China never had to exert massive military might or economic investment to gain influence in Southeast Asia. After the US extended diplomatic recognition to the mainland in 1972, members of the Association of South-East Asia Nations (ASEAN) followed suit. During the Cold War, the US aimed to dilute Soviet influence in the region and encouraged collaboration. With the US increasingly distracted in the Middle East, China has deepened its roots in Southeast Asia through extended engagement and economic diplomacy. “China has gained its influence in Southeast Asia less by ‘muscles’ and more by skillfully exploiting changes in the international and regional environment, absent any wise and strong US engagement with the region,” writes Singapore-based analyst Sheng Lijun. As the ASEAN summit convenes in the Philippines, members remain divided about the balance of power in the region: Some welcome China’s growing influence, while others long for a US counterweight. ASEAN expects to be the driving political force in Southeast Asia, so the two powers must likewise pursue balance, neither pushing too hard nor neglecting the region. – YaleGlobal
As China gains strategic advantage in Southeast Asia, the region seeks balance
Sheng Lijun
YaleGlobal, 11 January 2007.
Southeast Asia, here we come: Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing arrives in the Philippines for a summit meeting with ASEAN leaders, where China's profile is rising.
SINGAPORE: China’s diplomatic success in Southeast Asia has often been fortuitous. Changes in the international and regional strategic environment, together with US absent-mindedness and negligence of the region, have played a major role in a closer embrace of China and Southeast Asia. History shows how the international as well as the regional strategic landscape can change overnight.
That happened with US rapprochement with China in 1972, forcing Association of South-East Asia Nations (ASEAN) nations such as Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines to swiftly change their respective policies on China and establish diplomatic relations with Beijing, despite no fundamental changes in China’s Southeast Asia policy and no massive increase in China’s military muscle and economic attractiveness.
When Deng Xiaoping stepped into power in 1978, eager to open China up and push into Southeast Asia, a blessing in disguise soon followed – Vietnam’s occupation of Cambodia from 1979 to 1989. China made good use of this “occupation” and effectively kick-started its initial cooperation with ASEAN. This engagement, lasting more than a decade, laid a solid foundation for relations in the subsequent years. The US, concerned about Soviet influence in the region, acquiesced and even encouraged this strong engagement. Once again China succeeded in going deeper into Southeast Asia without massive increase in its military muscle and economic attractiveness.
Just as ASEAN put the Cambodia issue onto a backburner, the Cold War ended and new uncertainties emerged in the region. Deciding against a passive wait for changes, ASEAN took the initiative and actively pursued engaging all the major powers in the region. Up until the end of the Cold War, ASEAN attempted policy that would push all extra-regional big powers out of the region. Realizing that it was impossible to push them out of the region, ASEAN, from the 1990s, began what it called “constructive engagement” with all of them. Under the policy, major powers balance one another while ASEAN is the primary driving force for a constructive balance. For this purpose, ASEAN needed China’s political backing to play its role as the primary driving force in this process. Under this backdrop, China scored an easy diplomatic success by building its first official ties with the ASEAN grouping in 1991.
The ASEAN-China relationship in the early was tentative at best. Not long after came a big push: the Asian economic crisis in late 1997. While the US, for its own reasons, was slow to come to rescue, China readily responded to ASEAN’s acute need, with an immediate promise not to devalue its currency, the Renminbi, and further destabilize the region. By November 1997, the lukewarm relationship evolved to the level of annual ASEAN+China summits.
This momentum receded as ASEAN countries withstood the shockwaves of the economic crisis, but then came another boost: The 9/11 terror attacks, which plunged the US into a seemingly endless war against terrorism. The increasing focus of the US on homeland security, Central Asia and the Middle East was accompanied by a negligence of Southeast Asia. In 2001, China made a diplomatic masterpiece by proposing a free-trade agreement with ASEAN to accelerate its cooperation with ASEAN, thus maintaining and even building its momentum in Southeast Asia.
The brief examination of recent history tells us that China has gained its influence in Southeast Asia less by “muscles” and more by skillfully exploiting changes in the international and regional environment, absent any wise and strong US engagement with the region – together providing strong “pulls” for ASEAN toward a China that is more than willing to “push” into the region.
Many observers have noted only the Chinese “pushes” without seeing ASEAN’s “pulls” and their strategic background. Without such “pulls,” however, China’s “pushes” will not get far and may backfire. Take the warming in China-Indonesia relations for example: The two nations have declared each other as strategic partners, which may have a lot to do with Muslim Indonesia’s intention to use China to balance the excessive US pressure against Islamic extremists in the country.
Indonesia’s overture to build defense ties with China and buy Chinese weapons can be interpreted as a tactical rather than a strategic re-orientation, a means to pressure the US to lift its arms embargo on Indonesia.
Myanmar and Cambodia both have close relations with China. In the case of Myanmar, the US has chosen not to engage with its government, likewise rejecting trade or investment. US trade sanctions and embargo against Myanmar still stand. China is Cambodia’s top investor and trade partner. The US, for political reasons, still has no significant trade or investment in Cambodia. If the US changes its policy and prioritizes these two countries, China may find it difficult to maintain its primacy there.
While there is less public talk of a “China threat,” Washington can take some comfort from the fact that distrust of China remains deep-rooted in the region and may grow if a rising China enters too deep. ASEAN countries have not joined the China bandwagon but “hedge,” engaging China while developing robust ties with the US and other extra-regional powers to balance China. Asian countries generally do not have much trust for one another and the US is perceived as the least distrusted of all major powers. Asian nations need the US as a balancer and double insurance when they develop their relations with China. ASEAN is aware that without a strong relationship with the US, China may take ASEAN for granted.
A vigorous but balanced relationship with the US is seen as not only security insurance but also an incentive for China to offer more economic sweeteners. Barring a sudden and major change in the international strategic landscape and a disaster in US Southeast Asia policy that would unexpectedly boost China’s influence by default, the more China pushes in deepening its relations with ASEAN, the more ASEAN may feel that it needs a strong relationship with the US and other extra-regional power to keep the balance.
The US is, thus, still favourably poised to keep and enhance its position in this region. However, as illustrated by recent history, success depends less on “muscles” and more on “brain” that can quickly exploit any changes in the strategic environment, less on how many resources a country has but on how much it is willing to spend. Washington does not lack the resources, but the willingness to use them profusely for the region, at least for now.
How deep can China push into Southeast Asia? At the moment, there is an active balance in the region, and any power that seeks dominance will likely push other powers, together with ASEAN, into a stronger resistance to maintain this balance. Any success China has in pushing further is less likely due to its growing “muscles” but more due to an ever-changing international and regional strategic environment that may suddenly multiply those “muscles” for a much deeper penetration. In this sense, continued US negligence of the region and absent-mindedness to the ever-changing strategic environment in the region will cost it dearly.
Sheng Lijun is a senior fellow of international relations at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.
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Thursday, January 11, 2007
Is Southeast Asia Becoming China's Playpen?
Microsoft donates 100,000 USD to ECCC in Cambodia
Microsoft Singapore, part of U.S. computer giant Microsoft CorpCK, donated 100,000 U.S. dollars to the U.N. side of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), local media said on Thursday.
"It would be nice if there were more," Helen Jarvis, chief of public affairs at the ECCC, was quoted by the Cambodia Daily as saying.
The fund was put toward the court's general operating budget, ECCC public affairs officer Peter Foster said. "It came with no strings attached," he added.
This is the first donation from a private company to the court, the paper said. The tribunal still faces a budgetary shortfall of nearly eight million U.S. dollars, most of it on the Cambodian side, it added.
After six years of talks, the U.N. and Cambodia agreed in 2003 to set up the ECCC to jointly hold trial of the former Democratic Kampuchea (DK) leaders. Formal trial is expected to begin in mid-2007 and the entire process will take three years at the cost of 56.3 million U.S. dollars.
The DK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 and was accused of being responsible for the death of 1.7 million people.
Source: Xinhua
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Parents offer $20,000 reward for information about a missing son
Student Eddie Gibson was 19 when he went missing on a trip to Cambodia in October 2004. Now, his devastated parents have returned to the country to offer a $20,000 reward for information. Here, his mother Jo, 52, tells of her heartache.
Jo, ground crew for British Airways, lives in Hove, Sussex, with her second husband, Tony Clarke, a 51-year-old businessman. She has two other sons, Elliott, 28, and Max, 18:
My happy life as Jo Gibson-Clarke, mother of three gorgeous sons, ended and another began at 7.15pm on November 1, 2004. I was standing with my former husband, Mike, waiting for our teenage son, Eddie, to return from a trip to Cambodia.
Waiting in the arrivals hall at Heathrow for Eddie to run into my arms, I could barely contain my excitement. But the minutes passed and the stream of back-packers gradually reduced to a trickle. Then the doors swung shut.
All the passengers had arrived - and Eddie wasn't there. It is almost impossible to describe the waves of shock and terror that ripped through me. Every day since then has been a living hell. I miss Eddie with a passion. His loss has ripped a hole in my heart that nothing can fill.
I hope he's alive, but as each day passes I know that's increasingly unlikely. But until his father and I know for certain what has happened to Eddie, we can't rest.
Now, when I hear mothers blithely planning their teenage children's gap years, my stomach churns. As they muse over the exciting challenges and mind-expanding experiences offered abroad, I want to scream: 'No, no, no.' Are they totally blind to the potential dangers?
When Eddie set off excitedly to the Far East before starting at Leeds University, I was every bit as naive and trusting. His friends were all doing the same thing. In my innocence, I even looked back to my own youth and recalled weeks spent Inter-Railing around Europe with two girlfriends.
But, as I've discovered, travelling around Europe is utterly different to backpacking around one of the most deprived areas of the world, where drugs are rife, foreigners are exploited for their money and life is cheap. If parents could see the truth - as I've been forced to - they'd think again.
Though Eddie came back safely from his gap year, he found it impossible to settle. Three weeks after starting university, he secretly withdrew £3,000 from his bank account and booked a flight to Bangkok. When we eventually spoke to him, he told us he was returning in three weeks. We haven't seen him since.
Today, I'd give anything to turn back the clock. Until Eddie left home, his life had been utterly charmed. In fact, I used to worry that he had almost had it too easy. He wasn't just good looking - 6ft tall with a smile that melted hearts - but charming and talented.
Sadly, Eddie's father Mike, 61, and I separated when Eddie was 11 and divorced in 2000. However, we are still extremely close. Eddie saw his dad regularly and Mike even came around every Sunday for family lunch.
I've agonised over whether Eddie was affected by the divorce, but I honestly don't believe he was. When I remarried, he was delighted to find himself with two stepbrothers - Tony's sons Jeremy, 21, and Matthew, 20.
Eddie was good at everything. Moving from his private prep school to Cardinal Newman School, Hove, and then on to Brighton and Hove sixth form college, he excelled at rugby, tennis and swimming while managing to get excellent levels.
He was always so focused. He knew what he wanted of life and went for it. were thrilled when he got a at Leeds University to read international management and Asian-Pacific studies. And when suggested a gap year, Mike and agreed happily.
Eddie was already well-travelled. We had taken family holidays every-where from South Africa to Cuba, Eddie was so sensible and resourceful that we didn't worry him. So in late 2003, he left Australia and the Far East with gang of seven friends, including stepbrother.
Tony and I joined him in Australia in January 2004, two before his 19th birthday. They were among the happiest days of my life. I took Eddie to the hairdressers - he wanted a few highlights. He was so hand-some and charming, all the stylists clustered around him. I felt immensely proud.
Later, we lunched beside Sydney Opera House and talked and talked. He was my son, but he also my friend. He held my in his enormous hands. It so sweet. When Eddie returned home May, he filled his room with souvenirs - Buddhas, candles and photos. He'd kept a diary and had taken hundreds of photos, which he loved to show us. He spent the rest of the year helping Mike at his commercial finance business.
I worried that after such an intense and exciting time, Eddie would find it hard to settle back down to his studies. But he reassured me that he'd learned the value of education and was determined to get a good degree. 'The people I've met in Cambodia are the poorest in the world, but they're also the kindest and happiest,' he told me. 'But I know that I need more in my life - and for that I need a degree.' Although money wasn't his priority, he talked of going into business.
So on September 15, 2004, I drove him to Leeds and settled him into his room. When I kissed him goodbye, I was convinced he was starting one of the best chap-ters of his life. He seemed so happy and excited about the future. How could I have guessed I'd never see him again?
I still don't know what happened in the next few weeks. No one does. Eddie wasn't naturally secretive, but once he was focused on something, he was single-minded. He didn't even tell his old schoolfriend, Josh - a room mate - that he was unhappy.
But one Sunday night, just a few days before he left, he rang me. 'I just want to hear your voice, Mum,' he said. I was touched but surprised. A few days later, he rang again and said he wasn't getting on very well with part of his course and was considering swopping. He was always so capable and sensible that I didn't worry unduly. But we now know he had already made up his mind: he was going back to Cambodia.
Preparing the way, he rang Mike and me to explain the battery was low in his mobile phone and we might not be able to reach him for a few days. Then, on October 4, he took a flight to Bangkok via Dubai, due to return on November 1. Once in Bangkok, he quickly moved to Cambodia, crossing the land border at Poipet - though, of course, we didn't know that then.
We only realised our son was missing when he failed to ring. His room mates hadn't seen him. He hadn't breathed a word. We were frantic.
Then, on October 20, I got an e-mail out of the blue from Phnom Penh. Reading it, I was horrified, but relieved. At least he was safe - or so I thought. He explained that he was terribly sorry to disappoint us, but that he'd realised after only one week at university that it wasn't for him. He felt he had to sort out his life and would be coming back home on November 1. He even gave me the flight number. I e-mailed back, reassuring him I wasn't angry, but making him promise he'd never, ever scare me like that again. Did he ever even read my e-mail? I don't know.
I heard once more from him, on October 24, when he sent another e-mail saying that he was coming home - then nothing. When he failed to arrive on the flight, we hoped against hope there'd been a mistake. We expected a knock on the door any second. Every time I heard a car draw up, I ran to the window. But it was never Eddie.
At first, the police refused to take us seriously. After all, Eddie was 18 and, supposedly, a seasoned traveller. But we knew it was totally out of character. We were so anxious that in December that year Mike flew out to Cambodia with Eddie's brother, Elliott, to try to find him. We've been out several times since.
Last June, British police even sent out a team - but no one has been able to find anything. We simply cannot rest until we know what has happened to him. Even if Eddie is dead, it will be better than living in this terrible limbo. That's why Mike and I have come back to Cambodia. We've had a private investigator on the case for two years, but he's uncovered nothing useful.
Now we're offering a $20,000 reward for information. That's a fortune in a country where the average policeman earns just $300 a year. We desperately hope it will tempt people to tell the truth. Someone must know something.
Being here is incredibly difficult. Eddie adored the country - and trusted the people implicitly. But I look around and all I see is danger. Scratch the surface and it's there. I've toured beaches, bars and backpackers' hang-outs and been horrified by the scenes. Do these kids' parents have the faintest idea what their children are up to? British teenagers are stoned out of their heads on cheap, potent drugs. Heroin, marijuana and metham-phetamines known as yabba or 'Nazi speed' are as cheap and easy to come by as cigarettes.
The British Ambassador has told us that every year tourists are found dead in their hotel rooms, killed by drugs which are more powerful than they bargained for. There are also tales about Cambodian 'taxi girls' - locals who make themselves available to the Western men for the duration of their stay - turning the tables on their clients and keeping them high on yabba while relieving them of their cash.
I am convinced that Eddie wasn't into drugs. Video footage we have seen of him just eight days before he was vanished taken by Ami - a local girl whom Eddie befriended - show him looking as clear-eyed as ever. Besides, Eddie hated being out of control and rarely even got drunk.
He was so health-conscious that when he helped me by doing the weekly shop, he'd return with loads of fruit and vegetables — not the usual biscuits and crisps most teenagers are into. Even his bed-room was neat and tidy.
My greatest fear is that someone killed him for his money. Eddie arrived with £3,000 — enough to feed a family for ten years in Cambodia. I don't know how discreet he was. Life is cheap: Cambodia's recent history of disorder and death during Pol Pot's regime has hard-ened people. The first time a kindly local explained that Cambodians would not think twice about killing my son for his money and then sim-ply burying the body, I felt sick. Now I suspect it's the truth.
Ami told me she loved Eddie — they met at a tourist bar - and was surprised when he disappeared without a word.
When her father died while Eddie was in Cambodia, knowing money was short, Eddie paid for his funeral - a gesture of typical generosity. We even have a video of him at the funeral, eight days before he disap-peared, looking fit and well.
It would be tempting to suspect Ami, but having visited her humble shack, I can see her life hasn't changed. If she stole from Eddie, where has the money gone? We have found records of Eddie booking into various hostels and I've spoken to the guide who helped him cross the border from Thailand, but no one can shed any light on why he didn't get on that plane back home.
We know that the border area between Thailand and Cambodia is particularly lawless, notorious for drugs, prostitution and gambling. Did someone murder Eddie hours before he was due to catch his flight home to safety? I just don't know.
We've had e-mails from students returning from the area, saying they think they met Eddie, and every time my hopes rise. They e-mail photos but then, as the images download, they're not Eddie - and I feel I've lost him all over again. There should be a health warning on countries like Thailand and Cambodia. If you want to go some-where and be unaccountable, it's the ideal place because there are no rules. Most visitors return safe and well, but when something goes wrong there is no safety net.
Eddie believed himself so resourceful - but he was a nice, middle-class boy from Sussex and had been wrapped in cotton wool all his life. What did he really know of the world? I try not to blame myself, but I look back at how calmly I let Eddie leave for the Far East and I feel like screaming. We haven't changed his room: it's still full of his souvenirs from Thailand and Cambodia. I treasure them for his sake. Eddie will be 22 on January 26. We won't celebrate, but we will mark the day with a small family party — as we did for his 21st. It's very hard.
We all grieve in different ways. His elder brother Elliott is convinced that Eddie has been murdered and feels we should all move on. For my part, I am in limbo. I gave him life, I loved him: I can't rest until I know what's happened. I carry his photo in a locket around my neck.
I cling to the hope that one day Eddie will walk through the door, with a huge smile on his face and a wealth of stories. If I didn't believe that, I'd go mad.
• If you have information or want to find out more about Eddie, go to www.missingpersons.org or phone the Missing Persons Helpline on Freephone 0500 700 700.
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Gun Play for Tourists a Remnant of Cambodia's War-Torn Past
09 Jan 2007 World Politics Watch Exclusive
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- For the cool price of $555, Lan Kosal will escort a client to a remote location in the Cambodian countryside to blow up a cow with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, a grizzly form of entertainment popular among some backpackers visiting this poor Southeast Asian nation.The use of the Soviet-era launcher and its artillery is the relatively inexpensive part of the package, said Lan. "The real cost is the cow. You have to buy it before we let you kill it," he explained matter-of-factly.
Many tourists, he noted, aren't interested in firing bazookas at bovines or tossing hand grenades at a flock of chickens, another ghoulish attraction offered from the Kambol firing range he manages just outside of the Cambodian capital. Most just want the opportunity to fire a few dozen rounds from Cold War stalwart weaponry like the Russian AK-47 -- a favorite the world over among developing nations' armies and rebel and paramilitary groups alike -- or the U.S. M-16. Each is readily available for target practice and reasonably priced for firing ($30 for a 30-round clip) at the Kambol Shooting Range. So are Uzis and an array of handguns, even a Thompson machine gun made famous as the weapon of choice among American gangsters during the heyday of Al Capone and prohibition.
All manner of firearms are priced on the range's neatly laminated "menu" from which the everyone from the merely gun-curious to the arms enthusiast can choose. According to Lan, his stockpile is a remnant of decades of conflict, dating back to the days of World War II when Japan occupied the country. By the mid-1960s, Cambodia had allowed the North Vietnamese to set up bases within its territories, from which they launched attacks on the U.S.-backed southern Vietnamese forces.
By the early 1970s, the tables had turned. Cambodia was now fighting against the forces of communist North Vietnam while also combating communist Khmer Rouge guerrillas. In 1975, when the Khmer Rouge wrested control of the country and began its genocidal campaign to eradicate nearly 2 million people, the country was awash in weapons. Now, some 30 years later, the weaponry that shaped Cambodia's violent past has resurfaced in ranges like Kambol and a handful of others near Phnom Penh.British backpacker and gun novice Tom Janson shook his head in disbelief while perusing Lan's stockpile, before settling on an AK-47.
"You can't go anywhere in England and do something like this," said Janson, who showed solid marksmanship while firing from 50 yards at paper targets emblazoned with a man's head and torso. By Cambodian government accounts, you can't do it here either. Government officials have repeatedly denied the existence of the firing ranges operating around the capital, claiming they have been closed for nearly a decade.
The most recent edition of the Lonely Planet travel guide to Cambodia notes that officials here decided "enough was enough" and that shooting ranges were no longer conducive to prompting the peaceful image the country has been cultivating after years of killing. The guide's account coincides with a law passed in 2005 regulating the use of weapons, which states that only the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of National Defense are permitted to operate firing ranges.
However, Lan told World Politics Watch that the government is aware of his operation and that soldiers from the nearby army base use his range for target practice in the morning. He also said that the government takes a percentage of his profits, a claim refuted by officials when questioned. Whether the government is profiting from tourists looking to pop off a few rounds or kill farm animals is a minor concern for many Cambodians, who are grateful the government has made weapon eradication a priority of late. Since the late 1990s, Cambodia has made a concerted effort round up the hundreds of thousands of illegal weapons littering the country.
Some 130,000 weapons have been collected and more than 180,000 destroyed, said the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey in their 2006 country report on Cambodia. The effort has paid off according to the country's English-language newspaper, the Phnom Penh Post. The paper has reported that the use of firearms in all acts of violence declined from 80 percent in 1994 to 30 percent in 2004.
Despite that success, arms eradication groups aren't keen on gun ranges like Kambol operating outside the law."Foreigners firing these weapons, it is illegal and it undermines the laws in place," said Prak Tepvichet, director of the Phnom Penh office of the global Working Group for Weapons Reduction."It's a problem of law enforcement," he said. It might be illegal, but for tourists seeking thrills, it's a chance to unleash a whole lot of heavy firepower.
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Monday, January 08, 2007
Cambodian daily hails economic development in Vietnamese province
10:59 08/01/2007
The Light of Cambodia, one of the largest dailies in Cambodia, has recently carried an article, highlighting Viet Nam’s southern province of An Giang for “Tra” and “Basa” farming.
The paper hailed the socio-economic development in An Giang with two key products; fish and rice; saying the export of Tra and Basa catfish contributed most to the province’s export turnover of about 400 million USD in 2006.
The paper elaborated that the province was farming fish in about 3,200 cages, exporting 190,000 tonnes of fish a year in addition to 2.9 tonnes of food in paddy equivalent. Also in 2006, An Giang’s GDP growth rate reached 9 percent.
The province has a population of 2.2 million living in 11 districts, including four districts bordering Cambodia, and has two international border-gates with Cambodia.
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DJ: Plantation Companies Rush Abroad To Secure Land
8/01/2007 By: By Matthew Walls
Despite swelling coffers thanks to soaring commodity prices, Asian plantation companies can't find enough of the one asset they need most - land. Shortage of land at home is fundamentally changing the way these companies plan future expansion, in the process benefiting countries which still have arable land in plenty.
Advertisement"The Chinese, the Vietnamese, the Thais, the Malaysians are all interested in planting (rubber) in other countries, because land is not available in their own countries," says Hidde Smit, secretary general of the International Rubber Study Group.
China's Hainan State Farms, for example, has established a rubber nursery in Myanmar as a first step and plans to develop 300,000 hectares of rubber plantations in Laos and Myanmar in less than ten years, with a total rubber output estimated around 500,000 tons. In November, the state-owned Vietnam Rubber Group said it would lease 50,000 hectares of land in Cambodia to grow rubber, starting 2007. That area could be doubled in four years. This follows upon another investment in Cambodia in April by Hainan State Farms, which leased 62,659 hectares of land, at a cost of CNY1 billion ($12 7 million), to grow rubber.
In the Philippines, two provincial governments from China plan to develop 200,000 hectares of land for rice and corn cultivation and another 40,000 hectares for a bio-fuel crop such as cassava or sugar cane. And in Indonesia, Malaysia's Sime Darby, now in the process of merging with two other state-owned palm oil giants, is working to double its land bank to 200,000 hectares by 2008. "The biggest reason Malaysian companies come to Indonesia is land," said Witjaksana Darmosarokoro, director of the Indonesian Palm Oil Research Institute.
What began as a trickle is now a steady flow, expected to continue for years given the rising demand for these commodities. While observers say it is difficult to foresee the scope and speed of this outward investment, none doubt the growth of foreign-owned plantations will boost output in general while shifting a significant proportion of production to lower-cost countries.
Strong Demand, High Prices Spark The Scramble The rush to get trees into the ground as quick as possible began a few years ago but is accelerating now as commodity prices are at levels unseen in years or even decades in some cases. With oil prices hovering above $60 a barrel, palm oil's potential as a biofuel, for example, has greatly expanded the scope for its use. Natural rubber supply, meanwhile, is expected to see a deficit in the next 6-10 years.
Demand for other commodities, such as sugar cane and corn which are linked to biofuels, has also risen with the run-up in oil prices. Palm oil prices are currently around MYR2,000 a metric ton, the highest level since 1998 when prices averaged MYR2,377. Natural rubber futures, meanwhile, rallied to a 26-year high in July during a supply crunch. While some of those gains have been surrendered since then, a widely expected supply deficit for the next 6-10 years will keep its prospects buoyant, analysts say.
To capitalize on these favorable trends, plantation companies need to find and develop land quickly, but this is becoming increasingly difficult at home. Land suitable to grow rubber and oil palm, for example, is either saturated, as in China, coveted by real estate developers, or fragmented into small holdings, as in Malaysia, making consolidation into economic holdings difficult. That has forced investors to look at countries so far considered risky investment destinations. "The big problem is that the belt in which rubber grows is politically unstable," said industry veteran George Sulkowsky, managing director of Centrotrade, a rubber dealer with offices in Europe, the US and Southeast Asia.
Decades of isolation brought about by wars in Cambodia and Africa, autarchy in Myanmar and political upheavals in Indonesia and the Philippines have until recently kept most investors away from the plantation sector in these countries. But that has also left these countries with "a lot of land ripe for outside investors," said Steven Schipani, a consultant to the Asian Development Bank.
New Investments To Ease Supply Shortages The explosion of new investments by Asian plantation companies in neighbouring countries could help ease future shortages of palm oil and rubber, and by doing so, keep prices at levels that don't force consumers such as tire makers and energy users to seek substitutes. According to IRSG's Smit, the new investments in rubber plantations might increase output by 1 million tons in the next 10 years, from around 9 million tons expected to be produced this year.
Similarly, palm oil's use as a biofuel has begun putting a strain on edible oil supplies, and Indonesia's vast potential to expand production offers some relief, said Dorab E. Mistry, director of Godrej International Ltd., part of India's Godrej Group. While oilseeds have to compete for land with other crops in most parts of the world, "the one area where production does not face such competition is Indonesia," said Mistry. But the prospect is not without risks.
Overproduction is the greatest danger presented by this new expansion, analysts said. Consider as well that these investments may be converting rainforest into monoculture plantations, or transforming farmers into laborers. There is also the issue of immigrant labor. Following Chinese and Vietnamese investment to Laos, Cambodia and perhaps Myanmar will likely be immigrant farmers. NGOs in Laos say northern Laos is already under significant Chinese influence and that process will intensify once newly planted rubber trees are ready to be tapped in about six years from now. "
The government of Laos, lacking any sort of tools to analyze the rubber phenomena, has not even thought about this issue, said David Bluhm, an agro-forestry consultant, who co-authored a study on Laos' rubber industry for the German non-governmental organization GTZ. "(At) some point I think the government will have to ask itself some tough questions about rubber and social demographics." (Allan Sun in Beijing, Reuben Carder in Jakarta and Benjamin Low in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this article.)
This article was reproduced with the kind permission of Dow Jones Newswires, as part of its Asia-Pacific Market Outlook 2007. Copyright 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Copying and redistribution prohibited without permission of the publisher. Asia-Pacific Market Outlook 2007 is designed to provide factual information with respect to the subject matter covered, but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
Dow Jones & Co. is not a registered investment adviser, and under no circumstances shall any of the information provided herein be construed as a buy or sell recommendation, or investment advice of any kind. The series contains forward-looking articles on new Asian bond issues, Chinese initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions in Japan, foreign exchange forecasts, commodity investor flows and Asian oil refiners amongst other issues, written by Dow Jones Newswires reporters within the region.
The articles provide market forecasts and insights to give you an edge in your business. We hope you enjoy them and wish you a prosperous 2007. To find out more about Dow Jones News, go to www.djnewswires.com
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Tourism Helps Revive Cambodia from the Ravages of War
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Cambodia pledged to proceed Khmer Rouge trial
The Cambodian government reiterated its pledge to prosecute former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, a senior official said Sunday. Chea Sim, president of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), marking the anniversary of the 1979 defeat of the Khmer Rouge, lashed out criticism of the slow pace of the promised trials. "We wish that those entities who constantly look at the process in a negative way would take a more balanced approach to their stance and activities and stop trying to blackmail the Cambodian judicial system, sovereignty, national honour and distort history to suit their own political agendas," Chea Sim said. "The CPP undertook the struggle to save the people and has constantly searched for justice for the victims of the genocidal regime," he said.
The 56-million-dollar joint UN-Cambodian trial process finally began its prosecution phase in July, but has stalled again amidst fierce wrangling over internal rules needed to proceed. Critics including New York-based Human Rights Watch have accused the government of meddling in the process and of lacking the political will to move swiftly ahead with the trial, budgeted to take just three years. Some critics have expressed doubts that the resolve of the government, which still contains a number of former Khmer Rouge cadre who defected and fled to Vietnam to form the nucleus of the movement which would return to defeat Pol Pot's regime. Pol Pot died in 1998, while another prime candidate for trial, Ta Mok, died in hospital last year.
Other candidates are elderly and complaining of ill health, and advocates of a trial have warned it must proceed with haste or risk never taking place at all.
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Friday, January 05, 2007
Cambodia hotel: It's the One
By Christopher Cox
Travel + Leisure
(Travel + Leisure) -- Ancient Siem Reap, a stone's throw from Angkor Wat, introduces a new way to design a hotel: with just one bedroom. Christopher Cox checks into the One to see if it offers singular service that lives up to its name
THE OVERVIEW Home to the Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor, Amansara, and the up-and-coming Hôtel de la Paix, Siem Reap is no stranger to luxury. But the new One Hotel Angkor is putting a modern spin on the concept with something the town has never seen before -- a one-room hotel. Think of it as your own stylish pied-à -terre. While the row house's wooden jalousies, potted plants and thatched roof are straight out of a Graham Greene novel, the neighborhood itself is of the moment, with art galleries, a day spa and owner Martin Dishman's funky lounge, Linga Bar, just across the street. 415/992-5431 or 855-12/755-311; www.theonehotelangkor.com; $250 a night.
THE PENTHOUSE The second story's shaded breakfast area overlooks the cobblestoned street; an open-air Jacuzzi is screened by yellow palms. There's also a queen-size day (or night) bed. Just mind the low-hanging ceiling fan.
THE SERVICE An alfresco massage? Done. A private car and guide to the ruins? No problem. The best caipirinha in town? Coming right up the stairs. Staff members are shared with the nearby Linga Bar, so there are occasional delays -- but there are four of them to each one of you.
THE MASTER BEDROOM A curvaceous, king-size platform bed, custom-made from phdeak wood, dominates the 320-square-foot space. We love the slide-out night tables built into the base of the bed, and the angled, five-foot-high headboard, which offers ideal support for viewing the 32-inch flat-screen television.
THE BATHROOM Everything is built for two: a doorless, three-foot-wide shower; a seven-foot-long step-in tub; and a vanity (set into the back of the bed) with deep twin sinks. Harnn & Thann's spa-quality lemongrass soap and aromatherapy shampoo are a nice local touch.
THE AMENITIES It's all about you in a one-room hotel. Guests are issued a complimentary mobile phone while in residence; order from any area restaurant (menus are provided), and a staffer will fetch your meal for you. Of course, certain services (such as turndown slippers and morning pastries) are automatic.
THE AREA The One is set on the Passage, a pedestrians-only lane between the souklike Psar Chas (Old Market) and rowdy Pub Street, in the heart of the former Colonial Quarter. For tranquillity, try Amansara; at the One, you're knee-deep in city flavor.
THE DESIGN Accessories are a mix of the international (iPod, egg chairs) and the indigenous (artisan Sopheap Pich's split-bamboo lamp; designer Eric Raisina's hand-loomed silk pillows). A side table-closet cleverly brackets the bed, though the drawers are a bit cramped. And the room's multiple levels could present an after-dark challenge. (T+L Global Hotel Guide)
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Commercial area opens in Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia border
Fourteen projects have been allocated land, and construction has started on nine of them.
Embattled Cambodia prince postpones his day in court
By DPA
Jan 5, 2007, 12:45 GMT
Phnom Penh - Embattled Cambodian politician Prince Norodom Ranariddh skipped a scheduled court appearance Friday after his lawyer applied for a delay to ensure other sacked former royalist Funcinpec Party colleagues could appear with him.
Ranariddh was ousted as president of the governing coalition partner Funcinpec along with a number of prominent loyalists in an October 18 party election result engineered by his bitter rival, Funcinpec secretary-general Nhek Bun Chhay.
The prince has filed a complaint with the Phnom Penh Municipal Court claiming the election was unconstitutional and as such, the royalist Funcinpec Party is illegal and therefore ineligible to compete in the April commune elections under its current leadership.
'Today the prince was in Kampong Cham province. He still plans to go to the court but asked to delay because he wants all sacked Funcinpec leaders to be present and he wants to face Nhek Bun Chhay personally in the court,' the prince's spokesman Ork Socheat said by telephone.
Socheat also confirmed that Ranariddh, who chose to leave Funcinpec rather than accept the title of 'historical president' left to him by the party's new regime, and form his own Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP), had visited US Ambassador to Cambodia Joseph Mussomeli Thursday.
'The prince met with the US ambassador because the NRP will use all means to protect our party because, as you know, on October 18 a group dared to topple Ranariddh from Funcinpec and now we seek any means of support for justice,' Socheat said.
In a speech broadcast on national radio Friday, Prime Minister Hun Sen reiterated previous warnings that anyone plotting a coup against him would be arrested in their homes, but the reference appeared general and not aimed at any party or person in particular.
Ranariddh, whose slide from power began with his resignation as National Assembly chief last year, also faces a barrage of counter lawsuits from Nhek Bun Chhay, including charges that he embezzled millions of dollars from the party earned by the sale of Funcinpec headquarters.
Ranariddh has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated mudslinging. However, his resignation from Funcinpec to form his own party meant he was stripped of his parliamentary seat and therefore political immunity and if convicted he potentially faces jail.
Analysts have given Ranariddh little chance of winning his suit against the legality of the new Funcinpec leadership, which is headed by former Cambodian Ambassador to Germany Keo Puth Rasmei, pointing out that the election results have already been ratified by the Ministry of Interior.
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Roundup: Cambodia cherishes ambition to tap potential of rice production
As its rice production chalked up an harvest again in 2006, Cambodia, a traditional agricultural country with rice as its major crop and staple food, has been fueling its dream to build a rice exporters' coalition in order to share more profits and procure economic power.
The kingdom's rice production rose to six million tons in 2006, five percent higher than 2005, according to the Cambodian Sin Chew Daily on Thursday.
Market also responded positively in 2006 as rice price jumped to a range between 120 U.S. dollars and 135 U.S. dollars per ton, while seeds of top-quality fragrant rice were sold at 180 U.S. dollars per ton, the paper quoted statistics form Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries as saying.
However, Pu Kea, Chairman of the Rice Hulling Mills' Association in Battambang province, told reporters that huge profits went to the exporters from Malaysia, Singapore and African countries, while the farmers and the mill owners could only make limited incomes from simple processing procedures.
"They don't have enough money to run export business," Pu Kea said.
Pu Kea found echo with Prime Minister Hun Sen, in his perception of the kingdom's awkward situation of surrendering profits to foreigners instead of its own planters and processors.
Back to Dec. 20, 2006, as part of his efforts to turn the table, Hun Sen called on Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam to join hands with Cambodia to form an association of rice exporting countries to stabilize rice price and share more profits from rice sales.
An association of the rice exporting countries along the Mekong River could be important for the world market, he said, adding that the association was somewhat like the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The association could have said in rice price adjustment and play a role in balancing OPEC's influence, he said.
"If they want cheaper rice, then they should decrease oil prices," he added.
According to official statistics, Cambodia planned to export 1. 5 million tons of rice in 2006. Annual rice exports in the region of the Mekong River stand at over 10 million tons, almost half of the world's annual rice exports.
Source: Xinhua
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Parties joining Cambodia's commune councils election up to 12
Another party submitted its candidates' registration forms for Cambodia's 2007 commune councils election, bring the number of participating parties up to 12, the National Election Council (NEC) said on Thursday.
The new participant, Cambodian Progress Party, will compete in one commune in one province, according to a press release from NEC.
Before its entry, 11 political parties have submitted their candidates' registration forms, NEC said earlier on Thursday.
These political parties are Cambodian People's Party (CPP), Funcinpec Party, Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), Norodom Ranariddh Party, Khmer Democratic Party, Sangkum Jatiniyum Front Party, League for Democracy Party, Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party, Khmer National Party, Democratic Society Party and United People of Cambodia Party, it said.
CPP is to compete in 1,621 communes in 24 provinces or municipalities, Funcinpec in 763 communes in 23 provinces or municipalities, SRP in 992 communes in 23 provinces or municipalities, Norodom Ranariddh Party in 769 communes in 22 provinces or municipalities, and Khmer Democratic Party in 30 communes in seven provinces or municipalities, it said.
In addition, Sangkum Jatiniyum Front Party in 42 communes in 10 provinces or municipalities, League for Democracy Party in 11 communes in five provinces, Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party in 47 communes in four provinces, Khmer National Party in two communes in one province, Democratic Society Party in one commune, and United People of Cambodia in four communes in three provinces, it added.
The 2007 commune councils election's process started on Sept. 21, 2006, and will end on May 23, 2007. April 1 will be the polling day, ballot counting, and publishing of results at polling stations.
Source: Xinhua
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Cambodia's ex-king regrets continued violence, sex abuse in his country
The Associated Press
Thursday, January 4, 2007
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodia's retired King Norodom Sihanouk bemoaned killings, child sexual abuse and other violent crimes in his country, in a New Year message to his fellow citizens.
Sihanouk, 84, said he has been "very perturbed morally and psychologically" by such acts as jealous husbands killing their wives, women cutting off their partners' penises and jealous women throwing acid at their husbands' mistresses.
The former king, who is being treated for various ailments in Beijing, implored fellow Cambodians to refrain from violence.
"Please stop acid throwing, killings ... pedophilia, rape," he said in his handwritten message dated Monday and seen on his official Web site Friday.
Sihanouk also took aim at the pedophiles, who "maltreat, torture, kill children." The message was written in French.
"All these crimes or acts of cruelty are anti-Buddhist and dishonor our country, nation and race," Sihanouk said. "They are unacceptable."
He did not mention any specific incidents. Sex offenses against minors remain a major problem in the impoverished Southeast Asian country, and many of the abusers are foreigners preying on poor children.
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Thursday, January 04, 2007
Clarksville man arrested in Cambodia for chile sex crime
Roger Green, 59 of Clarksville, sits in a Cambodian jail, but his family feels a misunderstanding about generosity put him there.
Cambodia to get 31 mln USD donation for fighting malaria
Wednesday Jan. 03, 2007
The Global Fund has approved to donate 31 million U.S. dollars for Cambodia to fight against malaria from 2008 to 2012, a senior Cambodian official said on Wednesday.
Doung Socheat, director of National Center for Parasiteology, Entomology and Malaria Control, told Xinhua by phone here that the part of the fund will be used by Ministry of Women's Affairs and Veterans for educating women about malaria and gender.
Part of the fund will be used by Ministry of National Defense to take care of soldiers living in malaria-affected areas, and part of it will be used to fight against fake malaria medicines, buy bed nets and medicines for poor people, and promote awareness for prevention of malaria, said Socheat. The fund will be handed over to the health NGOs which are involved in malaria programs, he added.
In 2006, malaria was found on some 70,000 Cambodians and over 240 of them died, said Socheat, adding that the infection rate was down by more than 1 percent from 2005.
The victims were usually men from 15 to 49 years old, who went into deep forests for logging, land clearing and crop planting to support their families, he said.
Among all the provinces, Kompong Speu, Battambang, Rattanakiri, Modulkiri, Preah Vihear, Bantey Meanchey, and Oddar Meanchey saw more victims of malaria in 2006, he added.
Source: Xinhua
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11 parties to compete in Cambodia's commune council elections
Eleven political parties have submitted their candidates registration forms for the 2007 commune councils election, a press release from the National Election Council (NEC) said on Thursday.
These political parties are Cambodian People's Party (CPP), Funcinpec Party, Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), Norodom Ranariddh Party, Khmer Democratic Party, Sangkum Jatiniyum Front Party, League for Democracy Party, Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party, Khmer National Party, Democratic Society Party and United People of Cambodia Party, it said.
CPP is to compete in 1,621 communes in 24 provinces or municipalities, Funcinpec in 763 communes in 23 provinces or municipalities, SRP in 992 communes in 23 provinces or municipalities, Norodom Ranariddh Party in 769 communes in 22 provinces or municipalities, and Khmer Democratic Party in 30 communes in seven provinces or municipalities, it said.
In addition, Sangkum Jatiniyum Front Party in 42 communes in 10 provinces or municipalities, League for Democracy Party in 11 communes in five provinces, Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party in 47 communes in four provinces, Khmer National Party in two communes in one province, Democratic Society Party in one communes in one province, and United People of Cambodia in four communes in three provinces, it added.
The NEC is scheduled to publicize the candidates registration lists for the 2007 commune councils election later on Thursday.
The 2007 commune councils election's process started on Sept. 21, 2006, and will end on May 23, 2007. April 1, will be the polling day, ballot counting, and publishing of results at polling stations.
Source: Xinhua
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Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Learn how Asia is changing the world
January 2, 2007
CORDILLERA - What do Korea's broadband revolution, Singapore's massive investment in biotechnology and China's growing economic and military strength have in common? They are all evidence of how changes in Asia will transform the world as we know it, in ways we would not expect. The Vail Symposium's Hot Topic series kicks off Thursday presenting insights on these current events and explaining how Asia is changing the world.
Asia Society Executive Vice President Jamie Metzl will lead the discussion from 5:30-7:15 p.m. at Chaparral, Cordillera Valley Club, in Edwards. Metzl is an expert on Asian history and politics. His government appointments have included deputy staff director and senior counselor of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, senior coordinator for international public information and director for multilateral and humanitarian affairs on the National Security Council. At the White House, he coordinated U.S. government international public-information campaigns for Iraq, Kosovo and other crises.
A Khmer speaker, he was a human rights officer for the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia from 1991 to 1993, where he helped establish a nationwide human rights investigation and monitoring unit for Cambodia. Metzl has appeared widely on national media, including "Meet the Press" and the "Today" show.
He is the author of a book on human rights in Southeast Asia, as well as the novel "The Depths of the Sea." His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Affairs and many other publications. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a co-chair of the Board of the Partnership for a Secure America and a former White House Fellow.
He holds a doctorate in Southeast Asian history from Oxford University, a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School, and is a magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University. Metzl's presentation is the inaugural event of a new partnership between the Vail Symposium and the international organization the Asia Society.
The Asia Society is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization dedicated to strengthening relationships and deepening understanding among the peoples of Asia and the United States. The society provides a forum for building awareness of the more than 30 countries broadly defined as the Asia-Pacific region - the area from Japan to Iran - and from Central Asia to New Zealand and the Pacific islands.
The organization presents the uniqueness and diversity of Asia through art exhibitions and performances, films, lectures, seminars and conferences, publications and assistance to the media, and materials and programs for students and teachers.Metzl's presentation will take place Thursday at Chaparral, Cordillera Valley Club, in Edwards (near Singletree).
Admission to this event is $20 for Vail Symposium supporters and $25 for all others. Light hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar will be available from 5:30-6 p.m., followed by Metzl's lecture from 6-7:15 p.m.. For more information or to make reservations, visit www.vailsymposium.org or call (970) 476-0954.
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Cambodian honour for Swaminathan
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI: The Royal Government of Cambodia has awarded the Sahametrei Medal to M.S. Swaminathan, agriculture scientist, in recognition of his contributions to the revival of rice research and development in Cambodia in the 1980s.
The medal was also in recognition of Dr. Swaminathan's work that led to the establishment and strengthening of the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI).
The presentation of the medal was to be held in Cambodia in the second week of January.
Dr. Swaminathan expressed his inability to receive the medal in view of his other preoccupations. Recalling his association with Cambodia, the agriculture scientist said he had trained a large number of Cambodians. Recently, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation prepared a food security atlas, which was adopted by the Cambodian Government as its official document.
Calling for strengthening ties with Cambodia, Dr. Swaminathan said there was a lot to share with such countries, considering the fact that Cambodia too was a rice-raising nation.
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Tourist arrivals in Cambodia up 20 percent in 2006
Cambodia's tourist arrivals went up 20 percent in 2006 from 2005, recording a third straight year of increase for its tourism sector, the Cambodian Daily reported on Wednesday.
During 2006, some 1.7 million tourists visited Cambodia, pumping 1.4 billion U.S. dollars into the country's economy, equivalent to 12 percent of the kingdom's GDP, Tourism Ministry's Secretary of State Thong Khon told the newspaper on Tuesday.
In 2005 and 2004, 1.4 million and 1 million tourists respectively visited Cambodia, according to the Tourism Ministry. "This has been a good year because there were no obstacles [to tourism] such as SARS or bird flu," Khon said of 2006, adding that he expects the number of visitors in 2007 to increase by a further 20 percent.
The main Cambodian attraction in 2006 remained Angkor archeological complex in Siem Reap province, with Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville as well as Ratanakkiri and Stung Treng provinces getting some visitors, he said.
By October 2006, more than 650,000 people had visited Siem Reap, accounting for nearly half of all tourist arrivals in Cambodia, according to Tourism Ministry statistics. However, the Ministry estimated that more than one fifth of tourism-sector revenue in 2006 went abroad due to remittances by foreign companies and consumption of imports such as gasoline and luxury foods, Thong Khon said.
Such revenue "leakage" was down by 30 percent from 2005 and was projected to continue dropping as Cambodia supplied more of the foods consumed by foreign visitors, he added.
Source: Xinhua
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Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Cambodia say Anti-corruption laws delayed by foreigners
Last Updated 03/01/2007, 00:50:59
The Cambodian Government says its efforts to implement an anti-corruption law have been delayed by international organisations. Last week, nearly 200-thousand Cambodians signed a petition calling for the government to pass its long-awaited anti-corruption law. Cambodians have now been waiting more than ten years for the law to be enacted.
But Om Yienting, Head of the Head of Cambodia's Anti-Corruption Unit, says the government has been attempting to implement the law for a number of years.
He says delays are being caused by international organisations objecting to elements of the draft law. And when the national assembly sent back to the government... the same NGO, the same foreigner country starts to involve, to review everything. When someone blocks this procedure and says please go ahead, what can we do?
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Tennessee man arrested in Cambodia on child sex charges
Last Updated: 1/2/2007 10:07:56 AM
A Tennessee man is accused of sex crimes in Cambodia with girls ages 11 and 12.Authorities there say 59-year-old Roger Dale Green was with the two girls when police raided his hotel room in Phnom Penh. Authorities did not say where in Tennessee Green is from.Green is charged with debauchery, which covers child sex abuse. Green was arrested yesterday and denied the allegations.
Lax law enforcement and poverty have made Cambodia a destination for foreigners seeking sex with minors. But police have recently stepped up their efforts to fight the crime.
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Monday, January 01, 2007
Cambodian mine victim, clearing land to save others
Khoeun Sokhorn, Cambodia’s only female amputee deminer, shows how she prepares ground before removing mines. However, in the first 11 months of 2006 that figure fell to 418, a drop of 50 per cent on the same period last year. Rupert Leighton, the country manager of the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), said more land was being cleared and police were enforcing a ban on trade in ordnance for scrap.
Her foot had been blown off entirely, most of her calf was a bloody mess and within half an hour she was in agony. "I wanted to die," said the mother of a two-year-old daughter. "Giving birth is not as painful as that and is just pain for a few days. My leg hurt for two months."
Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand tours to open
Phu Quoc Island
The land tour will begin from Rach Gia city of Kien Giang province through Xaphia border gate of Ha Tien to Sihanoukville city of Cambodia and end in Kathaburi province of Thailand.
The sea tour by high-speed cruise ships will start from Rach Gia city to Phu Quoc island of Vietnam and end in Kathaburi province. A recent survey says that travel firms of Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand have agreed on the land and sea routes.
These tours will be opened because “The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has planned to turn Kien Giang province into a national tourism site due to its great tourism potential,” explained Mr Hoang.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
TWIN BANGKOK BOMBING WAVES KILL 2; New Year's Eve Countdown cancelled
(BangkokPost.com)
Two people died and more than 30 were wounded including six foreigners as two waves of at least nine bombs and grenades exploded in Bangkok at nightfall and again at midnight. Authorities cancelled all public New Year's Eve parties in Bangkok. Outdoor parties were also cancelled in Chiang Mai, although no disturbance was reported in the northern city. After a first wave of six coordinated explosions, three other bombs went off at midnight - one at the famous Khao San Road area for budget travellers, and two near the site of what was to have been the nation's biggest New Year's Eve party, normally telecast live around Thailand and overseas.
Seven people, including six foreigners, were injured in the second bombings just before midnight, although the cancellation of the New Year's Eve celebrations kept the toll down, police said. After the midnight bombings, the Bangkok city administration cancelled the annual New Year's dawn ceremony to present alms to monks at Sanam Luang.Instead of half a million people at the second wave of bombing, there were only relatively few passers-by in the area in front of the shuttered Central World store, formerly known as the World Trade Centre.
The worst bomb was at a nearby seafood restaurant, where three foreigners were badly hurt, including one whose leg was torn off by the blast. Another bomb "exploded in a telephone booth opposite Central World Plaza," where the Bangkok Countdown 2007 was to have taken place, said Pol Col Vanlop Patummaung. "The injured have been sent to the police hospital," he said.
"Six foreigners and one Thai were injured. We don't know when the bomb was placed there, because we had carefully searched the area before the party. Another bomb exploded on a pier that sits on the klong (canal) beside the plaza at the same time, just before midnight, but no injuries were immediately reported, he said.
Bangkok authorities ordered all public New Year's Eve parties cancelled after the first six explosions. Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin appeared at the huge Bangkok Countdown 2006 venue and told the crowd to "go home and stay in peace."There had been confusion for an hour over whether New Year's parties would be permitted after the bombing. New Year's is the biggest public party in Thailand. The national government indicated celebrations might proceed including - especially - the massive and internationally famous New Year's Countdown outdoors party attended by upwards of half a million people outside CentralWorld near Siam Square in central Bangkok.
Police Commissioner Kowit Wattana, at a televised news conference, said, "Don't be afraid, but be careful," and urged Bangkokians not to cancel New Year's Eve plans.But the capital was extremely tense. All major department stores, due to stay open until late for holiday shopping, were all shut by 8 p.m. including the luxury Emporium and Paragon stores in the main tourist areas of Sukhumvit and Siam Square. Central, the biggest Thai department store operator, closed its stores. Many would-be party-goers headed for home, either because the party mood has faded, or because they were unwilling to risk a public party.
By the time Mr Apirak personally ordered the Countdown to halt, the mood was off anyhow. Earlier, government spokesman Yongyuth Malyalarp said the capital should remain calm and alert, and keep an eye out for unusual activity. He said police had been ordered on high alert. Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said people hoping to celebrate the new year should avoid crowded areas. During a visit to a hospital where some of the victims were taken for treatment, the prime minster said the government will do all it can to prevent further trouble. The situation is under control, he said.
There were six explosions in various parts of the capital. Two were reported near the Klong Toey market, where a 61-year-old man was killed, and near a bus stop at the busy Victory Monument, where a man was killed and more than a dozen other people wounded.Graphic footage shown on television showed damaged vehicles and blood-stained streets and pavements. TV reports said a man was seen throwing a grenade off a pedestrian overpass near a police box in the Saphan Kwai area of Bangkok, injuring several people in the explosion.
At Seacon Square in eastern Bangkok, Asia's largest mall, an explosion in the outdoor parking lot sent hundreds of shoppers scrambling, but no injurites were reported.Shoppers who called BangkokPost. com said the mall was evacuated and shuttered for the night. Another explosion was reported from Sukhumvit Soi 62, a major intersection with the capital's main expressway system in southeast Bangkok, and another in suburban Nonthaburi province north of the city centre."There was no warning. It is quite shocking. We've got at least one child very seriously injured in my area and others are injured," said Police Maj-Gen Anand Srisiran, chief of Metropolitan Police District Five.
Witnesses told police in some places that they saw people throwing what looked to be grenades shortly before the explosions. The coordinated attacks are unprecedented in Bangkok. However, political feelings have run high for more than a year, and there have been reports of political violence aimed against the military junta which ousted ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra on Sept 19 - primarily the suspected burning of schools. In addition, some intelligence sources had suggested in the past two weeks that Islamist extremists leading the southern insurgency might try to spread their attacks to the capital. They have never operated out of the deep South.
The Bangkok bombings, however, bore little resemblance to bomb attacks in the South, which usually involve improvised explosive devices (IEDs) copied from the Iraq model, and set off by mobile phones, and vehicle bombs, especially in motorcycles. An intelligence source told the AFP news agency that the attacks were likely politically motivated. "The bombs are not involved with southern unrest," the source said, but did not elaborate. "It is a political issue, it is undercurrents" - the military regime's code word for pro-Thaksin elements.
The Voice of America reported a similar reaction. It quoted "Thai officials" as saying Muslim insurgents were probably not behind the New Year's Eve bombings. "Security sources said Sunday the bombings might have been politically-motivated," said the radio network.
Except for the insurgency in the four southernmost provinces, there has been no deadly political violence in Thailand for more than 14 years, when a popular protest overthrew the last military government. In that case, the violence and deaths were caused by the military government and armed forces. Martial law was lifted in Bangkok and surrounding provinces just a month ago, but the military is authorised to act when necessary.
The coup passed its 100-day anniversary on Dec 28.The junta leader and army commander, Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, is currently out of Thailand, on the Haj in Saudi Arabia, and will not return until Thursday.
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Famed Cambodian ruins face that sinking feeling
Author: Ker Munthit
Ra Pheap is a garbage sweeper at Cambodia's world-famous Angkor Wat archaeological site, and is keenly grateful for the influx of tourists to the centuries-old ruins - it's because of them that the 19-year-old has her 205,000 Cambodian riel (US$50) a month job.
Suos Samnang, a 17-year-old souvenir vendor, also knows that her livelihood is closely linked to the busloads of camera-toting foreign visitors that arrive in Siem Reap every day.
But as they witness the frenzied construction of hotels and guest houses to tap the flow of visitors' dollars in this once-quiet town, even these two poor country girls realize that the blessings of tourism are mixed ones.
"I am worried that this will cause more pollution and migration to the town. The number of people living here just keeps growing. The streets are getting more crowded now," Suos Samnang said.
And some experts are even more concerned than that. They fear the unregulated development - specifically, unrestricted local pumping of underground water to meet rapidly rising demand - may literally be undermining Angkor's foundations, destabilizing the earth beneath the famous centuries-old temples so much that they might sink and collapse.
Tourism is a key moneymaker for cash-strapped Cambodia, about one-third of whose 14 million people earn less than 2,000 riels (56 US cents) a day.
Last year, about half of the 1.4 million visitors who came to Cambodia went to see the Angkor monuments, architectural masterpieces built at the height of the Khmer empire from the ninth to the 15th centuries. Total tourist arrivals for Cambodia in 2005 were an impressive 34.7 percent above 2004's figures.
The steady boom has already transformed Siem Reap into a bustling town filled with luxury hotels and vehicles. Its streets are adorned with billboards promoting the latest mobile phones, pizza and burger joints and shopping malls. Several notable old buildings have been razed to make way for visitors' lodgings, and honky-tonk strips have sprung up catering to low-budget travelers.
"The identity Siem Reap had for centuries is gradually disappearing, or maybe almost disappeared," said Teruo Jinnai, director in Cambodia of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and a 10-year resident of the country. "You have restaurants, massage parlors, hotels, and it's very sad to see that."
Culture shock aside, the health and quality of life of many of its 120,000 residents is imperiled by the boom, as is plain to see when traffic snarls the roads and streets get flooded by rain because of clogged sewers.
"This tremendous growth added to population increase has been exacerbating pressure on infrastructure," said a World Bank report on Cambodia's tourism sector last year. "Energy, water, sewage and waste are all significant problems."
It noted that hotels are not legally required to have sewage treatment facilities, though larger ones do have their own plants.
"But most guesthouses reportedly dump used water directly into the river, causing noticeable river pollution," it said, adding that E. coli, the bacteria found in human feces, has reportedly begun seeping into local wells.
At least as threatening over the long run is the uptake of water, with unrestricted pumping from the water table underlying the area.
"Water is being drawn from 70-80 meters underground by hotels and treated for use," warned the World Bank, noting that no one was quite certain how this affects the aquifers, or underground layers of rocks and sand, from which it is pumped.
Already though, "one of Angkor's temples is reportedly falling into a sinkhole, suggesting that the underground aquifers may be rapidly disappearing," said the report.
Japanese Ambassador Fumiaki Takahashi, whose country has drawn up a development master plan for Siem Reap to deal with the tourism boom, said most of its hotels are pumping underground water for their own use, "and there is no control."
It is the Cambodian government's "urgent task" to control the practice, he said, because "if you take too much water, it might affect the Angkor site. In the long run, the underground water will go down and the site would sink."
The plan of the Japan International Cooperation Agency calls for tapping underground water from near Phnom Kraom, a hill near the edge of the Tonle Sap lake about 12 kilometers south of the town, to avoid depletion of Siem Reap's underground water and reduce the risk of endangering the fragile temples, he said.
Deputy Tourism Minister Thong Khon said the government is ready to accept the master plan to address existing problems and accommodate future growth.
He sees a bright future for Siem Reap, in which the province won't just be a destination for touring the temples but will also become a hub providing air links for tourists to enjoy the sandy beaches of southwestern Cambodia and eco-tourism in the jungles of the northeast.
He envisions that by promoting a diversity of destinations, the crowds will be distributed around the country, and the Angkor temples won't get "too jammed up."
Meanwhile, though, the tourist hordes continue to tramp through fabled Angkor Wat and its satellite temples of Angkor Thom, Bayon, Ta Prohm and Bakheng. Even at the lesser-known 10th-century Bakheng temple, an average of 3,000 tourists climb the 67 meters just in the two hours before dusk each day to view the spectacular sunset.
Ra Pheap, the 19-year-old sweeper, said she knows the onslaught could damage the delicate monuments.
She is employed by a Cambodian company that sells entry tickets to the temple site, and the visitors there are essentially paying her salary.
With her earnings, she has reduced her family's reliance on rice farming and been able to help pay for Japanese-language classes for her younger brother and sister.
"I want them to become tour guides because I am confident more tourists will visit here," she said.
Fundraiser aims to help girl in Cambodia
About two years ago, her case came to the attention of Western aid workers. Doctors determined her leg muscles work and that with surgery and physical therapy, Leam should be able to walk.
When Leam arrives, local Cambodian families will take care of her until she is admitted to Shriners and while she is an outpatient.
This is not the first time Medicorps has brought a Cambodian teenager to Hawaii.
After three operations in Cambodia, 10 surgeries in Hawaii and physical therapy, Ouey returned to Cambodia in 2001. He is now a student and part-time worker at the Angkor Hospital for Children in Siem Reap.
King Norodom Sihamoni returned from internaional visits
Cambodian king Norodom Sihamoni returned to Cambodia Sunday from a series of international visits in time to see in the International New Year from his palace in the capital. The king's return followed an international tour which took in Germany, France and China and also included time spent with his father, former king Norodom Sihanouk, who continues to undergo routine medical tests in Beijing.
Sihanouk, who turned 84 this year, abdicated in favour of his son, King Sihamoni, in October 2004 citing his age and a range of health complaints including colon cancer and diabetes. Sihamoni arrived at Phnom Penh International Airport late afternoon local time and was greeted by a number of dignitaries before proceeding straight to his palace, located in the heart of the capital.
Although International New Year is celebrated in Cambodia it is a relatively low-key event in the mainly Buddhist country, which celebrates its own Cambodian New Year in April. Sihamoni's latest international trip had seen him absent from Cambodia since November.
© 2006 DPA
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Saturday, December 30, 2006
Saddm Hussein hung by Justice for the Crime of killing Shiite and others related crime
