Hun Manet Hits Pub Street, Big Brands Back CENTRAL, Rare Crocs Stage Comeback

Jul 19, 2024

FIRST HAND: The prime minister put on a disguise and went to check out the tourist industry in Siem Reap. He came back with big ideas, such as reducing prices for Angkor Wat, cheaper air arrivals, subsidies and more.
PRESS RUN: Journalists increasingly face criminal charges, making press freedom seem naive. Hun Manet offered to help the fourth estate by banning unethical reporters. Rights groups called that a threat.
GREEN DAY: Sixty baby Siamese crocodiles burst their shells in the Cardamom Mountains in a big win for the Kingdom’s conservation efforts. The freshwater crocs are coming back from near-extinction.

THE LEDE

Rogue Actor

Things just got a lot worse for Huione Pay.

Cyber sleuths discovered that an infamous North Korean hacking group, known as Lazarus, used the platform to launder at least $150,000 in stolen cryptocurrency. Investigators tracked more than $35 million from a massive May heist to the company, and investigators strongly suspect Lazarus was behind the theft. Tether, a leading cryptocoin issuer, froze an additional $30 million, citing unspecified illegal activity by Huione Pay.

Laundering money for North Korean hackers is a giant step up from cyber scams and human trafficking. You can bet U.S. authorities are on the case.

Hard Bargain

Nike, Adidas, H&M and other fashion heavies have sided with CENTRAL in a high-stakes showdown with the government.

Two leading industry trade groups, which represent hundreds of Western buyers, urged Cambodia “in the strongest possible terms” to halt an audit into CENTRAL’s finances. The timing of the probe, the groups said, looked like retaliation for the group’s unflattering report.

Shutting down CENTRAL would have dire consequences for the Kingdom, likely driving away Western buyers and upending the $8 billion garment industry.

Cambodia needs CENTRAL, if only for optics. The watchdog shows the government is not a completely oppressive authoritarian regime. Will the CPP-run state be wise enough to back off?

Low Times

The economic slowdown is so real that Hun Manet went to Pub Street for a tourist-level view of the situation.

The prime minister proposed a raft of new measures during the visit, including reduced ticket prices for Angkor Wat, lower landing fees for airlines, concession loans for tourist businesses, and overturning a crazy rule that forced tourists to spend at least one night in the country.

The Cambodia Chamber of Commerce urged authorities to act quickly, saying a post-pandemic surge in spending had fizzled and government stimulus was urgently needed to prop up a sagging economy.

TALKING POINTS

Mission Critical

Rescue teams continued to search for a military helicopter that disappeared in the Cardamom Mountains on July 12. Defense officials said two pilots were aboard the Chinese-built Z-9 chopper when it went missing during a routine training exercise. Officials urged the public to refrain from armchair speculation, out of respect for the pilot’s families.

Bottle Cap

It was another round for the new anti-drinking campaign as the Interior Minister demanded a ban on alcohol advertisements to reduce drunk driving. In Kratie, vendors were given 15 days to drop their ads. In Takeo, authorities said businesses that don't comply would be torn down.

Act Out

A monk in Battambang was kicked out of his pagoda for participating in a peaceful march marking the murder of Kem Ley, the rights crusader gunned down in 2016. Buddhist leaders explained that the clergy has no place in politics. The expelled monk argued that social activism was part of his vocation.

Cut Bank

The Funan Techo Canal took more hits this week with one analyst blasting the project as an environmental disaster and a financial fiasco certain to run two to three times over its $1.7 billion budget. On the ground, residents facing eviction along the 180km route are demanding proper compensation and better information about the impacts on their livelihoods.

Heat Reprieve

Gray skies are here to stay. Government forecasters predict seasonally cooler temperatures and heavy rains will last through December, while higher river levels will raise the danger of flash flooding, particularly in mountainous and low-lying areas. Preah Vihear and Stung Treng provinces are already soaked.

Black Marks

Rights groups expressed alarm at the rising number of threats against journalists by state actors. The Cambodian Journalism Alliance documented nearly two dozen cases of legal harassment in the first half of 2024, saying the ever-present threat of criminal charges is a chief factor in the deepening chill on press freedoms. Hun Manet vowed to protect the industry by banning unethical journalists — a move viewed by many as a thinly veiled threat against aggressive reporting.

Coming Back

The record-breaking birth of 60 critically endangered Siamese crocodiles in the Cardamom Mountains was hailed as a major success for the Kingdom’s conservation efforts. The reptiles were thought extinct until 2000, and only 400 are believed to live, mostly in Cambodia.

BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault

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Photos: Pub Street, Marcin Konsek via WikiMedia. Rain, Ethan Crowley via Flickr.
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