Journalism Giant Nate Thayer Dies at 62, Kep Official Goes Into Hiding, Hun Sen Excoriates Philandering Nephew
Good morning, Cambodia. It’s Friday, January 6. Happy New Year!
GREATNESS GONE: Nate Thayer’s journalism in Cambodia is essentially unrivaled, and his hammer-down persona influenced a generation of reporters. His legacy is all the more important as the free press dies.
RIGHTS FIGHT: Authorities banned activists from Freedom Park to demand the release of Theary Seng, Chhim Sithar and other political prisoners. It was a particularly bad year for human rights — even for Cambodia.
SKY HIGH: More than 2,500 high-rise buildings have been built since 2000, with 1,675 in Phnom Penh and 685 in Sihanoukville. The government approved 3,827 more projects in the first nine months of 2022.
THE LEDE
Master Stroke
The Strongman paid a Christmas visit to the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, with local diplomats and analysts hailing the meet as a turning point in icy relations between the two countries.
All eyes are on July’s national elections — and how the U.S. will react to a vote likely to be woefully short of free-and-fair. Speaking out risks furthering China’s growing dominance in the country and region. Playing along makes it complicit in persistent rights abuses.
The U.S. has no good options, making the status quo — half-hearted calls for reform buffeted by a booming $8 billion in exports — the only certainty.
Chinese, incoming
Cambodia plans to welcome a “flood” of Chinese tourists after Beijing drops mandatory quarantine for returning travelers this weekend.
Cambodia will not impose new testing or quarantine rules, the prime minister said, hoping to capture pent-up demand in the Chinese market, the country that sent some two million visitors to the Kingdom in 2019. Cambodia expects around three million foreign arrivals by the end of 2023.
China stopped publishing Covid-19 fatalities on Dec 25. Official estimates suggest around 5,000 new cases per day, but researchers say the real total could be as high as three million.
Old School
Nate Thayer, a hard-charging giant of Southeast Asian journalism, died of natural causes at his home in Massachusetts. He was 62.
Thayer played a pivotal role in three of the biggest Cambodia stories of the 1990s. He interviewed Pol Pot in 1997, the first time the reclusive leader had spoken to Western media in nearly 20 years. The scoop rocketed across television screens around the globe. Six months later, in April 1998, Thayer was on hand to confirm Pol Pot’s death.
In 1999, Thayer and photojournalist Nic Dunlop unmasked Duch, the S-21 Prison chief, who was living under an assumed name.
TALKING POINTS
Poll Power
Hun Sen has threatened to sue anyone who accuses the CPP of buying or stealing votes — a warning to opposition leaders to be careful or face million-dollar lawsuits. His call came as the NEC rejected criticisms and dismissed recommendations from a leading election monitor on how to improve transparency and fairness.
Warning Signs
Surging credit growth in construction and real estate is a growing risk to the economy, the World Bank warned. If not managed well, rising interest rates, debt levels and bad loans could unleash instability in related business sectors. The bank advised more regulation and oversight.
Tough Times
Phnom Penh authorities rang in the New Year by banning activists from Freedom Park to demand the release of Theary Seng, Chhim Sithar and dozens of other political prisoners. The protests capped a particularly bad year for human rights, Licadho said. Union and civil society leaders were routinely arrested, free speech was heavily censored, and independent media faced lawsuits, arrests and jail.
Family Ties
“Your mistress or your military career” — that was Hun Sen’s public ultimatum to his bad-boy nephew, Lieutenant General Hun Chea, after the soldier posted pictures of a lover’s tryst. The prime minister called out his nephew during a groundbreaking ceremony for a $144 million bridge across the Mekong, as the puzzled Chinese ambassador looked on.
Kep Scandal
The former deputy governor of Kep province is on the run following a violent, boozed-fueled episode of sexual assault. Witnesses said the inebriated official smashed a subordinate with a glass after she stopped him from drunkenly kissing a friend. The wound required 16 stitches.
Boomtown Flats
More than 2,500 high-rise buildings have mushroomed across the Kingdom since 2000, according to government statistics. Phnom Penh leads with 1,675. Sihanoukville takes second with 685. There’s no end in sight: The government approved 3,827 construction projects in the first nine months of 2022.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
PM’s Nephews Released in Time for Wedding
January 3, 2002
Two nephews of Prime Minister Hun Sen, detained in connection with a recent shootout, were released Wednesday in time to attend their cousin’s wedding.
Villagers Beat 2 Teenage Suspects to Death
January 2, 2002
Two teen-agers were brutally beaten to death in Khmounh commune, Russei Keo district, by an angry mob Monday after they were accused of stealing a motorbike, local police officials said.
As SARS Threat Lessens, Tourism Surges
January 1, 2002
Tourists are flocking back to Cambodia after the tourism industry slumped earlier in 2003 due to the threat of severe acute respiratory syndrome.
WEEKEND READING
In Protected Prey Lang Forest, Communities Pushed Out But Mining Companies Welcomed In
Snang An village chief Sok Heng proudly displays a photo of his new home, constructed in July 2021, as his phone’s background image. But Late Cheng Mining Development, a gold mining firm with ties to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s bodyguard unit, now threatens to dismantle the home and has taken over his neighbors’ farmlands, he says.
Politics 2022: Hun Sen, Candlelight and Unrelenting Pressure
Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party continued to maintain a tight grip on power this year and showed little inclination easing pressure on political opponents and dissidents.
Photos: Hun Sen, Facebook. Phnom Penh, WikiMedia.
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