Asian Drug Lord Busted, Comic Snubs Khmer Cuisine, Housing Market Tanks

Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, August 11, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.

• BLOOD LINES: The Strongman blasted reports of CPP infighting over dynastic succession. Even so, he promised to return as prime minister if his son’s life was endangered.

• PAST TIMES: Kep’s days as a quaint coastal getaway appear numbered. The government has a 12-year masterplan to make it a world-class luxury destination. 

• ECO WARRIOR: The Kingdom added more than 750,000 hectares to wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. Activists fear the best areas will be privatized, enriching elites at the expense of locals.

THE LEDE

Deadly Debt

Cambodia’s top banking groups called for an independent investigation into a rash of suicides reportedly related to aggressive debt collection.

The Association of Banks in Cambodia and the Cambodia Microfinance Association said they had not found any direct evidence connecting the deaths to microfinance borrowing, but agreed that the seriousness of the charges demanded a full accounting.

Cambodia’s microfinance industry has long been plagued with accusations of abuse. An internal watchdog for the International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank, is investigating six of the Kingdom’s top lenders. 

Green Machine

Cambodia significantly expanded its network of wildlife sanctuaries and national parks, adding more than 750,000 hectares to existing protected areas. The Ministry of Environment said the move will strengthen conservation efforts and improve the land-titling process.

Not everyone is applauding the expansion. Many of the newly designated areas contain homes, farms, community forests and land concessions. Community activists warned that overlapping claims were likely to spark land disputes, pointing to the outcomes of numerous past concessions.

Many residents, all of whom were left out of discussions, fear being evicted from their homes and banned from communal property as their land is parceled off to wealthy tycoons with government ties.

Substance Abuse

Anti-drug authorities had a massive week: They nabbed one of Asia’s top drug lords and seized 998kg of narcotics, more than the entire 993kg they had hauled in over the first six months of the year.

Police apprehended the leader of the Heavenly Way Alliance, a notorious Taiwanese crime syndicate, with 780 kg of ketamine. The arrest was the result of a joint investigation with Taiwan and the U.S. Local authorities made a wave of smaller busts.

Even Hun Sen piled on, calling drug trafficking a major problem and advising the incoming government to reform the National Authority for Combating Drugs, or risk being seen as a failure.

TALKING POINTS

Fighting Words

The Strongman warned potential challengers he would return to lead the government if anything happened to his son, Hun Manet, who will become prime minister on Aug 22. Hun Sen was responding to suggestions made by Sam Rainsy and others that powerful players in the ruling party opposed his dynastic succession strategy.

Historic First

A woman will lead the National Assembly for the first time in Cambodian history. Hun Sen appointed Khuon Sudary, currently the second vice-president, to lead the next 125-member National Assembly, which is the lower house of parliament. She will replace Heng Samrin, the 89-year-old CPP stalwart.

New Orders

Factories continue to pop up across the Kingdom despite a steep downturn in exports. The Kingdom registered 1,995 factories in June, up from 1,982 in December. Toyota will open a factory to manufacture automotive electrical cables in Poipet, with production expected to begin in December.

Lux Coast

The Tourism Ministry has big dreams for Kep. It envisions the seaside village as a luxury eco-tourist destination as illustrious as any high-end destination in the world.

Ghost Town

The Kingdom’s once high-flying housing market is falling fast. Home sales plummeted 65% over the first half of the year, compared to the same period last year. A full recovery, experts said, would take years.

Sugar High

Childhood diabetes is on the rise, alarming officials at Kantha Bopha Hospital. At least 12% of Cambodian children struggle with their weight, according to experts, and the country will spend $150 million treating the disease by 2030.

Food Fight

Cambodians are in a huff over a joke by Malaysian comic Nigel Ng, better known as Uncle Roger, who suggested to his 8 million YouTube followers that Cambodian cuisine was just a bad imitation of Thai food. The government called the remarks an insult to the “prestige and identity of Khmer food” and demanded an apology.

BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault

Gamblers Turn Political for Election Period

August 11, 2003
In Battambang province, where gamblers bet on everything from boxing to the weather, politics is throwing bookkeepers into a frenzy.

Kandal Feuds Follow Polls

August 8, 2003
Despite continuing post-election clashes between ethnic Khmers and ethnic Vietnamese in Kandal province, authorities are afraid to arrest perpetrators for fear of being seen as not neutral, Adhoc monitoring section deputy head Chan Soveth said Thursday.

Students Call For Stability to Return to Classes

August 6, 2003
Phnom Penh university students are urging politicians to form a new government as soon as possible, saying their schoolwork is suffering because they’re afraid to leave their homes due to post-election instability.

Businesswoman Gunned Down in Vehicle

August 5, 2003
Two unidentified gunmen shot and critically wounded a Cam­bodian businesswoman near the Inter-Continental Hotel in the Chamkar Mon district of Phnom Penh, police said Monday.

Photos: Cardamom Mountains, WikiMedia. Kep, Flickr.
Send comments to editor@cambodiadaily.com