An official from the royal palace appeal to members of the royal family to quit politics

Radio Free Asia
1st January, 2009
By Phan Sophath
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

An official of the royal palace, who is also a member of the royal family, has appealed to all members of the royal family to quit politics for the interests of the Throne and to help in the royal duties of the king.

Prince Sisowath Thomico (pictured with garland), advisor to the royal cabinet, has told Radio Free Asia that, currently, despite there is no laws to ban the royals from politics, the voluntary exit from politics of the members of the royal family would be the best option.

Prince thomico said: “as long as the members of the royal family stay in politics, serve political interests of political parties, the attacks on those members of the royal family is like the attacks on the person of the king or the Throne and that would make the position of the king and the Throne weakened. When people attacks the those members of the royal family it is like they are attacking the king and the Throne.”

Recently, there are some members of the royal family, including Prince Norodom Ranariddh who used to be president of the Funcinpec Party and ex-Prime Minister, had announced their retirements from politics.

After their announcements to stay out of politics, Prince Ranariddh and a certain numbers of princesses have been appointed by the king to be his personal advisors and advisors to the royal cabinet, the positions that are equivalent in ranks to the prime minister, ministers, secretaries of state and under-secretaries of state.

Mr. Khieu Kanharith, government spokesman, said that it would be good for the Throne if the royals leave politics voluntarily. He said: “In short, if we want to consider the king as a symbol of national unity, if the royals engage in social works, I believe that we can preserve a better monarchy and the people will respect them more. If they involve in the dirty politics of state, we can see that their actions will affect the monarchy because our nation has just ended civil wars which have severely wounded the monarchy.”

Cambodia has restored the monarchy in 1993, after it was dissolved by a coup in 1970 that declared Cambodia a republic and after that the monarchy was continuously persecuted by subsequent communist regimes.

Under the present constitution, Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy whereby the king reigns but does not rule. At the same time, both the Throne and the state laws did not prohibit the royals from involving in politics.
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One day after Prince Thomico made this appeal, Prince Sisowath Sirirath told the Phnom Post that he remained committed to politics.

Price of goods: Even pro-CPP union calls for Hun Sen’s intervention

Price of goods: A union appeals to Hun Sen

31 Dec 2008
By Nhim Sophal
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Click here to read the article in French

Chuon Mom Thol, president of the Khmer Union, sent a letter to Hun Sen asking him to act in favor of a lowering of the price of goods.

In this letter, Chuon Mom Thol, president of the Khmer Union – a union known to be pro-government – stressed on the lowering of the price of gasoline and cooking gas whereas the price of other goods has not changed. For example, he cited the price of one kilo of pork meat which is currently sold between 16,000 and 18,000 riels ($4 to $4.50) on the retail market, whereas the wholesale price is only 6,000 riels ($1.50).

“I believe that Samdach Hun Sen could do something on this issue, just like what he did for gasoline, gambling parlors or loan sharks. He had shown in the latter about the efficiency of his intervention. If he is taking action again, he will increase his popularity,” Chuon Mom Thol indicated.

This is the first time that a representative of this union makes a direct appeal to the prime minister to attract his attention to the cost of living condition. According to Chuon Mom Thol, it was through his discussions with female factory workers and his observations that some of these workers earn a better living by working in karaoke bars and beer gardens, that he decided to send a letter to Hun Sen. However, up to now, Hun Sen has not provided any reply yet.

Unions close to the opposition party had already appealed to Hun Sen to take action on these problems, but nothing happened.

Vietnamese censorship muzzles news media

Newspapers and the Internet are read avidly in Vietnam

Vietnamese media sackings shock

Friday, 2 January 2009
By Giang Nguyen
BBC Vietnamese Service, London

In a new year shock the two largest pro-reform newspapers lost their chief editors in the last hours of 2008.
The farewell party at New Year's Eve to Mr Nguyen Cong Khe at Thanh Nien newspaper was described by an insider as "tearful".

Tuoi Tre's boss Le Hoang was reported to have agreed with his redeployment to a new job in the publishing business.

But moves by the ruling party to put more restrictions on the media has not stopped with these Southern newspapers.

More sackings

Vietnamese media reports confirm that two other newspapers, Legality and Saigon Business People, also lost their editors-in-chief in December 2008.

Just two months earlier, Mr Ly Tien Dzung, a veteran journalist and the editor of Dai Doan Ket paper, was 'disciplined' and sacked for publishing a letter by General Vo Nguyen Giap criticizing the current leadership's handling of a public construction project.

But the year 2008 ended most unfortunately for Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre because their reporters, Nguyen Viet Chien and Nguyen Van Hai, had been picked to stand trial in October for vigorous reporting of a major corruption case.

They seem to fall victim of a new policy pursued by the Communist party to tighten its control over the flow of news and information, both in the state-run media and the private blogosphere that has been booming in Vietnam in the last two years.

For the government, the technological development and commercialisation of the 20-million web-user media market in Vietnam requires more adequate regulations.

Internet dilemma

The need to build new legal frameworks for the media to operate for the good of Vietnam was confirmed by Mr Luu Vu Hai, chief of the Administration Agency for Radio, Television and Electronics Information at the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Last October he was quoted as saying: "Every country has its own law and all activities must follow its laws in order to guarantee the social benefits."

A new law in 2009 explicitly bans bloggers from discussing politically sensitive subjects and demands that all journalists reveal their sources of information.

Those who dare to break these rules set by the Party would face up to $12,000 (£8,000) in fines or 12 years in jail.

At the same time, the government officially encourages Internet use in an attempt to make use of information technologies to modernise the Vietnamese economy and improve business efficiency.

Media watchdog and human rights organisations have raised concerns about restrictions imposed upon both newspapers and blogs.

International donors such as the European Union and the Asian Development Bank have also urged Vietnam to accept a more active role of media in fighting corruption and getting citizens involved in public affairs.

Unhappy new year

However, with Vietnam's economy slowing - with imported energy and food costs pushed up and inflation soaring to more than 20% in the last quarter of 2008 - more social dissenters could want to make their voices heard in the coming months.

For now at least, the government does not have to worry about any rebellious action at the Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre newspapers.

The two newspapers, still without nominees for editors-in-chief, are run by some deputies acting up.

The staff seem in no mood to celebrate the Lunar New Year coming later this January.

"A sad and miserable new year has come," says Hoang Hai Van, a former Thanh Nien sub-editor in his blog.

Cambodian gov't urged to invest more in agricultural sector [-Hun Sen rather sells agricultural lands to Gulf countries instead?]

Cambodian gov't urged to invest more in agricultural sector [-Hun Sen rather sells agricultural lands to Gulf countries instead?]

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- A well-known expert has called on the Cambodian government to devote more resources to the rural sector in efforts to mitigate the effects of the global economic crisis, the Phnom Penh Post reported on Friday.

While the tourism and garment sectors continue to struggle for access to international markets during the slowdown, Cambodia's agricultural sector holds the best hope of weathering the crisis, Kang Chandararot, president of the Cambodian Institute for Development Study, was quoted by the English-language daily newspaper as saying.

"We face a difficult situation, but the government should use most of the (nearly) 1 billion U.S. dollars of donor aid to develop our rural areas as a top priority," he said.

Greater improvements in rural development would cut poverty and reduce dependence on loans from banks or microfinance institutions, he said.

"While direct loans from banks and microfinance institutions provide necessary support, aid through the rural development and agriculture ministries should be used to modernize our agricultural methods," he said.

Such aid should be used to renovate Cambodia's aging water systems, find new seedlings and fertilizers, and improve rural markets, he said.

Cambodia used to be the major rice and some other rural products exporter in the region but years of war has made it lag behind Thailand and Vietnam in the past decades.

Currently, garment, tourism and infrastructure are the pillar industries of the kingdom.

Police find explosive devices near Cambodian defense ministry

Police find explosive devices near Cambodian defense ministry

January 2, 2009 by phalla (Edit)
Filed under Khmer News Today

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PHNOM PENH, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) — Police on Friday found explosive devices at two locations in front of the National Defense Ministry and another one near the headquarters of TV3 in downtown Phnom Penh.

Mine clearance group disassembled these materials, without causing any damage and casualty.

“We found them at 0300 p.m. local time (0800 GMT) and have been investigating the case to catch the perpetrators,” said Sao Sokha, chief of the National Military Police.

So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the deadly placements yet.

The explosive substances were placed in cans of mosquito-killing spray when the police found them in the public garden before the ministry and on the sidewalk beside the TV headquarters, according to the police.