, our hosts for half of the project, took to their feet and began to move in and around Atoui's machinery.

What happened was tentative at first, then suddenly too much. It was as if the dancers wanted to play the system, or make music with it, rather than dance with it. My heart sank. Then all at once they turned a corner and were dancing again – the turning wrists and fingers, lowered centres of gravity, eye contact, pantomime pauses and forward rolls all instantly recognisable from Khmer classical forms. They weren't dancing for the electronics, nor were they dancing with them exactly; they were dancing with and against them, entering and refusing, insisting on and moving through. There was tension in the dancing and music that afternoon, just as there should be on occasions of meeting. It was a privilege and an inspiration to be there.
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Runner hopes feat is one for the Record Book

By Mike DeDoncker
GateHouse News Service


ROCKFORD, Ill. — Glenn Greenberg has proved that he’ll go just about anywhere to run.

He hopes that, in doing so, he has run himself into a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Greenberg, who became the 68th person to complete a marathon on all of the world’s seven continents in 2002, thinks he may be the first to have also run a half marathon on every continent. He said he has applied for recognition by the Guinness book, but he has yet to receive a response.

Greenberg finished his half-marathon quest in Cambodia when he ran the 14th Angkor Wat International Half Marathon — a charity run to raise money to provide artificial limbs for victims of land-mine explosions — on Dec. 6.

“Once I got into it,” he said, “what really motivated me was that there was no one that I could find out about who had done both a marathon and half marathon on all seven continents. As I understand it, to get in the Guinness book, you either have to outdo someone who has done something to get in there or you have to do something that hasn’t been done.

“I got a copy of the book, and I couldn’t find any entry that said anyone else has done this.”

Greenberg said longtime friend and running partner Rose Austin, who had begun running half-marathon races that accompanied the marathons he was doing, is responsible for his second around-the-world running feat.

“When I finished my seven continents in the marathon,” he said, “Rose still had two continents to go for a half-marathon on all seven.”

He ran half marathons with her in Stuttgart, Germany, and on Australia’s Gold Coast and decided “as long as I have a couple of them in, I might as well finish the seven continents.”

Races in Nashville, Tenn., on Madagascar and Easter Island, and in Antarctica — the only place where he repeated a site of his seven-continent marathon runs because there is only one running event there — gave Greenberg six continents to lead up to the run in Cambodia.

He said the course from the temple at Angkor Wat was flat but rough “with very heavy traffic as we ran through the temple grounds.”

Greenberg said the Madagascar and Easter Island runs stood out most among the seven “because Easter Island is so desolate — it took a five-hour plane ride off the coast of Chile to get there — and then there is just one little town on the island and NASA landing strip, where the space shuttle could land if it had to, and that’s it. Everything runs wild there, the horses and everything. Nothing is penned up.

“Then, Madagascar was an interesting race just because of the lifestyles they live and the course was unbelievably hard to run. We ran six miles in sand and then the rest of the race was on a road that had nothing but huge holes in it.”

Greenberg, who said he runs about 40 miles per week to stay in training, said the second seven-continent feat has left him with no immediate goals, except to run a half marathon on the Indianapolis 500 track in Speedway, Ind., in May.

“I want to run more marathons,” he said, “but I don’t have any specific plans. I’m sort of an impulse runner. If something comes up I could, next week, decide to go run a marathon.”

Mike DeDoncker can be reached at (815) 987-1382 or mdedoncker@rrstar.com.
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Hun Sen lets fly at Abhisit

Foreign Ministry says remarks unacceptable

A fresh onslaught of insults by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen directed at Abhisit Vejjajiva is widening the diplomatic gulf between the two countries.
Thailand and Cambodia had been struggling to find ways to mend fences after a series of spats but Hun Sen yesterday appeared to want nothing of the kind.

He scrapped a visit to Ta Muan Thom, an ancient border temple in Phnom Dong Rak district of Surin.

Diplomatic tensions did not ease despite Hun Sen not turning up at the temple and he fired a broadside at Prime Minister Abhisit on a Cambodian website.

The Thai embassy in Phnom Penh alerted the Thai government to the remarks on the website and the Foreign Ministry was quick to counter the Cambodian leader.

"I have to apologise to the Cambodian people that up until today all Thai people and the government have wanted to resume relationships with Cambodia in all fields, including economic, social and investment cooperation," said Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, assistant to the foreign minister.

"But criticising the Thai premier so badly damages Thailand's dignity and that will make it even more difficult to normalise ties.

"The harsh and rude words should not have come from a prime minister of any country. We cannot accept it.

"It is impossible for any country to resume [good] relations without being respectful of each other first."

Thailand will now press for sovereignty over disputed areas along the Thai-Cambodian border, Mr Chavanond said.

"We have never invaded any place which is not ours. We have the evidence to confirm that the area, including Wat Kaew [Sikha Khiri Sawara] or other areas in the 4.6 sq km [of disputed territory] are under Thai sovereignty."

Tension along the border escalated after Hun Sen concluded his weekend tour of the area yesterday. His itinerary included the Preah Vihear temple.

A military standoff continued yesterday morning around the Ta Muan Thom temple as the army tripled its troop presence to about 1,500 to offset Cambodian troops beefing up security during Hun Sen's visit to the opening ceremony of a military office at Ban O-rumchong, six kilometres inside Cambodia.

"We regard Cambodia's troop increase for Mr Hun Sen as very unusual," said Col Thanet Wongcha-um, chief of staff of the Suranaree Task Force.

Hun Sen contacted the Thai army yesterday to ask if he could cross the border to visit the Ta Muan Thom ruins as a tourist after going to Ban O-rumchong.

"But we advised him this was not the right time as there were protesters [from the People's Alliance for Democracy] here which could have been inconvenient for his trip," Col Thanet said.

The Cambodian premier did not respond and then left for Phnom Penh by helicopter, he said.

Dozens of heavily armed Thai soldiers remained on guard at Ta Muan Thom and about 300 police officers equipped with batons and shields were deployed along the main road to the ruins. They were there to prevent about 150 protesters opposing Hun Sen's planned visit from entering the temple. The demonstrators had camped overnight at the Ta Muan Tod ruins, about a kilometre away.

Villagers said they were unhappy with what the PAD was doing as they wanted to live in peace in the area.

In Bangkok, Thailand has asked Unesco to show it a Cambodian plan to manage and safeguard areas at and around Preah Vihear to ensure it will not touch on the disputed territory.

"We are now asking [Unesco] to give us the plan," Mr Abhisit told reporters.

"The 4.6 sq km being disputed by the two countries is the point that we will have to consider carefully," he said.

"We have the right to see the plan and we also have the right to express our opinions. I will closely monitor the matter and I will not let Thailand lose its territory," he said.

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Cambodia's Past, Pakistan's Future?

Sitting in air-conditioned comfort, cans of Coke and 7-Up within reach as they watched their screens, the ground controllers gave the order to strike under the cover of darkness. There had been no declaration of war. No advance warning, nothing, in fact, that would have alerted the "enemy" to the sudden, unprecedented bombing raids. The secret computer-guided strikes were authorized by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, just weeks after a new American president entered the Oval Office. They represented an effort to wipe out the enemy’s central headquarters whose location intelligence experts claimed to have pinpointed just across the border from the war-torn land where tens of thousands of American troops were fighting daily.

In remote villages where no reporters dared to go, far from the battlefields where Americans were dying, who knew whether the bombs that rained from the night sky had killed high-level insurgents or innocent civilians? For 14 months the raids continued and, after each one was completed, the commander of the bombing crews was instructed to relay a one-sentence message: "The ball game is over."

The campaign was called "Operation Breakfast," and, while it may sound like the CIA’s present air campaign over Pakistan, it wasn’t. You need to turn the clock back to another American war, four decades earlier, to March 18, 1969, to be exact. The target was an area of Cambodia known as the Fish Hook that jutted into South Vietnam, and Operation Breakfast would be but the first of dozens of top secret bombing raids. Later ones were named "Lunch," "Snack," and "Supper," and they went under the collective label "Menu." They were authorized by President Richard Nixon and were meant to destroy a (non-existent) "Bamboo Pentagon," a central headquarters in the Cambodian borderlands where North Vietnamese communists were supposedly orchestrating raids deep into South Vietnam.

Like President Obama today, Nixon had come to power promising stability in an age of unrest and with a vague plan to bringing peace to a nation at war. On the day he was sworn in, he read from the Biblical book of Isaiah: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks." He also spoke of transforming Washington’s bitter partisan politics into a new age of unity: "We cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at one another, until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices."

Return to the Killing Fields

In recent years, many commentators and pundits have resorted to “the Vietnam analogy,” comparing first the American war in Iraq and now in Afghanistan to the Vietnam War. Despite a number of similarities, the analogy disintegrates quickly enough if you consider that U.S. military campaigns in post-invasion Afghanistan and Iraq against small forces of lightly-armed insurgents bear little resemblance to the large-scale war that Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon waged against both southern revolutionary guerrillas and the military of North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, who commanded a real army, with the backing of, and supplies from, the Soviet Union and China.

A more provocative -- and perhaps more ominous -- analogy today might be between the CIA’s escalating drone war in the contemporary Pakistani tribal borderlands and Richard Nixon’s secret bombing campaign against the Cambodian equivalent. To briefly recapitulate that ancient history: In the late 1960s, Cambodia was ruled by a “neutralist” king, Norodom Sihanouk, leading a weak government that had little relevance to its poor and barely educated citizens. In its borderlands, largely beyond its control, the North Vietnamese and Vietcong found “sanctuaries.”

Sihanouk, helpless to do anything, looked the other way. In the meantime, sheltered by local villagers in distant areas of rural Cambodia was a small insurgent group, little-known communist fundamentalists who called themselves the Khmer Rouge. (Think of them as the 1970s equivalent of the Pakistani Taliban who have settled into the wild borderlands of that country largely beyond the control of the Pakistani government.) They were then weak and incapable of challenging Sihanouk -- until, that is, those secret bombing raids by American B-52s began. As these intensified in the summer of 1969, areas of the country began to destabilize (helped on in 1970 by a U.S.-encouraged military coup in the capital Phnom Penh), and the Khmer Rouge began to gain strength.

You know the grim end of that old story.

Forty years, almost to the day, after Operation Breakfast began, I traveled to the town of Snuol, close to where the American bombs once fell. It is a quiet town, no longer remote, as modern roads and Chinese-led timber companies have systematically cut down the jungle that once sheltered anti-government rebels. I went in search of anyone who remembered the bombing raids, only to discover that few there were old enough to have been alive at the time, largely because the Khmer Rouge executed as much as a quarter of the total Cambodian population after they took power in 1975.

Eventually, a 15-minute ride out of town, I found an old soldier living by himself in a simple one-room house adorned with pictures of the old king, Sihanouk. His name was Kong Kan and he had first moved to the nearby town of Memot in 1960. A little further away, I ran into three more old men, Choenung Klou, Keo Long, and Hoe Huy, who had gathered at a newly built temple to chat.

All of them remembered the massive 1969 B-52 raids vividly and the arrival of U.S. troops the following year. "We thought the Americans had come to help us," said Choenung Klou. "But then they left and the [South] Vietnamese soldiers who came with them destroyed the villages and raped the women."

He had no love for the North Vietnamese communists either. "They would stay at people's houses, take our hammocks and food. We didn't like them and we were afraid of them."

Caught between two Vietnamese armies and with American planes carpet-bombing the countryside, increasing numbers of Cambodians soon came to believe that the Khmer Rouge, who were their countrymen, might help them. Like the Taliban of today, many of the Khmer Rouge were, in fact, teenaged villagers who had responded, under the pressure of war and disruption, to the distant call of an inspirational ideology and joined the resistance in the jungles.

"If you ask me why I joined the Khmer Rouge, the main reason is because of the American invasion," Hun Sen, the current prime minister of Cambodia, has said. "If there was no invasion, by now, I would be a pilot or a professor."

Six years after the bombings of Cambodia began, shortly after the last helicopter lifted off the U.S. embassy in Saigon and the flow of military aid to the crumbling government of Cambodia stopped, a reign of terror took hold in the capital, Phnom Penh.

The Khmer Rouge left the jungles and entered the capital where they began a systemic genocide against city dwellers and anyone who was educated. They vowed to restart history at Year Zero, a new era in which much of the past became irrelevant. Some two million people are believed to have died from executions, starvation, and forced labor in the camps established by the Angkar leadership of the Khmer Rouge commanded by Pol Pot.

Unraveling Pakistan Could the same thing happen in Pakistan today? A new American president was ordering escalating drone attacks, in a country where no war has been declared, at the moment when I flew from Cambodia across South Asia to Afghanistan, so this question loomed large in my mind. Both there and just across the border, Operation Breakfast seems to be repeating itself. In the Afghan capital, Kabul, I met earnest aid workers who drank late into the night in places like L'Atmosphere, a foreigner-only bar that could easily have doubled as a movie set for Saigon in the 1960s. Like modern-day equivalents of Graham Greene's "quiet American," these "consultants" describe a Third Way that is neither Western nor fundamentalist Islam.

At the very same time, CIA analysts in distant Virginia are using pilot-less drones and satellite technology to order strikes against supposed terrorist headquarters across the border in Pakistan. They are not so unlike the military men who watched radar screens in South Vietnam in the 1960s as the Cambodian air raids went on.

In 2009, on the orders of President Obama, the U.S. unloaded more missiles and bombs on Pakistan than President Bush did in the years of his secret drone war, and the strikes have been accelerating in number and intensity. By this January, there was a drone attack almost every other day. Even if, this time around, no one is using the code phrase, "the ball game is over," Washington continually hails success after success, terrorist leader after terrorist leader killed, implying that something approaching victory could be somewhere just over the horizon.

As in the 1960s in Cambodia, these strikes are, in actuality, having a devastating, destabilizing effect in Pakistan, not just on the targeted communities, but on public consciousness throughout the region. An article in the January 23rd New York Times indicated that the fury over these attacks has even spread into Pakistan's military establishment which, in a manner similar to Sihanouk in the 1960s, knows its limits in its tribal borderlands and is publicly uneasy about U.S. air strikes which undermine the country’s sovereignty. "Are you with us or against us?" the newspaper quoted a senior Pakistani military officer demanding of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates when he spoke last month at Pakistan's National Defense University.

Even pro-American Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has spoken out publicly against drone strikes. Of one such attack, he recently told reporters, "We strongly condemn this attack and the government will raise this issue at [the] diplomatic level."


Despite the public displays of outrage, however, the American strikes have undoubtedly been tacitly approved at the highest levels of the Pakistani government because of that country’s inability to control militants in its tribal borderlands. Similarly, Sihanouk finally looked the other way after the U.S. provided secret papers, code-named Vesuvius, as proof that the Vietnamese were operating from his country.

While most Democratic and Republican hawks have praised the growing drone war in the skies over Pakistan, some experts in the U.S. are starting to express worries about them (even if they don’t have the Cambodian analogy in mind). For example, John Arquilla, a professor of defense analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School who frequently advises the military, says that an expansion of the drone strikes "might even spark a social revolution in Pakistan."

Indeed, even General David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, wrote in a secret assessment on May 27, 2009: "Anti-U.S. sentiment has already been increasing in Pakistan… especially in regard to cross-border and reported drone strikes, which Pakistanis perceive to cause unacceptable civilian casualties." Quoting local polls, he wrote: "35 percent [of Pakistanis] say they do not support U.S. strikes into Pakistan, even if they are coordinated with the GOP [government of Pakistan] and the Pakistan Military ahead of time."

The Pakistani Army has, in fact, launched several significant operations against the Pakistani Taliban in Swat and in South Waziristan, just as Sihanouk initially ordered the Cambodian military to attack the Khmer Rouge and suppress peasant rebellions in Battambang Province. Again like Sihanouk in the late 1960s, however, the Pakistanis have balked at more comprehensive assaults on the Taliban, and especially on the Afghan Taliban using the border areas as “sanctuaries.”

The New Jihadists



What happens next is the $64 million question. Most Pakistani experts dismiss any suggestion that the Taliban has widespread support in their country, but it must be remembered that the Khmer Rouge was a fringe group with no more than 4,000 fighters at the time that Operation Breakfast began.

And if Cambodia's history is any guide to the future, the drone strikes do not have to create a groundswell for revolution. They only have to begin to destabilize Pakistan as would, for instance, the threatened spread of such strikes into the already unsettled province of Baluchistan, or any future American ground incursions into the country. A few charismatic intellectuals like Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot always have the possibility of taking it from there, rallying angry and unemployed youth to create an infrastructure for disruptive change.

Despite often repeated claims by both the Bush and Obama administrations that the drone raids are smashing al-Qaeda's intellectual leadership, more and more educated and disenchanted young men from around the world seem to be rallying to the fundamentalist cause.

Some have struck directly at American targets like Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian who attempted to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day 2009, and Dr. Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi, the 32-year-old Jordanian double agent and suicide bomber who killed seven CIA operatives at a military base in Khost, southern Afghanistan, five days later.

Some have even been U.S.-born, like Anwar al-Awlaki, the 38-year-old Islamic preacher from New Mexico who has moved to Yemen; Adam Pearlman, a 32-year-old Southern Californian and al-Qaeda spokesman now known as "Azzam the American," who reportedly lives somewhere in the Afghan-Pakistan border regions; and Omar Hammami, the 25-year-old Syrian-American from Alabama believed to be an al-Shabaab leader in Somalia.

Like the Khmer Rouge before them, these new jihadists display no remorse for killing innocent civilians. "One of the sad truths I have come to see is that for this kind of mass violence, you don't need monsters," says Craig Etcheson, author of After the Killing Fields and founder of the Documentation Center of Cambodia. "Ordinary people will do just fine. This thing lives in all of us."

Even King Sihanouk, who had once ordered raids against the Khmer Rouge, eventually agreed to support them after he had been overthrown in a coup and was living in exile in China. Could the same thing happen to Pakistani politicians if they fall from grace and U.S. backing?

What threw Sihanouk's fragile government into serious disarray -- other than his own eccentricity and self-absorption -- was the devastating spillover of Nixon's war in Vietnam into Cambodia’s border regions. It finally brought the Khmer Rouge to power.

Pakistan 2010, with its enormous modern military and industrialized base, is hardly impoverished Cambodia 1969. Nonetheless, in that now ancient history lies both a potential analogy and a cautionary tale. Beware secret air wars that promise success and yet wreak havoc in lands that are not even enemy nations.

When his war plans were questioned, Nixon pressed ahead, despite a growing public distaste for his war. A similar dynamic seems to be underway today. In 1970, after Operation Breakfast was revealed by the New York Times, Nixon told his top military and national security aides: "We cannot sit here and let the enemy believe that Cambodia is our last gasp."

Had he refrained first from launching Operation Breakfast and then from supping on the whole “menu,” some historians like Etcheson believe a genocide would have been averted. It would be a sad day if the drone strikes, along with the endless war that the Obama administration has inherited and that is now spilling over ever more devastatingly into Pakistan, were to create a new class of fundamentalists who actually had the capacity to seize power.. Read more!

A close encounter

By The Nation


Thai, Cambodian authorities brace for Hun Sen's visit to Ta Muen Thom ruins

Thai and Cambodian authorities were busy preparing and bracing themselves yesterday for what promised to be extremely awkward diplomacy, with Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen set to visit the Ta Muen Thom ruins in Surin.

"We will act in accordance with prescribed procedures as a host and Thai representatives will be present to welcome Hun Sen upon his arrival," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said.

The ancient Khmer temple straddles a mountain pass on the border and its ownership is disputed by Cambodia despite a border marker.

Abhisit said the Cambodian leader would be accorded the hospitality given to any foreign visitor.

A group of soldiers and provincial authorities met with Hun Sen's advance team in Surin to finalise the arrangements. The Cambodian team was led by Interior Secretary of State Khann Savoeum.

During the meeting, the Cambodian team sought and received permission to take about 100 visitors sightseeing to the ancient temple. It also informed the Thai side that there might be a temporary surge of 150 troops deployed opposite the temple due to the security requirements for the visit by Hun Sen.

After the Cambodian team left, about 400 yellow shirts led by Veera Somkwamkid were allowed to visit the temple.

Veera said his People's Alliance for Democracy would not stand idly by if Cambodia attempted to project itself as owner of the temple.

He vowed to organise a yellow-shirt welcoming committee to greet Hun Sen.

At the triangle border area of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, a group of Thai troops, provincial authorities and diplomats was present when the Cambodian side held a ceremony to pay respects to the deities.

The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Thai side had no objection to Hun Sen's visit to Thai territory if advance notice was given and permission granted and if the touring of the border was not meant to challenge Thai territorial integrity or usurp Thai sovereignty.

Democrat Party spokesman Buranaj Smutharaks said Hun Sen made misleading accusations when he claimed Thailand harboured an intention to invade Cambodia. That remark was groundless and Hun Sen should retract his statement, he said.

Abhisit said the Thai government would not read too much into the move by Hun Sen and would maintain its good-neighbour policy to prevent violence from flaring up at the border.

He said Hun Sen's border visit might be prompted by a combination of factors such as domestic politics, the controversy over Preah Vihear Temple's listing as a World Heritage site and an attempt to sway Thailand.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who oversees security affairs, insisted that the Ta Muen Thom ruins were located on Thai soil and any visitor there, including Hun Sen, must not carry a weapon.

Prasong Nurak, who sits on the Senate committee on military affairs, said he believed that Hun Sen would not show up at Ta Muen Thom because as the leader of a foreign country, his visit would likely need to go through diplomatic channels and be handled by the Foreign Ministry.

A source said Hun Sen was in fact scheduled to inaugurate a village called Ta Muen on the Cambodian side today. That village is about four kilometres away from Ta Muen Thom.

"By the way, his programme is subject to change," the source added.
Read more!

Help for Seattle family who lost everything in fire

By TONYA MOSLEY / KING 5 News


SEATTLE - The leader of the Sahak Khemararam Buddhist Temple chants, the monks eat, and the members collect money, as Sean Phoung weeps for his only son Prackserth.

"I think about him all the time every minute, every second," he said.

It's Buddhist tradition, the food is eaten so that Prackserth (also known as Patrick) may be full on his journey to the next life. The clothing will give him warmth and the money will be burned, so that Prackserth may prosper.

So many sacrifices for their beloved son, as they Phoung family is left here with almost nothing.

"When I heard that they found my son in there I was so shocked. I lost my life," said his mother Sody.

Eight members of the Phoung family now sleep on the floor of the temple, relying on their friends for food and donated clothing. Their house was destroyed in a fire on Monday, Prackserth's body was discovered inside.

But Sean assures his family that they will endure. Thirty years ago he survived the killing fields of Cambodia and he says they will surely survive this. Tonight they're starting over and looking forward to seeing Prackserth again, in the next life.

Fire officials say they don't expect to know the cause of the fire until next week.

Contact the Cambodia Women's Health Organization for more information on how to help the family. Contact Klaudia Snguon at 206-372-0752 koltida@yahoo.com

Read more!

Peace prevails during Hun Sen visit

Asia News Network


Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's tour yesterday morning of Preah Vihear Temple - the subject of conflicting territorial claims with Thailand - went off without any incidents, but doubts remained as to his intentions in making the visit.

Arriving at 10am in fatigues, Hen Sen was met by Second Army Area chief Lt-General Veerawit Kajornrith and Si Sa Ket Governor Rapee Pongbupakit. Thai Ambassador to Cambodia Prasart Prasartvinichai was also present.

Earlier at 9am, there were some tense moments at Kaewsikhakirisawaria Temple in the disputed area, but no gunfire was exchanged.

A group of Thais led by rural activist Veeraphon Sopha said they would defend the sovereignity of the four border provinces of Buri Ram, Si Sa Ket, Surin and Sa Kaew.

They vowed to start up villages along the border to prevent Cambodians from occupying Thai soil.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said if the Cambodian premier enters Thai territory, then there will be people ready to receive him.

The situation remained normal, but Hun Sen has been making comments about Thai politics as former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra makes political moves, he said.

Noppadon Pattama, a former foreign minister and Thaksin's legal aide, criticised the Democrat Party and the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) for spreading a "lie" about Thaksin obtaining Cambodian citizenship.

Thaksin travels on Montenegro and Nicaraguan passports but is not a citizen of the two countries, he said.

Cambodia's Rasmi Kampuchia reported on Friday that Thailand is entering a state of anarchy with the red shirts - Thaksin sympathisers - ready to overthrow the government. The paper blamed the PAD for distracting public attention with the border dispute.

Recruitment for Thaksin's People's Army ended in Bangkok but more enlistment opportunities will be held upcountry, said Army specialist Maj-General Khattiya "Seh Daeng" Sawasdipol.

The formation of the controversial armed offshoot of the red shirt movement was aimed at ensuring protection for demonstrators during the upcoming bid to topple the government, he said.

The reports of General Panlop Pinmanee resigning from the red-shirt movement were unfounded, he said.

"It was a misunderstanding on the part of red-shirt leader Jatuporn Promphan. But I have discussed the matter with [red-shirt leaders] Veera Musigapong and Natthawut Saikua and the misunderstanding will be cleared."

Jatuporn said he would call both Khattiya and Panlop tomorrow to arrange a meeting to sort out the differences.

He said he alone couldn't approve the idea of a people's army as the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) is an organisation with a committee making decisions.

"We must discuss the matter because we do not want to lose before engaging in a battle," he said.

Panlop should have discussed the matter with DAAD before leaking it to the media, he said.

Abhisit said he has no problem with Panlop leaving the red-shirt movement or the setting up of a people's army as long as it's not illegal.

Read more!

LEAD: Hun Sen visits temple near disputed Thai-Cambodia border+

The Associated Press

(AP) — PHNOM PENH, Feb. 6 (Kyodo)-(EDS: CLARIFYING THAT THAI GOV'T DID NOT OPPOSE HUN SEN'S VISIT TO THE TEMPLE, 3RD GRAF)

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, ignoring Thailand's protests, on Saturday made a brief visit to the Preah Vihear Temple near the disputed Thai-Cambodian border, his first trip to the area since the ancient temple was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2008.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan told Kyodo News by telephone that Hun Sen stayed at the temple for about one hour.

On Friday, Thai leaders said the Cambodian government should hold talks with Thailand prior to Hun Sen's visit to the area and Thailand would send a high-level official to welcome him. His trip to the Preah Vihear crosses a swath of land 4.6 square kilometers in size that the Thai government claims is Thai territory.

Phay Siphan said Hun Sen met a 22-member group from Thailand who visited the temple, including the military general and governor of the bordering Sisaket Province, and told them the temple is in Cambodia's territory and it was he who welcomed the Thais to the temple, not the other way around.

During his meeting with the Thai group, Hun Sen reassured them that the border issue will be settled peacefully, Phay Siphan said.

The premier also said he would consider opening the gate accessible from the Thai side to the Preah Vihear Temple once the border situation returns to that before the first clash between Cambodian and Thai forces in July 2008, a week after the temple was registered as a World Heritage Site.

Phay Siphan said the purpose of the visit is to meet with villagers and Cambodian armed forces based along the Cambodia-Thai border.

Read more!

Hun Sen told to visit as tourist

Cambodian security escorts 'must disarm'

All eyes are on how the already tense situation at the Thai-Cambodian border develops as Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen today begins a three-day visit which will conclude at the Ta Muan Thom temple in Surin.

The government says that while the Cambodian leader is free to go anywhere while on Cambodian soil, he is not advised to enter the disputed territory covering 4.6 square kilometres near the Preah Vihear temple without informing Bangkok.

The 2nd Army Region and provincial authorities have been instructed to make security preparations and oversee the situation during Hun Sen's visit.

The army says Hun Sen is scheduled to visit three or four locations.

Today, the Cambodian prime minister will chair the opening of Siharat Decho village and an army battalion on Cambodian soil.

On Monday, he plans a visit to Ta Muan Thom temple in Surin's Phanom Dong Rak district, which is under the supervision of Thai armed forces.

Ta Muan Thom and the neighbouring Ta Kwai temple in Surin were embroiled in the border dispute when the conflict escalated two years ago.

Phnom Penh claimed both were located in disputed territory and tried to deploy troops there.

Army sources said the army has told Cambodia that Hun Sen cannot bring troops when visiting the Ta Muan Thom temple, which is in Thai territory.

Second Army Region commander Weewalit Chornsamrit yesterday met senior Cambodian military leaders in Si Sa Ket's Kantharalak district to discuss security measures for the Cambodian leader.

Maj Gen Weewalit said he had been assigned to welcome Hun Sen if he wishes to enter the disputed area where both Thai and Cambodian troops are now deployed.

Maj Gen Weewalit said Thailand had informed Cambodia that if Hun Sen visits any disputed area surrounding Preah Vihear, Thailand will send representatives - Maj Gen Weewalit, the ambassador to Cambodia, and the Si Sa Ket governor - to join his visit.

The military source said the government had responded to the Cambodia prime minister's request to visit Ta Muan Thom, saying he was welcome there, but his security guards and followers must be disarmed and visit the temple just like normal tourists.

However, Cambodia has not responded to this demand.

He said Thai troop levels will not be beefed up as there are enough of them in the overlapping zone.

He dismissed speculation that Hun Sen's visit was intended to demonstrate ownership of the disputed territory. Concerns were also raised that Hun Sen might deliver a nationalistic speech to pep up his troops.

"I think he is paying a visit to the troops as the government leader and the commander of his armed forces.

"The army is accustomed to Hun Sen's style of talking and Cambodia's media reporting, which is not quite accurate and causes trouble," he said.

Maj Gen Weewalit insisted that Cambodian troops will be pushed back if they cross the border during the visit.

"That cannot be allowed. They must be disarmed before they are allowed to step onto Thai soil," he said.

Gen Piroon Paewpolsong, army chief of staff and secretary-general to the Internal Security Operations Command, said Hun Sen can visit the disputed area, but he is required to inform Thai authorities if he does.

"It is not a no-go zone, but there is a protocol to follow. If we are to enter the disputed area, we have to inform Cambodia too," he said.

"The visit is a Cambodian affair. We just follow the protocol regarding a border visit.

"We can talk to each other. We have no problems if they want to visit. There are procedures for it," he said.

Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh said yesterday Hun Sen has no hidden agenda in the timing of his visit which has put security forces on edge, especially following rumours that fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra would join the trip.

Gen Tea Banh said the Cambodian leader's trip is simply a morale-boosting visit for his soldiers. Hun Sen was tied up during New Year and could not pay the troops a visit. "There is no agenda. Why can't Hun Sen go to the border? It is Cambodian territory and he wants to visit his troops," said Gen Tea Banh.

He also rejected the rumour that Thaksin would accompany Hun Sen.

Former prime minister Thaksin posted messages on his Twitter page, Thaksinlive.com, saying he had no plan to visit the disputed area near the temple. He was in Dubai, he said.

Read more!

Cambodia denies Thai ex-PM Thaksin made citizen

Cambodia on Friday denied a report that Thailand's disgraced former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been granted citizenship, an allegation that had drawn threats in Bangkok that the billionaire ex-politician could lose his native Thai nationality.

Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said the allegation, which surfaced earlier this week on "Khmer Intelligence News," a Cambodian anti-government Web site, was untrue.

"Cambodia never granted Cambodian citizenship to Thaksin," Khieu Kanharith told The Associated Press. "Even if Cambodia would give him citizenship, I think that Thaksin would not accept it."

Cambodia late last year named Thaksin, a fugitive from justice in Thailand, as its special economic adviser. The appointment and Thaksin's subsequent visit to Cambodia angered the government in Bangkok and resulted in a recall of ambassadors from both countries.

Thaksin has lived in self-imposed exile since 2006 military coup ousted him. He was convicted in absentia in 2008 of violating a conflict of interest law and sentenced to two years in prison, and his Thai passport has been revoked, forcing him to travel on other countries' passports.

His representatives could not be reached for comment Friday.

Thai officials frequently claim he is trying to undermine the government.

"I don't know about this report yet, but according to Thai laws, we are allowed to have only one nationality," Thai Prime Minister Abhisit told reporters Friday. "If he wants to use Cambodian nationality, he must give up Thai nationality first."

Cambodian-Thai relations are also strained over competing claims to some territory along their border near the hilltop temple known as Preah Vihear. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is to visit the area Saturday. Troops from the two nations had at least two brief clashes there last month.

Cambodia on Friday sent a letter of protest to Google, complaining that maps on its Google Earth service inaccurately place the border line near the disputed territory to favor Thailand's claims.

It called on the company to withdraw the "already disseminated, very wrong and not internationally recognized" map.

Read more!

Cambodia lambasts Google for locating temple on Thai soil

The Cambodian government sent a strongly-worded letter Friday to US internet giant Google, complaining that its online Google Earth map incorrectly places parts of the 11th century Preah Vihear temple in Thailand.

The letter comes ahead of an expected visit this weekend by Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen to the temple, which is situated on land claimed by both Cambodia and neighbouring Thailand.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan told DPA he had sent an initial letter to Google three years ago asking it to remedy the problem, but had received no response.

Friday's letter called on Google to withdraw the map, calling its demarcation of the border 'radically misleading and totally misguided' for showing 'almost half of the temple in Thailand'.

The International Court of Justice awarded Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia in 1962, but did not rule on nearby land that is claimed by both nations.

Google's map, which shows the yellow border line running through the contested temple, 'is devoid of truth and reality and professionally irresponsible, if not pretentious', the letter stated.

Over the past 18 months Thai nationalists have used the Preah Vihear issue to stoke tensions, to which the visit by Hun Sen may add.

Phay Siphan said he had no official confirmation that Hun Sen would visit Preah Vihear temple at the weekend, but said people expected him to be there.

'Everyone is talking about it and expects to see (Hun Sen) on the top (of the temple) to pay his respects to Cambodian culture,' Phay Siphan said late Friday.

He added that the area was 'very stable, and there are no irregularities. Soldiers are chitchatting with each other'.

The relationship between Cambodia and Thailand has been tense for more than a year with sporadic clashes between troops in the area around the temple. Much of the border between the two countries has yet to be demarcated.

Diplomatic relations plunged to a new low in October after Phnom Penh appointed Thailand's fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra as a government adviser.
Read more!

PM chairs security meeting as Cambodian premier plans border visit

BANGKOK, Feb 5 (TNA) - Prime Minisiter Abhisit Vejjajiva on Thursday chaired a meeting of Thailand’s National Security Council (NSC) to discuss various security issues including Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's plan to visit the border area near the Prah Viharn or Preah Vihear, the disputed ancient Khmer temple this weekend.

The prime minister told reporters after the one-hour meeting that the NSC had discussed general issues related to security matters and nothing was of particular concern.

As for the Cambodian premier's plan to visit border area near Prah Viharn Temple, Mr Abhisit said the panel believed that the local security personnel could take care of the situation, no special instructions have been issued.

However, if Mr Hun Sen wishes to travel into the 4.6 sq km border area claimed by both countries, Mr Abhisit said, talks must be held prior to the visit.

Regarding the anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) plan to rally, Mr Abhisit said the government would strictly observe the legal procedures and would do its utmost to maintain law and order.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said earlier that the NSC meeting at Don Mueang Airport was not a special session, but that the prime minister had come back from official duty in the southern province.

Thailand’s defence, interior, foreign affairs, and finance ministers as well as Army, Navy, Air Force and police chiefs attended the meeting.

Mr Suthep said that the meeting would touch on the Cambodian prime minister's plan to visit the border province February 6-7.

He affirmed that the government would try its best to protect the people and the kingdom’s national interest. (TNA)

Read more!

2nd Army: Border is secure

There is no need to reinforce the Thai troops around the disputed border area ahead of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's visit this weekend, 2nd Army commander Lt Gen Weewalit Chornsamrit said on Friday.

Lt-Gen Weewalit said the exisiting forces were sufficient to maintain peace.

He had been contacted by senior Cambodian military officials and they discussed security measures along the border, especially the area where Hun Sen will visit, which adjoins Si Sa Ket province.

Lt-Gen Weewalit said he did not believe Hun Sen's visit to the border was a declaration of Cambodia's ownership of the disputed area.

Cambodian officials told him the main objective for Hun Sen's visit was to declare open a natural village, Sinharaj Decho, and a new military unit, and to lift the morale of Cambodian troops along the border.

Lt-Gen Weewalit had been assigned by the government to welcome Hun Sen.

He said the 2nd Army would not allow armed Cambodian troops in the disputed area under Thai control. They would have to disarm before entering.

This issue would be addressed at a meeting with senior Cambodian officers this afternoon.

Read more!

MYANMAR: WHO warns of tolerance to anti-malaria drug

YANGON, 4 February 2010 (IRIN) - Tolerance to artemisinin, the most effective anti-malarial drug available, is emerging in Myanmar and could pose a major challenge to regional malaria control, says the World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO, researchers and health officials are already trying to contain the spread of resistant strains of the plasmodium falciparum parasite along the Thai-Cambodian border.

The parasite causes the most deadly form of malaria .

Preliminary studies in 2008-09 by the Mekong countries of Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, show tolerance elsewhere, with the drug proving less effective and taking longer than previously to kill the parasite.

The studies, presented late last year at a WHO regional workshop of health officials, show tolerance may have extended to areas along the Myanmar-Thailand, Myanmar-China and Cambodia-Vietnam borders.

WHO describes the Mekong countries as the epicentre of plasmodium falciparum resistance to anti-malarial drugs in the world, and the findings have prompted further studies over 2010 and 2011 to confirm increasing resistance.

“In this globalized economy, people move from one place to another, so parasite resistance can easily be spread to the rest of the world,” Leonard Ortega, WHO’s acting country representative in Myanmar, told IRIN.

“If those drugs are no longer effective, more people may die of malaria,” he said.

Artemisinin is normally used in combination therapy (ACT) with other drugs, although it can be prescribed on its own.

Ortega said the studies in Myanmar had shown that parasites were still detected in some cases after treatment, taking more than a benchmark three days to be cleared.

“This is an indication that there is resistance, but this year we will try to confirm that,” he said, adding that plans will soon be under way for containment of the parasite, which is spread by mobile populations such as migrant workers.

“We don’t need to wait until we confirm. We know from history - and there is now evidence at the Thai-Cambodia border - that there is resistance to artemisinin, so we believe it is already here,” he said.

Factors in resistance

In Myanmar, evidence of a tolerance to ACTs, with longer times for the parasite to be cleared and decreasing effectiveness, has been seen in Kawthaung town in the southeast, along the border with Thailand, and in southern Mon State, said Ortega.

As with the Thai-Cambodia situation, tolerance may be due to the use of counterfeit or substandard drugs which expose the parasite to lower doses of artemisinin, thereby enabling it to become resistant.

Malaria patients may also not be completing the full three-day ACT courses, while health service providers, such as doctors, are not following the national malaria treatment guidelines recommended by WHO, said Ortega.

“On the part of the service providers, we have evidence that they don’t give the complete treatment,” he said.

Instead of handing over a full course of drugs to patients, private general practitioners are cutting up the medicine packs to dole out drugs by the day, probably to increase their profits, he said.

This, in turn, deters patients from completing drug treatment courses, many of whom are the rural poor and lack the means to travel for repeat practitioner visits.

Containment challenges

Along with diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, malaria is a leading cause of mortality in Myanmar, according to WHO.

Despite this, resources to treat malaria and to control its spread are limited.

“People already own mosquito nets, but they are not treated with insecticide, so it’s not effective in preventing malaria,” said Ortega.

“We estimate that around nine million mosquito nets are available at the household level, but only 6 percent are treated with insecticides,” he said.

In addition, only around 500,000 ACT courses are available annually - a fraction of what is needed to treat an estimated 8.5 million malaria cases.

“There is a huge gap in terms of drugs available and prevention,” he said. Read more!

REFILING: Japan to send SDF ship for U.S. naval medical aid mission in Asia+

Japan will send a Self-Defense Force ship to Vietnam and Cambodia from May to July to take part in the U.S. Navy's annual medical aid mission aimed at enhancing Asia-Pacific countries' capabilities on disaster relief, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said Thursday.

The move is the first step under Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's so- called "fraternity boat" initiative, announced last November, to deploy an SDF vessel that would carry civilians and nongovernmental members as well for extending medical support and carrying out cultural exchanges.

A Maritime Self-Defense Force transport ship with 150 crew members and 30 SDF medical officers will join the Pacific Partnership 2010 program organized by the U.S. Pacific Fleet that involves about 20 countries and civic group members, the Defense Ministry said.

Japan will engage in the mission between May 23 and July 15 and provide free medical support to patients in Vietnam and Cambodia for training. The Foreign Ministry will solicit several dozen NGO participants for the latest annual program begun in 2007, a defense ministry official said.

Kitazawa told reporters he believes Japan's participation in the mission is a "landmark event" as it embodies ideal international contribution advocated by Hatoyama.

The minister said Tokyo should not only take part in the U.S.-led activities, but also explore avenues for further contributing to the international community on its own.

In his Asian policy speech in Singapore last November, Hatoyama vowed to launch his initiative in 2010, saying that within the philosophy of "yu-ai (fraternity)," people respect the freedom and human dignity of each other and that the word signifies coexistence.

Japan had sent only two medical officers each for the previous Pacific Partnership missions. This year, Japan will join the United States and Australia in dispatching a vessel, the official said.

The U.S. Navy hospital ship Mercy, which has a full load displacement of approximately 69,350 tons, and the MSDF's 8,900-ton Osumi-class transport ship will be deployed for the mission, he said.

Other participating countries will include South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia, according to the ministry. Japan will set aside some 200 million yen from the state budget for joining the program, the official said.

Read more!

Cambodia to draft new law against acid attacks

By SOPHENG CHEANG


PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Cambodia plans to draft a new law in a bid to stop the growing number of attacks in which jealous wives, vengeful businessmen and others have hurled acid at their rivals, a government official said Thursday.

More than 10 people were assaulted with acid in 2009, and three last month alone, according to statistics from a nongovernment group that helps victims of the attacks.

"For the attackers, using acid to attack their opponents is very easy, not hard to keep and hide like guns," said Deputy Minister of Interior Teng Savong.

Acid attackers are currently tried under the general criminal law, and Teng Savong said that due to the increasing number of attacks, specific legislation with heavy punishments was needed to curb such vicious acts.

In recent years, the majority of acid attacks have stemmed from marital and business disputes. Jealous wives have attacked or hired others to attack girlfriends of their husbands and small-time businessmen have used acid to injure and disfigure rivals.

Last month, a market vendor quarreled with a neighbor who then hired two men to douse the vendor's two daughters with acid as they rode a motorcycle through the streets of Phnom Penh.

Pin Damnang of the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity, a nongovernmental organization that gives free medical treatment to acid victims, said figures gathered by his group show that more than 10 people suffered from attacks last year and at least three were attacked in January. Official figures were not available.

Teng Savong, who is also a chairman of the government committee to draft the law, said the country's legal experts are expected to hold their first meeting at the end of this month and will take several months to complete the task. Read more!

Cambodia looks forward to ATF 2011

Cambodia is gearing up to host the ASEAN Tourism Forum in 2011, officials saying this week the country was ready to welcome ATF delegates for a second time.

Speaking to reporters at ATF 2010 in Brunei this week, ASEAN Cambodia tourism director Thok Sokhom said the event would be held 15-21 January 2011.

The venue t be used will be the US$4 million Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Center in Phnom Penh.

The hosting of the event will further boost arrivals to the country which received over 2 million international arrivals last year according to Director Thok.

Of those arrivals, 58 percent were by air and 35-42 percent of arrivals were from the Asia-Pacific.

The director said the tourism board has been working hard to attract more international inbound tourists by increasing accessibility through open-sky policies, visa on arrival, e-visas and visa exemptions for ASEAM member countries.

Indonesia confirmed earlier this week that it would host ATF 2012
Read more!

Siem Reap Celebrates Cambodian New Year

The Cambodian New Year celebrations take place over three days in April.

(OPENPRESS) February 4, 2010 -- People travelling to Siem Reap this year may like to combine their visit with the Cambodian New Year celebrations.

Spread over three days, the new year festival is one of the country's most important annual events.

Although the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh is usually viewed as the focal point of the celebrations, people staying in Siem Reap hotels will also enjoy an authentic festival experience.

This year, the three days of the new year will take place on April 14th, 15th and 16th.

Each day has a special title and features particular events in accordance with tradition.

The first day of the new year is called Maha Songkran and includes people lighting candles and making offerings to the Buddha by bowing, kneeling and prostrating themselves three times before his image.

On the second day - Wanabat - people offer charity to the poor and homeless, as well as attending a dedication ceremony to their ancestors.

The third day is known as Tngay Leang Saka and sees people bathing statues of the Buddha with perfumed water.

People who decide to visit Phnom Penh during the new year celebrations can expect to enjoy free concerts around the Wat Phnom area at night.

Editor Notes

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Read more!

Top hot and budget-friendly 2009 destinations

Covering nearly one-square mile, the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia is one of the most haunting reilgious edifices in the world and it is one of this year's hot travel destinations.
Photograph by: Mark Stachiew/Canwest News Service, Canwest News Service

SYDNEY - Looking for somewhere new to visit this year that is not going to break the bank?

Frommers has released its list of top destinations for 2009, focusing on places that are affordable and interesting:

1. Washington, D.C., USA

There’s the influx of new blood and governing energy from Jan. 21 when Barack Obama is inaugurated as U.S. president, but the city is also one of the world’s great budget cities as almost every major attraction Washington has to offer --from the Smithsonian Museums to the National Monuments -- is free. New for 2009? the National Museum of Crime and Punishment.

2. Waiheke Island, New Zealand

Located in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, Waiheke Island is located about 17.7 km (about 35 minutes by ferry) from Auckland. At the forefront of New Zealand’s massive wine and olive industry, Waiheke Island still retains a lot of the summer holiday, beach-quality Europeans and creative types come to expect, but there are plenty of deals to be found.

3. Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, USA

Located 180 miles north of Sacramento, California, Lassen National Park is filled with hot springs, heat vents, sulfur ponds and dormant volcanoes. Open year-round, there’s only one place to stay within the park that’s not a campsite, of which there are 8, and everything from B&Bs to chain motels surround the park, all reasonably priced.

4. Istanbul, Turkey

Representing Istanbul’s up-and-coming and thriving arts scene, the European City of Culture 2010 has already started its build-up with street theatre, art and music galore. You can throw off that old image of a kebab-laden diet, with sushi bars that would do Tokyo proud and cocktails perfect for chic rooftop bars.

5. Civil Rights Trail, USA (Selma to Montgomery, Alabama)

The Civil Rights Trail both captures a moment in history through it’s many small museums -- both in Selma and Montgomery -- and in the journey visitors take to travel from place to place. For families, it’s a well-marked trail that offers changing views, numerous stops, and generational discussions.

6. Cartagena, Colombia

After years of violence owing to the drug cartel wars, Colombia has begun to emerge as a safe and vibrant travel destination. Cartagena has a highly developed tourist infrastructure and is only a 2- hour flight from Miami. With gorgeous 17th century colonial architecture, beautiful beaches, and an emerging foodie scene, there are activities for everyone.

7. Cape Town, South Africa

A city situated on the water where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet, Cape Town will host the 2010 World Cup and promises to have one of the grandest venues for the event. Visit the African Penguin colony at Boulders Beach, along False Bay, or Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years.

8. Berlin, Germany

Whether you’re after nights filled with dance parties or sipping decadent cocktails in the born-again area of Kreuzberg, Berlin seems to offer something for almost anyone.Visit the vast Tiergarten park with lakes, canals, palaces and the eco-aware zoo that is home to superstar polar bear Knut. Tour Karl-Marx-Allee in an authentic Trabant car and walk the remaining stretch of the Wall at the East Side Gallery.

9. Belfast, Northern Ireland

In little more than a decade, Belfast has been transformed from feared city into hot destination. The army check points that once encircled the city center are a thing of the past and you can amble along the Golden Mile for relaxed drinks or enjoy Irish music in Cathedral Quarter bars. Try the Laganside for orchestral concerts at the riverfront Waterfront Hall and international cuisine from teppanyaki at Harbour View to seafood at Tedfords.

10. Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Most people who go to Cambodia do so to visit to Angkor Wat, the famed ruins in the jungle, but cast a net beyond the limits of Angkor Wat and see a bit more of the country. Among the highlights are boat trips up the Mekong River and through the jungle to catch a glimpse of the rare freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins or spend some time in vibrant, energized Phnom Penh.

11. Waterton National Park, Alberta, Canada

Waterton is the least-travelled of Alberta’s Rocky Mountain Parks and positively otherworldly, with its abrupt shift from prairie to mountain terrain, as well as its icy-blue lake that fills an ancient gully surrounded by mountains and glaciers. It’s one of the only places in the Canadian Rockies where you can feel apart from the modern world, and its relatively sparse traffic means most things are as much as 30 percent cheaper than Banff.

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Interview: Cambodia's stock market to be opened late this year: official

PHNOM PENH, (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Cambodia's securities and stock market will be in place by the third quarter or late this year, Ming Bankosal, director general of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) said on Wednesday. "The opening of the stock exchange is not only depends on the SECC side, it also depends on the issuing companies," Ming Bankosal said.

"We expect that by the third quarter of this year or by late this year we will have a stock trading in Cambodia," he said in the interview.

"When we have stock exchange we can share the economic growth to the Cambodian people and the government can collect more taxes as well as to create more jobs," he said.

"And then transparency comes to Cambodia and international investors will see Cambodia changing to international standard."

"Now we are ready and waiting for the companies to prepare themselves with all our regulations."

"So when they are ready with our requirements, they can issue the shares to the public. Then we will have the trading officially, " he said.

"So the game is not only depends on the government side, it also depends on the private sector who wants to list," said Ming Bankosal.

The country's Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia ( SECC) has opened Jan. 15, 2010 for companies -- which wanted to operate as dealers, investment advisors, brokers or underwriters -- to submit their applications till March 1, 2010.

Applicants must meet capital requirement along with human resource, he explained. "This is a very technical field... we need experienced people in the field."

Ming Bankosal wishes not to reveal the number of companies which have applied to be listed on the stock market, but said that there are a number of local and joint venture companies with foreign partners also showing their interest.

"Other foreign companies who operating their businesses here have shown their interests to go public," he added.

"We will then review and shortlist them in order to assess the company before we can issue them the licenses to operate,"said Ming Bankosal.

"We do not want to have too many companies to go public, but we want to see the quality's issuers. We need a good profile companies with good profits and they must be very experienced in good business sector along with good management to go public."

"They must be very corporate governance and transparency,"said Ming Bankosal.

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Cambodia culls bird flu-affected ducks

Cambodian authorities have begun a mass killing of ducks after confirming a fresh outbreak of the deadly bird flu virus.

The cull comes after more than 15,000 ducks died last week in the southern province of Takeo and samples tested positive on Tuesday for the H1N1 virus, commonly known as bird flu, said Kao Phal, an official of the Agriculture Ministry.

He said the sale of duck meat and its transport from the affected villages would be banned.

So far there have been no signs of human infection from the ducks, the official said on Wednesday.

At least seven Cambodians have died from the disease since the first reported outbreak in 2004.

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Corruption eclipses Cambodia progress

I wrote last week that in support of his assertion that his regime is popular, Premier Hun Sen cited the findings of a U.S.-based International Republican Institute's survey: 79 percent of Cambodians polled said Cambodia under Sen's government was moving in "the right direction" and 53 percent said they will vote for the Cambodian People's Party in the next election.

The world's nations have concluded long ago that "the will of the people, freely and fairly expressed through periodic and genuine elections" is "the basis of the authority and the legitimacy" of all governments.

Cambodia may be experiencing a period of relative political calm compared to death and destruction under the Khmer Rouge. New roads and new buildings are signs of progress. Still, documents referenced in previous columns published by Cambodian and international nongovernmental organizations should put a brake on the claims of governmental legitimacy and national progress in the "right direction."

The 2006 Report by the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, "Human Rights in Cambodia: The Façade of Stability"; the 2007 Report by Global Witness, "Cambodia's Family Trees"; the 2009 Report, also by Global Witness, "Country for Sale"; the Foreign Affairs Magazine's "Cambodia's Curse"; and Andrew Marshall's interview with some children of Cambodia's ruling elite, in "Khmer Riche" in the Sydney Morning Herald of Dec. 12, 2009, are only a few reports among many that document worrisome developments in today's Cambodia.

On Jan. 21, 2010, the New York-based Human Rights Watch's 612-page "World Report 2010" accused the Sen government of misusing the judiciary to silence critics, attack rights defenders, restrict press freedom, and trample Cambodia's own international obligations to protect refugees.

HRW's Asia director Brad Adams' declared: "Cambodians who speak out to defend their homes, their jobs, and their rights face threats, jail, and physical attacks."

At a minimum, there is a disconnect between documented human rights violations and the results of the IRI survey that might seem to support the claim that the country is moving in the "right direction."

In March 2009, an American couple from South Carolina -- James Garcia, an emergency medical technician and Cara Garcia, a registered nurse -- arrived in Phnom Penh, with $40,000 they collected from the sale of "everything we owned," and $16,000 they raised in donations, wanting to help Cambodians by opening a health clinic.

With health minister Mam Bunheng's permission, Garcia's clinic was opened in Kompong Thom province. There were 19 other clinics, but only three or four were reportedly open a few hours per week; the rest were either closed or boarded up. Garcia's clinic treated 900 patients every month.

Problems began when Garcia's requests for supplies and medications were met with an "out of medicine" response, while the Garcias claimed they saw the warehouse "fully stocked," and Cara Garcia saw medicines loaded into two SUVs.

In "Opinion: Cambodia will break your heart. And, with a corrupt Ministry of Health, it sure won't heal what ails you either," Stanford's Joel Brinkley wrote in GlobalPost.com on Dec. 9, 2009, that Cara Garcia "raged at government officials, questioned their honesty, blamed them for the deaths of patients the Garcias could not properly treat. Cambodian corruption, she kept shouting, was killing little children."

"In Cambodia and much of Asia, women just don't behave like that," Brinkley wrote. "She quickly made several powerful men quite angry."

In an e-mail to an acquaintance in October, James Garcia confirmed, "Cara got exceptionally angry over this injustice" at a "business meeting" next to the clinic. As she walked home later in the evening, three English-speaking men jumped out of a vehicle, dragged her into a ditch, tied her and "raped her for hours," then left her for dead. But she didn't die. Going to the police later, the police chief was angry "because we were disturbing his rest time."

James Garcia admitted to being "careless in speaking openly about corruption," but "we came to Cambodia to save lives," the e-mail reads. He said with friends and supporters using "personal funds and air miles" to help, "we managed to escape Cambodia. ... We have nothing left but our suitcases."

In "Does the U.S. know who it's dealing with in Cambodia? Absolutely, FBI files show," Douglas Gillison wrote in the Dec. 20, 2009, GlobalPost.com, that based on declassified Federal Bureau of Investigation records, "evidence" was "substantial," albeit not complete -- the investigation was cut short by "threats" on the life of FBI Special Agent Thomas Nicoletti by "hit teams" -- that the grenade attack on the March 30, 1997, opposition rally that killed 16 children, men and women and wounded more the 100 others, including an American man, "pointed to forces loyal to the man who is now Cambodia's unchallenged prime minister, to the party and the people who now dominate Cambodia unopposed and with whom the U.S., and the FBI in particular, have since sought warm relations."

HRW's Adams called the disconnect between U.S. human rights interests and security cooperation with Cambodia, "the height of hypocrisy and cynicism and should end. ... The only way that the Cambodian government will end its assault on civil society is if influential governments and donors demand real change and put the pressure on."

As it initiates or sanctions assaults on civil society, the Sen government and the CPP taint their claim to authority and legitimacy. In spite of threats, arrests, physical disappearances, repression and fear, it's the people themselves who are the necessary determinant of a government's true legitimacy and the catalysts to any real change.

A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com. Read more!

No Policy of Violence on Border: General

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington


The gunfire that erupted between Thai and Cambodian forces along the border Friday was an accident, and not by order of the government, a senior military official said Monday.

The clash, in Pursat province, reportedly left one Thai soldier dead, according to Cambodian soldiers, a claim Thai authorities dispute.

Thailand and Cambodiahave steadily built up troops along the border since July 2008, when a border dispute began over Preah Vihear temple. Sporadic fighting since then has left as many as eight soldiers dead on each side.

“What’s happening occasionally is not by order of high level government,” said Chhum Socheat, a lieutenant general and spokesman for the Cambodian Ministry of Defense, as a guest on “Hello VOA.” “It’s just a misunderstanding where the Thai army entered Cambodian territory.”

Cambodian soldiers, too, have crossed onto Thai soil, he said, citing an example where two soldiers were arrested and sent back to Cambodian in January. While the situation may appear tense from the outside, he said, up close, soldiers from each side mostly get along, including playing ball together.

Border experts from both countries were working to end disputes by marking the border, he said, but since the conflict over Preah Vihear began, they have suspended their work. Both sides have been able to agree on 50 demarcations so far, with another 23 to go.

The conflict is not over Preah Vihear temple, Chhum Socheat said, but over a map Thailand has used since it lost the temple to a World Court decision in 1962.

Meanwhile, Cambodia and Thailandremain at a diplomatic impasse over the hiring of ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra as an economic adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen.

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Cambodian MoND Holds Workshop on Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Reform

February 2, 2010 Cambodian National Defence Ministry on Wednesday January 27, 2010 held a workshop on Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) reform which was highly presided over by Samdech Techo HUN SEN The prime minister of the kingdom of Cambodia at the defence ministry.

Top representatives from ministries in the government and high ranking officers including secretaries of state, under secretaries of state, commander-in-chief , commanders from military institutions of defence ministry attended in the workshop which took place for 2 days from 27-28 January, 2010.

In an opening speech by General Tea Banh, deputy prime minister and minister of national defence, Gen. Tea Banh said in accordance with Royal government’s strategic policies the workshop was aimed at reforming RCAF to become the forces with full skills and capacities.

Then General Pol Saroeun, Commander-in-chief of RCAF red a report on work sum-up and experiences which RCAF have achieved for 5 years term “2005-2009” and planning for the next 5 years RCAF reform “2010-2014”.

During 2 days meeting the seminar discussed and exchanged point of view and experiences in the past 5 years seeking new ways to improve the next step of the future reform .

After a total report of the workshop on final day by deputy prime minister Gen. Tea Banh, Samdech Techo HUN SEN The prime minister of The kingdom of Cambodia, praised and highly appraised The RCAF’s great achievements and accomplishment for the past 5 years, The prime minister also encouragingly urged top officers of defence ministry, commander-in-chief and commanders at all levels of RCAF to try all their best with both spirit and physical in implementing and accomplishing the future plan for the next 5 years reform productively and successfully in response to the need of defending national security and the country from any attempt to occupy any terrority of the kingdom of Cambodia.
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India to host multi-nation naval exercise from 4 February

New Delhi, Feb 01, 2010 (BBC Monitoring via COMTEX) -- (PTI) India will host the largest four-day naval wargame, Milan-2010, involving 12 nations in the Asia Pacific region from Thursday, in which means to counter terror threats to coastal and island territories would be debated keeping in mind the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai by the Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT).

"There would be a discussion on maritime terror and the means to counter the attacks like what happened in Mumbai (during Milan-2010)," Assistant Chief of Indian Naval Staff (Foreign Cooperation and Intelligence), Rear Admiral Sudharshan Shrikhande told reporters here on Monday.

The seventh edition of Milan, being organised by the Indian Navy at Port Blair once in two years since 1995, would have nine naval ships from eight countries and representatives from four others participating in a tabletop exercises, apart from a passage exercise at sea and a seminar on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) from February 4 to February 8.

"The amount of patrolling required for preventing the 26/11 type of attacks in other countries too is the same as in India. So, these issues will be discussed," Shrikhande said to a query in this regard.

Among other issues to be discussed would be illegal entry of foreign ships into the waters of the respective countries, just as India had experienced when a North Korean vessel anchored off Andaman and Nicobar Islands last year and had to be apprehended

Naval ships from Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore (two ships), Sri Lanka and Thailand, with representatives from Navies of Brunei, Philippines, Vietnam and New Zealand would join the exercise.

A seminar on 'Navies in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief' would be addressed by Indian Naval Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma and inaugurated by Andaman and Nicobar Lieutenant Governor Lt Gen Bhopinder Singh.

India will be represented by four or five ships including its largest Landing Ship Tank and a Fast Attack Craft in the exercise. Australia would bring its warship HMAS Glenenelg patrol boat for the wargame. However, there would be no fire power demonstration during the war game, he said.

"Milan, which started as a small effort with participation from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand and

Indonesia, has today grow into a 13 navies grouping in the Asia Pacific. Only Cambodia will not be attending this time. Indian Coast Guard too will send its ships and officers for the exercise," he added.

"The message from the grouping is one of need for maritime cooperation for navies to share knowledge and expertise on their own operational circumstances and to know each other's operating procedures so that there can be coordinated efforts in times of need," Shrikhande said.

He said already Indian Navy was coordinating with Indonesia and Thailand for a structured joint patrol along each other's maritime borders for about two or three times a year.

Source: PTI news agency, New Delhi, in English 1443gmt 01 Feb 10

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Since 1964, on the Beat and Forever Learning

By RALPH BLUMENTHAL


This fellow started at The New York Times as a City College stringer in 1962 and joined the reporting staff two years later. He reported from the city and suburbs, Germany, Vietnam, Cambodia, Texas and points in between, until December when, at 68, he lay down his quill pen to become a freelance contributor. We turned the tables and finally caught up with the writer of this biweekly feature, Ralph Blumenthal.

Why experienced journalist is an oxymoron: Most every day you start at zero, having to write about someone and something you did not know about before. That is why reporters always sweat deadlines.

How to write a news story, lesson one: My first assignment, as a cub reporter on The City College Campus, was to cover a professor’s lecture. My story saved the most important news for the last paragraph. When my student editor asked why I had left it for the end, I explained that the professor had said it at the end. He took me aside and told me the way it works: You put the most important thing first, no matter when it was said.

When New York was a newspaper town: There was a bad drought in the city in 1965, and Mayor Wagner considered electrifying the atmosphere with wires to cause rain. I got the front-page scoop. The Journal American hit back with a big red headline, calling it a hoax. It wasn’t. I miss the anarchy of the competition.

Best line: In Texas, I wrote up a prisoner who was making boots for law enforcement officials. I got to write, “Who shod the sheriff?”

What he doesn’t miss from the old days: Feeding the cumbersome 10-part books of copy sheets and mimeograph paper into the typewriter, struggling through false starts, making a mess on the paper, ripping it out and starting over. We thought electric typewriters were high tech.

Most humbling moment: Preening over a story I once handed in to the foreign desk, I couldn’t resist asking the editor, “Well, does it sing?” Here is what he said: “Just keep triple-spacing it, sonny, so we can rewrite it between the lines.”

Most embarrassing place he ever fell asleep: During an interview. I was doing a story on Newark’s Ironbound district and got an official to drive me around it. He was reeling off facts and it must have been boring because I kept nodding off. Worse, when I realized it, I kept jerking awake and shouting, “Yeah?”

Closest call: A lawyer once tipped me that a certain city official would be among those indicted the next day, and I rushed out a story. But when the charges were announced, the target’s name was missing. I was certain we would be sued. Gingerly, I called the man to apologize. He couldn’t come to the phone, his lawyer said. They were having a party and celebrating. He had expected to be indicted and wasn’t. He was ecstatic.

Most tantalizing newsroom mystery: Why is there never enough time to do it right and always enough time to do it over?

Next for the column: We go back to the old way, interviewing other people.

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Seven people found with cholera in Mekong Delta province

Seven of 45 people with acute diarrhea who were admitted to local hospitals in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang between January 19 and 28, were found to have cholera, a health ministry agency reported on Sunday.

All seven cholera patients came from Cambodia’s Takeo and Kandal provinces to An Giang for treatment, according to the Department of Preventive Health and Environment.

The department did not clarify whether all the patients were Vietnamese or not.

The Ministry of Health has warned of an outbreak of cholera, an acute intestinal infection transmitted through water or food contaminated with the bacteria vibrio, causing diarrhea and dehydration that can lead to kidney failure and death if not treated promptly.

The disease has ravaged northern Vietnam two times, in 2008 and 2009, infecting hundreds of people.

Meanwhile, in the central province of Ha Tinh, which has been hit by outbreaks of the avian flu H5N1, reported that seven people had fallen sick with fever and flu symptoms after coming in contact with sick poultry.

However, tests at the Hanoi-based National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology showed they did not have the avian flu virus.

Also on Sunday, the Nam Tra My General Hospital in the central province of Quang Nam said they had admitted 25 people with malaria over the past week from Tra Tap Commune.

The local health agency found nearly 100 people affected with the mosquito-borne infectious disease, but they had not approached the hospital for treatment. Hospital staff said they had also found patients in Nam Tra My District’s other communes.

Source: Tuoi Tre
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Over 10,000 ducks die in Cambodia

The Cambodian government said on Monday that more than 10,000 ducks have died and some 30,000 others are being sick in the country's southern province of Takeo.

Kao Phal, director of animal production department of agriculture ministry said that samples of the dead ducks being examined and the results will be known Tuesday or the day after.

He said that those dead ducks were reported happening a few days ago and now some 30,000 others are being sick.

Kao Phal said while sample testing is being examined, he could not tell what the cause to the deaths of the ducks was.

However, he said no report of any disease or death of human lives, but at the same time precaution to villagers is strictly advised by the government health concerning authorities.

According to Kao Sophal, the case is happening in Prey Khla village, Rominh Commune, Koh Andeth district in Takeo province, some 90 km south of Phnom Penh.

Cambodia, in the past and present, has had reports on the bird flu and influenza A/H1N1.

Source: Xinhua Read more!

Human Trafficking Survivors Train Cambodian Police and Government Officials

Cambodian human trafficking survivors will work with the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) and the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) Task Force to eradicate human trafficking.

(PRWEB) February 1, 2010 -- Cambodian human trafficking survivors will work with the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) and the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) Task Force to eradicate human trafficking.

The survivors, part of the Somaly Mam Foundation’s Voices for Change (VFC) program, will train police and government officials on laws and issues related to sex trafficking and forced labor in Cambodia.

The training will focus on four Cambodian provinces -- Pailin, Battambang, Kampong Cham, and Takeo. The survivors will help participants better understand Cambodian anti-trafficking laws and the need for compliance with the Rule of Law. The training will also raise awareness of the underlying issues that lead to human trafficking and the specific needs of trafficking victims. The survivors will both lead the training sessions and help monitor and evaluate progress in the area after the training concludes.

A public service initiative will complement the training courses in each area. Two television and 24 radio talk shows are already committed to scheduling programs in 2010 that raise awareness of sexual exploitation and human rights issues in Cambodia. Voices for Change participants will help the stations create programs on topics such as trafficking for sexual and labor exploitation, child sex tourism, safe migration, new anti-trafficking laws, and victim assistance.

William Livermore, Executive Director of the Somaly Mam Foundation, says that programs like Voices for Change are perfect examples of Public-Private sector partnerships -- governments, corporations and NGO’s working together to address society's needs. “The Somaly Mam Foundation is proud to be able to partner with the United Nations, our corporate sponsor LexisNexis, and the Cambodian Government on such an important program,” Livermore said. “The power of these public-private partnerships can be seen in the eyes of the young women who escape the human sex slave industry and become advocates for change.”

About Human Trafficking:
Human trafficking, a multi-billion dollar industry, is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. With over one million women and children sold into sexual slavery each year, it is a global crisis. South East Asia is particularly hard hit by the effects of this crime. Sexual tourism and a lack of enforcement result in the victimization of thousands of young women and children every year.

About the Somaly Mam Foundation:The Somaly Mam Foundation is a non-profit public charity committed to ending modern-day slavery around the world.

Founded by sexual slavery survivor, Somaly Mam, the foundation supports rescue, shelter and rehabilitation programs across Southeast Asia. The Somaly Mam Foundation also runs global awareness and advocacy campaigns that shed light on sexual slavery and involve the public and governments in the fight to abolish slavery.

About the Voices for Change Program:
The Somaly Mam Foundation provides interested and qualified survivors from its rehabilitation program the opportunity to help eradicate human trafficking.

Voices for Change (VFC) is designed to give survivors an opportunity to help themselves by helping others, and to provide a platform for their voices to be heard in the courts and by the public. The organization's vision is that a new generation of leaders in the fight against human trafficking will arise from those who have experienced the pain of slavery.

Program participants join legal training seminars and courageously share their stories with magistrates, judges, and other members of the legal community to help them better understand sex slavery. Survivors who have undergone rescue, recovery, education, and reintegration also provide critical services to fellow victims of human trafficking. VFC members speak with new victims brought to the centers, complete intake forms, teach classes, share life skills training, and provide love and support.

About the LexisNexis Rule of Law Initiative:
LexisNexis combats human trafficking by applying our resources, people, solutions, legal expertise and direct financial support to combat human trafficking wherever it exists.

LexisNexis sponsors the Somaly Mam Foundation and Agir Pour les Femmes en Situation Précaire (AFESIP), or Acting for Women in Distressing Situations. LexisNexis also sponsors special events around the world for government and legal professionals in order to raise awareness of the existence of human trafficking. Read more!

Australian agro-deal in Cambodia carries risks, rewards - Feature

Phnom Penh - As a former finance minister of Australia, Peter Costello is comfortable with large numbers. The latest is his proposal on behalf of an Australian fund to invest 600 million US dollars into at least 100,000 hectares of land concessions in Cambodia. The concessions would see private equity investors pumping money into plantations of teak, palm oil, sugar, rice and bananas. In return, Cambodia would get 150,000 jobs, the government said after Costello met with Deputy Prime Minister Sok An.

Significant investment, plenty of jobs plus the promise of improved agricultural methods? Such a deal should be good for Cambodia on all three counts.

But human rights workers said they worry the country's ongoing problems with corruption and poor governance combined with often-violent land evictions mean it is less certain that ordinary people would benefit.

And as veteran opposition legislator Son Chhay made clear, transparency in investment deals is hardly the order of the day.

Son Chhay has plenty of experience in how the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) operates when it comes to investments. He headed parliament's foreign affairs committee until 2008 but said his deputy, a member of the CPP, regularly prevented him from getting information on deals.

"It's still the case that we are not able to get our hands [on investment documents], and that's a cause for great concern," he said.

In the past two decades, much of rural Cambodia has been carved up into economic land concessions (ELCs). The UN's human rights office released a report three years ago that said 59 large concessions totalling almost 950,000 hectares had been granted to private companies to develop agricultural-industrial plantations.

The report made it clear that the true figure was certainly higher because data on smaller ELCs were not available. What was clear, it concluded, was that the concessions had "adversely affected the human rights and livelihoods of Cambodia's rural communities."

In the intervening three years, government figures showed it has approved 33 more agricultural-industrial projects worth 837 million dollars although they did not indicate how much land is involved. State-to-state deals, however, are not on that list, and Qatar, Kuwait and South Korea have so far expressed interest in, or signed deals for, ELCs.

Human rights workers said risks to the rural poor over such deals are significant because they are regularly evicted to make way for foreign investors. The government's often-brutal approach to evictions and its disregard for its own laws in doing so have raised concerns abroad.

Such government behaviour was one of the items discussed by the UN's special rapporteur on human rights during a recent two-week visit. Surya Subedi asked the government to suspend all land evictions until proper legal safeguards are in place.

The government denied the request, citing the need to develop the country. It told Subedi that national guidelines on evictions were being drafted but did not say when they would appear.

The UN envoy expressed cautious optimism in telling reporters that the UN Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution that requires guidelines be put in place to protect the vulnerable.

"So it is now becoming an international requirement," Subedi said.

One relevant regulation recently approved by Cambodia's parliament was a much-criticized expropriation law. Subedi criticized parts of the law for being far too vague.

"For example, what do we mean by public interest?" he asked. "If land can be acquired in the public interest, how do you define it? Who defines it?"

Acceptable compensation measures for those affected were absent, too, he said.

Those concerns are shared by many in Cambodia, including Son Chhay although he did welcome one of the benefits touted by Costello: new ways of farming to boost production.

The opposition lawmaker said new methods could help 80 per cent of the 14 million people who rely on outdated farming techniques. The country's rice yield of around 3 tons per hectare, for example, is far below that of some of its neighbours.

But the primary motive for Costello's investors is financial. Investors want a return on their money, and the food crisis of 2008 when prices rocketed showed that food can be profitable.

"I think agriculture is going to come back into its own as an investment in the decades that lie ahead, and of course, that's a great opportunity for Cambodia," Costello told the Phnom Penh Post.

For his part, Son Chhay would prefer investment from countries like Australia rather than from Cambodia's more traditional investors, such as China and Vietnam, whose companies, he said, are uninterested in improving local skills.

Yet he insisted that a transparent, corruption-free approach is vital to ensure the Cambodian people benefit from the deal.

"A lot of concessions have caused problems to our farmers and indigenous people who have no knowledge of what is in the contracts," he said.

But he called on Costello to make public the full details of any contract with the government.

"He should act upon his word [to do so]," Son Chhay said. "We would hope that this kind of investment from a society like Australia would be done in a proper manner."
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Brunei Hosted ATF2010, eyes turned to Cambodia

The Asean Tourism Forum which is opened by his Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister of Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam, is closed by handing over the Asean Tourism Forum (ATF) Commemorative Plaque to Cambodia on Thursday, January 28th.

As the tourism in Brunei is still very young, the country benefited from the forum and gained more knowledge in promoting its own tourism. Foreign travel agents have expressed interest in Brunei and found the country as a unique new destination.

Brunei is not touristy; people don't bother tourists like in some other countries and tourists are free to do whatever they want as long as they follow the rules. Maybe the biggest disadvantage the country has is the ban of alcoholic drinks. You may not be able to find any alcoholic drinks in the country. Tourists can only bring 2 bottles of alcoholic beverage or 12 cans of beer with themselves. Neither hotels nor markets sell alcoholic beverages in the country. Some foreign travel agents commented that alcohol is the biggest problem that the country may face in tourism industry. Many Europeans want to drink wine with their dinners.

During the ATF, Royal Brunei Airlines (RBA) and Tourism Malaysia signed a marketing deal to spur tourist arrivals in Brunei and Malaysia. "We see tourism as a collaborative effort, and not competitive," said Tourism Minister Dr. Ng Yen Yen after signing ceremony which took place during Malaysia's National Tourism Organization briefing at the Bridex Center.

750 international exhibitors showcased their tourism products to 363 buyers at the Travelex, which was held from January 26 to 28. Travex 2010 was held in conjunction with the Asean Tourism Forum 2010 from January 21 to 28.

After ATF, some of the international buyers and media joined to a three-day, two-night post-tour of the country and visited Ulu-Ulu National Park, Tasek Merimbun, Oil and Gas Discovery Centre in the Belait District and others.

The Brunei Minister of Industry and Primary Resources Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Yahya handed over the Asean Tourism Forum (ATF) Commemorative Plaque to Cambodia, who will be hosting it next year. The event would be held January 15-21, 2011. Read more!

Early Media Acclaim For Electric Cambodia Collection, Curated By Dengue Fever

Cambodia's rock music of the '60s and '70s - unearthly, haunting, startling - receives an exciting retrospective in the new compilation Dengue Fever Presents Electric Cambodia, available from Minky Records. I'm hoping you might consider covering this fascinating and poignant release with a CD review or feature, speaking with curators, Dengue Fever.

Proceeds from the album benefit Cambodian Living Arts, a project of the non-profit Massachusetts-based Marion Institute devoted to supporting the revival of traditional Khmer performing arts and inspiring contemporary artistic expression (www.cambodianlivingarts.org).

The 14-track collection, selected with care by the members of the internationally renowned Los Angeles rock band Dengue Fever, takes a deep look at the intoxicating rock produced by such noted Southeast Asian musicians of the era as singer-songwriter Sinn Sisamouth, one of the kingpins of the Cambodian music scene, and the brilliant female vocalists Pan Ron and Ros Sereysothea. Initial media response has been very powerful as you'll note from the sampling given below.
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Cambodian, Thai troops clash on border

PHNOM PENH: Cambodian and Thai troops have had a brief shoot-out on their disputed border, a Cambodian defence ministry spokesman said on Saturday, in the latest such flare-up.

Chum Socheat told AFP that soldiers from the two countries exchanged fire for two or three minutes on Friday evening.

"We are now further investigating into the problem to find out how it started. We can't tell who started it first," he said.

He added that Cambodian troops reported a Thai soldier was killed in the skirmish, however Thai military officials were not immediately available to comment.

Troops from the two countries briefly exchanged fire in disputed territory near an ancient Khmer temple last Sunday.

Cambodia and Thailand have been at loggerheads over their border for decades. Nationalist tensions spilled over into violence in July 2008, when the Preah Vihear temple was granted UNESCO World Heritage status.

Four soldiers were killed in clashes in the temple area in 2008 and three more in a gunbattle last April.

The border has never been fully demarcated, partly because it is littered with landmines left over from decades of war in Cambodia.

Relations plunged further in November after Cambodian PM Hun Sen appointed ousted Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives abroad to escape a jail term for corruption, as an economic adviser. - AFP/de
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No more excuses

By Butch Hernandez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Filed Under: Poverty, Education


IN HER Foreword to the 2010 Education For All Global Monitoring Report (EFA GMR), Unesco director general Irina Bokova said that “rising poverty levels mean that the challenge of meeting basic human needs is a daily struggle. Lessons from the past teach us that children are often the first to suffer—as is their chance to go to school.”

One of the tools that the EFA GMR uses to determine a country’s progress is the EFA Development Index or EDI. Its indicators are the four most easily quantifiable EFA goals, namely, universal primary education, adult literacy (first part of goal 4), gender parity and equality, and quality. The EDI value for a given country is arrived at via the arithmetic mean of these four goals. An EDI of “1” means the country has fully achieved.

Lets start with the good news first.

The 2010 EFA GMR finds that the Philippines together with Fiji, Indonesia and Malaysia, is “in an intermediate position with an EDI between 0.80 and 0.94.”

And now the bad news.

The EFA GMR also says that in 2007, 9 million primary school-age children were out of school in the East Asia/Pacific region, mostly from the Philippines (1 million), Indonesia (500,000), Cambodia and Thailand (about 250,000 each).

More alarmingly, around 25 percent of those who do go to school drop out before Grade 5 due to poverty and location, “with the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and some outlying islands falling far behind the national average. Many poor and vulnerable households [have] to cut back on education spending or withdraw their children from school.”

Furthermore, in the Philippines, Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Burma, 9 percent to 14 percent of pupils drop out of the first grade; only 54 percent to 73 percent of children enrolling in primary school reach the last grade. School retention is particularly poor in the Philippines.

These figures have remained rather constant for the past five years.

What has this led to? A rising number of adult illiterates: over 1.4 million in the Philippines and 1.2 million in Vietnam.

The EFA GMR says that globally, “literacy remains among the most neglected of all education goals, with about 759 million adults lacking literacy skills today. Two-thirds are women.” The report adds that “millions of children are leaving school without having acquired basic skills.”

It seems that the Philippines has been a disappointment, because “achieving Universal Primary Education by 2015 should have been a formality, given its wealth level and starting point at the time, and there is now a real danger that, without decisive political leadership, the country will miss the goal. Education indicators for the Philippines are below what might be expected for a country at its income level. Extreme poverty and regional disparities are at the heart of this.”

Aside from conventional poverty indicators, EFA GMR also looks at “Education Poverty,” which it defines as “young adults aged 17 to 22 who have fewer than four years of education. They are unlikely to have mastered basic literacy or numeracy skills.”

Young adults with fewer than two years of education, who are likely to face extreme disadvantage in many areas of their lives, including health and employment, fall under the “Extreme Education Poverty” category.

“Despite the progress of the past decade, absolute deprivation in education among 17- to 22-year-olds is extraordinarily high in Cambodia and Myanmar [Burma], and remains significant in Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Philippines and Vietnam,” says the UN report.

Let’s now take a look at international assessments such as the TIMSS (Trends in International Math and Science Study) and the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment.

The PISA is given to eighth graders (or 2nd year high school students). It assesses achievement in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy, “not merely in terms of mastery of the school curriculum, but in terms of important knowledge and skills needed in adult life.”

In 2003, PISA added an additional domain of problem-solving: “to continue the examination of cross-curriculum competencies.”

The UN report says that “evidence from international assessments of reading skills is even more disturbing. Among the East Asian and Pacific countries included in the 2006 assessment, the proportion of students performing at or below level 1 of the reading literacy scale ranged from less than 6 percent in the Republic of Korea to 58 percent in Indonesia.”

We would have benefited greatly from international assessments like TIMSS and PISA. Our neighbors in the region surely did. Unfortunately, the Philippines participated in neither the 2006 PISA or the 2007 TIMSS, for a variety of reasons.

So now we know what we have suspected a long time ago: Philippine education is reeling largely from self-inflicted wounds.

In his opening remarks at the launch of Education Nation’s 10-point Agenda (Inquirer, 1/23/10), Ramon R. Del Rosario of the Philippine Business for Education (PBed) said “It is time that we demand of our government leaders at all levels to demonstrate their genuine concern for the plight of millions of Filipino children. Our country deserves quality education for all. We demand it. We will watch over it. We shall fight for it. No more excuses.”

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Cambodia ship held by court, not taken by Somalis

HARGEISA (Reuters) - A Cambodian vessel reportedly hijacked off Somalia instead was detained in the Somaliland port of Berbera on court orders, a port official said on Saturday.

The Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme earlier in the week had said the MV Layla-S had been hijacked after discharging its cargo in the breakaway northern enclave of Somaliland last year.

However, assistant chief of Berbera port Bile Hirsi said the ship was held after a local businessman, whose goods were destroyed in a fire on board another ship that belongs to the owners Layla-S, asked the court to detain it.

"The ship is in Berbera port by the order of the regional court of Berbera, because Abdillahi Omar -- a businessman who had a lot of merchandise on the ship that burned outside the port last October -- made a complaint to the regional court and the court ordered that the ship should remain in the port," he said.

Bile said the businessman wanted compensation for merchandise destroyed in the Maria Star fire.

Somaliland, which declared itself independent in 1991, is proud of its relative stability compared with the south of Somalia, where hardline Islamist rebels control large amounts of territory and are battling a weak Western-backed government.

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Rights group criticizes Cambodia opposition leader's conviction

[JURIST] Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] on Friday called [press release] the closed door trial of Cambodia's opposition leader Sam Rainsy [official profile] and two others a "farce," saying the ruling demonstrates the government's control over the country's judiciary. Rainsy was convicted [RFA report] Wednesday, in absentia, of inciting racial discrimination and intentionally destroying posts demarcating the border between Cambodia and Vietnam. Two villagers were convicted of the same crimes. HRW Asia Director Brad Adams said the decision was the result of political motivations by Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen [official profile]:

The Cambodian government's relentless crackdown on critics continues apace in 2010. Hun Sen seems intent on reversing the political pluralism that has been created over the past two decades. Any hopes of slowing Hun Sen's assault on the political opposition now depends on the donor community, which props up the government financially. This political trial should make donors recognize the gravity of the situation.

Rainsy was sentenced to two years in prison and fined 8 million riels (approximately USD $2,000), and the two villagers were each sentenced to one year in prison. All three were required to pay 55 million riels (approximately USD $13,000) for destroying the border markings.

The charges stem from an incident [Phnom Penh Post report] in October where Rainsy joined Cambodian villagers in removing six temporary border markers, which the villagers said were placed on their lands by Vietnamese authorities. Rainsy called the planting of the border markers a border incursion and said his conviction was requested by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung [BBC profile]. Rainsy was stripped of his parliamentary immunity in November, and an arrest warrant was issued for him in December after he failed to appear for questioning about the incident. He has said he would return to the country and allow himself to be taken into custody if the two villagers are released from prison. Read more!

Cambodia: A beautiful, haunting and heart-breaking country

By Christina Patterson


I was greeted with the smell of lemongrass. After a night flight to Bangkok, and a dawn flight to Phnom Penh, and a car-ride through the chaos that is the Cambodian capital in rush-hour – a chaos full of miracles, like entire families perched on mopeds and apparently surviving – we arrived in an oasis of calm. There were mint cocktails waiting for us, and giant, carved elephants and men in pointy hats and purple knickerbockers, and grand staircases that you could imagine yourself swishing down, in evening dress, before meeting some Ernest Hemingway-type figure for martinis in the bar.

For this is Raffles Hotel Le Royal, built in 1929 in the heyday of French colonialism, when Cambodia was a peaceful country full of temples and paddy fields and Buddhas. It was the favoured haunt of writers and foreign correspondents, and it was here they fled in 1975, when the Khmer Rouge marched on Phnom Penh and launched one of the bloodiest regimes in history.
It's hard to believe now, as you collapse on a vast bed in a room that's all dark wood and gracious living, or wander to the Amrita Spa for a soothing massage, or sample the delicious buffet in the Café Monivong, but you can't get away from history in Cambodia, and this is a place – like everywhere else – that saw chaos and terror and death.

You could spend all afternoon, after your massage, and your lie-down, and your lunch, sipping G and Ts by the pool – and I have to admit it's tempting. The last thing you want, in fact, after no sleep, and the stress of getting yourself there, and that journey through the rush-hour traffic, is to be bussed out, in the heat of a burning sun, to a place where thousands of people were killed. But it's also, in a peculiar way, the best way to start your trip to Cambodia.

If you want sunshine, go to Torremolinos, but if you want to get a true taste of the beautiful, haunting, heart-breaking country whose capital, Phnom Penh, was once regarded as the "Pearl of Asia", you have to see the killing fields. You have to see the beauty born out of blood, and the courage that has grown – yes, like a pearl – out of suffering beyond imagining.

There are brilliant pink flowers and a stall selling canned drinks at the entrance to Choeung Ek. This was the point where the trucks stopped, two or three times a month, to deliver men, women and children to death and mass graves. Between 1975 and 1979 – a time when in Britain we were watching Starsky and Hutch and listening to Abba – about 17,000 died here, bludgeoned to death, poisoned, disembowelled or buried alive. Many of the killers were children, children who learnt to smash babies' skulls against the rough bark of a "killing tree" before later being killed themselves. Loudspeakers played music to drown out the victims' screams.

Even now, you can see bits of bone and cloth poking up through the ground. Many of the mass graves have never been disinterred. But if you can't see the bodies, you can see some of the skulls. There are more than 8,000 of them, arranged by sex and age, behind the glass panels in a Memorial Stupa, created in 1988. Green mats next to it say (in English) "Welcome" and next to them are buckets of chrysanthemums.

Inside, funeral music is playing. In a hut nearby, there's a notice, presumably put up by the Cambodian government. "They have the human form," it says of the Khmer Rouge, "but their hearts are demons' hearts."

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Back in Phnom Penh, we saw more evidence of the "demons' hearts".

When the Khmer Rouge took the city, they requisitioned the Tuol Svay Prey High School as a centre for detention and torture.

"While getting lashes or electrification, you must not cry at all" says a sign outside the former "Security Prison 21" – a sign offering detailed guidance on how prisoners should behave while having their torsos whipped with iron chains, or their organs, or bowels, cut out. In the rooms used for torture there are still iron beds, electrical sockets, and some of those chains. The floors, walls and ceiling are flecked with blood.

In rooms nearby are the most haunting photographs I've ever seen. Thousands of men and women – men with the same cropped hair, women with the same regulation bob – stare out at you, eyes frozen with fear. Upstairs are the tiny cells – some built in brick, some in wood – where they awaited torture and death. In theory, they were sent to Choeung Ek to die, but some died in those iron beds, and were beheaded so they couldn't be identified.

"I will see you down here," said our gentle guide. "I don't want to go up there," she added quietly. Like so many others in Cambodia, she is still living with the legacy of what she witnessed. She spent 14 years in a refugee camp, but was lucky to survive. Three million Cambodians did not.

You carry these thoughts with you wherever you are in Cambodia, and you're right to. This is not something you can wash away with cocktails in the Elephant Bar (there's a cocktail, the Femme Chic, in honour of Jackie Kennedy, who stayed at Le Royal) or by eating a delicious dinner in the Restaurant Le Royal, or even with a few gentle lengths in the pool. But those cocktails and that dinner provide vital tourist dollars to a country recovering from profound trauma. They won't erase it. Nothing can erase it. But to see a country, and understand its past and present splendours, you have to know its history.

It was, nevertheless, a relief to have a day of gentle sight-seeing in Phnom Penh, a vibrant mix of temples, markets and colonial buildings, and of bustle and crumbling grace. First, we went to the Royal Palace complex, still the official residence of King Sihamoni (a 50-something bachelor ballet dancer who has so far failed to produce the requisite heir) and therefore with only selected bits open to the public. Much of it is 20th-century, though there's a pavilion that was built for Napoleon in Egypt in 1869 and moved here in 1876. What the palace lacks in age, it makes up in grandeur. The Silver Pagoda, covered in 5,000 tiles and five tons of silver, is breathtaking. Inside, there are more Buddhas than you could shake a sceptre at: a massive emerald one, a life-size gold one, studded with diamonds, an 80kg bronze one, and thousands of tiny ones, surrounded by silver floral arrangements and silver cigarette boxes. Asian kings, it seems, like their bling.

One of the chief pleasures of wandering around this Disneyland-with-a-royal-Asian-twist is watching the Cambodians relaxing on a Sunday afternoon. It was one of the pleasures of our next stop, too: a small wat (temple) at the top of 300 steps. Vendors nearby were selling bacon and eggs, flowers and grilled pork to offer to the gods, or the chance to set a songbird free. Inside the temple, there was a giant Buddha (of course), accompanied by flashing neon lights and tinkling music.

The artefacts on display at the National Museum were a little more tasteful. They're magnificent, in fact – more than a millennium's worth of fabulous Khmer sculpture, including an eight-armed Vishnu from the sixth or seventh century, giant wrestling monkeys carved from sandstone and practically an army of post-Angkorian Buddhas, many rescued from Angkor Wat.

We had lunch overlooking the Mekong, and after (at last!) a few hours by that gorgeous hotel pool, we went back to it, to glide down the river in a little wooden boat, and drink beer while the sun set. In a fishing village of huts on stilts a woman swung in a hammock, girls washed their hair, and children bobbed in the water like happy ducks. As we gazed out at the pointed roofs silhouetted against a sky shot through with brilliant pink and orange, the city at last seemed at peace.

Now it was time for the temples. If you do them properly, you have to get up early, and so we got up early for the long drive to Sambor Prei Kuk, originally known as Isanapura, the pre-Angkorian capital of Chenla. On the way, we stopped off at a service station, where travellers and passersby were enjoying a wide range of snacks, including fried crickets, ants and tarantulas. One of our party grabbed a long, hairy leg and took a bite. From the expression on her face, it clearly wasn't delicious. It is, however, probably not a great idea to risk anything that might turn your stomach because the roads outside Phnom Penh can do that on their own. They may have been cleared of mines – thoughV C there are still up to four million left in the country – but they're a far cry from smooth Western Tarmac. By the time we arrived at Sambor Prei Kuk, we felt like thanking all the gods for our arrival.

And there were plenty of opportunities, because there are more than 100 temples scattered through the forest, many dating back to the early seventh century. There were plants poking through the ancient bricks and among the Sanskrit inscriptions and the carvings, and it felt like a world lost to nature and forgotten, except by the children who followed us around. They asked us – in better English than the government-sponsored guide who was thrust upon us – our names and what we earned. In Cambodia, according to our real guide (who had to defer to the government guide), everyone asks everyone what they earn.

ppp

In the next few hours, on the bumpiest roads I've ever been on, we had the chance to see more of this fascinating country: landscape that shifted from lush green to arid brown, and then back again, animals scrabbling for food under houses on stilts, and in one village what appeared to be an entire school – dressed in the standard national uniform of white shirts and blue trousers or skirt – on bikes. In the same village, we saw men chipping away at stone Buddhas – as if there was a national shortage of Buddhas. Which, I can tell you, there isn't.

By the time our minibus juddered to a halt, at the end of a track in the depths of the jungle, we were ready to collapse. Refreshment, thank god, was at hand, but first we were taken to our accommodation – a whole tent each, with a real bed, and a separate (tented) loo and ingenious shower. In those few moments, dusk descended, and we emerged to flaming torches and margaritas.

The men looking after us – of which there seemed to be an embarrassingly large number – made top-notch cocktails, and a top-notch dinner, too. We ate and drank late into the starry, flame-lit night.

As we staggered out of our tents, clutching our heads, at sunrise, that no longer seemed such a great idea, but spirits rose with a spectacular, hangover-crushing breakfast and with the sight, behind us, of a vast, brick pyramid. This, it turned out, was Prasat Thom, a seven-story sandstone temple built 1000 years ago. We were in Koh Ker, for a brief period (from AD928 to 944) the capital of Cambodia, and this magnificent building looming in front of us was, it turned out, only the beginning. We were in a vast temple complex, which looked as if it hadn't been touched for centuries, and with the exception of the odd khaki-clad guard, and the cicadas, we were alone. The surrounding area was teeming with temples: temples with Shiva Linga (vast phallic symbols) in them, like Prasat Thneng and Prasat Leung, and others (like Prasat Neang Khmau) in which the gnarled tree-roots and strangler figs laced, like a lattice-work, over them, looked as old as the stones.

And now we were on our way to the biggest temple in the world, but first, thank the Buddha, there was civilisation, in the form of the Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor. For 75 years, this magnificent hotel on the edge of Siem Reap has been the place where anybody who was anybody – anybody, that is, seeking a bit of 1,000-year old epic splendour – has stayed. Gracious elegance, with dark woods and antique furnishings, was just the ticket after our night under canvas, and the gargantuan pool proved irresistible.

There was more punishment ahead, in the form of a pre-dawn alarm call, but the punishment, we were assured, would be rewarded. And so it was. The sight of the sun rising over the vast, spiky skyline of one of the most spectacular spiritual buildings in history is one you'll never forget. Particularly, it has to be said, when accompanied with the tongue-tinglingly delicious patisserie in the lavish packed breakfast that Raffles had provided.

You need sustenance for the hours ahead, to drink in the delights of Angkor Wat, a three-tiered pyramid crowned by five towers, like beehives, that rise 65 metres above the ground. It was probably built as a funerary temple for Suryavarman II (1112 – 1152) to honour the Hindu god, Vishnu, who lurks (in the form of a statue) in one of the towers. But it feels more like a homage to history, religion and life. In the extraordinary bas-reliefs, which stretch around the outside of the central temple complex, and which would take a lifetime to study, you can see pictures of battles from the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, military marches from the army of Suryavarman (complete with parasols, elephants and the royal tiara), armies of monkeys and scenes from heaven and hell.

Nothing in Cambodia – or indeed in much of the world – is as spectacular as Angkor Wat, but other temple complexes are fascinating in different ways. Angkor Thom, the last capital of the Angkorian empire, has an entrance flanked by 54 massive gods on one side, and 54 massive demons on the other, each with a different expression – sad, happy, sneering – on their face. The carvings in the main temple are touching in their humanity: men cooking meals, women weighed down by children, chubby-buttocked soldiers in loincloths fighting, a man wincing because his bottom has been bitten by a tortoise. Ta Promh, "discovered" by the French explorer Henri Mouhout in 1860, and left as he found it, is a symbol of human impotence in the face of nature: a magnificent, collapsing, mythical mix of giant roots and giant stones.

On our last day, we went on a boat trip to Tonle Sap, one of the biggest freshwater lakes in Asia. Four million people live on the lake, or the banks of it, many in tiny floating boats, in floating villages. There are floating schools, and floating restaurants, and floating health centres, and floating crocodile farms. It's a hard, hard life, to scrape a living and bring up a family in a space the size of a small room. But they do it. Day after day, they do it. Like so much else in this beautiful, sad, fascinating country, they weather the storms and go on.

Travel essentials: Cambodia

Getting there

* Cox & Kings (020-7873 5000; coxandkings.co.uk) offers a nine-night trip to Cambodia from £3,195 per person. The price includes Thai Airways flights from Heathrow via Bangkok, private transfers, two nights' B&B at Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh, four nights' B&B at Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor in Siem Reap, two nights' B&B in a tented temple camp, some meals and all excursions.

* There are no direct flights between the UK and Cambodia; the gateway is Bangkok, served by Thai Airways (0870 606 0911; thaiairways.co.uk), British Airways (0844 493 0787; ba.com), Eva Airways (020-7380 8300; evaair.com) and Qantas (08457 747767; qantas.co.uk) from Heathrow. Connections to Phnom Penh are offered by Thai Airways and Air Asia (0845 605 3333; airasia.com).

Staying there

* Raffles Hotel Le Royal, Phnom Penh (00 855 23 981 888) and Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor, Siem Reap (00 855 63 963 888): raffles.com

Visiting there

* National Museum of Cambodia, Phnom Penh (cambodiamuseum.info). Open daily 8am-5pm; admission US$3 (£2).

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U-M Flint nursing students pledge to help Cambodian orphans receive essential health care

By Beata Mostafavi Flint Journal


FLINT — Doni Warner knew the name of the surgeon leading the open heart surgery on his five-month-old son — but he really got to know the nurses.

They were the ones who offered him and wife Jody blankets on nights they slept in waiting rooms, brought them water and were “translators” when doctor lingo was a little too much.

It’s part of what inspired the former construction business owner to pursue a nursing degree at the University of Michigan-Flint — and why he is joining a trip to Cambodia that will involve medical care for orphans.

“There are numerous diseases that you can get treated for in the United States,” said Warner, 41, who is raising money to pay for the $3,000-plus venture in May. “Kids are dying from things over there that we can get everyday care for here.”

Warner is among a group of about 10 UM-Flint students who are leaving for the 14-day trip. Some students such as Warner also plan to stay longer on their own to continue work in orphanages.

Overseas, they will give children physicals and follow up with those who need medical attention. They will help with IVs and monitor vital signs for malaria patients.

They will help village children who have puncture wounds on their feet from collecting reusable items from a nearby dump barefoot.

Some will also spent time teaching children English and help teach them basic care for themselves — such as washing their face and brushing their teeth.

“It just goes back to wanting to help somebody in the world ... and the people in Cambodia have a desperate need for health care,” said Warner, a father of four.

“It seems a little better calling than building houses,” he added of future plans to work in the health care field, possibly on a global level.

For UM-Flint nursing student Kevin Fitzpatrick, the Cambodia trip adds to a list of service work — including volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, boarding up abandoned homes and traveling to Iowa with his church to help with relief efforts after the massive floods in 2008.

“Just the little bit we can do in the short time we’re there I hope helps brighten their day,” said the Swartz Creek father of two, 35. “We aren’t there to save the world but to make a difference.

We take so much for granted here. Hopefully we will impact them as much as they will impact us.”

The trip is coordinated through UM-Flint’s international nursing program, which earns students three credits.

Students will spend long hours working with people in need but will also get some free time and a chance to visit well known spots such as 7th World Wonder Angkor Wat.

But university officials say this kind of trip draws a special group of students.

“These are for students who don’t mind sleeping on a wooden plank or riding in a rickety bus. It’s not Europe,” said Maureen Tippen, clinical assistant professor who has organized similar trips for nearly 14 years.

“For most of the students, it’s a life-changing experience.” Read more!

British conservationist given prestigious award from the Royal Government of Cambodia

British conservationist Dr Jenny Daltry was today given a Royal award by the Cambodian Government. She has worked for UK-based Fauna & Flora International for 15 years and during that time made a huge impact on Cambodia's wildlife.

Jan 29, 2010 – Phnom Penh, 29 January 2010 – The Royal Government of Cambodia has awarded British conservationist, Dr Jenny Daltry, the title of Officer of the Order of Sahemetrei, given to foreigners for their “distinguished services to the King and to the Nation.”

Dr Daltry was honoured with the award for wildlife conservation activities within the Kingdom of Cambodia. She has worked as Senior Conservation Biologist for British-based international conservation organization Fauna & Flora International (FFI) for 15 years.

Much of her time has been spent in Cambodia, where she led a number of field expeditions that resulted in the increased protection of forested areas covering more than 1,000,000 hectares in the Cardamom Mountains. In 2000, Dr Daltry re-discovered the Siamese crocodile (which was previously thought to be extinct in the wild) and subsequently spearheaded a pioneering community-based programme to conserve this critically endangered reptile.

Impressively, Dr Daltry also led a ground-breaking initiative to establish a new generation of Cambodian scientists. This country has an incredible diversity of wildlife and contains many of the richest habitats remaining in the Mekong Basin. Yet because the Pol Pot regime largely wiped out the educated classes, Cambodia lacks enough qualified practitioners to manage its wildlife and help it to develop sustainably.

Under FFI Cambodia’s University Capacity Building Programme, Dr Daltry created the first permanent Masters of Science programme at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. 147 Cambodians have enrolled on the course so far. She is also the founder and chief editor of the country’s first peer-reviewed scientific journal - the Cambodian Journal of Natural History – to encourage Cambodians to publish and share their knowledge of Cambodian’s wildlife and natural resources. The second issue of the journal has just recently been published.

“I am overwhelmed and grateful.” Dr Daltry said. “For a conservationist to receive this rare honour does, I think, signify the importance that Cambodia places on its wildlife, forests, and protected areas. Cambodia is changing fast, but economic development does not have to mean the loss of its wildlife or priceless environmental services. The achievement I feel most proud of is helping talented Cambodians, from the government ministries to villages, to become leaders in biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. I also thank my colleagues and co-workers for their tireless commitment and support for more than a decade. “

The Order was be presented to Dr Daltry by H.E. Ty Sokhun, Head of Forestry Administration during a formal ceremony on January 29th 2010. It was attended by senior Government Officials, international dignitaries such as His Excellency Rafael Dochao Moreno, Head of the EU Delegation, and His Excellency Andrew Mace, British Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia, and representatives of conservation NGOs including FFI CEO, Mark Rose.
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About Fauna & Flora International (FFI) (www.fauna-flora.org)
FFI protects threatened species and ecosystems worldwide, choosing solutions that are sustainable, based on sound science and take account of human needs. Operating in more than 40 countries worldwide – mainly in the developing world – FFI saves species from extinction and habitats from destruction, while improving the livelihoods of local people. Founded in 1903, FFI is the world’s longest established international conservation body and a registered charity. FFI has been working in Cambodia since 1996. Read more!

Brookline High launching Brookline Cambodia Partnership

Brookline —
Dan Green, a social studies teacher at Brookline High School, invites the community to a fundraising event that is the official launching of the Brookline Cambodia Partnership, a local effort to build a Brookline High sister school in a rural Cambodian village.

The event takes place at the Elephant Walk, 900 Beacon St., Boston, on Saturday, Jan. 30, from 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. The organization hopes to raise $24,000, $13,000 of which will be matched by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

The funds will pay for the building of a six- to eight-room secondary school with computers, Internet connectivity, desks and chairs, books and an English teacher. Following the building of the school, the group (pending School Committee approval) hopes to send BHS students on service learning trips to Cambodia, where students will not only have an opportunity to experience the rich culture of Cambodia, but also visit (and possibly teach in) the BHS sister school. Before and in between visits, BHS and Cambodian students will have the opportunity to build relationships via the Internet.

Green and his colleague, Kate Boynton, presented the program to the School Committee in June and received much encouragement from the members. Up to this point, they have raised more than $6,200 for the construction of the school.

Elephant Walk owners will provide a multi-course meal for more than 100 Brookline community members who will pay $25, of which $20 will benefit the project. A number of community and education leaders, including local politicians, Superintendent Bill Lupini, BHS Headmaster Bob Weintraub, members of the Brookline School Committee and others will be attending the event.

For more information, visit www.brookcamb.org.

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Uighurs returned to China 'disappear' says rights group

China must account for the whereabouts of ethnic Uighurs forcibly repatriated from Cambodia, a US-based rights group has said.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said such groups had "disappeared into a black hole" on their return to China.

The Uighurs fled to Cambodia after mass ethnic riots in China in July. Beijing has referred to them as criminals.

In December, a group of 20 Uighurs were put on a plane to China despite opposition from the UN and US.

They said the group were likely to face persecution in China.

"Uighur asylum seekers sent back to China by Cambodia have disappeared into a black hole," said Sophie Richardson of HRW.

"There is no information about their whereabouts, no notification of any legal charges against them, and there are no guarantees they are safe from torture and ill-treatment."

HRW said a number of the group had given detailed accounts of past torture and persecution in China and that threats had been made against their families.

The organisation said China has a history of executing or imposing harsh sentences of Uighurs sent back from abroad and that there were unconfirmed reports some members of a group previously returned had been sentenced to death in western Xinjiang province.

'Fair trials'

Ms Richardson said the Chinese government must say where the group are being held and under what status as well as allowing the UN and family members to see them.

"Family members have the right to know what has happened to their loved ones," she said

"The Chinese government must treat all returnees humanely, ensure fair trials, and not persecute individuals for activities and speech that are protected under international law."

There has been no immediate comment from the Chinese foreign ministry.

The Uighurs fled Xinjiang after July's violent ethnic clashes in the provincial capital Urumqi which left at least 97 people dead.

Most of those killed in the unrest were majority Han Chinese, according to officials, and Urumqi's Han population had demanded swift justice.

At least 25 people have been sentenced to death after the riots.

Tensions between the mainly-Muslim Uighurs of Xinjiang and Han have been growing in recent years. Millions of Han have moved to the region in recent decades.

Many Uighurs want more autonomy and rights for their culture and religion than is allowed by Beijing's strict rule. Read more!

Chevron extends Cambodian energy exploration deal

Phnom Penh - US energy giant Chevron Corp has extended its offshore energy exploration deal with the Cambodian government, local media reported Friday, but the company provided no other details citing 'commercial reasons.'

'Chevron welcomes the ongoing opportunity to evaluate the Block A resource,' spokesman Gareth Johnstone told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper.

Block A, an area off Cambodia's coast in the Gulf of Thailand, is thought to be one of the nation's most promising areas for oil and gas exploration in the coming years.

Announcement of the deal after almost a year of negotiations with the Cambodian government puts an end to speculation that Chevron might quit the country.

The newspaper noted that Chevron has spent 125 million dollars and drilled 15 exploratory wells in Block A since 2002. The latest date for production, which has been pushed back several times, is 2013.

Chevron is one of many extractive companies that have been criticized in recent years for their refusal to say what they are paying for the rights to tap Cambodia's natural resources. Corruption is endemic in the impoverished South-East Asian nation, and there are concerns that any windfall from oil and gas revenues will be squandered. Read more!

Bello, Crowe, "Slumdog" Scribe Team at HBO

By Nellie Andreeva


LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Maria Bello has teamed with Russell Crowe and the Oscar-winning writer of "Slumdog Millionaire" for a series project in the works at HBO.

Bello is set to star in the drama "Emergency Sex," which is being written by Simon Beaufoy. They will executive produce with Russell Crowe.

Inspired by the book "Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures: A True Story From Hell on Earth," by Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait and Andrew Thomson, the project revolves around the larger-than-life exploits of expatriate nongovernment-organization workers who find their sanity tested in the face of atrocities, loneliness and primal desires.

The book chronicles the real-life experiences of Cain, Postlewait and Thomson, who met in Cambodia during the 1990s as members of a UN peacekeeping mission. Crowe purchased the screen rights to the book.

Bello stars in John Wells' film "The Company Men," which is creating buzz at the Sundance Film Festival. She also has been courted by the broadcast networks this pilot season. Crowe next stars in "Robin Hood." "Emergency" would mark the series debut for Beaufoy, who will reunite with "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle this year for "127 Hours."

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Cambodia destroys tonnes of oil used to make ecstasy

PHNOM PENH, Jan 28 (AFP) - Cambodian authorities and Australian police on Thursday began destroying tonnes of a raw ingredient used to make the party drug ecstasy, an anti-narcotics official said.

They started burning 14.6 tonnes of confiscated sassafras oil, which is extracted from a rare tree found deep in Cambodia's jungles, said Moek Dara, secretary-general of Cambodia's national authority for combating drugs.

"If we don't crack down on the oil, a lot of people, not only those in Cambodia, will suffer," he told AFP, adding that it would take at least 10 days to destroy the sassafras.

Sassafras is an ingredient for cosmetics but also a precursor chemical to make ecstasy. Five litres of the oil would produce 10,000 pills of the club drug, officials said.

The oil comes from the rare M'rea Prov Phnom tree, Moek Dara said.

The stocks of sassafras, which were confiscated in anti-drug raids last year, were being destroyed in the northwestern province of Battambang along with nearly six tonnes of other chemical substances, he added.

Cambodia destroyed 35 tonnes of sassafras in 2007 when authorities made the oil illegal.

Impoverished Cambodia has become a popular trafficking point for narcotics, particularly methamphetamines and heroin, after neighbouring Thailand toughened its stance on illegal drugs in 2002.

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From Cambodia’s Killing Fields to $125,00 win in Las Vegas

By Robin Leach


It was a long and difficult journey from “The Killing Fields” of Cambodia for refugee Kimbo Ung, who has now settled in Las Vegas and become a full-time poker player. Kimbo recently defeated World Series of Poker bracelet winners and a Hollywood actor in the Heartland Poker Tour at Red Rock Casino to win the $125,000 pot.

Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari was there. Layne Flack was there. Lou Diamond Phillips and yours truly were there when 300 players from the Midwest invaded Las Vegas for the celebrity event. But the biggest star was a 42-year-old unknown who spent the past three years on the bubble.

Kimbo, the winner of $125,901, nearly busted out multiple times. He sat at the Final Table as the short stack, and at one point had 80,000 chips when his opponents had millions. But Kimbo is no stranger to starting over, having spent a lifetime overcoming horrifying and unbelievable odds as The Comeback Kid.

Kimbo relates his childhood to the Oscar-winning film The Killing Fields. He explained: “The movie didn’t even do justice to the horror we faced before we reached the United States as refugees.”

One of seven children, he learned English and graduated from high school on the East Coast. Without a college degree, Kimbo worked as a graphic designer in New York City. The daily grind of 14-hour days and traveling by train from Connecticut became too much, so he and his wife, Sokhim, moved to Texas to start over.

Kimbo and Sokhim, also from Cambodia, invested in the dream of owning their own business. Two years after opening a seafood restaurant, the couple realized the hard truths of the service industry and decided, having run out of money, to start over yet again. They packed their belongings in their truck and made the trek to Las Vegas.

During their drive three years ago, they had to stop to fill jugs of water for their overheating truck. Pulling up at Palace Station, the truck died for good. Kimbo and Sokhim started over a third time just as the economic recession began.

Unable to find a job, Kimbo made a living playing poker. “I never considered myself a pro, but I supported myself through poker,” he said. After 18 months of bad beats and missing the money, Kimbo gave up tournaments and played only two to five no-limit games.

On a day off from her job at a Strip casino, Sokhim and her husband were at the movies at Red Rock when she noticed a qualifier round of the Heartland Poker Tour about to start. She urged Kimbo to invest $250 of their last savings in the qualifier. Sokhim had no way of getting home 20 miles away while Kimbo played, and he didn’t want her hovering over the table. So she watched three more movies while he looked for the winning hands.

Kimbo played the qualifier and won his way into the sellout Main Event, returning to battle accomplished poker players such as Theo Tran, Mary Jo Belcore-Zogman and David Singer. Low on chips throughout, a turning point came when he beat Theo. “I reminded myself to never give up,” said Kimbo, who made it to the Final Table.

Heartland Poker Tour producers weren’t surprised when they learned of Kimbo’s honesty shortly after the set was dismantled and shipped back to the Midwest.

“Our players are good people,” HPT President Todd Anderson said. “If a stereotype exists of today’s poker players, Kimbo seems to fit it at first glance. With dark glasses and an Ed Hardy hoodie, he appears emotionless, focused, confident and aggressive.

“At one point he was dangerously low on chips and had to ask another player to make change. Kimbo was given too much and really needed the chips, but said he’d never feel good about stealing from an older man. So he returned the overpay chips, and his luck turned, and he went on to win.”

After the shock of his win started to wear off, Kimbo revealed that he doesn’t normally wear glasses or conceal his face when he plays.

“I didn’t want to embarrass myself by becoming the first player to cry at the Final Table,” he said, crying as he hugged his wife, becoming the first champion of the televised Heartland Poker Tour’s Season 6.

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Minority groups in Cambodia get spotli

According to media sources in Phnom Penh, the Center for Advanced Study (CAS) has announced a release of the first book about the history of ethnic minority groups in Cambodia.

Jan 27, 2010 – According to media sources in Phnom Penh, the Center for Advanced Study (CAS) has announced a release of the first book about the history of ethnic minority groups in Cambodia.

The 664-page book examines the lifestyles and cultures of Cambodian residents of Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and Laotian descent, as well as members of Muslim and other minority communities, CAS director Hun Sokhom was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.

"We hope the book will help Khmer people better understand the traditions and cultures of each ethnic group," Hun Sokhun said, adding that he believed that widespread distribution of the book will reduce discrimination directed at minority groups.

The book is based on two separate studies carried out by Khmer and foreign experts - a three-month study by the United Nations in 1996, and a 12-month study in 2006, paid for by the Rockefeller Foundation, according to the newspaper.

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A thin line between Cambodia and Vietnam

By Jared Ferrie


PHNOM PENH - The leader of Cambodia's main opposition party, Sam Rainsy, skipped his court date on Wednesday, eluding an arrest warrant issued for allegedly uprooting border markers on the frontier with Vietnam. Rainsy instead remained in France, where he had fled in advance of the hearing because he felt the case was politically motivated.

The Svay Rieng province court convicted villagers Meas Srey and Prum Chea to one year in prison and ordered them each to pay 5 million riel (US$1,200) in compensation to district authorities for moving the border posts. Rainsy was convicted in absentia to two years in prison, handed an 8 million riel fine and ordered to pay 5 million riels compensation to district authorities. All three must pay an additional 50 million riel in compensation for destroying the border posts, according to the ruling.

The case highlights the ongoing controversy of Vietnamese influence over Prime Minister Hun Sen's government, some 30 years after the government in Hanoi ordered troops to invade Cambodia. The two countries are now in the process of demarcating their 1,270-kilometer long border. They are also negotiating investment agreements that could see Vietnam pouring billions of dollars into Cambodia.

On December 26, during a conference in Ho Chi Minh City, officials signed a memorandum of understanding intended to pave the way for more Vietnamese investments in Cambodia. No deals were finalized, but the economic agreements covered projects including electricity generation, fertilizer production and rubber plantations, as well as a proposal to explore for bauxite mining in Mondulkiri province. A Vietnam official in Phnom Penh told the Phnom Penh Post that revenues from bauxite mining alone could amount to US$6 billion.

Against the backdrop of a possible $12 billion worth of new Vietnamese investments, Rainsy implied that Cambodian officials were reluctant to criticize their larger neighbor about alleged Vietnamese encroachment on Cambodian lands.

"I am defending Cambodia's independence and territorial integrity regardless of these ongoing investment projects and financial deals," he said in an e-mail from Paris. "Maybe those in the Phnom Penh government take those material interests into consideration in their handling of border issues with Vietnam, but I don't."

A spokesman for the Cambodian government, Phay Siphan, said in an interview that increasing economic ties with Vietnam had no bearing at all on the border demarcation process. He said a commission is carefully analyzing data from maps drawn up during the colonial period of French rule in order to determine exactly where the border lies.

"The job of the border commission between Cambodia and Vietnam is not to lose or gain territory from either side," said Phay. "Sam Rainsy is misrepresenting the work of the border commission."

Rainsy, who is a fierce critic of Vietnamese influence in Cambodian affairs, was charged with incitement of racial discrimination and destruction of property for his role in an October 25 incident in Svay Rieng province. Rainsy allegedly joined five villagers in uprooting the wooden poles after hearing complaints that they had been placed in a nearby rice field. Two of those villagers were arrested and sentenced on Wednesday.

To back up his case, Rainsy's eponymous political party (SRP) on Monday released what it said was evidence that the uprooted border demarcation posts were placed 300 to 500 meters inside Cambodian territory. The SRP referred to maps drawn up by the French in 1952, which defined the border and which were given to the United Nations by the Cambodian government in 1964. Those were corroborated by maps produced by the United States military in 1966, according to the SRP.

Rainsy said he enlisted the help of cartographers, historians, geographers and computer experts who examined the maps and used satellite pictures and GPS coordinates to determine that the uprooted border markers were indeed placed within Cambodian territory. Rainsy refused to name the experts, but he noted that he also received "technical assistance" from a French map engineer at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris.

Cambodian officials threatened to lay further charges after the release of the information by the SRP. "The government will consider taking legal action to prohibit any illegal publication that affects the security of the social order," Tith Sothea, a government advisor who works at the press office of the Council of Ministers, told the Phnom Penh Post on Monday.

In his e-mail, Rainsy said that threat sounded "rather Stalinist". He added: "They are embarrassed and afraid because I am exposing scientific, objective and factual evidence of what I am claiming."

Phay, the government spokesman, confirmed that the government is investigating the information made public by Rainsy and the SRP, and that the investigation could lead to further charges if the claims are shown to be false. "We don't want to see any misleading information that will affect law and order and national security," he said.

Phay also accused the SRP of releasing the information in order to distract attention from Rainsy's case. "He has the right to freedom of expression, but it can't cover up what has been done." He said that rather than releasing the information to the media, the SRP should have brought it forward for debate in parliament, or even in a separate court case.

But Rainsy alleged that the courts are "political tools" used by the ruling Cambodian People's Party to "crack down on opposition". Many rights groups and analysts share that view. Last year, a spate of lawsuits against opposition parliamentarians, journalists and activists prompted a litany of criticism from international rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, as well as the United States Embassy in Cambodia.
"This is a public secret. Everyone knows that the court is under control of the government," said Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights. "There is an attempt by the ruling party to consolidate its power." He said the case against Rainsy was an example of that trend. "This issue of the border could have been downplayed. They take any chance to silence the opposition."

But Rainsy has so far refused to be silenced, taking up his cause with governments in Europe while participating in radio call-in shows in Cambodia. His party has also vowed to begin investigating other sections of border between the two countries.

Jared Ferrie is a Phnom Penh-based journalist.

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Cambodian ship hijacked, Indian crew may be on board

Mumbai: A Cambodian cargo ship, MV Layla S, was hijacked off the Somalian port of Berbera in the Gulf of Aden, a top maritime authority said here on Wednesday. The crew members are said to be a mix of Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Somalian and possibly Syrian nationals.

The details of the crew members are still awaited, said the Directorate-General of Shipping (DGS). The vessel is believed to be owned and managed by Al Hufoof, an agency based in either Syria or the United Arab Emirates.

The DGS said the ship was overpowered after the cargo was offloaded at Berbera Port.

Moreover, the DGS said the crew has reportedly been abandoned by the owner so they may have been already held in captivity since the past few days. Such incidents are common in this region but come to light only much later.

The DGS has informed the authorities, including the Coast Guard and Indian Navy, of the developments.
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13 countries meet in bid to save wild tigers

By MICHAEL CASEY
The Associated Press


HUA HIN, Thailand -- Efforts to save the wild tiger are at a critical point and it will take greater political will and cooperation from Asian countries to prevent the big cats from becoming extinct, conservationists and the World Bank warned Wednesday.

The dire message was offered to 13 tiger range states attending the first Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation. The aim of the three-day meeting is to convince countries to pledge to spend more on tiger conservation and set targets for boosting their numbers - vows that would then be finalized by heads of state in September at a meeting in Vladivostok, Russia.

"There will be no room left for tigers and other wildlife in Asia without a more responsible and sustainable program for economic growth and infrastructure," World Bank President Robert Zoellick said in a video message to the 180 delegates.

"The tiger may be only one species, but the tigers' plight highlights the biodiversity crisis in Asia," he said.

Thailand's Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Suwit Khunkitti told delegates the time had come for his fellow ministers to commit to "bold commitments and actions so that we can collectively turn the tide of extinction on the tiger."

Tiger numbers have plummeted because of human encroachment, the loss of more than nine-tenths of their habitat, and poaching to supply the vibrant trade in tiger parts. From an estimated 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century, the number today is less than 3,600.

John Seidensticker, head of conservation ecology at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park and chairman of the Save the Tiger Fund, recalled how he watched the Javan and Bali tigers disappear in the 20th century, adding that "losing a tiger is like losing a very close, dear relative and I'm still saddened by that experience."

He said conservationists have over the years been successful in banning trade in tiger parts, outlawing hunting and boosting protection measures. But he said he and others never foresaw the breakneck economic development in Asia that would "pave over" key tiger forests and grasslands and create a market for tiger parts that has caused poaching to skyrocket.

Still, Seidensticker and others said the meeting itself offered hope, showing that the bid to save tigers has gone beyond passionate environmentalists and scientists and is now being embraced by government officials and key donors like the World Bank.

The meeting is being organized by Thailand and the Global Tiger Initiative, a coalition formed in 2008 by the World Bank, the Smithsonian Institute and nearly 40 conservation groups. It aims to double tiger numbers by 2022.

"That this meeting is happening is hugely important," said John Robinson, executive vice president of conservation and science for the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society.

Robinson said the political will to save the tigers must be strengthened, funding increased for impoverished countries where tigers remain and forests expanded to ensure that tigers and humans don't clash - a problem especially common in India and Indonesia.

Relocating communities is an option as long as the villagers are compensated adequately, Robinson said.

The World Bank said countries must work to minimize the impact of roads, bridges and other infrastructure projects on tiger habitat - something the bank has vowed to do in projects it funds. It also called on countries to better train and equip their forest rangers and reduce corruption in the government agencies tasked with running national parks and protected areas.

"Corruption has been rampant and all pervasive in some of the countries as far as forest management is concerned," said Keshav Varma, the Global Tiger Initiative's program director, told delegates. "Corruption is gradually and persistently nibbling away at our natural resources. The politics of money is drowning out the weak voices of the tiger and the poor."

The 13 countries attending the meeting are Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.

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China to Help Restoration of Cambodia's National Road

The ground breaking ceremony of the restoration of National Road No. 62 in northern Cambodia was held on Wednesday with the attending of Prime Minister Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Zhang Jinfeng.

"It is a major route of transportation linking Cambodia's northern border to capital Phnom Penh and the road will be sure to enhance Cambodia's economic vitality as well as greatly promote Cambodia's economic and social development, " said Zhang at the ceremony.

"It is the first economic and trade cooperation project between China and Cambodia in the beginning of 2010," Zhang said. "A good beginning is half done." She also said that more construction projects assisted by Chinese government will be started or finished this year. These projects include irrigation system, road restoration and transmission and transformer networks.

The 128-km-long road, running through Kampong Thom province to Thbeng Meanchey, will lead to Preah Vihear province.

The construction project, carried out by Shanghai Construction Group, will last for 40 months and with a total cost of 52 million U.S. dollars.

Prime Minister Hun Sen spoke highly of China's assistance to Cambodia, saying that the assistance provided by China helps to promote Cambodia's social and economic development and reduce poverty for people. He said that China's assistance in infrastructure construction, including transport, water conservancy, electricity as well as personnel training are pure- hearted without any preconditions.

He said that the construction of National Road No. 62 helps to connect the area to Siem Reap province which will promote the development of the local tourism industry.

Hun Sen said that the royal government has been strengthening the land, waterways, railways, aviation and port construction. " There are roads there is hope," he stressed.

The construction of the infrastructure will help to attract investment in various fields, promote economic development, enhance remote areas, and improve living standards, he said.

After thanking the Chinese government and people to provide assistance, Prime Minister Hun Sen also wishes Chinese people living in Cambodia have a happy Chinese New Year, saying that "with the approaching of traditional Chinese New Year, I wish all Chinese people, overseas Chinese living in Cambodia health and success in the coming year."
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Cambodia won't send troops to Afghanistan, Iraq

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday he will not send peacekeeping troops to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Hun Sen said some countries, which he did not name, had requested 1,000 Cambodian de-miners be deployed to Afghanistan.

"I will not send Cambodian sons to die in those two countries," he said in remarks at the groundbreaking for a new road in the central province of Kampong Thom. "The Cambodian people have seen enough war and suffered enough casualties from land mines."

Cambodia was wracked by almost three decades of war and unrest after a 1970 military coup and became one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. It has trained a large corps of skilled de-miners.

In April 2006, Cambodia sent 135 soldiers to help U.N. peacekeepers clear mines in war-torn Sudan. Hun Sen, however, rejected requests from the U.S. to deploy Cambodian troops to Iraq that same year. He said he questioned the overall legitimacy of the war in Iraq and that it was too dangerous for Cambodians to operate there.

In early 2009, Cambodia sent several dozen troops to Chad and the Central African Republic.

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KSL set to double sugarcane output

KOH KONG, CAMBODIA : Khon Kaen Sugar Industry Plc (KSL) aims to invest about 15 billion baht over the next five years to double its sugarcane output in Thailand and continuously expand its presence in Cambodia and Laos.

Thailand's only listed sugar miller expects the group's total revenue to top 20 billion baht from last year's 12 billion baht when the expansion is completed.

Chairman Chamroon Chinthammit said the company would spend 6-7 billion baht to build a new factory complete with a power and ethanol plant in Sa Kaeo. The Bo Phloi mill in Kanchanaburi also requires an investment of 8 billion baht, of which half is being spent on the first phase of construction.

The group currently operates four sugar mills and cane farms in Khon Kaen, Chon Buri and Kanchanaburi, with combined sugar production of 5 million tonnes per crop.

KSL projects that its local sugarcane output will double to 10 million within five years, moving it from the fourth to third place in the country in terms of overall production, said Mr Chamroon.

The company on Monday inaugurated its $100-million sugar mill in Koh Kong, the first of its kind in Cambodia. The group, together with Cambodian and Taiwanese partners, has been granted a 90-year farming concession for 20,000 hectares in Koh Kong along the border of Thailand and Cambodia.

An estimated 240,000 tonnes of sugarcane will be processed in the 2009-10 season, the first year of operation.

"We are aiming for the total production of 2 million tonnes from Cambodia within five years while our crushing capacity in Laos will be expanded to 700,000 tones from 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes at present," Mr Chamroon said.

KSL has also been awarded a concession of 30 years for 10,000 hectares in Laos. The Sawannakhet mill, with total investment of $40 million, began operating at almost the same time as the Koh Kong plant.

Laos and Cambodia are among the 19 developing countries entitled to duty-free sugar exports to European markets. KSL has signed five-year contracts with London-based Tate & Lyle to supply all of its output from Cambodia and Laos at the price of 19 cents a pound.

Ly Yong Phat, one of Cambodia's top businessmen and a close ally of Prime Minister Hun Sen, holds 20% in KSL's joint venture while the Thai sugar miller controls 50%. The remaining 30% is owned by the Taiwanese partner Ve Wong Corp.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Hun Sen vowed to seek the required land and labour for KSL, which needs 4,000 employees, saying the sugar industry was vital for the Cambodian economy. According to data from Thailand's Commerce Ministry, the country exports 300,000 tonnes of white sugar to Cambodia.

Chalush Chinthammit, KSL's assistant vice-president for business development, said the group expected up to 20% growth in revenue this year, thanks to the high sugar price, now at a 28-year high of 29 cents a pound, and higher production than last year.

Given the current supply shortage, sugar prices will remain on the uptrend, definitely breaking the 30-cent mark by the end of the second quarter, Mr Chalush added.

KSL shares closed yesterday on SET at 14.70 baht, up 50 satang, in trade worth 44 million baht.

Relate Search: Khon Kaen Sugar Industry Plc, Chairman Chamroon Chinthammit, Bo Phloi mill, Kanchanaburi. Read more!

Cambodian drug centres deny abuse

Operators of drug rehabilitation centres in Cambodia have denied accusations patients are subjected to "sadistic violence". Human Rights Watch claims people are being held in the centres against their will, where they are subjected to torture, rape and humiliation. The organisation is calling for Cambodia authorities to shut down controversial facilities .

Presenter: Stephanie March
Speakers: Joe Amon, director, Health and Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Watch; Nean Sokhim, director, My Chance Drug Detention and Rehabilitation Centre, Phnom Penh .

MARCH: The report by Human Rights Watch says 2,000 people are being held in so-called "drug rehabilitation centres" across Cambodia. Joe Amon is the director of the Health and Human rights commission for the organisation.

AMON: There were reports of beatings, being shocked with electric batons. There were cases where people would describe very specifically how staff and guards would wind together electrical cables together and whip inmates with them. But we also heard about rapes, we heard about people being shackled for long periods of time and being forced to stand in the sun.

MARCH: The report says many of the detainees are picked up by police and military in an effort to get drug users, sex workers and beggars off the street. Others are sent by their families who pay the authorities to treat and rehabilitate the patients. But Mr Amon says it's not only drug users who end up in the facilities.

AMON: Most of them were at some point drug users - not all of them were drug addicted or drug dependant. There were also children in there, adults who hadn't used drugs but got caught up in street sweeps. And also really quite disturbingly individuals with mental illness

MARCH: Government statistics show between 2007 and 2008, there was a 40% increase in the number of people in the the centres. Mr Amon says the centres are an easy way for authorities to keep so-called undesirables off the street.

AMON: And the other is profit. You know family members that are paying to have individuals picked up and put in these centres. You know that money is against Cambodian law, by law it says drug dependency treatment should be free. And that money is going directly into the pocket of the people running the centres.

MARCH: Nean Sokhim is the director of the civilian-run "My Chance" drug rehabilitation centre in Phnom Penh. He says patients are treated well, receive three meals a day and have job training opportunities.

SOKHIM: In my centre is no murder happen, no problem eh.

MARCH: Is there any violence towards the people in your centre from the guards?

SOKHIM: No, never.

MARCH: The is a report that has come out from a human rights organisation that says people that are tortured and kept against their will. What do you say about this report?

SOKHIM: No, no never happen like this. But the Human Rights Watch always say, always advise bad about the drug rehab centre in Cambodia. I don't know why because in my centre I always try to do everything better and better.

He says some detainees have tried to run away in the past.

SOKHIM: We have some, but all of them because we (inaudible) them and we can drug them and we forbid them to do the work at the outside of the after they can escape.

MARCH: So if someone tries to run away you give them drugs so they can't escape?

SOKHIM: Yeah, yeah yeah.

MARCH: Human Rights Watch says there are at least 11 drug centres operating in Cambodia. Some are run by the police and military while others are operated by civilians. Mr Sokhim says while there is no abuse at his centre he can't vouch for those run by the security forces.

SOKHIM: For other centre, they can violence at the centre governed by the police, governed by the military police. But in my centre is civil governed.

MARCH: Human Rights Watch is calling for all the drug rehab centres to be closed down and investigated for rights abuse. Joe Amon from the organisation says detention centres are the wrong way to tackle drug abuse.

AMON: The World Health Organisation did an assessment and they said in their report that they estimated that it was close to 100 percent relapse for the people who have been in these centres.. It's just the wrong way to approach drug addiction. Drug addiction is a chronic relapsing condition. It's not helped by a period of military drills and forced exercise.

Mr Sokhim estimates 70 percent of the 2,500 people who have been in his centre since it opened in 2006 have successfully managed to conquer drug abuse. Read more!

WING set to cover all of Cambodia

Mobile phone electronic payment service, which just turned one year old, says it will cover Rattanakiri and Mondulkiri from next week, the last provinces to gain full access to WING

THE mobile money transfer system WING will operate fully in Mondulkiri and Rattanakiri provinces by the end of the month, Managing Director Brad Jones said Monday, giving the service full coverage in the Kingdom for the first time.

Having launched one year ago, WING will allow customers to “cash out” for the first time in the two provinces from next week, Jones said.

Previously WING users could transfer money there on the service’s four partner mobile operators – Hello, qb, Smart Mobile and Mfone – but could not collect the money.

“This week we have people who are setting up Wing cash X-press outlets in Rattanakiri and Modulkiri which now gives us access to every province in Cambodia,” Jones told the Post.

He added that the expansion was the result of a A$1.5 million (US$975,000) grant from the Australian government (via Ausaid) made last year.

“We have been using that [Ausaid] grant to actually further development of WING to provincial areas” Jones said.

WING, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ANZ Bank, formally launched its operation in the kingdom on January 21 last year.

Jones said that during the first year of operations, WING had gained 85,000 users, adding that the growth rate of its users was increasing.

“In the first month, we put on maybe 4,000 to 5,000 customers. In our last month, we put on close to 20,000 customers,” he said, adding that the network aspect of the WING business model meant growth would rise at an increasing rate.

“To use WING, you need to have your friend or family on WING, so as more and more people start to use WING, it becomes more useful for people who are already WING’s customers,” he said.

The electronic payment service had also benefited from a rising number of mobile providers signing up over the past 12 months, the latest being Mfone in October.

“Smart Mobile is pleased on the results of the partnership since the launch,” CEO Thomas Hundt said by email Monday.

The two companies started to work together from the start of August.

It remained unclear how much revenue WING had generated in its first 12 months of operations.

Jones declined to give a breakdown of financial results Monday. “We don’t disclose the actual figure in terms of what’s been transacted, but I can tell you … [there has been] significant growth month on month in both the volume of transactions we have and the value of transactions.”

WING is completely dependent on coverage by its four mobile partners, Jones admitted, given that transactions are conducted by mobile phone.

WING is not available with Mobitel, the country’s mobile leader in terms of market share, or on Metfone, which is understood to cover the largest area of any mobile service in the Kingdom.

The Vietnamese operator’s Cambodia CEO Nguyen Duy Tho told the Post in October that by the end of November last year, Metfone had been due to cover between 90 and 95 percent of the Kingdom’s population of about 14 million people.

“If there isn’t coverage of that particular network, but there is coverage for Hello, they might borrow someone’s phone who is on Hello, and use the WING service,” Jones said, adding that most people would have a SIM card with one of the four operators working with WING.

Cambodia’s mobile-phone users are notorious for posessing a selection of SIM cards in a bid to make the most of tariffs that have become increasingly competitive as new mobile phone companies have entered the market.

WING had held discussions with other operators, he added, but “we don’t have concrete plans at this stage”.

“We’re not actively looking to partner with them,” he added.

Mobitel, which is wholly owned by the Royal Group, the joint-venture partner with ANZ in ANZ Royal Bank, is understood to be developing its own mobile money transfer network.

Jones said he recognised that another mobile operator was looking to set up a rival mobile payment system and that “we welcome the competition in this market”.

He added that he had not had discussions with Mobitel with which WING “are unlikely to work with”. Mobitel was going in its “own direction”, Jones said.

By not working with the market leader, it was important that WING build a strong customer and provider base, he said. Read more!

Cambodia Gold & Ruby Exploration Project Moves to Second Phase -- Terra Energy & Resource Technologies Increases Royalty Rights

Terra Energy & Resource Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: TEGR), a natural resources exploration services technology company, announces that the Company has signed a phase two contract for gold and ruby exploration in Cambodia, increasing its royalty rights in the overall project.

The exploration services contract engages Terra in its proprietary satellite-based STeP® analysis of gold and ruby mineralization in Cambodia, which is the second phase contracting of exploration after it successfully completed the first phase of the project. As requested by the client, in addition to STeP®, Terra is to perform other traditional geological and management services, in order to further define and locate resources after presenting the client with good indications of mineral prospectivity and priority zones as a result of Terra's phase one survey.

Terra previously signed a working agreement with the Millennium International Group, which serves as a frame work of the relationship between the companies and outlines the pricing, royalty as well as co-investment rights, among other provisions, Terra Energy & Resource Technologies obtains as consideration for its services.

In connection with the phase two contract, Terra has an increased royalty interest in the acreage and co-investment rights contingent upon the advancement of the exploration license in Cambodia.

"We have had several service contracts with the Millennium International Group over the past six months. This relationship is dear to us, and we are encouraged that this client is also our market partner in Asia," said Dmitry Vilbaum, Chief Executive Officer of Terra Energy & Resource Technologies.

"The synergy is in Terra performing the services for cash, royalty, and non-promoted co-investment rights, effectively creating a joint venture with the client," said Dr. Alexandre Agaian, Terra Energy & Resource Technologies' President. "Terra is encouraged and incentivized to perform its innovative technology work and help our JV shorten the exploration cycle and expense to a minimum, so that Terra can start receiving the royalty cash flow and potentially co-invest on the same terms as the Millennium International Group."

About Terra Energy & Resource Technologies, Inc.

Terra Energy & Resource Technologies, Inc., through its subsidiary Terra Insight Services, Inc., provides mapping and analysis services for exploration, drilling, and mining companies related to natural resources found beneath the surface of the Earth. The Company uses a suite of innovative and efficient technologies, which facilitate the prediction and location of commercially viable deposits of hydrocarbons, gold, diamonds, and other natural resources, and assesses them for any given geographic area -- on or offshore. For more information, visit http://www.terrainsight.com/.

Safe Harbor for Forward-looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. There are many factors that could cause the Company's expectations and beliefs about its operations, its plans to acquire interests in exploration properties or technologies, plans to drill or drilling results to fail to materialize, including, but not limited to: competition for new acquisitions; availability of capital; unfavorable geologic conditions; prevailing prices for oil, natural gas and other natural resources; and general regional economic conditions.

For More Information, Please Contact:
Terra Energy & Resource Technologies, Inc.
212-286-9197
info@terrainsight.com

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Brisbane charity rescues trafficked children in Cambodia

David Barbeler


A BRISBANE-based organisation that rescues child sex workers in southeast Asia has cracked its first Cambodian syndicate, saving two girls, 10 and 14.

The rescue was carried out by the Brisbane-based charity The Grey Man, comprising former Australian special forces soldiers, former police and civilians.

A spokesman said the group's director of operations - a former Sydney policeman who uses only the name Tony to protect his identity - was in Cambodia on a fact-finding tour when a motorbike driver offered to arrange some young girls for him.

"Tony contacted our partner agency International Justice Mission (IJM) who in turn engaged with the police," the spokesman said.

The motorbike driver took Tony to a hotel late on Monday where a pimp showed him two Vietnamese girls, aged 10 and 14, the spokesman said.

"He (Tony) asked for both girls and on the pretext of going to an ATM to get the $US600 ($A665) to pay for them, he briefed police," he said.

Police and an IJM investigator then accompanied The Grey Man director back to the room to arrest the pimp and the motorbike driver.

The girls, who'd been trafficked from Vietnam, have been placed in the care of a British aid agency. The Grey Man will assist in supporting the children.

It's understood The Grey Man representatives are working with Cambodian police to arrest others involved.

The Grey Man's president, a former special forces soldier who uses the pseudonym John Curtis, said it was the organisation's first official operation in Cambodia, having previously rescued more than 100 children and women in Thailand and Laos.

"Without our intervention these girls would have been tossed onto the street in a few short years with AIDS," he said.

"I commend the Cambodian Police and IJM for their assistance.

"It is particularly apt that on Australia Day, Australians from The Grey Man charity are putting themselves in harm's way to rescue children in southeast Asia."

Read more!

GMS cooperation brings freer flows of people, goods

Almost every day from early in the morning until dusk, Buenan, a 41-year-old migrant from Cambodia, moves around his food peddling cart in the small seaport of Trat on the eastern coastal area of Thailand’s Trat province, which borders with Cambodia’s Koh Kong province.

The small seaport, which stands as a gateway for cross-border trading between Cambodia and Thailand, has for almost two years been a trading site for Buenan, who sells various kinds of snacks mostly to workers in the seaport.

“I come from a small village in Koh Kong province, Cambodia. Now it’s easier for us to cross the border. I use a seasonal identity card for the border crossing, which we can get from the gubernatorial office in Koh Kong. The others just use the normal passports and cross the border conveniently,” he said.

He was speaking to The Jakarta Post through an interpreter, when a number of ASEAN journalists visited several development projects under the Greater Mekong Sub-region cooperation program (GMS) on the invitation of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) late last year.

Yem Yan, a Cambodian immigration officer at the Cham Yeam International border checkpoint on the Cambodia’s Koh Kong/Thailand Trat border, said that cross border travel through the checkpoint has increased. “It is partly because of less bureaucracy and partly because of the improving infrastructure on the border areas,” he said.

He said that on the side of Koh Kong there had been thousands of people like Buenan applying for the seasonal passports in order for them to cross the border and work in the informal sector, as house maids and construction workers, or to do small businesses like food sales.

“I decided to do this job after I saw that many Cambodian people succeed in doing this. Now I’ve found it better than doing farming in my home village,” Buenan added.

The combination of improving management of cross-border travel and increasing economic development under the GMS cooperation program have significantly contributed to the freer flow of people and goods and to the sharing of resources, which is key to the industrial development and modernization of the sub-region.

This was contrary to the strained relations between the GMS states and very limited intra-trade and economic cooperation at the beginning of the program in 1992.

With improving conditions, people like Buenan have had a better chance to improve their livelihoods outside of their hometowns or even outside of their countries within the sub-region, which comprises the six countries of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, as well the Yunnan province of China, all linked by the Mekong River.

Initiated by ADB, the six countries set up the GMS cooperation program in 1992 to enable them to work more closely together to reduce poverty, and promote integration and economic cooperation.

Due to improving relations and increasing economic growth, people like Buenan were facilitated by this sub-regional cooperation to lift themselves out of the poverty trap.

Based on data from ADB, 10 years after the GMS cooperation program started, the proportion of people living on less than US$1 a day fell from 52.7 percent to 28.8 percent in Laos, 50.7 percent to 9.7 in Vietnam, 46 to 33 percent in Cambodia, and 10.1 percent to less than one percent in Thailand.

This trend is expected to continue as member countries committed themselves to improving their economic cooperation.

During the first GMS Summit in November 2002 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the six leaders of the sub-region stated in their joint declaration: “Our most important achievement has been the growing trust and confidence among our countries, which has provided a favorable environment for trade and investment, economic growth, and social well-being.”

Eric Sidgwick, the senior country economist of ADB in Cambodia, said that such sub-regional integration and cooperation had helped lead the transition from subsistence farming to more diversified economies, and from command economies to more open and market-based economies, particularly for the state-centralized systems in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

The GMS covers an area of 2.6 million square kilometers, the size of Western Europe, with a population of about 325 million, including the Yunnan province of China. This is a large potential market, with abundant but un-exploited natural resources.

The sub-region has attracted international interest, especially from international agencies like ADB, and the World Bank which provide loans and assistance to develop infrastructure and encourage private firms to invest and expand trade.

But Eric noted that human resource development had been slow to catch up with the pace of economic development.

Despite the efforts of GMS governments to improve their human resources and the help of international agencies like ADB and the World Bank, the quality of human resources in the sub-region is still lower than hoped for.

This is shown by the relatively low literacy rate in the sub-region. “In Cambodia the national literacy rate reached up to 75 percent, but in some areas like the Koh Kong province bordering Thailand’s Trat province the literacy rate is even lower than that,” he told visiting journalists in Koh Kong town.

“Without the quality of human resources, people in the sub-region cannot benefit to the maximum from rising economic development. This is a challenge for governments in the sub-region if they are serious in realizing the social well-being of their people,” he said.

Read more!

Need of Haitian orphans almost incalculable: Jolie

Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie who has promoted humanitarian causes throughout the world feels the needs of Haitian orphans devastated by a quake are “almost incalculable“. File Photo: AP

Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie, who has promoted humanitarian causes throughout the world feels the needs of Haitian orphans devastated by a quake are “almost incalculable“.

The 34-year-old beauty, a UN Goodwill Ambassador said before the Caribbean nation’s cataclysm, SOS Villages had been raising more than 300 orphaned or abandoned children and cared for 4000-plus poverty-stricken kids and families in Haiti, US magazine reported.

“That was before the earthquake, now the needs for orphaned children are almost incalculable,” Jolie said in a statement.

The ‘Original Sin’ star insists the organisation has been working nonstop in Haiti to find shelter, food, medicine, trauma counselling and more for children and families.

“As a long time supporter of SOS, I have visited many of these unique villages personally. I can vouch for their commitment and care for the children. As the Haiti situation unfolds, and we all focus in on ways to help these desperate children -- I ask you to please learn more about and consider supporting SOS Children’s Villages,” Jolie added.

Read more!

Group: Cambodia should shut drug detention centers

By MARGIE MASON AP Medical Writer


An international human rights group called on the Cambodian government Monday to shut down its drug detention centers alleging abuses such as torture and rape, as well as the lockup of children and the mentally ill.

In a 93-page report, New York-based Human Rights Watch detailed examples of detainees being beaten with electric wire, raped by drug center staff, shocked with electric batons and coerced into giving blood. Some Cambodian families paid to send their relatives to the locked-down centers, where detainees undergo military-style drills to sweat out the drugs in their systems to "cure" their addiction, the report said.

According to government data, more than 2,300 people were detained in Cambodia's 11 drug detention centers in 2008, a 40 percent increase from a year earlier.

"The bottom line really is that these centers operate outside any judicial oversight and outside of any monitoring," said Joe Amon, director of Human Rights Watch's health and human rights division in the Thai capital, Bangkok. "We're sending a message that these centers need to be shut down."

Cambodian Brig. Gen. Roth Srieng, commander of the military police in Banteay Meanchy province, denied torture at his center but said some detainees were forced to stand in the sun or "walk like monkeys" as punishment for attempting to escape.

Cambodian officials from the National Authority for Combatting Drugs, Interior Ministry, National Police and Social Welfare Ministry declined to comment.

Amon said the centers that operate in several Asian countries do nothing to help detainees overcome drug addictions and the relapse rate upon release remains high.

About one-fourth of those detained at Cambodia's centers in 2008 were 18 years or younger, with 5 percent classified as "street children," according to government data.

These children - some as young as 10 - along with prostitutes, beggars, the homeless and the mentally ill, are often rounded up and taken to drug centers, the Human Rights Watch report said. Most detainees were not told why they were being held or given access to a lawyer, it said.

The report also said police demanded money or sex for release in some cases, and told some detainees they could leave early or would not be beaten if they donated blood.

The report relied on interviews from February to July 2009 with 74 informants, most of whom were drug addicts who had been through treatment in government centers.

The U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture was made aware of the allegations in 2008 and has addressed them in a report to Cambodia's government that will be published soon, said Claudia de la Fuente, an official with the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.


Read more!

Travel by Bamboo Trains in Cambodia – True Ingenuity!

By Stacey Irwin

Transportation plays a key role in the advancement of societies. Sumerians invented the wheel in 3500 BC to aid in the movement of heavy stone as they built their temples; Romans built a vast network of roads across their Empire so soldiers could march and conquer more efficiently; Egyptians built ships to access more markets for trade and later on, canals were constructed to give more passage. In the 1800s, America’s own Industrial Revolution was spurred on by expanded transportation including the Cumberland Road (now part of Interstate 40), the creation of the Steamboat, the opening of the Erie Canal and the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869.

In Cambodia, a country destroyed by years of civil war and the Khmer Rouge reign, transportation is a struggle. The French colonists created an intricate system of railroad lines to connect the plantations with their lucrative coffee and bananas to marketplaces. But these lines and trains fell to waste after the Khmer Rouge banned the “ordinary” people from using them. Now trains run infrequently in between the villages and the trips are long as break-downs and derailments are common. The Cambodian Government promise an upgrade to the system but little has been done. So, Cambodian villagers long ago took matters into their own hands and built the Bamboo Train.

Their choice of materials is an unusual combination of the strong and abundant bamboo that surrounds them and parts from abandoned military tanks. Described as a “bamboo slab on wheels,” these trains sprung up in the late 70s where they were controlled by a series of levers and hand-cast controls. They have since upgraded to wooden footbrakes and small motors that poured into the country, courtesy of the United Nations relief effort in the 1980s.

Simplicity is key for this train system. They use the existing railroad tracks and spurs to travel. When they meet another bamboo train on the tracks, whoever has the least passengers merely lifts their train off the track to let the other one by. They keep a sharp ear out for the infrequent freight trains that come through and when they reach their destination, they simply pick the train up and turn it around to head back.

These bamboo trains, or “Norries” as they are called by locals, provide a link between villages, a way to get produce and animals to the market, a way to get lumber to building sites and a means of income for many as rich tourists pay up to $2/day to ride them. In Cambodia, that can equal two months wages to most citizens. A local village has even turned into a “little Detroit” and builds up to 10 trains a month for sale and use. Not only are they building them, but they want to make them more beautiful to help encourage the tourists to ride them.

Necessity is the mother of invention and in a country that desperately needs (and wants) to rebuild itself, these bamboo trains are an ingenious solution.

Read more!

Justine Henin's path back to tennis

By JOCELYN GECKER
Associated Press Sports


MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -Justine Henin's travels through Congo and Cambodia didn't begin as a spiritual journey but ultimately set her on the path back to tennis.

Now that she has returned, Henin says she recalls images of those travels daily: the African baby who took her hand and wouldn't let go, the Congolese girl who pleaded, "Take me back with you to Belgium," the children who delighted at seeing their faces in her digital camera.

At 27, Henin speaks of her life as having a before and an after.

Her "first career" was what came before May 2008, when the seven-time Grand Slam winner jolted the tennis world by retiring while ranked No. 1.

And there's her "second career," which is off to a stunning start.

Henin advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, her second tournament out of retirement. She mesmerized the crowds with her sublime one-handed backhand - which John McEnroe has ranked among the best shots in the game - her amazing speed and endless determination.

There is little doubt, that she has a renewed passion for the sport, which she started as a child prodigy but was slowly suffocating her.

"I had so much inside me that I couldn't express because there was my tennis, and it took everything. It took everything out of me. I didn't know myself enough anymore," Henin said in an interview Monday on the eve of her quarterfinal against Russia's Nadia Petrova.

"I'm so happy that I stopped playing tennis two years ago," Henin said. "For me, these two years were the richest years in my existence, because I think it marked my passage to adulthood."

Indeed, Henin has changed and matured. She was always introspective and spoke from her heart but was also guarded and tense. She once described herself as "the oldest 24-year-old on the planet."

"Now I feel like a young 27," said Henin, who now offers eloquent self-analysis and is much quicker to smile.

Seated in the player's lounge at Melbourne Park, Henin spoke passionately in her native French about her work abroad as a UNICEF ambassador and other projects at home that included a reality TV show called, "The 12 Labors of Justine Henin," in which she undertook a different challenge for each episode.

"What interested me was the aspect of the challenge," she said. "It was to do things, nobody thought I could do. I did comedy, I sang, I played football with star Belgian football players."

"It's a paradox. I'm very timid and very reserved, but I chose a career that puts me in the spotlight," she laughed. "So there must be a part of me that needs that. It's about finding equilibrium."

Henin spent a week in war-ravaged eastern Congo last January with UNICEF and a week in rural Cambodia in August for a vaccination campaign for mothers and babies.

In Congo, she showered with cold water and had to abide by a 10 p.m. curfew for security reasons.

Nobody knew her there, and she loved the anonymity.

She visited camps where child soldiers waited to find their families, she observed treatment of malnourished children and met victims of violent rape. She was startled to see the shattered lives of 28,000 people in a refugee camp where "the hygiene was catastrophic."

"One day I was in the car driving back to the hotel and I missed home very much. I felt like I was on another planet, and I sat there crying," Henin said. "It was the strongest thing I have ever lived, this encounter with misery and difficulty but also with dignity - because these people remained so dignified. The children were still smiling. The women were so courageous."

"I don't think I ever experienced anything more important, anything that marked me like that in the past," she added. "And it allowed me to get my feet back on the ground, to confront very difficult, very complicated things."

Henin lost her mother to cancer at the age of 12. She dedicated her first French Open title in 2003 to her mother, who had brought a 10-year-old Justine to Roland Garros to watch a tennis match in person for the first time.

She went on to win the French Open three more times, the U.S. Open twice and the Australian Open in 2004. But she endured injuries and, in 2007, the end of her five-year marriage. After years of being estranged from her father and siblings, she reunited with her family in 2008.

When Henin quit tennis, it was a clean break. She says she didn't pick up a racket for more than a year and didn't watch any tennis on TV for months.

Slowly, the spark returned. She realized she missed tennis and competing and that happiness could coexist with tennis.

She has said she was inspired by Roger Federer's triumph at last year's French Open. Like Henin, the Swiss star needed one more title to complete his Grand Slam collection. In Henin's case, it is Wimbledon.

"Of course, it would be a dream come true to win all the Grand Slams," said Henin, who has demonstrated new aggressiveness at the net that she says is what she needs to improve her game on grass. "But I'm just going step by step, it's still early."

She was also inspired by the comeback of fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters, who returned after two years off to get married and have a baby and won last year's U.S. Open.

Clijsters was upset in the third round in Melbourne by Petrova, who will now face Henin in the quarterfinals.

Petrova and many other players have applauded Henin's return, saying she and Clijsters have reinvigorated women's tennis.

"She was too young to retire," said Petrova. "She realized there is still a lot of unfinished business."


Read more!

Costello pushes USD$600 mil investment in Cambodia

Australia's former Treasurer Peter Costello left parliament four months ago and now is hard at work in Cambodia. Mr Costello is acting as a financial adviser to an investment fund that's planning a 600-million dollar project. If successful it will be the biggest single foreign investment in Cambodia to date, roughly equalling the total approved investment in the country last year.

Presenter: Karon Snowdon
Speaker: Peter Costello, former Australian treasurer

SNOWDON: Peter Costello was Australia's longest Treasurer, holding the post for the 11 years of the Howard Government. Mr Costello resigned from Parliament in October having spent two years in opposition after the Liberal party lost the 2007 federal election.

In November he joined the Australian company BKK Partners, which provides financial and corporate advisory services in the Asia Pacific region. His client in Cambodia is Indochina Gateway Capital Limited, which focuses on private equity investments in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Its hoping to develop an agri-business fund to focus on Cambodia's agriculture.

Peter Costello told Steve Finch of the Phnom Penh Post newspaper he's in the country to meet with government officials.

COSTELLO: The proposal is that the investment would be in rice, sugar, bananas. That other investors would put together a sizeable sum that would bring the best of Australian technology to the agriculture sector and export state of the art agriculture production to markets outside Cambodia. Its a very large scale investment. We're looking at 600 million [US dollars].

SNOWDON: Mr Costello says Australian technology and know-how will benefit Cambodia.

COSTELLO: Australia is one of the world's major agricultural producers. And that technology, if it were brought into a country like Cambodia, would lift productivity enormously.

SNOWDON: And he believes there are potentially good returns for investors.

COSTELLO: Personally I think agriculture is going to be a great industry for investment. We have seen a spike in food prices in 2008. So I think agriculture is going to come back into its own as an investment in the decades that lie ahead and of course that's a great opportunity for Cambodia. Countries that have natural advantage in agriculture should make the most of them. I think it'll be good for Cambodia, I think it'll be good for Australia by the way. I think its a natural fit.

SNOWDON: The Cambodian Government has made agricultural development its main priority for achieving higher growth and poverty reduction. Around 80 per cent of the population lives in rural areas and in poverty, dependent on agriculture, mainly rice.

According to the Phnom Penh Post, the scale of the IndoChina Gateway project is bigger than anything previously seen in Cambodia. If the fund raised its target of USD$600 million, it would be more than the total of all domestic and foreign investment in the country in 2009. Last year saw a big improvement though - investors are looking at Cambodia with fresh ideas.

But Peter Costello says there's still a long way to go to reassure investors who need a better legal system, business regulation, and straightforward anti-corruption measures.

COSTELLO: There's a reason why we should be against corruption. Eventually corruption undermines development. People who think you can develop an economy and turn a blind eye to corruption are wrong. Really the first thing you need for development is certainty and security for investment and corruption undermines and corrodes that. Read more!

Khmer and Thai troops clash at border near temple

By Deutsche Presse Agentur


Phnom Penh - Cambodian and Thai soldiers exchanged fire early Sunday 20 kilometres from a disputed ancient temple site on Cambodia's northern border, a Defence Ministry spokesman said.

General Chhum Socheat told the German Press Agency dpa that the clash occurred on the morning that Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong was visiting the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple.

Chhum Socheat said Thai soldiers had crossed 200 metres into Cambodian territory near an abandoned village 20 kilometres from the temple when they encountered Cambodian soldiers.

"When they saw our soldiers they shot at them, and after (our soldiers) shot back there was no more fighting," he said, adding that the Thai troops subsequently withdrew.

Chhum Socheat said none of the Cambodian soldiers were injured or killed, but he had no information on whether Thai troops had suffered casualties.

He said he did not expect further fighting since senior officers on both sides had since spoken with each other.

"Now it's quiet, they solved the problem by telephone," he said.

Late Sunday the Foreign Ministry said Hor Namhong was unaware during his visit that the clash had taken place, and had since returned to Phnom Penh.

The relationship between the two nations has been tense for more than a year with sporadic clashes between troops near the disputed area surrounding the temple. Much of the border between the two countries has yet to be demarcated.

Diplomatic relations worsened markedly in October when Cambodia appointed Thailand's fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra as a government adviser.

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LEAD: Cambodia, Thai troops exchange fire near disputed border area+

BANGKOK/PHNOM PENH, Jan. 24 (AP) - (Kyodo)—(EDS: ADDING BANGKOK TO DATELINE, INFO FROM THAI MILITARY SOURCE)

Cambodian and Thai troops exchanged brief fire Sunday morning near the disputed area of Preah Vihear Temple but there were no casualties, a Cambodian military official and a Thai military source said.

There were, however, conflicting reports about how the firefight occurred, reportedly at 9:15 a.m. at Choam Te, some 20 kilometers east of Preah Vihear Temple.

According to the Thai military source, the incident occurred while Thai troops were patrolling in the border area to look for illegal logging and they met Cambodian soldiers by accident.

The source said the Thai soldiers were told by Cambodian soldiers to put down their weapons and they refused.

"When we refused to put down the guns, they (Cambodian soldiers) started opening fire on us and we fired back...for around 20 minutes," the source said.

In Phnom Penh, Gen. Chhum Socheat, spokesman for Cambodia's National Defense Ministry, told Kyodo News that Thai troops fired at Cambodian troops patrolling in the area, and Cambodian troops returned fire immediately afterward.

Cambodian officials said the incident took place as Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong visited Preah Vihear Temple on Sunday to inspect the border situation and presented foodstuff to Cambodian soldiers based near the border area.

Since the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand began in 2008, there have been two rounds of military clashes, which left several people dead or injured on both sides.

The dispute erupted after Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple was listed as a World Heritage site by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

The dispute apparently stems partly from conflicting border maps.


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Cambodia police bust paedophile ring

Police in Cambodia have arrested two locals and a US man after smashing a seven-year pedophile ring offering underage "virgin" girls to tourists for $US3,000 ($A3,327) a night, they say.

Taxi driver Mey Sovann, 36, and his female accomplice Sek Vy, 47, were arrested on Friday for providing underage girls for sexual services, said Bith Kimhong, head of Cambodia's anti-human trafficking unit, on Sunday.

A six-month investigation, aided by the French Police's International Technical Co-operation Delegation (SCTIP), found that since 2003, Mey Sovann had advertised underage virgin girls on the Internet for $US3,000 ($A3,327) a night.

He would pick up customers from Phnom Penh airport and show them pictures, before taking them to meet the girls at a guesthouse owned by Sek Vy, according to an officer from SCTIP's Cambodia office, who asked not to be named.

Mey Sovann was arrested by undercover police at the airport in possession of the underage girls' photographs, while Sek Vy was arrested at her guesthouse in Kandal province, about 20km south of Phnom Penh.

American Carl Craig Thomas, 58, was also arrested on Saturday in the capital for sexually abusing three underage girls provided by the Cambodian pair, and for child pornography pictures he took at the guesthouse, Bith Kimhong said.

"We have arrested the man and the woman who provided underage girls. During the investigation, we found they were providing three underage girls to the US man too," Bith Kimhong told AFP.

"Now we are investigating the case further to see if they have a wider network," he added.

Cambodia has struggled to shed its reputation as a haven for pedophiles, putting dozens of foreigners in jail for child sex crimes or deporting them to face trial in their home countries since 2003.

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Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sign separation papers: report

By John Harlow

Hollywood golden couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have signed papers paving the way for a legal separation with joint custody of their six children, The Sunday Times in London reported Sunday.

The couple, known as Brangelina, have been together since shooting the thriller Mr and Mrs Smith five years ago.

They are said to have agreed that the children will live with Jolie.

The couple are not married - having said they would marry only when American homosexuals were also able to wed.

Even so, documents were filed with a Los Angeles lawyer earlier this month to help with a smooth separation, unnamed sources told the News of the World newspaper.
Pitt and Jolie will keep all the money they have earned, which Forbes estimates at more than US$100 million each.

Pitt, 46, will have full access to their three biological children, Shiloh and the twins Knox and Vivienne, as well as three adopted children, Maddox, from Cambodia, Zahara, from Ethiopia, and Pax, from Vietnam. All have the surname Jolie-Pitt.

On Saturday, associates of both actors declined to comment, one saying it was a "private matter".

The News of the World says the lawyers, based in Beverly Hills, have cleared the path for an announcement that has been the subject of rumors for many months.

Last week, National Enquirer magazine carried a story that Pitt and Jolie had a final explosive row at a New York restaurant called the Alto on January 6.

It claimed that Pitt staged the six-hour dinner as an intervention to persuade Jolie, 34, to get psychiatric help.

It alleged that she had suffered depression since the death of her mother from ovarian cancer three years ago, since when Jolie's weight has dropped dramatically. It also claimed she had made a suicide attempt.

The magazine said that after that stormy night, the couple agreed their relationship was over and "their focus is now on making a smooth transition for their children".

Pitt and Jennifer Aniston, 40, his former wife, were seen backstage together at the Haiti telethon in Los Angeles on Friday while Jolie was in New York promoting her next film, Salt.

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Save the tiger: Pressure mounts for tougher action

HUAI KHA KHEANG WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, Thailand (AP) — After trudging through the wilds of western Thailand for several hours, the forest rangers thought they were finally onto something: the distant sound of crunching leaves.

Automatic weapons drawn, the five Thais crept forward, hoping to catch a tiger poacher. It turned out to be a banteng, a wild cow, which disappeared into the woods.

But all in all, the absence of illegal hunters was good news, said ranger Sakchai Tessri. "When we passed before, we would always run into poachers." Now he felt their room for maneuver was narrowing.

"In the old days," he said, "they would spend many nights in the forest for poaching. Now they just come in, shoot, grab and go quickly."

The 6,400-square-kilometer (2,500-square-mile) Huai Kha Kheang and Thung Yai Wildlife Sanctuaries on the Myanmar border represent a rare success in the struggle to save the world's dwindling tiger population.

Funded by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society, the increased patrols, armed with the latest technology, have scared off poachers and helped stabilize the tiger population of more than 100, along with animals such as the banteng which they prey on.

Elsewhere, tigers are in critical decline because of human encroachment, the loss of more than nine-tenths of their habitat and the growing trade in tiger skins and body parts. From an estimated 100,000 at the beginning of the 20th century, the number today ranges between 3,200 to 3,600, most of them in Asia and Russia.

Now hopes are rising that 2010 will see a turning point.

Ministers from the 13 countries with tiger populations will hold a first-ever meeting Wednesday through Friday in Hua Hin, Thailand to write an action plan for a tiger summit in September in Russia, where Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been championing the survival of the tiger.

The purpose of this week's meeting is to elicit promises of more money for conservation and to persuade countries to set tiger population targets. It is being organized by the Global Tiger Initiative, a coalition formed in 2008 by the World Bank, the Smithsonian Institute and nearly 40 conservation groups. It aims to double tiger numbers by 2020.

"The bleeding continues," said the World Bank's Keshav Varma, the initiative's program director. "I'm not sure if these poachers are feeling the heat of regional and global and national action. They seem to be operating rather freely."

David Smith, a tiger expert at the University of Minnesota who will attend the meeting, says action "has got to be now. We are at that critical stage."

But at least one skeptical activist is skipping the meeting.

"All we have gotten from ministers and heads of state is rhetoric," said zoologist Alan Rabinowitz, president of Panthera, a New York City group that works to conserve the 36 species of cats. "Putin loves tigers but (Siberian) tiger numbers are plummeting in the Russian Far East."

The Wildlife Conservation Society estimates the number of Russian tigers in the wild at 300 — down from a 2005 estimate of 500.

Past efforts in tiger countries have been dogged by a lack of financing, poor coordination among conservation groups and weak government response.

India acknowledged in 2005 that Sariska National Park, a premier tiger reserve, had lost all of its big cats to poachers, who cash in on a huge market for tiger skins and a belief, prevalent in east Asia, that tiger parts enhance health and virility.

Poaching could undermine Malaysia's goal of doubling its tiger population to 1,000 by 2020, and tigers could go extinct in China in the next 30 years, the World Wildlife Fund has warned. Populations have also crashed in Cambodia and Vietnam.

Environmentalists say governments need to overhaul their protection of sanctuaries, involve local communities more deeply in their conservation efforts, and protect critical habitat from the encroachment of roads, bridges and dams.

Park patrols are often outgunned by poaching gangs, underpaid and vulnerable to bribes.

Smith said countries are starting to invest more in patrols and that the successful methods from Thailand's Huai Kha Kheang and Thung Yai reserves are being introduced in Laos, Cambodia, Nepal and Bangladesh.

The two sanctuaries are patrolled by 300 rangers

Dubbed Smart Patrols, they are equipped with guns and uniforms, digital cameras and GPS devices, and a detailed form for listing signs of poachers, tigers and prey.

Instead of just patrolling a park's perimeter, the Thai rangers trek through forest and mountains for up to five days. The data they gather go into a computer so trends can be detected to guide rangers on the next patrol.

Campfires, gunshots, shell cases, snares and other evidence of poaching have fallen by 80 percent in the past five years, said Anak Pattanavibool, the Thailand director for the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Poachers still enter the park — one was nabbed this month — but Anak said they remain at the periphery, no longer build camps and rarely stay longer than a few hours.

That's a remarkable turnaround for a time when gunfights with poachers were routine. Monuments honor four rangers killed in the line of duty 15 years ago.

The recent visit to the Huai Kha Kheang reserve revealed an ecosystem on the mend —fresh tiger tracks on a muddy river bank, and sightings of a panther, scores of deer, wild pig, jackal and a lone fish owl.

Conservationists say patrols alone are not enough — that institutions must look at the big picture of humanity and wildlife in growing confrontation.

Indian scientist K. Ullas Karanth, a tiger expert, says World Bank infrastructure projects "have been among the most damaging for tigers in Asia," and ways must be found of "separating people from breeding tigers" by drawing communities out of wildlife areas with offers of jobs and free land.

The World Bank's Varma said his organization is looking harder at development projects that split up tiger habitats.

"That is a huge change," he said. "It's a new beginning and acceptance we have made mistakes in the past."

___

The 13 countries which have wild tigers, and which will attend this week's meeting, are Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.

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Vietnam offers 120 scholarships to Cambodian students

Vietnam will provide 120 scholarships each year to Cambodian students majoring in agriculture, healthcare, and information technology from now to 2015, said Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan.

Deputy PM Nhan, who is also Minister of Education and Training (MOET), made the announcement at his talks with Cambodian Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Im Sethi, in Phnom Penh on January 22.

He also suggested organising workshops on education and training to share experiences and provide mutual assistance.

During the talks, both sides agreed to foster cooperation in education during the 2010-2020 period and they were unanimous about developing an annual plan and promoting exchanges of information, to improve the management of students.

The two sides discussed the Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam cooperation framework, under which Vietnam will continue to provide 20 scholarships for Cambodian personnel and students to study in Vietnam, commencing with the 2009-2010 academic year.

Deputy PM Nhan took this opportunity to announce that Vietnam will build a senior secondary school for the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh as a token of the Vietnam-Cambodia friendship.
Minister Im Sethi thanked the Vietnamese Government and people for their assistance in education and training, especially with the construction of boarding schools in Cambodia’s north-eastern provinces.

Aproximately 100 Cambodian students travel to Vietnam to study tertiary and postgraduate levels each year and in the 2009-2010 academic year, the Vietnam MOET received 116 Cambodian students.

During his two-day working visit to Cambodia that ended on January 22, the Deputy PM also met with Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen, and toured the Norodom and Sisovat High Schools and the Royal University in Phnom Penh.

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Summit County philanthropist departs for Cambodia to support firefighters

By Robert Allen


SUMMIT COUNTY — A local man departs for Cambodia next month on one of many philanthropic trips to support firefighting services in the impoverished nation.

“The people are just so friendly, caring and giving,” Doug Mendel said, adding that they're “spiritually rich” and “materialistically poor.”

He'll leave Feb. 12 on his 16th trip to the Cambodia, where he'll distribute goods that have already set sail for the South East Asian country. Mendel has run The Douglas Mendel Cambodian Relief Fund since 2003; it has been a nonprofit since 2005.

He most recently collected goods donated by Colorado fire stations and shipped a 20-foot container with 100 sets of bunker gear, 115 helmets, 5,000 feet of fire hose, 200 pair of firefighting pants and more on Jan. 13.

The ship is expected to arrive in the country Feb. 8. It was insured for $110,000.

Three firefighters from Denver International Airport are traveling with Mendel to help train about 25 Cambodian firefighters in Phnom Penh, the nation's capitol.

Mendel said he hopes the firefighters will begin making regular trips to the country.

Cambodia has about 14 million people divided among about 25 provinces — each with only about one fire station.

Phnom Penh (pop. 2 million) has about 90 firefighters and 12 trucks “to protect the whole capital,” Mendel said.

He is trying to raise $25,000 to $30,000 for a fire station in the remote Ratanakiri Province, to which a fire truck was donated in 2007. He's raised about $15,000 so far.

In 2006, an old fire engine from the Breckenridge's Red, White and Blue Fire District was donated to Sihanoukville.

Mendel is packing several donated toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste among other items to distribute to the Cambodian people.

His relief fund's objectives also include supporting organizations that care for disadvantaged children and disabled adults, and assisting Cambodia's national parks.

Mendel lived in Summit County from 1991 to 2006. He moved to Moab, Utah and also lived in Montrose before moving to Silverthorne, where he now resides.

He sells Cambodian crafts, such as purses, through local vendors including the Next Page Bookstore in Frisco.

Robert Allen can be contacted at (970) 668-4628 or rallen@summitdaily.com.

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13 years of working to ensure that the Khmer Rouge trials belong to Cambodians

By Youk Chhang — Special to GlobalPost

Published: January 23, 2010 10:12 ETPHNOM PENH, Cambodia — During the Khmer Rouge period from April 17, 1975, to Jan. 7, 1979, Cambodians walked constantly. They walked from the cities to the countryside, from their villages to distant provinces, and from the rice fields to the battlefields. After Jan. 7, 1979, the survivors of our country's genocide walked again; this time back to their homes.

In 1997, Cambodians began another journey: the journey to seek justice for crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge. And today, 31 years after the Khmer Rouge regime fell, we are taking a giant step along the road to justice.

On Feb. 6, 2006, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) — commonly referred to as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT) — officially began setting up offices at the military barracks outside of Phnom Penh. The first trial, Case 001, began on March 30, 2009, two years behind schedule. The case opened with the defendant, former head of S-21 prison Duch (Kaing Geuk Eav), apologizing to victims and accepting responsibility, but ended shockingly however on Nov. 27, 2009, with Duch rejecting responsibility on jurisdictional grounds because he was not a "senior Khmer Rouge leader or those most responsible" as stated in the Khmer Rouge Tribunal Law. The judgment of Duch will be delivered this March.

In late 2010 or early 2011, the most important Khmer Rouge trial will begin. Case 002 will try the highest level Khmer Rouge leaders still alive today: Noun Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith. This trial will be a crucial moment in Cambodia's road to justice because the evidences and analyses brought forth will provide answers to many fundamental questions about the Khmer Rouge regime that survivors had wondered for more than three decades.

The United Nations, Cambodia and several other countries have worked for many years to help us see justice delivered. The United Nations and national governments raised much of the initial $56 million budget for the KRT and stepped in during budgetary shortfalls in late 2008.

These governments have also generously funded many Cambodian human rights and international NGOs that support and monitor the trial process by helping victims file complaints of Khmer Rouge atrocities to the court, observing and reporting on the activities of the Cambodian government and United Nations, providing counseling to those who suffered during Democratic Kampuchea and other activities.

Perhaps the most important way that NGOs can help is to work with the Extraordinary Chambers and each other to ensure that the public is informed about the trials and involved in them.

These trials are about seeking justice for victims of the Khmer Rouge regime. These are your trials, Cambodians, and without your participation in them, we will not be able to judge whether the trials are fair, of high standards, and accessible to all.

But how can the people of Cambodia participate in the trials? They are far away and it is expensive to travel to Phnom Penh. Many NGOs in Cambodia are working to make certain that people can read about the trials through magazines and other written materials that are delivered to sub-district and district offices across the country. Others will broadcast news on the radio, and the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) is working with TVK and other stations to produce television programs that will help educate people about the Extraordinary Chambers.

In the past few years, DC-Cam has also implemented a project, called the Living Documents Project, which brought up to 500 villagers every month from across Cambodia to Phnom Penh to visit genocide memorial sites and meet with officials at the KRT courtroom. Phase two of the Living Documents Project began in early 2009, and allowed victims to directly attend Duch's trial hearing, participate in KRT educational workshops and view Khmer Rouge-related videos.

Villagers returned home afterward to share their experiences with community members during village forums, so that Cambodians have the opportunity to learn about the trials from people like themselves, in addition to tribunal officials and NGO staff. All of these activities have helped villagers understand how the trials work and to become familiar with the tribunal process. For Case 002, DC-Cam will increase its activities and outreach efforts given the significance of this trial.

All of us want to see trials that are fair and just, and for the Cambodian people to participate in them without fear of intimidation or uncertainty. Learning about the tribunal from the written word, radio and television, and from family, friends and neighbors will help you see that justice can work in Cambodia and that building a more just future for our children can become a reality.

Youk Chhang is the director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia. This month marks the 10th anniversary of the publishing of DC-Cam Genocide Magazine: "Searching for the Truth." With the ministries of Interior and Information, DC-Cam has distributed 1.5 million copies of the magazine to the villagers within Cambodia. DC-Cam is 13 years old. Read more!

Alex Chin proves his mastery of pan-Asian food at Suzie Wong

remember when the concept of pan-Asian hit Cincinnati. Pacific Moon in Montgomery first offered dishes from various Asian cuisines -Thai, Chinese and Japanese - all on the same menu.

Now there's even more to explore as Vietnamese has become more familiar, there's a lot of interest in Korean food, and people are ready to try Malaysian and Cambodian.

Suzie Wong, newly open in East Walnut Hills, offers these newer adventures. With a smartly selected group of dishes from all corners of East and Southeast Asia, you can find something new. Not surprisingly, you'll also find Alex Chin, who was behind that first Pacific Moon menu. He is running Suzie Wong for a Chicago Chinese restaurant group.

Suzie took over the former location of Seny at DeSales Corner. Painted red, fronted by a wall of windows, it's a modern, stylish dining room. A glittery painting of a Chinese robe decorates one wall, the tableware is modern, the feeling chic.

Appetizers come in three categories: warm, cold and group. My husband and I decided we qualified as a group, and ordered two appetizers really meant to be shared by a table of people. We polished them off easily, though.

The dish I'll remember, and no doubt recommend many times, was the Cambodian carpaccio ($11.95). Slices of raw beef filet are topped with a mouth-exploding combination of flavors: tart with lime, fresh with basil, spicy, and salty, you will fight over it. Calamari ($5.95) in a thick, crisp coating with pomegranate sauce was equally hard to stop eating.

Most of the entrées are served to be eaten by one person. That worked out well for me when I ordered the green Bangkok curry served in a coconut shell ($13.95). It swam in a moderately spicy sauce, silky in both texture and taste. They use fresh coconut milk for the dish, not canned, according to Chin, and that's why it feels so light.

But when I ordered the Thai pomegranate chicken ($12.95), I encouraged sharing. It was really the only dish I didn't like, overloaded with a heavy sweet sauce splashed around not as decorative as the cook intended.

The Korean noodle bowl, jan chi guksu ($8.95) was spicy with kimchee and filled with "glass noodles", those transparent rice noodles that are the most slippery substance ever invented, and topped with a fried egg. Nothing better on a cold night - it even beats the delicious pho, ($8.95) with a rich, beefy broth, served with a veritable salad of basil, bean sprouts, lime and peppers.

There's no dessert, but the sensational kalbi ($15.95), Korean beef ribs coated with a rich, sweet sauce served on a sizzling plate, could have substituted.

Service was good, and Chin is a hard worker. Nevertheless, if we had played a drinking game, taking a sip every time any of our servers said "you guys," we would have left plastered.

But we would have had to bring our bottle. They don't have a liquor license yet. But they do deliver in the neighborhood, and I know if I lived nearby, I'd put Suzie on my speed-dial.

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Cambodia Labor Union Issues Strike Warning

Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- Cambodia's largest labor union warned Friday that it would launch a nationwide strike unless authorities arrest those responsible for the killing of their prominent leader six-years ago.

Chea Vichea, 36, founder and president of Free Trade Union of Workers, was fatally shot in front of a newsstand in the capital Phnom Penh on Jan. 22, 2004. He was known for his outspoken efforts to organize garment workers and improve working conditions in Cambodia.

Two men were convicted in the deaths and sentenced to 20-year prison terms, but many people believed they were framed for the crime and the country's Supreme Court has ordered a retrial.

Chea Mony, the slain leader's brother and current leader of the union, marked the sixth anniversary of the killing by leading a march of nearly 100 workers and a dozen opposition legislators to the spot where the shooting took place. The march was held under heavy security but was peaceful and no one was arrested.

"Today, I wish to send a message to the government that it is time to arrest the real murderers," Chea Mony said. "If the government continues to ignore our appeals, then we will hold a one-week, nationwide strike," he said, adding it would come some time this year.

In December 2008, Cambodia's highest court provisionally released the two men convicted in the Chea Vichea killing Born Samnang, 24, and Sok Sam Oeun, 36, and ordered further investigation in preparation for their retrial.

The court did not give a reason, but the decision came after widespread protests over the convictions.

The Cambodian government, meanwhile, denounced a critical report by Human Rights Watch released this week.

The New York-based rights group said in its annual World Report that "the government misused the judiciary to silence government critics, attacked human rights defenders, tightened restrictions on press freedom, and abandoned its international obligations to protect refugees."

"Cambodians who speak out to defend their homes, their jobs, and their rights face threats, jail, and physical attacks," said Brad Adams, director of its Asia division.

Responding to the report, Cabinet spokesman Phay Siphan said Friday that Cambodia's human rights situation is improving every year thanks to government efforts. "That report sings the same old song and is not a truly scientific report," he said.


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East Turkestan: Cambodia's deportations ordered by China

The deportation of 20 Uighur asylum seekers to China from Cambodia is a sign of China’s influence over its neighbor.

After decades of isolation due to genocide and political conflict, Cambodia has integrated with regional groups like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and adopted a free market system. However, the right to movement in the country is still restricted and issues related to refugees and migrants are highly politicized. The deportation of 20 Uighur asylum seekers to China in December last year reveals the implications and challenges that face Cambodia.

Although many Cambodian refugees who survived the brutal Khmer Rouge regime were resettled in other countries thanks to the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, which is a legally binding treaty and a milestone in international refugee law, the Cambodian government, which is a signatory to the convention, ignored it in deporting the Uighurs. It has therefore violated its legal and humanitarian responsibilities. Ethnic tensions between the Uighurs and China’s majority Han people in China’s northwest province of Xinjiang resulted in nearly 200 deaths and 1,600 injured in a July riot last year. Subsequently, hundreds of Uighurs were detained and many executed for their involvement in the riots.

According to Human Rights Watch, at least 43 Uighurs disappeared while 22 entered Cambodia with the hope of seeking asylum to flee persecution in China. Despite appeals from human rights activists and the international community, the Cambodian government, which previously had claimed it would cooperate with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees to provide asylum, promptly deported the Uighurs the day before Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visited Cambodia.

This clearly indicates China’s strong political influence on the Cambodian government, which allegedly received a package of grants and loans worth approximately US$1 billion for deporting the Uighurs.

In addition, irregularities in the application of Cambodian laws were also evident in the deportation process. Two days prior to the deportation, a new decree signed by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was issued making the processing of asylum cases the sole responsibility of the Ministry of Interior.

Although the government denied that the passage of this item, which was being drafted for more than six months, was not relevant to the Uighurs’ deportation, it seemed more than pure coincidence. Furthermore, the deportation process was completed in a hurried manner on a late Saturday night when government officials do not work.

The government later justified its action by claiming that the deportation was based on immigration laws and that the Uighurs had illegally entered the country without valid passports or visas. If that is the case, then the government has failed to tackle the many cases of illegal migrants from Vietnam. That the deportation of the Uighurs from Cambodia was influenced by China is evident from the remarks of its Foreign Ministry, which said at a press conference, “China’s stance is very clear. The international refugee protection system should not become a shelter where criminals stay to escape legal punishment.” If the Cambodian government stands by China’s remarks, then why has it not deported former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is an economic adviser to the Cambodian government, despite repeated requests from the Thai government?

Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 military coup and faces a minimum two-year jail term for corruption, according to the Thai government. But the Cambodian government says that Thaksin’s conviction is politically motivated and that the extradition treaty between the two nations allows either party to deny extradition in cases of “political offenses,” among others. But Cambodia is not the only country where deportation cases are politicized. Thailand has also been criticized for abusing the refugee convention following its late December deportation of an estimated 4,000 ethnic Hmong asylum seekers back to Laos where they face persecution.

Historically, the Hmong people supported the United States during the Vietnam War when the conflict spread to Laos. After the war ended and the communists resumed power in 1975, thousands fled to neighboring Thailand. The Thai government has repeatedly ignored accusations of alleged killings of Cambodian loggers who illegally cross the border and stray into the forests of Thailand. In addition, it has also denied the abuse of refugees from Myanmar who were turned back to sea and left to perish without food and water. Immigration laws have also been politicized in the United States. Several of its immigration laws in the past 20 years were introduced during periodic episodes of anti-migrant hysteria and have been a major political issue during presidential election campaigns.

For example, the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which applied retroactively to those convicted of deportable offenses, including some who had committed minor offences decades ago, was signed under former President Bill Clinton’s administration in September, shortly before elections in November that year. Previously, immediate deportation was enacted only for offences that led to five years or more in jail. This included crimes such as murder, terrorism or threatening the president. However, the 1996 law expanded the scope of crimes meriting deportation to include even minor crimes such as shoplifting. Moreover, the act stripped judges of nearly all discretion in determining whether permanent residents should be deported. There are limits on litigation that prevent individuals or groups from suing the government or appealing decisions by the Immigration Department or lower courts.

Under the expansion of this law together with the 2002 extradition agreement between the United States and Cambodia, signed after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 200 Cambodian refugees were deported by November 2008 and roughly 2,000 are waiting to be deported. Beyond the unconstitutional law provision, the deportation has been done without any consideration on the impact of the deportees’ livelihood and their families. In a nutshell, many states have abused the rights of migrants and refugees for political benefit despite being signatories to the U.N. refugee convention.

These ongoing violations are a signal to the international community to seek a more effective mechanism and willingness from governments to respect the rights of refugees instead of misusing them for political gain.

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Confucius Institute opens Chinese-language class in Cambodia

Students listen during a Chinese lesson at the Confucius Institute of the Royal Academy of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, Jan. 21, 2010. (Xinhua/Lei Bosong)

The Confucius Institute of the Royal Academy of Cambodia held a ceremony Thursday to celebrate the opening of its first Chinese-language class and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Zhang Jinfeng gave the first lecture titled "the History of Chinese and Cambodian Relationship."

The first class has 50 students from various ministries of the government, including the Council of Ministers, ministries of interior, defense, education and information, as well as some universities in the country.

Dr. Khlot Thyda, rector of the Royal Academy of Cambodia and the Confucius Institute, said that "the opening of its first Chinese-language class is of great significance for both sides, especially the big chance for our government officials to study and understand Chinese culture, as well as to promote the exchange of culture between the two countries."

The Confucius Institute in Cambodia, established on Dec. 22, 2009, was jointly run by the Royal Academy of Cambodia and China's Jiujiang University in Jiangxi Province.

On Dec. 22, 2009, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping unveiled the first Confucius Institute in Cambodia during his visit in Phnom Penh.

Zhang Jinfeng said that China and Cambodia have over 2,000 years of history of friendly exchanges. Since ancient times, China and Cambodia have learn from each other, and have made important contributions to the development and prosperity of oriental culture.

She also recalled the history that in 1955, Premier Zhou Enlai met with Norodom Sihanouk at the Bandung Conference that opened a new chapter in Sino-Cambodian relations.

In her nearly two-hour long lecture, Zhang said that at present, China and Cambodia have established comprehensive cooperative partnership and the two countries have a high degree of political trust and mutually beneficial economic cooperation in various fields, which she said, will be sure to achieve fruitful results, bringing the two peoples tangible benefits.

"I'm very glad to be a student of the first class of the Confucius Institute and listened the lecture given by the Ambassador Zhang," Long Chan Davy told Xinhua with exciting, adding that "I hope to learn more about China to promote the exchange of the culture of the two countries." She also expressed her hope that more and more Cambodians could come here to study Chinese culture.

Sok Chankrissna, student from a university, said that he wants to learn Chinese language "because Chinese language has become the one of the most vital languages in the world. So, more and more people want to grasp it."

"Cambodia and China have long history of friendship, and our Royal Government always pays a great attention to strengthen and develop the traditionally relations between our two countries," said Mam Chheang, student from government sector, adding "as a government official, I think it is very necessary to learn Chinese language to contribute to promoting and deepening the Cambodia and China friendship relations," he added.

The institute, which is the first in Cambodia, will offer a series of Chinese language programs to Cambodian learners and also offer training programs to Chinese language teachers here in the future, according to Wang Xianmiao, rector of the institute for the Chinese side.

Source: Xinhua

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Thai fugitive ex-premier Thaksin ends third Cambodia visit - Summary

Phnom Penh - Thailand's fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra left Cambodia for Dubai Thursday afternoon following an overnight visit, Cambodian government spokesman Prak Sokhon said. The visit was Thaksin's third to the Cambodian capital since being named an economic adviser to the government there in October, a move that put further strains on the already tense relationship between Thailand and Cambodia.

Prak Sokhon said he did not know whether Thaksin had met members of Puea Thai, the opposition political party in Thailand with which he is linked, during his stay.

On previous visits to Cambodia Thaksin met his political supporters from Thailand, who have vowed to escalate anti-government protests there.

Describing Thaksin's stay in Cambodia as "a stopover" en route to Dubai, Prak Sokhon said the former premier had not discussed the economy with government officials or with Prime Minister Hun Sen, with whom he dined Wednesday evening.

"When politicians meet politicians, they talk about politics," he said.

The visit was unlikely to improve ties between Thailand and Cambodia, which remain at their lowest level in years.

Cambodia appointed Thaksin, who has a two-year jail sentence still to serve in Thailand for abuse of power, as an economic adviser to the government and to Hun Sen.

Those appointments and Phnom Penh's refusal to extradite Thaksin outraged Bangkok and saw both countries withdraw their ambassadors and senior embassy staff. The ambassadors have yet to return.

This month, the Cambodian government rejected a demand by Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya that Phnom Penh dismiss Thaksin as an adviser before relations between the two countries could improve.

Bangkok considers the appointment of Thaksin, the de facto opposition leader, as interference in its internal politics.

Thaksin was prime minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006 before being toppled in a bloodless coup. He fled the country and has lived in self-imposed exile, mostly in Dubai, since August 2008.

The relationship between the two neighbours has been tense for more than a year with a number of clashes reported between their troops over a disputed piece of land near the 11th-century Preah Vihear border temple in northern Cambodia.

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Cambodia's Minority Languages Face Bleak Future

The United Nations' cultural agency UNESCO warns that 19 Cambodian languages are at risk of extinction

More than 20 languages are spoken in Cambodia, but most are minority languages and face extinction in the coming decades.

Jean-Michel Filippi is in a race. As the foremost scholar of S'aoch, the language of one of Cambodia's minority tribes, he has only a few years to record the language before it may be lost forever. To date he has recorded 4,000 words in S'aoch. His next step is to write a grammar book on the language.

Filippi says just 10 people are fluent in S'aoch and none uses the language in their daily life. That makes S'aoch the most endangered language in Cambodia. In a decade it will likely be extinct.

For him, recording the language is one way to preserve a cultural view of the world.

"Culturally speaking a language is a unique vision of the world," Filippi said. "You can take two languages which may appear to be - if not similar then very close to each other, like French for instance and English - in fact the vision of the world which implies in French language and English language are totally, totally different. If a language disappears, a whole vision of the world disappears as well at the same time."

Cambodia's dominant language is Khmer but small ethnic groups have other languages.

The United Nations' cultural agency UNESCO warns that 19 Cambodian languages are at risk of extinction. It is not a rare problem: half of the world's 6,700 languages will likely die out by the end of the century. Most are spoken by small ethnic communities in developing nations or by groups such as Native American tribes in North America.

Blaise Kilian is UNESCO's joint program coordinator in Phnom Penh. He says there are many reasons languages die.

"When you have only a very few people speaking a language of course it is in danger of being extinct," Kilian said. "But besides this you have the environment. You have the way people, themselves, and especially the new generation, react to the changing environment. How much they are interested themselves in preserving and transmitting their own languages. So I would say it is a number of internal and external factors which play an important role besides the number of speakers."

Filippi says the S'aoch people have rejected their own language because they are extremely poor. They have decided their best bet is to adopt the Khmer language.

"In the case of the S'aoch they apparently want to get rid of their language and their cultural institution because it is linked to their poverty, to I would say their economic situation, which compared to the Khmers is a very poor one, and so on and so on," Filippi said.

The imminent extinction of S'aoch raises the question of what can be done about Cambodia's other endangered languages. With S'aoch, the only option is to write down and record as much as possible while the speakers are alive.

The situation is less dire for some languages spoken in other parts of the country. In the northeastern provinces of Ratanakkiri, Mondolkiri and Stung Treng a number of organizations are involved with youth and adult education for minority people.

One of those is Care International, which for seven years has worked with the Ministry of Education on a program teaching schoolchildren in two languages.

Care's education adviser, Ron Watt, says almost 2,000 primary school children in the three provinces last year received instruction both in their ethnic community's language and in Khmer. The program is now in 25 schools.

"Bilingual education is really spreading - people are very enthusiastic about it," Watt said.

Watt says that before the program started, the government and aid organizations had misconceptions about education for minority people. One of those misconceptions was that minority groups did not want to send their children to school.

"What we have found that that is just not the case at all - that the moment you start providing relevant education that kids can access and that kids can learn, parents are more than enthusiastic to send their kids, and kids are enthusiastic to go," Watt said.

The positive response from minority communities toward language learning programs highlights something Jean-Michel Filippi insists is essential to keeping languages alive.

"If a community wants its language to be saved and is strong enough to express the will to have its language saved, it may very well work. But you will never save a language if the community doesn't want to," Filippi said.

Cambodia's poverty does not augur well for the language survival chances of its minority peoples, many of whom are struggling to keep hold of their community land.

Language and development experts say that unless Cambodia's economic situation improves, it seems likely that it will lose far more than the S'aoch language by the end of this century.
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Leader Gets US$107 Mln Power Transmission Job In Cambodia

KUALA LUMPUR, Leader Universal Holdings Bhd's unit, Cambodian Transmission Ltd, today entered into a 25-year build-operate-transfer power transmission agreement with Electricite Du Cambodge (EDC) to develop a 230 kilovolt power transmission system from Phnom Penh to Kampong Cham for US$107 million.

EDC is Cambodia's state-owned limited liability firm.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia, Leader said the project would be funded by internally generated funds and bank borrowings.

The project would be commissioned in three stages with the first being the construction of the Kampong Cham substation which was expected to be completed by July 2011.

The second would be the new North Phnom Penh substation and this was expected to be completed by March 2012.

"The completion of the entire project with the commissioning of the approximately 110km transmission line from North Phnom Penh substation to Kampong Cham substation, from whence the commercial operation date of the project commences.

"This is expected by Dec 31, 2013," Leader said.

The project fulfils part of the planned development of the Cambodian grid system and provides for future 230 kV extension to other parts of the country around Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in South East Asia, in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Currently, Leader through its 60 per cent-owned subsidiary in Cambodia, Cambodia Utilities Pte Ltd, owns and operates a 35-megawatt power generation plant in Phnom Penh and supplies electricity to EDC under a 18-year power purchase agreement. This power plant has been in operation since 1997.

Leader is also developing a 100-megawatt coal-fired power plant project in Sihanoukville through its 80 per cent-owned subsidiary, Cambodian Energy Limited. Electricity generated will be supplied to EDC under a 30-year power purchase agreement.

-- BERNAMA
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Tropical depression 01W fading over Vietnam and Cambodia

Tropical Depression 01W wasn't very well organized when it made landfall earlier today, and is dissipating as it now moves from Vietnam westward into Cambodia.

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite has noticed that Tropical Depression 01W's (TD01W) rainfall is now light and very widely scattered. In addition, the low level center of the storm has been dislocated to the west of the area of precipitation as a result of wind shear.

TRMM, managed by NASA and the Japanese Space Agency flew over Tropical Depression 01W (TD01W) early today, January 20 at 0845 UTC (3:45 a.m. ET/ 3:45 p.m. local time, Vietnam). TRMM revealed that the depression was already dissipating over land because the storm's rainfall was widely scattered and light to moderate (between .78 to 1.57 inches per hour) in isolated areas.

At 4 p.m. ET yesterday, January 19 (4 a.m. January 20, Vietnam local time) the Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued its final warning on the depression. At that time, TD01W had maximum sustained winds near 25 knots (28 mph). At that time, was located about 125 miles southeast of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, near 9.8 North latitude and 107.8 East longitude. Since then, TD01W made landfall and is dissipating over land.

At 2 p.m. ET today, January 20, the cities of Battambang and Siemreap in Cambodia; and Dong Hoi, Thanh Hoa, Vinh and Son La in Vietnam were all reporting light rain, while other areas around both countries reported variable cloud conditions as TD01W's remnants continue to dissipate.

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Assumption Students Educate Cambodia

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Students in Assumption High School's Global Issues Club built a school in Cambodia last year. This year, they're on a mission to see the fruits of their labor.

It has been a four-year journey for many of the students in the group who were touched after their teacher first told them about the struggles of young women in Cambodia due to sex trafficking.

Now 10 seniors are just $10,000 and two weeks away from seeing the difference they've made in the world.

"For some it's the only way they can make money for their family, so they'll feel like it's something that they need to do to help. And a lot of the girls are really young, they're about five or six when they're sold in there, so that's why we wanted to do something to help," said student Megan Foley.

Group member Lexie Krall said the story of a woman who escaped from a brothel and now helps other escape inspired them for the special mission.

"We decided we wanted to build a school and with $20,000 ended up building a school, providing an English teacher and a computer," said Krall.

They built the school through American Assistance for Cambodia because experts said the best way to help change a child's life is through education.

Four-hundred children in kindergarten though 12th grade go to the school. Assumption students maintain the school by raising $6,000 a year.

The Vision for the Cambodia trip started in the classroom and students said they're really excited about the trip because for the first time they're going to be able to see how what they learned in the classroom played out in life.

"It's really fulfilling to see all the hard work that we've put in to this it's finally paying off and we're finally getting to see our dream," said Krall.

"I think when we go and we visit our school and we get to see the children and, like, interact with all the kids who go there, it's really going to put, like, a face to all the work we've been doing for the past four years and it's really exciting," said Foley.

Ten students will go on the mission trip in two weeks, but they're still trying to raise $10,000 to make the journey. To help the Assumption students achieve their goal, a donation Web site has been set up. Click here for more information on the Educate Cambodia mission. Read more!

Another Made in China Import: Smog

(AP) Ozone blowing over from Asia is raising background levels of a major ingredient of smog in the skies over California, Oregon, Washington and other Western states, according to a new study appearing in Thursday's edition of the journal Nature.

The amounts are small and, so far, only found in a region of the atmosphere known as the free troposphere, at an altitude of two to five miles, but the development could complicate U.S. efforts to control air pollution.

Though the levels are small, they have been steadily rising since 1995, and probably longer, said lead author Owen R. Cooper, a research scientist at the University of Colorado attached to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo.

"The important aspect of this study for North America is that we have a strong indication that baseline ozone is increasing," said Cooper. "We still don't know how much is coming down to the surface. If the surface ozone is increasing along with the free tropospheric ozone, that could make it more difficult for the U.S. to meet its ozone air quality standard."

The study is the first link between atmospheric ozone over the U.S. and Asian pollution, said Dan Jaffe, a University of Washington-Bothell professor of atmospheric and environmental chemistry.

He contributed data from his observatory on top of Mount Bachelor in Oregon to the study.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering lowering the current limit on ozone in the atmosphere by as much as 20 percent, and has been working with China to lower its emissions of the chemicals that turn into ozone.

Ozone is harmful to people's respiratory systems and plants. It is created when compounds produced by burning fossil fuels are hit by sunlight and break down. Ozone also contributes to the greenhouse effect, ranking behind carbon dioxide and methane in importance.

Ozone is only one of many pollutants from Asia that reach the United States. Instruments regularly detect mercury, soot, and cancer-causing PCBs.

Jaffe said it was logical to conclude that the increasing ozone was the result of burning more coal and oil as part of the Asia's booming economic growth.

The next step is to track the amounts of Asian ozone reaching ground levels on the West Coast, said Cooper.

Work will start in May and end in June, when air currents produce the greatest amounts of Asian ozone detected in the U.S. Weather balloons and research aircraft will be launched daily to measure ozone closer to ground, where it affects the air people breathe, Cooper said.

The study to be published in Nature looked at thousands of air samples collected between 1995 and 2008 and found a 14 percent increase in the amount of background ozone at middle altitudes in springtime. When data from 1984 were factored in, the rate of increase was similar, and the overall increase was 29 percent.

When ozone from local sources was removed from the data, the trend became stronger, Cooper said. Using a computer model based on weather patterns, the ozone was traced back to southeastern Asia, including the countries of India, China, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

The ozone increases were strongest when winds prevailed from southeastern Asian, Cooper said.
In a commentary also published in Nature, atmospheric chemist Kathy Law of Universite de Paris in France said the study was "the most conclusive evidence so far" of increasing ozone over the Western United States.

Law noted that natural sources of ozone could contribute to the increases, and there were limitations to the computer model used to trace the sources of the increases, but the study remained a "vital benchmark" that could be used to test climate change models, which have been unable to reproduce increases in ozone.

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We should take the lead on Human Rignts in Southeast Asia

By Elaine Pearson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch


"It's not our role to tell countries what to do. These are internal affairs of the state."

These sound like the words of a Chinese official, yet this is what an Australian diplomat told me on a recent visit to South-East Asia. Geographically on the fringes of Asia and with a different culture and history, Australia is sensitive to being perceived as a big-mouthed bully in the Asia-Pacific region.

This is not to say Australia is silent on human rights. Australia has a good track record of principled diplomacy and implementing targeted sanctions against abusive military governments in Burma and Fiji. Yet it's relatively easy for Australia to speak out about countries where it has few economic interests. It takes more courage and principle to turn up the heat on countries where it has significant economic and strategic interests.

Australia has particularly good leverage for raising human rights issues in countries where it has close military ties. The Rudd Government should use it. Australia should be taking the lead in protecting rights through strong public statements, private diplomacy, and intelligent aid.

As a major donor and significant provider of military and police training, Australia already strives to improve governance and human rights and professionalise security forces in countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Australia hopes to help these and other nations to be - or become - stable and democratic, rather than authoritarian regimes.

The Rudd Government could start by being more proactive and vocal in addressing issues such as extrajudicial killings and impunity. For example, in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand, the security forces commit abuses such as extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture and arbitrary arrest and detention without fear of punishment. Abusive officials are rarely, if ever, prosecuted for such crimes, while those implicated in abuses remain in the security forces and often are even promoted.

For instance, in Indonesia, human rights violators continue to be promoted within the army and its special forces, Kopassus. A Kopassus soldier convicted of abuse leading to the November 2001 death of a Papuan activist now holds a senior commander position. Of 11 soldiers convicted of kidnapping student activists in the last days of the Suharto regime in 1997 and 1998, seven were known to be serving in the military as of 2007, and all had received promotions. And those who orchestrated the 1999 massacres in East Timor remain free.

The newly appointed Deputy Defence Minister, Lieutenant General Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, is a former military officer with a long history of working with Kopassus. Although he has never been charged with a crime, various witnesses and investigative journalists have implicated him in abuses, including the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre of civilians in East Timor, and widespread violence by Indonesian troops and pro-Indonesia militias at the time of the 1999 East Timor referendum on independence. In 1993, two years after the Santa Cruz massacre, he took a two-week military training course in Perth. As a close military partner, Australia should be concerned enough about this appointment to call for a credible investigation into the persistent allegations against Sjamsoeddin.

In Cambodia, the police and military are littered with notorious rights abusers serving under Prime Minister Hun Sen, himself implicated in atrocities. In Thailand, police officers known to have been involved in abuses during the 2003 "war on drugs" and counter-insurgency operations have been promoted rather than punished. In the Philippines, despite a government commission calling for the investigation of a senior military officer for command responsibility for extrajudicial killings, the retired general is now a congressman.

Australia often claims to be addressing these problems by offering military-to-military training, including training on human rights, international humanitarian law, and military rules of engagement. But training without a serious political commitment to end abuses is not enough. Australia should put a mechanism in place to guarantee that military units and personnel participating in Australian-funded programs are carefully vetted to ensure that they haven't been implicated in human rights violations.

Although the Australian Government says it vets individuals, in Cambodia, Australian military instructors have provided training to Royal Cambodian Armed Forces units that have been implicated in gross human rights abuses. This includes live-fire weapons training to the counter-terrorism special forces, a unit refashioned out of Brigade 70 (the Prime Minister's Bodyguard Unit), which has a long and well-documented record of committing politically motivated violence and other serious rights violations with impunity.

Australia should also consider conditioning military and police assistance on progress in prosecuting abuses and reforming security forces. Bilateral security co-operation agreements (such as the Lombok Treaty) should address human rights concerns by including explicit safeguards.

Australia could have real impact in pressing countries to bring the perpetrators of abuse to justice, but this means being prepared to raise human rights in meaningful rather than abstract ways, such as publicly raising specific cases with governments. A more cautious approach only bolsters the standing of abusive governments at the expense of their people.

Elaine Pearson is the deputy director of the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch.

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ASIA: CHINA-ASEAN FREE TRADE AREA SPARKS CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM

BANGKOK, The world's largest free trade area that became a reality at the start of the year is being billed as a welcome shot in the arm for the countries comprising it, namely, China and six South-east Asian countries. It offers a route out of the global financial crisis, analysts said.

Such optimism stems from the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA), which went into effect on Jan. 1, almost eight years after it was signed on Nov. 4, 2002 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

"The CAFTA is an important vehicle for trade-led growth and recovery in ASEAN," said Ganeshan Wignaraja, principal economist at the Office of Regional Economic Integration at the Asian Development Bank (AsDB). "We expect trade-led recovery to grow from 3.9 percent in 2009 to 6.4 percent in 2010."

CAFTA dwarfs other free trade areas by the 1.9 billion people it will cater to, having a combined gross domestic product of six trillion U.S. dollars. Only the North American Free Trade Area and the European Union (EU) are larger in economic value.

The South-east Asian nations which will initially profit from such deeper trade ties with China are also members of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN). They are Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. By 2015, the remaining four members of the ASEAN - Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam - will join CAFTA.

Beijing's interest to fortify this free trade terrain has been confirmed by the launch of a $10-billion infrastructure investment fund to improve roads, railways and airlines and strengthen telecommunication links between China and the ASEAN. The Asian powerhouse has also committed a $15-billion credit facility to promote regional integration.

"It will be good (for the ASEAN countries) to latch on to China's production network, to get into that value chain, and also sell to Chinese consumers," Wignaraja said during a telephone interview from the AsDB's Manila headquarters. "We think by 2017 the ASEAN region will gain 82 billion U.S. dollars at least, and this is a conservative estimate, from a zero scenario."

ASEAN countries will have to "adjust their thinking, offering a competitive advantage for companies to invest in this new climate," said Gyorgy Szirackzi, a senior economist at the International Labour Organization's Asia-Pacific office in Bangkok. "Some sectors in ASEAN will benefit early on, like the health service sector, tourism sector and the telemarketing sector."

But he cautioned that CAFTA would have birth pains, including loss of jobs in countries that cannot compete against the labour costs of their new trade partners.

"Some countries will gain, some will lose," Szirackzi told IPS. "Companies will consider how to increase their scale of production and may choose to operate from the country that makes economic sense for them."

Indonesia has already sounded such an alarm. The archipelago's trade minister, Mari Pangestu, wrote to the ASEAN secretariat this month stating that Jakarta wanted to "renegotiate" some features of CAFTA, noting that local industries like textiles and food were suffering from a flood of cheaper Chinese imports.

Filipino legislator and economist Walden Bello offered a more trenchant criticism. "The picture is more complex than that of a Chinese locomotive pulling the rest of East Asia along with it on the fast track to economic nirvana," he wrote in last Sunday's online edition of 'Business Mirror', a Manila-based newspaper.

"The reality, however, is that most of the advantages will probably flow to China," added Bello, who is also a senior analyst at Focus on the Global South, a Bangkok-based regional think tank.

The CAFTA has slashed tariffs on 90 percent of traded goods. These include final products from chilli, fish and soy sauces to manufactured products such as air conditioners, motorcycle parts and machinery. By 2015, goods described as "highly sensitive," such as rice, cars and petrochemical products, will be subject to a 50 percent import duty reduction.

Since CAFTA came into force, China has made deep inroads into ASEAN's economy. Trade between China and the regional bloc reached $193 billion in 2009, a fourfold increase since 2003. This rise has made China the ASEAN's third largest trading partner, replacing the United States, and next only to Japan and the EU.

According to the Jakarta-based ASEAN secretariat, trade between ASEAN and China grew at a rate of 20 percent annually between 2003 and 2008. Nearly a third of ASEAN exports to China consist of electrical and electronic products.

Against this picture of stronger China-ASEAN trade ties was the sobering reminder of how they collectively felt the impact of the global financial crisis, which saw export markets in the United States and the EU contract. China's exports dropped by 26 percent in early 2009 in contrast to the previous year, according to the World Bank, while Indonesia saw a 32 percent contraction, Malaysia 34 percent and the Philippines 41 percent during the same period.

Yet to enjoy the benefits of CAFTA, ASEAN countries have to address concerns over "trade facilitation," said Ravi Ratnayake, director of the trade and investment division at the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), a Bangkok-based United Nations regional body. "The region needs to simplify its trade procedures and documentation needed for exports."

There is a "lot of red tape" that exporters encounter at customs or with ministries of finance and some of them are "exhaustive," he said in an IPS interview. "Even if you reduce tariffs to zero, the trade is not going to see a boost unless you remove all the red tape."

In some ASEAN countries, delays caused by bureaucratic procedures for exports last from 22 to 29 days, an ESCAP study revealed. "The average number of documents and time required for import/export in many (Asian) subregions remain well above the (developed country) average." Read more!

Life West takes mission trip to Cambodia

Hayward, Calif., January 19, 2010 — Kim Khauv, a doctor of chiropractic and faculty member and alumnus from Life Chiropractic College West, led a team of twelve college interns who traveled to rural parts of Cambodia to provide chiropractic care. Over the course of two weeks in December 2009 they provided care to over 1500 patients, many of whom where children in orphanages and the sick and elderly in local villages.

This marks the first chiropractic mission trip to Cambodia from Life West. Arrangements were made with cooperation from government officials, village leaders and orphanage directors. The Life West team was joined by volunteer organizer, Aireen Navarro, and volunteer doctors, Amy Vevoda, D.C., and Nathan Clem, D.C., both from Seattle, Washington.

The trip had been a long-held dream by Dr. Khauv, whose family fled Cambodia in 1981 after the Khmer Rouge, a faction of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, began an agricultural reform leading to widespread famine and genocide between 1975 and 1979. After earning his graduate degree as a doctor of chiropractic and a master’s degree in public health, he began a non-profit organization, Well-Balanced World, with the sole intention of returning to his homeland and bringing chiropractic to his fellow countrymen.

Dr. Khauv is very grateful to have the opportunity to go back to Cambodia and offer healing to many who have little or no access to any health care. He states, “I sincerely appreciate Life West for their support. The devoted doctors and dedicated interns who came along allowed me to live out my dream of bringing chiropractic to Cambodia.” He is planning the next mission trip for December 2010 with the intention of increasing the number of locations and the number of patients served.
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Ghost Voices Come to Life on 'Dengue Fever Presents Electric Cambodia'

Chhom Nimol remembers hearing a song on the radio in the '80s when she was a child in Cambodia.

"It was very sad, slow romantic," she says. "Sounded like a ghost voice."

She's not sure, but it may have been the insinuating 'Flowers in the Pond,' by singer Ros Sereysothea, or perhaps something else by the Cambodian star.

Ros Sereysothea, 'Flowers in the Pond':

Senon Williams, Nimol's bandmate in Dengue Fever -- a Los Angeles group that began doing versions of Cambodian pop and rock tunes in the early 2000s and which was chronicled in a 2008 Around the World column -- explains that "ghost voice" is an actual technical term in Cambodian singing as heard in this track.

"It's where you break from one octave to the next and the voice cracks," he says.

"The high key," Nimol explains.

"Ros Sereysothea was the master of that," Williams adds.

But in this case it has a double meaning: The singer on the radio, whoever it was, had almost certainly been killed during the brutal late-'70s reign of Pol Pot's totalitarian Khmer Rouge. Estimates of the total deaths attributable to the Khmer Rouge range as high as 2 or 3 million from execution, starvation and disease, most of them buried in mass graves. Musicians and artists -- pretty much anyone seen as educated or connected to the cultural identity of the earlier Cambodia -- were among those targeted for elimination.

"It is very sad," Nimol says, in halting English, sometimes with help from friend Soche Meas. "Our musicians, they are gone."

"The only people who did survive were musicians, not singers," Williams says. "John Pirozzi, who directed our film 'Sleepwalking Through the Mekong,' has done insane research for his own film he's doing about this but only found a few surviving band members, guitar players. But no one in the limelight survived."

Those ghost voices are being honored on 'Dengue Fever Presents Electric Cambodia.' Subtitled '14 Rare Gems From Cambodia's Past,' the CD is just that -- samples of a lost era of Cambodian pop music. Much of the music exists today only via cassettes that made their ways around the Cambodian exile communities of California. A couple of previous compilations have made their way via the cultural curiosity seekers networks, notably the door-opening 1996 compilation 'Cambodian Rocks,' from the Parallel World label; and 2004's 'Cambodian Cassette Archives,' drawn from deteriorating tapes in the archives of the Oakland [Calif.] Public Library by global ephemera-centric Sublime Frequencies. These all show a culture enamored by Western pop -- the songs are redolent of quasi-psychedelia, with reverb guitars and cheesy organ -- without any sacrifice of Cambodian-ness.

'Electric Cambodia,' with proceeds being donated to the Cambodian Living Arts program promoting traditional performance in the Southeast Asian nation, digs even deeper to the point that none of the tracks had any identification -- neither titles nor artist information. They might have stayed that way but for the memory of Nimol's older sister, Chhom Chevin, herself a pop star in Cambodia in the '80s and '90s.

"We wanted to keep ours more obscure, things that hadn't been released to Westerners -- all our bizarre tastes," Williams says. "And Nimol's older sister enabled us to give names to all the songs. She was the No. 1 singer there through the '80s and she remembers all the voices."

As somber and heavy as that all might sound, the music is anything but. Rather, this album portrays a "golden age," even more striking for the horror that was to follow.

"What I think is interesting about the music is it doesn't depict a time of woe and sadness, but of prosperity and joy and parties," Williams says. "It's like a time when all of us think we can't be touched, living the high life. And the next you know we're mixing concrete in the streets to make a bunker. How quickly things can go from this flowering state of beauty to complete destruction -- horrific and humbling."

Of course, for Nimol it's a little more complicated and personal.

"This is like a new awakening for me," she says of hearing these songs and of her role with Dengue Fever bringing the spirit of that era back to life. "Was a sad time for my parents. Everything was forgotten."

Asked her pick of the bunch, Nimol says, "My favorite is the song that talks about a young girl waiting for the handsome guy."

"That's all the songs, Nimol!" Williams interjects.

"Some talk about bands and flowers and teenagers," she responds. "A lot talk about broken hears and break-ups. But I think my favorite song is 'Sneaha.'"

The choice is a good illustration of the era -- and it probably sounds familiar:

Pan Ron, 'Sneaha':

Yes, that's a version of the Cher hit 'Bang Bang,' sung here in Khmer by Pan Ron. You wonder if perhaps Quentin Tarantino had heard this one it might have made it into 'Kill Bill' rather than the Nancy Sinatra recording.

"I really like that one," Williams agrees. "It's just a cover of 'Bang Bang' but not even a cover. The lyrics are different. The melody's a little different. It's kind of what we've done with Dengue Fever in reverse. The song is beautiful, for one. Amazing production. But there, this way, they take this American music and just completely make it Cambodian. There's the melody and energy and all the psychedelics, but nothing remaining of the American familiarity."

And he stresses that neither 'Electric Cambodia' nor Dengue Fever's forays into the Cambodian pop catalog are meant to be taken as novelty or ironic offerings.

"For me, it's the other way around," he says. "We're trying to give respect back to the folks that influenced us. When the idea for the compilation came up, it was appealing, a way to show fans what influenced us and maybe open their eyes to dig deeper and find out more. And it allowed us to raise money for Cambodian Living Arts, which we've worked with in the past. So it's a way to shine light back on Cambodia."

Nimol says that it's a continuation of what she's seen happen since Dengue Fever plucked her out of regular club gigs singing standard pop music shortly after she emigrated in 2001 to the Long Beach, Calif., neighborhood known as Little Phnom Penh.

"I think a lot of people from Cambodia forgot -- the young teenagers don't know much of this music," she says. "I remember last year when we were on tour in New York and Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, a lot of Cambodian people came to our show and enjoyed the music."

Williams adds, "There have been young people coming up to me of Cambodian heritage telling me, 'Wow, this is the first time I've listened to Cambodian music and I really loved it.' They'd be more into rock and hip-hop and R&B and say, 'My parents turned me on to you guys, but I'd never liked what my parents liked before.' Some of the kids and parents both are finding pride in music that comes from their own culture."

A particularly moving experience in shining the light came unexpectedly in late 2009 when Dengue Fever were invited to participate in, of all things, a Hanukkah celebration in Los Angeles.
"They did a lighting of the candles on the stage between bands," Williams says. "And Nimol went up and spoke about the Khmer Rouge and said she was lighting a candle for her ancestor people who perished under Pol Pot."

"That was a terrible time," Nimol says.

"Nimol cried," Williams continues. "And it took me by surprise. Later I got an e-mail from the organizer, a Jewish guy, who had never heard that there had been a genocide in Cambodia. That something so horrific and huge can be overlooked is remarkable." Read more!

Cambodia jails Swede for sex with adopted son

A Cambodian court has sentenced a Swedish man to six-and-a-half years in prison for having sex with three underaged boys, including his adopted son.

Judge Chhay Kong says Johan Brahim Escori, 62, was convicted on Tuesday on charges of illegal sexual intercourse with his nine-year-old adopted son and indecent acts with two other boys.

He also ordered Escori to pay a four million riel ($1040) fine and be expelled from Cambodia after serving his sentence.

Lax law enforcement and poverty have made Cambodia a prime destination for foreigners seeking sex with minors. But police working with social activists have stepped up efforts to fight the crime, and several foreigners are serving lengthy prison terms.

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Cambodia Takes to the Roads in Building Spree

By THOMAS FULLER


SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA — Bullet by bullet, workers removed the detritus of Cambodia’s past. They pulled 300 land mines and 30,000 rounds of ammunition from the red dirt and then laid down a thick layer of asphalt. Today, what would pass for a very ordinary road in wealthier parts of the world is precious pavement for a country motoring toward prosperity and trying to leave its bloody past behind.

Last month, the government inaugurated the newly refurbished Routes 5 and 6, both built during the French colonial era to connect the capital, Phnom Penh, with the Thai border.

Western Cambodia was the last holdout of the Khmer Rouge, the brutal regime toppled three decades ago. Rebel units held onto remote areas into the 1990s, skirmishing periodically with government forces and leaving the roads in total disrepair, a moonscape of potholes and mud that gave travelers sore backs and made for a crater-dodging, head-bumping ride.

Now enjoying the dividends of peace, Cambodia is halfway through a road-building spree with 10 projects totaling 1,173 kilometers, or 730 miles, of pavement still under way, said Prime Minister Hun Sen, who presided over the ceremony on Dec. 28. A further 11 major roads are under negotiation, he said.

The new roads make the storied temples of Angkor Wat a comfortable drive from the Thai border — and a short day’s drive from Bangkok. The roads also put more remote historic sites — in a country filled with them — within easy reach for tourists.

Roads are a big deal in Cambodia, and more than 5,000 villagers were summoned to attend the road’s official inauguration — farmers who arrived by bicycle, monks with freshly shaved heads, children in school uniforms. Organizers stenciled messages onto large banners strung across the canopy that gave shade from the searing sun: “Where there are bridges and roads there is hope.”

Cambodia’s road-building program is now taking “elephant steps, not mouse steps,” Mr. Hun Sen told the crowd.

Like the North-South Expressway in peninsular Malaysia, the American-built Friendship Road across Thailand’s northeast and the vast network of roads built by China over the past decade, roads are a key milestone of development in Asia.

For Cambodia, in particular, good roads help bring together a country fractured by civil war.

“This section was a very heavy battlefield,” said Pheng Sovicheano, the project manager of the road to the Thai border.

Mr. Pheng Sovicheano, who is also Cambodia’s deputy director general for public works, knows firsthand how bad the road was. During construction his driver drove into what looked like a large muddy pothole but turned out to be a small pond, flooding the car up to his chest.

Now, as a measure of Cambodia’s national reconciliation, some of the 360 workers Mr. Pheng Sovicheano hired to build the road were former Khmer Rouge soldiers.

Roads are expensive — $350,000 per kilometer for the road to the Thai border. But with many countries jockeying for influence in Cambodia the government appears to have no trouble finding financing. China is building a number of roads here, including one that passes through the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Pailin.

Route 5 and Route 6 were financed with a low-interest, 32-year loan by the Asian Development Bank in Manila, an institution whose largest shareholders are Japan and the United States. South Korea is financing other road projects.

Mr. Hun Sen seems to enjoy playing these donors off each other. In his speech he chided the Asian Development Bank for its sluggish and bureaucratic two-year bidding process and praised the speed of Chinese projects.

“I compliment the way the Chinese companies work — very fast,” Mr. Hun Sen said, pointedly glancing over at the representative from the Asian Development Bank.

Political ties between Thailand and Cambodia have been strained by a territorial dispute near a 900-year-old mountaintop temple, Preah Vihear, but officials made no mention of the troubles.

Economic ties endure: By the end of this year western Cambodia will have three good roads leading to Thailand, connections that the government hopes will increase trade and investment. Western Cambodia gets most of its electricity from Thailand, and the company that built the road to the border, S.P.T. Civil Group, is based in Thailand. (The company has ties to Thaksin Shinawatra, the Thai prime minister deposed in the military coup of 2006 who last year was named Mr. Hun Sen’s economic adviser.)

The new roads will make it easier for Thai companies to sell more cement, instant noodles and other products across the border. For Japanese companies, the roads will link the supply chains of factories in Bangkok and in Ho Chi Minh City.

And for villagers in western Cambodia, it may help lift rock-bottom incomes.

Yong Da, a 39-year-old deliveryman in the town of Kralanh, has more than doubled his income because of the new road. “The road was bumpy, and I could not take much stuff on my motorcycle,” he said. He now makes $2.50 a day, up from a dollar a day.

The sheets of dust that enveloped the roadside are also gone, and villagers say their children no longer have trouble breathing.

Good roads and the end of the civil war have allowed villagers to take back the night. Travel after dark was discouraged two decades ago because of poor security and the perils of bad pavement.

But with modernity comes another type of danger. Mr. Pheng Sovicheano says he was driving to Phnom Penh one night recently when he came upon a road accident.

A young man had been killed on his motorcycle when he rammed into the back of a poorly lighted truck. The boy’s distraught mother blamed the good road, Mr. Pheng Sovicheano remembers.

“She said, ‘Before, when there were bad roads, he never drove this fast.”’


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Authorities: NY Man Drugged Child, Took Nude Photos

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA (WPIX) - A New York man is facing charges that he drugged a 12-year-old girl in Cambodia and took pornographic pictures of her.

51-year-old Ronald A. Adams, 51, was arrested at his seaside home in Cambodia Friday after the girl's mother filed a complaint, said Deputy police chief of Preah Sihanouk Province Chor Heng. He was holding a passport indicating he was from New York.

Adams could be brought up on rape charges if testing confirms he physically abused the girl, said Provincial prosecutor You Tith Vattanak. The initial charges could lead to at least 10 years in jail.
Police said Adams, who runs a small restaurant, has lived 115 miles southwest of Phnom Penh for at least two years.

Cambodian law enforcement has recently been working harder to prevent foreigners from using their nation as a prime target for those seeking sex with minors. Lengthy prison terms have been doled out to foreigners caught in the act. Read more!

Building Cambodia's Roads

The New York Times reported on Monday that since the end of the tumultuous civil war in Cambodia, the government has been working to rebuild and enhance the country's inadequate road system. This move will not only improve the quality of life for Cambodians, but will help to boost its tourism industry.

The rise in road construction began last month with the inauguration of Routes 5 and 6, which connect the capital, Phnom Penh and the Thai border.

"Now enjoying the dividends of peace, Cambodia is halfway through a road-building spree with 10 projects totally 1,173 kilometers, or 730 miles, of pavement still under way, said Prime Minister Hun Sen..." the Times reported.

The system of roads will help bring together popular destinations, such as Angkor Wat, and other historic sites, which were once more difficult to get to. Travel throughout the country will be much easier, as well.

Read more!