Cambodia Confronts Its Image, Workers Get Paid, Democracy Group Slammed
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, March 29, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
FOR REAL: The top human-trafficking official said 80% of complaints were misleading and untrue. In her words, the sheer volume of the false claims was interfering with real police work and help for victims.
SMALL WIN: If economic conditions continue, Cambodia will need four years to end its classification among the “Least Developed Countries.” The return, unfortunately, will be worse trade deals and less foreign aid.
ROAD WOES: Municipal minds are already planning for traffic jams during next month’s Khmer New Year. A massive four-lane overpass will connect Hun Sen Blvd to Monivong from April 1 through the New Year.
THE LEDE
Riel Time
Economists, merchants and the National Bank have wanted to de-dollarize Cambodia for years. The global pandemic might have done the trick.
The health crisis supercharged the Kingdom’s move to digital payments and cashless transactions, and the numbers are staggering: A record $76 billion in online payments was made last year over about 600 million transactions.
Payments in riel surged 44%, while dollar exchanges grew 3%. Withdrawals from ATMs, spurred by the move to online payments and the National Bank’s efforts to remove $1 and $5 bills from circulation, plunged nearly 35%.
As much as 75% of cash ATM withdrawals now occur in the local currency.
Escape Act
Masphal Kry, the senior environmental official detained in the U.S. since 2022 for his alleged role in an international monkey smuggling ring, was found not guilty on all counts.
The Cambodian government blasted the case as based on “manufactured” evidence spread by the media — a stance that contradicted court records. Prosecutors showed undercover footage of illicit deliveries of long-tailed macaques, forged documents obscuring their origin, and emails detailing the whole operation.
Cambodia celebrated the verdict — although perhaps too soon: The U.S. is still searching for Keo Omaliss, director of the Cambodian Forestry Administration, who remains on the run.
Small Potatoes
Dirty judges, drug-abusing cops, street-corner crooks and even corrupt tycoons — the government is going after them all in an attempt to clean up the Kingdom’s notorious reputation for impunity.
So far, a number of “rotten” judiciary members have been put on notice and hundreds of small-time gamblers and drug dealers have been jailed. But observers say it will take more than low-level busts to prove the government is serious about cleaning house.
"These guys are too low on the totem pole, making them easy targets,” one analyst said. “If the established oknha were targeted, all hell would break loose.”
Stay tuned: Authorities have arrested at least three oknha in recent weeks and have publicly accused several others of bad behavior.
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TALKING POINTS
Prime Time
Hun Sen called for upgrading diplomatic relations with Thailand, with an eye on contested oil deposits. The new Senate president played a key role during three days of bilateral talks in Phnom Penh, with the neighbors agreeing to tackle a range of issues, including oil claims, the Koh Kood saga, cross-border drug-trafficking and pollution.
Enemy Lines
The government clapped back at the newly formed Khmer Movement for Democracy. A CPP spokesperson dismissed the opposition group as inconsequential and torched its “extremist policies,” which he said were founded on lies and aimed at destroying the county.
Sham Scams
About 80% of human-trafficking complaints are baseless, the Kingdom’s top counter-trafficking official said, even as dozens of regional leaders met in Phnom Penh for the 1st Asean Working Group on Anti-Online Scams. The large number of false claims, said Chou Bun Eng, vice chairwoman of the National Committee for Counter Trafficking, was interfering with police efforts to aid real victims.
Sunk Cost
A well-known investment group lost $90 million and its angry customers are calling the fund a “Ponzi scheme” and asking authorities to help find their money. The Cambodian Investors Corporation blamed the heavy losses on cash-flow problems, and a former board member threatened to sue anyone linking him to the scandal. Regulators are monitoring the case.
Gain Pain
The Kingdom is on track to emerge from the ranks of “Least Developed Countries” in 2027. The milestone will bring a raft of challenges, experts say, including the loss of preferential trade agreements with the E.U and the U.S. and a major reduction of foreign aid.
Street Justice
Garment workers at a former Nike supplier received their final wages and benefits after days of protests that erupted when the Chinese factory owner disappeared without paying. The Ministry of Labor stepped in to guarantee payment and officials are urging those who remain unpaid to come forward.
Test Drive
A new four-lane flyover connecting Hun Sen and Monivong boulevards will temporarily open April 1 and remain open through the new year. The new overpass is expected to significantly reduce traffic over the holidays.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Mekong’s Level Lowest In 10 Years
March 26, 2004
The Mekong River is at its lowest level in Cambodia in a decade and could affect the country’s crucial fish catches, officials at the Mekong River Commission, the inter-governmental body that monitors the health of the river through Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, said Thursday.
Source: Chea Vichea Judge Is Removed
March 24, 2004
A member of the Supreme Council of Magistracy, the highest legal body charged with overseeing the conduct of Cambodia’s courts, said Tuesday that a decision has been made to remove two Phnom Penh Municipal Court judges.
Ailing Nhim Sophea Recovering in Comfort
March 23, 2004
Nhim Sophea, the nephew of Prime Minister Hun Sen who was sentenced to prison earlier this month on a charge of involuntary manslaughter, sat in the shade outside Monivong Hospital on Monday morning, listening to music on his headphones.
WEEKEND READING
When the US Tried to Orchestrate a Coup in Cambodia
Although some details remain murky, the United States was certainly involved in the Dap Chhuon Affair.
Photos: Mini-mart, Daniel Bernard. Phnom Penh, Kim Eang Eng.
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