Atrocities Suspect Says He’s ‘Not Fearful’ of Tribunal, Hell



Ta An, a former Khmer Rouge commander speaks during an exclusive interview with VOA Khmer on July 27, 2011 at his house in Kamrieng district of Cambodia's northwestern Battambang province. He is among those being investigated by the Khmer Rouge tribunal for the controversial case 004 but has denied overseeing atrocities of the former regime

 In an exclusive interview, Ta An, a former Khmer Rouge commander whose name is among those up for investigation by the Khmer Rouge tribunal, denied overseeing atrocities of the regime and said he is practicing Buddhism and good deeds to pay for past sins.

Ta An is among three former cadre cited by prosecutors at the UN-backed court as worthy of indictments under controversial Case 004, which is opposed by Prime Minister Hun Sen and is currently in the hands of the court’s investigating judges.

According to the prosecution’s introductory submissions for cases 003 and 004, obtained by VOA Khmer from a source close to the court, Ta An is a suspect for investigation by the tribunal, along with mid-level Khmer Rouge commanders Meas Muth, Sou Met, Ta Ith and Im Chaem.
Prosecutors say a number of atrocities were committed by the Khmer Rouge under the oversight of Ta An, also known as Oam An, who rose to deputy secretary of the Central Zone under the regime’s political structure.

As such, he was second in command in the area, based in Kampong Cham province, where up to 150,000 people died under the Khmer Rouge, including a large number of Cham minorities.

Now 78, Ta An lives in a village in Kamrieng district, Battambang province. He was formerly a monk, and participated in the Khmer Rouge after the ouster of then-prince Norodom Sihanouk, by the US-backed regime of Minister Lon Nol.

In an exclusive, rare interview with VOA Khmer in July, Ta An said he was unafraid of the UN-backed court and unafraid to face Yama, Buddhism’s god of the dead, who oversees Hell and determines the fate of a person based on his acts.

“At present, I am not fearful of the court, and in the future, when I die, I won’t be afraid of Yama,” he said. “Not fearful. I am now doing good deeds. I practice religious art. I did not commit killings. But am I afraid of Yama? I am not afraid.”

Ta An denied overseeing major purges, claiming he had been transferred from the Southwest Zone, around Kampot province, in 1977, after mass killings occurred.

“Not at all,” he said. “When I arrived, that was finished already, from the bottom up to the higher levels.” He was tasked with re-organizing new villages and communes, he said. “I wasn’t involved in anything at all.”

In their original court submission, prosecutors accuse Ta An of a joint criminal conspiracy, along with Ta Tith and Im Chaem, in Case 004, for purges that took place under the Khmer Rouge.

The prosecution charges that Ta An was responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, homicide, torture and religious persecution of the Chams.

“In addition to the elimination of the existing cadre, following the arrival of Ta An and the Southwest cadre in the Central Zone, there was a dramatic increase in the number of arrests, killings and disappearances, and a worsening of general living conditions, amongst the general population,” the prosecutors wrote. “A clear pattern exists throughout the Central Zone—after Ta An and the Southwest cadre arrived, more work was required, less food was provided, and large numbers of people were arrested and never seen from again.”

Prosecutors implicate Ta An in the purge of the Central Zone, which “was organized and systematic, starting with the top level cadre and working down.”

They implicate him in atrocity crimes at the security centers at Wat O Trau Kuon; Wat Batheay; Met Sop; Wat Phnom Pros; and Chamkar Svay Chanty; as well as the Kok Pring execution site and Anglong Chrey dam forced labor site.

At Wat O Trau Kuon, in Kang Meas district, a mass execution of the Chams took place “a mere 10 days” after Ta An visited a nearby worksite and “ordered the unit chiefs to identify the number of remaining Cham and gather them up ‘so that they could be taken to their local bases.’”

“In the events that followed Ta An’s orders, victims were killed solely because they were Cham, the executions were accompanied by statements of genocidal intent, and the killings resulted in the destruction of a substantial part of the Cham population living in that area,” prosecutors wrote.

Ta An’s fate is currently in the hands of the investigating judges, who must now determine whether the charges against him warrant an indictment even as the court prepares for its largest trial to date, of four already jailed Khmer Rouge leaders.

Critics say they worry the investigating judges will not indict him and others named by prosecutors, given the political opposition to the case.

In the July interview, Ta An told VOA Khmer he was a new leader to the area and could not be prosecuted by the court. He called the charges against him “a mistake.” He said even though he had been ordered by Khmer Rouge military commander Ke Pauk to kill supporters of Lon Nol’s regime, he hid them in the fields of the collectives.

“There was saving,” he said. “But killing, executing, I don’t understand.” He told his superior he had “cleaned,” or killed, them, “but they were on the farm.”

“What should I have done more than that?” he said. He laughed, and said, “So I am not frightened, not frightened at all.” Read more!

Cambodia: controversial sand dredging on TATAI river continues

Ruling party senator Ly Yong Phat has defied an order endorsed by the Prime Minster to halt his controversial sand dredging activities on the Tatai river in Koh Kong, prompting authorities to request intervention, documents obtained by The Post reveal.


The dredging operation on the Tatai river has stirred up serious concern from tourism operators and villagers in the area, who have said it is destroying the local environment and driving customers away.

Government officials appear at loggerheads over the tycoon’s operations.

The Water Resources Minister has insisted in a letter that the so-called “King of Koh Kong” cease violating the ban, but provincial authorities have denied that dredging was even taking place. The Ministry of Industry, Mining and Energy, meanwhile, has extended the LYP Group’s dredging licence by a year.

A blunt letter written by Minister for Water Resources Lim Kean Hor, dated August 4, called for the intervention of provincial governor Bun Leut to enforce a July 15 temporary ban on LYP Group dredging.

“The Sand Resource Management Committee already informed the company on July 15, 2011, to postpone the business activity so a study could be re-conducted. But up until now, the company has not yet postponed its business activities,” the letter reads.

The tycoon’s company had been found to be dredging beyond authorised boundaries and using too much equipment, it added.

Just days before the letter was sent, however, the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Energy issued LYP Group with a 12-month permit extension on July 28. The renewed license, also obtained by The Post, shows that Ly Yong Phat will now be allowed to continue dredging at seven locations until September 2012, though the total area of the permit will be reduced from 3,229 hectares to 1,241 hectares.

At that point LYP Group will have been dredging in the area for five years, the licence signed by industry minister Suy Sem stated.

Ly Yong Phat, Suy Sem, Lim Kean Hor and Bun Leut could not be reached for comment yesterday. But Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said yesterday he had visited the upper Tatai river last week and observed dredging near eco-resorts in the area, which he believes should be stopped immediately.

“All the companies shall listen to critical agencies that are involved there like the [Ministry of] Environment. All the businessmen that are involved in dredging in that area shall be stopped immediately,” he said.

He emphasised any halt would be temporary to allow further inspection of impacts from the dredging. Pech Siyon, Koh Kong provincial director department of Industry, Mines and Energy, denied yesterday dredging was taking place in the banned area and said he was not aware of any new licence granted to LYP Group either.

“LYP is still sand dredging in the lower Tatai, but operations at the upper Tatai have remained postponed as normal since the ban by Prime Minister Hun Sen,” he said, adding the sand was destined for export to Singapore.

Political wrangling has done nothing to ease the minds of affected residents.

Dredging operations are now taking place about 30 metres off the shore of the river’s Andaet island, resident Vora Huy Kanthoul said on Monday, raising his concern the entire land mass would collapse into the river.

“We have a problem, nobody can sleep at night, they do it at night and they’ve been doing that for about 10 days,” he said. Villagers who had agreed to embrace ecotourism instead of traditional forms of income had been sold short by dredging, while crab yields had reportedly dropped by 90 percent.

“They used to hunt illegal game and the local NGOs and the environmental NGOs have been very successful in changing their way of living from poaching to ecotourism, but now they say [dredging is] going to affect them so in the long run and that will really affect the economy,” he said.

Pech Siyon said his department wasn’t worried about public concern surrounding the impact of LYP Group’s operations on tourism investment and local livelihoods, but was focused on closely monitoring the company to ensure they respected regulations.

The Singapore Ministry of National Development has repeatedly failed to reply to inquiries.
Read more!

Yingluck, Hun Sen meet urged

A meeting between Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen would probably pave the way for a resumption of border talks, Defence Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa says.

A meeting could help revive the long-stalled General Border Committee talks, he said.

Since Hun Sen appears to be on good terms with Ms Yingluck, their meeting may lead to Cambodian defence minister Gen Tea Banh agreeing to a GBC meeting. "Without holding a GBC meeting, we will not be able to talk about the withdrawal of troops [from the designated provisional demilitarised zone] and allowing Indonesian observers into the area," he said.

Gen Yutthasak said Thailand has no option but to abide by the International Court of Justice's ruling, but it could ensure that both sides are in a win-win situation.

"To be in a win-win situation, we have to be friends," he added.

He said that once Hun Sen gives the green light, he would invite Gen Tea Banh for dinner in Bangkok and after that he would visit him in return.

"Gen Tea Banh and I are old friends. We frequently talked at meetings abroad when I was permanent secretary for defence and deputy defence minister.

"Gen Tea Banh also wants to come to Bangkok, but Hun Sen must first give him permission," he said.

Gen Yutthasak will make an inspection in Si Sa Ket next week to get first-hand information and discuss the matter with commanders of the armed forces.

An army source said Lt Gen Tawatchai Samutsakhon, the 2nd Army chief, will host a Regional Border Committee (RBC) meeting on Aug 23-24 at the 2nd Army headquarters in Nakhon Ratchasima to discuss troop withdrawals.

The meeting's results could be used by the defence minister when he goes to the next GBC meeting which would be hosted by Cambodia, the source said.

Army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha said he wants the RBC meeting to take place as soon as possible because it would open a channel for communication between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Gen Yutthasak said he would pay respects to the president of the Privy Council, Gen Prem Tinsulanonda, this week because his job is to pursue reconciliation efforts.

He said he has discussed the chain of command with Ms Yingluck and it was agreed that he reports directly to her, rather than to a deputy prime minister overseeing security affairs.

Asked how he would defend Pheu Thai against the accusation that it is disloyal to the monarchy, Gen Yutthasak said the situation has improved and senior party members are doing their best to uphold the institution.

He expressed confidence there would be no coup and that if he heard of one he would ask those planning it to try to work out their problems.

He insisted that no armed forces commanders would be removed after he takes office as defence minister.

Gen Yutthasak said he would have discussions with all parties concerned before any high-ranking military officers are transferred.

"I will pick the armed forces leaders. I'll talk to them about the nominations - why this person and not that person," he said.

He said deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has no special tasks for him except pursuing national reconciliation.

"The military must be for the people, not the military for a particular political party. "The military and political parties should be strong.

"When a party is weak it will resort to military power," he said.
Read more!

Airmen enhance relationships, airfield ops in Cambodia

By Staff Sgt. Christopher Boitz
Pacific Angel 11-1 Public Affairs

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia -- Having the ability to deploy anywhere in the world within 12 hours to build an air base and sustain airfield operations is a critical capability that few countries have the capacity to accomplish.

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia – Master Sgt. James Bonk meets with Royal Cambodian Armed Forces during a subject-matter expert exchange here Aug. 8, 2011. The exchange was part of PACIFIC ANGEL 11-1, which partners U.S. and Cambodian military and civilian personnel to provide medical, dental, optometry and engineer programs to local Cambodians as well as airfield operations subject-matter expert exchanges. Sergeant Bonk is a contingency response team lead assigned to the 36th Mobility Response Squadron, Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Christopher Boitz
Airmen deployed here in support of Pacific Angel Cambodia 11-1 are exchanging ideas and sharing best practices on this capability and are strengthening partnerships through dialogue on aircrew, loadmaster, airfield management and aerial port operations with Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and local airport staff.

"We're here to show them our capabilities and give them the tools to further themselves ... we're also learning how they do business," said Master Sgt. James Bonk, a contingency response team lead assigned to the 36th Mobility Response Squadron at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. "By being able to integrate our abilities with theirs we're able to help each other out when needed."

Being able to integrate with the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces enhances the U.S. Military's ability to perform operations in an area of responsibility covering more than 100 million square miles and 50 percent of the world's population.

"It's crucial to have an airfield and to be able to sustain operations in order to get items to people like medical supplies and food when they need it," said Sergeant Bonk. "We're partners and we're aiming to improve interoperability."

An aerial demonstration by a North Carolina National Guard C-130H from the 145th Airlift Wing, followed by a walk through of the aircraft provided the RCAF an opportunity to examine how the aircraft works along with receiving cargo, airdrops, managing the airfield and setting up an aerial port.

"We've learned a lot from our friends," said Col. Proeung Phath, Royal Cambodian Air Force. "We can benefit from these exchanges and experiences. It's great to work next to them and I'm happy they're here."

Exchanges that foster partnerships and relationships will enhance future operations for Cambodians and the U.S.

"I'm happy to be here establishing friendships and learning more about the way they do business," said Sergeant Bonk. "Everyone is very friendly and has been very welcoming, I'm glad to be able to share with them now and in the future."

Operation Pacific Angel Cambodia 11-1, is a combined partnership between U.S. and Cambodian military and civilian personnel providing medical, dental, optometry and engineer programs to local Cambodians including airfield operations subject-matter expert exchanges.

The operation is scheduled to conclude Aug. 12. Read more!

World Bank Freezes Loans to Cambodia

In this photo taken on March, 17, 2011, a woman stands by a window of her house on the edge of Boeung Kak, Phnom Penh's largest lake. She and other residents of the area are being evicted from their homes to make way for upscale villas and  buildings. The dispute over Boeung Kak lake has embarrassed the World Bank and led to an unusually tense standoff with Cambodia's government. The bank issued an ultimatum in March demanding a halt to evictions and higher compensation for landowners. A May 8 deadline has been pushed back to next Monday.



The World Bank said Tuesday it will stop loaning money to Cambodia until the government reaches a deal with thousands of residents who are under threat of eviction in a huge development project.

Country director Annette Dixon says the World Bank has not made any loans since December and will not approve any more until Phnom Penh agrees on compensation with lakeside residents.

Dixon says the bank continues to encourage the Cambodia government to reach an agreement to provide on-site housing for the remaining residents of Boeung Kak Lake.

Nobody at the bank was available for further comment.

Two years ago, the Boeung Kak lake area in central Phnom Penh was home to 4,000 families. Now just 1,000 are left and workers have nearly finished filling the lake with sand.

Rights groups say the development has proceeded illegally from the start. They say people have been evicted without proper compensation and the threat of violence by the authorities has seldom been far away.

For years, lakeside residents tried to get land title documents from the local authorities in a program funded by the World Bank. While hundreds of thousands of other Cambodians obtained land titles, residents at the lake did not.

Earlier this year the bank admitted it had let down the residents and quietly informed Phnom Penh to resolve the issue. If not, the bank said it would reconsider its programs in Cambodia.

Today’s statement indicates the bank has stuck by that pledge.

Sia Phearum, secretariat director of the Housing Rights Task Force a local organization that advises lakeside residents of their rights, says local officials started meeting with residents, earlier this year, and the sides have made some progress.

“We found that some parts, some points are moving forward and some parts are not moving forward," Phearnum says. "It seems to be like slowly and people still fear concern about the forced eviction, because during the land survey also the company, they trying to lobby or threaten people to move out with the small compensation. This is the way that some part is a good result and some part is not a good result. But the community they have strong solidarity.”

Cambodia is developing fast and land prices have sharply risen in recent years. Critics say that has caused a wave of land grabbing, driving tens of thousands from their homes.

The capital has changed fast, too. In the past decade, slums have been cleared and their residents relocated outside the city limits. High-rises and apartment blocks are now common.

The companies behind the Boeung Kak development are very well-connected. One is owned by a senator from the ruling Cambodian People's Party; the other is a firm from China, a nation that has pumped billions into Cambodia in recent years.

Cambodian officials say they are not concerned by the bank’s position. Spokesman Phay Siphan says the World Bank has exceeded its mandate in insisting that Phnom Penh abide by such conditions.

Phay Siphan says the government’s only responsibility to the World Bank is to repay monies it has borrowed, and that conditions on one loan should not affect any others.

Sia Phearum, of the Human Rights Task Force, stresses that lakeside residents want the bank to resume lending, once a solution is found.

“I think if everyone talks about the Boeung Kak issue. I think the government at least they will reconsider and work more (for) improving for solving the problem of the people, of their own voters,” Phearum says.

The coming weeks and months will clarify whether the bank’s ultimatum will help with finding a solution. Read more!

Indian American Philanthropist Sponsors Buddha Statue in Cambodia

By LISA TSERING
indiawest.com

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. — Sulata Sarkar, a philanthropist based in the San Francisco Bay Area, has watched proudly as her latest project, the carving of a huge sandstone Buddha in Siem Reap, Cambodia, is nearing completion.

In 2005 on a trip there, Sarkar was moved by the plight of the Cambodian people who were victimized by the brutal regime of dictator Pol Pot.
“We talked to local people through our guide, Mr. BoBo, on what we could do to help local people relieve their past pain and suffering,” Sarkar told India-West in an e-mail.

After meeting with local religious and civic leaders as well a UNESCO representative and India’s ambassador to Cambodia, Aloke Sen, she came to decide that “a large stone Buddha statue depicting peace and harmony would be most appropriate for a gift from my family funds for the local people who have suffered a lot from Pol Pot’s regime.”

Sarkar, a native of Kolkata, first commissioned the ambitious project in May 2006. Now, after a few delays, she expects the seven-meter-tall work of art to be unveiled in December of this year.

The 80-ton statue is ma de out of pink sandstone and sits atop a lotus stand, which is situated on a large pedestal, and was carved by a handicapped former soldier-turned-stone-carver, 78-year-old Him Tour.

“I was first offered a site at the Angkor Wat complex, but this was not suitable because they shut the area early in the evening and I want this statue given to the public so they can enjoy it any time they want,” she told the Phnom Penh Post. So she accepted a donation of land in Siem Reap from a Japanese company working there, and kept in close contact as the construction was assisted by the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap, known as the Apsara Authority.

The Phnom Penh Post has followed the construction of the statue from the beginning, and covered a colorful ceremony last December marking a construction milestone.

“The pedestal was completed in November 2010 and we invited Hindu priest Pt. Monomohon Mukherjee from the Livermore temple in California to bless the pedestal with vedic rituals and Antram,” she told India-West.

“By the first week of January 2011 the installation of the lotus and Buddha was completed. The Apsara Authority is putting a roof and water pond around the pedestal and completing the pavement and garden around it.

“We expect everything to be completed by the end of December 2011.”

Copyright 2011 India-West Publications Inc. This article may not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher.

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Cambodia will get its artefacts back eventually, says ministry

By Pakamard Jaichalard,
Nanthida Puangthong
The Nation

The Thai Cultural Ministry has told the Cambodian government it will continue to hold 36 historic artefacts seized from smugglers in 2000 pending negotiations and confirmation of their ownership.

Cambodia had asked for the return of the artefacts, which were among a haul of 43 its officials say were stolen. The ministry says the items are being well kept as it examines the case before a committee processes them for return to Cambodia.

On Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported that Him Chhem, Cambodia's minister of culture and fine arts, had said he asked Sompong Sanguanbun, Thai ambassador to Cambodia, to process the remaining artefacts back to Cambodia.

Thailand seized the 43 stolen artefacts in 2000 and returned seven items to Cambodia in 2009. It was also reported that besides the 43 stolen pieces bound for Thailand, at least five others were stolen and smuggled to Switzerland. Another artefact went to Indonesia.

Thai Culture Minister Nipit Intarasombat yesterday said the matter was negotiable between the two countries. The artefact identification procedure could be speeded up if Thailand set up a special committee for the purpose. He said that if the evidence showed the items belonged to Cambodia, Thailand would return them.

Nipit said Fine Arts Department chief Somsuda Leeyawanich told him that Cambodia had confirmed ownership of the seven items already returned, while the remaining 36 were being kept pending clear evidence and bilateral negotiations.

Anan Chuchote, director of the Office of the National Museum, said the 36 items were currently kept at the National Museum in Pathum Thani's Klong 5 area. After talks between the two countries and confirmation of ownership, his office would have a committee process them speedily.

Thani Thongpakdi, director-general of the Foreign Affairs Ministry's Information Department, said he had not heard about the Cambodian request but the two countries had existing agreements and Thailand had already returned some of the stolen artefacts to Cambodia. The rest were under a process of inspection before returning.

After the Thai Customs Department seized the 43 artefacts from smugglers in 2000, the items, mostly temple-decorating sculptures, were sent to the Fine Arts Department for keeping. After a Cambodian request, Thai authorities processed seven items and found they were Bayon Cambodian art pieces from around the 18th Buddhist Era.

On June 12, 2009, prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, during an official visit to Cambodia, returned six demon sculptures and one angel sculpture to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, in accordance with the agreement to return stolen artefacts to their rightful owners.
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Judges have 'serious doubts' about new KRouge case

PHNOM PENH — Judges investigating a new Khmer Rouge case at Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes tribunal said Monday they had "serious doubts" about whether the suspects fall under the court's jurisdiction.

The statement appeared to support observers' predictions that the court is likely to drop its fourth and final case, thought to involve three mid-level cadres, in the face of political opposition.

The judges also revealed details about the scope of the case, saying they were investigating some two dozen prisons and security centres across the country as well as allegations of mass killings and forced labour.

"So far, the office of the co-investigating judges did not notify the public of the crime sites in case four, because... there are serious doubts whether the suspects are 'most responsible'," their joint statement said.

The court is charged with trying senior Khmer Rouge leaders and those most responsible for crimes committed during their 1975-1979 reign of terror when up to two million people died in a bid to create an agrarian utopia.

Trial monitor Anne Heindel argued that the "most responsible" standard did apply to lower-ranking authorities accused of "extremely serious crimes", as previous examples in international courts had shown.

"If the investigation into case four is dropped on that basis, the reputation of the court will forever be besmirched by allegations that the decision was politically motivated," said Heindel, a legal advisor to the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, which researches Khmer Rouge atrocities.

Like the court's third case, which is officially still under investigation but also appears headed for dismissal, the fourth case is strongly opposed by the Cambodian government.

Prime Minister Hun Sen, himself a former mid-level cadre, has said in the past that cases three and four were "not allowed" and that going after more Khmer Rouge suspects could plunge the country into civil war.

In its landmark first trial, the tribunal sentenced former prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, to 30 years in jail in July 2010 for overseeing the deaths of 15,000 people.

That case is now under appeal, while a second trial involving four of the regime's four most senior surviving leaders had its first hearing in late June, with full testimony expected in the coming months.

The disclosures about case four on Monday were prompted by a request by the international co-prosecutor to give victims more information.
Read more!

Singer gives voice to the new face of Cambodia

Young tenor hopes to change perceptions of his homeland
By Amy Smart, Times Colonist

Tenor Hy Chanthavouth is performing at a concert Monday to raise money for the Cambodian Support Group.Photograph by: Lyle Stafford, Times Colonist, timescolonist.com


Cambodian tenor Hy Chanthavouth has the kind of voice that can change minds.


It may have played a role in changing the minds of high school administrators, who told him that he was too old to enrol when he arrived in Canada at 22.

Before he left the Kimberley school's office, a counsellor asked if he knew the song My Way by Frank Sinatra - it was his father's favourite. By the time Chanthavouth had reached the song's spirited climax, he had drawn a crowd.

"All the teachers just stopped working and came down to follow the voice," he said. "They didn't believe it was me."

Ultimately, they admitted him.

Since then, his voice has undoubtedly worked its magic a few more times, changing his teenage homestay brother's taste in music (he likes opera now) and others' ideas of what a tenor should look like - the slight 26-year-old is neither rotund nor Italian.

And if all goes as planned, he will alter Western perceptions of Cambodia.

"My goal here is to do my best, to finish school and to become well known for my country," said Chanthavouth, who works part-time in the kitchen at the Fairmont Empress Hotel. "I just want to be able to carry the Cambodian flag into the international stage and to show the world a new face of Cambodia."

As a goodwill ambassador for the Cambodia Support Group, halfway through a diploma program at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, he's doing well.

Chanthavouth will perform at Knox Presbyterian Church Monday at 7: 30 p.m. in a fundraising concert for the Cambodia Support Group, a Kimberleybased non-profit. He is joined by soprano Hillary Young and pianists Braden Young, Armand Saberi and Arne Sahlen. Admission is by donation.

It's that kind of goodwill that landed Chanthavouth in Canada in the first place. He met Sahlen, president of the Cambodia Support Group, in his home city of Phnom Penh, where he volunteered for everything from postering to translating for the group.

"Here was this man with an amazing voice," said Sahlen. "And more than that, a great passion to help make a difference."

The Cambodia Support Group, which sponsored Chanthavouth to come to Canada, has helped hundreds of refugees and immigrants adapt to life in Canada, in addition to undertaking development projects in Cambodia.

Now almost four years in B.C. - and just past his first anniversary in Victoria - Chanthavouth is miles away from his youth.

He fell in love with Western music after regularly passing a church in Phnom Penh and hearing the choir. "I used to walk by every Sunday morning and I'd stop and listen to the people in the choir and I just felt something unique," he said.

From there, he couldn't help but sing while doing the dishes, to his single mother's chagrin. He said he has always been the loudmouth among his four siblings, and ultimately persuaded his mother to enrol him in music school.

Besides changing Western ideas about Cambodia - often dominated by associations with the 1970s genocide - Chanthavouth hopes to also affect psyches within his country.

"After the genocide, we all, including my mom and her family, tend to be stuck in their past," he said. He hopes that his success will make them proud, even if Western music is still foreign to his family.

"Music like opera means nothing to the people in Cambodia, but perhaps it might mean something to them when I become well known."
Read more!

Facing history in Cambodia

Cambodia is beginning to deal with the legacy of decades of civil war: soldiers and civilians maimed by landmines.


By Akshan deAlwis

Akshan deAlwis will be a freshman at Noble and Greenough School in the fall.

I was nine when I read “First They Killed my Father.” It had a profound impact on me and I wanted to learn more about both the glory that was the Khmer civilization and its more recent history of conflict.

Last month, I visited Siem Reap in Cambodia, a city founded upon fable and legend, and more recently tears.

Siem Reap is home to to the majestic Angkor Temple complex. As I drove down the main road from the airport, I watched as hotel upon hotel passed my window, their lights dimly lit in the still of the night.

A large portion of Cambodia’s economy comes from tourism. But Cambodia has not always been a tourist haven. It has actually been one of the most tragic places in the world, and that legacy remains.

Cambodia was plunged into civil war for more than 20 years. A decade of genocide left more than 25,000 combatants and 2 million civilians dead and countless more disabled.

The main reason for my visit was to meet with the Angkor Association for the Disabled (AAD), a meeting arranged through a much admired family friend. At her request, I did a slide show on the rights of children with disabilities as outlined by the United Nations, which she had translated into Khmer and sent to AAD.

The day of my meeting, I woke up at dawn to see the sun rise over the Angkor Wat, the largest Hindu and later Buddhist temple in the world, built by Suryavarman II in the 12th century. It is the proud symbol of the Khmer Culture, depicted on the Cambodian flag. As I quietly tiptoed around the towering spires, the sun slowly burst into the purple sky. I held my breath, afraid to spoil the beauty of the moment.

As the light broke through the still morning, I gasped at the exquisite bas reliefs that brought to life the churning of the sea of milk by the gods and demons to create Amrita, the elixir of life.

The civil war in Cambodia began with the invasion of US and Vietnamese forces in 1969 to attack Viet Cong and Khmer Rouge forces that were using bases in Cambodia. When Saigon fell in 1975, Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, fell to Khmer Rouge forces, who were lead by Pol Pot.

The city was evacuated, and the population was sent to the countryside to work. All things “western” were destroyed. Libraries and temples were ransacked and razed. The agricultural methods were changed to the “Traditional Cambodian Methods” of the 11th century.

In 1979, when a leftist Vietnamese-Cambodian force captured Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge began a guerilla war, laying hundreds of land mines. Although the civil war officially ended in 1993, the mines remain.

Cambodia is the third most land mined country in the world. According to UNICEF, “So common are they in Cambodia that they are now used for fishing, or as property security devices, or even to settle domestic disputes.”

According to the Asian Development Bank, close to 10 percent of the
Cambodian adult population is disabled due to malnutrition, violence, and land mines.

After breakfast, I was picked up by the Director of the AAD, Sem Sovantha who drove a car with levers because he is missing both legs.

Sem was a captain in the army, his future ahead of him, until the day he stumbled upon a “double personnel” mine filled with half a pound of TNT. Both of his legs were ripped off.

Most land mine victims are on their own, he said. No one will employ them, hospitals are already overflowing, and families cannot support them with the average annual income of $805.

Sem hit the streets, begging. But he knew that things had to change, so he put himself through school and set up the AAD. His goal is simple: to make Cambodia a better place, not through foreign intervention, but through self help.

Sem told me about the new disability law that the Cambodian government recently passed. “The law is only on paper,” he said. "This is our law and we were not consulted.''

The law aims to protect the rights of persons with disabilities and to ensure equal opportunities for persons with disabilities. It provides for accessible education, health care, and employment for persons with disabilities. The law also sets up a council to advise on the administration of the law. While the law is sweeping in its rhetoric, the terms are ambiguous and merely aspirational.

Sem said his organization would be educating police and community officials about the rights all persons with disabilities have to live in dignity and equality.

Sem showed off his group's workshop, where he and others teach peers how to make a living by playing traditional Cambodian music and making woven baskets and small wooden figures. “Work creates the first step to empowerment”, Sem told me proudly.

As the Khmer Rouge trials continue in Phnom Penh, I want those on trial and their judges to remember Sem and his peers. The two million dead are not the only victims of the genocide.

To learn more about Sem, go to his website at: http://www.angkorad.org/ Read more!

Thailand, Cambodia Restart Talks on Overlapping Natural Gas Claims

While international attention has largely focused on China’s disputes with its neighbors the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei over the offshore riches of the contested Spratly islands, other energy maritime disputes are roiling Southeastern Asian waters.

The Thai government is preparing to revive talks with Cambodia on overlapping petroleum claims in the Gulf of Thailand, which have been deadlocked since 2006. Thailand and Cambodia share an area in the Gulf of Thailand that encompasses more than 10,000 square miles in the “Overlapping Claims Area,” or (OCA), The Bangkok Post reported.

Thailand and Cambodia are also in dispute over a land frontier surrounding the location of the boundary on the precipice surmounted by Preah Vihear temple ruins, awarded to Cambodia by an International Court of Justice decision in 1962 and part of a planned UN World Heritage site.

The OCA is thought to contain up to 11 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

In 2001 Cambodia and Thailand signed a memorandum of understanding on a proposed joint development of the southern portion of the OCA, with the northern portion eventually to be divided by a defined maritime border. Phnom Penh and Bangkok had nearly reached agreement on the overlapping OCA claims before the 2006 coup that toppled the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Three years later Thailand unilaterally cancelled the agreement to protest Thaksin's appointment as an economic adviser to the Cambodian government.

By. Joao Peixe, Deputy Editor OilPrice.com
Read more!

Cambodia Requests Thailand to Return Remaining Stolen Artifacts

Cambodian government has asked Thailand to return the remaining artifacts stolen from Cambodia in 2000, a senior government official said Saturday.

Him Chhem, Minister of Culture and Fine Arts, said he had asked Sompong Sanguanbun, Thai Ambassador to Cambodia, to process the remaining artifacts back to Cambodia.

In 2000, Thai authorities seized 43 pieces of artifacts stolen from Cambodia, and following the request from the Cambodian government seven pieces of them were already returned to Cambodia in 2009.

The 7 pieces of artifacts were handed over by then Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva during his one-day official visit to Cambodia.

Him Chhem said he had made the request, for returning the remaining of 36 artifacts, to Thai ambassador during a meeting on Thursday in Phnom Penh.

According to Him Chhem, Sompong Sanguanbun responded that he would convey Cambodia's request to his government in Bangkok.

The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has earlier said, in addition to, the 43 stolen pieces of artifacts bounded for Thailand, at least 5 other pieces were stolen and smuggled to Switzerland and another piece to Indonesia. Read more!

Cambodia and Laos Telecommunications Report Q3 2011 - new market research report

There was a lack of new information with regards to the subscriber growth in Cambodia and Laos in this quarter's update. However, we have made changes to our forecast scenario for the Cambodian mobile industry after the country's telecoms regulator, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, reported that there were 12.4mn mobile subscribers at the end of 2010. Although we are sceptical of the data provided, as we believe that operators have a tendency to inflate subscriber figures to boost market share, we have revised our expectations upwards. We now envisage 22.167mn mobile subscribers in Cambodia by the end of 2015, up from 15.680mn in 2011. However, we believe that the exact mobile penetration in the country is significantly lower due to inactive subscriptions and multiple SIM card ownership.

Although we believe that the traditional voice service is still the preferred form of communication for Cambodian consumers, this has not prevented mobile operators from launching next generation mobile data services. Digital Star Media has announced plans to offer LTE-based mobile phone service in 2012 and is looking to provide WiMAX mobile broadband service by end-2011. Similarly, the recently merged Smart Mobile has rolled out its 3.75G network in 21 provinces, and aims to complete nationwide rollout by July. While we acknowledge that data services have a role to play in the long term, data are likely to remain muted in the near term due to factors such as a lack of localised content. Operators are likely to price services very competitively to drive interest, but this erodes the profitability of data services.

The Phnom Penh Post has reported that Cambodian mobile operator Mobitel has submitted the necessary documents to the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) to operate its mobile payment Cellcard Cash service. Consequently, the NBC was reported to be likely to approve the request in the near term. The NBC previously said the service would be suspended as Mobitel did not apply for a central bank oversight. This development is in line with our view that Mobitel will be able to offer its Cellcard Cash once it complies with the regulatory requirement.

Cambodia and Laos fell by one and three places respectively in our latest Telecoms Business Environment Ratings for the Asia Pacific region. The decline was due to an improvement in Vietnam's Telecoms Rating score partially due to a revision in our scoring methodologies, which saw the country overtake Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Cambodia and Laos share similarities in terms of the need to tackle corruption and income equality to ensure political stability in the long term. While we see improvements in both countries' macroeconomic situation - we are seeing evidence that Cambodia's economic recovery remains on track and real GDP growth could soon return to long-term trend growth of around 6.0-7.0%, while Laos is expected to attract a record amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows this year - we remain cautious due to the prevailing global economic headwinds.
Read more!

Immigrants realize American dream on the Battleship Massachusette

FALL RIVER — Chen Sour was a young child when she first moved to the United States as a refugee from Cambodia.

She returned to her homeland, but came back to America at the age of 19. By that time, she had the added responsibility of raising a four-year old boy. Sour had grown accustomed to the American style of living, and felt the United States afforded more opportunities for her young family.

Eight years later, the 28-year old Fall River resident was among a group of 50 people from 18 countries who became U.S. citizens Friday as part of a naturalization ceremony held aboard the Battleship Massachusetts. As a result of Sour becoming a citizen, her 12-year old son Ratha also is declared a citizen.

“I’m very proud, very happy,” said Sour. “My son is young and I wanted him to become a citizen. There are better opportunities in this country.”

The new citizens come from all around the globe, including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Pakistan, India and China. While they have different backgrounds and reasons for immigrating to the United States, they gathered together to celebrate their commitment to America. Local politicians encouraged the new citizens to take an active role in their new country.

“As citizens you have freedoms, responsibilities and opportunities,” said state Sen. Michael Rodrigues. “We want, expect and need you to take part in the government of this great country.”

Suley Mano was born in Brazil and lived for a time in Japan. She and her husband Mario moved to the United States six years ago. The New Bedford resident learned to speak English by studying at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and became a certified nurse’s aide after taking classes at Bristol Community College.

Decked out in a patriotic red sun hat and jacket and blue top, Mano beamed with pride after being sworn in.

“The United States is a great country,” said Mano, who has three adult children and two grandchildren living in Brazil. “You can do anything here.”

Eliseu DeSousa became a citizen because he felt it was time to make her American ties official. The 27-year old New Bedford resident moved to this country from Brazil when he was four years old. He loves American sports and will be graduating from Bristol Community College next May with a degree in clinical lab science.

“In my heart I’ve been an American for a long time,” said DeSousa. “I’m completely immersed in this country.”

Two years ago, DeSousa’s parents became naturalized citizens. He was busy working full time and going to school so he did not complete the test necessary to become a citizen. He said she is most excited about having the ability to vote.

“There are certain issues I’d like to see addressed,” DeSousa said. “Now I will have a say.”
Read more!

Escape the tourist traps

Look beyond the main attractions of Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, writes Rob Woodburn.

Thailand
With its many attractions, Bangkok is regularly voted one of the world's top city destinations. Visitors keenly tick off seeing the gorgeous Royal Palace and temple of the Emerald Buddha, then Wat Po with its golden reclining Buddha before crossing the Chao Phraya river to Wat Arun, the temple of dawn, or to visit a floating market. After that they usually go shopping or hit a spa. Here are a few alternatives.

Cycling and cooking

Expend some renewable energy on two wheels while exploring an area of the city less frequented by tourists. Cycle across the river on Rama 8 bridge and pedal the historic Thonburi network of lanes and forked alleys. Thonburi was the Thai capital until 1782, when the seat of power was shifted across the Chao Phraya for strategic defence reasons.

During the 13-kilometre guided half-day ride you'll stop to see the Buddha statues in a tiny local temple, hear local lore, discover ancient stupa tucked among the backstreets and admire the ornate decorations of a royal temple. You'll negotiate sharp bends in narrow alleys, steer around sleeping dogs, whiz past locals chatting on their doorsteps and follow canal paths to visit the last family-run bronze factory in Bangkok. The ride reveals everyday city life along byways far off the tourist trail, providing an insightful adventure you'll neither regret nor forget. A half-day ride costs $US35 ($32). See grasshopperadventures.com/tour-ghtb07.php.

Learning secrets of the Thai kitchen is one of the great pleasures of Bangkok. A lesson at Amita Thai Cooking Class first involves getting to school via a magical boat trip on the Chao Phraya before passing through the flowing arteries of "khlongland", the Thonburi area where houses sit alongside an extensive network of canals (khlongs) filled with turbid brown water. It's a journey through what is both literally and figuratively the other side of Bangkok.

Amita's owner-chef, Tam, is a gentle taskmaster. She welcomes students with intriguing sample dishes that use blue butterfly peas, red ixora flowers, cowslip and palm sauce, designed to awaken the taste buds and sense of smell. A tour of her compact garden stocked with herbs, spices and edible plants comes before lessons in the open-air kitchen.

A typical class covers three to four dishes. We wrap pandanus leaves around chicken to make the snack gai hor bai toey, create the fiery prawn soup tom yum goong, try our hand at ka nom krok (coconut pancakes) and cook phat kra pow moo sab, a dish of wok-fired ground pork with basil. An evident lack of kitchen skills is part of the fun. Best of all, having made our own lunch we then eat it. Is there a better motivation to excel? A three-hour class costs 3000 baht ($90). See amitathaicooking.com.

Big day out
The world's largest living land animal is the star of the biggest-ever event of its kind, the 10th anniversary of the King's Cup elephant polo tournament.

Hosted by the Anantara hotel group, this annual charity bash is on September 5-11 in Hua Hin, a seaside town 190 kilometres south of Bangkok, and raises funds for Thai elephant care. The Tourist Association of Thailand rates it one of the country's leading events. Players from 15 countries in 16 teams, including an All Blacks contingent, will contest this year's cup riding a total of 32 elephants steered by their mahouts. Each elephant plays two 14-minute spells a day and they are rotated among teams for the sake of fairness. Some elephants are expert at polo. Others may choose not to perform at all.

Hua Hin was the location for the original King's Cup held in 2001. It's also where, in 1923, King Rama VI chose to build a summer retreat, the Maruekhathaiyawan Palace, an amazing building that is open to the public and worth visiting. The town's other palace, Klai Kangwon, is still used by the royal family and therefore private. Anantara has special accommodation and polo packages from 9000 baht. See huahin.anantara.com.

CambodiaAfter being abandoned in the 15th century the extraordinary temple complex at Angkor, former centre of the ancient Khmer empire, was slowly enveloped by encroaching jungle. Angkor was "rediscovered" by Western travellers in the 19th century and has since become Cambodia's most hallowed attraction.

Surrounded by a moat, Angkor Wat is the largest and best preserved of the temples, but there are many other equally enthralling structures spread around the vast archaeological park. Guide books list as many as 29 individual sites, including the fortified city of Angkor Thom with the Bayon temple at its centre and the incredible Ta Prohm, where giant fig and banyan tree roots are entwined within the stone walls. It's the sort of place you'd expect to bump into Indiana Jones.

Conservation and restoration work is constant yet, questionably, visitors are still allowed to crawl all over these vulnerable limestone structures. Annual visitor numbers hit two million in 2007 before the GFC put a brake on tourism. But they are on the rise again so go sooner rather than later. The private company that leases Angkor from the government charges visitors $US20 ($18) entry per day. Alternatively, consider visiting the more recently discovered Banteay Chhmar temple ruins close to the Thailand border. Intrepid has a 15-day Best of Cambodia tour, from $1350. See intrepidtravel.com/trips/tksm#overview.

Cambodia &VietnamThe mighty Mekong River is South-east Asia's great artery. It flows through six countries on a journey of more than 4000 kilometres from its source on the Tibetan Plateau to the coast of Vietnam, where it forms a massive delta spilling into the South China Sea. The ebb and flow of river life is best sampled aboard a slow boat. Various cruises ply the Mekong, the most popular being seven- to nine-day voyages, in either direction, between Siem Reap in Cambodia, which is the access town to Angkor, and Ho Chi Minh City in south Vietnam.

Cruise itineraries include passage across south-east Asia's largest lake, Tonle Sap, before mooring beside the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, various land excursions to tribal villages and temples, small factories and farms, and visits to fishing villages and markets on the backwaters of the Mekong Delta.

The best time for a Mekong cruise is October to January. During the later period of the dry season, from late March to August, Tonle Sap in Cambodia can be unnavigable due to extremely low water. In this event a five-hour coach transfer is introduced between Siem Reap and Kampong Chhnang.

Peregrine Adventures has a nine-day cruise from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City, from $2295. See peregrineadventures.com.

Vietnam
City sightsCompared with Ho Chi Minh City, the Vietnamese capital Hanoi has considerable charm. At its heart lies Hoan Kiem, a tiny lake that's the focus of social activity from first light until late. Nearby is the famous Old Quarter, a bewildering, colourful tangle of 36 narrow streets and crowded lanes, each named for a traditional craft.

You'll find a tin street, one for blacksmiths and one for silversmiths, a street for bamboo screens, baskets, bottles, coffins, herbal medicine, mats, hats, pots, incense, pipes, oils and leather. The Old Quarter provides a welcome antidote of authenticity among the proliferation of cheap Chinese-made market goods that flood every Asian city.

Two kilometres west of Hoan Kiem is the venerable Temple of Literature, offering moments of calm repose. Within its walls are placid pools, shady trees and well-tended gardens. This was Vietnam's first national university, dating from 1076, and stone tablets record the names of laureates from the 15th to 18th centuries.

For lunch, try Koto, on adjacent Van Mieu Street, a restaurant created by Australian Jimmy Pham to teach hospitality skills to street kids. For a quintessential Hanoi evening dine at Cha Cha La Vong then soak up the sounds at Minh's Jazz Club, both in the Old Quarter.

TrekkingSapa in Vietnam's far north and the Mai Chau Valley, only 130 kilometres from Hanoi, are both well known for hill tribe treks. Getting to Sapa involves an overnight train ride from Hanoi. The scenery is spectacular but the experience overall has become overtly commercial. A guided three-day Mai Chau trek is an alternative. The countryside is enchanting, the H'mong and White Thai villages remain traditional and you'll see fewer tourists. World Expeditions runs a three-day Mai Chau trek for $640. See worldexpeditions.com/au.

LaosUntil fairly recently, Laos was far less travelled than its neighbours. Now tourism is the country's fastest-growing industry. The capital, Vientiane, has plenty of wonderful temples and Buddhist monuments but the upriver Mekong port of Luang Prabang is more captivating for getting in touch with a spirit of place.

In between is the adrenalin-pumping town of Vang Vieng, a backpacker haunt for river tubing, caving, rock climbing and generally letting loose. In sharp contrast and not far away is the mystical Plain of Jars, an ancient burial site.

Luang Namtha in the far north is a hub for hill tribe treks.

Slow boats ply the Mekong between Nong Khiaw and Luang Prabang and between there and Huay Xai on the Thai border. Water levels are lowest between November and May. Highlights of southern Laos are Champasak's Angkor-like Khmer temples and Si Phan Don, the "4000 islands" region of the Mekong, close to the Cambodia border. TravelindoChina has a 17-day Inside Laos trip, including Vientiane, Vang Vieng, Luang Prabang and trips along the Mekong River, from $3010, including daily breakfast, and one domestic flight. See travelindochina.com.au Read more!

Support sought for UPLB grad in Cambodia bus accident

UPDATED 10:00 p.m. - The Philippine government is now coordinating with the Cambodian government to seek support for the Filipina tourist who lost her leg in a bus-truck collision in Cambodia on Monday.

On "Unang Balita" on GMA News TV on Friday, Pia Arcangel reported that the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is coordinating with the Cambodian government to seek support for Nina Kristine Abad, 30, a graduate of the University of the Philippines Los Baños.

Abad, a senior operations manager of a call center in Makati, was on vacation in Cambodia when the bus she was riding in collided with a truck on Monday.

Marisol Abduraman on "Unang Balita" reported that the victim has not yet received any support from the Cambodian government and the bus firm.

"Wala siyang natatanggap na tulong mula sa mga kumpanya ng bus na sangkot sa banggaan. Maging ang gobyerno ng Cambodia, wala raw nagging aksyon lalo na at isa siyang turista siya sa kanilang bansa," Abduraman reported.

Those who are interested to extend financial support for Abad are asked to contact +63 908 897 4364.

Mixed emotions

Gjette Chua, one of the victim’s colleagues, said she has mixed emotions over Abad’s terrifying experience in Cambodia.

“Hindi naman siya tutulungan ng bus company, o hindi man lang siya bibigyan ng assistance ng Cambodia, kaya galit, inis, lungkot na [ang nararamdaman ko]," Chua said, also on “Unang Balita" on Friday.

“Pumunta ang tao doon para mag-enjoy. Pumunta siya doon ng dalawa ang paa, tapos uuwi nalang ng isa," Chua added.

Bus-truck collision

In an interview with GMA News, Abad recalled how the accident happened in Phnom Penh’s Peamro district at about 4:10 a.m. on Monday.

“‘Yung crash kasi happened on the right side ng bus. Unfortunately I was on the second row of the bus’ right side. When I looked down I saw both of my legs pinned down below the knees. Nakaipit siya between the seats," Abad said.

“When I saw my right leg was partially severed, I already knew then and there that I would already lose [my] leg," she added.

Abad was with other foreign tourists on board the Kampuchea Angkor Express bus when it collided with a truck filled with corn.

Five passengers sustained serious injuries while 27 others had minor injuries.

District police chief Seng Ponlok said they suspected that the accident was caused by a drowsy bus driver as the incident happened in Prey Veng province at dawn.

He said both vehicles in the accident have been taken to Peamro district police station for investigation.

“We will investigate this accident by cooperating with the bus company and we will also cooperate with them to look for the driver, who escaped after the accident," he said in a report on Phnom Penh Post.. Read more!

City Denies Permission for Union March Sunday

Phnom Penh authorities say they will not allow a union demonstration against rising prices of food, fuel and other living expenses.

The newly established Cambodian National Confederation for Laborers Protection, had requested permission from the city to hold its march Sunday, but were told instead that only a maximum 200 people would be allowed to gather at the city’s Freedom Park.

Chey Sovan, a vice president of the union, said they would bring 1,500 people to the park, although they would not march as planned. Workers are upset at the rising cost of living, and are demanding the government intervene to lower the prices of food, fuel and other goods.

The union said it has already filed a request to Prime Minister Hun Sen to help alleviate the pressure of the rising costs but had so far had no response. It plans to gather workers, teachers, motorcycle taxi drivers and other workers in protest.

Keurth Che, deputy administration director for Phnom Penh, said in a statement the city would not allow a march. The organizers will be fully responsible for the security of an assembly and must ensure it does not affect the business of government or dignitaries and is not done at the behest of any political party, he said.

Chey Sovan called the city’s refusal was counter to the freedom of expression.

“I think they have a fair right [to hold a march],” said Chan Saveth, lead monitor for the rights group Adhoc. “They are implementing their role in rights and freedoms to show their opinion to the royal government. But if the royal government prevents them from holding a march that reflects the democratic process, it can make this situation a threat to them not to implement their rights and freedoms.”
Read more!

Rights Group Calls for Action on ‘Flawed’ NGO Law

Numerous NGOs have said the draft law ignored their key recommendations, leaving it as a tool to repress groups that dissent from the views of the government and administration of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party.



The Cambodian Center for Human Rights on Thursday called on donors, lawmakers and other power brokers to step up pressure on the government, which hopes to pass a law to regulate non-governmental agencies but is widely seen as a blow to their ability to operate.

The 58-article law was sent to the Council of Ministers for approval last week, after which it will pass to the National Assembly for debate and passage.

Numerous NGOs have said the draft law ignored their key recommendations, leaving it as a tool to repress groups that dissent from the views of the government and administration of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party.

“The point of no return is fast approaching with this law,” CCHR President Ou Virak said in a statement. “It’s very difficult to change or influence legislation once it has reached the Council of Ministers. This means that now is the time for key stakeholders to take action at as high a level as possible in order to ensure that it doesn’t pass as it is currently
drafted.”

On Tuesday, the rights group Licadho issued its own warning over the law, saying it could be used to violate the freedoms of expression and association.

Nuth Sa An, secretary of state for the Ministry of Interior, said Tuesday the law was now at the Council of Ministers and any suggestions must be made to them.

Phay Siphan, a spokesman for the Council of Ministers, said the council could only ensure the law was drafted appropriately. Suggestions on the law can be made when it goes to the National Assembly for Debate, and further to the Constitutional Council.
Read more!

Pinay in Cambodia loses leg in bus mishap

MANILA, Philippines – A Filipina tourist in Cambodia lost her leg in a road accident that left 2 dead and several others injured.

Nina Abad, who was in Siem Reap, Cambodia for a vacation, was asleep early Sunday when the tourist bus carrying her hit a parked truck along Prey Veng.

Abad said the crash sounded like a loud explosion. She suspects that the driver of the bus fell asleep behind the wheel.

"Naka-tangle kami sa isa’t isa when they pulled me out of the wreckage. I looked down at my right leg, pumasok sa utak ko na I’m going to lose my leg," said Abad.

The bus driver surrendered to authorities after he went missing for a couple of days.

Abad, a call center manager, is her family’s breadwinner.

“Matulungin siya. Hindi na naming kailangan humingi ng tulong sa kanya, siya mismo ang nag-kukusa,” said Weng Bustillos, Abad’s aunt.

Despite her ordeal, Abad has shown courage and positivity.

“I have yet to see the Great Wall of China. I have yet to see the Eiffel Tower. I have yet to see Stonehenge and even with 1 foot or even with no feet, I will go there,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is coordinating with Cambodian authorities to address financial expenses for Abad’s hospitalization.

In a statement, the DFA said it "is now facilitating the issuance of a passport for her brother, Edward Jeffrie Abad, who is expected to arrive [Friday]. Our embassy is coordinating with Cambodian authorities on compensation and payment of medical fees and hospital bills to get the tour company (Kampuchea Angkor Express) to address these issues." -- Report from Atom Araullo, ABS-CBN News. Read more!

Cambodia The North Korea Connection: Cambodia’s Secret Refugee Pipeline

I have mostly included this painting because it is awesome.

WikiLeaks has come to Cambodia, and local media sources spent the latter part of July combing through hundreds of pages of not-so-secret information. Cables ranged from detailed accounts of the Siem Reap sex trade to cutting comments on certain dignitaries tone-of-voice to very serious concerns about the ongoing Thai-Cambodian border controversy.

While looking through the cables (Thanks, Mr Assange!), I noticed an interesting new dimension in the long-standing and poorly understood relationship between North Korea and Cambodia.

The WikiLeaks cables revealed that in November 2006, a North Korean man, arrested and held in Cambodia’s rather remote Mondolkiri province, was not immediately deported to Vietnam—as was reported at the time.

The refugee was instead assisted in his search for asylum by the Cambodian and South Korean governments, with the full knowledge and assent of the US government. This formal government assistance has until now, been kept a secret.

The Americans immediately contacted US Embassy via human rights NGO Licadho, and gave the-then US Politics and Economics Chief all the information they had on Mr Hai Long, a meeting held at Licadho’s offices.

The North Korean’s detention aligned somewhat inconveniently with the 2006 visit of former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, who during that visit asked Cambodia for a bit of assistance in negotiating with the always-difficult North.

According to the cables, Mondolkiri provincial officials were instructed to keep the man in custody until Mr Moo-hyun’s visit was over, then send him along to Phnom Penh.

Contradictions in the North Korean’s case continued, as now-deceased (and notorious) Police Commissioner Hok Lundy insisted on the 27th that the man had been deported, while a program coordinator for human rights NGO Adhoc continued to say the difficult-to-track man had been sent to Phnom Penh.

The US cables end with a brief analysis, noting that the man’s “liberal” treatment in Cambodia, in tandem with the Korean President’s visit, was nothing if not heartening from the American perspective: “The ROK Ambassador’s assurances that they are quietly engaged with the RGC on this case are consistent with the good working relationship that the South Korean government has established with the Cambodian government concerning North Korean refugees,” the cable finishes.

Both North and South Korean embassies declined to comment publicly on the matter when I called them a couple of weeks ago, as did the US Embassy. I couldn’t find out what ultimately happened to the so-called Mr Ly Hai Long, but I have a hunch he’s been resettled – hopefully happily – somewhere in South Korea. If only all North Korean escapees could be so lucky, instead of, say, being shot while fording a freezing river to live a life of vaguely-less poverty in China or being sent off to work camps upon being captured en route out of the country.

But the trail doesn’t end there when it comes to North Korean refugees in Cambodia, as a series of 2009 cables indicate.

A July 10 cable noted two Embassy of the Republic of Korea counselors were “preoccupied with conveying their desire that the ROK (government of Korea) pipeline for North Korea refugees not be publicly revealed, and remain separate from any US refugee processing pipeline,” a sentiment the US government, according to the cable, shared.

Embassy cables from 2010 that six North Koreans had, in recent years, approached the Phnom Penh US Embassy in search of resettlement, discussing in detail the imminent departure of two North Koreans for the US on April 16.

The cables note with evident pleasure Hok Lundy’s “cooperation in…processing exist permits for the two individuals,” as well as Cambodian officials “discreet” handling of the North Korean’s exit from the country.
The cable also refers to a previous, covert departure of North Korean refugees where “no one at the airport noticed the North Korean’s comings and goings.” Considering the none-too impressive dimensions of Phnom Penh’s airport, that’s no mean feat.

What’s most interesting about Cambodia’s efforts to aid North Korean refugees? Cambodia and North Korea have historically had a pretty good relationship – a relationship that, as the cables indicate, may be cooling off.

Former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk enjoyed a long-standing and comfortable relationship with Pyongyang, and the now-deceased Dear Leader Kim il Sung. The former king was given a palce on a North Korean lake, where he spent much of the Lon Nol era of Cambodia’s war-years in exile (and where he returned after the 1979 Vietnamese invasion). Sihanouk was also known to use burly North Korean guards for his personal security outfit.

As of 2011, a few North Korean state-run restaurants operate in Phnom Penh and in the tourist hub of Siem Reap. North Korea just sent a trade delegation to Cambodia—delegations from the DPRK to Cambodia are usually sent a few times a year.

But Cambodia seems to be shifting its formerly (sorta) friendly approach to the DPRK. In a 2006 embassy cable, Sun Suon, director of the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs International Organizations Department, said that Pyongyang’s dabbling in nuclear weapons was a “grave miscalculation” that could have “dire” consequences.

When asked about his nation’s relationship with the DPRK, he “suggested it was no longer as unique as it once was,” what with the death of Kim Il Sung and the 2004 retirement of the massively influential Sihanouk.
Another 2006 cable notes that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is “sensitive” to the North Korean refugees plight, due to his own experience of “having to seek shelter outside his own country during the Khmer Rouge period.”

In the same cable, Hun Sen’s advisor, Om Yentiang, in a rather worrisome statement, registered “some concern over the PM’s safety due to the proximity of the North Korean Embassy (which is next door) to the PM’s residence — should USG-RGC cooperation on North Korean refugees become public knowledge.” Paranoia, or warranted caution when it comes to interactions with the widely proven to be completely nutso North Koreans?

So is Cambodia delicately edging away from its formerly friendly relationship with North Korea? The newly released cables seem to indicate that Cambodia is, probably wisely, backing away—quietly—from close ties with the (unsurprisingly) profoundly unpopular North Koreans.

But, at least on the outside, Cambodia and North Korea appear to be conducting business as usual. A North Korean trade delegation, sent at the end of July, enjoyed a reasonably productive visit to Cambodia. The two nations revamped seven points originally agreed to in 1993, and agreed to mutual assistance on (among other things) forestry projects and aquaculture, while North Korea expressed interest in importing Cambodian rice. Well, they do need it.

Although the Embassy cables regarding North Korean refugees cut out as of 2009, it’s likely that refugees who manage to make it through will continue to be quietly processed in Cambodia and sent on to South Korea or the USA. Does North Korea now know about Cambodia’s refugee “pipeline” and does it particularly care? The next few months should yield the answer, and I’ll be watching. Read more!

Cambodian Capital Modernizing Fast

Ten years ago, the infrastructure in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, was in poor condition. Power outages were frequent. Heavy rains and poor telecommunications slowed commerce and limited outside contacts.

But in the past decade, new roads and high-rise buildings have changed the landscape. And in July, the nation's first stock exchange and a multiplex cinema opened.

Phnom Penh has several active cinemas dating from the 1950s, but they mainly screen the small number of domestically produced films or translated Thai imports. Pirated DVDs have cut into their business, keeping people at home.

Until July, the only way to see the latest Hollywood blockbuster in a theater was to catch a plane to Thailand or Vietnam.

But now, for $6, one can go to the new air-conditioned, three-screen Legend cinema in central Phnom Penh, grab a box of popcorn and settle down to watch Kung-Fu Panda 2 in 3D (three dimensions).

Michael Chai, a director at WesTec Media, which built the cinema, is aiming at a young, internet savvy Cambodian market.

“If I look at Facebook for example, I've been looking at the numbers. In May 2010 there were only about 50,000 of them on Facebook. May 2011 we had almost 400,000. So that figure alone, that kind of growth, speaks a lot already. And most of them on Facebook are communicating to each other in English.”

While it would take most Cambodians several days to earn the price of the $6 ticket, the owners are betting that a growing middle-class will become regular customers.

Prum Seila, a 24-year-old office worker, is in Chai's target demographic. Just a few weeks after the theater opened, Seila has visited twice.

“I went there to see the Transformers 3. And I've never seen 3D in my life. I just saw the Transformers 3, and I know that in Transformers 3 there is a scene in Cambodia and [so] we should have seen it. And it is just kind of supporting stuff like that in Cambodia," Seila says.

The growth in Phnom Penh has been fueled in part by garment factories, an economic pillar in Cambodia, that are located around the capital, drawing young workers to the city.

The jobs and new technology are changing things quickly. A recent survey indicates more than 90 percent of young Cambodians have access to a mobile phone. Internet usage, though low, has doubled in a year to 6 percent.

Prum Seila, the eager movie-goer, grew up in the capital. He says he and his friends now spend their free time hanging out in food halls, scores of gleaming new coffee shops and entertainment venues named Diamond Island and Dreamland, where you can sing karaoke.

He says shopping is popular.

“The people like me they have jobs, they have money," he says. "They save money to buy expensive brands like Apple, iPhone. Some of the girls they try to buy the clothes from internet, from Facebook.”

In July, officials opened the country's first stock exchange. Although no companies have yet listed, the government says three state-owned firms will do so later this year. Others are expected to follow.

Stephen Higgins heads ANZ-Royal Bank, a joint venture between the Australian banking giant and a Cambodian firm. Read more!

North Korea propaganda unit builds monuments abroad

Building North Korea-style monuments for cash-strapped countries has become a cash lifeline for Kim Jong Il's regime.

SIEM REAP, Cambodia — Of all the North Korean work units toiling under Kim Jong Il’s regime, Mansudae should be among the least likely to ply its trade overseas.

The estimated 4,000-person unit produces artwork, much of it deifying the Kim dynasty through paintings, statues and monuments. While such propaganda keeps North Koreans under the so-called Dear Leader’s spell, there is virtually no global market for images glorifying dictators with bouffants.

But in recent years, a propaganda unit subsidiary — Mansudae Overseas Projects — has become one of Kim’s emerging foreign earners. Building North Korea-style monuments for other cash-strapped countries has become a cash lifeline worth an estimated $160 million in the last decade.

Their latest project has led the North Koreans to Cambodia, where developers and state tourism funds are rapidly commercializing the Angkor Wat temple ruins.

Said to be the world’s largest pre-industrial city, the 12th-century Angkor Wat complex is the pride of Cambodia, Southeast Asia’s answer to Egypt’s pyramids or Peru’s Machu Picchu. The ruins prove that long before the modern onset of civil war and poverty, their civilization was once capable of greatness. Tourists know the temples as a backdrop to Angelina Jolie’s “Tomb Raider” film.

More from GlobalPost blog: North Korean propaganda cartoons reach kids

But paying North Korea’s harsh regime to commercialize Angkor Wat is “absolutely not appropriate,” said Naranhkiri Tith, a former International Monetary Fund advisor and critic of Cambodia’s current ruling party.

“I think anything that happens in Cambodia is not normal,” he said. “That is why Cambodia is called the country of the absurd ... North Korea, in my opinion, is another country of the absurd where the government is engaging in smuggling and many other illegal activities to survive.”

On a muddy work site just meters from the North Koreans’ construction grounds, Cambodian workers described their neighbors as distant. “The North Koreans? I heard they’re building a digital museum,” said Cheavy, an engineer. “But we don’t really know. They do everything behind that metal wall. They never come out.”

A wall of royal blue sheet metal obscures the North Koreans’ operation from public view. When I approached the entrance, a man in a fedora and a tank top rushed over to slam the gate shut. A furtive look inside revealed fewer than a dozen scrawny workers and a scrub grass field still void of much construction.

Though local reports vary, North Korea will be paid between $10 and $17 million for some sort of monument or museum near the temples. The head of Cambodia’s culture ministry, Khem Sarith, confirmed construction of an “e-museum” but could not confirm the cost.

Nor could he explain why a country that offers its citizens scant electricity should win an “electronic museum” contract, especially after its monuments abroad have drawn both condemnation and ridicule.

Consider the “African Renaissance” monument in Senegal. Taller than the Statue of Liberty, it is deemed a “monument to black people all over the world” by former Nigerian strongman ruler Olusegun Obasanjo.

GlobalPost in Dakar: Senegal's colossal statue stirs big controversy

But the centerpiece statue — of a man, woman and baby ascending a mountain — is rendered in the signature Stalinist North Korean style. The couple is reminiscent of Soviet-depicted Bolshevik revolutionaries, only with African heads.

In fact, in the original mock ups, North Korean designers hadn’t bothered to change the statue’s features from Asian to African, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade told the Wall Street Journal. They were altered only after his complaints. The president was later criticized for paying the U.N.-sanctioned foreign regime $27.7 million for the statue while unemployment in his own country neared 50 percent.

In total, Mansudae Overseas has earned at least $160 million in African construction projects since 2000, according to the Daily NK, an outlet specializing in information from North Korea. All Mansudae projects on the continent are acquired through a secret bidding process.

Other statues include Namibia’s “Heroes’ Acre,” a marble obelisk and statue of afreedom fighter in crisp uniform clutching an AK-47. In Zimbabwe, locals complained that a North Korean-made bronze statue of a beloved revolutionary hardly resembled him. (They argued further that it was the North Koreans who trained and armed a Zimbabwean death squad that killed as many as 10,000 — including the revolutionary’s own men.)

Mansudae sculptors have little opportunity to perfect non-Asian faces back home. All of their statues are molded in a North Korean “socialist realism” style that is little changed through decades of Kim dynasty idol worship. Deifying the Dear Leader through statues, books, murals, films and more is estimated to make up an astounding 40 percent of the national budget, according to a study by the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy in Seoul.

This “stauomania” began in 1953, after the Korean War left Pyongyang blasted to rubble, according to Jane Portal, author of “Art Under Control in North Korea.” The city’s destruction meant then-leader Kim Il Sung could rebuild a city that enshrined his greatness with huge monuments.

The dictator’s appetite for worship was endless. According to Bradley Martin, author of “Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader,” the ruler insisted that all babies’ first words should be “Kim Il Sung.” He also slept on top of adoring teenage North Korean girls, their interlocked legs forming a “human mattress” for the plump dictator.

“Like Stalin and Mao,” Portal wrote, “the Great Leader is also ever-present in painted and sculpted form, both in town and countryside, indoors and out.”

Then and now, the Mansudae work unit is responsible for supplying the paintings and sculpture that sustain this personality cult. But many of the artists are actually quite talented, said Simon Cockerell of the Beijing-based Koryo Group, which escorts foreign tourists to Pyongyang sites such as Mansudae studios.

GlobalPost in Seoul: North Korean artist turns talents on the repressive regime

“Everything in North Korea is done in a group. If you’re a worker, you’re part of a work unit,” Cockerell said. “Just like farmers and construction workers, they have quotas to achieve. But being an artist is a fairly prestigious job in North Korea.”

Much of the unit’s output is propaganda, he said. But they also produce inoffensive nature scenes or ceramics largely bought by Chinese or Japanese customers. “There is no post-modernism, no concept of the viewer deciding the meaning,” Cockerell said. “It’s a more naive style.”

Back in Cambodia, North Korea’s “digital museum” project has largely blended in with the other construction near Angkor Wat. The largest will be a deluxe hotel, theater and golf course complex designed for Chinese and other Asian tourists. Its South Korean developer, Hyo-Soon Park, works in an air-conditioned office just a stone’s throw from his estranged kin from the other Korea.

“I don’t talk to them and they don’t make problems,” Park said. “Why do we need need to fight? It’s all just business.”

More from GlobalPost: US holds rare direct talks with North Korea on nuclear program Read more!

Rally to roar into Cambodia

Cambodia is set to partner neighbours Thailand in co-hosting the 2011 Asian Cross Country Car Rally, which is set to start this Saturday in the coastal Thai resort town of Pattaya and take the chequered flag in front of the Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap four days and 1,875 kilometres later.

As many as 14 rally drivers from India, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia will tear through some of the most challenging cross country terrain in cars of different makes, according to Vath Chamroeun, Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia.

“There will be another 29 cars travelling with the rallyists, involving organisers, medical staff and security personnel,” he said.

“We have no [Cambodian] participants in this rally, [but] we feel privileged and honoured to be co-hosts to promote sports and tourism.”

Rally cars will be driven through the Poipet international border gate in Banteay Meanchey province next Wednesday to complete a final leg of 185 kilometres to Siem Reap.

Cambodia to host China-ASEAN race

Cambodia will host the end-up segment of the speed-based open class China-ASEAN Car race-rally on October 7 and 8.

The event, which marks the 20th anniversary of the bilateral relations between China and ASEAN, is part of a month-long commemoration beginning on September 9 and including an international touring assembly and a journalists rally.

“For the first time we will have two Cambodian cars taking part in this event. We will host the final leg of this rally race between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh,” said NOCC Secretary General Vath Chamroeun.
Read more!

FPT talks operating telcoms in Cambodia

Vietnamese company FPT Telecom aims to extend operations to the Kingdom, after its attempted acquisition of Vietnam’s EVN Telecom fell through.

FPT Telecom “has plans to expand business in Cambodia, but all is in discussion”, a spokesperson said late on Monday, declining to comment further.

The firm had been in talks to buy a stake in internet service provider MekongNet, though its CEO Sok Channda said this week the talks stalled last year when FPT turned its attention to its planned deal with Vietnamese fixed and mobile operator EVN Telecom. The deal between FPT and EVN fell through earlier in 2011.

FPT has made no attempt to restart talks with MekongNet since the EVN deal failed, she said.

“Until now they have not come to talk with us yet,” Sok Channda said. “I don’t have a plan to sell to anybody yet.”

When asked about FPT’s intentions, a number of other Cambodian ISP and telecom CEOs also claimed they knew of no attempts by FPT to purchase companies in the Kingdom.

In addition to providing ISP networking services to Cambodia and Laos, FTP has been granted a licence to test LTE, so-called fourth-generation wireless in Vietnam, according to VietNamNet. The company told the news agency that because the costs of LTE are far greater than 3G, widespread adoption of 4G is still some ways off. As a result, FPT will focus on foreign acquisitions for the time being.

FPT Information System, a separate branch of FPT, already operates in the Kingdom.
Read more!

Cambodia to host ASEAN parliamentary summit next month

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) - Cambodia will spend $1.5 million on hosting the 32nd General Assembly of ASEAN Inter- Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), which will run from Sept. 18-24, said a Cambodian parliamentarian on Tuesday.

Cheam Yeap, chairman of the Commission on Economy, Finance, Banking and Audit of Cambodian National Assembly, said that the country has deployed more than 3,000 security forces to ensure order during the summit.

According to the draft agenda, the upcoming AIPA will adopt a variety of documents on political, economic, social and women affairs, rights of migrant workers, and drug fighting in order to build stronger cooperation and relations among the ASEAN member countries.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Read more!