The UNDP (United Nations Development Program) and local organisations, so far, have cooperated each other to install more than 500 solar energy electricity generations at the rural areas of Cambodia, where the electricity is not able to access for everyday life in households, schools and referral hospitals, according to Khmer language newspaper Rasmei Kampuchea.
"The producing of the solar energy electricity does not affect the environment and global warming, and the solar energy electricity will be used for healthcare and education fields," Kong Pharith, president of Capacity Building Organization was quoted as saying. Capacity Building Organization is an expert for installing the solar energy system at the rural areas in the country.
"When we have electricity, our local students can access to use computers in their schools," he added.
Now, the local and international organisations are focusing on the installation of battery charging stations for people in the rural areas, he said, adding that price for charging battery will be reduced to 30 percent with support from the UNDP.
Cambodia has 30 percent of its population living in poverty. Most of them live in the rural areas, while 80 percent are farmers.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Cambodia Installs Over 500 Solar Energy Electricity
The wife of Cambodia's dictator visits the birthplace of Human Rights ... Vive la NO-Liberty in Cambodia?
From left, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's wife Gursharan Kaur, French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's wife, Bun Rany, attend the Bastille Day military parade, in Paris, Tuesday, July 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Philippe Wojazer, Pool)
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's wife, Bun Rany, center, salutes French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, as Sarkozy's wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, left, looks on, as Nicolas Sarkozy arrives to the presidential tribune to attend the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, Tuesday July 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
From left, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's wife, Jeannine de Hoop Scheffer, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 's wife Gursharan Kaur, French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's wife, Bun Rany, applaud as they attend the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, Tuesday July 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
France's first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (L) and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's wife Bun Rany Hun Sen, react to a parachute display as they attend the Bastille day parade in Paris July 14, 2009. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
From left, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's wife, Jeannine de Hoop Scheffer, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 's wife Gursharan Kaur, French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's wife, Bun Rany, attend the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, Tuesday July 14, 2009.
(L-R) Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's wife Bun Rany Hun Sen, France's first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's wife Gursharan Kaur (partly hidden) and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's wife Jeannine de Hoop Scheffer react to a parachute display as they attend the Bastille day parade in Paris July 14, 2009. REUTERS/Mal Langsdon
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy's wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy speaks with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's wife Bun Rany Hun Sen on the Place de la Concorde in Paris as they attend the Bastille day parade, July 14, 2009. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer
Interrogator at Khmer Rouge prison denies torture
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A senior interrogator at the most notorious Khmer Rouge prison denied Tuesday that he tortured victims, despite grisly earlier testimony from his former boss that torture was common there.
Mam Nai, 76, told the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal that his main duty was to interrogate low-ranking Khmer Rouge soldiers who allegedly opposed the regime, as well as Vietnamese prisoners of war.
"I never used any torture. It was my understanding that applying torture would lead to an inappropriate confession, that there would be little true in forced confessions," Mam Nai said.
His testimony comes at the trial of Kaing Guek Eav — better known as Duch — who headed the S-21 prison in Phnom Penh. Up to 16,000 people were tortured under his command and later taken away to be killed during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 rule. Only a handful survived.
During hours of earlier testimony, Duch graphically described torture methods used at the prison, though he did not testify about Mam Nai's activities there. He has asked forgiveness from victims' relatives.
Duch (pronounced DOIK), 66, is the first senior Khmer Rouge figure to face trial and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. He is charged with crimes against humanity and is the first of five defendants scheduled for long-delayed trials by the tribunal.
Senior leaders Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and Ieng Sary's wife, Ieng Thirith, are detained and are likely to face trial in the next year or two.
Mam Nai allegedly was responsible for the interrogation and torture of high-ranking members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea accused of plotting against the regime.
He said he met Duch after fleeing into the jungle to fight with the Khmer Rouge in 1973, and Duch trained him in interrogation. He said he was once assigned to question 20 Vietnamese soldiers.
"First, I had to play politics with them, to make them understand and then they agreed to make a confession. After that, I asked for their biographies and their personal activities," he said.
"If the prisoners refused to confess, I asked the guards to take them back to their cells to think and reflect on their positive and negative activities," he said.
Khmer Rouge interrogator says "no regrets" about deaths
PHNOM PENH, July 14 (Reuters) - A former interrogator at the Khmer Rouge's notorious S-21 prison on Tuesday expressed no remorse for the deaths of thousands of Cambodians who he said had all committed crimes.
Appearing as a prosecution witness in the trial of Duch, Pol Pot's head jailor, Mam Nay, also known as Chan, denied any part in torture or killings of prisoners and blamed the United States and Vietnam for undermining his country.
An estimated 1.7 million people died during the Khmer Rouge's four-year "killing fields" reign of terror, which ended when Vietnamese forces invaded in 1979.
Asked by the judge if he regretted what happened at the Tuol Sleng prison, where more than 14,000 men, women and children were killed, Chan showed no remorse.
"My only regret was our country was invaded," he told the joint Cambodian-U.N. tribunal. "Frankly speaking, the Americans invaded us then Vietnam invaded us. That is my regret."
During his five hours of questioning, Nay, a former teacher, said he remembered very little about the S-21 interrogation centre, a former school and now a museum to the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime.
He was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony but was reluctant to speak against Duch, the first of the five indicted former Khmer Rouge cadres to face trial.
"I was assigned by Duch to interrogate detainees," said Chan, who wore sunglasses and a traditional Cambodian scarf. "I did not use torture in my interrogation. I believed I would not get a true confession."
Asked about the deaths of innocent people, Nay, 76, said: "None of them was innocent -- those people committed offences, either minor or serious.
"This was the reason for their arrest. How serious or how minor, I don't know."
With no death penalty in Cambodia, Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture and murder.
Also indicted are Khmer Rouge second-in-command Nuon Chea, former President Khieu Samphan and ex-foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, all of whom have denied knowledge of the atrocities.
Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, who was known by the regime as "Brother Number One", died in 1998 near the Thai-Cambodia border.
Tales of Torture and Death Fill Court in Cambodia
As the stories of terror and brutality have filled the courtroom, even the defendant, Kaing Guek Eav, or Duch, has at times dropped his hard mask and broken down in tears.
“I send my respects to the soul of your wife,” he told one witness, Bou Meng, whose wife died in the prison and whom Duch (pronounced DOIK) had come to know when he put him to work as a painter.
Bou Meng put his face in his hands. Duch, his lips quivering, turned his back on the courtroom, and both men wept.
Duch, 66, is the first of five key figures from the Khmer Rouge regime to be tried here in a United Nations-backed tribunal. He faces charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes as commandant of Tuol Sleng prison, where at least 14,000 people were tortured and sent to their deaths.
Duch has taken responsibility for the torture and killings at the camp and expressed “heartfelt sorrow,” when he took the stand. But he has also placed himself within a chain of command where disobedience often meant death.
In vivid testimony, the court has heard a clinical description of the ripping out of toenails — and viewed the scarred toes of the victim — and has listened to the sobs of a man who said he drank his own urine to survive.
It has heard from a man who said he crawled out alive from a pit in a killing field, and from a woman who said she saw a child thrown into the air and speared on a bayonet.
Most of this testimony is uncorroborated, and some has faced vigorous challenges from the defense and skepticism from the judges. In particular, the judges have called into question the testimony of witnesses who also are designated as “civil parties” — an innovation in international tribunals that allows alleged victims to join the case and to seek reparations from any defendants who are convicted.
The testimony of these witnesses has not been vetted by prosecutors, and most have arrived poorly prepared by overburdened lawyers. Their testimony has often deviated from their sworn depositions, leaving the judges to decide which version, if any, to credit.
Duch’s trial opened at the end of March; it has heard testimony not just from the defendant himself, but also from expert witnesses. It has been slowed by procedural delays and challenged by accusations of corruption and of political manipulation by the Cambodian government. The tribunal, an experimental hybrid of local and international legal systems, has been criticized by human rights groups and some legal scholars for compromising on international standards of justice.
Duch’s most intense display of emotion to date came when a video was shown publicly for the first time of his escorted visit in February 2008 to Tuol Sleng prison, which is now a museum.
With survivors standing nearby, Duch, surrounded by his lawyers and security officers, began to read a statement of apology to the victims.
Suddenly he stopped, wiped his forearm across his eyes and let out a cry that sounded like the bark of a seal before turning away in tears.
But apart from such moments of emotion, Duch has maintained a confident, didactic tone, prefacing his answers with phrases like “based on my analysis and assumption” and “according to the surviving documents.”
The five-person panel of Cambodian and international judges has often addressed him more as a disinterested authority than as a defendant. He seemed to have the final word in the courtroom on the authenticity of prison documents and on the long, painstaking lists that he compiled of prisoners sent to die in a killing field.
In challenging the story of one witness who said he had been a prisoner at Tuol Sleng, Duch presented the curious defense that this could not be the person in question because, according to Duch’s records, he had already had him killed.
Using a similar argument, he questioned the account of a man who said he had survived the camp, where he was imprisoned as an 8-year-old child; Duch asserted confidently that he had made sure all children who entered the prison with their parents were killed.
That witness, Norng Chan Phal, now 39, whose authenticity was later confirmed by prison documents, presented a horrifying picture of loss that could resonate with millions of survivors.
He testified that he and four other children were left alone in the empty prison when Duch and his staff fled the Vietnamese invasion that ended Khmer Rouge rule in February 1979. Mr. Norng Chan Phal said he ran through empty corridors among corpses and flies, searching for his mother, who had been imprisoned with him.
“There was blood and I was scared,” he said. “I kept running and crying for my mother, searching for my mother.” Like almost everyone else who was imprisoned there, she had been killed.
Duch has claimed he had not visited the prison’s cells and torture chambers, asserting that he was a coward, and said that he did not participate in, or even know in detail about, the abuse of the prisoners.
“I shut my eyes and ears,” he said. “I did not want to see the reality that did not reconcile with my feelings. I did not allow myself to see or hear.”
This testimony, which seemed at odds with his hands-on administrative style, was challenged Monday by a witness who said she had worked for him as a medic and had lost several family members in Tuol Sleng.
The witness, Nam Man, 48, said she had seen Duch, standing under a coconut tree, beat two of her uncles to death with a metal rod.
“Are you going to deny the facts and the truth that I have just told the chamber?” she said, addressing him directly.
Duch said that he had found no records of her family in his files and that no women had worked as medics there. He denied everything.
Asked later about this response, Ms. Nam Man said, “Now I have to find the records to prove I am telling the truth.”
7th January Monks, Tep Vong, Long Kim Leang, and Sao Chanthol Defrocked Venerable Tim Sakhorn
At this time, Long Kim Leang, a 7th January monk, is currently staying at a Khmer temple in San Jose, California because he was sponsored to live in the US at that temple. Tim Sakhorn is already invited to come to San Jose for the year end meeting of the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation in December 2009. Let’s see if Long Kim Leang still has power to arrest Tim Sakhorn and deport him again to Vietnam."
After arriving at the third country, a Former Buddhist monk and also an Abbot of the northern Phnom Den pagoda, Kiri Vong district, Takeo province, Tim Sakhorn confirmed that the 7the January Buddhist clergies Tep Vong ordered Long Kim Leang, and Sao Chanthol to strip of his monk’s robe, placed in a car and sent him to imprison in Vietnam.
Tim Sakhorn is a well-known Khmer Krom human rights activist. After being granted a political asylum safely in the third country, he told a PreynokorNew’s Journalist about how he was defrocked and arrested in Takeo province. He confirmed that Long Kim Leang and Sao Chanthol directly defrocked him at Seyha Rattana Ram pagoda in Takeo provincial on 30th June 2007, pushed him into a car, deported to Vietnam to be imprisoned in An Giang province.
The following were the interview between Preynokor News’ Journalist and Tim Sakhorn on Wednesday 8th July 2009:
Preynokor News: When you were in Kampuchea, did you decide to leave from monk hood or you were defrocked?
Tim Sakhorn: When I was in Kampuchea, (the top Buddhist clergies Tep Vong, including Long Kim Leang, Sao Chanthol, and Chea Om…) After I had lunch, Cheas Om phoned me.
Preynokor News: Who was Cheas Om?
Tim Sakhorn: Cheas Om was a high-ranking Buddhist monk in Takeo province in Seyha Rattana Ram pagoda.
Preynorkor News: Why did he call you? What did he say?
Tim Sakhorn: He called me in order to cheat me by saying that just asking me to visit him. In contrast, they planned to meet me, then the Buddhist clergies including Sao Chanthol took the defrocking order letter which already distributed to every pagodas in Kampuchea Krom saying that I undermined the relationship between Cambodia and Vietnam which were signed and stamped by top Buddhist clergy Non Nget and Tep Vong. They defrocked me and forced me to get into a car and sent to the Vietnamese authorities in An Giang province.
Preynorkor News: They accused you of self-repatriation, in this case, they had a letter and signed by you too, is it true?
Tim Sakhorn: In this case, they forced me to do like that. I’ve never wanted to leave far away from my family, parent, and siblings that all live in Phnom Den district because I used to live there since 1979.
Preynorkor News: What kind of police that sent you to prison in An Giang province?
Tim Sakhorn: This based on high-ranking police cooperated with top Buddhist clergies could send me. Just their car entered Cheas Om’s doorway at Seyha Rattana Ram pagoda, waited for me to leave the building, they pushed me into the car. The four police officers in civilian uniform drove me across the Phnom Den border checkpoint to An Giang province..jpg)
Preynorkor News: Did you remember one of the police that arrest you?
Tim Sakhorn: No, they cooperated with the Khmer Buddhist monks.
Preynorkor News: What was the name of Buddhist clergies who defrocked you?
Tim Sakhorn: At that time I saw Cheas Om, Sao Chanthol and other monks from Tep Vong’s group consisted of six monks led by Long Kim Leang at Unnalom pagoda representative Tep Vong and nearly twenty pagoda boys along with them.
Preynorkor News: When they sent you to the border in An Giang province, did anyone come to take you?
Tim Sakhorn: They sent me to Vietnam directly until reaching to Tinh Bien district. After Arriving at police office, they gave me to Vietnam authorities, then the Khmer polices drove back to Cambodia left me to Vietnamese polices.
Before defrocking Tim Sakhorn, Khmer Krom Buddhist monks protested in front of the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia to demand for respecting Khmer Krom Human Rights in Kampuchea Krom because Vietnam authorities defrocked many Khmer Krom Buddhist monks after the demonstration on 8 February 2007 at Pali school in Khleang province.
The non-violence demonstration of Khmer Krom Buddhist monks in Cambodia to demand Vietnamese government to respect Khmer Krom Rights was crack downed by the Cambodian official monks who served Vietnamese political agenda, such as Long Kim Leang the chief of monks that had Khmer body but Vietnamese head. The public opinion called him as the 7th January Buddhist monk. His monks and Hoc Lundy’s polices hit a Khmer Krom monk in his head and caused bleeding seriously and many others wounded.
To confirm that Long Kim Leang in Cambodia stayed at Unnalom pagoda along with the top Buddhist monk, “7th January” Tep Vong, has position as deputy high-ranking monk in Don Penh district and Sao Chanthol the abbot of Lankar pagoda. After arrested venerable Tim Sakhorn and defrocked him and also accomplished their tasks from cracked-down on Khmer Krom monks who protested in front of Vietnamese embassy for many times, Long Kim Leang was appointed by Hun Sen government as Preah Putha Khosachar and Sao Chanthol as Preah Arya Vong.
In 2007, Long Kim Leang went to USA in an attempt to join seima festival at Munisota Ram pagoda located in Minnesota state. There were many Khmers and Khmer Krom living there planed to demonstrate against Long Kim Leang at that time. He heard that so he dared to participate in this festival and hided himself silently in California.
In 2008, Long Kim Leang went to USA for the second time. He stayed at Angkor Borey pagoda, Modesto, California for a short time because lay people did not support him and they knew that he was a monk from the top of Buddhist clergies, Tep Vong, so they did not believe and went back to Cambodia.
At this time, a 7th January monk, Long Kim Leang, is currently staying at a Khmer temple in San Jose, California because he was sponsored to live in the US at that temple. Tim Sakhorn is already invited to come to San Jose for the year end meeting of the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation in December 2009. Let’s see if Long Kim Leang still has power to arrest Tim Sakhorn and deport him again to Vietnam.
From:
PHNOM PENH, July 14 (Bernama) -- More than 500 solar energy electricity generations have been installed in Cambodia's rural areas to help improve the
PHNOM PENH, July 14 (Bernama) -- More than 500 solar energy electricity generations have been installed in Cambodia's rural areas to help improve the living standard of poor people, China's Xinhua news aagency said quoting local media reports Tuesday.
The UNDP (United Nations Development Program) and local organisations, so far, have cooperated each other to install more than 500 solar energy electricity generations at the rural areas of Cambodia, where the electricity is not able to access for everyday life in households, schools and referral hospitals, according to Khmer language newspaper Rasmei Kampuchea.
"The producing of the solar energy electricity does not affect the environment and global warming, and the solar energy electricity will be used for healthcare and education fields," Kong Pharith, president of Capacity Building Organization was quoted as saying. Capacity Building Organization is an expert for installing the solar energy system at the rural areas in the country.
"When we have electricity, our local students can access to use computers in their schools," he added.
Now, the local and international organisations are focusing on the installation of battery charging stations for people in the rural areas, he said, adding that price for charging battery will be reduced to 30 percent with support from the UNDP.
Cambodia has 30 percent of its population living in poverty. Most of them live in the rural areas, while 80 percent are farmers.
From:
Chinese mobiles finding favor in Cambodian market
PHNOM PENH, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Distributors here have said that the number of Chinese-sourced mobile phones being sold in Cambodia each month is climbing rapidly, local newspaper the PhnomPenh Post reported on Tuesday.
Not only are they cheaper than leading brands, but some have features including the ability to use two SIM cards, built-in radio and TV receivers and MP3 and MP4 players, it said.
The Ky Hout company said that it imports between 6,000 and 8,000 phones monthly for distribution in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Battambang. The sales manager, who asked not to be named, said customers liked the fact that the phones were substantially cheaper than the competition.
She said sales were up ten-fold since the start of the year. "Previously we imported only 300 t0 600 of these phones each month that sell for between 35 U.S. dollars and 100 U.S. dollars each," she said, adding, "Our sales of Nokia phones have dropped by 80 percent."
Srey Touch, the owner of another importer, the 03 Company, agreed that sales of Chinese-made phones were up sharply. "We import new model phones two or three times a month, with up to 500phones each time," he said, adding, "The phones sell especially well during the big national holidays such as Khmer New Year, Pchum Ben and the Water Festival."
But representatives of Nokia and Sony Ericsson said their market share was not being hit by the cheaper competition. "Sales are stable," said Yoeun Makara, a retail sales manager who imports Nokia phones. "Moreover, 80 percent of our customers choose to buy Nokia because it is strong and robust, and they like the new touch screen models."
Chea Mony, the head of marketing at Sony Ericsson in Cambodia, is also bullish. He said sales were up at least 10 percent this year. "The influx of Chinese cell-phones creates opportunities for many users, but it is not an obstacle for Sony Ericsson because competition goes beyond price, and Sony Ericsson offers many different prices including low, medium and high," he said.
So Khun, minister of posts and telecommunications, said in May that 4.23 million of the country's 13.4 million citizens have mobile phones, and that the nation has just 42,000 landlines.
Nine mobile phones companies operate in Cambodia: Beeline, Excell, Hello, MFone, Metfone, Mobitel, qb, Smart and Star-Cell.
From:
Overseas Property News - Cambodia
Phnom Penh has a grace and beauty not found in other Asian capitals. This vibrant Cambodian city has a rich and varied French Colonial heritage including villas, churches and boulevards.
Between the granting of independence and the dark days of the Khmer Rouge, a new golden era of architecture emerged, driven by French-educated Khmer architects. This was characterised by a fusion
of Bauhaus, European post-modern architecture, and traditional elements from Angkor.
Fortunately enlightened developers are preserving and refurbishing these timeless buildings to offer a mix of heritage, modernity and sumptuous amenity.
DSR Asset Management Ltd have a new release of 1 - 2 bedroom apartments for sale in French Colonial Phnom Penh competitively priced from £29,000 - £90,000. The refurbishment has been carried out to very high standard.
David Redfern of DSR said “After a little over a year of developing these units in Phnom Penh, we are very relaxed that at each interval demand has easily outstripped supply - both in terms of the sales and rentals.”
Phnom Penh is serviced by a modern international airport, and the city is experiencing massive growth as it is being discovered by a wider global audience.
The apartments can be fully-managed to produce hassle-free income from letting and there is a queue of customers for flats like these.
”All of the units developed so far are tenanted, and the developer and management company have a waiting list of expats ready to rent those that will be completed and hitting the rental market this quarter.
This is a great position to be in and demonstrates that the market is very hungry for high quality, stylish, well located accommodation like French Colonial,” said David
In the sought after riverside French Quarter demand for property of this type far exceeds supply and capital growth is running at an astonishing 17-20% per annum.
From:
Treating 4,000 diabetic patients in Cambodia, a high-prevalence but resource- limited setting: a 5-year study
Despite the worldwide increasing burden of diabetes, there has been no corresponding scale-up of treatment in developing countries and limited evidence of program effectiveness. In 2002, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Cambodia, Medecins Sans Frontieres initiated an outpatient program of subsidized diabetic care in two hospital-based chronic disease clinics in rural settings.
We aimed to describe the outcomes of newly and previously diagnosed diabetic patients enrolled from 2002 to 2008.
Methods: We calculated the mean and proportion of patients who met the recommended treatment targets, and the drop from baseline values for random blood glucose (RBG), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), blood pressure (BP), and body mass index (BMI) at regular intervals. Analysis was restricted to patients notlost to follow-up.
We used the t test to compare baseline and subsequent paired values.
Results: Of 4404 patients enrolled, 2,872 (65%) were still in care at the time of the study, 24 (0.5%) had died, and 1,508 (34%) were lost to follow-up. Median age was 53 years, 2,905 (66%) were female and 4,350 (99%) had type 2 diabetes.
Median (interquartile range (IQR)) follow-up was 20 months (5 to 39.5 months). A total of 24% (51/210) of patients had a HbA1c concentration of <7% and 35% (709/1,995) had a RBG <145 mg/dl within 1 year.
There was a significant drop of 109 mg/dl (95% confidence interval (CI) 103.1 to 114.3) in mean RBG (P<0.001) and a drop of 2.7% (95% CI 2.3 to 3.0) in mean HbA1c (P<0.001) between baseline and month 6. In all, 45% (327/723) and 62% (373/605) of patients with systolic or diastolic hypertension at baseline, respectively, reached [less than or equal to]130/80 mm Hg within 1 year.
There was a drop of 13.5 mm Hg (95% CI 12.1 to 14.9) in mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) (P<0.001), and a drop of 11.7 mm Hg (95% CI 10.8 to 12.6) in mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (P<0.001) between baseline and month 6. Only 22% (90/401) patients with obesity at baseline lowered their BMI <27.5 kg/m^2 after 1 year.
Factors associated with loss to follow-up were male sex, age >60 years, living outside the province, normal BMI on admission, high RBG on last visit, and coming late for the last consultation.
Conclusions: Significant and clinically important improvements in glycemia and BP were observed, but a relatively low proportion of diabetic patients reached treatment targets. These results and the high loss to follow-up rate highlight the challenges of delivering diabetic care in rural, resource-limited settings.
From:
Suchua-Cambodia's precious gem
WHEN CAMBODIAN Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly insulted an unspecified female politician recently, he got more than he bargained for: His implied target turned around and sued him.
The prime minister’s insult might be considered typical in a country with continuing gender inequality, but that didn’t mean Mu Sochua was going to take it lying down.
For 20 years, Mu Sochua has been a voice for exploited Cambodians. As the Viet Nam War spread to Cambodia in 1972, the then 18-year-old was exiled, with no chance to say goodbye to her parents, who later vanished under the Khmer Rouge regime. She spent 18 years overseas, studying and working in Paris, the US and Italy and in refugee camps along the Thai–Cambodian border.
Since her return in 1989, she has been hands-on in rebuilding her homeland, first as an activist and now as a politician, focusing on women’s and children’s issues.
“I had the choice of being part of the reconstruction of Cambodia and I took that choice,” said Sochua, a member of parliament for the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), the leading opposition to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).
In 1991, Sochua formed the first Khmer women’s organisation, Khemara, and joined the Funcinpec political party, winning a national assembly seat representing Battambang in 1998. She soon became the first female minister for women’s and veterans’ affairs.
“What prepared me for the job was my early return, before the country was even officially open to the Western world, which put an embargo on it during 1975 to 1990.”
Her first ministerial act was to launch a national campaign for gender equality, Neary Rattanak (Women Are Precious Gems), which transformed an old Khmer proverb, “A man is gold; a woman is a white piece of cloth” into “Men are gold; women are precious gems.”
The rewritten proverb argues that women are as valuable as men; if “dirtied”, they can shine again like gems, rather than be stained forever like a muddied cloth.
However, in July 2004, she resigned, claiming corruption hindered her work. She joined the SRP, becoming the party’s first female secretary-general in 2006.
Her struggle has been recognised by several nominations and awards, including a 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nomination and the 2005 Vital Voices Human Rights Global Leadership Award, presented by then US senator Hillary Clinton.
Sochua, who is fluent in English, French and Khmer, and holds degrees in psychology and social work from US universities, believes the key to positive change lies in giving people the right to participate in national development without discrimination.
“(Development) must be based on the preservation of the country’s resources, which are plentiful but so badly managed because of corruption and lack of rule of law.”
Sochua’s three daughters have all followed in her humanitarian footsteps. Although she says Asian people look at her with “sorry eyes” when they hear she has no sons, she is fiercely proud of her girls, saying they inspire her to fight even harder for equal access to education and healthcare and for gender equality.
“(Each time) I go to the police station and work with survivors of gender-based violence, I imagine myself a victim and that my daughters are caught in this cycle of violence.”
Her struggle led to her decision to sue Hun Sen for defamation, after he allegedly called her “cheung klang” (strong leg), an offensive term for women, during a speech in her Kampot constituency. He immediately responded with a countersuit, a threat to remove her parliamentary immunity and a request that the Cambodian Bar Association investigate her lawyer, Kong Sam Onn.
Without immunity, Sochua faces imprisonment and her lawyer faces disbarment. However, she is determined to proceed with the case.
This determination shows she cannot be stained by any dirty words, no matter who throws them.
Suchua-Cambodia's precious gem
WHEN CAMBODIAN Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly insulted an unspecified female politician recently, he got more than he bargained for: His implied target turned around and sued him.
The prime minister’s insult might be considered typical in a country with continuing gender inequality, but that didn’t mean Mu Sochua was going to take it lying down.
For 20 years, Mu Sochua has been a voice for exploited Cambodians. As the Viet Nam War spread to Cambodia in 1972, the then 18-year-old was exiled, with no chance to say goodbye to her parents, who later vanished under the Khmer Rouge regime. She spent 18 years overseas, studying and working in Paris, the US and Italy and in refugee camps along the Thai–Cambodian border.
Since her return in 1989, she has been hands-on in rebuilding her homeland, first as an activist and now as a politician, focusing on women’s and children’s issues.
“I had the choice of being part of the reconstruction of Cambodia and I took that choice,” said Sochua, a member of parliament for the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), the leading opposition to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).
In 1991, Sochua formed the first Khmer women’s organisation, Khemara, and joined the Funcinpec political party, winning a national assembly seat representing Battambang in 1998. She soon became the first female minister for women’s and veterans’ affairs.
“What prepared me for the job was my early return, before the country was even officially open to the Western world, which put an embargo on it during 1975 to 1990.”
Her first ministerial act was to launch a national campaign for gender equality, Neary Rattanak (Women Are Precious Gems), which transformed an old Khmer proverb, “A man is gold; a woman is a white piece of cloth” into “Men are gold; women are precious gems.”
The rewritten proverb argues that women are as valuable as men; if “dirtied”, they can shine again like gems, rather than be stained forever like a muddied cloth.
However, in July 2004, she resigned, claiming corruption hindered her work. She joined the SRP, becoming the party’s first female secretary-general in 2006.
Her struggle has been recognised by several nominations and awards, including a 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nomination and the 2005 Vital Voices Human Rights Global Leadership Award, presented by then US senator Hillary Clinton.
Sochua, who is fluent in English, French and Khmer, and holds degrees in psychology and social work from US universities, believes the key to positive change lies in giving people the right to participate in national development without discrimination.
“(Development) must be based on the preservation of the country’s resources, which are plentiful but so badly managed because of corruption and lack of rule of law.”
Sochua’s three daughters have all followed in her humanitarian footsteps. Although she says Asian people look at her with “sorry eyes” when they hear she has no sons, she is fiercely proud of her girls, saying they inspire her to fight even harder for equal access to education and healthcare and for gender equality.
“(Each time) I go to the police station and work with survivors of gender-based violence, I imagine myself a victim and that my daughters are caught in this cycle of violence.”
Her struggle led to her decision to sue Hun Sen for defamation, after he allegedly called her “cheung klang” (strong leg), an offensive term for women, during a speech in her Kampot constituency. He immediately responded with a countersuit, a threat to remove her parliamentary immunity and a request that the Cambodian Bar Association investigate her lawyer, Kong Sam Onn.
Without immunity, Sochua faces imprisonment and her lawyer faces disbarment. However, she is determined to proceed with the case.
This determination shows she cannot be stained by any dirty words, no matter who throws them.
From:
MP Mu Sochua vs Prime Minister Hun Sen: Dare to disturb the universe!
In the early 1980, I came across a book called “The Chocolate War”, written by Robert Comier, Australian High school chose this book to be part of their 11 curriculum, those who read this book would realize the story in The Chocolate War and the lawsuit between MP Mu Sochua and Prime Minister Hun Sen has some resemblance. In The Chocolate War, “The world created by school and The Vigils-the seemingly natural order of things. The Vigils are strong enough to impact that natural order, and a large part of their power grows from the fact that what they say goes. Defying them is to defy something huge and it creates giant waves and disturbs the universe. The goal of The Vigils is to create their own universe that all of the students must follow the rules that they've set. Eventually, The Vigils end up creating a universe so powerful that no one dare defy it”.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Hun Sen, the universe here is the world created by the ruling party - Cambodian People Party (CPP) and it public servants. As in The Chocolate War, it power grows from the fact that what they say goes. Defying them is to defy something huge and it creates giant waves and disturbs the universe, until MP Mu Sochua comes along … MP Mu Sochua dares to disturb the universe!
Sound like a scene from an epic20movie, it started when MP Mu Sochua (Sam Rainsy party) announced at the press conference that she is considering legal action in Cambodia’s courts against the Prime Minister of the country. Just the idea would send cool shivering through your spine, the road of no return. Whether the term cheung klang or the fact that Prime minister Hun Sen warned the villagers not to seek help from opposition which make MP Mu Sochua get out of her comfort zone and sue Prime Minister Hun Sen.
MP Mu Sochua disturbs the universe and by doing so wakes up many, the CPP and it public servants now want her blood for disturbs the universe.
Cambodian likes many other Asian nations, “lose face” considered to be the most sacred and one would do anything to protect. The case of MP Mu Sochua vs Prime Minister Hun Sen, is a sensitive matter and it is more or less a fight to save face, at least from the Prime Minister team. Once the story of MP Mu Sochua announced her intention to sue Prime Minister Hun Sen surface in Cambodian Newspaper, as expected the counter attack from Prime Minister Hun Sen legal team, the counter lawsuit. This is the first in Cambodian history. According many observers, the battle between MP Mu Sochua vs Prime Minister Hun Sen ended before it even begin. Many will choose to remember MP Mu Sochua dares to disturb the universe. What follows will be a bonus.
In the book of “The Chocolate war” , the psychological warfare is being employed, Archie (one of the character), “he does not often resort to flat out fighting or physical bullying because cuts and bruises heal too quickly. He wants to punish students in a way that they cannot forget for a long time”. … traumatized the student, the feeling of paranoid, lose hope is far worst then a physical beating”. The recent action by MP Mu Sochua’s lawyer or former lawyer, Kong Sam Onn, who written an apology to Prime Minister Hun Sen and applied to join the ruling Cambodian People's Party, this is just a beginning.
We expect more, like in the book of The Chocolate War, the power of fear what makes every CCP members and the public servant go out their way ensured that Prime Minister Hun Sen remain in control, fear is the reason what make CCP members and the public servants do what Prime Minister Hun Sen says. Even if they have contemplate disturbing the universe they are simply too afraid to. Manipulation and the power of fear what make Cambodian court rejected MP Mu Sochua’s lawsuit. Manipulation and the power of fear what make the parliament vote to strip MP Mu Sochua’s parliament immunity.
We are not a group of activists, we are Sam Rainsy party, an alternative government. 1, 316, 714 Cambodian (21.91% of the total voters) put us there to represent them. We can be fear if we are alone, but together we fear no more.
Political=2 0landscape in Cambodia has changed, CCP government is now recognized as a legitimate government by international body. We, Sam Rainsy Party needs to be flexible and adapt to change, this is where policy makers join hands. We need to appeal to the people of Cambodia, we need to change the mentality of the Cambodian people - let them know that we stand shoulder to shoulder and strive for the best for all Cambodian, not just for those that believe in Sam Rainsy.
International government can do so much, but when it comes to their national interest there is a big question, American would not and will not jeopardize Chevron, Caltex in Cambodia… Australian government has BP just to name a few.
If SRP does it right, it will be like a call for unity. Many Cambodian, like myself grow up during the Khmer Rouge time, to survive one need to act as dumb, deaf or mute and turn our blind eyes to everything we see or hear, leave alone dare to sue the Head of state. More than a decade later we force to walk on the same road, a déjà vu. This is not what we want our young to embrace and grown up with, on the contrary, this vicious cycle must end so our youth can look up high and be proud to be whose they want to be!
From:
Former KRouge prison deputy denies torture
.jpg)
The former deputy head of the Khmer Rouge's main prison has denied he had tortured prisoners as he sought to play down his position in Cambodia's late 1970s hardline regime.
Mam Nai, 76, told the UN-backed war crimes trial of former jail chief Duch that his role had been only to question inmates at the notorious Tuol Sleng prison.
"I was just a plain and simple interrogating cadre," Mam Nai said, addressing the court as a witness, not a defendant.
"I only interrogated prisoners without applying torture. It is my understanding that applying torture brings untrue confessions."
His former boss Duch is accused of overseeing the torture and execution of around 15,000 people who passed through Tuol Sleng.
Although documents from the regime say Mam Nai was Duch's deputy and tortured prisoners into confessing espionage, he said he only interrogated "not important" inmates and used psychological tricks rather than abuse.
"When I asked the person about their biography and activities, it was not difficult at all (to get a confession)," Mam Nai said.
"If a prisoner refused to respond... I instructed guards to take prisoners back to their cell to think for a while, to reflect on their positive and negative activities," he added.
Mam Nai, whose Khmer Rouge nom de guerre was Chan, went on to tell the court that he was "unclear" on the organising structure of the notorious detention centre and knew nothing of mass killings there.
The 66-year-old Duch, real name Kaing Guek Eav, has accepted responsibility for his role in governing the jail and begged forgiveness from victims near the start of his trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
But he has consistently rejected claims by prosecutors that he held a central leadership role in the Khmer Rouge, and maintains he never personally killed anyone.
Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia. Up to two million people died of starvation, overwork, torture and execution during the 1975-79 regime.
Four other former Khmer Rouge leaders are currently in detention and are expected to face trial next year.
From:
Suchua-Cambodia's precious gem
WHEN CAMBODIAN Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly insulted an unspecified female politician recently, he got more than he bargained for: His implied target turned around and sued him.
The prime minister’s insult might be considered typical in a country with continuing gender inequality, but that didn’t mean Mu Sochua was going to take it lying down.
For 20 years, Mu Sochua has been a voice for exploited Cambodians. As the Viet Nam War spread to Cambodia in 1972, the then 18-year-old was exiled, with no chance to say goodbye to her parents, who later vanished under the Khmer Rouge regime. She spent 18 years overseas, studying and working in Paris, the US and Italy and in refugee camps along the Thai–Cambodian border.
Since her return in 1989, she has been hands-on in rebuilding her homeland, first as an activist and now as a politician, focusing on women’s and children’s issues.
“I had the choice of being part of the reconstruction of Cambodia and I took that choice,” said Sochua, a member of parliament for the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), the leading opposition to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).
In 1991, Sochua formed the first Khmer women’s organisation, Khemara, and joined the Funcinpec political party, winning a national assembly seat representing Battambang in 1998. She soon became the first female minister for women’s and veterans’ affairs.
“What prepared me for the job was my early return, before the country was even officially open to the Western world, which put an embargo on it during 1975 to 1990.”
Her first ministerial act was to launch a national campaign for gender equality, Neary Rattanak (Women Are Precious Gems), which transformed an old Khmer proverb, “A man is gold; a woman is a white piece of cloth” into “Men are gold; women are precious gems.”
The rewritten proverb argues that women are as valuable as men; if “dirtied”, they can shine again like gems, rather than be stained forever like a muddied cloth.
However, in July 2004, she resigned, claiming corruption hindered her work. She joined the SRP, becoming the party’s first female secretary-general in 2006.
Her struggle has been recognised by several nominations and awards, including a 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nomination and the 2005 Vital Voices Human Rights Global Leadership Award, presented by then US senator Hillary Clinton.
Sochua, who is fluent in English, French and Khmer, and holds degrees in psychology and social work from US universities, believes the key to positive change lies in giving people the right to participate in national development without discrimination.
“(Development) must be based on the preservation of the country’s resources, which are plentiful but so badly managed because of corruption and lack of rule of law.”
Sochua’s three daughters have all followed in her humanitarian footsteps. Although she says Asian people look at her with “sorry eyes” when they hear she has no sons, she is fiercely proud of her girls, saying they inspire her to fight even harder for equal access to education and healthcare and for gender equality.
“(Each time) I go to the police station and work with survivors of gender-based violence, I imagine myself a victim and that my daughters are caught in this cycle of violence.”
Her struggle led to her decision to sue Hun Sen for defamation, after he allegedly called her “cheung klang” (strong leg), an offensive term for women, during a speech in her Kampot constituency. He immediately responded with a countersuit, a threat to remove her parliamentary immunity and a request that the Cambodian Bar Association investigate her lawyer, Kong Sam Onn.
Without immunity, Sochua faces imprisonment and her lawyer faces disbarment. However, she is determined to proceed with the case.
This determination shows she cannot be stained by any dirty words, no matter who throws them.
From:
Court punishes 40 for their roles in illegal Internet gambling den
THE Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday sentenced the Taiwanese manager of an online gambling company to four years in prison and fined him 18 million riels (US$4,333), while 39 of his staff members were given five years' probation and fines of 5 million riels, according to Judge Chan Sinath.
Keo Chhay, the lawyer for one of the convicted staff members of the Sky Internet Co, told the Post that the court's decision was a "very serious injustice", and that the 39 staff members were the real losers in the online gambling racket allegedly run by Ly Hyfan, Sky Internet's local manager.
"I am desperately dissatisfied with the court's conviction of the 39 staff members, who were not aware at all of the illegal gambling and thought they were employed properly by the Sky Internet Company," he said.
According to police, Sky Internet paid Cambodians a regular salary to play online card games against paying Taiwanese customers. The Cambodian staff were not gambling themselves, they say, but were complicit in an illegal gambling operation.
Keo Chhay said the staff should have been convicted under Article 4 of the gambling law, under which gamblers are fined between 10,000 and 50,000 riels and can be imprisoned for no longer than one month.
The staff, however, was convicted under Article 5, which bans people from opening, owning or managing gambling dens, and comes with a much stiffer penalty, which is how each staff member ended up with fines of 5 million riels.
We were just told ... that the games were for comforting players in Taiwan.
Police officials said they raided Sky Internet, located in Tuol Kork district, on Thursday, arresting 51 people and confiscating 48 computers.
Pen Naridth, 21, a student at Asia Euro University who was convicted for participating in the scheme, told the Post that nine of the 51 people had paid bribes of between $500 and $1,000 to avoid prosecution.
He said none of the staff knew they were working for an illegal gambling operation, adding that he received a regular monthly salary of between $70 and $100 and did not gamble himself.
"We [the staff] were not aware that our game-playing on the Internet was actually betting," he said. "We were just told by our Taiwanese boss that the games were for comforting players in Taiwan."
Ly Hyfan, the alleged Taiwanese mastermind, said that he had no idea his operation was illegal under Cambodian law and that he had only been hired on a temporary basis.
"I am not actually the manager. I was just hired by a boss in Taiwan to train staff for 10 days during my stay in Cambodia," he said.
But a municipal police officer speaking on condition of anonymity dismissed Ly Hyfan's claims as part of a ploy to avoid criminal penalties.
"They pretend to be unaware that the game involves betting," he said. "[But] if Taiwanese players had no paid accounts, then they couldn't play with staffers. There is a transferring of money into the winner's account."
From:
Tiger farms could cause extinction: World Bank
THE World Bank and conservation groups on Thursday urged China to maintain its domestic trade ban on tigers to ensure the survival of the species in countries including Cambodia.
Nicholas Cox, head of the dry forests eco-region section of the Greater Mekong Programme at WWF, an environmental NGO, told the Post that he did not know of any tiger farms in Cambodia, though he said Cambodia was affected by the trade of tigers fuelled by farms in other countries.
"Tiger farming is not such a major concern inside Cambodia so much as the poaching of Cambodian tigers to supply farming facilities in neighbouring Vietnam, Thailand, China and other countries," he said.
The WWF estimates that hundreds of tiger farms hold more than 5,000 tigers in China, more than the 3,500 to 4,000 tigers remaining in the wild across Asia.
Cox said the tiger-farming issue "hinges on China", and that the country's domestic ban on the trade in tiger parts, in place since 1993, should remain in place.
"If it is lifted ... then it will almost certainly spell the end of tigers in the wild," he said.
Although tiger parts were openly displayed in Phnom Penh's markets in the 1990s, the trade has since moved underground, and there are no accurate statistics on tiger poaching in Cambodia, Cox said.
"Unlike elephants, when a tiger is poached there is nothing left behind, making it difficult to know how many tigers are being lost," he said.
Keshav Varma, head of the World Bank's Global Tiger Initiative, said in a statement last week that a ban on the domestic trade of wild tigers was vital to ensuring the survival of the species.
"Extinction is irreversible, so prudence and precaution suggest that the risks of legalised farming are too great a gamble for the world to take," he said.
Ty Sokhun, director of the Forestry Administration at the Ministry of Agriculture, said the government had taken steps to reduce the trade in
endangered animals in Cambodia and that numbers of animals in the wild, including tigers, were on the rise. "Our educational programmes have made people more aware of [the dangers of poaching wild animals]," he said.
From:
Commission seeks comment on 11 planned Mekong dams
THE Mekong River Commission (MRC) has launched a new Web site calling for public comment on the 11 large-scale hydropower dams planned for the lower Mekong, amid fears that the projects could lead to environmental degradation and displacement.
In a statement Monday, the regional body, which counts Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand as members, argued that input from the public would ensure that Mekong countries understand the "full range of risks and opportunities" offered by hydroelectricity development.
"[I]t is important to have a broad consultation process that allows us to hear the views of communities, NGOs, researchers and businesses. These Web page submissions provide one of the tools to help achieve this," Jeremy Bird, CEO of the Vientiane-based MRC Secretariat, said in the statement.
It added that, under the 1995 Mekong Agreement that established the MRC, member countries must undergo a formal intergovernmental consultation process prior to the construction of dams on the river.
Damian Kean, a spokesman for the Secretariat, said by phone that although consultations have been ongoing, the Web site would help strengthen the body's Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), a preliminary assessment that will help guide the MRC's approach to dams proposed for the Mekong mainstream.
"The idea is to get public submissions so that there is a broader scope to the SEA," he told the Post, adding that this is the first time such a direct line to the public has been opened. Submissions will be accepted until December 1.
Much-needed transparency
Environmental groups said the call for direct public input was a positive step.
"The MRC's SEA could potentially contribute a deeper scientific understanding on the likely costs and benefits of the mainstream dams," said Carl Middleton, Mekong programme coordinator at International Rivers.
He added that the process could also lead to the release of information that is of vital interest to the public, which would be a welcome change from previous dam plans that have been prepared "behind closed doors".
Chhith Sam Ath, executive director of the NGO Forum on Cambodia, said that the public was unlikely to support the dam projects wholeheartedly due to their likely environmental and social impacts, though he urged the MRC to take public input seriously.
"I think it depends on the representatives of the governments in the region to be clear about how they can use the comments gathered from stakeholder consultations," he said.
"I would strongly suggest that the governments and the MRC take this seriously, and that decisions are made based on the comments that are collected."
Save the Mekong, a regional NGO coalition, claims that the lower Mekong dam projects - in addition to eight more planned or in operation on the upper reaches of the Mekong in China - will threaten regional food security and the livelihoods of millions of people, including thousands inside Cambodia.
From:
Khmer asylum seekers's Cambodia complaints
Nearly two dozen asylum seekers deported by Thailand to Cambodia more than 10 days ago are complaining of a lack food and harsh living conditions.
They are part of a group of 56 ethnic Khmers who fled southern Vietnam for Thailand between six months and six years ago.
The Phnom Penh Post says the rest of the Khmer Krom have now left the border area to seek shelter from friends and relatives in Cambodia.
But the remaining 23 deportees say they have no family in the country, and are surviving on charity outside the border town of Poipet.
Several members of the group have told the Post what they fear most is repatriation to Vietnam, where Khmer Krom say they face restrictions of freedom of expression and religion.
From:
Southern Gold 'strikes gold' in Cambodia
Southern Gold Ltd says it has found significant gold mineralisation at one of its projects in Cambodia.
The gold junior found "a number of prominent gold intersections" during its first reverse circulation drilling program, the company said.
Shares in the company leapt on news of the discovery, which identified gold intersections as rich as 8.8 grams per tonne.
Other metals including silver, copper and zinc also were located at the site.
Southern Gold managing director Stephen Biggins said the maiden drilling program validated the company's confidence in the area.
"I am delighted with the results of this first-pass drill program and look forward to aggressively following-up these results," Mr Biggins said in a statement.
At 1107 AEST, shares in Southern Gold were up 1.5 cents, 15 per cent, to 11.5 cents.
From:
Prisoners Given ‘Aspirin’: Tuol Sleng Nurse
Prisoners in the notorious Khmer Rouge prison of Tuol Sleng received little or no medical attention, except for receiving occasional mild painkillers, a former nurse at the sight to a UN-backed court Monday.
Nam Mon, now 48, told the Khmer Rouge tribunal that she had no real training in medicine before she was sent to the prison, which was administered by Duch, currently facing an atrocity crimes trial.
“I learned and cured patience at the same time,” she said. “I didn’t know how to write the names of medicines, so I had to recognize and remember them by heart.”
Nam Mon was one of three nurses at the prison, where prosecutors say 12,380 people were brutally tortured and later to their deaths.
“There were some treatments for prisoners in S-21,” Nam Mon said, referring to the prison by its Khmer Rouge code. But the treatment only included “paracetamol and aspirin.”
From:
Thai Web Site Spreads False History: Cambodia
The Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok formally requested that the Thai government withdraw a video clip from a Web site Monday, claiming the site spread false historical information.
The Web site, www.ilovethailand.org, features a video claiming the Siamese Empire, which predated modern-day Thailand, lost the provinces of Battambang, Siem Reap and Preah Vihear to Cambodia.
In fact, both the Siamese and Khmer empires battled back and forth for control of territory over the centuries.
In its note Monday, the embassy said, “it is the Kingdom of Cambodia which had lost much of its territory from the Khmer empire.”
Thailand and Cambodia are currently engaged in a military standoff over contested border patches, and nationalism on both sides has led to violence in the past.
From:
Tourism Facing Multiple Strains: Official
Cambodia’s second-largest earner of foreign income, tourism, is starting to feel the effects of a prolonged economic downturn and the unstable political situation in Thailand, tourism experts said Thursday.
The number of foreign visitors was down slightly for the first quarter of 2009, dropping 2.23 percent compared to the same period in 2008, but, officials said, those visitors who do come are spending less money.
“This decline has nothing to do with Cambodia’s performance,” said Ang Kim Eang, president of Cambodian Association of Travel Agents, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”
The industry is facing a swath of problems, from the global downturn, a wobbly government in Bangkok, the spread of the H1N1 virus, and even oil price hikes, he said.
Some have blamed Cambodia’s lack of a national airline for the decline, he said, and are hoping for a new tourism law and an open-sky policy, as well visas on arrival and an expansion of attractions.
Even with the slight decline, the number of tourists from the region has risen. Visitors from the Philippines, Laos Malaysia and Vietnam have boosted business for small hotels, he said.
“Therefore, big and luxurious hotels have faced some difficulties in losing their customers...as tourists now spend less money,” Ang Kim Eang said.
To stay competitive in the downturn and to keep numbers up, tourism professionals should target specific countries, said Ho Vandy, co-chairman of the Tourism Working Group, who was also a guest on Thursday’s show.
“What we have advised for the government is related to the promotion of targeting specific tourist groups, Japan or Korea, for instance”
From: