Hun Sen Advisor Named in Thailand Murder, Stockbrokers Bullish on 2025, Death Toll Soars on Capital’s Streets

Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, January 17, 2025.

• BRASS TACK: Washington has been frozen out of Cambodia's defense plans for years, but those days could be over. Military leaders have a bilateral sit-down next month, with war games and help with crime back on the table.

• BLAST LINE: Blame budgetary limits for busting the Kingdom’s plans to be free of landmines by the end of this year. The new target date gives deminers five more years to clear 500 square kilometers of dangerous ground.

• BABY STEPS: It’s lonely being the newly discovered Khpoh slender gecko. The tiny reptile has big eyes, hairy toes and has a striking yellow tail. Scientists say the world’s newest gecko is, so far, the only one that’s ever been seen.

THE LEDE

Crime Scene

The manhunt is intensifying for the killers of an ex-opposition leader — and new details are adding layers of complexity.

Police in Thailand identified an advisor to the Strongman as a shot caller in the murder of Lim Kimya, the former CNRP lawmaker gunned down last week in Bangkok.

Interpol has issued red notices for Ly Rotanakraksmey, a dual Cambodian-Thai citizen who uses the name Somwang Bamrungkit, and Pich Kimsrin, an alleged Cambodian accomplice. Both men are believed to be hiding in Cambodia.

Ly Rotanakraksmey was named an advisor to Hun Sen in 2022, after defecting from the CNRP. Pich Kimsrin is the brother of Pich Sros, a CPP politician best known for filing the complaint that brought down the CNRP in 2017.

Cambodian officials have been tight-lipped about the murder. How they participate in the search for the killers could speak volumes.

Dead Ends

Grief-stricken and outraged Phnom Penh residents are demanding action and turning to divine intervention to reduce the horrific death toll inflicted by the capital’s streets.

In the first 11 days of 2025, traffic accidents claimed 51 lives and resulted in more than 100 injuries. Speeding, drunk driving, and a striking lack of law enforcement were the leading causes.

Officials have responded with a raft of improvements, many focused on increasing the safety of Hun Sen Boulevard, where a recent uptick in fatalities included a head-on collision that killed the rapper Ruthko.

The new measures will achieve nothing, residents say, if police aren’t around to enforce them.

Rock Climbers

Cambodia’s fabled gecko tales have an exciting new chapter.

Researchers exploring Battambang province discovered what may be one of the world’s rarest lizards. Scientists named it the Khpoh slender gecko, after the rocky mountain where it was found. There’s only a single known specimen.

The tiny reptile is striking. It grows to only a few centimeters, with hairy toes, a mustard-colored tail and large, brown eyes. Scientists believe it’s found only on Phnom Khpoh.

The largely unexplored area is expected to have unparalleled biodiversity. Look forward to more stunning discoveries.

TALKING POINTS

New Deal

Is Cambodia ready to let the U.S. in from the cold? The countries have high-level defense talks scheduled for next month, and Phnom Penh is pushing for topics long viewed as off limits, such as the resumption of military training exercises and closer cooperation on transnational crime.

Case Study

Russian authorities arrested Heng Sithy — the former oknha who made headlines with allegations of top-level corruption — after the Ministry of Interior revoked his passport. The real estate tycoon has been charged with aggravated blackmail and authorities said more charges were likely.

Hit Parade

The Cambodian Stock Exchange is bullish on 2025, calling it a year of golden opportunities. Market makers are expecting several new listings, including three IPOs, four bond issuances and the launch of the country’s first exchange-traded fund.

Pixel Dust

The Google Play Store banned apps made by Cambodia’s Huione Guarantee, a Telegram-based company with glitzy offices in the capital and links to the ruling Hun family. Huione has been called the world’s largest illicit online marketplace.

Grain Peers

The government announced $30 million in subsidies after farmers in Battambang province blocked National Road 5 in protest over plunging white rice prices. The variety, which thrives in the dry season, is suffering from a global glut after an export ban was lifted in India.

Green Shift

More than one-third of Cambodia’s children face hardships from flooding, drought and excessive heat caused by climate change, according to the first Children’s Climate Risk Index. The assessment plays a key role in the Kingdom’s ambitious environmental goals, including becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.

Bombs Away

Cambodia will not achieve its goal to be mine-free by December. Since 1992, the Kingdom has cleared more than 2,500 square kilometers and declared 15 provinces mine free. Officials say the new deadline of 2030 is achievable. About 500 square kilometers, across 10 provinces, have yet to be cleared.

BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault

McDonald’s Looks To Take Bite Out of Cambodian Market

January 17, 2005
International fast-food giant McDonald’s plans to set up shop in Cambodia, but no date has been set for its arrival, a franchising representative from McDon­ald’s said Friday.

Brothels Gone But Doubts Remain in Svay Pak

January 13, 2005
Many have applauded the closure of the brothels that once sustained Svay Pak commune on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, but Srey Lak, like many of the area’s inhabitants, is unimpressed.

Acid-Attack Novelist Granted Refuge in Norway

January 12, 2005
A Cambodian novelist whose niece was horribly disfigured in a notorious acid attack in Phnom Penh and who wrote a “fictionalized” account of the events has been granted refugee status in Norway.

Photos: Gecko, Evan Quah. Landmine, Rodney Evans/AusAID, via WikiMedia.
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