snaebong

RED Shirts are on the street again

2009-10-11T23:35:00.000-07:00

Thai anti-government demonstrators gather near Democracy Monument Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009, in Bangkok, Thailand. Thousands of supporters of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, all in red shirts, rallied to demand the government step down and call fresh elections. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)

Supporters of exiled former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra hold candles during a rally at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok October 11, 2009. REUTERS/Kerek Wongsa

Supporters of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra gather during a rally at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok October 11, 2009. REUTERS/Kerek Wongsa

A woman sells masks bearing the likeness of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra during a rally at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok October 11, 2009. REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom

Supporters of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra carry his posters and banners during a rally at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok October 11, 2009. REUTERS

Supporters of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra gather during a rally at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok October 11, 2009. REUTERS

A Thai anti-government demonstrator shouts to the crowd as he and others gather near Democracy Monument Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009, in Bangkok, Thailand. Thousands of supporters of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, all in red shirts, rallied to demand the government step down and call fresh elections. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)

Exiled former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra gives a live address via tele-conference to supporters during a rally at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok October 11, 2009. REUTERS/Kerek Wongsa

Khmer Rouge case judge 'biased'

2009-10-11T02:19:00.000-07:00

Ieng Sary's lawyers say the judge has trampled over his rights

Lawyers for Cambodia's former foreign minister have called for the removal of the judge investigating his role in the Khmer Rouge era.

Ieng Sary is charged with crimes against humanity for his part in the deaths of as many as two million people in the late 1970s.

His defence team claims the judge at the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal, Marcel Lemonde, is biased.

The controversy is the latest in a series of problems to hit the tribunal.

'One-sided investigation'

The defence team's claims are based on a sworn statement by a former member of the investigating judge's staff.

Wayne Bastin accused his boss, Mr Lemonde, of instructing his team to concentrate on finding only incriminating evidence.

Under the rules of the tribunal, the investigating judges are supposed to be impartial - and should also seek out evidence which might exonerate defendants.

Mr Bastin admitted that Ieng Sary's defence team had encouraged him to make the statement.

But he insisted that he had enjoyed a good working relationship with Judge Lemonde - and only came forward because he felt "morally and ethically" obliged.

Ieng Sary's lawyers said the investigating judge had "trampled over" the rights of their client.

The tribunal's pre-trial chamber will now rule on whether Mr Lemonde should be disqualified.

It has already rejected two attempts to disqualify court officials on the grounds of bias.

Progress in the case against Ieng Sary and his three co-defendants has been slow.

But closing statements in the trial of a former Khmer Rouge prison chief are expected next month.

Mudslides kill 100 in northern Philippines

2009-10-11T02:18:00.000-07:00

The northern Philippines has been pounded by heavy rain since Typhoon Parma hit the country on Saturday Photo: EPA

Parma hit the Philippines exactly one week after tropical storm Ketsana pounded Manila to the south on Luzon, killing at least 337 people Photo: EPA

More than 100 people have been killed in a series of landslides brought about by heavy rain in mountainous provinces of the northern Philippines.

Seventy-five people were confirmed dead with 36 still missing in Benguet province as landslides struck in five towns, said provincial police chief, Superintendent Loreto Espinili.

Officials said the death toll would likely rise.

"Our estimate is that more than 100 people were buried," warned provincial civil defence chief Olive Luces.

"The damage in the region is massive. We have several reports of landslides across the region, especially in Benguet. Bodies are being recovered," she said.

In the mountain resort city of Baguio, 17 people were killed as landslides buried whole houses in different parts of the city, said city administrator and civil defence official Peter Fianza.

A landslide also left five dead and 32 missing in Mountain Province, said provincial governor Maximo Dalog.

The northern Philippines has been pounded by heavy rain since Typhoon Parma hit the country on Saturday.

Parma weakened into a tropical depression but has lingered over the north of the Philippines' main island of Luzon.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council's death toll from Parma on Friday morning was 25, however council administrator Glen Rabonza said the latest fatalities from landslides in the north were not yet included in that tally.

Parma hit the Philippines exactly one week after tropical storm Ketsana pounded Manila to the south on Luzon, killing at least 337 people.

‘Climatological’ Totalitarianism

2009-10-11T02:17:00.000-07:00

Residents navigate by boat on a flooded street following the passage of Typhoon. (Photo courtesy: AFP PHOTO/HOANG DINH Nam) Ketsana in the tourist town of Hoi An in Viet Nam on September 30. (Photo courtesy: AFP PHOTO/HOANG DINH Nam)

Two months before the Copenhagen climate change conference, there are no concrete actions yet on how developed countries will compensate developing countries for their greenhouse gas emissions.

It was a week of disasters. Two days after typhoon Ketsana submerged 80 per cent of the Philippine capital Manila—hitting Taiwan, Viet Nam, Cambodia and Laos along the way—a tsunami struck the Pacific island of Samoa and an earthquake flattened houses and buildings in West Sumatra, Indonesia.

Scores of people died and thousands lost their homes. The scene from the Philippines to Indonesia up to Samoa was of hopelessness. As many disasters in history have shown, governments and people were caught unaware of the extent of the damage and disaster preparedness was lacking if not missing.

While these recent disasters were unfolding, experts, lobbyists, environmentalists, activists and government negotiators had just started their two-week talks on climate change in Bangkok.

Amid pronouncements by scientists that the world should keep global warming well below 2?C and that this can only be achieved if we cut gas emissions that cause climate change by more than 45 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, by 95 per cent by 2050; and global emissions must peak by 2015, the Bangkok talks have so far not translated into concrete actions.

With two months to go before the talks resume in Copenhagen, the Bangkok talks ending October 9 provide an opportunity to enhance action on mitigation and adaptation, including on how to integrate disaster risk reduction in adaptation measures. Recent climatic events in the Philippines, Viet Nam and Cambodia serve as chilling reminders about the urgency of such action to eliminate or reduce the negative impacts of climate change.

These recent events just show that disaster risk reduction and enhanced adaptation cannot be pushed aside during climate change talks.

During a side event at the Bangkok talks, Zenaida Delica-Willison, disaster risk reduction advisor at the United Nations Development Programme, said there is a need to harmonise adaptation and disaster risk reduction. In order to promote resilient communities, adaptation alone is not enough.

Negotiators from Indonesia and Bangladesh were present during the side event. Coming from two disaster-prone countries, they have experienced climatic changes as evidenced by increased flooding in Jakarta and stronger typhoons that hit Bangladesh in recent months. They claimed that their respective governments have improved systems, disaster response and provided education to the public.

Developing countries like Bangladesh and Indonesia are adapting measures to combat the negative effects of climate change through domestic measures. Now, the matter of negotiation at the climate talks is for developed nations to also undertake drastic cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions through domestic measures and to give full reparations for the ecological debts they owe the developing nations.

Disaster risk reduction

A cooperation framework is supposed to have emerged when all the participating countries agreed to integrate disaster risk reduction in adaptation measures within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). All countries acknowledged historical responsibilities, committed to take deep cuts in emission levels (mitigation) and provide adequate structures for finance and technology (adaptation). But, according to Martin Khor of the South Centre, an inter-governmental organisation of developing countries, “we are far from operationalising this framework” because of the stonewalling by developed countries.

In a press conference convened by the South Centre at the Unescap building where the UNFCCC meetings were being held, Ambassador Lumumba Di Aping, head of delegation of Sudan and chairman of the G77 plus China, stressed that developed countries have very “low ambitions in meeting their emission targets” and gave “no positive response at the establishment of financing and technology structures within the Convention.” This only shows that the ground is being prepared (by developed countries) for commitments not to be honoured, he added.

The G-77 is the largest intergovernmental organisation of developing states in the United Nations, which provides the means for the of the South (developing countries) to articulate and promote their collective economic interests and enhance their joint negotiating capacity on all major economic issues within the UN system.

“G-77 is absolutely committed to a successful completion of talks in Copenhagen... for the survival of humanity. And for Copenhagen to succeed, we must all work for an equitable and just deal. We cannot duplicate the inequity and imbalances which have been the hallmark of 200 years of human development,” Lumumba said.

The negotiations challenge

The G77 countries and China had proposed the establishment of a financial mechanism under the UNFCCC ratified in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the 1992 Earth Summit that “shall enable, enhance and support mitigation and adaptation actions by developing countries”.

Under the UNFCCC, developed nations should provide financial resources to developing countries for climate change adaptation and mitigation. However, developing countries pointed out that the former is shifting the burden towards markets and to poorer countries by adopting protectionist attitudes like imposing tariffs.

However, developed countries have noted what they called alarming statements by developed nations, especially the European Union and the United States, suggesting the termination of the Kyoto Protocol.

Developed countries, known as Annex I Parties under the Protocol, are bound to agree to subsequent commitment periods for greenhouse gas emission reductions beginning in 2013. Annex 1 Parties have consistently stalled talks to agree on the figures.

Lumumba called this the “climatological” totalitarianism of rich countries which “impose their own interests to advance their economic superiority to support their lavish lifestyles at the expense of the rest of the world”.

“These commitments should be free from conditionalities and is the right thing to do. It is what global leaders must do. So the question that must be asked of developed countries is why (they have) such a disgraceful low level of commitment,” he told the press.

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) said in a paper that climate change is an additional burden to developing countries already striving to achieve poverty reduction and urgently needed development.

This was highlighted by the clash in the talks between G77 and the United States when the latter proposed to have a formal process to consider textual proposals on “mitigation elements common to all Parties”, which developing countries emphasised were not consistent with the UNFCCC and even went beyond the mandate of the Bali Action Plan. The Plan was a result of the 2007 Bali Climate Conference.

To say that the Bangkok climate change negotiations are crucial is an understatement.

Ambassador Lumumba aptly summed up the crucial nature of both the Bangkok intersessional meeting leading to Copenhagen when he said during the September 30 press conference, “there can’t be any successful conclusion of Copenhagen unless there is economic development to address climate change.”

He noted that if politicians around the world, especially those from the developed countries, were able to pump in US$1.1 trillion to address the global economic crisis should “it be considered more important than (financing) climate change?”

That question takes on added urgency as negotiations shift to higher gear in preparation for Copenhagen in December. (By Jofelle Tesorio and Red Batario in Bangkok/ Asia News Network)

(Red Batario, a freelance journalist based in Manila, was in Bangkok to observe the intersessional talks. He is the executive director of the Centre for Community Journalism and Development and Asia-Pacific coordinator of the International News Safety Institute.)

Happy 10 years Anniversary for the Auckland Cambodian Youth and Recreation Trust

2009-10-11T02:15:00.000-07:00

Leader of The Auckland Cambodian Youth and Recreation Trust

Join by the singers from Cambodia Mr. York Doung DAra and Miss Chea Channy

The Cambodian Association Auckland Inc. would like to congratulates the Auckland Cambodian Youth and Recreation Trust for their successful event of celebrating its 10 years anniversary at Carol Reef Chinese restaurant on the evening of Saturday the 10th October 2009.

The Prince and Preah Vihear

2009-10-10T03:11:00.001-07:00

Prince Damrong visiting Preah Vihear temple (2nd from right)

October 7, 2009
SUBHATRA BHUMIPRABHAS
SPECIAL TO THE NATION

Nationalism has clouded our view of the temple's ownership, argues one academic. But history has the simple answer

On 30 January 1929, Prince Damrong Rajanupab arrived at Preah Vihear as head of an official expedition from the Siamese court of King Prajadhipok (Rama VII). There to welcome him was the French commissioner for the Cambodian province along with the archaeologist Henri Parmentier, who was to act as guide for the expedition's trip up Panom Dongrek mountain to see its famed centuries-old Hindu temple.

The prince and the commissioner exchanged speeches of friendship at a cheerful reception attended by the entourage of high-ranking Siamese noblemen, before listening to a lecture on Preah Vihear Temple given by the French archaeologist. Fluttering above this happy scene was the flag of France.

"This is recorded history - a history that must not be forgotten by Thai students," said historian Charnvit Kasetsiri, at a talk titled "The Contested Temple" given recently at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand.

"Prince Damrong accepted that Preah Vihear belonged to French Indochina," noted Charnvit, as he showed photographs of the prince and French commissioner posing together beneath the French flag. But the history that most Thai students are taught focuses on the loss of territory, he added, citing a Thai textbook for Grade 6 students.

"It asks us to remember the loss of territories beginning with Penang and ending with Preah Vihear Temple. But by ignoring Prince Damrong's visit in 1929, it effectively tells us to forget about the truth.

"This is history infected with nationalism."

Charnvit went on to show how the "infection" reaches beyond schoolbooks and into tourism - a brochure welcoming tourists to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai talks about the "Losses of Territories and Survival of Siam", while Samut Prakan's Muang Boran [Ancient City] contains a replica of Preah Vihear.

Nationalism and tourism go together, he concluded.

The current case of Preah Vihear reflects the kind of "selective history" that stirs nationalistic feeling and leads to war-mongering threats to take back "lost territory", he said.

Following Prince Damrong's visit, Preah Vihear was left in peace for over a decade. Then, in 1940 the government of Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsongkram added the Hindu temple to its list of Thai archaeological sites.

Though the addition was announced in the pages of the Royal Gazette, there is no evidence that Cambodia's French rulers noticed it. In 1954, the year after Cambodia won independence, Pibul sent Thai troops to occupy the area around the Preah Vihear site. But Thai history tends to ignore this event, preferring to focus on the claim made by King Sihanouk at the International Court of Justice in 1959, which in 1962 awarded the temple to Cambodia.

Charnvit, now 67, recalled how nationalism was working on him the day he heard of the "loss of territory" brought by the court's judgement.

"It was a shock because all the news, all the PR from the military government, told us we were winning for sure," he said.

"We believed that Preah Vihear belonged to us. I was a 21-year-old student. I was so angry. I marched with about a hundred Thammasat University students up Rajdamnoen Avenue. I had a photo of King Sihanouk, which I tore apart, threw down on the street and trampled."

Finally, Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat, leader of the military government at the time, made an appearance on television to say the government had no choice but to accept the ruling of the court.

Now, after almost half a century, the version of history that tells of the "loss" of Preah Vihear has been brought up to stir nationalism in Thailand once again, with nationalists saying they refuse to accept the International Court's 1962 judgement.

Bad history creates false perceptions and false perceptions lead to conflict between neighbours, the historian said.

"Our history texts must be revised and corrected to reflect the truth. Only that way will we be able to live together peacefully in this age of regionalism and globalisation."

Business Side of Hun Sen Stability

2009-10-10T03:09:00.000-07:00

"I, me and myself"?

So, according to prime minister Hun Sen, as long as he remains at the top job there will be political stability in Cambodia. He makes this claim at the recent Second Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Siem Reap. And Hun Sen is probably right about the stability, considering the fact that oppositions are weak, disorganised, and unable to mount any credible challenges to him.

However, if it is true that the motive behind the claim is to impress new Japanese foreign minister Katsuya Okada for substantial Japanese investments in Cambodia, Hun Sen may be disappointed. His kind of stability that depends on him being there can, of course, attract certain businessmen who are seeking a quick profit with opportunities to move their capital in and out at short notice. It is a business operation that most suits fly-by-night or vulture companies that know who to bribe.

But serious foreign investors – the ones whom Council for Development of Cambodia secretary-general Sok Chenda says want to grow with the host country – may not share Hun Sen’s enthusiasm for his brand of stability the way he hopes they will. To them, the prime minister’s claim rings an alarm bell flagging a huge country risk, instead of a welcoming sign, when political stability of a country depends on an individual rather than institutions. They know there is a limit to how long a person can live, or can perform at optimum; only a strong institution can offer a lasting political stability that is conducive to long term business prosperity.

With his previous statement that without him there will be war, prime minister Hun Sen effectively makes those investors cringe. The Japanese government has been supportive of Cambodia from day one since the peace settlement; it funds, in one form or another, about fifty percent of the Cambodian national budget every year. But in contrast, Japanese businessmen generally have not been further away from what salesman par excellent Sok Chenda claims to be a unique money-making opportunity in Cambodia. There is a reason for them to stay away in droves.

If Hun Sen were to attract long term investors whom Sok Chenda cherishes, he would have to start working on building a strong government institution for Cambodia – the one that does not depend on him, and will last long after he is gone. He would need to believe that, no matter how comfortably he can walk all over his political opponents, he will neither last nor live forever. Like others, he is mortal and vulnerable to unpredictable future. He may be in charge,but not everything under the sun is under his control. Some X factor could abruptly put him out of commission, which will drown everything that depends on him.

With a strong institution, besides securing those beneficial foreign investments, Cambodia would not be thrown into chaos every time there is a leader changeover. The people would likely be spared from sufferings in between regimes they have frequently experienced since the heyday of Angkor.

Cambodia Fashion

2009-10-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

REFILE - ADDING DATE Contestants pose during the finals of a modelling competition in Phnom Penh October 9, 2009.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA FASHION)

A model walks down the runway during the finals of a modelling competition in Phnom Penh. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA FASHION)

A model wears a creation by Vietnamese fashion designer Kelly Bui, during Bui's 2009 Autumn-Summer collection entitled, ' My Fair Lady', in Hanoi, Vietnam, Friday, Oct. 9, 2009.(AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki)

"[Sam Rainsy] called the US to fire a missile to Tuol Krasaing": Hun Xen

2009-10-09T15:32:00.001-07:00

During a speech given yesterday for the 30th anniversary of the National Bank of Cambodia, Hun Sen once again raised the issue of opposition leader Sam Rainsy calling the US to fire a missile on his house in 1998. “In 1998, H.E. Sam Rainsy called on the US to fire a missile to Tuol Krasaing, Takhmao city,” Hun Sen was quoted by The Cambodia Daily as saying. He also added: “Don’t be mistaken, the US missile fired into Cambodia, it will not be just Hun Sen who will die, and he called on the US to invade Cambodia… it is not a small thing for a Cambodian to call a foreigner to fire on our country and it is not a normal thing… It means that he called a foreigner to invade our country in order to shoot Hun Sen to death.” In his speech, Hun Sen also warned a man, whom he declined to name, who urged police and soldiers to “turn their weapons on the government.”

The Cambodia Daily also received an email clarification from opposition leader Sam Rainsy who indicated that Hun Xen was taking out of context the remarks he made in 1998, following the grenade attack on Sam Rainsy and peaceful protesters in front of the National Assembly. “At a public meeting a few days after the Aug 20, 1998, incident at the Interior Ministry, I said that terrorists in any country should not feel safe and happy because there will be no impunity for them. I was referring to the US reprisals against terrorist groups in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks [on US embassies] in East Africa… Therefore, what I said… was a warning to Cambodian leaders, especially Hun Sen, that they should stop supporting state terrorism,” The Cambodia Daily quoted Sam Rainsy’s email.

In regards to the unnamed man mentioned by Hun Sen, The Cambodia Daily reported that in 1998, Sam Rainsy called on government troops “to rise up together and turn your gun point to get Hun Sen to step down from his position.”

Hun Sen’s mention of the issues above comes at a time when opposition MPs are criticizing the draft criminal law during debates on the National Assembly floor. In his speech, Hun Sen stressed that the behavior he mentioned above should be changed, if there is anything, a talk should be initiated and the court system should be used. However, he said that when he uses the court, he is accused of dismissing rights. Hun Sen said that he did not use bullets or handcuffs, he only used the court system to sentence them (his opponents), while the latter called on others to fire on Cambodia and that these people have not been dealt with yet.

'No Thanks, I'm Not a Sex Tourist'

2009-10-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

A sex worker in Phnom Penh. Credit: UNAIDS/S. Noorani

And yet, how I ended up doing a bit of business with a Cambodian prostitute.

It was not my intention to pay for the services of a prostitute in Cambodia. But it was the least I could do.  My dalliance with that young woman at dawn was spontaneous, infinitely relieving and wholly chaste. It capped, for me, a vicarious romp through the Southeast Asian nation's booming sex industry, a first-hand look at the desperation born out of decades of corruption and suffering.

Hardship and human trafficking

Cambodia can be a very grim place. It was carpet bombed by the United States during the Vietnam War, followed by genocide led by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge from 1975-1979. The latter atrocity killed nearly 2 million Cambodians -- nearly a quarter of the population. Today about half of the population of 14 million is under 20 years old.

 The last three decades have seen Cambodia claw its way back to some sort of normalcy. Transparency International still ranks it as one of the world's most corrupt nations, but that hasn't kept the tourists out. With the magnificent Angkor Wat complex of temples in the north and miles of pristine beaches in the south, Cambodia has seen an increasing number of visitors in the past 10 years as tourism has become a pillar of the country's meager economy.

But economic development and the growth in tourism have brought along with them a marked increase in human trafficking. The UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) cites the rise in tourism and an imbalance in urban-rural development in the past decade as contributing factors to human trafficking. With few jobs in the countryside and a young population earning barely US$1.50 a day, desperate families may sell their children to traffickers, who promise employment opportunities in well-travelled urban areas such as Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville.

Many of those trafficked are women and children who end up selling sex in brothels, beer gardens and karaoke bars in these cities. But just because someone is a prostitute does not mean she is a victim of trafficking. The exact numbers are difficult to pin down, but a U.N. official told me that of the 20,000-30,000 prostitutes working in Cambodia, probably about 10 per cent consider themselves trafficked. That number likely does not include women who were tricked or fell into prostitution through other circumstances, however.

Sex tourist magnet

Nevertheless, the industry thrives. Patrick Stayton, the Cambodia field office director of International Justice Mission (IJM), a faith-based human-rights agency, says the quick-cash nature of prostitution has made it a generally accepted part of the culture in Cambodia. As a result, the country has become an attractive destination for so-called "sex tourists" -- those who travel abroad to fulfill their carnal needs.

And with such low overhead to start selling sex, Stayton says, supply can easily keep up with demand: "For a brothel, you just need someplace with a roof over it and a ratty old mattress. I mean, the guys that come in to support this kind of thing, they're not looking for five-star hotels. They'll do it basically anywhere."

Though it's the Caucasian sex tourists who stand out, the majority of johns in Cambodia are Asian. Unlike Westerners, who usually travel alone and find what they're looking for on the streets, beaches and in expat bars, Stayton says, tourists from China, Japan or Korea tend to travel in groups, visiting entertainment establishments like karaoke bars and massage parlors on pre-arranged tours, "because that's more their style."

'Boom-boom' for sale

The southwestern city of Sihanoukville -- with large chunks of land and even several islands owned by foreigners -- is a top destination for tourists of all kinds, but especially sex tourists. I was unaware of its notoriety when I boarded the bus in Phnom Penh with a friend to spend a few days there.

Sihanoukville, a sister city to Seattle, is home to Cambodia's lone international port and sits on a peninsula jutting into the Gulf of Thailand. In 2005, the New York Times called it the "next Phuket".

We had been in town less than ten minutes before an enterprising young man driving us to our hotel in his tuk-tuk (a motorised rickshaw) asked if we were interested in some "boom-boom," the not-so-secret code word for paid-for sex. It would be the first of countless offers we would decline.

Lawless law enforcement

Prostitution is technically illegal in Cambodia. It was criminalised last year with the passage of the Law on the Suppression of Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation, a move widely seen as an attempt by the Cambodian government to win favour with the U.S. State Department, which duly removed Cambodia from its annual human-trafficking watch list shortly after the law's passage.

The law itself is ambiguous at best and may even do more harm than good. The prostitutes and victims of trafficking -- those whom the law is supposedly intended to help -- reportedly are, in practice, the targets of widespread and often violent crackdowns, as police have no means or real motivation to distinguish between trafficked and non-trafficked sex workers. A recent article in The Economist cited reports of women and children who were beaten and raped while in detention following a crackdown, and suggested the crackdowns were negatively impacting progress made in fighting HIV/AIDS in Cambodia.

The State Department's 2009 report, which placed Cambodia back onto the trafficking watch-list, says that despite numerous raids on brothels, police failed "to arrest, investigate or charge any large number of persons for human-trafficking offenses."

The report continues: "Corruption is pervasive in Cambodia and it is widely believed that many individuals, including police and judicial officials, are both directly and indirectly involved in trafficking. Some local police and government officials are known to extort money or accept bribes from brothel owners, sometimes on a daily basis, in order to allow the brothels to continue operating."

Exploited children

The price of boom-boom for a Caucasian in Sihanoukville starts at about US$5, but $25 can usually get you a partner for an entire night. Oral sex, or "yum-yum," costs between $3 and $5. Generous customers might give tips of 100 to 200 per cent.

 It's not hard to spot the sex tourists in Sihanoukville. Often sitting at tables surrounded by scantily clad ladies, they'll try to make awkward conversation until their solicitor's vocabulary has been exhausted and then surreptitiously saunter off, either to a room in the back or somewhere otherwise unseen. Or you'll see them walking down the street usually towering over the petite woman or women at their side, maybe holding hands to give themselves the impression that this relationship is more pure than it actually is.

These are the johns that few of the NGOs or human-rights groups are concerned about. Though maybe a little sad, these sex tourists are merely taking advantage of a quasi-legitimate service being offered, and no one really complains about the money they bring in.

What groups like IJM and Action Pour Les Enfants are really concerned about is child-sex tourism. The poverty and lawlessness of Cambodia has created an environment relatively friendly to pedophiles, who can find victims as young as 6 if they look in the right places. Sihanoukville indeed has some of those places, though indications are that they are not as prevalent as they once were.

It's impossible to know exactly how many child prostitutes -- defined as under 15 by the 2008 Sexual Exploitation Law -- are currently working in Cambodia. And opinions differ as to how much the situation has improved. IJM's Stayton says "pedophiles have to be more careful these days, because they know they can’t walk around as freely as they have in the past," though he says opportunities for pedophiles have not necessarily decreased.

Education campaigns have helped. The Childsafe program of Friends International, a child-advocacy NGO, trains and certifies Cambodian tuk-tuk drivers to be more aware of the dangers children face. Other countries, including Canada, have laws banning their citizens from travelling abroad to have sex with minors. Canada has caught two such offenders since the law was strengthened in 2002 -- Vancouver man Donald Bakker, who pleaded guilty in 2005, and Kenneth Robert Klassen, who is facing 35 sex-tourism-related charges. Canada, however, has also been criticised for not enforcing its law strongly enough.

Taking the tour

 My time in Sihanoukville did not bring me into contact with any pedophiles, as far as I know. But my friend and I were given a tour of the town by a couple of local expatriates who are well familiar with some of the seedy hot spots.  The port, the point of entry for horny sailors, is Sihanoukville's cheapest and dirtiest red-light district and is located a few kilometres outside downtown. It's a dirt strip about 200 metres long, lined with shacks and huts with fluorescent red and blue lights dangling from the eaves and rows of catcalling women.

We rode our rented motorbikes from one end to the other, and the second we stopped to turn around we were swarmed by ladies desperate for work. One jumped on the back of my bike and said, "Let's go!" It was the beginning of the rainy season and most of the clientele had dried up, so two white guys in the middle of the night looked like hot commodities. They surely felt more than disappointment when we sped away.  

Back in town, at a brothel in the Blue Mountain area, we sipped cans of Anchor Beer ("An-chore", not to be confused with Angkor, Sihanoukville's local brew) as a pleasant young lady kept us company, all but begging us to take her into one of the rooms in back, as cockroaches the size of my thumb scuttled across the dirt floor underfoot. She said she was Vietnamese, as were most of the girls at this place. Cambodia scores an unholy human-trafficking trifecta as a country of transit, origin and destination for victims. As many as 80 percent of the prostitutes trafficked to Cambodia are from Vietnam.

We gave our hostess a couple dollars for her time. She smiled, gave us each a hug and waved as we rode away.

Help in an emergency

On my last night in town we went down to Serendipity Beach (Ochheuteal Beach) to watch the sun rise. The beach is known for its ladyboys, but was mostly empty by the time we got there. I had a bus to catch at 7:45 AM and it was getting to be time to go. We gathered our things and mounted our motorbikes, but I was missing something... my keys! How they fell out of my pocket, I have no idea, but a full-scale search ensued, retracing steps and sifting through sand.

 I was growing more and more anxious; the bike rental place had our passports, and without the keys I had no way to return the bike. A couple of prostitutes and some unseemly men had appeared. My friend said, "You know, if you leave the bike here, it'll be gone in 10 minutes." I knew.  

Sensing the emergency, the prostitutes kindly joined our search. Just as hopelessness was setting in and I prepared to give up, one of the girls exclaimed and held up a sandy set of keys... my keys! Sweet relief. I took the keys and pulled a crisp $5 bill out of my wallet and handed it to my savior. She blushed and declined at first, asking if I wouldn't rather go over there so she could earn it. She promptly changed her mind and took the money, and I was off.  

And that's how I came to pay a prostitute -- money well spent. For the price of a blowjob, I was able to leave Sihanoukville and Cambodia with my passport, some knowledge, and my dignity.

mpunity is the rule for Cham Prasidh’s bodyguards

2009-10-09T15:27:00.000-07:00

Cham Prasidh’s bodyguards accused of violence

6 bodyguards protecting Cham Prasidh, the minister of Commerce, are accused of using violence and beating up one young man until he passed out, and seriously injuring two others.
A woman from Chak Chrouk village, Samrong Krom commune, Dangkao district, Phnom Penh city, indicated on 08 October that she is accusing a group of 6 Cham Prasidh’s bodyguards of beating up her children until one of them passed out and two others were seriously injured. However, the authority did not resolve this problem for her.

Korng Sikhem, the mother of the victims, indicated that 62 families in the village witnessed the scene on the spot, and they affixed their thumbprints on a complaint sent to the police chief in Samrong Krom commune and the commune chief. However, the pair did not resolve this case for her.

Korng Sikhem said: “There were a lot of them, they were all armed, they fired shots in the air, my son collected two bullet shells. Their shots sound like thunders, my son passed out on the ground, my daughter cried, hugged her brother and yelled, then the villagers helped fetch my son. We sent [copies of the] complaint to the commune and the police station. Each one of them told me: ‘If you are an egg, don’t knock on the rock’ and that I should be scared of them because I am very poor and I am in dire need.”

On Sunday 04 October, factory workers were disputing each others near Cham Prasidh’s house which is located near Korng Sikhem’s house also. At that time, her sons and her daughter went to look at the dispute, but when they returned back home, a group of [Cham Prasidh’s] bodyguards used violence on two of her children, one is 18-year-old and the other 20-year-old. They both passed out immediately, at that time, a 30-year-old niece of Korng Sikhem went to prevent the bodyguards from beating, but they instead turned and beat her also.

Touch Phoeun, the Samrong Krom commune chief, declined to comment on this case, and he told us to question the police chief instead.

Im Kak, the Samrong Krom station police chief, declined to clarify this case also, and he replied that he is only a minor official and he does not dare talk about this case. He directed us to talk to higher level officials.

On 08 October, RFA could not reach Cham Prasidh’s bodyguards who were accused of using violence by the villagers.

The Chak Chrouk deputy-village chief, who declined to provide his name, said that, on the day of incident, he, just like the other villagers, saw Cham Prasidh’s bodyguards using violence against Korng Sikhem’s sons and niece at about 6PM on 04 October. “They (Cham Pasidh’s bodyguards) beat them, and they also fired shots. People panicked and they came out to see, it was on a Sunday and there were a lot of factory workers and a lot of people like me who came to see. The bodyguards were chasing [the victims] and they yelled: ‘Thieves, thieves!’”

Korng Sikhem said that she did not want anything, she only wants the authority to provide justice according to the law, and that the guilty party pays for the hospital expenses for her sons who were seriously injured.

Chan Soveth, an investigator for the Adhoc human rights group, indicated that the authority should send this case to the higher levels so that it can be dealt with legally. He said that the bodyguards’ action constitutes a violation of human rights and the law, and the perpetrators, regardless of their ranks, must be sentenced according to the criminal law.

comrade Hor 5 Hong has the time to sue Sam Rainsy in France ... but he stalls on genocide tribunal: Is he afraid to reveal his past?

2009-10-09T15:26:00.001-07:00

Comrade Hor 5 Hong (Photo: AP)

Cambodian minister stalls on genocide tribunal

Friday, October 09, 2009

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Cambodia's foreign minister says he first wants to check his schedule before deciding whether to testify at a tribunal for Khmer Rouge leaders accused of genocide. Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong is one of the six senior members of Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party summoned before the U.N.-backed court. All of them also exercised some authority during the Khmer Rouge reign of terror in the mid-1970s and appear reluctant to become involved with the tribunal. The tribunal is seeking justice for the estimated 1.7 million people who died in Cambodia from execution, overwork, disease and malnutrition as a result of the communist Khmer Rouge's radical policies.

KRouge lawyer demands judge [Marcel Lemonde]'s disqualification in Cambodia

2009-10-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

Marcel Lemonde

Friday, October 09, 2009
By Patrick Falby
AFP

PHNOM PENH — The lawyer for a former Khmer Rouge leader on Friday filed a demand that the French investigating judge be disqualified from Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes court for alleged bias.

Michael Karnavas, attorney for ex-Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary, said the motion was based on allegations that Marcel Lemonde told subordinates to favour evidence showing suspects' guilt over evidence of their innocence.

The tribunal was set up to bring to justice the leaders of the genocidal late 1970s Khmer Rouge regime.

Karnavas said Lemonde was "giving instructions to his investigators to game the process. In other words, to look primarily for evidence that supports the prosecution".

The lawyer said he submitted his complaint based on a statement made by the former head of Lemonde's intelligence and analysis team, Wayne Bastin, at an Australian police station on Thursday.

A copy of the statement obtained by AFP said Lemonde shocked subordinates in a meeting at his Phnom Penh home in August when he told them, "I would prefer that we find more inculpatory evidence than exculpatory evidence".

Under the Khmer Rouge court's regulations, investigating judges are required to be impartial while researching allegations made by prosecutors. Defence teams are not permitted to make their own investigations.

"How is it that (Lemonde) can remain in the position in light of what we know now?" Karnavas said, adding that such behaviour was "outrageous".

Speaking on Lemonde's behalf, tribunal spokesman Lars Olsen said he had no comment on the issue.

Lemonde is currently investigating the court's second case, against Ieng Sary and his wife, former minister of social affairs Ieng Thirith, as well as Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea and ex-head of state Khieu Samphan.

Heather Ryan, who monitors the court for the Open Society Justice Initiative, told AFP that the defence would probably need to demonstrate systemic bias for Lemonde to lose his job.

"An off the cuff remark made in private -- like what was quoted -- may not be significant," Ryan said.

Under the court's internal rules, Lemonde's previous work on investigations remains valid even if he is disqualified from the tribunal.

Lemonde also met controversy earlier this week when it was revealed he summoned six top government and legislative officials to testify against Khmer Rouge leaders, a move opposed by Prime Minister Hun Sen's administration.

Final arguments in the court's first trial of prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, known by the alias Duch, are scheduled for late next month.

But the tribunal, created in 2006 after several years of haggling between Cambodia and the UN, has faced accusations of political interference and allegations that local staff were forced to pay kickbacks for their jobs.

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia between 1975-79, resulting in the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, overwork and torture.

ITPC promotes Vietnamese goods in Cambodia

2009-10-08T17:35:00.001-07:00

The Ho Chi Minh City-based Investment and Trade Promotion Center said October 7 it would organize an exhibition of high-quality Vietnamese products in Battambang Province in northwestern Cambodia from November 25 to 29.

A busy street in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. With a population of 14.7 million and a per capita income of US$600, Cambodia is a promising market for Vietnamese goods.

Fifty companies from the processed food, furniture, cosmetic, clothing, household plastic product, agricultural materials, and electronics sectors will take part in it.

Vietnamese goods are the second most popular in Cambodia after Thai.

More than 400 Vietnamese companies have a presence in the country in sectors like trading, finance, and manufacturing.

Vietnam’s major exports to Cambodia include instant noodles, plastic products, tobacco, confectionary, household products, and vegetables.

Economists said to penetrate the Cambodian market, Vietnamese businesses should establish a distribution network, promote their trademarks, ensure business prestige, and introduce more products to retailers.

Bilateral trade has been rising by 40 percent every year, touching US$1.7 billion in 2008. It is expected to top $2 billion in 2010.

Cambodia PM questions Khmer Rouge court summonses

2009-10-08T17:34:00.001-07:00

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia's premier on Thursday questioned why a UN-backed Khmer Rouge war crimes court had summoned six top government and legislative officials as witnesses, describing the move as "strange".

In a move opposed by Cambodia's administration, French investigating judge Marcel Lemonde has called the officials to testify in the court's second case against Khmer Rouge leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said he found it "strange" that the six had been asked to testify as witnesses, as he considered them plaintiffs due to their roles in bringing the late 1970s Khmer Rouge regime to justice.

"Why do they call the plaintiffs to be witnesses? Because those people are known to have toppled (Khmer Rouge leader) Pol Pot and they are also the ones who approved the laws to try the Khmer Rouge," Hun Sen said.

He made the comments in a speech marking 30 years since the national bank was rebuilt after the Khmer Rouge.

The process has been hit by allegations that Hun Sen's administration has attempted to interfere in the tribunal to protect former regime members who are now in government.

Senate president Chea Sim, national assembly president Heng Samrin, foreign minister Hor Namhong, finance minister Keat Chhon and senators Sim Ka and Ouk Bunchhoeun were called last month to testify, the court revealed Wednesday.

The tribunal's second case is expected to try detained former Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea, head of state Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, minister of social affairs Ieng Thirith.

As the court has sought to investigate other suspects, Hun Sen has made fiery speeches warning further prosecutions could plunge Cambodia back into civil war. Such suggestions have been denied by critics.

Final arguments in the court's first trial of prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, known by the alias Duch, are scheduled for late next month.

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia between 1975-79, resulting in the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, overwork and torture.

2009-10-08T17:32:00.002-07:00

Khmer Preservation Group Praised in US

Hem Heng, Cambodia ambassador to US

Friends of Khmer Culture, Inc., is, according to its motto, “dedicated to supporting the artistic and cultural heritage of Cambodia.” And judging by a recent fundraiser of the US-based preservation group, in the state of Maryland, it’s a motto with a lot of support.

The group “was founded to address these areas that have been neglected by the major donors,” Franklin Huffman, well-known author of “Modern Spoken Cambodian”and an English-Khmer dictionary, told VOA Khmer at the fundraising gathering. The group was established in 2000 by people concerned about the survival of Cambodia’s artistic and cultural heritage.

The group supports training programs for the restoration of the temples of Banteay Chhmar, in Banteay Meanchey province, and of young Cambodian students for conservation work.

While everyone has heard of Angkor Wat, Huffman said, Cambodia has hundreds of other temples and archeological sites across the country.

Hem Heng, Cambodian ambassador to the US, who attended the fundraising ceremony, said he was please to see Cambodians and the US get together to help Cambodia’s temples, which were damaged by the war.

“This is a pleasant opportunity for me to participate in this important fundraising, to help conserve and restore our Khmer temples,” Hem Heng said. “This organization not only helps restore and conserve temples, but also trains people, which is a good gesture.”

Narin Seng Jameson, a member of the group’s advisory council and organizer of the gathering, told VOA Khmer she was happy to see so many supporters. The money from fundraising will support the publication of Khmer arts and culture.

“This proves that we Khmer love our culture and our country very much,” she said.

Friends of Khmer Culture works with Cambodian institutions to support “all forms of Khmer cultural expression and work with Cambodian and international scholars, artists, and institutions to preserve past achievements and encourage new vitality in art, literature, scholarship, and the performing arts.”

The hope, the group says, is to “rebuild civil society and enhance awareness and appreciation of Khmer culture both within and beyond Cambodia.”

Tribunal Summons Six Government Officials

2009-10-08T17:32:00.001-07:00

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday questioned the tribunal summonses for six government officials as witnesses, claiming they should instead be treated as plaintiffs.

“Why do they call the plaintiffs to be witnesses?” Hun Sen said at a ceremony in Phnom Penh celebrating the 30th anniversary of the National Bank. “Because those people are known to have toppled Pol Pot, and they are also the ones who approved the laws to try the Khmer Rouge.”

The court’s French investigating judge, Marcel Lemonde, sent summonses to Senate President Chea Sim, National Assembly President Heng Samrin, Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, Finance Minister Keat Chhon and senators Sim Ka and Ouk Bunchhoeun.

They are being asked to testify in the upcoming case against four jailed leaders of the regime, the second trial of the UN-backed court.

Both investigating judges declined further comment Thursday.

Government adviser Tit Sothea called the summonses “wrong,” saying to call senior leaders of the ruling party to court could weaken social safety and political stability.

“This summon is against people’s will, because we don’t want to do that,” he said.

Long Panhavuth, project officer for the Open Society Justice Initiative, which monitors the tribunal, said Lemonde’s summonses were a positive step for the court.

“This is a good means, by which [Lemonde] informed the public about who knows about the Khmer Rouge,” he said. In his role as investigating judge, “he should summon all people who know about the killing fields of Democratic Kampuchea.”

Cambodia's reserves top $2.5 bln: PM

2009-10-08T17:31:00.001-07:00

Cambodia's reserves top $2.5 bln: PM

Cambodia's reserves top $2.5 bln: PM

AFP - Friday, October 9

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - – Cambodia's foreign currency reserves have topped the 2.5 billion dollar mark despite forecasts that the country's economy will contract this year, the premier said Thursday.

Hun Sen revealed in a speech that the country has increased its international reserves by 21.48 percent since the end of last year, when they stood at just over two billion US dollars.

"Despite receiving the impact of the global economic and financial crisis, we can ensure international reserves will continue increasing remarkably," he said.

"As of the end of August 2009, calculated international reserves had reached 2,522 million US dollars," he added, in the speech marking 30 years since Cambodia rebuilt its national bank that was destroyed under the Khmer Rouge.

After several years of double-digit growth fuelled mainly by tourism and garment exports, Cambodia was buffeted by 2008's global economic downturn.

Last month the International Monetary Fund predicted Cambodia's economy will contract 2.75 percent this year amid the slowdown, but praised the national bank for its supervision of commercial banks hit by non-performing loans.

Cambodia remains a largely cash-only economy and a high degree of mistrust keeps many people hoarding their money at home, but Hun Sen said that confidence was growing and more people were using banks.

Nearly one third of Cambodia's 14 million people survive on only 50 US cents a day or less.

Summons to colleagues won't help justice: Hun Sen

2009-10-08T12:06:00.000-07:00

In this photo taken, Sept. 14, 2009, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen gestures as he takes a tour to a construction site of a Chinese-funded bridge at Prek Kdam village, some 30 kilometers north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Thursday Oct. 8, 2009
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday he doubts whether summoning six of his colleagues to testify at the country's Khmer Rouge genocide tribunal will help the cause of justice.

The UN-assisted tribunal announced Wednesday that it was calling the country's current foreign minister, finance minister, national assembly president, senate president and two other senators to testify before the tribunal's investigating judge.

All are top members of Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party but also exercised some authority when the communist Khmer Rouge held power in 1975-79. Hun Sen himself once served as a Khmer Rouge officer and many of his main allies are former members of the group.

The tribunal is seeking justice for the estimated 1.7 million people who died in Cambodia from execution, overwork, disease and malnutrition as a result of the group's radical policies.

Hun Sen has repeatedly expressed his sharp dissatisfaction with any efforts by the tribunal to expand its scope and possibly include his political allies.

The prime minister questioned the court's decision Thursday, saying his colleagues had already proven they were interested in seeing justice done.

"They (the court) know that these people helped to topple the regime of (late Khmer Rouge leader) Pol Pot from power, and moreover, adopted the law to try the Khmer Rouge leaders as well," Hun Sen said.

He appeared to question why his colleagues would be called as witnesses at the request of the defence, saying their testimony would only increase their punishment.

"Therefore how will justice be done?" he said.

The tribunal is currently trying its first defendant, Kaing Guek Eav -- also known as Duch -- who commanded S-21 prison in Phnom Penh, where up to 16,000 people were tortured and then taken away to be killed. He is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder and torture.

Also charged are Nuon Chea, the group's ideologist, Khieu Samphan, its former head of state, Ieng Sary, its foreign minister, and his wife Ieng Thirith, who was minister for social affairs.

Cambodia's monarchy quietly evolves

2009-10-08T12:03:00.000-07:00

(Photo: Reuters)

Asia Times Online

PHNOM PENH - Five years on from King Norodom Sihanouk's intricately-scripted departure from the political stage, Cambodia's new monarch Norodom Sihamoni is quietly and finally emerging from his father's shadow.

Enthroned by French colonial authorities in 1941, Sihanouk grew into a national symbol and wily political operator, entrenching himself at the center of the country's political life through his Sangkum Reastr Niyum, or People's Socialist Community, which ruled from 1955 to 1969. Unpredictable to the last, the often tempestuous monarch announced his surprise abdication on October 7, 2004, ending an era that spanned six decades and countless political and royal titles.

The monarchy was officially re-established under Sihanouk in 1993 as part of a United Nations-sponsored peace process and the country has since been governed as a constitutional monarchy. However, Sihamoni, Sihanouk's son and hand-picked successor, was always going to find it hard to live up to Sihanouk's colorful and often controversial legacy.

Born in 1953 to Sihanouk's wife Norodom Monineath, he was cut from an altogether different cloth: a dance instructor and actor, the new monarch had only a fleeting contact with political life. He served a brief spell as his father's personal secretary while he was exile in the early 1980s as well as Cambodia's ambassador to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris.

Despite the vast gulf in charisma and political style, observers say since Sihamoni's coronation in October 2004 there has been a subtle re-invigoration of the monarchy. Diverging from his father's hands-on style, the new king has managed to reshape the monarchy's role coincident with a changing political landscape, withdrawing it from the fray of day-to-day politics while advancing the institution as a symbol of national reconciliation.

At the same time, the five years of Sihamoni's reign have been tough for Cambodia's royalist political movement. Popular support for the kingdom's royalist political parties, Funcinpec and the Norodom Ranariddh Party, has fallen precipitously. Even before 2004, Funcinpec - first founded by Sihanouk in 1981 with the aim of opposing the Vietnamese military occupation - was on a steady electoral decline.

Prince Norodom Ranariddh, another of Sihanouk's sons, led the party to a stunning victory at the UN-backed 1993 elections, the first multiparty polls held in Cambodia in over 20 years, clinching 45% of the popular vote and 58 seats in the then 120-seat National Assembly. But the party has lost ground at every election since, dropping from 43 seats in 1998 to 26 seats in 2003. The party lost 24 of its remaining seats in 2008, winning just 5% of the national vote. In addition to electoral defeats, last year also saw the retirement of royalist stalwarts Ranariddh and Prince Norodom Sirivuth.

The royalist movement's electoral failures have coincided with the mounting successes of Prime Minister Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), which won 58% of the vote and 90 seats in the 123-member National Assembly at 2008 elections. In a fiery October 2005 speech, following years of constant and sometimes violent conflict between the CPP and Funcinpec, Hun Sen hinted at the possibility of abolishing the monarchy - as done under the Republican Lon Nol regime in 1970 - and suing members of the royal family for libel.

The following year, national television and radio aired strong criticisms of the King Father, a position Sihanouk was granted after stepping down, broadcasting Republican-era songs that accused him of ceding land to the Vietnamese communists during the 1960s. (Hun Sen has notably come under similar criticisms in recent years, leading to a crackdown on journalists and commentators that made the claims.) The government also banned the use of Sihanouk's image in campaigning for the 2008 national election.
'Eternal' symbol

But despite these challenges, Cambodia's monarchy continues to flourish. Unlike Sihanouk, who bucked against the constitutional requirement that the King "reign but not rule", royalists say Sihamoni has grown into the role of figurehead, presenting himself as a less volatile symbol of the Khmer nation and national reconciliation. According to Cambodia's constitution, the King is both head of state and symbol of the unity and "eternity" of the nation.

Prince Sisowath Sirirath, Funcinpec's second deputy president, said that between the monarchy's abolition in October 1970 and its re-instatement in 1993, Cambodians had forgotten what previous monarchs were like. After the darkest years in Cambodia's modern history, he said, Sihamoni had reestablished the monarchy's traditional role as an "umbrella" under which Cambodians could unite. "His Excellency King Sihamoni is doing his very best to renew that respectable position both for the nation, the people of Cambodia and the members of the royal family," he said.

Julio A Jeldres, Sihanouk's official biographer, agreed that despite the attempt of successive governments to "diminish" the central role the monarchy, the new king has proven a worthy successor. "King Sihamoni has followed up on his eminent father's example and has adopted the same way of dealing with present circumstances in Cambodia as well as establishing close links with the more disadvantaged of his compatriots," he said.

Despite the evolution of the monarchy and continual losses of its aligned parties at the polls, royalist politicians believe they still have a future in Cambodian politics. "Given a fair and honest chance in the elections, Funcinpec will regain its position," said Prince Sirirath. "We believe in democratic values, we believe in respecting human rights [and] we believe whatever we sign with our partners is of great value. Things like this continue to be in the mind of the Funcinpec leaders."

He added that Cambodia's peace and stability could best be secured by royalist leaders that established continuities between the past and the present. "The people of Cambodia need a member of the royal family to lead them," he said. "The love of the monarchy, the love of the King, is there in the hearts of the Cambodian people, and [if you] shake the monarchy you will be shaking the roots of the people's support."

Others, however, think the decline of royalist politicians stems from increasing voter disillusionment with their aims and intentions. Funcinpec won the 1993 election thanks to its clever use of Sihanouk's image, but countless missteps in the years since have alienated its supporter base. Jeldres said that although rural support for the monarchy remained strong despite electoral defeats, generational changes had possibly made royalty less relevant to younger Cambodians. While older peasants remained loyal to the institution, new generations "do not seem to have been given much knowledge" about the monarchy's past role in Cambodian affairs and thus were "less inclined" to see it as a national institution, he said.

Outspoken royal Prince Sisowath Thomico, who formed the short-lived Sangkum Jatiniyum Front Party in 2006, said the withdrawal of royals from politics - and the de-politicization of the monarchy more generally - was a vital step in ensuring their ability to act in the country's best interest. "If the royals are not involved in politics their actions cannot be seen as political actions aimed at gaining political support. It is a fundamental part of the problem: if the royals are suspected of getting involved in politics then whatever they do will be limited," he said. "[Withdrawal from politics] is the sine qua non condition for them to succeed."

The fear, he added, was that the presence of "royalist" parties - however successful - implied that all competing parties were anti-royalist, an assumption that could easily become a self-fulfilling prophecy. By creating a perceived link between the royalist opposition and the throne, royalist politicians have dragged the institution into its conflicts with Hun Sen and the CPP. "These threats were done in a context in which Funcinpec pretended to be royalist," Prince Thomico added. "If Funcinpec is seen as a royalist party, then the other parties competing against Funcinpec are not. And the future of the monarchy [will be] seen to rely on the success of the party, which is not true."

Ros Chantraboth, deputy director of the Royal Academy in Phnom Penh, agreed that Sihanouk's domination of political life the 1950s and 1960s had unwittingly dragged the monarchy into the political fray, culminating in its eventual abolition in 1970. "I think Sihanouk's politics contained the seeds of their own destruction, because he made some mistakes, and it pushed some people without any real power to overthrow him," he said. But Sihamoni's turn away from his father's hands-on style, he said, had established a firm basis for the long-term survival of the monarchy.
"If the king stands above the Cambodian people, I think it will bring Cambodia political stability," he said. "This is the new evolution of the monarchy."

Sebastian Strangio is a reporter for the Phnom Penh Post in Cambodia.

Thailand to propose dispute-settling mechanism at ASEAN summit

2009-10-08T03:48:00.002-07:00

BANGKOK, Oct 8 (TNA) - Thailand's Minister of Foreign Affairs Kasit Piromya on Thursday said Thailand will propose establishing a mechanism to settle conflicts among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during the group’s upcoming summit scheduled for later this month in the Thai seaside resorts of Cha-am and Hua Hin.

Mr Kasit made his remarks during a speech in the Thai capital Thursday on the problem of land sovereignty along the Thai-Cambodian border.

The Thai foreign minister expressed hope that the mechanism will help sort out border disputes between Thailand and Cambodia.

Thailand will host the 15th ASEAN Summit and related summits in Phetchaburi's Cha-am district and Prachuab Khiri Khan's Hua Hin district October 23 to 25. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has confirmed that he will attend the summit despite the renewed tensions between the two neighbouring countries.

Mr Hun Sen earlier announced that he had ordered his troops to shoot any intruders from Thailand who stepped on Cambodian soil, after protesters led by Thailand's Peoples’ Alliance for Democracy (PAD) rallied in Si Sa Ket province last month to oppose Cambodia's plan to build new structures in the contested 4.6 square kilometres zone surrounding Preah Vihear temple.

The PAD protesters clashed with local police and local residents there.

Mr Kasit said that the government has negotiation frameworks which adhere to peaceful approaches and avoid any use of violence.

"I affirm that we have not yet lost the contested 4.6 square kilometers land and negotiation is the best way to solve this conflict," said Mr Kasit.

The minister added that rumours sometimes have been unleashed with an aim to benefit internal politics.

"I met Mr Hun Sen last week and everything sounds fine. I clarified the issue with all parties concerned," the Thai foreign minister said.

Mr Kasit reaffirmed that there is no conflict of interest, nor secret, in tackling the border dispute. He insisted everything can be examined and urged the public to trust the government's sincere intention to solve the dispute.

"I urge everyone not to stir up troubles which could lead to international conflict," said Mr Kasit.

The border disputes between Thailand and Cambodia flared up when former Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama signed a joint communique with Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sok An in June 2008 to support Cambodia's sole application to list the 11th century temple as a World Heritage site, while the question of sovereignty over the land has never been clearly resolved.

Cambodia tourism starts its slow recovery

2009-10-08T03:48:00.001-07:00

Cambodia tourism has been confronted with the economic crisis to the slump of a dramatic decline from Northeast Asia, especially Japan and South Korea. Political skirmish with Thailand also contributed to a sharp drop from neighboring tourists.

After six years of uninterrupted growth –and mostly in double-digit figures-, Cambodia tourism has seen a decline in total arrivals for the first half of 2009. Albeit modest at -1.1 percent, it sent a worrying signal as tourism is one of the biggest revenues earning for the government and a major source of employment with over 300,000 Khmers working in the hotel and tourism business.

According to a survey, South Korean travelers, among Cambodia’s top incoming markets, drop by a third during the first semester 2009. Markets such as Australia, China, Thailand or Japan declined also in double-digit numbers. Growth was however recorded in Vietnam –now Cambodia’s largest incoming market-, France, the UK and the USA.

The city of Siem Reap, where Angkor Wat fabled temples are located, has been more affected by the drop. According to data from the airports authority, the number of passengers at Siem Reap declined from January to May by 25.5 percent, from 778,000 to 580,000.

During the same period, Phnom Penh saw passengers’ traffic declining by a more modest 12.9 percent from 767,000 to 667,000 passengers. Numbers have since substantially improved at Phnom Penh International Airport. Passengers’ traffic was only down by 10.2 percent at the end of August.

The disaffection for Angkor Wat is also reflected into the revenues from Apsara Authorities, which manages the temples. For the first half of the year, revenues from ticket sales were down by almost 20 percent. It would be the second consecutive year of decline for the authority as revenues from ticket sales already dropped from US$ 32 to 30 million between 2007 and 2008. Bun Narith, director general of the Apsara Authority, blamed the economic crisis, political uncertainties in neighboring Thailand and bad weather for the overall drop.

Meanwhile, tourism in Cambodia seems to have reached the bottom line. In July, the kingdom recorded an increase of 10 percent in total arrivals. Numerous price reductions and discounts in hotels and tourist attractions, the opening of new border crossings, more flights to Cambodia thanks to the new national carrier Cambodia Angkor Air (CAA) should contribute to put back tourism on the right track. The government has already promised to start again a TV campaign on channels in China, Japan and Korea and predict that tourism will grow again from September. With a bit of luck, it could even erase completely its decline and show a modest growth in total arrivals by year-end.

Cambodia hosts int'l meeting on global economic crisis

2009-10-08T03:45:00.000-07:00

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia hosts a three-day meeting on Thursday in Cambodia's northern province of Siem Reap, focusing on global economic crisis.

A statement released by Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) said the annual forum's theme for this year is "Overcoming the Global Financial and Economic Crisis: The Rule of Law as the Key to Economic Freedom," which is devoted to the topic of dealing with the global economic crisis.

"We need to understand them to see which reforms are needed. We also need to guard against those who use the crisis as a pretext for furthering their own illiberal agendas," the statement said.

"We will try to explore how to bridge the gap between people's clamor for action and protection against the effects of the crisis can be reconciled to sober economic analysis. Otherwise we risk wasting huge amounts of resources for little effect, resources that will go to the politically powerful rather than the poor and needy," it added.

The conference is a platform for the exchange of useful information, practical techniques and networking tailored to the needs of think tanks, industry, academics and policymakers.

Since 1998, it has become the Economic Freedom Network Asia conference's custom to utilize various forms of comprehensive and interactive programs.

In addition to keynote presentations and panel discussions, this year's conference will employ the Open Space Technology (OST). OST is a facilitation method which allows participants to identify specific issues, self-select into discussion groups and work on issues with individuals of similar interests.

Keynote speakers include Keat Chhon, deputy prime minister and minister of economy and finance of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and Professor Lawrence H. White from George Mason University.

The conference is sponsored and supported by Economic Freedom Network Asia and Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty and in collaboration with the Cambodia Institute of Development Study and the Citizen Action Net for Social Development

Brighton Bandits are go

2009-10-07T20:17:00.000-07:00

The Odeon in Brighton was the place to be recently as the Justin Campaign screened the film Brighton Bandits in aid of the fight against homophobia in football on the International Day Against Homophobia

Having been crowned Gay Football League Champions in 2006, Brighton Bandits FC made the first ever in-depth documentary last year about a gay football team. The aim of the film is to debunk the myth that gay men don’t play football – a myth that is shared by the gay community, the football industry and beyond

A panorama of zoning chaos

2009-10-07T07:38:00.000-07:00

By Amando Doronila
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:25:00 10/07/2009

The gigantic task of clearing up the debris left by Storm “Ondoy” (international codename: Ketsana) has just begun, following the total collapse of the drainage and waste disposal infrastructure of Metro Manila, a metropolis of 20 million people. The flooding exposed the inadequacy of the drainage system. Esteros, creeks and canals are choked by... garbage, as municipal and even national relief services appear puny to cope with the scale of the cleanup.

The garbage pile-up crisis and its origins are described in a 2001 University of the Philippines study by Doracie B. Zoleta-Nantes. According to this study, the population of Metro Manila stood at 200,000 at the turn of the 20th century. The lack of opportunities in the countryside and the rapid urbanization of Metro Manila encouraged a massive influx of rural migrants into the megacity. The NCR had a population of 9.93 million as of May 2000 and an annual growth rate of 2.25 percent. At current projected rates of growth, Metro Manila is estimated to have a population of 19 million by 2016. Metro Manila has an average population density of 15,610 per sq. km. This population explosion has caused the expansion of poor squatters’ colonies. It has contributed to the deterioration of the infrastructure and the quality of urban services in the metropolis.

On the average, a person generates 0.5 to 0.6 kilos of garbage a day in the megacity, according to the study. As of 1999, the nine million residents of Metro Manila generated approximately 6,000 tons of garbage a day. Yet, only 71 percent of the solid waste generated daily was collected by dump trucks, and disposed of by government and private waste collection agencies. The remaining 29 percent or 1,800 tons of garbage, was left on street corners and vacant lots, or thrown into storm drains and other waterways. Along with sewage leaks from septic tanks and other hazardous materials, this type of solid waste seriously clogged the network of drainage canals.

“Only 10 percent (or a total of 50 km) of the drainage facilities is dredged, de-clogged and maintained each year by the Department of Public Works and Highways in Manila,” according to the UP study. “This figure is equivalent to a total of only 14 meters every day. Most of the drainage facilities are not accessible because many of the drainage canals’ service roads have been encroached upon by different types of residential, government and business structures.”

This description draws a nightmarish panorama of zoning chaos so embedded in the metropolis that has prompted urban planning architects and real estate developers to call for the obliteration of the jumble of structures in Metro Manila—a colossal project that suggests a “total solution” that requires nothing less than dropping an atomic bomb on the metropolis.

Real estate developers call for the rezoning of Metro Manila back to the original plans of Chicago architect Daniel Burnham, who designed Baguio. But developers, who are partly responsible for this zoning anarchy, are not part of the solution, they are part of the problem. They have little credibility blaming other factors for this urban chaos and huge human tragedy.

Enter the problem of the choking of the drainage system. The UP study points out:

“Meanwhile, indiscriminate dumping of trash seriously clogs the esteros, which are modified systems of natural channels and brackish water from coastal lakes that were intended to relieve flooding and improve waterborne transportation.

“The estero system worked well in the 19th and 20th centuries. But as the channels were filled in to provide building sites and refuse dumps for a rapidly growing urban population, the esteros have gradually become incapable of serving their original purpose.

“Encroachment by adjacent private property owners on the formerly protected banks of the esteros has been reported since the beginning of the 20th century.

“It would now be difficult to reopen these waterways because of the accumulated changes that have taken place (e.g. landfills, squatter settlements, emplacement of major roads and prominent buildings, deterioration of water quality, etc.). Thus rapid urbanization, encroachment of squatters on river banks, silting of waterways and lack of sewerage and drainage facilities worsen the flood hazards of Metro Manila.

“Since 1953, floods have affected Metro Manila on many occasions, including at least a dozen times that drew extensive coverage in the local mass media: August 1953; September 1956; May 1960; July 1961, 1962, 1964; June 1967; August 1970; July 1972; October 1988.

“Several trends may be observed in the flood events from the 1950s and 1990s. Flooded areas spread from the low-lying areas in the coastal parts of Manila, Navotas and Malabon, and along the banks of the San Juan and Pasig Rivers in the 1950s to the suburban areas of Manila, Quezon City, Pasay, San Juan and Caloocan in the 1960s and 1970s. The squatter areas that mushroomed along the banks of the esteros and rivers and in other marginal locations were regularly inundated several times each year.

“Flood incidence expanded in the 1980s in the increasingly urbanized low-lying areas in Pasig and Marikina and along the shores of Laguna de Bay most particularly in Taguig and Pateros. [The map of the flooded areas struck by Ondoy confirms this trend.]
“Costly subdivisions built on former agricultural lands were not spared the consequences of flooding. Indeed, flooding has become prevalent even in relatively high places. Quezon, Makati, Manila, Parañaque, Muntinlupa, Pasig and San Juan have not been spared the consequences of flooding in the 1990s mainly due to substandard subdivision drainage infrastructure.”

Silver lining to downturn

2009-10-07T07:16:00.000-07:00

Carbon dioxide emissions, the main driver of global warming, could fall 3 percent worldwide in 2009 due to the global economic crisis, the International Energy Agency said in Bangkok.

This would be the steepest drop in CO2 emissions for 40 years, chief IEA economist Fatih Birol said, adding that... average annual growth in global carbon output until now has been 3 percent.

Birol said this silver-lining drop in carbon pollution was a "unique window of opportunity" for the world to put itself on a path to limit the increase in global temperatures to two degrees Celsius, the threshold for dangerous global warming.

The recession-driven fall would lead to CO2 emissions in 2020 being 5 percent lower than the IEA forecast from a year ago, even if no further action is taken to curb global warming, he added.

The IEA estimate is part of its World Energy Outlook report, an excerpt of which was released at UN climate talks under way in Bangkok.

The talks are running out of time to deliver a new global climate treaty at a December conference in Copenhagen. Rich and poor nations are divided over how to share the burden of cutting greenhouse gases, and who will pay for it.

At the same time, aid agencies said the rise in Asian weather disasters should serve as a wake-up call for negotiators to intensify their efforts.

Pointing to recent typhoons, floods and droughts in Asia, World Vision and the Red Cross said poor nations like the Philippines and Vietnam will be the ones to suffer most if world leaders fail to reach a climate pact by the end of the year.

IDP safety and resettlement is Sri Lanka’s top priority: diplomat

2009-10-07T06:12:00.000-07:00

Vadivel Krishnamoorthy, Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner in Southern India, during an interaction in Chennai on Tuesday.

CHENNAI: The newly appointed Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner in Southern India, Vadivel Krishnamoorthy, said his objective was to strengthen the “excellent relations” of his country with...
southern India, especially with Tamil Nadu.

Speaking to The Hindu on a range of issues, Mr. Krishnamoorthy, a Tamil of recent Indian origin whose ancestors migrated from Ramanathapuram three generations ago, said the two countries shared political, economic and cultural ties. “Today we are looking at the SAARC and South Asia, but bilaterally we are close neighbours,” he added. “We have also signed a free trade agreement with India. So India could become number one in terms of imports and exports. In terms of our bilateral relations we have the best of times. In my time I will work towards strengthening it.”

The Deputy High Commissioner expressed his gratitude for India’s help in rehabilitation and resettlement programmes, adding that the welfare camps for internally displaced persons (IDP) were “in very good condition.”

He explained that his government had adequately addressed the concerns raised over the preparedness of the camps to tackle the monsoon. “The government’s priority,” he reiterated, “is the convenience and safety of the IDPs. When the monsoon comes, the drainage is important. So 80 per cent of the drainage system, in a short span of time, anticipating many difficulties, has been created. The rest of the drainage, I think, will be constructed within a week.”

Mr. Krishnamoorthy said the Sri Lanka government and President Mahinda Rajapaksa gave the utmost priority to the security of the IDPs and 10,593 IDPs were already resettled in their original places. A total of 22,668 IDPs had been released from different camps on the basis of medical needs and humanitarian considerations. Senior citizens, religious leaders, foreign visa holders, university students, and pregnant mothers had also been released.

He pointed out that the government had launched the National Framework Proposal for reintegration of ex-combatants into civilian life in Sri Lanka, to safeguard the human rights of ex-combatants and to protect and assist them in accordance with the Constitution of Sri Lanka to ensure sustainable peace and reconciliation.

Mr. Krishnamoorthy said mines remained a major obstacle to the resettlement and the government had imported machines to speed up demining. “We imported demining machines from Croatia. It cost 270 million in Sri Lankan rupees and so within a short time, that is in the last five months 26,734 anti-personnel mines, 26 landmines, 26 death traps, and 31 pressure bomb reels were removed. We also imported 5 machines from Slovakia for 260 million rupees.”

The Sri Lankan government had resource constraints, he explained, but President Rajapaksa had assigned the highest priority to development works. “He wants to ensure empowerment and equality so that every citizen, notwithstanding their birth or culture, is treated the same way. He wants to establish a bilingual nation with equal rights for all. The President’s vision is to make a unified country.”

U.S.-Afghan assault kills 40 militants, Kabul says

2009-10-07T06:05:00.000-07:00

KABUL -- American and Afghan troops swept through forested mountains in eastern Afghanistan yesterday, killing 40 militant fighters in a hunt for insurgents responsible for one of the war's deadliest attacks on U.S. troops, the Defense Ministry said.

Ten Afghan soldiers have been killed in... the operations since Monday, most of them in Nuristan province's Kamdesh district, ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said.

The violence was part of a spate of attacks across the nation, including a roadside bombing of a NATO convoy in Sayed Abad district west of Kabul that wounded two foreign soldiers, said Capt. Elizabeth Mathias, an American media officer for NATO forces.

Meanwhile, the country also is nearing a resolution to August's disputed presidential vote. Election workers began recounting suspect ballots Monday, and a ruling on whether President Hamid Karzai won or will face a runoff is expected next week.

Kamdesh, cut off from the rest of the region with no regular phone or radio contact and few roads, is where eight Americans and two Afghan troops died Saturday after hundreds of Taliban militants overwhelmed their thinly manned garrisons.Azimi said joint operations were continuing yesterday in Kamdesh, and seven insurgents had been arrested there.

Mathias, however, said there had "not been any significant engagement" in Kamdesh since Saturday. She said U.S. and Afghan forces were still in the remote area and had not pulled out.

NATO said in a statement that 100 attackers were killed in Saturday's fighting. The alliance had previously said only that coalition forces inflicted "heavy casualties" while defending the outposts with artillery, airstrikes and helicopter gunships.

NATO said Saturday's attack was carried out "by local anti-Afghan forces, while local Taliban" and fighters loyal to Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar "may have helped facilitate" it.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility.

In other violence yesterday, a patrol came under small-arms and rocket-propelled-grenade fire in Logar province, southwest of Kabul, but there were no casualties, Mathias said. Logar's police chief, Gen. Mohammed Mustafa Mosseini, said the attack sparked a gunbattle that led to the arrest of at least one militant.

In London, Britain's defense ministry said one British soldier died Monday after an explosion in southern Afghanistan. The soldier was on foot patrol near the Nad Ali district center in restive Helmand province.
U.S. war dead

Includes combat and noncombat military deaths:

• In Afghanistan: 791 since military operations began Oct. 7, 2001

Sources: Defense Department, Associated Press

French envoy calls for substantial nuclear talks

2009-10-07T06:03:00.000-07:00

The French special envoy on North Korea said Wednesday there should be "real and concrete discussions" if international talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programs resume.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il told the visiting Chinese prime minister, Wen Jiabao, on Monday that... Pyongyang is willing to rejoin six-nation nuclear talks depending on progress in its negotiations with the U.S., according to Chinese and North Korean official media.

That raised hope for North Korea's possible return to the talks, from which it withdrew after conducting a rocket test in April and a second nuclear test in May. The regime said earlier it would never return to the talks involving China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the U.S.

Jack Lang, the French envoy on North Korea who was appointed by President Nicolas Sarkozy last week, has been on a tour of the six nations involved in the negotiations to evaluate ways France can help end the nuclear standoff.

Lang, who arrived in Seoul on Tuesday from Japan, said there should be "real and concrete discussions" if North Korea comes back to the negotiating table.

"We hope that it will be not only the opening of discussions, but it will be the way to change completely the situation," Lang told reporters after meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan.

Lang said he plans to visit North Korea around Nov. 10.

Yonhap news agency quoted Lang as saying in a separate news conference that France or the European Union could participate in compensating North Korea in return for its denuclearization. Neither France nor the EU is a member of the six-nation disarmament talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programs.

China said it welcomed the North's offer to return to the nuclear talks, saying late Tuesday that the six-party talks are the best way to achieve a nuclear-free Korean peninsula and they should resume as soon as possible.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Washington was aware of reports that North Korea would reconsider opening talks but said the United States had not gotten details of the meeting from the Chinese.

North Korea has been moderating its tone in recent weeks, signaling its willingness to resume a dialogue with the United States, China and other partners and backing away from the provocative behavior and rhetoric of the spring.

The North agreed in 2007 to disable its nuclear facilities in return for international aid. In June last year, the North blew up the cooling tower at its main nuclear complex near Pyongyang in show of its commitment. But the denuclearization came to a halt later in 2008 as Pyongyang wrangled with Washington over how to verify its past activities.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/10/05/international/i222019D38.DTL#ixzz0TFr2HHSo

A Reason for Hun Sen’s Contempt for Thailand

2009-10-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

7 October 2009

Last Friday (October 2), Pheu Thai MP Chalerm Yoobamrung admitted to have given to Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen an audio clip that features Foreign Affairs Minister Kasit Piromya criticizing him. He explained that as some people were trying to root out exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, he could do the same to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva....

What I saw on the news the next day was the picture of the Cambodian prime minister exchanging greetings and pleasantries with the Thai foreign affairs minister in the second meeting of foreign ministers from Japan and five countries on the Mekong River, held in Siam Reap province of Cambodia.

Earlier, Hun Sen said with strong words that he had ordered his troops to shoot Thai trespassers if they illegally crossed the border to Cambodia’s territory. He also threatened to withdraw from the ASEAN summit to be held in Thailand at the end of October.

However, just a few days after Hun Sen’s declaration, a source at the Thai Foreign Ministry revealed that the Cambodian leader would definitely attend the summit.

I recounted these events in order to show how crafty Hun Sen is and that he could use the Preah Vihear dispute as political ploy at will.

And while Chalerm was bragging about his secret delivery of Kasit’s clip, I could imagine Hun Sen sitting on his prime minister chair and enjoying the Thai government and the Opposition fighting each other

In Hun Sen’s eyes, Chalerm is perhaps a bit like a mischievous kid, an image that is a stark contrast to a prior impression that the Thai politician was respectable and, most of all, mature.

Chalerm’s move is quite embarrassing to the nation considering Hun Sen had long gotten his hands on the clip complete with a Cambodian subtitle. It is said that he had ordered his men to check on the background of anyone who spoke about his country.

It is not surprising at all that the Cambodian prime minister would be well informed of what happened in Thailand as he has an embassy and many news sources here.

Can you imagine what Hun Sen would think after he received the clip with the sender’s name of Charlerm?

What would you say if a member of your rival approaches you and offers to sell information to you?

If that occurred to me, as a good citizen who has every conscience to protect the interest of his own country, I would ask myself, how in the world could this guy be disloyal to his country?

And that might explain why Hun Sen is always looking at Thailand with disdain.

Cambodia's trade with Hong Kong down 24 pct to end July

2009-10-06T22:11:00.000-07:00

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Bilateral trade between Cambodia and China's Hong Kong dropped 24.39 percent in the first seven months year-on-year, local media reported Wednesday.

Citing the data released by... the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the reports said trade between the two sides fell to 288 million U.S. dollars from 380.94 million dollars last year.

Hong Kong's total exports to Cambodia fell to 279 million dollars from 375.5 million dollars, while Cambodia's shipments in return increased to 9 million dollars from 5.44 million dollars during the year up to the end of July.

The figures were released Tuesday at a press conference to attract Cambodian companies to hold trade exhibitions in Hong Kong.

"The drop was because of the global financial crisis. However, now trade between Cambodia and Hong Kong is becoming stable because the economy is not so bad; it may not drop further," Johnny Wan, senior exhibitions manager at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.

Cambodia's main exports to Hong Kong were food items, garments and footwear, and gemstones, he said. "Cambodia has so many good products, but foreigners may not know much about them, so Cambodia should promote more ... through trade shows and marketing," Wan said.

Infant Saved After H1N1 Claims Mother

2009-10-06T22:07:00.000-07:00

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
06 October 2009

Cambodian health authorities operated to save the life of a premature child taken from its 25-year-old Cambodian mother, who died of H1N1 flu on Tuesday, officials said...

She was seven months pregnant, and officials at Calmette hospital saved the child through a cesarean operation, Minister of Health Mam Bunheng told reporters.

"The baby is lucky after doctors operated on its mother," he said. "The baby was born healthy."

The woman's death brings the toll from the disease to three in Cambodia, with an estimated 120 infections. A 47-year-old Cambodian man died of the virus, sometimes called swine flu, on Monday.

"We should strengthen people's health, because the epidemic of sine flu virus is fast," Mam Bunheng said.

The World Health Organization estimates more than 340,000 confirmed cases of A H1N1 worldwide and more than 41,000 deaths.

SC edict not to go wide of mark

2009-10-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

The Supreme Court Tuesday spelt out sermons for both lawyers and journalists not to make observations or news influencing the judicial process during the appeal hearing in the Bangabandhu Murder Case as the proceedings for a second straight day were wrapped up, reports UNB.
Tuesday''s hearing resumed with... submissions made by Barrister Abdullah Al Mamun, the counsel for Maj (retd) Bazlul Huda and Lt Col (retd) AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed (Lancer), before a five-member Appellate Division bench constituted to deal with and dispose of the long-pending appeals of the condemned former army officers.
The hearing session will resume today (Wednesday) to pick up the points next along the line laid down in the paper-book on the case history.
After two years'' inordinate delay, the hearing got down underway Monday with the reading out of excerpts from the bulky paper-book containing the whole case documents, including the lodging of the First Information Report (FIR) and all judgments.
The High Court finally affirmed the death sentences against twelve of the accused, acquitting three others, on April 30, 2001.
In November 1998, the trial court, however, sentenced a total of 15 retired and dismissed army personnel for the August 15, 1975 carnage, subject to High Court confirmation.
Earlier during first day''s hearing Monday, Barrister Mamun read the case history from the paper-book before the appeal court.
During the course of reading out, the Appellate Division bench reminded the counsel of limitations confining the deliberations to the five points on which leave was granted for filing appeals against the High Court judgment and the relevant part involving the appellants in order to "avert repetition".
The five points are: whether Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed along with most of his family members as a result of a mutiny, whether the evidences adduced by several witnesses are contradictory, whether delay in filing the First Information Report (FIR) is reasonable as held by the lower court, whether there is any conspiracy behind this murder, and whether disposal of the death references of six accused out of 15 by the 3rd judge in the High Court was correct and legal.
Before daybreak on August 15, 1975, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of the nation, and his family members, except his two daughters - incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, who were fortunately abroad at the time -- were massacred by a splinter group of the country''s armed forces that had changed the course of politics in the newly liberated Bangladesh.

Khaleda endorses Jalil remarks about elections

2009-10-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

Sees conspiracy behind education policy

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia endorsed ex-Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil''s London remarks that Awami League came to power following an understanding with the military-backed caretaker government, reports UNB.
"There is no reason to disbelieve the remarks by the general secretary of the party in power," she said while... addressing a meeting on Monday night with a delegation of Teacher-Employee Oikya Jote to mark the World Teacher Day and on the proposed National Education Policy at her Gulshan office.
Opposing the proposed education policy, Khaleda said if this policy is implemented, joblessness would be created door-to-door upsetting the government agenda for providing job to every house.
The former Prime Minister apprehended the proposed education policy would harm the country religiously and socially. She urged the teachers to build up resistance in phases if such an education policy harms national interest.
Khaleda smelt foreign conspiracy behind the proposed education policy, saying that the present situation has come to such a pass that "not only you will lose your jobs, but you will lose the country and sovereignty."
She called for salvaging the country with united efforts by implementing action programs in phases.
The BNP chairperson observed that having experienced the past nine months'' rule, people started realizing that the country would not have landed into such a situation if BNP were in power.
Khaleda said the present government wants to erase the memories of slain President Ziaur Rahman who ensured freedom of all religious faiths. She said, "Any bid to banish Zia will boomerang and Zia will be more popular to the people."
Chief coordinator of the Teacher-Employee Oikya Jote principal Selim Bhuiyan led the delegation.
Leaders of various teacher and employees'' organizations of education sector were on the delegation. Among them were secretary-general of Bangladesh College Teachers Association principal Mogisuddin Mahmud, chairman of Bangladesh Madrasha Teachers Association MA Latif and its secretary-general Delwar Hossain, secretary-general of Bangladesh Higher Secondary Teachers Association principal Mahbubur Rahman Mollah and M Zakir Hossain, secretary-general Bangladesh Headmasters Association.
Criticizing the proposed national education policy the delegation leaders called for raising voice under Leadership of the Opposition in Parliament Khaleda Zia for canceling the national education policy which did not incorporate Islamic education and deprecated it as well.
BNP secretary-general Khandaker Delwar Hossain and BNP leaders former Education Minister Dr Osman Farruk and former state minister for education Ehsanul Huq Milon also spoke at the function.

Opposition should join JS for national welfare: PM

2009-10-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

Opposition role in democratic system focused during Hasina-Moriarty meet

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the abstaining opposition party should join Parliament and keep their constructive opinions in the House on every national issue for the nation''s welfare, reports UNB.
She made the suggestion when US Ambassador
James F Moriarty paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister at the PMO Tuesday and the two sides discussed a wide range of issues of bilateral interest of Bangladesh and the United States.
The main opposition BNP has long been abstaining from attending the parliament session following a dispute over sitting arrangement in the front row.
Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Prime Minister''s Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad said the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and the US Ambassador discussed various issues of bilateral, regional and international development.
As they discussed the role of opposition party in a democratic system, Sheikh Hasina told the US envoy that her government is "firm on strengthening further the foundation of parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh".
"The people of the country expect the opposition party join parliament and help the nation in achieving its desired development targets by placing their opinions and views," the Prime Minister said.
Hasina and Moriarty also exchanged views on the adversities of global warming and the challenges of climate change as a result.
The recent visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to New York on the occasion of UN General Assembly session and her various events there were also discussed during the meeting.
Moriarty mentioned Bangladesh''s success in disaster management and highly praised Sheikh Hasina''s speech at the UNGA and the World Climate Conference-3 in Geneva. He said she has been successful in giving the world community "necessary direction for identifying the risks of climate change and the solutions to tackle the challenges".
"Besides, Sheikh Hasina''s speech has presented the significance of food security in a world facing the economic recession," the US Ambassador was quoted as saying.
The Prime Minister in the meeting mentioned her talks with United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon, US President Barack Obama and her wife Michel Obama, and US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton at various events in New York.
Sheikh Hasina told the US Ambassador that she has invited US President and Mrs Obama to visit Bangladesh and they accepted her invitation.
As Moriarty praised Bangladesh''s role and contribution to UN Peacekeeping Mission, Hasina said Bangladesh deserves high representation in the policymaking level of the peace-policing operations under blue-helmet.
She again mourned the death of Senator Edward Kennedy and prayed for his departed soul. The premier said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman''s family and the Kennedy family have a close relation at the familial level.
Sheikh Hasina noted with gladness that late Edward Kennedy''s son Patrick Kennedy has joined the Bangladesh Congressional Caucus.
The Prime Minister also urged the US government to give duty-and quota-free access of more Bangladeshi products to the American market.
Hasina called for more US investment in various development sectors of Bangladesh and boosting bilateral trade and business.
The Premier said her present government is working relentlessly to create a social-safety net in the country through creating employment opportunities, providing mass people with quality health and education facilities.
In this context, the Prime Minister mentioned that the government has a plan to make education up to degree level free and promised to attain food security of the country again like the past Awami League government.
She further laid emphasis on the reopening of Dhaka-NY flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
As various matters of Bangladeshi expatriates in the USA came up for discussion, Sheikh Hasina requested the US government to take maximum care of the Bangladeshi people over there.
Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister MA Karim was present.

Coping with natural disasters

2009-10-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

It has been a terrible period for countries in the Asia-Pacific region, with natural calamities of one kind or another bringing death and destruction to their lands. On September 26, Typhoon Ketsana ploughed through the Philippines before tearing into Vietnam, Cambodia, and ...
Laos. The storm produced the worst flooding in decades across the northern Philippines, caused extensive damage in the countries it swept through, and killed several hundred people. Before the Filipinos could catch their breath, Typhoon Parma hurtled through the less populated north-eastern part of their island nation before heading towards Taiwan. On September 29, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake set off a lethal tsunami that levelled the idyllic Pacific islands of Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga. The towering walls of water claimed many lives and wiped out whole villages. Less than a day later, a quake of magnitude 7.6 shook southern Sumatra in Indonesia. Some 1,000 people have been killed in the coastal city of Padang and it is feared thousands more lie trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings. The temblor has torn up roads, making it difficult to reach aid to devastated villages in the interior.

Natural disasters are, of course, beyond human control. But human action and inaction can profoundly affect their outcome, exacerbating or mitigating their effects on people. This point was forcefully made in the United Nations 2009 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction. Although natural calamities strike the wealthier nations too, the risk of death and economic loss from such events is heavily concentrated in developing countries and within these countries, it is the poor who disproportionately suffer. As U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon observed: “Pre-emptive risk reduction is the key. Sound response mechanisms after the event, however effective, are never enough.” With just such foresight, Japan has been able to build one of the world’s most prosperous economies on densely populated islands that face the ever-present threat of earthquakes and tsunamis. India too is vulnerable to natural calamities. A report produced by the Central government a few years ago noted that about 60 per cent of the country is prone to earthquakes of various intensities; over 40 million hectares can be flooded; about eight per cent of the land can be hit by cyclones; and 68 per cent of its area is susceptible to drought. Governments in India and other developing countries must find practical ways to reduce their vulnerability to a variety of natural hazards that extract such a cruel toll from their people and economies.

India plays down Chinese incursions

2009-10-06T20:48:00.000-07:00

By Priyanka Bhardwaj

NEW DELHI - Reports of incursions into Indian territory by China have been on the rise in recent weeks.

The reports include the injury of two soldiers from the ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force) in firing from across the border into the northeastern Indian state Arunachal Pradesh, portions of which China claims as its own.

Other reports claim Chinese aircraft have transgressed into Indian air space, among other infringements along the disputed 3,500-kilometer Line of Actual Control, as the India-China border is referred to.

In Ladakh, part of the northern state of Kashmir, Chinese intruders
reportedly painted rocks red to mark their presence.

There are also instances of Chinese issuing separate visas to Indian passport holders from the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, a delicate matter given the long history of conflict with Pakistan over the state.

India's diplomatic reaction, however, has been to play down the events. Federal Foreign Minister S M Krishna said, "This [India-China boundary in Ladakh] is one of the most peaceful boundaries. We have no dispute with China in this area. There is an in-built mechanism to deal with such issues."

Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorji Khandu said the additional deployment of troops is a routine drill to help soldiers acclimatize with the high altitude terrain and not an "eyeball-to-eyeball" confrontation.

Dorji was responding to reports that India is fortifying its border positions with China by readying 30,000 troops in two divisions for quick deployment coupled with a beefing up of the Indian Air Force along the Sino-Indian border.

At one level, the incidents could be seen as a continuation of past skirmishes and also an overreaction by a "hypersensitive"' media.

On the other hand, these can also be indications of things to come even as the two emerging Asian giants fight for resources, energy and influence in the region, including the Indian Ocean corridors.

The fact remains that all is not well between the two countries, which went to war over disputed Himalayan border territory in 1962. As per some expert estimates, Chinese violations of Indian-territory have doubled from nearly 150 in 2007 to 300 in 2008.

Global strategic positioning means that India and China are pitted in diverse spectrums.

In the past couple of years, one main reason America has sought to cement India as its partner in Asia has been to balance the rise of China, both economically and militarily.

Apart from the India-US civilian nuclear deal last year, America and India are emerging as partners in defense and sharing anti-terror expertise.

Given the stiff competition in business as well, the air of suspicion that continues to persist between India and China will not go away in a hurry.

New Delhi has thus not taken too kindly to Chinese attempts to "gatecrash"' plans for a Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, as India remains undecided about its participation due to security, pricing issues and pressure from America not to deal with Tehran.

In March 2009, China attempted to block a US$2.9 billion loan to India from the Asian Development Bank, meant to fund a $60 million flood management program in Arunachal Pradesh.

Last year, Beijing tried to obstruct the US-India civilian nuclear deal at the meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

All along, China has vehemently opposed India's bid to join the United Nations Security Council, while remaining a staunch supporter of India's traditional rival, Pakistan, at international forums.

Cultural, linguistic and other differences are believed to have hampered Indian and Chinese developing ties at a personal level. This is unlike Indians and Pakistanis, where similarities have led to emotional ties and created a constituency that wants peace.

Thus, despite the top diplomatic channels maintaining a dignified tone and veil to the recent events, the Indian armed forces and political leadership are not prepared to take chances.

The Indian parliamentary standing committee attached to the Foreign Ministry looking at Chinese incursions is also studying the situation.

Some observers said that a worrying factor is that skirmishes have been along areas that have been relatively peaceful and not disputed by Beijing lately - this includes the Sikkim-Tibet border and Uttarakhand that also stand clarified via India-China exchange maps.

Opposition political parties such as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Samajwadi Party have been voicing their fears. Rajnath Singh, president of the BJP, said, "India must take adequate precautions [given the 1962 war]."

Meanwhile, India's army chief, General Deepak Kapoor, has also voiced his concern on the recent reported incursions, suggesting that the situation is more serious than is being projected. Top Indian commanders have been visiting the Indo-China border areas of Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh to make first-hand assessments.

The Indian army's northern commander, Lieutenant General P C Bharadwaj is visiting the Leh-based 14 Corps headquarters to verify the authenticity of the reports.

Earlier this month, the air force opened a runway near the China border in the inhospitable terrain of Ladakh to fixed-wing aircraft, previously it was used only by helicopters. There are also plans to upgrade many runways in Arunachal.

In July, India for the first time based its latest Russian Sukhoi-30 MKI Air Dominance fighters in Tezpur in the northeast, in response to China's build-up of military infrastructure in Tibet and south China.

Militarily, India has been wary of the Chinese naval bases, commercial ports, radar and refueling stations around the southern coast of Asia, referred to as the "string of pearls" that could be tightened around India, should the need arise.

Chinese investment has proliferated in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Pakistan.

In 2006, China allegedly supported the Maoist violence in Nepal that resulted in the overthrow of the royalty. Given its own problems with leftist rebels, India is not happy about any role for Beijing in Kathmandu.

There have been reports that the Research Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency, has found over 24 Nepal-China study centers along the Indo-Nepal border that are suspected to be "spying'' on India.

In Sri Lanka, India has claimed that China took advantage of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam-led civil strife to gain a foothold in the island to set up a port at Hambontota on the island's southern coast.

Yet, it is also true that both India and China do not want the situation to spiral out of control, so that relations - especially business, with bilateral trade expected to cross $60 billion per year - can function within an accepted decorum.

National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, who reports directly to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has maintained that there cannot be a "repeat" of 1962 as both countries mutually agree that borders issues and outstanding differences can be resolved through dialogue.

Contrary to what seems to be the actual situation, Narayanan has said: "In terms of the number of incursions, there has been hardly any increase. Occasionally inroads are a little deeper than what might have been in the past. I don't think there is anything alarming about it.''

Narayanan has also warned that the "media hype" on China and India could provoke an "unwarranted incident or accident".

Nirupama Rao, foreign secretary and former ambassador to China, said that given the developing nature of the relationship between India and China, regular communication over important bilateral issues and border meetings have worked well in the recent past.

The India Air Force chief, P V Naik, has also stressed that there was no possibility of a repeat war.

Clearly, there is a damage control mechanism at work, at least for now, and the simmering can be expected to continue.

From Killing Fields to Fields of Dreams

2009-10-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

Joe Cook (L) (Photo: LA Time)
Cambodian baseball players

October 6, 2009
John Perra
Editor: John Feffer
Foreign Policy In Focus (www.fpif.org)

Cambodia is an unlikely place for baseball. There is chronic poverty, lingering post-war trauma, and rampant human trafficking. Children are more likely to work or rummage through the fetid muck of the Steung Meanchey dump than go to school or play.

But for the last seven years, Joe Cook, a Cambodian refugee, has been teaching the game in his homeland, building Cambodia's first ball field. Last year, he even managed to put together a national team. In March, they finally won their first game, playing a short series against a team from Vietnam. Considering the violent history the two countries share, just playing the game was an accomplishment beyond any scorecard.

Becoming Joe Cook

For Joe Cook, playing games came to an abrupt end in August 1975. He was Jouret Puk then, the son of a high-ranking Cambodian official who commanded nearly 3,000 troops. "My little sister and I were playing behind our house," Cook remembers. "All of a sudden we saw people dressed in black and red marching toward us. We were scared and we hid behind a tree." Those people were the Khmer Rouge and they invaded his village, burning homes to the ground. "They got us all in one place," he recalls, "then they forced us to march to a camp," he says. Cook's father was killed, and his family was split up and forced into labor camps. Cook's youngest sisters were among the 2 million executed by Pol Pot's regime. In 1978, Cook, then eight, escaped his camp with his mother and oldest brother, trying to reach the Thai border.

For a week, they made their way barefoot. "It was only 18 miles to the border but it turned into 80 because we had to keep moving back and forth, criss-cross because landmines were everywhere. So were the Khmer Rouge, and the Vietnamese who had just invaded." The three refugees had only a small cup of rice between them, so to survive they ate crickets, grass, leaves, and tree bark. "I can remember catching frogs and eating them alive," Cook says. The pools of water they came across were polluted with the dead bodies of pigs, cows, and people. "I tried to brush the blood back to drink," he recalls, "It was so thick and bitter." Bodies lined the roads and when they ran into other people escaping from the camps, they would barter for food.

Finally, they made it to the Thai border and then to a series of refugee camps. In the Philippines, they found a sponsor through the U.S. embassy and arrived in Chattanooga, Tennessee in May 1983. "We couldn't even pronounce Tennessee. And we thought America must be near France because you had to take a plane to both of them," he says.

In America

There, everything was new. "I thought it was like a dream," Cook says, "A stove, a toilet, a TV. It was fascinating." And then there was the game he saw being played near his home.

"All I knew was that it was some kind of sport," he says. It was baseball. "I watched them behind a fence," he recalls, "I saw them having fun. I saw happy faces. As a kid in Cambodia, there was never happiness. But I knew in baseball is happiness. I kept going back every day. Finally I got the guts to go onto the field."

Through a combination of limited English and gestures, he made it clear to the coach that he wanted to play too. "When he gave me a glove so I could play catch, it felt like he had given me the whole uniform. I was like the other kids," he recalls. It was the start of a deep passion.

Baseball was also a way to assimilate. He became "Joe Cook," a chef in a Japanese steakhouse in Alabama, listening to Atlanta Braves baseball on the radio in his kitchen. He married and had two children.

In 2002, Cook's older sister Chamty, who he thought had perished, called from Cambodia. After years of brutality in the labor camps, she had been released in 1990 and used the Internet to track down members of her family. Cook agreed to reunite with her in Cambodia.

As a way of honoring him, Chamty wanted to travel to the airport to meet him. But the transportation costs were more than she could afford. She made a difficult decision. So as not to lose her brother again, she sold her son to traffickers. "When I arrived and found out, I was devastated," Cook says, choking up, "She didn't understand that I could've met her anywhere. I never would've wanted her to do that." The first thing he did was buy back his nephew, Chea Theara, for $86.

Bringing Baseball Home

"He was so happy, so proud that his uncle had the ability to do that, he wanted to show me his town and also share his town with me," says Cook. Chea showed Cook his school in Baribo, a village in Kampong Chhang province about 68 miles west of Phnom Penh, and near it an open field. Cook thought it would make a good spot for a baseball diamond. "What's baseball?" Chea asked. "It's a crazy game that I love," Cook told him, "I'll come back and bring equipment and teach you."

And he did. Eventually he built Cambodia's first baseball field in Baribo and began instructing kids there in the fundamentals of the game. Soon he was feeding them, teaching them English, and establishing the national team that includes Chea on its roster.

For several years, Cambodia's government wanted to shut down baseball in Cambodia. It was too American for them, according to Cook. "They kept saying, 'how about soccer?'" he says.

Although also a product of Western influence when the French brought it to Cambodia in the 1930s, soccer has been a hugely popular sport in the country for decades. The skill of Cambodia's players was the envy of much of Southeast Asia until the Khmer Rouge all but put an end to the sport. It wasn't until the 1990s that Cambodian soccer began to regain its strength, with teams competing and winning in international tournaments.

Likewise, Pradal Serey, an ancient boxing style best known for its martial arts roots and kicking technique, has begun to reemerge as a national sport. It too was nearly lost to history when the Khmer Rouge banned traditional martial arts and executed its boxers.

But Cambodia has spent more than a decade now regaining its athletic prominence. It returned to the Olympics in 1996 after a 24-year absence and has participated in those games ever since.

Coming Around to Baseball

Despite the national focus on soccer, Cook kept baseball in Cambodia going, supporting the game out of his own pocket and getting some help with equipment and coaches from Major League Baseball. Then this year, the national team started winning, beating Vietnam in that friendly series and gaining professional bragging rights by besting Malaysia in May in an official game between the countries. A governor donated land for another field after that.

Cambodia's people are starting to come around to the game. Other baseball clubs and organizations have sprung up in the past few months, including one in the capital city of Phnom Penh. The organizer of that group is a young man in his earlier twenties who calls Cook "Bong," the Khmer word for "brother," a sign of respect. That pleases Cook and he laughs, "I am baseball's big brother." In reality, Cook is now president of the Cambodia Baseball Federation.

In August, Cook developed the first regional leagues within Cambodia. The Braves, representing the west, and the Royals, in the east, play each other nearly every day. "Someday I want to build a stadium here," says Cook. The image of a stadium leaves even him, baseball's true believer here, awestruck. "Can you imagine a baseball stadium in Cambodia?" he asks.

John Perra is a journalist, a contributor to Ancient Gonzo Wisdom: Interviews with Hunter S. Thompson (Da Capo 2009), and a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus.

Cambodia: BarCamp Phnom Penh 2009

2009-10-06T20:36:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
By Tharum Bun
Global Voices Online

More than 800 tech-inclined Cambodians gathered at the second annual BarCamp Phnom Penh on October 3-4, 2009 at Paññasastra University of Cambodia.

Last year's success inspired this small, growing technology community in Cambodia to discuss openly issues important to them. BarCamp Phnom Penh has now become an annual technology conference in this nation's largest capital city, inviting some participants from across the country and the region, many are tech enthusiasts from Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore.

In a blog post on CNNGo, technologist and traveler Preetam Rai, who visited this year's participatory workshop-event, wrote about Cambodian women in technology that:

It should be said that women are very prominent at Cambodian Barcamp events, and seeing such large numbers of women at tech meetings still surprises their male attendees. But the women aren't just showing up — they're running the show.

How BarCamp Phnom Penh ‘09 is run, organized and contributed is uniquely interesting. It does introduce Cambodians a new way, if not a breakthrough, in which learning, collaboration, sharing and networking can take place here in Cambodia.

A prolific Vietnamese blogger, Nguyen Anh Hung, who participated Cambodia's BarCamp last year, is traveling to the Cambodian capital with more of his fellow friends for this BarCamp Phnom Penh ‘09.

“It’s here again. We (the folks in Ho Chi Minh City) will be flocking to the capital of beautiful Cambodia once again to attend the largest technology unconference in the country to date. Last year it was a greatly successful event attended by some 300 people from around South East Asia.”

Not only this annual event plays a role to foster open communication in Cambodian society, but it helps build a strong foundation for Cambodia's future in the area of Information and Communication Technologies.

Going to conferences is about getting inspired. It’s about getting some new ideas swirl around in your head. During that event, we will see skilled speakers with a lot of experiences and confidence on stage giving a talk on a topic that they really want to share, wrote Samnang Chhun, a Phnom Penh-based Software Developer.

Like many other developing countries, debate on free/open source software as an alternative to propriety software will not end any time soon. Despite the two-day conference offered mixed results to every participant, online discussion has not finished yet.

Michael Smith Jr., from Yahoo Inc., wrote in an email:

[it] looks like a good turnout. I would hope that for any future ones Yahoo Inc. can get more involved to sponsor and maybe have a session.

A-two-minute video clip (taken by German new media consultant Thomas Wanhoff) of Cambodia's BarCamp can be viewed here.

BarCamp, an innovative “impromptu” gathering that began in 2005 in Palo Alto, California, helps “open source” enthusiasts share information about technology in an informal setting. The idea quickly spread from California to the rest of the world, arriving in Bangkok in 2007 and now in Phnom Penh.

Police, FBI Bust Seven in Major Drug Raid

2009-10-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

Chhay Sinarith shows the seized heroin packages and other paraphernalia (Photo: Bunry, Koh Santepheap)

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
06 October 2009

Cambodian police working with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested seven people and seized 16 kilograms of heroin, following three months of investigation, officials said Monday. Police also found counterfeit US dollars in the Oct. 2 raid.

“In the operation, we did an investigation and tracked [the suspects] down for almost three months, with the support of the FBI representative in Cambodia,” said Chhay Sinarith, chief of the Interior Ministry’s security department.

Suspects were arrested in Phnom Penh and Stung Treng province. The raid included the arrest of Lam Sokha, a suspected trafficker who has been arrested and released in recent years, police and court officials said.

The seven suspects were sent to Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday and would be questioned by prosecutors this week, officials said.

Police said the heroin moved through neighboring countries through Stung Treng, which borders Laos.

The discovery of heroin, crystal methamphetamine, or “ice,” drug production and counterfeit money made the raid a major case, Chhay Sinarith said.

The US State Department praised Cambodia for its anti-drug efforts in 2009, but said the country faces increasing problems of consumption, trafficking and the production of dangerous drugs.

The State Department warned that crackdowns on trafficking in Thailand and China had made Cambodia an attractive route for traffickers, while internally, use of amphetamines, including ice, was escalating.

2009-10-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

3 Cambodians die of flu A(H1N1)

2009-10-06T10:33:00.000-07:00

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 6 — The Cambodian Health Ministry said on Tuesday that two more Cambodians died of A(H1N1) virus so far, raising the total death number to three in Cambodia.
A 24-year-old pregnant woman and a 41-year-old Cambodian man became the second and third person that died of the flu A(H1N1) after a 40-year-old woman died late last month.

"We all regret for those persons who died of the disease," Mum Bun Heng, health minister said in a news conference at the Calmette Hospital here.

He also appealed to all local people to take care of themselves from this flu and to observe proper hygiene and sanitation.

"We should be cautious in the upcoming Royal Water Festival which falls on Oct. 31 to Nov. 3 because people are crowded at that time," he said, calling on people who have been infected with the flu not to go to the festival to avoid spreading it to other people.

Usually, in the water festival, millions of Cambodian people across the country will rush on to Phnom Penh to celebrate the boat racing.

And so far in total, about 120 people have infected with the flu in Cambodia. The ministry said that it will update the information on website in each week. (PNA/Xinhua) vcs/utb

Khmer Song-Srok Tirk Pneak Min Mean Kmean Panharaha Te!

2009-10-06T10:09:00.000-07:00

SUPER WOMAN Hang Meas Sokun Nisa Khmer Song Music

2009-10-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

Goods and tourists now moving more quickly between Vietnam and Cambodia

2009-10-06T09:55:00.000-07:00

06/10/2009

(Post by CAAI News Media)

VietNamNet Bridge – A Vietnam and Cambodia border agreement is boosting exporting and tourism and making the future existence of a three-country visa a possibility.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Photo: AP)

Following the agreement, which took effect on September 30, goods consignments carried overland between Vietnam and Cambodia will be able to cross borders without having to change vehicles as before.

According to Pham Xuan Thu, head of the supply division of HCM City-based Saigon Paper Company, the changes make it much faster for his organisation. Before it meant considerable delay and borders and a change of vehicle.

Now, Thu says, the company is planning to carry goods directly from Vietnam to Cambodia and further lower time and cost.

It is expected that with the new road transport agreement, it will take Vietnamese businesses 15-30 minutes only to fulfill administrative procedures at the border gate.

One director explained that previously businesses had to spend two days and one night to carry goods from HCM City to Cambodia through Moc Bai border gate in Tay Ninh province, 70km northwest of HCM City, including half a day to load and upload goods. In order to bring goods to the centre of Phnom Penh, he had to pay $2,500-$2,800 as a transport fee for every 12 metre-long vehicle which is equal to a 40 feet container vehicle.

A sales agent of a plastics company, said that as vehicles can now go straight to Cambodia across the border - the risks in cargo carrying are minimised. He says that the changing of vehicles at the border gates often led to the theft of goods on the way.

The road transport agreement has been welcomed not only by producers and traders, but by tourism firms as well.

Currently, Vietnamese tourists mostly go to Cambodia through Moc Bai international border gate. As most of Vietnamese vehicles are not allowed to enter Cambodian territory, tourists have to walk through the border gate to fulfill administrative procedures and then take Cambodian vehicles to continue the trips, which is really inconvenient to tourists.

Nguyen Van My, director of Lua Viet Travel Firm, said that most tourists want to stay in the same vehicle throughout their trip. It’s hoped the agreement will also boost tourist numbers.

So Mara, a senior official of Cambodian Ministry of Tourism, emphasised that the road transport agreement is an important step in applying the one-visa scheme for three countries, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

It is believed that this would greatly increase tourism all round.

Deadly Typhoon Heads Toward Taiwan

2009-10-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

Typhoon Parma is headed for Taiwan Sunday after cutting a destructive path across the northern Philippines -- the second storm there in eight days.

Poor planning blamed for Philippines flooding

2009-10-06T09:51:00.000-07:00

PHOTO

Houses destroyed by flooding after Typhoon Ketsana passed through Marikina City, east of the Philippines capital Manila. [ABC]

Wires

(Post by CAAI News Media)

Philippine officials are blaming poor urban planning for the extreme flooding caused by two recent typhoons that killed nearly 300 people.

President Gloria Arroyo's spokesman, Cerge Remonde says lapses in urban planning saw housing estates and shantytowns spring up near reservoirs and lakes.

He says widespread devastation by Tropical Storm Ketsana and Typhoon Parma shows the urgency of re-planning Metro Manila.

Mr Remonde says problems that need solving include insufficient drainage, clogged waterways, uncontrolled housing development, and the proliferation of slums along riverbanks.

Ketsana dumped a month's worth of rain over Manila within a few hours on September 26, triggering the country's heaviest flooding in 40 years.

Flood water has been slow to recede in the capital.

Parma, hit Luzon eight days later, boosting the stagnant flood waters and ruining vast areas of rice fields.

Relief effort

Meanwhile, the American military says hundreds of its troops are involved in the flood relief effort in the Philippines.

Officials say marines and sailors posted in the Manila area have been helping to clear roads, deliver supplies and provide basic medical care.

Gwendoline Pang, of the Philippine Red Cross, says continuing bad weather is hampering progress.

"In the evacuation centres, it's so congested, and they've been there for more than a week already, almost two weeks. Also the clean-up effort is becoming very challenging, because before we can clean up the area, another typhoon is coming again," said Ms Pang.

Cambodia death toll

The death toll in Cambodia is at least 17 after Typhoon Ketsana swept through the country.

But the National Committee for Disaster Management believes that number is likely to increase still further.

Ketsana caused widespread flooding in Cambodia, destroying homes and crops, and displacing thousands of families.

It passed through after earlier battering Vietnam and the Philippines, where hundreds of people died.