Fuel Prices Skyrocket, 10,000 Garment Jobs Cut, Bicycle Industry Wobbles
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, August 4, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
PRECIOUS METAL: The National Gallery of Australia will return three Champa-era bronze statues. Experts say more than 100 stolen Khmer antiquities remain in commonwealth museums.
FEVER SPIKE: Dengue infections are more than double what they were last year — and doctors expect things to get worse as the summer monsoon season wears on.
WING SPAN: Sarus crane populations are bouncing back after a decade of steep decline. A February survey counted 180 endangered avians, up from 156, the first increase since 2010.
THE LEDE
Power Slide
The Strongman warned of bloodshed as he blasted election critics and defended dynastic succession, saying the handover was necessary to avoid a nasty power struggle after his death.
The U.N. called the July 23 poll “extremely disconcerting,” citing a long list of concerns. Two big complaints were the lack of a credible opposition and the failure to protect human rights. The CPP won 120 of 125 parliament seats. Funcinpec — once a governing partner — secured the other five.
King Sihamoni is expected to appoint Hun Manet as prime minister on Monday. The new government will be sworn in on Aug. 22.
Art Heist
The National Gallery of Australia will return three ancient bronze statues after concluding the relics were likely stolen.
The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Padmapani and attendants date to the 9th or 10th century. They were purchased for $1.5 million from Douglas Latchford, the notorious art trafficker, in 2011. With the Kingdom’s permission, the gallery will display the statues until 2026.
Australian museums possess at least 100 stolen Khmer treasures, with more in private hands. About 4,000 pieces remain in collections worldwide — and Cambodia wants them back.
Flood Watch
Heavy monsoon rains killed three people and caused millions of dollars in damages across nine provinces.
Downpours in Kampot swept away two campers, including a 19-year-old woman, while a 35-year-old Kampong Speu fisherman died in flash flooding. Officials closed a highway in Kep and blocked stretches of National Road 4 in Sihanoukville and Kampong Speu. Several schools in Ratanakiri and Kampong Thom provinces were closed.
Authorities are closely monitoring the Mekong River, which is expected to rise as Typhoon Khanun makes landfall in China and brings more rain.
TALKING POINTS
Prison Politics
The U.S. advanced a bill that would blacklist Cambodian officials involved in the arrest of Theary Seng, the imprisoned Cambodian-American lawyer and rights advocate. The legislation could reach President Biden’s desk by October.
Trade Winds
Garment manufacturers cut more than 10,000 jobs in July, the latest blow to an industry battered by factory closures and decreasing demand. Cambodia has appealed to the U.S., its largest buyer, to renew a trade deal that lapsed in 2020 and allowed for duty-free imports.
Tanked Up
Fuel prices hit seven-month highs and are expected to increase. The government kept prices low during election season, the Ministry of Commerce said, but market forces were back in play. A liter of diesel now costs 5,150 riel, regular gasoline 4,550.
Flat Tire
The Kingdom’s booming bicycle industry is in danger. The value of two-wheeled exports plummeted more than 30% in the first half of the year, to $332 million. Analysts blamed increasing competition and sagging global demand.
Bite Marks
Dengue fever is surging. The Kingdom recorded more than twice as many cases in the first half of 2023 as over the same period last year. Authorities expect the numbers to climb as the rainy season pounds on.
Medical Check
Cambodian and Indonesian police are investigating black market organ transplants at Preah Ket Mealea Hospital in Phnom Penh. Authorities last week arrested 12 suspects, including three in Cambodia, for their alleged roles in illegal kidney operations.
Big Birds
Cambodia’s threatened sarus cranes may survive after all. For the first time in 20 years, two were spotted in Sambor Wildlife Sanctuary, and the 2023 census recorded 180 birds, up from 156 last year. It’s a welcome upswing after decades of endangerment.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
In Pailin, One-Time Enemies Now CPP Allies
July 31, 2003
Preliminary election results from the National Election Committee on Wednesday showed that the CPP has won the support of Pailin — stronghold of its former enemy the Khmer Rouge — and will send the town’s current governor and former Pol Pot bodyguard, Y Chhien, to the National Assembly.
Businesses Hide Inventories in Fear of Looting
July 31, 2003
Two days before Sunday’s general elections, fearing political unrest, Korn Lin and his workers transported nearly all of the motorcycles from his shop in Tuol Kok district to his home.
Initial Scenes Evoke 1998 Vote Turmoil
July 30, 2003
It began with intimidation, vote-buying and counting irregularities and was followed by the Sam Rainsy Party and Funcinpec vowing against a coalition with the victorious CPP if Hun Sen remained prime minister.
Threatened Union Leader Goes Into Hiding
July 30, 2003
A union federation president who is also a Sam Rainsy Party activist went into hiding Tuesday after being advised that an intimidating message he received last week is a credible threat to his life, union officials said Tuesday.
WEEKEND READING
How statues looted from a Cambodian field wound up in the National Gallery of Australia
For decades, looters raided temples and other sacred sites, then smuggled the statues to shady international art dealers across the border in Thailand. A global treasure hunt is now underway to track down approximately 4,000 stolen statues and bring them back to Cambodia.
Cambodia’s leader continues to abuse Facebook while Meta mulls suspension ruling
One month after threatening to leave Facebook, Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen and his supporters are still using the platform to silence opposition groups. Meta has until August 28 to decide whether to suspend the prime minister from Facebook, per the Oversight Board’s recommendation.
Photos: Statues, National Gallery of Australia. Theary Seng, WikiMedia.
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