Thai protesters enjoy free food, $3 massage

By JOCELYN GECKER, Associated Press Writer

BANGKOK, Thailand - Once open only to the ruling elite, Thailand's stately Government House has turned into a cross between a refugee camp and a village fairground.

Thousands of anti-government protesters occupying the prime minister's office compound have set up a tent city complete with free food, outdoor showers, entertainment, massages and lots of manicured shrubs for hanging laundry to dry.

The siege, in its 11th day Friday, is aimed at forcing Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to resign. The demonstrators have not succeeded in kicking him out of office, but they have kept him out his office.

To ease the kinks caused by round-the-clock protesting, massage services are available under the shade of palm trees for $3 an hour.

In a live radio broadcast Thursday, Samak called the situation a national embarrassment and refused to step down — drawing boos and jeers from thousands of protesters fanning themselves on lawn chairs outside his office.

"I am outside and can't work properly," Samak said, his speech broadcast from a sound stage set up on the Government House lawn.

Samak initially based himself at a military headquarters outside Bangkok, but his aides say he has lately worked from an office at the Defense Ministry.

"Is it shameful? Yes, it is," Samak said.

Still, authorities have been reluctant to use force against the crowd for fear they will be denounced for sparking violence with the protesters, who have armed themselves with makeshift weapons and vowed to resist any attempt to remove them.

Also, violence, or the perception that it was imminent, could cause the military to stage a coup with the excuse that it was necessary to restore order, as it did in September 2006. It was demonstrations by the People's Alliance for Democracy, which is leading the current protest, that sparked the instability that led to the coup.

The new demonstration is built on the alliance's belief that Western-style democracy does not work for Thailand. It says the ballot box gives too much weight to the impoverished rural majority allegedly susceptible to vote buying that breeds corruption. It wants Parliament to be revamped so most lawmakers would be appointed rather than elected.

The protest has caused one of the biggest political crises since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932. It is the first time in the country's history that civilians have overrun the seat of government.

Built in the early 20th century and modeled after a Venetian palace, the Gothic-style Government House is one of Bangkok's most distinguished buildings.

The alliance's security volunteers sit behind a barbed-wire barricade at the entrance, which is stacked with motorcycle helmets for protection and golf clubs, bamboo rods and rudimentary shields.

"Welcome! Would you like something to eat?" asked Pongping Kumna, a protester manning the free food stand just past the entrance gate. Tables were piled high with donated food, many ordered from popular Bangkok restaurants.

Recent offerings included sauteed chicken with chili and basil, Thai-style noodles from a famous downtown noodle shop, McDonald's hamburgers and, for dessert, chocolate doughnuts and shaved ice with fruit flavoring.

"We have everything we need here. There's no reason to leave," said Pongping, 44, a clothing shop owner from the southern beach town of Krabi who had camped at the compound for nine days.

Protesters, mostly royalists, wealthy and middle-class urban residents and union activists, have tapped into the Government House's electricity system. Extension cords charge mobile phones and power televisions.

The anti-government channel ASTV, owned by protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul, is broadcast round-the-clock on TV sets scattered around the grounds.

Fiery anti-Samak speakers take the stage, alternating with pop singers, like one recently crooning James Taylor songs as the crowd clapped and swayed.

When supplies are needed, protest leaders take the microphone and call for donations from supporters, who have responded by trucking in portable toilets and rudimentary outdoor showers with curtains for privacy.

The stench of urine and garbage is a problem they are trying to address.

Signs taped to the building's ornate facade note: "The Government House is the property of the Thai people. So all Thais should keep it clean."

For medical needs, there are several first-aid stations, which also hand out free shampoo, soap, mouthwash and razors.

Doctors from hospitals and clinics around Thailand have taken leaves to join the protest, said Bangkok ophthalmologist Somporn Reepolmania, pointing out a surgeon, dentist, psychiatrist and anesthesiologist.

"We are protesting against Samak and against the corrupt politics of Thailand," he said. "The government has no morals, no ethics, and the system doesn't work. We have to change it."

Protesters say they are not afraid of conflict. Some have traveled long distances to take part in the demonstrations.

"I flew from Los Angeles to Bangkok to be with (my) people," said United Airlines flight attendant Maree Lertphraewphun, who has lived in the United States for 38 years. She requested vacation to join the protests.

"If I happen to die, I will die with them," she said.

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Thai PM buys time with referendum plan

By Darren Schuettler

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has bought some time with a referendum aimed at defusing street protests, but it will do nothing to resolve Thailand's fundamental political conflict, analysts say.

Leaders of the three-month old campaign to oust the 73-year-old premier vowed to continue their protest, including the 11-day occupation of Samak's official compound in Bangkok.

But with a national referendum looming it becomes much harder to force Samak out through intervention either by the military or the king, who has stepped into disputes in the past.

"I don't see any quick resolution of this situation," Giles Ungphakorn of Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University said, adding Samak had cleverly batted the ball back to the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).

"The PAD's strategy now will be to increase pressure and they will have to discredit the referendum," he said of the motley coalition of royalist businessmen, academics and activists leading the sit-in at Government House.

Samak, who refuses to quit or call an election, announced the referendum on Thursday, two days after imposing emergency rule in Bangkok. He said on Friday he was considering lifting the decree after the army refused to evict the PAD by force.

A new referendum bill passed its first reading in the Senate on Friday, but it could take up to 90 days for final approval.

It's still not clear what question would be put to Thailand's 65 million people. But Samak would likely win on the back of strong support in the countryside, where many Thais blame the protests in Bangkok for hurting the economy.

"Many of these well-off protesters may think they can afford to join the rally, but they don't realize that the demonstration is hurting everybody else in this country," glass blower Prapha Janjaem said in Baan Bangsai, a village north of Bangkok.

The stock market has fallen more than 26 percent since the PAD launched its campaign at the end of May, while the baht has plunged to a 19-month low against the dollar. The crisis has also hit tourism, with airlines and hotels reporting cancellations.

Rubber exporters said some shipments had been disrupted by anti-government industrial action by rail workers.

Thanachart Securities said a referendum would not end the crisis, which has eroded investor confidence in Thailand.

"We feel there are just two ways out -- either the prime minister quits or he calls an election," it said.

PUPPET OR PM?

The PAD, which accuses Samak of being a puppet of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, removed in a 2006 coup, launched its street campaign in May, signaling a return to open political warfare in Thailand.

Thaksin, still admired by rural Thais who handed him huge parliamentary majorities in return for his populist programs, is believed to be pulling political strings from exile in London.

He is despised by Bangkok's middle class, the military and the royalist establishment, who all opposed his modernizing agenda. He was also accused of abuse of power and corruption while in office.

"The current drama could take years, if not decades to resolve itself. It is nothing short of a class war with two opposite groups of elites backing their respective sides," Bangkok's Nation newspaper said.

It said Samak was betting that the military "don't have the cheek" to launch a coup before the referendum.

Army chief Anupong Paochinda has said repeatedly that a putsch would not solve the country's political problems.

But more bloodshed on the streets could prompt the military or King Bhumibol Adulyadej to intervene. A move by the latter would be unlikely to favor the government, although it would be nuanced and espouse the need for national harmony and stability.

"The question is whether or not the PAD will have enough patience to wait for this vote or will it continue to provoke the situation," said Kim Eng Securities analyst Vikas Kawatra.

There has been no major violence in Bangkok since emergency rule was imposed on Tuesday, but the situation remains tense.

A gunman on a motorcycle fired at 100 students marching to protest at Samak's home on Thursday night, wounding two of them.

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Thai Seamico Securities to buy into Vietnamese firm

BANGKOK, Sept 5 - Thailand's Seamico Securities PCL said on Friday it would buy a 25 percent stake in a securities firm in Vietnam as part of its plan to expand overseas.

The brokerage did not say how much it had paid, but it said in a statement to the Thai stock exchange that it could eventually take up to 49 percent in Vietnam's Thanh Cong Securities Co J.S.C.

Thanh Cong Securities has registered capital of $21.5 million and Thanh Cong Textile Garment is a major shareholder, the statement said.

Vienam's main stock index <.VNI>, which rose 24 percent last year after jumping 145 percent in 2006, has lost 41 percent this year, hit by global credit woes and soaring domestic inflation.

Seamico, ranked seventh among Thailand's 38 listed brokers, focuses on underwriting share and debt issues as well as advising companies on initial public offerings.

The Thai firm has said it expected to receive a licence to enter Cambodia later this year.

It posted a second-quarter net profit of 28.15 million baht .

At 0829 GMT, Seamico shares were unchanged at 2.22 baht while the overall index <.SETI> was 1.38 percent lower.

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Cambodian Senate president returns home from China visit

Cambodian Senate President Chea Sim arrived in Phnom Penh on Friday after paying an official visit to China.

Chea Sim was welcomed by some Cambodian senior officials and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Zhang Jinfeng at the Phnom Penh International Airport.

At the invitation of Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Chea Sim left Cambodia Monday for China to pay a five-day visit.

During his stay in China, Chea Sim respectively met with Wu Bangguo, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, and Jia Qinglin on Tuesday. 　

Source:Xinhua Read more!

Cambodian American Heritage Museum exhibit mirrors archivist's life story

When Ty Tim, his wife and daughter survived the Khmer Rouge's brutal regime and came to the United States as refugees in 1982, they brought with them two things from Cambodia: a small ivory Buddha he found while searching for food in the jungle and a copper coin his mom gave him before she died in a forced labor camp. Both were hidden from Khmer soldiers in the pockets of his daughter's pants.

Since 2004, Tim, who lost four of his five children during the Khmer Rouge's murderous rule from 1975 to 1979, has been returning to his homeland, bringing back what he couldn't before.

Tim, 65, has acquired wooden carvings, ancient Cambodian instruments, sacred texts on palm leaves, etchings from the Angkor Wat temple, children's toys and fishing traps. Some of the treasures—novelties and replicas of ancient works because Cambodian law bans removal of historical artifacts—grace the walls of his Skokie home.

But many of them made up the core of the Cambodian American Heritage Museum's exhibit last year on the arts and culture of Cambodia and are part of the exhibit opening Sunday on every day life in Cambodia.

The exhibits at the museum, 2831 W. Lawrence Ave., are in partnership with Northern Illinois University.

Tim, a retired teacher and the museum's archivist, says the exhibits help Cambodian-Americans remember aspects of their culture they may have forgotten. Many refugees came to the U.S. from Cambodia ready to put tragedy behind them and quickly faced the challenges of learning a new language and making a living, he said. The exhibits also can teach non-Cambodians and a new generation of U.S.-born Cambodian-Americans who may know little about Cambodian traditions.

"They need to know something about their culture," Tim said.

Although the ivory Buddha and copper coin, used by Cambodians as a massaging tool, are not on display, Tim's own story appears to echo through the exhibit.

His father was a farmer. Tim grew up harvesting rice and catching fish using the basketlike traps his father made. A fish trap like the one he used is in the exhibit, as are some of the different types of rice he helped harvest.

Knowing a bit about farming came in handy under the Khmer Rouge, which took power in 1975. The regime, which sent the population to work in rural farms and killed more than 1.5 million people, was anti-intellectual.

So teachers such as Tim often hid their profession, claiming instead to be illiterate farmers.

But the Khmer soldiers would still test them, ordering his family to grow vegetables on infertile land and forcing him to plow rice fields.

He has brought back Khmer-language textbooks and toys used by children in schools. A wooden toy that mimics the toad mating call comes from Tim's own collection. Nearby, a ceremonial silver tea set and wedding conch used to pour holy water on the couple's hands are also on loan from him.

Today, his life in America is quite different than that life in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge forced millions like him and his family to march from Phnom Penh into the jungle. On the march through the jungle, his father died. At the farming camp, his mother and four youngest children died of starvation.

"They kept 1,200 people in that one village," Tim recalls. "When we got out from that village, there were only 400 of us left."

When Vietnam invaded Cambodia and overthrew the Khmer Rouge, the family returned to Phnom Penh. Tim started work again as a teacher.

But when friends told him officials were upset over his refusal to learn Communist ideology, he and his family fled again.

This time, they walked for two months back through the jungles, without a map, desperate for water, evading land mines and soldiers of all kinds.

They eventually reached a refugee camp in Thailand.

It's a history he feels younger Cambodians such as his three youngest children—one born in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia and two in Chicago—at times fail to grasp.

So he fills his home with reminders of his native land.

And he hopes the museum exhibits will help educate them.

nahmed@tribune.com

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SCT still bullish on Cambodia

SCT Co Ltd, an international trading arm of Thailand's Siam Cement Group, expects to increase its turnover in Cambodia by 25% from last year to $50 million this year despite border tensions between the two countries. SCT managing director Kalin Sarasin said the potential for the trading business with Cambodia was tremendous as few products were manufactured locally.

Thailand is Cambodia's third biggest trading partner with value of $550 million in 2007, behind China ($750 million) and Vietnam ($650 million), he said.

''Cambodia is a net-importer country with most of products shipped from Thailand, Vietnam and China. The trading business is shown to have the highest growth, expanding relative to stable gross domestic products (GDP) growth which is expected at 7.5% in 2008.''

Major products imported to Cambodia are construction materials such as cement, roofing materials, ceramic tiles, sanitaryware and steel.

Its subsidiary, Cementhai SCT (Cambodia) Co. also exports waste paper and aluminium scrap from Cambodia to supply many factories in Thailand, he added.

The construction business, according to Mr Kalin, is among sectors that have shown strong prospects in the neighbouring country along with oil and gas, plantations and agro-industries and labour-intensive ventures such as garments and logistics.

In every sector, many foreign and local companies have stepped up investments in Cambodia. Infrastructure is being built to lure more investors, he said.

Office buildings and serviced apartments are in high demand for expatriates. Several South Korean developers are investing in condominiums in Phnom Penh while the construction market is growing dramatically in Siem Reap and Kampong Som, added Mr Kalin.

''There are many oil and gas exploration activities in Cambodia, boosting the demand for related materials such as piping and structural steel for rigs,'' he said.

In the agricultural sector, Chinese and Thai investors are investing in plantation projects in Cambodia. Major crops are rice with tapioca, palm oil, and rubber becoming more attractive for investors.

Mr Kalin played down the impact of the border dispute over the Preah Vihear temple, saying it would not last long.

''The dispute has not affected our operations much,'' he said. ''With our strong distribution network and many local staff, we are ready to move on with our business plan there and adapt to all situations.''

Siam Cement (SCC) shares closed yesterday on the SET at 158 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 83.9 million baht. Read more!

Awards spotlight businesses in VN, Laos and Cambodia

HA NOI — An awards programme for outstanding enterprises and businesses in Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam will be held in Ha Noi early next year.

The event is jointly organised by the Viet Nam Association for Small and Medium-sized Enterprise, the Ministry of Defence’s Economic Department and the Association for Economic Development of Viet Nam-Laos-Cambodia.

Prizes will be given to outstanding enterprises and business people who run their business effectively and have been active in social charity work.

"Prizes will also be given to enterprises and business people earning outstanding achievements and investing in economic development in the three countries," said organisers.

Eligibility for the competition requires enterprises and business people to have actively contributed to the friendship between the three countries; earned high growth rates from high-quality products; have strong and attractive trade-marks as well as a good business culture while obeying laws and protecting the environment.

Judges for the competition will include representatives from relevant ministries, the embassies of Laos and Cambodia in Viet Nam and Vietnamese embassies in Laos and Cambodia.

Representative from friendship associations between the three countries will also be on the judging panel.

Applications can be submitted from now until November 30, 2008. — VNS Read more!

Local film takes its viewers to war-torn 1970s Cambodia

By MIKE BRANTLEY
TV & Media Editor

"Residue," a locally produced short dramatic film about the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's involvement in Cambodia in 1970, will be screened Sunday in Mobile.

Made by filmmakers Nathaniel Nuon, Jared Davis and Wade Miller under their Sothea Pictures banner, the film soon will be showcased as well at three film festivals in southern California. It is an official selection of the Temecula Valley International Film Festival, the San Diego Asian Film Festival and the San Diego Film Festival.

In Mobile on Sunday, the film will be shown at The Wine Loft at 9 Du Rhu Dr. Admission is free, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. and the screening beginning at 7:30 p.m.

"Residue," which was largely shot at a pre-renovation historic home in Fort Conde Village and in other Mobile locations, was directed by Nuon from a script written by Davis and Nuon.

Miller, producer of the film, described the story it tells as "controversial and intriguing" as it deals with the CIA's involvement in Cambodia and then picks up six years later for "the chilling aftermath."

"Residue" is fiction based on history, Miller said. Providing backdrops for the story are the Lon Nol coup d'etat of 1970 and the rule of the Khmer Rouge in 1976.

"We are shedding some light on a part of history that is not taught much, especially in the United States," Miller told the Press-Register.

When the film begins, the war in Vietnam has begun to spread across that country's border with neutral Cambodia. Fearing the spread of communism, Miller explained, the CIA targeted Cambodia for clandestine operations.

The story focuses on a group of 12 secret army Cambodian soldiers trained by the CIA to take out communist Vietnamese targets inside Cambodia in order to make way for a new pro-American government.

But once the coup is successfully executed, one by one each member of this secret team is killed.

Partway through the film, the scene shifts forward six years, with the Khmer Rouge in power and thousands of people dying daily. One young man escapes capture and sets out on his own personal war against those he feels are responsible for what is happening in his country.

"When your country is in peril, what would you do?" asks screenwriter Davis in a media release supporting the film. "How far would you take it? Sometimes you have to do what is best for your country. Sometimes people do terrible, horrific things like fight wars, and take human lives, not because they are necessarily evil people, but because they believe with all their conviction and soul that they are doing the right thing for their families, themselves and for their country."

Director Nuon said the two time periods depicted in "Residue" were "crucial years" when Cambodians hoped and strove for peace only to find their country engulfed in civil war and then genocide.

The director made reference to The Killing Fields, a collective name for a number of sites in Cambodia where large numbers of people were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime during its rule of the country from 1975 to 1979.

Nuon said that in the film "the Khmer genocide is like a character in itself, always present, and always looming over the characters haunting them every step of the way."

Miller said that while "Residue" was shortened to meet the submission criteria of the festivals, those who attend the screening in Mobile Sunday may be treated to a longer, 23-minute cut. It is possible, too, that the film will be shown more than once at The Wine Loft on Sunday to accommodate whatever size crowd turns out, the producer said.

"We took some behind-the-scenes footage and pictures," he said. "We'll be showing that, too."




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Cambodia's population approaches 14 million

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's population is approaching 14 million people, more than half of whom are women, according to preliminary results from the first general census, local media reported Thursday.

"According to the preliminary results, the population of Cambodia stood at 13,388,910 at midnight on March 3, 2008, consisting of 6,495,512 males and 6,893,398 females," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sar Kheng, who also chairs the National Census Committee, was quoted as saying in the Phnom Penh Post.

The provisional figures at the national level indicate that the total fertility rate and growth rate of the population has slowed down as predicted, he added.

The census also found that while Cambodia remains a largely rural country, more people were living in cities, the newspaper said.

The average household contained 4.7 people, according to census figures.

The projected annual growth rate in 2010 is expected to be 1.54percent, still higher than that of East Asia, which stands at 1.3 percent.
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Foreign Minister resigns

Foreign Minister Tej Bunnag resigned on Wednesday, and Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej booked early morning air time for a special speech to the nation amdist signs he might quit under the pressure of militant street protests.

A reliable source disclosed that Mr Tej quit in apparent protest, the day after the premier declared emergency rule on Tuesday after clashes between his supporters and anti-government protesters killed one man and injured 43.

Mr Samak ordered TV and radio time beginning at 7:30am (0030 GMT) on Thursday, through the Public Relations Department.

Officially, he will "speak to fellow Thais about the ongoing political turmoil," PRD sources said.

Unofficially, there was high speculation he might decide to resign. Leaders of the People's Alliance for Democracy said on Wednesday that the minimum requirement for negotiations with authorities are the resignations of Mr Samak and his cabinet.

Mr Tej claimed he wanted to leave the office he only recently took over in order to care for his ailing wife. He sent his resignation letter to Mr Samak. Although the premier did not officially accept the letter, Mr Tej was not expected to show up for work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, according to the source.

Mr Tej, a former permanent secretary for foreign affairs, replaced Noppadon Pattama as foreign minister who had been pressed to resign in the wake of the listing of the disputed Preah Vihear temple as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Site.

Mr Tej held talks with his Cambodian counterpart over the dispute in Siem Reap, Cambodia, one day after he had assumed the ministerial post on July 27.

High-level diplomacy has been taking place to reduce escalating tension. An agreement was reached, following a meeting between Thai and Cambodian foreign ministers late August, to reduce troop numbers near the temple. Read more!

Cambodia casino reaps 25 mn dollars profit

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia's burgeoning economy brought casino operator NagaCorp 25.5 million dollars in profit in the first half of the year, a company report obtained by media revealed Wednesday. The profit signalled a rise of 26.9 per cent on a year earlier.

"Our operations continued to benefit from the political stability and economic development of Cambodia," the NagaCorp report said. After decades of turmoil, Cambodia has emerged as a rising economy in Southeast Asia - posting an average of 11 per cent growth over the past three years on the back of strong tourism and garment sectors.

Nagacorp reported its revenue soared 68.5 per cent from the same period last year to approximately 109.1 million dollars, in a country hosting several casinos popular with gamblers across the region.

The Malaysian-owned company is registered on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and runs the largest casino in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh. The government awarded it a gambling license in 1994 to promote international tourism.

More than a dozen casinos operated by other companies dot Cambodia's borders with Vietnam and Thailand, raking in an estimated tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

The industry fuels the economies of several hard-scrabble Cambodian cities, though the country remains desperately poor with more than 30 per cent of its 14 million population living in poverty. Read more!

Yamaha, Toyota Tsusho to establish motorcycle company in Cambodia

Yamaha Motor and Toyota Tsusho have agreed to establish a new company, Yamaha Motor Cambodia, to manufacture and market motorcycles with the aim of strengthening the foundation of the motorcycle business in the Cambodian market.

The new company will begin operations on October 1, 2008, and its starting capital of $11.5 million will be invested 70% by Yamaha Motor, 20% by Toyota Tsusho and 10% by Cambodia's Kong Nuon Import & Export.

Since March 2007, Asia Motors, a joint venture company between Toyota Tsusho and Kong Nuon Import & Export, has been assembling and marketing motorcycles with parts and components supplied as semi knocked-down kits by Thai Yamaha Motor.

Yamaha Motor Cambodia will begin operations by taking over operations at the Asia Motors factory and the Asia Motors sales network, and a 94,890sqm lot will be acquired in Phnom Penh's special economic zone for the construction of a new factory.

The initial target for the new company is to expand motorcycle sales to 30,000 units valued at JPY4.2 billion by 2010, after the start of production at the new factory.


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China, Cambodia vow to carry forward traditional ties

BEIJING, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- Senior leaders of China and Cambodia on Tuesday underscored the traditional friendship between the two neighbors.
"Let's work more closely to take our five-decade bilateral friendship and cooperation to a new high," China's top legislator Wu Bangguo told the President of the Cambodian Senate, Chea Sim.

In their talks in the Great Hall of the People, Wu, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, reviewed the sound development of China-Cambodia ties, citing political trust, substantive cooperation and support on important issues.

In response, Sim said the Cambodian leadership will carry forward the bilateral traditional solidarity that was forged by the older leaders in the previous century.

Sim said he hoped the two legislatures can step up their cooperation and share experience on governance.

Sim's visit to Beijing coincided with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-Cambodia ties.

Later Tuesday, Sim met with Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top advisory body.

Jia said China would like to enhance its comprehensive and in-depth cooperation with Cambodia.
The top advisor also expressed appreciation for Cambodia's adherence to the one-China policy and opposition to "Taiwan independence".

Sim said Cambodia was grateful for the assistance China had offered and would like to work more closely with China in politics, economics and other fields.

Sim reaffirmed Cambodia's one-China stance.
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CPP's control of parliamentarian seats help secure policy sustainability in Cambodia

By Xia Lin, Liu Lu

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian National Election Committee (NEC) declared Tuesday the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) has secured 90 seats, or over two thirds of the 123 seats, at top legislative body in the general election, thus enabling CPP to have stronger management of the country.

Meanwhile, the main opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) won 26 seats and the Human Rights Party (HRP) received three seats, and the Funcinpec Party and the Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP) got two seats each, according to official results declared by NEC on Tuesday.

The first meeting of Cambodia's new parliament is scheduled for Sept. 24, ahead of forming the new government.

"The CPP's dominance will secure peace and stability in Cambodia, which is very precious for the country and its people," said local economic analyst David Phat, who was born here and endured the war-torn years of Cambodia.

Phat said that primarily, continued governance by CPP can guarantee policy sustainability in its upcoming term, adding that the party in its current term has pursed political stability for the sake of economic development, and regional coordination for the sake of international cooperation.

"Political stability can lead to economic prosperity," he told Xinhua.

Under the CPP governance, the Cambodian economy is expected to remain nearly double-digit growth rate and the per capita GDP will probably top 1,000 U.S. dollars by 2014, he added.

Pen Samitthy, editor-in-chief of the country's largest Khmer-language daily newspaper the Rasmei Kampuchea, agreed that the political and economic situation will be further improved as CPP establishes the new government right after the general election.

"CPP will enjoy a larger space and better conditions, so it can lead the government more efficiently," he told Xinhua.

According to the Constitution, the party winning majority of the seats at the National Assembly will establish the government. Law can be passed with support from 50 percent plus one seat at the National Assembly.

The focus will be our economy after the political situation is settled, and especially, the foreign investment will increase, said Pen Samitthy.

"Everything will be better," he added.

Hu Jinlin, a Chinese merchant and major electric appliances dealer in Phnom Penh, echoed the above prediction, saying that national policy sustainability will stay, as CPP grips bigger power and Hun Sen himself can manipulate more development issues.

"The results are a good message for us. They will stabilize and promote the middle- and long-term investment in Cambodia. We see a clear prospect and know that the situation won't change much. Especially, more Chinese people will come to find their opportunities because the two countries have shared decades of friendly cooperation and China is Cambodia's major donor and investor," he told Xinhua.

Suy Sok Khun, senior CPP cadre and veteran reporter at Chinese-language newspaper the Commercial News, told Xinhua that the strong economic performance under the CPP governance in the past few years has boosted its electoral results.

"Hun Sen and senior CPP leaders used to like citing positive economic figures and development of infrastructure as the major achievements of the government. Most voters accepted this and deem CPP is capable," he said.

Official records showed that Cambodian had 11 percent of economic growth on average in the past three years, the highest among Southeast Asian countries; the per capita GDP rose from 448 U.S. dollars in 2005 to 594 U.S. dollars in 2007; and the foreign reserves from 890 million U.S. dollars in 2005 to 1.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2007.

Meanwhile, major national roads, bridges and power projects have also been constructed countrywide, which improved the kingdom's traffic and power network to an unprecedented level.

In addition, said Suy, there were also a big number of inertia voters, who thought that those who did well in the past should be encouraged to stay on their posts in the future.

"One more message that we can feel from the results is that CPP becomes more consolidated than ever before," he added.

However, a source close to the Council of Ministers said on condition of anonymity that any coin has two sides and the landslide victory may also push the giant party to turn a blind eye to its internal problems and govern the kingdom in a pampered way.

Alleged corruption and land grabbing have haunted the CPP government and officials for a long time and drained some voters' confidence and ballots to the major opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), which in effect surpassed Funcinpec during the Commune Councils Election in April 2007 to become the second largest party of the country, said the source.

"If part of SRP members hadn't changed their flag to found the Human Rights Party (HRP) right before the general election, SRP might have been closer to CPP now," he said.

What's more, this overall victory in the election may bear out the assessment of some CPP members that occasional corruption and land grabbing are not as destructive as NGOs and opposition parties thought, and those with critic rhetoric are not worth fearing, he said.

"This frame of mind will inevitably fuel their future wrongdoings and even arrogance in its management of the country," he added.

CPP was established in 1951 and has governed the kingdom since 1993. It now has around 5 million members, over one third of Cambodia's total population.

For the general election held on July 27, 11 political parties and 8,125,529 voters were registered, while 15,255 polling stations were set up nationwide and 17,000 local and international observers watched the process going.
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Cambodia seeks UNESCO recognition of KRouge prison

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Cambodia's government is seeking to register a notorious Khmer Rouge prison and its archives at the UN's cultural agency, according to documents obtained by AFP Tuesday.

The application to help preserve archive material from "S-21" prison, now site of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, was submitted to UNESCO by government officials last Friday.

The archive contains over 5,000 photographs of the more than 15,000 prisoners, as well as biographical records of Khmer Rouge officials and inmates, torture instruments and written confessions, said a copy of the application to UNESCO's Memory of the World programme.

"Undoubtedly crucial as evidence to be use in the forthcoming Khmer Rouge trial, the archive is also an essential part of Cambodia's recent history," it said.

"Its significance as a part of the Memory of the World stems from its testament to man's inhumanity to man and its documentation of one of the most extreme examples of crimes against humanity in the 20th century with a major impact on world history," it added.

The high school turned torture centre is still littered with reminders of its brutal past, such as shackles and bare metal bed frames on which the corpses of inmates were found by invading Vietnamese soldiers in 1979.

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum Archive was registered by UNESCO's Memory of the World for Asia and the Pacific region last February in a step towards international recognition.

The prison was run by Kaing Guek Eav -- better known as Duch -- who is among five Khmer Rouge leaders detained by the UN-backed court for crimes committed during the regime's 1975-79 rule.

Duch's trial for crimes against humanity is expected to begin in October.

Up to two million people were executed or died of starvation or overwork as the communist Khmer Rouge dismantled modern Cambodian society in a bid to forge an agrarian utopia.
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Laos, Cambodia firm up investment, tourism ties

Written by Kay Kimsong

Officials from both countries expect new international checkpoints will help improve relations by expanding cross-border tourism and trade

CAMBODIA and Laos have agreed to open two new international checkpoints in an effort to boost tourism, trade and investment opportunities, officials from both countries told the Post.

The checkpoints will be located along the border between Cambodia's Strung Treng province and Champassak province in Laos, and between Ratanakkiri province and Laos' Attapeu province, said Sonexay Siphandone, governor of Champassak province.

"We are preparing for two international gateways in areas where we currently have few border administration offices," Sonexay said during an interview at the Laotian embassy in Phnom Penh.

He said both countries will build new terminals, border police offices and facilities for all related authorities.

The Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam (CLV) program is pushing for expanded service sector cooperation between Cambodian and Laos by making it easier for tourist and commercial vehicles to cross the border.

"In the future, we will build a modern international gateway for tourism, trade and investment," said Sonexay, who recently led a 90-member delegation on a caravan tour from Laos through Siem Reap and Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City and back to Laos - a trip covering more than 2,200 kilometres.


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The more international border crossings open, the more trade will increase.

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The tour aimed to strengthen relationships and exchange experiences, as well as to explore agricultural trade opportunities, the Laotian governor said.

"We've never tried to organise a proper exchange program like this before, but now we're paving the way for greater development."

Road links between Cambodia and Laos have improved in recent years with the linking of National Road 17 in Stung Treng and Laos' National Road 13 in Champassak.

"We are urging investors, traders and companies to forge stronger business relationships," Sonexay said. "We bring tourists from Cambodia to Vientiane and Luang Prabang."

Cambodia and Laos currently allow tourists and residents with automobiles to cross each others' borders visa-free.

"We have provided easy access between the countries," he said, adding that trade relations will improve once additional agreements are implemented. "The more international border crossings open, the more trade will increase."

Om Pharin, vice president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents (CATA), said his organisation, which includes 166 travel agencies, is interested in promoting package tour sales for local residents and foreign travellers going to Laos.

"We have waited many years for this kind of opportunity, and now we have the infrastructure to support it," Om Pharin said.

He said both nations should add more international checkpoints and encouraged authorities to improve their service sectors with more hotels, guesthouses and other tourist-related services.

The CLV and Cambodia-Thailand-Laos (CTL) program development zones will be key to future agreements across the region, Om Pharin said.

New financial ties are also in the works. In Channy, the CEO of Acleda Bank, which recently opened three new branches in Laos, said there is considerable room for growth in the banking and business sectors, and that growth would be linked to improvements in tourism services and transport infrastructure.

Trade revenue between Cambodia and Laos currently stands at only about US$1 million, but the tourism sector could bolster this number significantly in the future, according to a commerce official.

Kong Sophearak, director of the Statistics and Tourism Department of the Ministry of Tourism, said Laotian visitors to Cambodia have sharply increased this year. In the first seven months of 2008, some 27,161 tourists visited Cambodia from Laos, an increase of more than 167 percent over the same period last year, when that number was 10,144.

"I think improvements to road access between the two countries and an increase in the availability of tour packages are the main reasons for the spike in tourism," Kong Sophearak said.

Tourism remains one of the Kingdom's few viable industries, with two million visitors bringing in more than $1 billion last year.
The government hopes to attract three million people annually by 2010. Read more!

Cambodian tribunal worries about corruption

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: A judge for Cambodia's genocide tribunal urged colleagues on Monday to aggressively investigate corruption allegations, saying such charges undermine the body's efforts to obtain justice for victims of the Khmer Rouge.

Accusations of graft have been leveled at the U.N.-assisted tribunal twice in the past two years and earlier this year caused donors to temporarily hold back more than US$300,000 for the monthly payroll for 250 Cambodian staff members.

Silvia Cartwright, a judge from New Zealand, called on the court to spare no effort in dealing with any future corruption issues at a planning meeting for the body, which is moving toward convening its first trial.

The tribunal is tasked with seeking justice for the atrocities committed by the communist Khmer Rouge, whose radical policies caused some 1.7 million deaths when the group was in power in 1975-79.

Cartwright, in her speech opening the meeting, described corruption in the ranks as "one of the major issues that has been troubling for all the judges.

The upcoming trials "are so important for the people of Cambodia (and) must not be tainted by corruption," she said.

In 2007, allegations arose that Cambodian nationals on the tribunal staff had paid for their jobs. An investigation ended inconclusively, though procedures were changed to safeguard against such corruption. In June of this year, charges of kickbacks surfaced again. Salaries were initially withheld but paid once a probe, which is still under way, began.

Those working in the tribunal's Cambodian component dismissed the allegations as unsubstantiated. Tribunal spokesman Reach Sambath said that Cambodian staff members are committed to curbing any corrupt acts.

"We do not want to hear such allegations again as they can be quite troubling for the court," he said Monday.

He said during this week's meeting, the judges and prosecutors plan to make some amendments to the tribunal's guiding rules.

At this week's meeting, judges and prosecutors will make some changes to the tribunal's rules and discuss "weak and strong points" of the court as it prepares for its first trial, that of Kaing Guek Eav, one of five suspects in custody. Kaing Guek Eav ran the S-21 prison, which was the Khmer Rouge's largest torture facility.

The trial of the 66-year-old, also known as Duch, had been expected to open in late September.

But there are fears it could be delayed after the prosecutors decided to appeal the recent official order for him to stand trial. They want to have more charges added against Duch, who has already been charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes.

It is not clear how long it will take to rule on the prosecutors' appeal. Read more!

Witness to Cambodia's birth pangs

By Raphael Minder

Among his childhood memories, Sam Rainsy recalls sitting with his father on the rooftop terrace of their beautiful house in Phnom Penh, watching pelicans land next to their water tank. "In Cambodia, which is full of superstitions, friends and neighbours kept telling us that these pelicans would end up by bringing us bad luck," he writes in his autobiography, Des Racines dans la Pierre (Roots in the Stone).

Sam Rainsy and his family have certainly endured plenty of misfortune. Their ups-and-downs mirror those of a country that ranks among Asia's fastest-growing economies, but that returned to multi-party democracy only 15 years ago, after decades of war and a genocide that wiped out about a quarter of the population.

Sam Rainsy has been an integral part of Cambodia's recovery, now as the leader of the country's main opposition party. But much of his life has been spent in France and other places of exile, first because of his father's political downfall, which ended with his death in mysterious circumstances, and then because of his own clashes with Hun Sen, the country's long-standing prime minister.

Still, that geographic distance in no way reduces the insight this book provides into events that have shaped Cambodia following a century of French colonialism, starting with the 1954 Geneva conference to reconfigure the former Indochina. Sam Rainsy's father was one of Cambodia's lead negotiators there, playing off tensions among more formidable government representatives such as Zhou Enlai and Vyacheslav Molotov to ensure that another foreign power would not fill the void left by the French.

The Geneva agreement guaranteed Cambodia's independence but was followed by the bleakest period in its history, climaxing in the Khmer Rouge's terrifying attempt to establish an agrarian utopia in the late 1970s. While that tragic episode was largely domestic, Sam Rainsy says Cambodia remains the Poland of Asia, sandwiched between two bigger neighbours, Thailand and Vietnam, and prone to being drawn into wider conflicts such as the Vietnam war.

This book is an often touching family history, but it also highlights the broader challenges faced by any war-ravaged country. After a successful banking career in Paris, Sam Rainsy returned to Cambodia in 1992 and within a year was put in charge of the finance ministry. Given the limited pool of talent, his wife Saumura was forced against her wishes to become deputy governor of the central bank.

For somebody with such a strong financial background, Sam Rainsy devotes surprisingly little of his book to Cambodia's economic resurgence, during which it has attracted billions of dollars of foreign investment and achieved average annual growth of 9 per cent over the past decade. Instead, he focuses excessively on the political jockeying in Phnom Penh, complicated by feuding within the royal family.

Sam Rainsy paints a grim picture of corruption in Cambodia, starting with his short-lived crusade, as finance minister, against tax evasion and smuggling. His strategy appears to have been remarkably naive at times. One ill-prepared boat attack against smugglers on the Mekong river, which he led, nearly cost him his life after the accompanying United Nations troops refused to get involved in the gunfight.

He has harsh words for foreign powers, including his otherwise beloved France, which he accuses of turning a blind eye to killings of political associates. Sam Rainsy has himself survived several assassination attempts, including a grenade attack that killed 19 -people.

"Paris preferred to forget the bloodstains on the suits of the ruling leaders in Phnom Penh in order to strike economic and technical co-operation agreements with them," he writes.

This book was published in the run-up to July's general election, which returned Hun Sen to power with a landslide victory. Despite Sam Rainsy's claim that Cambodians "want to get out of this old, neo-communist and mafiosi regime", many pundits believe that the 55-year-old Hun Sen has never had a stronger power base, almost justifying his boast that he would run the country until the age of 90. Rather than repressing opposition in the manner of the Burmese junta, Hun Sen has benefited from Sam Rainsy's challenge, which has been crucial to Cambodia's democratic credentials.

The book's title refers to the blend of architectural and natural beauty found around Angkor Wat, Cambodia's cultural treasure, where trees grow among the ruins. Although Sam Rainsy might not like the idea, it also seems an appropriate symbol for Hun Sen's deep-rooted control over his country.

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SCG plans to raise output in Cambodia

$200m set aside for cement subsidiary

NAREERAT WIRIYAPONG

PHNOM PENH : Siam Cement Group (SCG), Thailand's largest industrial conglomerate, is planning to invest $200 million to more than double the capacity of its cement factory in southern Cambodia.

Kampot Cement Co Ltd, a joint venture in which SCG holds 93% and a Cambodian partner the rest, aims to lift its annual capacity to three million tonnes by 2010 from the current one million, according to the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh.

So far, SCG has invested $127 million in the facility located 148 kilometres southwest of Phnom Penh and within driving distance of the Cambodia-Vietnam border.

''The increase is to purely serve the domestic Cambodian market where demand for cement has risen sharply from ongoing construction projects. The property sector is also booming here,'' a high-ranking embassy official said.

Cambodia still imports cement from neighbouring countries including Thailand. But given the current high oil prices that have pushed up transport costs, local cement producers would gain more competitive advantages.

''Consequently, the expansion at Kampot has become more feasible for the time being,'' the official said.

SCG's Thai headquarters declined to confirm the expansion plan, saying the project had been studied.

According to the embassy, construction materials are the main items Cambodia import from Thailand, along with sugar and farm and consumer products.

Thailand last year recorded a 70% rise in exports to Cambodia with a total value of $1.4 billion. The figure does not include about 30 billion baht in cross-border trade.

According to SCT Co Ltd, an international trading arm of SCG, Thailand ranks third among the trading partners of Cambodia after Vietnam and China.

On the investment side, Thailand has yet to play an active role in Cambodia with South Korea, China and Malaysia taking the lead. Apart from SCG, major Thai businesses operating in Cambodia are Charoen Pokphand (CP), as well as are Siam Commercial Bank and Krung Thai Bank.

The Cambodian government provides incentives for foreign investors such as tax-free machinery imports and corporate income tax holidays. It also promotes Special Economic Zones that comprises an export free zone, container yard area and other facilities for industrial zones.

The Thailand-funded road Number 48 in Koh Kong is expected to facilitate more business links between the two countries by strategically turning Koh Kong into the gateway to Phnom Penh.

Siam Cement shares (SCC) closed on Friday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 165 baht, up one baht, in trade worth 65 million baht.

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US man charged with child sex in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — An American man has been arrested and charged in Cambodia with committing indecent acts against a 13-year-old child prostitute on a dark street, police and court officials said Monday.

Richard David Mitchell, 60, was arrested late Thursday in the capital Phnom Penh while allegedly having sex with the girl, said Urm Rathana, the municipal police chief in charge of anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection.

Mitchell, who denied the crime when police interrogated him, faces seven to 15 years in jail if convicted.

Hing Bunchea, a prosecutor at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, told AFP that he charged Mitchell on Sunday with committing indecent acts against minors and soliciting a child prostitute.

Mitchell's lawyer could not be reached immediately for comment Monday.

Dozens of foreigners have been jailed for child sex crimes or deported to face trial in their home countries since Cambodia launched an anti-paedophilia push in 2003 to try to shake off its reputation as a haven for sex predators.
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