Russian experts offer training to Cambodian anti-drug officials

Mar 03, 2010 (BBC Monitoring via COMTEX) -- [Report by Visal: "Anti-Drug Law Enforcement Officials Are Trained To Have Sufficient Capacity"]

Phnom Penh: 57 Cambodian anti-drug law enforcement officials, from the Departments of Customs and Camcontrol, Anti-Drug Bureau, National Military Police, Phnom Penh Municipality, and Kandal Province, are receiving, starting from 1 March morning, training instructed by Russian experts to increase their capability and knowledge so they will have sufficient skills to enforce the drug control law.

Kao Khondara, vice-chairman of the National Authority for Combating Drugs, said that this training course would help drug law enforcement officials, who were having difficulty in combating illegal drug trafficking, production, and transaction, to obtain higher possibilities in drug control.

Alexander I. Ignatov, Russian ambassador to Cambodia, said that the Russian Government, like the Russian people, had always helped Cambodia in national rehabilitation and construction. Particularly, the Russian drug control institution had provided technical assistance and expert trainers to make presentation in this training course.

It should be pointed out that the four-day training course on drug control law enforcement will focus on a number of themes, including cooperation with public and non-government organizations in combating drugs trafficking and preventing drug use, cooperation offered with the monitoring of measures to thwart money laundering [sentence as published], and investigation into crimes relating to the theft of drugs from legal drug circulation.

Source: Reaksmei Kampuchea, Phnom Penh, in Cambodian 3 Mar 10

BBC Mon AS1 AsPol FS1 FsuPol tbj

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Ex-war correspondents plan reunion in Cambodia+

PHNOM PENH, March 3 (AP) - (Kyodo)—A group of war correspondents plans to hold a reunion next month in Phnom Penh in memory of colleagues who perished in Cambodia during the Indo-China War in the early 1970s, organizers of the event said Wednesday.

Chhang Song, an information minister during the U.S.-backed Lon Nol government, told Kyodo News that the event was set for April 20-23 with a gathering of war correspondents who covered Cambodia from 1970, when the Lon Nol government was inaugurated, to 1975, when the Lon Nol regime collapsed and gave way to the Khmer Rouge government.

Carl Robinson, a former Associated Press correspondent and another organizer of the event, told Kyodo News via e-mail that while there had been reunions in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, among war correspondents who covered the Vietnam War, none had been held in Cambodia.

Chhang Song said the commemorative plan had received full backing from Khieu Kanharith, the Cambodian minister of information.

Robinson, who was based in Saigon from 1968 through 1975, said that between April 1970 and April 1975, 33 foreign journalists and 21 Cambodian journalists were killed or went missing while performing their jobs.

Among foreign journalists who died during the Cambodia conflict were 10 Japanese, eight French nationals, seven Americans, and others from Switzerland, West Germany, Austria, Netherlands, India, Laos and Australia.

"Chhang Song and I are the inspiration behind this one. I think for many of us, the experience of Cambodia was so painful -- not only the war itself but what followed -- that it's been very hard for us to come to terms with over the years," Robinson said.

Robinson said he expects more than a dozen of the 40 or so surviving war correspondents to attend the reunion.


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Kbal Spean or the River of 1000 Lingas : The combination of natural and cultural attraction

Located about 50 kilometers from Siem Reap town, Cambodia, Kbal Spean is one of the foremost attraction sites in the Province. The site is also commonly known as the River of 1000 Lingas.

Mar 03, 2010 – Located about 50 kilometers from Siem Reap town, Cambodia, Kbal Spean is one of the foremost attraction sites in the Province. The site is also commonly known as the River of 1000 Lingas. If traveling from Banteay Srey, the finest architectural temple, it will take 12 Km. Kbal Spean offers both natural and cultural attraction to visitor at the same time. It can be argued that Kbal Spean is a unique Angkorain area due to its holy and cultural aspects accompanying with the pure forest and water fall. The River of 1000 Lingas, which is located in Phnom Kulen, represents the combination of natural beauty and the religious carving stone.

The Angkorain area was constructed under the reign of King Jayavarman II in the early of 9 century. The linga is a simple phallic shape, the symbol of the god Shiva and his powers of creation. There are reportedly around 1,000 images in all. They probably served a purification purpose. In addition to the lingas along the riverbed, there are bas-relief carvings in many of the boulders along the stream. The carvings end in a small but pretty waterfall that apparently was once used as a ritual bathing spot by the king. The landscape around the stream is also rather spectacular in itself. It is no doubt that the place was the hiding spot of the Khmer Rouge during the war time. With the reclining Buddha,remarkable riverbed caving, water fall, and pure forest, Kbal Spean can be a good attraction, especially during the raining season when the place contains large volume of water, where visitor can enjoy. Regarding to religious belief, some visitors believe after getting bath there, it will bring good things and even help cure the illness.

This attraction is popular for domestic tourists while probably the international tourists may lack information and the long distance from Siem Reap town. However, to complete and explore the real travel experience in the top destination of Cambodia, Kbal Spean WOULD NOT BE MISSED. It is the golden opportunity to view all attractions of the world heritage site and economically contribute to local resident and help enhance living standard and be apart of sustainable tourism development solution in Cambodia.

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Drought drops Mekong River to nearly 2-decade low

By DENIS D. GRAY (AP)

BANGKOK — Severe drought has dropped the Mekong River to its lowest level in nearly 20 years, halting some cargo traffic and boat tours on the Asian waterway that is the lifeblood for 65 million people in six countries, a draft report said.

The decrease was caused largely by an early end to the 2009 wet season and low rainfall during the monsoons, rather than dams built upstream in China, according to documents drafted by the Mekong River Commission.

"At this stage there is no indication that the existence of dams upstream has made the situation more extreme than the natural case," said the draft report seen by The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Nongovernmental organizations have long blamed China for shrinking the Mekong and causing other ecological damage by building dams. A dozen exist or are planned on the river in the country where it originates.

But dams have also been built or planned in other countries, principally on the river's many tributaries in Laos.

Senior officials from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam met Wednesday in Luang Prabang, Laos, to discuss the river. China and Myanmar, the other two riparian countries, are not commission members.

The report said the river level in southwestern China is the lowest in 50 years, with only half the volume that would be normal in February. Levels at mainstream measuring stations in Laos and northern Thailand are below those in 1992.

River tour operators have stopped services on stretches of the river in Laos and cargo vessels have been halted in China's Yunnan province, the report said.

The commission said the water scarcity has sparked fears of food shortages, lack of access to clean water and impoverishment in some of Southeast Asia's poorest regions.

"This situation represents a wide regional hydrological drought affecting all countries in the upper part of the (Mekong) basin," the report said. It also noted the commission will hold further discussions with China but gave no details.


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Voyage of discovery: Vietnam, Camboidia

Written by Catharine Stewart-Roache


After docking in Ho Chih Minh City (Saigon) we immediately got on an airplane and flew to Phnom Penh, the capitol of Cambodia. We visited museums, palaces, and took a sunset boat trip on the Mekong. But the transforming moment for 60 of us (students, faculty and Lifelong Learners) was our visit to the Palm Tree Orphanage where 80 children ages 1-24 live as one big family, taking care of each other and getting more education than the government schools.

As we walked down a dark but crowded street on Friday night, we felt small hands in ours to take us to their home. The children were ready to show us where they have classes and go to sleep, play and eat. They know only a little English, but hugs and warm smiles went a very long way. We sang songs to each other and played silly games. We had met 14 of these students who are trained classical Cambodian dancers. They had come onto our ship in the morning and we were amazed at their dancing skills. No professional troop is any better.

As we left Palm Tree there were tears in many a students' eyes as it really hit home how tough a life many, many people on Earth have. The war with the Khymer Rouge took almost half of the population and the lives of almost 100 percent of all teachers, professors and "cultured" people.

The continuing result is a country that struggles. There is 50 percent unemployment and more than 35 percent live on less than $1 a day. Corruption is widespread. Many (some guides said most) of the government is very corrupt and are left over from the leaders of the hated Khymer Rouge, who are associated with Chinese interests and ethnicity. There is no industry save tourism. Angkor Wat is their economic salvation. About 300,000 Cambodians are in tourist-related fields.

We got to experience knowledgeable guides and pesky, begging children at the World Heritage site, Angkor Wat — which was built up in my mind so much that I thought I would be disappointed. Not so. It is truly fantastic and covers a huge area of buildings and interior rooms. Pat and I both wished that we were there for a week with our bicycles. That would be a terrific way to see it.

Oh, but it was hot! And the humidity was in the 90s. We climbed and climbed, and drank and drank water. I would be surprised if anyone was a runner or tri-athlete here. But I did see an aerobics class going on during the weekend. I could never be that dedicated.

Our return to Vietnam gave us an exciting experience of traffic. It is more organized than in 1998 (we now know which side of the street people are supposed to ride on), and there are far less bicycles and rickshaws, but there are masses of people zipping in and out of each other's way. Pat says Saigon may become the first city to have "carpool" lanes for motor bikes with three or more people! Babies are sandwiched in between parents; sometimes two or three children hang on to mom and dad. Add to this, bikes going against the traffic and making lefthand turns in front of cars and buses from two lanes to our right.

We ended our travels in this part of Southeast Asia by visiting the Mekong Delta. In this part of South Vietnam the river is sometimes 2-3 kilometers (3-4 miles) wide. We spent the day on the water and on jungle walks. We were refreshed with Jackfruit, sapodilla, mango, and bright pink dragon fruit. The main meal of the day was one of the best meals of the trip.

We will be sailing before dawn in order to catch the tide and make it out of the Saigon River, which empties into the South China Sea. Then on to India. This will take more than a week and will give me time to catch my breath and reflect on what I have seen and learned. It is almost overwhelming.

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ANZ subsidiary linked to Cambodian army

By Liam Cochrane for Radio Australia


ANZ Royal, a subsidiary of one of Australia's largest banks, has denied it is involved in a scheme that creates partnerships between private businesses and Cambodian military units.

Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen announced the initiative last week and said more than 40 partnerships had been established to provide food, medicine, tools, buildings and transport for troops and their families.

One of the businesses named as a sponsor of the Cambodian army was Metfone, a subsidiary of a mobile phone company owned by the Vietnamese military.

Another on the list was ANZ Royal, a joint partnership between Australia's ANZ Bank and one of Cambodia's biggest business conglomerates, The Royal Group.

Cambodian council of ministers spokesman Phay Siphan says the scheme reflects Cambodian culture.

"Some Cambodians on management [at ANZ Royal], they have the chance to mobilise their charity to support some [soldiers]," he said.

"The charity hasn't just been supported today, it's been years already. It's just that they have been assigned it so that the people understand who they help."

ANZ Royal has declined to comment to ABC's Radio Australia, but chief executive Stephen Higgins has been quoted in local media saying that he is unsure how his company's name appeared on the list of military sponsors, saying it might be "some type of printing error".

A statement from ANZ in Australia said "it is not appropriate for ANZ to provide support or sponsorships to individual military units in any country in which we operate".

"ANZ Royal Bank, as a subsidiary of ANZ, has not and will not be providing such support," the statement said.

Seeking answers

The initiative to formally link businesses with the military has raised concerns among human rights groups that work in Cambodia.

Naly Pilorge, a spokeswoman for the rights group LICADHO, says "it is especially concerning because some of these ministries [involved] have absolutely no link to the military, such as those that are supposed to focus on youth or women or health".

"That's the question we are trying to find the answers to, because right now it is very unclear.

"It is alarming because some of these ministries have nothing to do with the military, and for good reason."

Ms Pilorge says a similar scheme would not be tolerated in other countries.

"In most countries, developed countries and developing countries, it would be illegal for business in the private sector to openly and directly fund the milliary," she said.

"But by dealing so openly there is an assumption that the military is open to any group or any company that wishes to use the military to protect its interests and its private interests.

"We have see this over the country over the years in terms of land grabbing. We have seen the military used, especially in the rural areas... to evict people to protect the interests of economic concessions.

"This is really disturbing because legislation says the miliary is to protect citizens equally and not be used for the private interests of companies."

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LDS Church works with Cambodian government to aid rice farmers

By Carole Mikita


KAMPONG CHHNANG, Cambodia -- Last November, KSL 5 News showed you how Utahns were helping Cambodian children receive education and training that changes their lives. Now, other Utahns, also missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, are working to help rice farmers double their production.

The rice fields of Kampong Chhnang province in Cambodia are brown in the dry season, but the farmers who own them have increased production substantially in the last three and a half years.

"I went around and spoke to a number of them, and almost every one of them indicated that, personally, the amount of rice that they raised on a particular piece of ground doubled, in terms of the yield received," said LDS missionary Elder Lowell Curtis.

Lowell Curtis and his wife, Cheryl, are from Riverton. They are serving a humanitarian mission in Cambodia.

The farmers the couple are helping belong to a cooperative and participated in a project with Latter-day Saint charities and CEDAC -- the Cambodian Center for Study and Development of Agriculture. After centuries of doing it the same way, now they plant fewer seeds and plant them differently.

The farmers see a difference.

"New rice machine; the farmer come here, and testing, and [I] feel that the rice that come out is very good," Oum Sok said through a translator.

He was talking about the rice mill. LDS charities provided the funds to build it; the farmers from the village and surrounding villages financed the machinery. With a larger crop and their own mill, they have enough for their families and plenty of yield to sell.

The program also encourages the families to raise other crops, which create a healthier diet. The farmers also learn to raise chickens or pigs and increase their numbers. The money they earn from sales now goes here to the savings bank the farmers built, and they have moved out of poverty.

These villagers are not Latter-day Saints, most are Buddhists or Muslims.

"This particular project, the number of beneficiaries would be well over a hundred thousand, I suspect," Curtis said. "There aren't any members of the Church who have directly benefited from it. It's just an attempt to help individuals wherever the help may be needed without consideration for religion or national origin."

The rice program started in 2006 and concluded at the end of 2009. The farmers saw an increased success every year; and with the savings program, many have become financially independent.


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More Cambodian farmers shift toward organic crops

PHNOM PENH, Mar. 3, 2010 (Xinhua News Agency) -- The number of organic farmers producing crops in Cambodia is growing thanks to efforts aimed at training agricultural workers in organic farming techniques, local media reported on Wednesday, citing the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC).

Marking the first organized meeting for organic farmers, CEDAC president Yaing Saing Koma was quoted by The Cambodia Daily as saying that the number of organic farmers registered with his organization reached 61 in 2009, up from just five in 2004 when CEDAC started to train farmers in the use of natural fertilizers.

"It is not easy to grow organic vegetables as we must be careful about the health of consumers," he said, making reference to the heightened risk of disease from insects in crops grown without the use of chemicals. "We don't use chemical substances to grow vegetables, only natural fertilizers."

Organic produce amounted to just 30 tons in 2009, according to CEDAC, which helps farmers earn a fair price for their produce at five shops in Phnom Penh and another located in Preah Sihanouk city.

In a statement released on Tuesday, CEDAC said that organic produce sells for an average of 15 to 25 percent more than non- organic vegetables sold in local markets.

The German development service, or DED, has been assisting CEDAC in their quest to link organic farmers to the domestic markets.

Anna Meusinger, a junior adviser to CEDAC working with DED, said despite recent progress a lack of irrigation systems was limiting the growth rate of organic farmers.

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Aid given for Cambodia's railways

The Asian Development Bank and Australia on Tuesday launched a multimillion dollar project to restore Cambodia's dilapidated railway network as part of a larger goal to boost regional rail traffic and trade.

Funding for the effort includes a bank loan of $42 million and $21.5 million in grant aid from the Australian government, according to a bank news release.

Cambodia's railroads are in serious need of repair following three decades civil war and of neglect, with a 30-mile (48-kilometer) link to Thailand destroyed.

Officials at the signing ceremony said the upgraded network, to be operational by 2013, would create jobs and business opportunities; reduce road congestion, road maintenance costs and environmental degradation; and help farmers and manufacturers transport their goods to regional markets.

The ADB, OPEC and Malaysia had earlier helped fund the rehabilitation project which will cost a total of $141 million.

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Cambodia PM warns of cosmetic surgery dangers

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday warned women to beware of dubious standards in the country's booming cosmetic surgery industry, in which doctors often practise without licences.

Despite a sluggish economy in Cambodia from the global financial crisis, health experts say the business of cosmetic surgery, including nose jobs and breast enlargements, has doubled or even tripled in recent years.

However Hun Sen said health officials needed to more stringently monitor lax standards in the industry and urged women to be careful or they might "go into a coffin" rather than obtain beauty.

"The problem is whether or not (we) understand clearly the materials or chemical substances that are used for beauty surgery," Hun Sen said, citing the recent case of a Cambodian woman who died after receiving an injection.

Many Cambodian women are aiming for the what they perceive as the more delicate looks of popular Korean and Chinese film stars.

But even as operations become popular among the emerging middle class, Cambodia remains a country where laws are loosely enforced and many people calling themselves doctors have little training.

Although cosmetic surgeons are required to register with the health ministry and have proper qualifications, officials say many operate freely and illegally without licences.

Hun Sen went on to urge Cambodian women to embrace their natural beauty.

"I would like to appeal to all women -- not only single women, but also married women -- that it is good to keep natural beauty," Hun Sen said.
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Cambodians complicit in Vietnamization

I promised last week to discuss today the 25-year treaty of peace, friendship and cooperation concluded by Heng Samrin, a former Khmer Rouge commander who is now a leader in Cambodia's government, and Vietnam's prime minister Pham Van Dong on Feb. 18, 1979.

This treaty binds Cambodia and Vietnam in what the treaty terms, "militant solidarity and fraternal friendship." In a stroke of the pen, the signatories extol a symbiosis of interests between Cambodia and Vietnam, opening the door to an even more thorough Vietnamization of Khmer land and culture than might have taken place in a federation of the states of the former French Indochina.

Retired Johns Hopkins professor Naranhkiri Tith observes on his Web site that the 1979 treaty between Hanoi and its puppet in Phnom Penh "became official in 2005" when Cambodia's King Sihamoni, "with the support of his father Sihanouk," put his royal signature on "supplements" to the treaty, thereby making Cambodians complicit in the Vietnamization of Cambodia.

Some readers have requested a review of Vietnam's historical expansionism and its contemporary revolutionary activities that ended with the 1979 treaty. I will provide that review today and then deal with the treaty.

A saying goes, "Necessity is the mother of invention."

Vietnam, which broke off its thousand-year bondage to China in 939, began its southward movement a few decades later, to escape Mongol and Chinese military threats in the north. Migration to the west was hampered by natural and physical barriers. To the south, the territory was unoccupied and the land was fertile. The horizon seemed infinite.

The migration was ongoing, even as other kingdoms were encountered. In 1406, the ancient kingdom of Champa's capital, Vijaya, was seized and the kingdom was extinguished in 1471. Then, in 1630, Vietnamese princess Ngoc Van, married to Khmer King Chey Chetha II, promoted Vietnamese settlements in the low delta in Khmer Preah Suakea (Ba Ria) and Prey Nokor (Saigon).

The 1979 friendship-cooperation treaty brings Hanoi's influence as far west as the border with Thailand.

What started as a necessity dictated by the search for security and growth became a strategy for expansionism. The intention to expand its influence is illustrated even in the name of the political party founded by modern Vietnam's leader, Ho Chi Minh, in 1930 -- the "Communist Party of Indochina." Ho Chi Minh didn't just want to liberate Vietnam from the French; he defined the task of CPI "to make Indochina completely independent."

In 1941, Minh created the Viet Minh, an abbreviation of "Vietnam Doc Lap Dong Minh Hoi," or "League for the Independence of Vietnam," and spread its anti-French activities to Laos and Cambodia, where the Viet Minh later fragmentized the anti-French local Khmer Issarak front into a Khmer Viet Minh front.

In 1949, the Viet Minh instituted the "Ban Van Dong Thanh Lap Dang Nhan Cach Mang Cao Mien" -- "Canvassing Committee for the Creation of the Revolutionary Kampuchean People's Party" -- and created the Kampuchean People's Liberation Army in 1950.

Although the CPI was dissolved to demonstrate Vietnam did not harbor expansionist intentions toward its neighbors, it resurfaced in February 1951 as the Vietnam Workers' Party (Lao Dong), with the same agenda. In November of that year, the Revolutionary Kampuchean People's Party was created. It has been said the RKPP and the Cambodian local Communist Pracheachon Party were one and the same.

As Prince Sihanouk wrote in February 1960, the Pracheachon Party was "working indefatigably ... and specifically to bring Cambodia under the heel of North Vietnam."

Finally, in 1952, the Hanoi-created "Kampuchean Resistance Government" emerged to rival Sihanouk's royal government.

When the 1954 Geneva Accords ordered the Viet Minh to leave Cambodia, they took with them to Vietnam between 4,500 and 8,000 Cambodians, mostly young children.

According to Cambodian Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Kampuchea was born on Sept. 30, 1960, after the first party congress of 21 people met for three days and three nights. According to Pol Pot, a Cambodian revolutionary movement that "truly belonged to our people," existed prior to the Geneva Convention, but its dissolution after the 1954 agreement was acknowledged because "people lacked a correct and enlightened guideline." Pol Pot described 1968 as the year when armed struggle -- civil war -- began.

Undoubtedly, Hanoi was aware that its publicly proclaimed "fraternal brothers and sisters," the Khmer Rouge, were not so "fraternal" privately, and it knew its relationships with the Khmer Rouge were unsatisfactory. But Hanoi let the Khmer Rouge be while it looked to building its own Kampuchean puppets. Hanoi was biding its time.

And as it was fighting a war against the Americans in Vietnam, Hanoi threw in its battle-tested troops to fight Lon Nol's republican army, enemies of Prince Sihanouk, who had allied himself with Hanoi. It was Hanoi's troops that routed Lon Nol's army and put Pol Pot in power in Phnom Penh.

Neither Hanoi nor the world governments intervened to stop the genocide that followed. However, when the Khmer Rouge's fierce independence of Hanoi was more than the latter would tolerate, Hanoi concluded it was time to teach its insolent comrades a lesson. The invasion of Cambodia followed, on Christmas Eve 1978.

Phnom Penh was captured and a subservient regime was installed, leading to the signing of the February 1979 treaty between the master and the puppet comrades.


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

Cambodia gets tough on acid attackers

Cambodia's government is drafting new laws to punish those who carry out devastating acid attacks.

According to official figures from the Cambodian police, 40 acid attacks were reported in 2008 and that number is rising. There have been six cases already this year.

Many of the attacks are carried out as punishment or revenge for acts of adultery.

Police are drawing inspiration from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan where acid attackers can face life in prison or even the death penalty.

Officials believe many criminals are using acid nowadays because tighter gun and knife laws in Cambodia have made it the easiest weapon to get hold of. They are also planing to impose stricter regulations on acid sellers.

Some of the victims are now being cared for at the Cambodian Acid Survivor's Charity where they receive medical care, physiotherapy and counseling to help heal both the physical and psychological wounds.
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‘Appu Pappu’ back from Cambodia

Director Anantha Raju and his entire ‘Appu Pappu’ gang are back in Bangalore after a tight 35-days schedule in Cambodia and Bangkok.

To brief the press about Appu Pappu, the crew had gathered on Saturday at the Bell Hotel. Director Anantha Raju, Music director Hamsalekha, Actors Abbas, Komal, Madhuri, co-producer Prathap, writer Ram Narayan were there.

The film's producer Soundarya Jagadish, the producer of the hit ‘Mast Majaa Maadi’ and the distributor of Kannada said the major attraction in the film will be an orangutan. The crew picturised many important scenes with artistes like Master Snehith , Abbas, Komal Kumar, Rangayana Raghu, Rekha, Madhuri, Gymnassium Ravi and others in the foreign locales. She also said Master Snehith has a lot of scenes with the orangutan in the film.

Soundarya Jagadish also narrated the hard work put by the crew in filming with the orangutan in Cambodia. 'Orangutan has his own moods and five trainers were hired to keep the character in good spirits”, she said.

The film has another 20-days shooting left and the film will be ready in March. Soundarya Jagadish is planning to release the film in May to catch up with the summer holidays.

Music director Hamsalekha said all the songs have come out good and are full of youth. He also said that they are trying Amithabh Bachchan to sing one song about human kindness and the producer has sent the portions of the film done so far and the music track to Amitabh to let him decide on it.

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SKorea To Fund New Road At Angkor Temple Complex

(AP) PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - South Korea has provided $9.2 million to Cambodia to build a new road that will circle the famed Angkor temple complex and reduce traffic in the area, officials said Monday.

The 13-mile road will be closed to trucks to reduce pollution, noise and vibrations that could damage the ancient ruins, said Soeung Kong, vice secretary-general of the Apsara Authority, the government agency that oversees the temples.

Construction will start this year and take three years to complete, he said.

It will be the second road in the Angkor area funded by South Korea, connecting with existing roads to the north and northwest of the temples, said South Korean Embassy official Son Sungil. The first road extended south from the temple complex.

Tourism is a major foreign currency earner for cash-strapped Cambodia, which hosts nearly 1.5 million foreign tourists each year, mostly from South Korea, Japan and the United States. More than half of the tourists visit Angkor, a UNESCO World Heritage site in northwestern Siem Reap province.

The temples were built when Angkorian kings ruled over much of Southeast Asia between the 9th and 14th centuries.

Conservationists have long expressed concerns about tourism's impact. They say uncontrolled pumping of underground water to meet the rising demand of hotels and residents in the nearby town of Siem Reap may be destabilizing the earth beneath the temples.
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Bangkok Under Fire on Immigration Policy

New Rules, Which Demand Compliance by March 2, Could Cause Massive Deportation of Migrant Workers

By PATRICK BARTA


Pressure is mounting on Thai authorities to rescind or delay new immigration rules that could cause hundreds of thousands of migrant workers to face deportation and drive up business costs in one of Southeast Asia's most important economies, human-rights workers say.

The rules, which demand compliance by Tuesday and which require some 1.5 million migrants to register with Thai authorities and prove their nationalities, or be kicked out, are adding to recent concerns about overreliance on imported labor in Asia's wealthier countries.

Other countries in the region, including Malaysia, Singapore and Korea, have increasingly drawn on low-cost foreign workers to help them stay competitive with China and India. Malaysian palm-oil plantation owners count heavily on labor from Bangladesh or Nepal to keep wages low.

In Thailand, textile manufacturers and fishing fleets—two industries that heavily rely on foreign labor—use workers from Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and elsewhere.

Although precise data on such undocumented workers are unavailable, human-rights groups say they now account for roughly 5% to 10% of Thailand's work force.

As the number of migrants has grown, though, host countries have become more worried about backlash from local residents, who fear foreign labor is keeping local wages down. Officials say they also are concerned foreigners could pose security threats or health risks, since some come from countries with high rates of HIV or other diseases.

Thailand is emerging as the latest battleground. The country has long required migrant workers to register with the government. But now, authorities are asking them to undergo a considerably more onerous and time-consuming registration that involves verifying the migrants' identities with their home governments—something many workers are afraid to do because they fear it could subject them to punishments or penalties back home.

The goal of Thai authorities is to get a more reliable record of who is in the country at any given time, expand worker protections and tighten supervision, including ensuring workers have vaccinations.

The deadline for compliance, initially Feb. 28, was extended to March 2 after several hundred thousand migrants failed to appear. Workers who don't comply are subject to arrest and deportation, though it remains unclear when that process will start. In one concession, officials have said that workers who start the process now can finish the paperwork later, though they have also insisted they will take a hard line against anyone found to be intentionally avoiding the process.

Human-rights groups say as many as 700,000 of the 1.5 million or so migrants covered by the rule will refuse to comply, based on conversations they've had with Thai officials about current participation rates. A Thai government spokesman says he doubts the number is that high, but acknowledges at least several hundred thousand likely still haven't taken part.

Even a small reduction in the number of migrant workers could affect Thailand's competitiveness, analysts say, at a time when it is just beginning to recover from the world-wide economic crisis. Employers say they already are experiencing labor shortages, and will need more migrants to keep textile mills and other low-wage businesses, such as farm work or seafood processing, humming.

"Thai people don't want these jobs," says Amnart Nantaharn, deputy secretary general of the Federation of Thai Industries. Every sector of the Thai economy needs more migrant workers, he says.

Human-rights groups, meanwhile, say migrants have plenty of reasons to fear declaring themselves, including a history of past mistreatment by Thai authorities. Cases of arbitrary arrest and rape are detailed in a report released last week by New York-based Human Rights Watch. In some cases, activists allege, Thai authorities force migrants to pay bribes to avoid deportation.

On Thursday, police said Thai troops fire on a pickup truck carrying Myanmar migrants, killing three passengers, Reuters reported. The police said the driver was heading toward authorities near a border with Myanmar and refused to halt.

Other migrant workers worry that information about their activities will be shared with their governments in Myanmar, Laos or Cambodia, subjecting them to possible problems if they return home or their families to harassment.

"We recognize the right of the government to monitor immigration," says Phil Robertson, a deputy director of Human Rights Watch. "We just want them to do it in a way that prevents human-rights abuses against migrants."

Thai authorities say they are investigating the reports of abuse. They say the new registration process will ultimately help reduce such problems by formalizing workers' status and rights under Thai law.

"That is exactly why we need them to come forward and be protected, so they're not underground," says Panitan Wattanayagorn, a Thai government spokesman. He says he doesn't think higher costs for businesses "is much of an issue" but added the government will consider possible economic downsides as it considers how aggressively to enforce the rule.

Thailand isn't the only country in the region grappling with how to tighten rules on foreign workers without driving too many of them away. Last month, after complaints from local residents, Singapore said it would raise fees on employers who use overseas labor. Malaysia has cracked down on the movement of some migrants after a U.S. State Department report last year accused the country of allowing human trafficking, often for the purpose of bringing overseas workers in for forced labor. Malaysian authorities have said they don't condone trafficking and are dealing with the problem.Tighter controls could help Thailand and the foreign workers in the long run, says Christopher Bruton, an analyst at Dataconsult Ltd., a Bangkok advisory firm. Wages will likely have to rise and some businesses will "probably close or go over the border" to remain competitive if many migrant workers return home, he says. But relying on cheap labor tends to promote inefficiencies in businesses, he says, and forcing companies to accept somewhat higher wages could ultimately make them run better and be more competitive.

—Wilawan Watcharasakwet
and Celine Fernandez
contributed to this article.

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With a Free Enterprise Vietnam, Who Really Won the War?

By William Thompson


Mr. Thompson, Professor of Public Administration, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is the author of Legalized Gambling: A Reference Handbook (Santa Barbara and Denver: ABC-Clio, 1994 and 1997-2nd ed.).

Over the year-end, I visited Vietnam, and I revised some thinking. I now conclude that we won the Vietnam War. We just weren’t there for the victory party.

I was in Vietnam to visit my son, a school teacher at the South Saigon (yes! SAIGON) International School. I rode on a “cyclo” from the Ho Chi Minh Post Office, filled with merchants hawking goods, to the Ben Thanh Market—from one hot spot of capitalism to another. I took a train trip to the ocean beach at Mui Ne, staying at a Western-style resort. I rode on a bus through incredible motorcycle traffic to Cat Tien National Park. There I asked our German guide (he was from the Deutschland equivalent of our Peace Corps) to tell me just what inside Vietnam was “communist.” Upon reflection he said, “Well, I guess about the only thing is this park. It is owned by the government. I can’t think of anything else.

I’ve come to the conclusion that he might be right. About the only thing communist I found in the country was the national park, along with city parks and a few museums.

The American-Vietnam War was fought with multiple goals—although they were ill-explained and very murky. One rationale for the war was the “domino theory.” Concomitant with containment (as expressed first by George F. Kennan in 1947), the domino theory held that if communist forces could be victorious in one country, then those forces would seek to conquer the next adjacent non-communist country, until all countries had fallen like dominos. The whole world was the target of domino thinking, as expressed in the manifesto of Marx and Engels. If South Vietnam fell to communists supported by the Soviet Union and China, we expected Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines to fall as well, then Asia as a whole—and then the world.

President Lyndon B. Johnson stated in a speech on April 7, 1965, “Over this war…is another reality: the deepening shadow of Communist China. The rulers in Hanoi are urged on by Peking. This is a regime which has destroyed freedom in Tibet, attacked India, and been condemned by the United Nations for aggression in Korea. It is a nation which is helping the forces of violence in almost every continent. The contest in Vietnam is part of a wider pattern of aggressive purpose.”

There were also ideological reasons for being in this war. We wanted to demonstrate the viability of free enterprise capitalism in competition with state ownership of commerce.

President Johnson continued his speech with the hope that even our adversary could see the wisdom of working together for more commerce. “I would hope that the Secretary General of the United Nations could use the prestige of his great office…to initiate, as soon as possible, with the countries of the area, a plan for cooperation in increased development. For our part I will ask the Congress to join in a billion dollar American investment in this effort as soon as it is underway….The task is nothing less than to enrich the hopes and existence of more than a hundred million people.”

There was a humanitarian goal in the war. Johnson spoke of terror and violence in South Vietnam. “It is a war of unparalleled brutality. Simple farmers are the targets of assassination and kidnapping. Women and children are strangled in the night because their men are loyal to their government. Small and helpless villages are ravaged by sneak attacks. Large scale raids are conducted on towns, and terror strikes in the heart of cities.”

Whatever our goals, we abandoned notions that our forces would overturn the existing communist regime of North Vietnam, but would be used to defend the survival of the free enterprise regime of South Vietnam. We did so thinking we were preserving the “independent nation of South Vietnam.” “We want nothing for ourselves, only that the people of South Vietnam be allowed to guide their own country in their own way.” No notice was given to the fact that there was only one nation of Vietnam until the French left in 1954. Our efforts were to support a divided Vietnam—not to promote a united, independent nation. There had been one Vietnam for over a thousand years. There were two Vietnams only for a decade.

In 1973, the U.S. participated in peace talks that promised that a South Vietnamese regime could be preserved. We agreed to disengage and remove our troops and forces, and the North agreed that they would not take over the South. Political realities led to different results. Our withdrawal was accompanied by a withdrawal of funding for our military effort by Congress. In turn, North Vietnam took over the South. In 1975, North Vietnamese troops captured Saigon.

For thirty-five years, I have heard that we had “lost” the war. However, what I saw over the recent holiday leads me to reject that conclusion. The war was “won.” The trouble is that we were not around long enough to see the victory. Ironically, “our” victory was won, not by American troops, but rather by the Vietnamese armies and the Vietnamese people.

The communist takeover did originally, as Washington feared, result in the loss of liberty, property, and life – an almost inevitable consequence of war, as the North Vietnamese Army punished many in the South. It was also a result of the imposition of communist ideology. Private property was seized and free enterprise activities were forcibly restrained.

But more was happening. The U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam guaranteed the collapse of the already fragile Cambodian government, which was deposed and replaced by Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge. The massive wave of violence we feared would be set into motion in southern Vietnam came to Cambodia. Pol Pot’s imposition of peasant communism led to the evacuation of Cambodia’s cities, forced labor in the countryside, and mass murder in the “killing fields.” The killing focused on political rivals—such as Buddhist monks and entrepreneurs—and on those of foreign heritage, including Chinese and Vietnamese. Over two million were murdered in the Cambodian genocide.

With no American forces left in Vietnam, we were hardly in a position to stop the killing. Still, the U.S. did little in using diplomatic pressure to stop Pol Pot. Instead, the Carter administration gave support to Pol Pot by backing the United Nation’s recognition of his government.

But the killing in Cambodia did come to a stop. How? The Khmer Rouge conducted border raids into Vietnam, and Vietnam reacted. On December 25, 1978, Vietnam invaded Cambodia. Pol Pot was deposed, a new government put into place, and the killing ceased. The new communist government of a united Vietnam ended the genocide.

The new puppet government in Cambodia was also communist, but did this mean that dominos were falling? Hardly. While pursuing the goals of Kennan’s containment policy, our efforts were based on an assumption that by being brother communists-in-arms, the Chinese and Vietnamese loved each other. Not so! They enjoyed a millennium of animosities that were only temporarily held in check by the American conflict (and in the previous wars with the French and Japanese). China and Vietnam were traditional enemies.

When Vietnam achieved its unity, the country expelled people of Chinese heritage. China took umbrage. In February 1979, China quit playing dominos, sending 120,000 troops into Vietnam. Vietnam fought back, stopping the Chinese before they could reach Hanoi, and counterattacking across the Chinese border. Within a month, China withdrew from Vietnam. The only thing defeated was the domino theory.

As the killing stopped, and the game of dominos ended, there was an end to communist ideology. The imposition of communist economics led to conditions that the United States had predicted. There was a lack of productivity, a shortage of goods, and starvation. Rice, the country’s leading agricultural crop, had to be imported from India. The Vietnamese are natural hustlers with boundless energy, witnessed in their determination to stand up to the Americans, the French, the Chinese and the Cambodians. Yet, they were now told to stand in line and bow to the edicts of ideological government bureaucrats. Their energy was capped.

Their leaders were not entirely blind. One common story is that a leading general took the podium at the 6th National Congress in 1986. He said, in effect, that he had not asked the people and his troops to shed their sweat, tears, and blood “for this!” They had fought for a better life. Things were only worse. He called for the party to “let the people be free to use their intrinsic energy to produce goods for their own benefit.”

The leaders could not quarrel with the general, and an era of doi moi (renovation, renewal and reform) was initiated by that year’s party congress.

The Vietnamese regime is still led by the Communist Party of Vietnam, but what they have, economically, is what the American military fought to defend. Free market businesses, capital investment, manufacturing, and export development have been part of doi moi. Poverty was cut in half, income doubled, economic growth became rampant, and food is now exported. The people are not hungry. Changes in the economic structure led the U.S. to drop an embargo in 1994, and Vietnam is now part of the World Trade Organization.

Saigon is still “Saigon” to the people, although the government calls it Ho Chi Minh City. In the south of the city, a Taiwanese company reclaimed thousands of acres of swampland and developed a major suburban-like community called

Phu My Hung. There shopping centers and commercial streets are found with restaurants, hotels, single family houses and apartment complexes. The neighborhood houses the South Saigon International School, owned by Taiwanese, but giving instruction in English to children from Vietnam and 30 other nationalities.

Around the corner is the Phu My Hung Bookstore. Most books are in Vietnamese, but I ventured to look around. They had American news and travel magazines. There was also an English language book which I purchased: “Viet Nam Vision 2020: The 10th National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam.” The book explained that the country was enjoying the twenty-fifth year in a row with economic growth, average growth was 5.5% a year, second worldwide only to the Chinese. Agriculture output doubled in fifteen years. Vietnam was second to Brazil in exports of coffee, fourth in rubber exports, and fourth in timber and wooden furniture. There are thirteen automobile assembly plants in the country.

State owned enterprises are being replaced by private concerns. “The overall number of private enterprises had increased from 132 in 1991, 80,000 in 2003, and 170,000 in 2006.” There are 9.7 million “individual businesses,” and half of the families in Vietnam are involved in owning businesses. Seventy-three countries had made investments in the country.

There is concern with corruption in the bureaucracy. The 2020 “Vision” Report decried bribery and corruption among party officials, indicating that the “party had disciplined 40,000 party members in the form of being blamed, warned, expelled, dismissed or sent to jail.”

The notion of the victory of American values is reflected in goals of the party expressed in the report:

To strongly liberate the production force, promote all potential as well as human resources.…To strongly move to a market economy, comply with market principles…To encourage all people to raise their incomes through lawful means….To make significant changes in administrative reform, and reduce red tape, corruption, and wastefulness….To implement a system of distribution basically according to work results, economic efficiency, the level of contributions of capital and other resources.…To create a favorable legal environment, mechanisms and policies to tap all social resources for development….To effectively manage the operations of basic markets in line with a healthy competition pattern….To steadily develop the financial market….To develop the real estate market, including the market of land use rights…To make land a real source of capital for investment….To swiftly draw investment capital...for carrying out important projects on oil and gas exploitation…

The report further urged that “there must be help for the development of enterprises, with no direct interference in their production and business….Efforts must be made to ensure that all citizens have free rights to invest and do their business without limitation in all fields…”

Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee don’t need the Republicans to hire Newt Gingrich to write another “Contract with America.” The Republicans need only look to Vision 2020 Report of the Communist Party of Vietnam for their 2010 platform. The war was won! Read more!

Northeastern states stage a cultural festival

Agartala, Feb 27: To promote closer ties among the Northeast states and with their neighbouring Southeast Asian countries, a month-long cultural festival 'Inter-Cultural Dialogue' is being staged and the second leg of it concluded in Agartala on Friday.

New Delhi-based the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) in association with North East Zone Cultural Centre (NEZCC) and the state governments
is organizing the first ever-international cultural festival across the northeast region.

The festival began on February 21 in Guwahati, Assam and will wind up on March 12 covering Meghaylaya, Tripura, Manipur and Nagaland, followed by a four-day symposium-cum-cultural show in New Delhi from March 17 to March 20.

Around 150 artists and performers from Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and northeastern states are performing various traditional dances to showcase their area's traditional art and culture.

Other than traditional Thai dance and Indonesian dance depicting scenes from Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, the mask dance of Sikkim and traditional Indonesian Wayang Kulit (shadow puppet) were enjoyed very much by the audience, as they were totally new to them.

Audience, who were mesmerized by the programme, felt that academics and artists of these regions should collectively revisit their history, culture and economy and look at the commonalities, which still persist to a significant extent. "

I feel our culture, that is to say, ancient Indian culture specially the Aryan culture has been beautifully mixed in their chorography. They are also trying to expose their dance items, their choreography through Ramayana, Mahabharata. This is beautiful mixture of Indian culture and neighbouring countries," said Swapan Nandi, audience and renowned painter.

Participants from the Southeast Asian countries said they were happy participating in the event.
"We are happy to join this festival because here we can show our culture and learn other cultures like of India, Thailand, Cambodia and Java," said Chum Chanveasna, an artist from Cambodia.

The organisers said that the unique relationship in cultural-historical experiences of the people of Southeast Asian countries and northeast India has become a subject of genuine importance in the background of the overall drive for cultural, economic, political understanding and unity, and such cultural events help to bridge the gap and rediscover old ties between them. Read more!

Thai court seizes more than half of Thaksin's fortune

BANGKOK: Thailand's top court on Friday seized $1.4 billion in assets belonging to the family of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra for abuse of his power, far less than expected, in a decision that could appease some anti-government forces.

The court said Thaksin had concealed his ownership of shares in his family telecommunications conglomerate Shin Corp during his five years in office and geared government policies to benefit the company, but ruled that $900 million amassed before his premiership be unfrozen.

Authorities said major violence was unlikely in response to the ruling but mobilised thousands of police and troops to pre-empt any backlash by supporters of the 60-year-old fugitive at the centre of a five-year political crisis in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.

Prior to the ruling, analysts said any decision allowing Thaksin's family to keep a portion of the assets would be more favourable for markets in the short term by reducing the risk of an imminent showdown in Thailand's divisive colour-coded crisis.

"The partial seizure of the assets should be what financial markets prefer because both sides can claim victory," said Prapas Tonpibulsak, chief investment officer at Ayudhya Fund Management.

The judges said Thaksin had abused his power in all five major cases against him, which included shaping telecoms and satellite policies, including concessions fees and state loans, to benefit Shin Corp.

Thaksin, ousted in a 2006 coup and convicted in absentia of graft, has denied the charges from self-imposed exile in Dubai.
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Thai court begins lengthy hearing on Thaksin verdict

BANGKOK, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Judges in Thailand's Supreme Court began reading a verdict on Friday afternoon that will decide whether the government can seize $2.3 billion of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra's frozen family assets.

The nine-judge panel began reading the long-awaited verdict at around 1:30 p.m. (0630 GMT). It could take several hours before a decision on the assets is announced.

The twice-elected Thaksin, ousted in a 2006 coup and convicted in absentia of graft, is believed to be in Dubai and says he will fight any confiscation of the assets.

Thousands of police and soldiers are on alert across Bangkok, ready to tackle any violence by supporters of the 60-year-old former telecommunications mogul at the centre of a five-year political crisis in Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy.

The pro-Thaksin "red shirt" movement, which forced a regional summit to be abandoned last April and staged protests that sparked Thailand's worst street violence in 17 years, plans a mass rally in Bangkok on March 14 but says it will not protest on Friday [ID:nSGE61N09L].

Other Thaksin supporters, however, plan to gather in Bangkok.

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Cambodia Not Ready for Munitions Pact: Official

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington


Cambodiais not ready to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions, due to stockpiles it is currently holding, a senior government official said Thursday.

Cambodia is still assessing the cost and means associated with finding a replacement to its current munitions, Prak Sokhon, vice president of the Cambodia Mine Action Authority, said, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

We need more time to study the number of cluster munitions we have and if we need to replace them in order for us to sign the convention,” he said.

The government also needs to know “how much money and time we need to replace the munitions with the ones that are not banned,” he said. “Once we have these, we can then sign it.”
The UN took the opportunity on National Mine Awareness Day on Wednesday to renew an appeal for Cambodiato renew its commitment to the eliminating cluster munitions.

“We urge Cambodiato sign and ratify as soon as possible the Convention on Cluster Munitions to demonstrate its commitment to a peaceful and secure world,” the UN said in a statement.

Cambodiais peppered with landmines, remnants of decades of civil strife, though the number of mine- and ordnance-related fatalities has dropped over the past four years, falling from 450 in 2006 to 243 in 2009.

The decrease was due to better demining operations, law enforcement and coordination in identifying mined areas, Prak Sokhon said.

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