Inflation Bites, Cambodia Blacklisted, and Hard Rain's Gonna Fall
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, July 22, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
JUNTA BLUES: Cambodia just won’t give up on Myanmar, despite pleas from ASEAN partners to stop legitimizing the rights-abusing pariah state. Quixotic diplomatic efforts look increasingly isolated.
HOUSE MONEY: Workers protesting in the streets have done little to slow down the NagaCorp casino juggernaut. Phnom Penh’s gambling monopoly posted $127 million in revenue in the second quarter of 2022.
HIGH NOTES: Local artists continue to innovate and inspire. The head of a local music school has written the Kingdom’s first Khmer music textbooks, making traditional music easier to learn and preserve. Bravo to that.
THE LEDE
Sticker Shock
Inflation in Cambodia soared to a 10-year high of 7.2% in May, driven by rising food and oil prices, climbing U.S. interest rates, and economic uncertainty fueled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The months ahead could be bad — if not worse. The National Bank of Cambodia has spent an estimated $1 billion since 2020 to boost the economy, and the U.S. dollar last week hit a 20-year high compared to a basket of currencies, putting further pressure on the bank to stabilize exchange rates.
Annual inflation is expected to hit 4.7%, the highest since 2011.
Bad Company
Cambodia joined Myanmar, South Sudan and North Korea on the U.S.’s human-trafficking blacklist — an ignoble selection prompted in part by the Kingdom’s alleged inaction on the well-publicized horrors of Chinese call-center gangs.
The listing is likely to further strain economic ties with the West. The U.S. cited human rights abuses in November when it announced a review of the Kingdom’s preferential trade status. The E.U. made similar moves in 2020.
Exports to the U.S. topped $4.5 billion in the first half of 2022, up nearly 55% over last year. Cambodia exported about $4 billion worth of goods to the E.U. in 2021, and around $1.5 billion to China.
Wet Work
Flood-soaked Cambodia is on emergency footing, with 16 national rescue teams on 24-hour standby as the country prepares for five more days of thunderous downpours.
Residents in Phnom Penh’s Chbar Ampov district are already complaining of homes flooded in knee-deep water and raw sewage, causing gut-wrenching odors and itchy skin. Kampong Speu province this week recorded nearly 200 millimeters of rain, and authorities said it won’t take much for the Prek Tnaot river to overflow and inundate surrounding homes.
Weather officials said to expect more. Thunderstorms and high winds are forecasted through July 26, at least.
TALKING POINTS
Democracy Calls
Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, the ASEAN special envoy to Myanmar, said he will pressure the junta to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi when he returns to the crisis-hit country later this year. Cambodia, the 2022 ASEAN chair, continues to press for diplomacy. Myanmar’s generals, who seized power in a 2020 coup, refused meetings with the democracy icon on two previous visits.
Rivals Attacked
A group of men armed with knives and iron bars attacked a Candlelight Party official outside his office in Phnom Penh, causing severe injuries. More than 30 opposition members have been assaulted in recent years, according to media reports. “These assaults will continue,” said the official, who was also attacked in 2019 as a CNRP member. “Today it happened to me, tomorrow it will happen to other members.”
Tree Cover
The inside joke is that a “protected” forest means protected for illegal loggers — not from them. That certainly seems the case at Prey Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary, where environmental activists discovered hundreds of felled trees and more than 250 illegal logging sites during a 3-day undercover mission. The activists say illegal activity has doubled since their last patrol in June. The government denies large-scale illegal logging exists, despite overwhelming evidence.
Big Game
The punters are back. NagaCorp, the corporate parent of NagaWorld casino, recorded a net profit of $52.7 million for the first half of 2022, reversing losses of $77 million a year earlier. The Phnom Penh gambling monopoly said business had returned to about 75% of pre-pandemic levels. It reported revenue of $110.3 million in the first quarter and $127.1 million in the second.
Old School
The leader of a Phnom Penh music academy has written the Kingdom’s first Khmer music textbooks, with the goal of making classical music easier to teach and learn. Keat Sokim, the principal at Friend Music School, arranged Western melodies for nine instruments for the coursework, which includes new teaching methods adapted for 21st century students.
Coming Home
The U.S. next month will hand over 30 Khmer artifacts confiscated from private collections and museums. The move follows the repatriation of 27 Angkorean-era antiquities in July. Cambodia says hundreds of relics were looted from its temples during the 70s and 80s — many on display in museums around the world — and it wants them back.
Case Closed
The Tbong Khmum Appeals Court dropped incitement charges against two former Cambodia Daily reporters, Aun Pheap and Zsombor Peter, whose interviews in Ratanakkiri Province ahead of the 2017 commune elections sparked a years-long court battle. A lawyer for the men said the decision was final.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Architect Adviser Fears Demolition of Colonial-Era Tower
July 22, 2002
An architect and adviser to the Phnom Penh government is concerned the city may approve the demolition of a well-preserved French colonial building located between Wat Phnom and the capital’s riverfront.
Rumors of Ta Mok’s Gold Strikes Kampot
July 19, 2002
It is the rumor that refuses to die: Former Khmer Rouge military commander Ta Mok stashed huge amounts of gold … somewhere.
US Deportees Settle Into Life in Cambodia
July 18, 2002
Gliding into Phnom Penh on a rainy Saturday afternoon, Andy and Mao leaned in their airplane seats to peer out at the rapidly advancing ground of Cambodia. Exotic coconut trees and the chocolate brown water of the Tonle Sap reflected their earthward stares.
Appeals Court Hearing Set for Chhouk Rin
July 17, 2002
The Appeals Court on Tuesday summoned former Khmer Rouge chief Chhouk Rin to a re-trial for his role in a 1994 train attack in Kampot province that left 13 Cambodians dead and led to the kidnapping and murder of three Western backpackers, his lawyer said Tuesday.
WEEKEND READING
Stolen treasure traders
I’ve just done something dumb. I’ve picked up the stone head of Lord Vishnu, the ultimate protector of the universe. It’s heavy, my fingers are slipping, and I think I’m about to drop him.
Farmers feel the pressure after conservation crackdown around Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake
Satellite data show last year's ban on agricultural use of flooded forest is having a positive impact, but farmers living around the Cambodia’s Great Lake say they are now hard-pressed to survive.
De-Dollarization and the Importance of Public Sentiment in Cambodia
The challenge of promoting the use of the riel is not just one of monetary policy. It also touches on questions of Cambodian national identity.
Photos: Siem Reap market, Onny Carr, via Flickr. Prey Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary, via Save Prey Preah Roka Facebook page.
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