Kingdom Drops Covid Checks, Kep Awash in Development, Hun Sen Fears ‘Gangster Ghosts’
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, October 7, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
STAY HOME: At least 3,000 residents surrounded a commune office to protest eviction orders from their homes in the Angkor temple complex. Hun Sen relented — at least for now.
FISHY FACTS: The Khmer Times got caught playing fast, loose and pro-China — attributing some comically wrong-headed quotes to a U.S. biologist, who denied saying anything in the article.
OPENING UP: It’s the economy, stupid. The Kingdom dropped the last of its Covid-19 travel restrictions in a bid to accelerate recovery. Nearly 95% of Cambodians are vaccinated.
THE LEDE
Prison Camps
A makeshift network of internment facilities has sprung up to house thousands of immigrants entangled in the country’s cyberscam dragnet — and now the ad hoc detention system is splitting at the seams.
One detainee called it a “living hell,” worse than the scam compound from which he was rescued. Complaints of squalid conditions and extortion by guards are pervasive. Detainees escaped one facility by kicking through a metal wall during heavy rains.
Authorities arrested hundreds more this week during raids in Phnom Penh. As efforts continue, more detainees are expected to pile on a system already badly stretched.
Toxic Currents
The Khmer Times was caught fabricating quotes in a giant Mekong stingray article, which somehow became a platform of pro-Chinese propaganda. The report attributed some questionable remarks to Zeb Hogan, a respected American biologist:
Hogan said Cambodia is the safest place for giant freshwater stingrays to live. He said that it shows that China’s dam construction doesn’t affect the Lower Mekong’s ecosystem.
Hold on. In a follow-up from an academic journal, Hogan said he “did not say anything that was reported in the [Khmer Times] article,” adding that “it is clear that upstream dams do impact the Lower Mekong River.”
What emerged was another example of China’s brazen manipulation of the local press, and the complicity of Cambodian media, in greenwashing Beijing’s rapacious development projects.
Fright Factor
The Strongman said a fear of “gangster ghosts” would prevent him from spending eternity in a majestic, golden-colored stupa his wife built for him at a tranquil Phnom Penh pagoda.
The temple’s unknown history frightened him, he said, and he worried that bad spirits would haunt him and “step on his neck.”
The prime minister would instead build a stupa at his home in Takhmao, and bequeath his estate to a granddaughter. But not without warning: Selling the house means selling your grandfather’s ghost.
TALKING POINTS
Soft Serve
Hun Sen appeared to walk back eviction plans for families living in the Angkor Archaeological Park after some 3,000 residents protested outside the commune office. The prime minister had earlier warned residents to quickly accept compensation — a small plot of land 25km away — or risk receiving nothing.
Comfrel Clash
The Kingdom’s top election watchdog denied accusations that it doctored a report to help Son Chhay, an opposition leader, fight defamation charges for alleging voting irregularities in the June commune poll. Comfrel said its report was based solely on witness accounts.
Coast Cleanup
The government’s plan to catapult sleepy Kep into a high-dollar ecotourism destination is gathering speed. The state approved a $17 million “tourism” project on Koh Tbal to complement a $130 million development underway on Koh Tonsay, just a kilometer to the east. Mom-and-pop vendors along the coast have been told to move out.
Bad Reception
The son of NagaWorld’s billionaire CEO was caught on video smashing a union member’s phone. The casino union has been protesting in Phnom Penh since December, alleging union-busting and other labor violations. A rights watchdog said persistent attacks on the union contributed to Cambodia’s “repressed” civic space.
Rap Exports
French music fans will get a double-dose of Khmer hip-hop at Sabay, an annual concert showcasing emerging Southeast Asian artists. Vuthea and Ruthko, both signed to the Phnom Penh label KlapYaHandz, will headline the October 14 show in Paris.
King’s Day
Cambodia on October 15 will mark a rare double commemoration for the late King Norodom Sihanouk: his birthday and the 10-year anniversary of his passing. The former monarch, born Oct. 31, 1922, would have turned 100 this year. He died Oct. 15, 2012.
Free Flow
The Kingdom dropped the last of its Covid-19 travel restrictions, in a bid to accelerate the economic recovery. Visitors are no longer required to show proof of vaccination or negative test results. Nearly 95% of Cambodians are vaccinated.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Old Age Finds Ieng Sary Fully Divested of his Once Revolutionary Disdain of Wealth
October 5, 2002
In a quiet, leafy Phnom Penh neighborhood, one of the chief architects of the Khmer Rouge’s “killing fields” regime has made a home among the victims of his brutal movement.
Police Raids Net Hundreds Of Artifacts
October 3, 2002
Banteay Meanchey provincial military police on Monday confiscated what they say is the northwest’s biggest-ever stash of centuries-old artifacts that were illegally excavated from archaeological sites.
Rule of Law Ignored in Favor Of Orders From the Powerful
October 2, 2002
The arrest and detention of a Chakraval (Universe) Daily editor and reporter recently raised serious concerns about threats to so-called press freedom and violations of legal procedure in Cambodia — a country which has not yet figured out democracy.
Photos: Xiaowan Dam, Lancang River, China, by Guillaume Lacombe/Cirad, via Flickr. Norodom Sihanouk, via WikiMedia.
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