Tourist Visa on arrival for Myanma, Indonesia citizens

NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday extended the Tourist Visa on Arrival (TVOA) scheme for the citizens of Myanmar and Indonesia.

Nationals of nine other countries -- Japan, Singapore, Finland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Philippines -- are already availing this facility in India.

"The TVOA is allowed for a maximum validity of 30 days with single entry facility by the Immigration Officers at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata Airports on payment of a fee of US $ 60 or equivalent amount in Indian rupees per passenger (including children).

TVOA is allowed for a maximum of two times in a calendar year to a foreigner with a minimum gap of two months between each visit. TVOA shall be non-extendable and non-convertible", said the Union home ministry.

The foreigners of such may, however, also avail of TVOA for up to 30 days for medical treatment, for casual business or to visit friends/relatives. The TVOA facility is not applicable to the holders of Diplomatic/Official Passports.

The TVOA will also not be granted to the foreigners who have permanent residence or occupation in India. Such persons can visit India on normal visa, as applicable.

The ministry said: "In order to promote tourism, the TVOA scheme was first introduced for the nationals of five countries -- Japan, Singapore, Finland, Luxembourg and New Zealand -- on January 1, 2010. The scheme has been found to be useful by the foreign nationals. Up to December last year, 6569 nationals availed the facility of TVOA. Government had later extended the scheme for the nationals of four more countries -- Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Philippines – on January 1 this year". Read more!

PAD activists start fresh rally, block traffic on Ratchadamnoen Avenue

BANGKOK, Jan 25 -- The 'Yellow Shirt' People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) kicked off their fresh demonstration on Tuesday afternoon at Makkhawan Bridge on Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue to press the government to accept their demands over the Thai-Cambodian border disputes.

Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue between Misakawan intersection and Makkhawan Bridge was totally closed for vehicles as a stage, tents and facilities for encampment were set up.

Key PAD leader Maj-Gen Chamlong Srimuang threatened to prolong the rally nearby Government House until Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva responds to their demands.

He said firstly the government must revoke the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Thailand and Cambodia concerning their border disputes. The ultra nationalist movement claimed that the 2000 MoU puts Thailand at a disadvantage in handling such disputes with the neighbouring country.

Second, the government must withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee and remove Cambodian people from disputed border areas near Preah Vihear Temple.

Gen Chamlong stressed that there would be no negotiation with the government on its request to end the demonstration.

The former Bangkok governor said that he was well aware that the rally would affect the traffic and student access to schools as there are many schools around the protest site, but he asked for understanding as the issue of territorial integrity was very important.

The PAD co-leader said that he is unworried about the security measures even though the seizure of home-made bombs and ammunition, and the arrest of five men claiming that they have targeted causing trouble at the demonstration.

Gen Chamlong said he believes the capability of the police and the cooperation on the security measures to ensure the safety of the protesters.

Security has been tightened around Government House where 24 companies of police -- some 4,000 personnel -- were deployed early Tuesday to ensure law and order. (MCOT online news)

Read more!

Protesting Thai Red Shirts call for release of leaders

BANGKOK – About 30,000 anti-government Red Shirts rallied in Thailand’s capital yesterday in another show of strength that heralds a rocky run-up to an election due this year.

It was the second big rally this month by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) and serves as a reminder of the polarisation that has plagued southeast Asia’s second-largest economy for the past five years.

The mostly rural and urban working-class Red Shirts marched from the upmarket shopping district they effectively closed for much of April and May last year to Democracy Monument in the city’s old quarter.

The protests last year were halted by a military crackdown. In all, 91 people were killed and many UDD leaders remain in detention – one of the reasons for the latest protests.

“We will stay until midnight and will meet again on February 13th,” said Jatuporn Prompan, who managed to stay out of prison because of his status as a politician. “Our rally will get bigger and bigger until the government releases our leaders.”

Some protesters said they were there to show support for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by the military in 2006 and now lives in exile to avoid a jail term handed down for corruption.

“This government’s policy is no good, I want Thaksin back,” said Boonsri Sudanetr (42), who is from Nakhon Ratchasima in the northeast, a Thaksin stronghold.

Prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has promised an election some time this year, perhaps in the first half, although that timeframe may not appeal to his coalition partners or his powerful backers in the military and royalist establishment.

Analysts say the regrouping of the UDD and the zero tolerance shown by the authorities threaten instability and economic damage if political tensions again spill over into violence.

“Despite [military and government] efforts to contain the situation, Thailand’s political crisis will continue in 2011,” risk consultancy IHS Global Insight said in a client note, adding there was a “high likelihood of further political instability, even if Abhisit manages to win the polls”.

Despite those risks, foreign investors put a net $1.9 billion into Thailand’s stock market in 2010 – the second-highest inflow in the region, behind Indonesia – helping to push the baht to a 13-year high.

Just as the UDD has taken extreme measures to try to bring down Mr Abhisit, the pro-establishment yellow-shirted People’s Alliance for Democracy came out in force in 2006 and 2008 and helped to undermine governments led or backed by Mr Thaksin.

The alliance is planning a rally on Tuesday, its biggest since 2008, to demand a tougher stance by the government in a long-running border dispute with Cambodia.

Its re-emergence on the street adds to the potentially explosive mix in the run-up to a general election. There is no guarantee either side would accept the outcome of the poll.

“The next election would certainly be the one where the risk of violence is greater than any before and it’s likely to be one of the dirtiest, with behind-the-scenes influences that could undermine the democratic process,” said Danny Richards of the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“There isn’t a judiciary that’s accepted by all sides as being impartial, and that undermines how the results will be accepted.” – (Reuters) Read more!

Troops Tighten Thai-Cambodian Border Security

Cambodia has beefed up security at its heritage sites along the disputed Thai-Cambodian border area.

Meanwhile, Thai troops have also implemented similar security measures and urged all Thais to be cautious when approaching the border.

Fully-armed Thai soldiers along the Thai–Cambodian border have set up checkpoints on the roads leading in and out of the disputed Preah Vihear Temple in Si Sa Ket's Kantharalak district.

Troops have prohibited unrelated personnel and individuals from entering the disputed border zone after Cambodia put up a controversial sign at Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara Temple claiming it was the spot where Thai troops had trespassed on the Cambodian territory.

The move has put a sour note on the already tensed Thai-Cambodian relations.

Second Army Region Commander Lieutenant General Thawatchai Samutsakorn has planned to travel to Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara Temple to meet with Cambodia's military officials.

Thai residents in Phumisrol village, situated near the disputed Preah Vihear Temple, fear a full-scale war could erupt at any time and some have packed their belongings and prepared for an immediate evacuation.

At the ancient Tamuanthom Temple in Surin's Phanom Dongrak district, Cambodian troops have constructed roads and bunkers just 100 meters away from the temple.

Additional 300 soldiers with heavy weapons are on standby 500 meters from the temple.

More units from the Second Army Region have been dispatched to Tamuanthom Temple area and troops have been put on the highest alert.

Meanwhile, at Takwai Temple in Phanom Dongrak's Bak Dai subdistrict, Second Region Army soldiers and military engineers have constructed a route leading to the temple in order to facilitate troop mobilization, reducing the traveling distance from three kilometers to one.

Cambodian border troops have also built roads leading to the temple and for reinforcements of personnel and firearms.

There have been rumors that Cambodian troops are attempting to lay claim to Takwai Temple and the recently-built roads have attracted a large number of Cambodian tourists to the site while Thai tourists have avoided the heritage site.

Read more!

Volunteer teaching in Cambodia

Working as a volunteer teaching English to a group of Cambodian kids must be easy, right? TNT's Carol Driver discovered the reality...


There are 40 beaming faces staring up at me waiting for my next move. Their eyes sparkle and they giggle as I jump up and down on the spot in front of them, attempting to sing “with a moo-moo here and a moo-moo there” from Old MacDonald’s Farm.

I know I look ridiculous, but I’m far from caring. It’s 2pm in Cambodia and it’s a searing 40C. We are crammed into a tiny, non-air-conditioned make-shift classroom in Phnom Penh.

I’m trying desperately to keep their attention as they want to go and play.

Thankfully it works. By the time I add a pig, cat, cow, horse and dog to the story, they’ve got the right idea and start chanting the animal noises.

I manage to make it to the end of the lesson – sweat running down my back.

Destination guide - Cambodia

I’m in the country’s capital city for three weeks as part of a volunteer project, helping the charity Riverkids, which offers children at risk of being trafficked or sold into prostitution, a free education.

On my first day, I’m taken to the slums where many of the kids live. The scenes are heartbreaking. The tiny, wooden shacks balance around mud paths. There are dirty, naked toddlers wandering aimlessly. We see some women working, cooking meals, while most of the men are lying down, watching TV on dated, black-and-white screens. Many of them have drink and drug problems.

The children look helpless. It’s easy to see how celebrities such as Madonna and Angelina Jolie think they’re helping communities by adopting children. But it’s charities such as Riverkids that are really stopping the cycle of poverty.

I’m staying at a guesthouse with around 15 other volunteers who are all placed at various locations across the city.

My project is a 25-minute hair-raising tuk-tuk ride away, weaving in and out of the chaotic traffic on lawless roads. In the classroom, volunteers prepare their own lessons. It’s an early start
– my day kicks off at 7.30am with a group of nine to 15-year-olds.

As I walk into the classroom, the students stand and chant “Good morning teacher” in Khmer and then English, as they clasp their hands together in the traditional respectful greeting.

After English is computer studies – but, as Riverkids doesn’t have the resources to buy an electricity generator, and there’s a power cut every day, the lessons are always cut short.

With no electricity, there are also no fans, and the intense heat makes it increasingly difficult to concentrate.

During breaks, the children rush out into the dirt-floor playground, without a care in the world, and engage in boisterous games or sing and dance.

They chase each other, pulling one another to the floor. There are scrapes and hits as well as bruises and cuts as they get into the spirit of the game – but not once do any of them cry.

Commercially, Cambodia is growing as a traveller destination. However, due to political instability which ended only recently, it’s far behind neighbouring Thailand in terms of popularity. But tourists can help in terms of bringing money to the country.

In Phnom Penh, Friends and The Lazy Gecko cafe are two restaurants serving great local food which also help support charities. And there are great bars and restaurants around the Riverside and Lakeside areas.

To really immerse yourself in the country’s culture, you have to understand its turbulent past.

The only way to see firsthand the devastation the Cambodian people have endured is by visiting the haunting Tuol Sleng Museum and Killing Fields.

The museum is a former school used by ex-dictator Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime as a security prison where from 1975 to 1979, between one and two million people were held, starved and tortured, and then sent to their deaths in the Killing Fields.

The photos of the prisoners on the walls make for grim viewing and drives home just how recent the country’s turmoil was. For less emotive sightseeing, visit Wat Phnom temple or the National Museum, home to a fine collection of Khmer art.

Back at Riverkids for my afternoon class, I raid the charity’s limited storeroom for supplies for my last lesson.

It’s art and singing with children as young as three – some of whom speak no English, so communicating with them is difficult.

The classroom is a 15-minute walk and, although it’s a struggle carrying bags filled with paper and paints, it’s a great way to meet the locals, who are friendly – greeting me with curious smiles and acknowledgements of “hello teacher”.

Despite the fun element attached to these classes, I find them the most stressful lessons. Controlling 40 demanding children who are armed with paint, water and fingers – and who don’t understand English – isn’t easy.

I spend the next hour running around, clearing up spilt water, helping children who have difficulty drawing. At the end of the lesson, the children playfully smear colours down each other’s faces and in one another’s hair.

I shrug my shoulders and laugh as the kids line up at the small sink to wash their hands and faces.

Exhausted, I make the journey to meet with the other volunteers, who are also tired and stressed, and we talk about how difficult our days were and what went wrong during our lessons.
As I pull a text book from my bag, a note slips out. “I love you teacher from Srey Mai,” it reads, and it puts a smile on my face.

It’s then I realise why “voluntourism” is growing so much in popularity – more of us now want to do something useful during our holidays, to immerse ourselves in a culture and country rather than just the hotel swimming pool.

While it’s ultimately the students who I want to benefit from my time in Cambodia, I can’t help think that it’s the children – with their robust attitudes and camaraderie despite their deprived pasts and uncertain futures – who have taught me the greater lesson. And that’s what makes it so rewarding.

WHEN TO GO: Dry season runs from November to April.
GETTING THERE: Qantas (with partner Jetstar Asia) offers flights from London to Phom Penh via Singapore. Fares start from £862 (including taxes) for travel April 8 – June 15. See qantas.com.au.
GETTING AROUND: On the back of a motorbike, or there are tuk-tuks as well as taxis. Make sure you barter though.
VISAS: Required but available on arrival.
CURRENCY: Riel, although Cambodians prefer American dollars. 1 GBP = 1.6 USD = 6 RL
LANGUAGE: Khmer.
GOING OUT: A beer costs $2.
ACCOMMODATION: Shared accommodation is included in the i-to-i Meaninful Travel’s Teaching English in Cambodia course, which runs from four to six weeks, priced from £860.
GET MORE INFO: i-to-i.com

. Read more!

Five Thais Convicted in Cambodia and Sent Home

Five Thais returned to their home country from Cambodia on Saturday after being convicted of entering Cambodia illegally.

On Friday a Cambodian court convicted the five Thais. It’s been a case that has strained relations between the neighboring states.

The five, including parliament member Panich Vikitsreth, were all sentenced to nine months jail for crossing the disputed border area between Thailand and Cambodia.

The court suspended the remaining eight-month jail term but they were each fined about $247 U.S. dollars.

During the trial, the court was presented with evidence including a video clip that showed Panich talking on the phone with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit's aide, telling him that he was going into Cambodia.

Witnesses included border police and soldiers who said that Panich and others were in Cambodia intentionally.

Panich said he entered Cambodia by accident.

There were originally seven in the group which was detained last December.

The other two detainees remain in custody and face charges of espionage.

All seven said they had only been inspecting the border.

Large stretches of the Thai-Cambodian border are poorly demarcated and many border markers have been destroyed or moved during decades of conflict in Cambodia.
. Read more!

Yellow shirts up the ante

Thai Yellow Shirts have threatened to protest “indefinitely” from today in a bid to pressure the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva into taking stronger action in a border dispute with Cambodia.

Chamlong Srimuang, leader of the People’s Alliance for Democracy, said the group wants Abhisit to withdraw from the United Nations’ World Heritage Committee, cancel a 2000 memorandum of understanding with Cambodia concerning border negotiations and urge Cambodians to withdraw from disputed border areas.

“We will gather indefinitely if Abhisit doesn’t come out to protect the country,” he told reporters in Bangkok.

He said the protest would begin at 2pm on a bridge less than a kilometre from the prime minister’s office, known as Government House, which the group occupied for three months in 2008.

“We won’t get into Government House tomorrow or the next day, but I don’t know yet about the following days,” Chamlong said.

The warning comes after Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday convicted five Thais – including Panich Vikitsreth, a lawmaker from Thailand’s ruling Democrat Party – of entering the country illegally.

Their nine-month jail sentences were suspended by the court, and the five returned to Thailand on Saturday.

Last month, seven Thais were arrested by Cambodian soldiers in Banteay Meanchey’s O’Chrou district after they reportedly travelled to the border to “investigate” the joint border demarcation process.

The remaining two members of the group – Yellow Shirt activist Veera Somkwamkid and his secretary Ratree Taiputana Taiboon – have also been charged with espionage, facing potential 10-year jail terms.

Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the prospect of more Yellow Shirt protests was an “internal affair” of Thailand, and would not affect relations with Bangkok.

“We don’t have any concerns about the continuing demonstrations by the Yellow Shirts in Bangkok,” he said.

Thai officials also denied the protests would have any negative ripple effects for the two countries’ relationship.

“I think the government has been very clear ... the government has said many times that the 2000 MoU is necessary,” said Thani Thongphakdi, deputy spokesman of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“The Thai government is very clear on this and the Cambodian government understands that the protests have nothing to do with the government.”

In 2008, the Yellow Shirts took to Bangkok’s streets for more than six months in a bid to force ex-leader Thaksin Shinawatra’s allies from power, culminating in an eight-day seizure of the city’s airports.

The protest ended after a court disbanded the ruling party and Abhisit took power two weeks later in a parliamentary vote.

On Sunday, Abhisit said the Cambodian court ruling would not bear on the ongoing border demarcation process.

“The ruling has no effect on the border issue because of the memorandum of understanding between Thailand and Cambodia on the survey and demarcation of land boundary signed in 2000,” he told the Bangkok Post.

Abhisit also said the government would not revoke the MoU, saying it could lead to clashes between the two countries. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY BLOOMBERG


Read more!

SRP To Rotate Parliamentarians Mid-Term

Sam Rainsy party supporters greet onlookers at a busy market during an election rally in the capital Phnom Penh, in 2008.


The Sam Rainsy Party is preparing for a repositioning of National Assembly seats for its lawmakers, halfway through the election cycle.

The opposition party’s vice president, Kong Korm, is returning from a two-day party meeting that ended in Manila Sunday, where exiled party president, Sam Rainsy, issued instructions for the rotation, officials said Monday.

The party holds 26 legislative seats in the National Assembly, and party officials say the replacement of party members to different seats will strengthen the party’s chances in upcoming elections.

The rotation is in response to a reminder from eight steering committee members reminding the president of the rotation.

Kong Korm, who is the acting party president while the president remains abroad, “will directly meet with you all to confirm and explain the decision of the party,” Sam Rainsy wrote.

Noun Vuthy, a member of the steering committee, confirmed the decision, which will be implemented in March.

The rotation of all 26 seats is determined by the amount of money candidates paid during the election campaign in 2008. The first five candidates for each province paid $24,000 in campaign funding, while the next four each paid $22,000.

The rotation will switch out the top-tier candidates for the second-tier candidates.

Am Sam Ath, head of investigation for the rights group Licadho, said the rotation would change up party experience and policy. The rotation agreement would need to be honored, he said, to avoid internal party conflict in the upcoming 2013 parliamentary election.

But the rotation could also cause problems in parliamentary coherency, he said.

Meanwhile, the party will have to prepare for 2012 commune council elections, as Sam Rainsy remains in exile to avoid criminal charges he has decried as politically motivated.

Read more!

Ousted Residents of Dey Krahorm Rally at Old Site

Former residents of Phnom Penh's Dey Krahorm community gathered at the site where they were evicted two years ago Monday. Residents say they continue to live in inadequate relocation sites far from the city and its services.


About 300 former residents of a Phnom Penh squatter community who were evicted two years ago Monday, gathered at their former neighborhood to call for a change in government.

The residents of the neighborhood, known as Dey Krahorm, called for Prime Minister Hun Sen to step down from power, claiming they had been forcefully evicted and moved to inadequate relocation sites.

The demonstrators said in a statement that on Jan. 24, 2009, 144 house owners and their families had been “violently and cruelly” evicted by Phnom Penh security forces and 500 paid employees of the 7NG developer, which laid claim to the site.

Those families were “forced to accept” housing in Damnak Troyeung village, Choam Chao commune, Dangkor district, but many have had to come back to Phnom Penh to seek work, the statement said.

“This is because the relocation site is far away from employment, they cannot afford to connect to electricity, there is no access to public services, [the site is] far away from school for their children, [has] no clean water system, no drainage system and no safety and security,” the statement said.

Another 400 families are now living “under ragged tarpaulins” near Udong mountain, where “many children are infected with viruses,” due to a lack of clean water, health center, food and sanitation, the statement said.

Prolonged dissatisfaction with the conditions have angered many residents.

“Stop allowing him to have power,” former resident Dul Chantha, 53, said of Hun Sen on Monday. “Because when he’s in this position, the poor people are going toward death. I’m not afraid to say that, because I’m fed up the Cambodian government, which became a nightmare on Jan. 24, 2009.”

“Right now I’m living in the new location site worse than an animal,” he said.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan said only an election can change the prime minister.

“What the people are calling for is an abuse of democracy in Cambodia,” he said. “People may have received this idea from others, calling for the step down in power. They should rethink what the government does and continue their work right now.”

Read more!

Songkitti: Cambodia will 'correct' sign

The supreme military commander of Cambodia has promised to make a "correction" to the controversial sign posted on the disputed border branding Thai troops as "invaders", Supreme Commander Songkitti Jaggabatara said on Monday.

Gen Songkitti said this after a meeting with Gen Pol Sareoun, the supreme commander of Cambodia.

They had discussed the controversial stone tablet erected in front of Wat Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara, in the disputed area near Preah Vihear. Cambodia says it is where Thai troops invaded Cambodian territory.

"Cambodia said a correction will be made in a favourable way. Let's wait and see," Gen Songkitti said.

"I don't want to speak more about this. Let's take it this way, that Cambodia will make a correction in a favourable manner.

"Then this matter should come to an end."

Gen Songkitti and his Cambodian counterpart met while attending a tod pha pa ceremony at Wat Chanthorn Buriwong in Phnom Penh during which more than three million baht in donations were made.

Altogether 140 high-level officers from the three Thai armed forces took part in the merit-making ceremony. They travelled to Cambodia on two air force C130 transport planes and an Airbus aircraft.

Gen Songkitti said no matter what problems may arise, the military ties between the two country are still good, judging from the fact that the Thai visitors were given due honour and welcomed by a large number of people.

Reports said Army 2nd Region commander Lt Gen Thawatchai Samutsakorn had asked Cambodian troops to take down the sign on Monday morning, but it remained prominently in place.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said earlier he would leave it to the army to ask Cambodia to remove the sign. The political sector would not get involved.

Cambodia put the stone tablet up after Thai troops withdrew from Wat Kaew Sikha Khiri Sikha Sawara on Dec 1.

People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) co-leader Chamlong Srimuang said the yellow-shirt rally on Tuesday in Bangkok will call on the government to accede to three demands to protect the country's sovereignty.

The government must withdraw from the Unesco World Heritage Committee, revoke the memorandum of understanding on the Thai-Cambodian border signed in 2000, and expel Cambodian people [from disputed border areas], Maj-Gen Chamlong said on Monday.

"Prime Minister Abhisit can implement these three demands at any time, but he has yet to implement any of them, and this has forced us to rally tomorrow," the PAD core member said.

The problem of the seven Thais who were arrested by Cambodian soldiers on Dec 29 would not have emerged if Mr Abhisit had followed the PAD's demands.

"Our rally will end when the prime minister meets our demands. If he cannot tackle the Preah Vihear issue our rally will continue, but we will not occupy Government House as rumoured," he said.

Maj Gen Chamlong admitted there were rifts between the PAD and Chaiwat Sinsuwong, leader of the Thai Patriots Network (TPN) - a PAD splinter group.

"However, I'm getting along well with Samana Photirak [leader of the Santi Asoke sect] and the news reports about us being at odds are not true," he said.

PAD spokesman Panthep Puapongpan said Prime Minister Abhisit's televised address on Sunday night on the Thai-Cambodian border dispute was not factual.

Mr Panthep said the area where the seven Thais were arrested by Cambodian soldiers was a camp set up by Thai authorities for Cambodian refugees, and the government had allowed the fence to intrude on Thai territory.

Thai villagers could no longer use the area after Cambodian people moved into the refugee camp, he said.

"The Thai government has never raised this issue for talks with Cambodia," Mr Panthep said.

Mr Abhisit's explanation of the border issue last night might cause the country to lose more land, and he could be be liable to punishment by life imprisonment or the death penalty, according to the PAD spokesman.

"The villagers' land title deeds prove that the area belongs to Thai people, but the prime minister has no concrete measures to counter Cambodia or to stop Cambodia asserting sovereignty over our country's land," he said.

National police chief Gen Wichean Potephosree said about 3,600 police will be deployed to maintain law and order in Bangkok on Tuesday when there will be a rallies by the PAD, TPN and Santi Asoke sect.

Pol Gen Wichean said after a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban and representatives of the armed forces at Government House that the government's policy is for police to prevent the protesters from laying siege to government installations such as Government House and the parliament.

A total of four police companies, totalling about 3,600 police, will be on duty. Two companies will begin deployment at Government House and another two at the parliament on Monday night, the police chief said.

He said 3,000-5,000 people were expected to take part in the rally.

The PAD is calling on the government to revoke the 2000 memorandum of understanding on border demarcation, which it says puts Thailand at a disadvantage in its dealings with Cambodia over territorial disputes.

The TPN and Santi Asoke cult, already encamped in front of Government House, are pressing for the government to do more to secure the release of Veera Somkwamkid, a TPN coordinator, and his secretary Ratree Pipatanapaiboon, who are still in a Cambodian jail facing trial on charges of illegal entry and espionage, with a ruling anticipated on Feb 1.

Read more!

Thai PM: Cambodian court's verdict no effect on border dispute

Recent verdict by a Cambodian court finding five Thais guilty of illegal entry into the neighboring country will have no implication on ongoing negotiations to settle border disputes between the two nations.

On a special televised program broadcast nationwide on Sunday's evening, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said: "There has been nowhere that the Thai government has said it will accept the Cambodian court's verdict on the border demarcation."

Abhisit said the verdict will only bind the individuals or parties involved in the court case.

He said any demarcation on the common border's disputed areas will have to be worked out under the existing memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed in 2000 between Thailand and Cambodia.

Last Friday, five Thais, including Panich Vikitsreth, a Bangkok MP of Abhisit's Democrat Party, were found guilty by a court in Phnom Penh of illegal entry into Cambodia and trespassing into a military area.

Each was given nine months of imprisonment and fined one million riels (250 U.S. dollars), but the jail term is suspended.

The five returned to Bangkok on Saturday after spending almost a month in Prey Sar prison in Phnom Penh.

Abhisit said the five Thais were arrested on Dec. 29 by Cambodian soldiers when they were on the Cambodian side of a line currently being used by both countries as the "working border line ".

But the Thai premier said the line was not the demarcation under the MOU, and that his government, which has been in contact with Phnom Penh since the arrest, had never told Cambodia that the Thais were on Cambodian territory when being arrested.

He said the Thai government will need to comply with the MOU's mechanism in settling the border disputes with Cambodia as there is no other framework to do so.

Two other Thais, also being arrested with the five on Dec. 29, are still being detained in Prey Sar prison for additional charges of espionage.

They include Veera Somkwamkid - a leader of the nationalistic Thailand Patriots Network, whose supporters have been protesting in Bangkok against the Abhisit government for its mishandling of the Thai-Cambodian border disputes.

Source: Xinhua

Read more!

Receiver upbeat on helicopters NZ sale

Strong bidding interest from overseas and New Zealand for South Canterbury Finance asset Helicopters NZ has receiver Kerryn Downey optimistic of a $90 million-plus sale within three months.

Indicative bids for the Nelson company, up for sale as part of SCF's receivership process, closed last week.

Mr Downey, of McGrathNicol, said several bids had come in from local and overseas parties, including New Zealand and international helicopter operators, and he was expecting a report from Goldman Sachs, which is helping with the sale, early this week.

Helicopters NZ was ascribed a face value of $90.3m last year when it was transferred to SCF from the Allan Hubbard-controlled Southbury Corporation.

"I am reasonably certain that number, if not higher, will be the sale price," Mr Downey said. "I am very upbeat about Helicopters. Its operating performance is ahead of budget which is extremely encouraging."

He hoped to conclude the sale by March or April. A

competitive sale process is good news for the taxpayer, after the Government paid out close to $2 billion to investors and financiers under the Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme when SCF failed last year.

Mr Downey said it was "disappointing" the company had not received Civil Aviation Authority approval to continue with a key United States military contract in Laos and Cambodia.

But the prospects were good for resolving the problem over the company's air operating certificate sooner rather than later and the Southeast Asia contract was a small, though relatively important, part of the company's overall operations, he said.

The contract, which involved working with an arm of the US Department of Defence to recover remains of servicemen missing in action, was about 10 per cent of the company's business, he said. Its main operations were in New Zealand, Australia and Antarctica.

The CAA withdrew operational approval believing it did not have the jurisdiction to cover operations in Laos and Cambodia. And just before Christmas the High Court denied the company an order to continue its air operating certificate, pending an appeal.

Mr Downey said directors had still not decided whether to appeal against the CAA decision.

Indicative bids for SCF's 80 per cent shareholding in another valuable asset, Scales Corporation, close on January 28.

The company, which has cold store, petfood, property, bulk storage and shipping operations, and is the country's biggest apple grower, is itself not for sale – only the 80 per cent shareholding.

Mr Downey is also expecting a hotly contested sale for this stake in the business.

"It is a very highly performing business with rock solid profitability. There is significant interest. The competitiveness of the process and the level of interest suggest high values there."

- The Dominion Post Read more!

PM to inform public about arrest of seven Thais by Cambodia

BANGKOK, Jan 23 – Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva will also inform the Thai public Sunday night about the arrest of seven Thais by Cambodian soldiers on charges of trespassing onto Cambodian territory on Dec 29, he said Sunday during his weekly TV and radio address.

Five of the seven were freed by the Cambodian court and returned to their homeland Saturday evening. The court in Phnom Penh on Friday ruled them guilty of illegal entry and intentionally trespassing into Cambodian territory.

They were sentenced to nine-month suspended jail terms and fined one million riel (US$250) each. However, their jail sentences were suspended.

The two remaining detainees faced additional charges of espionage and the court is expected to hand down its verdict on Feb 1 as earlier scheduled.

Meanwhile, Mr Abhisit also said that the Cambodian sign erected at Kaew Sikha Khiri Sawara temple near the ancient Preah Vihear temple, charging Thais with being invaders, that he had consulted with Army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, who confirmed that he would contact Cambodian troops to remove the sign.

There should be no problem on that, the prime minister said.

The Cambodian sign saying ‘Thais invaded this area before’ was erected in front of the temple on Dec 1 after Thai troops left the area in a bid to cool tensions centering on disputed areas along the border. (MCOT online news)
Read more!

Court frees Panich, 4 others

Jail terms suspended in surprise ruling

Five of the seven Thais charged with trespassing on Cambodian territory have been freed after the Phnom Penh Municipal Court gave each of them a suspended jail term.

The three-member judge panel yesterday found each of the five Thais _ Panich Vikitsreth, Narumol Chitwaratana, Samdin Lertbutr, Tainae Mungmajon, and Kojpollathorn Chusanasevi _ guilty on two counts of trespassing on Cambodian territory and illegal entry into a military area.

The judges said the five had entered Cambodia deliberately and sentenced them to nine months' imprisonment and a fine of one million riel (around 7,590 baht) each.

However, as the Thais had already served almost one month in Prey Sar prison, the court decided to suspend the remaining eight months.

The seven Thais were arrested on Dec 29 as they investigated claims by Thai residents living along a disputed part of the border that Cambodian military officers would not allow them to enter the areas where their homes were located.

The five Thais are now free to go home, but they will have to serve their jail terms if they enter Cambodia illegally again, the court said.

Upon leaving court to travel to the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh, Mr Panich, who wore a blue cap with the Asean logo, said that the whole affair showed ``the spirit of Asean''.

``I would like to thank all concerned parties. [The verdict] is a good sign for the Asean community and shows the Cambodian court has mercy,'' he said.

The verdict date was moved forward from the original schedule of Feb 1 to yesterday after the five Thais petitioned the court to speed up the proceedings.

The court read out the verdict at 7.35pm after a five-hour hearing.

The five Thais testified that they had no intention of trespassing on Cambodian soil and did not realise that they had done so.

Mr Panich told the court that the group met a villager, but did not talk, so he did not know that he was already inside Cambodia.

The Democrat MP also denied recording or taking photos of the area. He said he only had a mobile phone without a built-in camera.

A verdict has not yet been passed on the cases of Veera Somkwamkid, a Thai Patriots Network coordinator, and his secretary, Ratree Pipatanapaiboon.

Mr Veera and Ms Ratree face allegations that they spied on Cambodian military affairs and have been charged with espionage.

Mr Veera has been denied bail and remains at Prey Sar prison.

Ms Ratree was granted bail and is staying at the Thai embassy.

Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to the Thai foreign minister, said the five Thais are expected to return home today(saturday).

Mr Chavanond will fly to Phnom Penh to meet them.

``We will try to bring them home as soon as possible,'' he said, adding that the verdict was good news and that the ministry would continue to help Mr Veera and Ms Ratree as best as it can.

Mr Chavanond said the verdict for the two is likely to be handed down on Feb 1.

Mr Panich's mother, ML Sompongvadee Vikitsreth, said she was glad the case was finally over and that she could see her son soon.

Mr Panich talked to his mother on the phone after the verdict.

Soonthorn Rakrong, coordinator of the Thai Patriots Network, congratulated the five Thais on being granted their freedom.

``However, it would be better if Mr Veera and Ms Ratree had been released too,'' he said.

The network has been staging a rally at Government House since Sunday to pressure the Abhisit Vejjajiva government to do more to help the seven Thais.

The group will announce their next move after the release of the Thais today(saturday).

Meanwhile, People's Alliance for Democracy spokesman Panthep Phuaphongphan said his group will continue with its plan to hold a mass rally on Tuesday to persuade the government to revoke the memorandum of understanding signed in 2000 between Thailand and Cambodia, which they say is disadvantageous to the country.

They also want the government to force Cambodian people out of every disputed area and are requesting Thailand withdraws its membership of the Unesco's World Heritage Committee.

Read more!

Hun Sen: 26 Years At The Helm

Cambodia's rights record may worsen under continued rule, rights activists warn.

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen marked 26 years in power last week, winning praise from his party for bringing growth and slashing poverty but criticized by rights activists for stifling freedom, silencing the opposition, and fostering corruption.

The 59-year-old Hun Sen is the longest-serving leader in Southeast Asia after the Sultan of Brunei and has vowed to remain in power for another decade, with a vision to bolster the economy by boosting rice exports and the incomes of Cambodians who now largely rely on the garment and textile industry.

“If I am still alive, I will continue to stand as a candidate until I am 90,” he said in 2007. But two years later, he said he would be out by 2023.

Chea Sim, head of the ruling Cambodian People's Party, said it would continue to pick Hun Sen as the Prime Minister after the next general elections in 2013, which it is confident of sweeping.

He said that Hun Sen had brought peace to the country, once ruled by the fanatically communist Khmer Rouge which caused the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people, and that he has maintained a democratic government based on the rule of law.

Other party officials said the prime minister has helped fuel economic growth, slashed poverty, and brought political stability.

Rights violations

But opposition leaders and rights groups say Hun Sen's continued rule will only worsen human rights violations and corruption and result in authoritarian rule.

"I think Hun Sen wants to consolidate power," said Brad Adams, executive director of New York-based Human Rights Watch's Asia Division.

"He wants to finish up his critics in Cambodia. He wants a one-party state even though he pretends to hold elections once every five years because he can manage and win them automatically."

Adams also accused Hun Sen of wanting "to control all Cambodia's resources, and he is changing Cambodia towards capitalism under dictatorship."

Cambodia was among 25 countries whose freedom levels plunged in 2010 amid an erosion of civil rights and political liberties, according to global watchdog Freedom House.

"Cambodia received a downward trend arrow due to the government’s consolidation of control over all aspects of the electoral process, its increased intimidation of civil society, and its apparent influence over the tribunal trying former members" of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, the group said in a report last week.

Transparency International, the Berlin-based monitoring group, said in a recent report that 43 percent of Cambodians polled said corruption had increased and 30 percent felt it had decreased, while 27 percent believed it was around the same.

Cambodia's judiciary was found to be the most corrupt sector in that country, it said.

Busting graft

But Hun Sen’s Office of the Council of Ministers said the authorities are moving forcefully to end graft.

“Cambodia now has an Anti-Corruption Law, and the Anti-Corruption Unit is actively and publicly pursuing cases of alleged corruption,” it said.

The Office of the Council of Ministers also dismissed criticism of Hun Sen’s long hold on power, citing former prime ministers Mahathir Mohamad and Lee Kuan Yew of neighboring countries Malaysia and Singapore respectively who were also at the helm for many years.

“This is a strange criticism indeed, for longevity in office is not typically held as a negative attribute,” it said in a statement. “But the prime minister is a relatively young man and in good health, and thus can be expected to contribute to the progress of the country for many years to come.”

Cambodia's main opposition party leader Sam Rainsy, Hun Sen's arch-rival, is living in exile after fleeing the country in 2009 fearing what he called politically motivated charges.

He was convicted in absentia in September last year and sentenced to 10 years in prison for a politically sensitive comment about a border dispute with Vietnam, cited by critics as an example of the government's intimidation of its opponents.

The lawsuit was filed after Sam Rainsy questioned whether the border had been incorrectly marked by the government to Cambodia's disadvantage.

Earlier, a year ago, a court sentenced Sam Rainsy to two years in prison for a political protest in which border markers were uprooted along the frontier with Vietnam. He led the protest to dramatize his claim that Vietnam is encroaching on Cambodian territory, an issue he often raises to garner public support.

Sam Rainsy had accused the court of being a political instrument, saying that "Everybody ... rightly says that the judiciary in this country is everything but independent, being only a political tool for the authoritarian ruling party to silence any critical voices."

Opposition out of touch?

With the opposition leader out of the country, the movement’s future appears bleak. Some civil society groups say that Rainsy's party has lost touch with its original pro-democracy platform, focusing instead on emotional nationalistic disputes with the ruling party.

Hun Sen, once a member of the ultra-leftist Khmer Rouge, later turned on the them and joined Vietnamese forces which defeated the Khmer Rouge in 1979. The Vietnamese communists installed a new Cambodian government that year, and in January 14, 1985, Hun Sen was made prime minister

He is sympathetic to Hanoi, while part of Sam Rainsy's support comes from appealing to traditional anti-Vietnamese sentiment among Cambodians who do not trust their much larger neighbor.

Yim Sovann, Sam Rainsy's spokesperson, said Cambodia might have achieved development under Hun Sen but that many issues remain unresolved.

The country is debt-laden and lives on foreign donor funds of 500 million dollars annually, Yim Sovann said.

Margo Picken, once a director of the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia, said Hun Sen and his officials hold absolute power and seize control of any institution that challenges that power.

While Hun Sen has moved to boost growth and reduce poverty, his circle has exploited the country's natural resources, pocketed financial gains and disregarded human rights, Picken said.

Concerns have focused, too, on Hun Sen's bid to curtail the activities of nongovernmental organizations.

The U.S. State Department last week cited a new law that "would constrain the legitimate activities of NGOs," and urged Hun Sen's government to hold talks with these groups and to "reconsider whether such a measure is even necessary."

Rights groups in December also voiced alarm as Cambodia began to introduce laws making it a crime to criticize judges or to hurt the feelings of public officials.

China's influence

Meanwhile, Cambodia has come under increasing influence by China, its top investor. Hun Sen was in Beijing last month, signing 13 agreements in areas including hydroelectric power, port facilities, and financial loans.

More than a year ago, Cambodia deported a group of 20 Uyghur Muslim asylum-seekers back to China despite protests from the United States and the U.N.

The Chinese played an important role as counterweight to Vietnamese influence during the 1970s and 1980s, but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned during a recent visit that Cambodia should not become "too dependent" on Beijing.

Hun Sen has also been accused of nepotism, charges flatly dismissed by the prime minister. His 33-year-old son, Hun Manet, was promoted to a two-star general earlier this month amid speculation the young man is being groomed to succeed his father.

Hun Manet is already chief of the ministry of defense's anti-terrorism unit as well as deputy commander of Hun Sen's personal bodyguard unit.

Hun Sen hit back at the nepotism charges, saying that his son, who graduated from West Point and has a doctorate in economics at Britain's University of Bristol, is well-qualified for his roles.

"He joined the army in 1994. He has been in the army for 16 years, and there is promotion within the army ranks," Hun Sen said in a speech broadcast on national radio.

But Chea Vannath, a Cambodian independent political analyst, was quoted saying this week that Hun Manet's latest appointment was to “prepare for a smooth succession.”

A key factor for the “rapid rise in the ranks of General Hun is due, in part, to the fact that he is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, one of the most prestigious schools in the world,” said the Office of the Council of Ministers.

“He is representative of a younger generation of Cambodians, who enjoy the benefits of international education.”

Reported by Samean Yun for Radio Free Asia’s Khmer service. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai. Read more!

Two Allegiance Health nurses traveling to Cambodia to help people in need, spread God's word

By Terryl Jackson


Two Allegiance Health nurses and sisters are traveling abroad to provide medical help and the word of God for those in need.

Hannah Blondke, 26, and her sister Leah, 24, will be in Cambodia and working alongside doctors and volunteers to set up a medical clinic for underprivileged residents until Jan. 31.

The Blondkes were scheduled to leave for their trip today.

The trip was coordinated by Operation Renewed Hope, a North Carolina-based nonprofit focused on medical missions and disaster relief in the U.S. and abroad. Founded in 1991, the organization also offers opportunities for medical professionals, teens and other volunteers to serve God through short-term and long-term missions, according to its web site.

This will be Leah’s fifth trip through the organization, which has had missions in places like Peru, Uganda and Indonesia.

“We try to teach people how to increase their life expectancy,” Leah said. “I see the impact it has on people.”

On all the missions Leah has gone on, the people are always thankful for what the volunteers have done.

“When you leave, you see a difference already,” she said. “Everything is so positive and rewarding for us and for them.”

The Blondkes grew up in Pittsford. Leah has been a registered nurse at Allegiance Health for more than two years, and Hannah has been there for more than a year.

Leah graduated from Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wis., in 2008, and Hannah graduated from Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C., in 2009.

This will be Hannah’s first trip through Operation Renewed Hope.

Along with using the skills she has developed as a nurse, “I’m looking forward to what the Lord will do,” she said. Read more!

US embassy cables: Ousted Cambodian drugs tsar was trusted US source

Cable dated:2006-05-23T11:49:00
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PHNOM PENH 000983
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE


SIPDIS
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, INL/AAE--PETER PRAHAR AND YANTI KAPOYOS, INL/C--GREG STANTON
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/23/2016
TAGS: SNAR, PGOV, CB, TW
SUBJECT: CAMBODIA: DRUG SEIZURES AND ARRESTS UP


1. (U) SUMMARY: May 19 and 20 arrests of two Taiwanese nationals attempting to smuggle a total of nearly 7 kg of heroin to Taiwan highlight increased drug arrests and seizures in Cambodia. The quantity of heroin seized during the weekend airport busts is large by Cambodian standards--authorities seized just 11 kg of heroin in 2005. Seizures of amphetamine-type stimulants are more than double last year's levels. Police and international observers credit USG and other foreign training with providing skills, motivation, and international pressure for the increase, but say that narcotics trafficking may also be on the rise. END SUMMARY.


Heroin Seizures at Phnom Penh International Airport


2. (U) Police and customs officials seized nearly 7 kg of heroin and arrested three Taiwanese nationals in two separate incidents at Phnom Penh International Airport on May 19 and 20. These two cases represent an impressive intake for one weekend given that in 2005 Cambodian authorities seized just over 11 kg of heroin.


3. (SBU) Chen Hsin Hung, 57, was arrested on May 19 carrying 4.75 kg of heroin with a local street value of USD 95,000 to 133,000. Customs officials became suspicious when they noticed that Hung was carrying several bags of imported Taiwanese foil-wrapped candies back to Taiwan in his hand luggage. The candies turned out to be foil-wrapped packages of heroin. Hung, who was due to travel to Taiwan via Kuala Lumpur on Malaysian Airlines flight 755, had arrived in Phnom Penh the previous day. During his police interrogation, Hung said that he had been picked up at the airport and returned to the airport by a couple, whom the police identified as a Cambodian woman and a mainland Chinese or Taiwanese man. Police are attempting to locate the couple.


4. (SBU) A second Taiwanese man, who was standing near Chen Hsin Hung during the security process, appeared to be quite interested in the proceedings and upset by Hung's arrest, and had tickets for the same flight as Hung, was also arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking. Moek Dara noted that the investigation had revealed no evidence to indicate that the second individual was also involved in drug smuggling, but that it was the prosecutor's decision how to proceed in the case.


5. (SBU) On May 20, a 90-year-old Taiwanese national named Huang Sang Hou was arrested at Phnom Penh International Airport with 1.9 kg of heroin, worth USD 38,000 to USD 53,000. Hou reportedly came to Cambodia as a tourist intending to gamble. Over the course of a week, he lost the USD 4,000 he brought with him, borrowed an additional USD 2,000 from a Taiwanese national in Phnom Penh, and then lost that money as well. The Taiwanese lender then persuaded Hou to carry the heroin back to Taiwan. Airport customs officials were tipped off by the sloppy manner in which the heroin was packed on Hou's body, making him appear bloated. Hou cooperated with the police in identifying the Taiwanese lender, and Cambodian government officials have already passed his name, address, and passport information to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Hou had been planning to fly Dragon Airlines flight 207 to Hong Kong, and then to continue on to Taiwan.


Amphetamine Seizures, Prices on the Rise

----------------------------------------


6. (SBU) According to statistics from the Ministry of Interior's Anti-Drug Police and the National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD), seizures of amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) tablets more than doubled when comparing the first four months of 2006 with the first four months of 2005. From January to April 2006, more than 220,000 ATS tablets were seized, whereas from January to April 2005, approximately 87,000 ATS tablets were seized. The number of offenders arrested also rose from 154 from January to April 2005 to 204 during January to April 2006.


7. (U) Both Brigadier General Moek Dara, Director of the Anti-Drugs Department, and World Health Organization XXXXXXXXXXXX noted that prices for ATS tablets have risen in the past few years, with particularly dramatic increases in the past 12 months. One year ago, a single ATS tablet sold for approximately one dollar in Phnom Penh, but now costs two to three dollars. Moek Dara noted that prices rise as the ATS tablets make their way along the drug route, from fifty cents per tablet in Laos, where the


PHNOM PENH 00000983 002 OF 003


majority are produced, to USD 3 in Cambodia, and then even higher prices in two destination countries: USD 4 in Vietnam and USD 7.50 in Thailand. XXXXXXXXXXXX cited anecdotal evidence from NGOs that some ATS users are switching to injecting heroin, currently available for USD 1.50 to 2 in Phnom Penh, as a cheaper alternative to rising ATS prices.


Lower Ecstasy Seizures Likely Point to Disrupted Network --------------------------------------------- -----------


8. (U) In contrast to the dramatic rise in ATS seizures, seizures of ecstasy tablets are down sharply, from 1,900 in January to April 2005 to less than 800 in January to April 2006. Moek Dara and XXXXXXXXXXXX believe that lower levels of ecstasy seizures are a sign that supply has been disrupted following a cooperative DEA/Anti-Drug Police controlled delivery operation against the Peter Brown drug ring in 2004 and continued Anti-Drug Police action against the ring in 2005.


USG Training Provides Needed Skills, International Pressure

--------------------------------------------- --------------


9. (SBU) Moek Dara gave much of the credit for the dramatic increase in heroin and ATS seizures and drug arrests to counternarcotics training funded by the State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and conducted by the DEA. Before the training sessions, which were conducted in January and April 2006, police officers along Cambodia's porous northern border were not very active and would not even conduct foot patrols in the forest, according to Moek Dara. Now, however, the officers have more skills and are more motivated to patrol actively, he said, and have seized drugs and a lot of drug production equipment as well. Customs, immigration, and police officials at the airports are also better trained and more active, and Moek Dara noted that all of the officials involved in the weekend's airport arrests had completed DEA training.


10. (C) XXXXXXXXXXXX gave partial credit for increased anti-drug activity to counternarcotics training by the US and other foreign donors. Some high-ranking Cambodian police and military officials are rumored to be complicit in narcotics trafficking, he noted. He speculated that the training and pressure on the Cambodian government to clamp down on drug activity has finally made an impression on higher ranking officials, and lower-level officers are "being allowed" to make more seizures. At the same time, such a dramatic increase is probably also an indication of efforts to traffic increased amounts of ATS through Cambodia, he opined.


Trainees Enthusiastic about INL/DEA Courses

-------------------------------------------


11. (U) Provincial Anti-Drug Police officers who attended the January Basic Counternarcotics course reported uniformly enthusiastic assessments to an embassy follow-up survey. Participating police captains reported an increased awareness of drug smuggling tactics, best practices in seizing and preparing evidence, and how to identify drugs using field test kits. Captain Preap Sovann of the Svay Rieng Anti-Drug Police noted that the training also promoted inter-agency and inter-province cooperation as well. All captains reported training their staffs in the key topics covered by the DEA training, and captains in Koh Kong and Pursat provinces reported conducting anti-drug outreach to primary and secondary school students as well. Trainees suggested that future courses provide written materials in Khmer as well as English, include information on money laundering, have more laboratory equipment available for in-class practice in drug identification, and include more time in simulations.


Police Officer Arrested on Drug Charges

---------------------------------------


11. (C) Nov Sophal, a municipal police officer in the southern city of Kep, was arrested on April 15 and charged with trafficking 1 kg of heroin. Moek Dara was not expansive when asked about the case, noting simply that it is not uncommon for low-ranking police and military officials to be arrested for drug trafficking. In contrast, XXXXXXXXXXXX noted that drug investigations of police or military officials are very rare, and speculated that the individual involved may even have run afoul of rumored higher-level police involvement in narcotics.


12. (SBU) COMMENT: While increased smuggling activity may


PHNOM PENH 00000983 003 OF 003


account for some of the increased seizures and arrests, it is clear that the Cambodian government is turning up the heat on the country's drug smugglers. Training from the USG and other countries is playing a critical role in supporting this effort--both through the skills and enthusiasm imparted to the participants, and also through the implicit expectations of improved performance on the part of the police and other officials.

STORELLA

Read more!

'Enemies of the People': One man's quest for truth about Cambodia's 'killing fields'

A movie review of "Enemies of the People," an intensely personal documentary that follows journalist Thet Sambath as he seeks the truth about the mass killings from 1975 to 1979 at the hands of Cambodia's Communist Khmer Rouge government.

By Stephen Holden
The New York Times

"Some say that almost two million people died in the killing fields," declares Thet Sambath, a polite, soft-spoken Cambodian journalist for The Phnom Penh Post, in the opening moments of the documentary "Enemies of the People." He adds, "Nobody understands why so many people were killed at that time."

Thus begins this intensely personal film, undertaken at some risk, in which Sambath seeks the truth about the mass killings from 1975 to 1979 at the hands of Cambodia's Communist Khmer Rouge government, which was responsible for the deaths of nearly a quarter of the country's population.

The heart of the film, a collaboration by Sambath and British documentarian Rob Lemkin, consists of meticulously cataloged interviews conducted during nearly a decade with perpetrators of the mass execution, many of them rural farmers. As they open up and matter-of-factly describe horrific acts, the camera scours their weather-beaten faces.

"Enemies of the People" is extraordinary on several fronts. Sambath's father and brother were slain by Khmer Rouge militants, and his mother died in childbirth after her forced marriage to a militiaman. Yet as Sambath gently coaxes peasants to confess to atrocities, there is not a shred of bitterness in his questioning. At times, Sambath suggests a one-man Cambodian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Instead of affixing blame, he seeks the healing power of confession.

"Enemies of the People" is another disquieting testament to the fact that ordinary individuals under extreme pressure will carry out the most monstrous crimes. If they hadn't followed the orders of superiors, they say, they themselves would have been killed. One farmer, a Buddhist who believes in reincarnation, expresses his tormented certainty that it will be many lifetimes before he returns in human form.

The film's journalistic coup is Sambath's persuasion of Nuon Chea, the chief ideologue of Pol Pot (the Cambodian Communist leader who died in 1998), to explain what happened. Chea, also known as Brother No. 2, is a proud, gaunt man in his 80s. Sambath visited him regularly for three years before he agreed to tell the truth.

"Enemies of the People" reserves its biggest emotional punch for the end of the film, when Sambath, who has lied to Chea about the fate of his own family, finally tells him about their loss.

As the final interviews with Chea were conducted, he and other high-level Khmer Rouge officials were waiting to be arrested for war crimes and genocide by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, a United Nations-backed tribunal. Kaing Guek Eav, commonly known as Duch, the head of the Khmer Rouge's Tuol Sleng prison, was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Chea will be the tribunal's second case.

Read more!

Ministries told to end trespass case quickly

The Foreign Affairs and Defence ministries have been told to cooperate fully with Phnom Penh authorities to seek an early end to the case of the seven Thais charged with illegal entry into Cambodia.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday Thailand would not interfere with Phnom Penh's handling of the issue but said "we can talk" to find a joint solution that appealed to both sides.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has set Feb 1 to rule on the fate of the Thais after the Appeal Court decided on Tuesday to grant bail to four of the Thais held in Prey Sar prison.

That means all of the seven arrested except Veera Somkwamkid, an activist on the Thai-Cambodian border issue, have been released on bail. They have been told by the court not to leave Cambodia until a final verdict is rendered.

The seven were accused of trespassing on Cambodian territory when they were arrested on Dec 29.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said yesterday he was "a bit disappointed" by the Cambodian court's decision to set Feb 1 to hand down its ruling. He said this was too long.

Mr Suthep said he did not intend to criticise the court but he hoped Cambodia would reconsider the date to conclude the legal process sooner.

The Appeal Court decided on Tuesday to deny bail to Mr Veera, who faces an additional charge of espionage, because it was afraid he would cause problems in Cambodia if released.

Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to the Thai foreign minister, said a Cambodian lawyer asked the Supreme Court yesterday to grant Mr Veera bail.

Read more!

Hun Sen Defends Closure of UN Refugee Center

Its position to close a UN refugee center in Phnom Penh that had been used to give asylum to Montagnards from Vietnam.

In a Jan. 14 letter addressed to six US congressmen, Prime Minister Hun Sen says Cambodia extended its cooperation beyond a five-year agreement with the UNHCR and Vietnam.

“The [memorandum of understanding] covers only 750 Montagnards for temporary facility at the time of the signing,” Hun Sen says in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by VOA Khmer. “Many more cases have been processed, with up to 932 Montagnards having been given refugee status and resettlement in third countries.”

Hun Sen was responding to concerns raised by the US lawmakers as the refugee center nears its closing date, Feb. 15. Seventy-six Montagnards remain at the center.

In December, the lawmakers, led by House Republican Frank Wolf, of Virginia, expressed concern for the fate of the remaining Montagnards, a group that was an ally of the US in its war with Vietnam.

Cambodia’s ambassador to the US, Hem Heng, said Vietnam presented no reason for concern.

“Vietnam is a peaceful country with a growing economy,” he said. “It has no war. Therefore, there are no refugees. There is no refugee issue. That’s why the government has decided to close the camp.”

However, under it’s UN obligations, the US lawmakers wrote, Cambodia is “prohibited from forcibly expelling or returning refugees to territories where they may face persecution.”

The congressmen cited as an example for concern the forced deportation of 20 Muslim minority Uighurs to China in December 2009 and said they had “ample reason” to believe the Montagnards could face persecution in Vietnam.

In his response, Hun Sen said Montagnards who failed in their refugee attempts and were sent back to Vietnam “have been reintegrated into society without any oppression or persecution.”

A source close to the situation said Saturday only 65 of the remaining 76 Montagnards would be given refugee status. Those who are not granted the status will be returned to Vietnam.

. Read more!