Thai troops accused of killing Khmer

http://www.bangkokpost.com

Writer: BANGKOK POST AND AFP
Published: 16/09/2009

The Foreign Ministry denies Thai soldiers shot and burned alive a Cambodian teenager for cutting down trees illegally on the border.

Ministry spokeswoman Vimon Kidchob yesterday said the ministry had checked the report with the Border Affairs Department under the Supreme Command and found it baseless.

Thai soldiers fired bullets into the sky near the border in Surin on Friday after finding about eight Cambodian teenagers were sneaking into Thai territory to cut down trees, Miss Vimon said.

But the Cambodian foreign ministry claimed in a letter sent to the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh yesterday Yon Rith, 16, was one of two Cambodian teenagers shot and wounded by Thai soldiers after they and others felled trees illegally. on the frontier.

''One of them named Mao Kleung managed to escape the scene, while the other injured boy named Yon Rith ... was arrested and burned alive by the Thai forces,'' the letter said.

The Cambodian foreign ministry called the alleged incident an ''inhuman act'' and urged Thai authorities to investigate.

But Miss Vimon said the report was a misunderstanding. ''Thai soldiers did not use force in the incident,'' she said.

She said a Thai diplomat was summoned to the Cambodian foreign ministry yesterday to clarify the issue.

The accusation comes just days before a planned rally at the border near Preah Vihear by the People's Alliance for Democracy.

On Saturday, PAD members plan to voice their opposition to new buildings being constructed in the disputed area, claiming there are plans for Thailand to abandon the overlapping area. They say those two issues could lead to Cambodia taking firm control of the 4.6-square-kilometre zone which has not been unsettled.

Supreme Administrative Court president Ackaratorn Chularat said if the Thai government turned a blind eye to the settlement, it could eventually be seen as accepting Cambodian possession on the land.

Child Labor 'Cripples Future'

AFP
A woman cries as she is reunited with her son after he was rescued from a group of human traffickers in central China's Henan province, May 6, 2005.

http://www.rfa.org
2009-09-15

Throughout East Asia, vulnerable children are forced and trafficked into every kind of work.

HONG KONG—Children in East Asia are routinely trafficked internationally and forced into sex work and domestic labor, as well as being made to work in factories in their own countries instead of going to school, according to a U.S. government report.

And while a series of child- and forced-labor scandals have surfaced in China recently, including that of the "brick kiln" children, trafficked minors are also to be found in some of the region's most developed economies.

"The problem with those children working is that those children are not getting an education," Sandra Polaski, deputy undersecretary for international affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), said in an interview.

"It means when they grow up they are going to be too poor to be able to feed their own families, and they’ll have to send their own children to work," she added.

According to a recent set of reports published by the U.S. Department of Labor, children—especially girls—are trafficked internationally among Malaysia, China, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and Singapore.

Better laws sought

Children, according to ILAB, are also required to work in certain industries in their own countries and are taken away from parents who are too poor to put up much resistance.

Polaski called for better rights for adults in developing countries so that they will be better able to protect their children's futures.

"If the children in those countries have to go to work because their families are too poor to feed them, the solution is to pass better laws," Polaski said.

"[Also] to have better law enforcement and have better rights for the adults, so that they can make at least an adequate living so that they can feed their children," she added.

"If we don’t interfere with this vicious cycle of lowering the possibilities of those children because they have never been educated ... we’ll be facing these same problems 20 years from now, 40 years from now," Polaski said.

She called on governments and the private sector to use ILAB information about which products had been made with child labor to revise their supply chain and purchasing policies.

"We think shining a spotlight on this will put a lot more pressure on them to act," Polaski said.

Boys trafficked for fishing

The ILAB report said that girls were primarily trafficked both internationally and internally for commercial sexual exploitation and forced domestic service, whereas boys were often trafficked internally to work on fishing platforms.

It also said it had received reports of children being trafficked to work in organized begging rings.

Children in Burma have reported being forced to work as porters and roadbuilders by government and ethnic minority troops in the Karen border region conflict.

ILAB said child labor had also been used in rice harvesting, rubber plantations, sugarcane, and teak.

'Vulnerable people'

In Cambodia, children were known to work in rubber, brick factories, salt manufacture, and on shrimp farms, while underage Chinese youngsters were employed to make bricks, cotton, electronics, fireworks, textiles, and toys.


"There are still people living in poverty in China, and those people are vulnerable," Polaski said.

"There are unscrupulous businessmen and labor contractors that exploit that vulnerability."

Meanwhile, children in Thailand were found working in the sex trade, rubber plantations, shrimp farms, textiles and sugarcane, ILAB said, noting that many of the children used may have been trafficked from elsewhere in the region, including China, Laos, Burma, and Cambodia.

"Congress felt that in order to address the problem of child labor and forced labor, the public and the global community needed more information about where the child labor and forced labor was occurring, [and in] which countries, which products," Polaski said.

Original reporting in Mandarin by Xi Wang. Mandarin service director: Jennifer Chou. Written for the Web in English by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.

Copyright © 1998-2009 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved.

PM assigns foreign minister to meet with PAD on planned border protest

http://enews.mcot.net

BANGKOK, Sept 15 (TNA) - Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Tuesday that he had assigned Minister of Foreign Affairs Kasit Piromya to meet with the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and local residents to understand the government's stance to use peaceful means to resolve border disputes between Thailand and Cambodia.

The PAD said it would lead villagers to the border province of Si Sa Ket on Saturday to protest against the Cambodian government, urging the Khmers to withdraw their military and civilians from occupying the contested 4.6 square kilometre contested zone surrounding Preah Vihear, the 11th-century temple.

The prime minister affirmed that the government had no hidden agenda in resolving border disputes with Cambodian government and the involved cabinet ministers were trying to make the people who wanted to use more drastic action to resolve problems to understand that the solution must be found at the negotiating table by strictly following agreements made by the two countries under the United Nations charter.

He urged the public to give the authorities an opportunity to work and refrain from taking any risk that could lead to a clash between the two countries as it would do no good for either party.

"I can guarantee 100 per cent that the government will not do anything that could affect our sovereignty or territory. The government has no hidden agenda or hidden benefit in dealing with Cambodia," he said.

That future approaches to resolving the border disputes would be carried out in accordance with the existing legal framework and negotiations would be made to bring back the situation that both sides living together peacefully, the prime minister said.

The ruins of the temple itself belong to Cambodia, but the most practical entrance begins at the foot of a mountain in Thailand, and both sides claim portions of the surrounding territory.

The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that Preah Vihear itself belongs to Cambodia. Tensions flared along the border in July 2008 after the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) granted Cambodia’s ancient temple status as a World Heritage Site. (TNA)

CAMBODIA: Men being exploited, trafficked too

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN
In today's economic climate, many Cambodian men are at risk of being trafficked, experts warn

http://www.irinnews.org

PHNOM PENH, 15 September 2009 (IRIN) - Kou Channyyon's story is typical of many young Cambodian men.

Desperate for work, he was trafficked to Malaysia with the promise of earning more than US$200 a month in a coffee factory.

But after he arrived, his passport was confiscated, and he found himself working 13 hours a day, with barely enough money to cover his living costs.

Barred from leaving the factory premises, he did not know if he would ever be able to escape.

"It was exhausting ... I got very little sleep and was paid less than other workers," the 23-year-old farmer's son from southern Kandal Province, told IRIN.

According to the UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP), thousands of Cambodians are trafficked annually for the purpose of labour exploitation - a figure expected to increase given the global economic downturn.

"The risk factors for an increase are certainly there," Paul Buckley, field operations coordinator for UNIAP, told IRIN in Bangkok, citing job losses, diminished remittances, and rising debt as key indicators.

Cambodian exports have been badly shaken by the global financial crisis, resulting in thousands of workers losing their jobs.

"This makes for an easier environment for traffickers to work in," Buckley said, noting the need for more quantifiable data and research.

Earlier this year, the International Labour Organization (ILO) projected that job losses may surpass 45,000 this year, with a disproportionate burden falling on young workers, who already face few employment opportunities.

"Cambodia confronts a growing problem of providing decent work for this young population," said Ya Navuth, executive director of Coordination of Action Research and Mobility (CARAM), a local NGO working to reduce illegal immigration to other countries.

"I think the government has to solve the problems of labour exploitation or illegal immigration by increasing the domestic market for labour," Ya Navuth said.

Scant research on male victims

Trafficking victims have traditionally been identified by governments in Southeast Asia as women and children. There is scant research on the problem of male trafficking for labour exploitation, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

According to the Cambodian government, men seek longer term work mostly in Thailand in construction, factories, transport, fishing and fish processing.

"Males continue to be another vulnerable group besides women and children," UNIAP's national project coordinator in Cambodia, Lim Tith, told IRIN.

"They suffer abuse and labour exploitation [in a bid] to support their family back home," he said.

A 2008 UNIAP report said the main destination countries for Cambodian labour migrants are Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Thailand is the top destination country for victims of human trafficking from Cambodia.

Photo: Kounila Keo/IRIN
Kou Channyyon was trafficked from Cambodia to Malaysia

Thai fishing boats

Some of the worst exploited are men and boys who end up on Thai long-haul fishing boats that ply the South China Sea for two years or more at a time, according to a UNIAP study in April 2009.

"The boats become virtual prisons on which the trafficking victims endure inhumane working conditions and physical abuse. Death at sea is frequently reported, sometimes at the hands of Thai boat captains," the study notes.

Until mid-2008, Thailand's anti-human trafficking legislation excluded men from being acknowledged as trafficking victims, which meant that they were counted as illegal migrants instead, and consequently deported.

Some 130,000 individuals are deported to Cambodia from Thailand each year, and evidence is readily available of cases of misidentification by Thai or Cambodian authorities of victims of trafficking departed from Thailand, said the 2008 UNIAP report.

"The fact that the problem remains hidden makes it harder for the NGOs and the government to work on it," Lim Tith said.

New law

Cambodia has undertaken a series of measures to curb trafficking, including a 2008 law that recognizes men as potential trafficking victims for the first time, and provides a better legal framework to prosecute traffickers.

But given the fallout from the global economic crisis, tackling illegal immigration and trafficking may prove difficult for the Cambodian government because of its small budgets and limited human resources, said Lim Tith.

"What's important now is that the government has a political will to solve the problems, although they have very limited options," said Lim Tith.

"With the global economic crisis still continuing or [having an] effect, more men will surely continue to seek jobs abroad and be exploited by the financial crisis," he said.

Many factors led to Khmer Rouge rise

A. Gaffar Peang-Meth

Pacific Daily News

http://www.guampdn.com

September 16, 2009

Cambodia is a very old country. Her recorded history dates back to the first century A.D. But she has a very large young population. One source estimates that one-third of Cambodia's total population of 14 million is below the age of 15 years.

It is no wonder that this young population appears to have little or no sense of why as many as two million people in Cambodia were killed from 1975-1979 by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime.

Yet Cambodians seem receptive of the view that U.S. B-52 bombings of Cambodia resulted in the radicalization of the Khmer Rouge, and the U.S. invasion of Cambodia eventually brought Pol Pot to power.

After all, Cambodians, young and old, frequently hear Premier Hun Sen's reminder: The killings wouldn't have occurred had Lon Nol's coup not taken place. This effective political socialization method has brought now King Father Sihanouk to describe Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party as the "younger sibling" and has diverted attention from KRT's investigation of other "suspects" involved in the Killing Fields. Sen was a Khmer Rouge northeastern regional commander.

The search for truth that presents only one side of the coin is at best an incomplete interpretation of historical facts -- a half-truth, if not a manipulation of facts.

Former Congressman Stephen Solarz said in 1985 that Americans "have partial responsibility, but by no means exclusive responsibility" for the Khmer Rouge's success. He said, Sihanouk, the Khmer demi-god, who in 1970 called on the people to overturn the government that had replaced his own, "had as much if not more to do with the ultimate success of the Khmer Rouge than the American bombing."

Former national security adviser Henry Kissinger wrote that Hanoi brought the war to Cambodia and "made possible the genocide by the Khmer Rouge."

Australian journalist John Pilger's "Cambodia's empty dock," in the Feb. 21 Guardian, said the U.S. bombings provided "a catalyst" for Pol Pot, who came to power because Nixon and Kissinger had "attacked neutral Cambodia." Pilger called the KRT "a farce" if "those who sided with Pol Pot's mass murders" escape trial.

But Australian academic Stephen Morris's "Vietnam and Cambodian Communism" of April 2007 posited, "Without the support of the Vietnamese and Chinese communists, the regime known as Democratic Kampuchea would never have existed," and, "Vietnam played a vital role in the rise of the Khmer Rouge to power."

Readers in Cambodia e-mailed to remind me that the U.S. bombed Cambodia. Recently, a Cambodian who says he was only 7 when Pol Pot came to power, who has lived in the U.S. for 26 years now, wrote on the Internet that he has learned quite a bit: "America is the country that bombed Cambodia in the 1970s, thereby giving strength to the ultra-extremist Khmer Rouge to come to power in 1975 full of thirst for blood."

What do available historical records show?

A "protocol" to the agreement for China's military aid to Cambodia, signed by Cambodia's Lon Nol and China's Lo Jui-ching on Nov. 25, 1965, stipulates Cambodia agreed to Vietnamese communist "command posts," "passage," "refuge," and "protection if necessary," in the frontier region; and "passage of material coming from China" for the Vietnamese.

Read Pyongyang's KCNA News Service Release of April 30, 1972, which lists aid given to the Vietnamese communists by the Cambodian government beginning in 1963: food, medical supplies and commercial agreement; establishment of "small bases" for rest and medical care; free access to the Sihanoukville seaport by ships "carrying arms and military equipment" for the Vietnamese National Liberation Front; and transport by trucks belonging to the royal armed forces from the seaport to the border.

Cambodia's neutrality was thus destroyed since 1963 because of the belief the communists were going to be the future masters of the region.

When Jacqueline Kennedy visited Cambodia on Nov. 1, 1967, George McArthur and Horst Faas of The Associated Press, and Ray Herndon of United Press International, slipped out of Phnom Penh to the South Vietnamese border and found a Vietnamese communist campsite four miles inside Cambodia, in Kompong Cham.

Robert Shaplen's "Time Out of Hand" reported that in the late 1960s, Sihanouk told The Washington Post he wouldn't mind American actions against illegal Vietnamese communist presence in Cambodia's uninhabited areas. Vietnam War critic William Shawcross wrote in "Sideshow" that by that time, U.S. Special Forces teams had already operated 18.75 miles inside Cambodia. In December 1967, the U.S. presented to the Cambodian government, through Australia, findings of a classified project code named "Vesuvius" that documented communists' use of Cambodian land and resources during the Vietnam War.

In "White House Years," Kissinger wrote that Sihanouk, at a May 13, 1969, news conference, talked about "the first report" on "several B-52 bombings," saying he could not protest -- "an affair between the Americans and the Viet Cong-Viet Minh without any Khmer witnesses," as not even a buffalo was killed.

Yet, 10 days after the first series of B-52 bombing strikes three to five miles inside Cambodia, Sihanouk presented to the press corps a detailed map of the location of Vietnamese communist troops "by entire battalions and regions" from northeastern Ratanakiri to the sea in the south -- an area of 3,500 square kilometers. His monthly political magazine "Le Sangkum" placed Vietnamese communist strength along the borders at 35,000 to 40,000 men.

A scholar posited in Foreign Policy Research Institute Online, "History teaches above all that there is no such thing as history, only historical interpretation."
Based on available historical records, how did the Khmer Rouge rise to power?

A Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.

KRouge jail chief says had brother-in-law tortured

Kaing Guek Eav better known as Duch

By Patrick Falby (AFP)

PHNOM PENH — The chief of the Khmer Rouge's main prison told Cambodia's UN-backed war crimes trial Tuesday that he had his own sister's husband jailed and tortured after the man was accused of espionage.

Duch said he had his brother-in-law locked up at the notorious Tuol Sleng detention centre to protect himself and his family, adding that the man was later killed by the hardline communist movement.

"I vouched for my younger sister and I vouched to educate her, but I could not do that for my brother-in-law," said Duch, who acknowledges overseeing the extermination of some 15,000 people at the jail.

"As a principle, when the husband was arrested the wife was arrested as well. But my younger sister was not arrested and she is still alive today," he added.

The 66-year-old Duch said the brutal regime initially arrested his brother-in-law on spying charges but then released him and allowed to stay at Duch's house.

But Duch later had the man arrested again and sent to Tuol Sleng, a former high school in the capital Phnom Penh that was turned into a genocide museum after Vietnamese-backed forces toppled the Khmer Rouge in 1979.

Duch said that the man later confessed, apparently under interrogation, to being "a member of the enemy network" since before the Khmer Rouge had come to power and of marrying Duch's sister to spy on him.

He said that after his arrest, his brother-in-law tried to protect the rest of the family from the Khmer Rouge's spiralling paranoia, which involved witchhunts for suspected agents for the CIA, KGB and Vietnam and other groups.

"What he was afraid of was that when he was arrested and handcuffed, he wanted to know whether I would be arrested. Because if I was arrested, then the whole family would be gone," Duch said.

Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, is the first Khmer Rouge cadre to face trial at the court but denies personally torturing or killing inmates and he insists that he was not a leading figure in the 1975-1979 regime.

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia, resulting in the deaths of up to two million people from starvation, overwork and torture.

Evangelical minister Christopher LaPel told the tribunal Tuesday that Duch was completely changed after the pastor baptised him in 1996 in a river in western Cambodia.

"After he got baptised I can see him as a completely different person... I can see that he (had been) a person that lived in darkness, sadness, with no joy, no love," said Cambodian-American LaPel.

LaPel told the court that although Duch was hiding his identity at the time, the conversion seemed genuine and the pair have prayed and held Bible study together in prison several times since the former cadre's 1999 arrest.

Former maths teacher Duch has regularly expressed remorse to victims and those who worked under him.

One-time Khmer Rouge ideologue Nuon Chea, head of state Khieu Samphan, foreign minister Ieng Sary and his wife, minister of social affairs Ieng Thirith, are also in detention awaiting trial at the court.

Thailand in Picture

Policemen inspect the bodies of military rangers after an attack by suspected Muslim militants in Thailand's Yala province, about 1,084 km (674 miles) south of Bangkok, September 13, 2009. Five military rangers were killed in Thailand on Sunday, police said, when an armed group attacked their base in Yala, a province in the far south that has seen an upsurge in separatist violence. REUTERS/Surapan Boonthanom

Policemen inspect the bodies of military rangers after an attack by suspected Muslim militants in Thailand's Yala province, about 1,084 km (674 miles) south of Bangkok, September 13, 2009. Five military rangers were killed in Thailand on Sunday, police said, when an armed group attacked their base in Yala, a province in the far south that has seen an upsurge in separatist violence. REUTERS/Surapan Boonthanom

The bodies of military rangers are seen after an attack by suspected Muslim militants in Thailand's Yala province, about 1,084 km (674 miles) south of Bangkok, September 13, 2009. Five military rangers were killed in Thailand on Sunday, police said, when an armed group attacked their base in Yala, a province in the far south that has seen an upsurge in separatist violence. REUTERS/Surapan Boonthanom

Securing the scene : The shadows of Thai soldiers and police officers stretch across a wall as they secure the scene where military rangers were shot dead in an attack by suspected Muslim militants in Thailand's restive southern Yala province.(AFP/Muhammad Sabri)

Soldiers walk inside Government House in Bangkok September 15, 2009. The Thai government agreed to impose the Internal Security Act in Dusit district between September 18 to September 22 to ensure peace and order during a red-shirted rally on September 19.REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom

Thai Muslim villagers prepare for the burial of five military rangers in Thailand's Yala province, about 1,084 km (674 miles) south of Bangkok September 14, 2009. Five military rangers were killed in Thailand on Sunday, police said, when an armed group attacked their base in Yala, a province in the far south that has seen an upsurge in separatist violence.REUTERS/Surapan Boonthanom

Thai Muslim villagers prepare for the burial of five military rangers in Thailand's Yala province, about 1,084 km (674 miles) south of Bangkok September 14, 2009. Five military rangers were killed in Thailand on Sunday, police said, when an armed group attacked their base in Yala, a province in the far south that has seen an upsurge in separatist violence.REUTERS/Surapan Boonthanom

A soldier guards as villagers prepare for the burial of a Buddhist military ranger in Thailand's Yala province, about 1,084 km (674 miles) south of Bangkok September 14, 2009. Five military rangers were killed in Thailand on Sunday, police said, when an armed group attacked their base in Yala, a province in the far south that has seen an upsurge in separatist violence.REUTERS/Surapan Boonthanom

Princess Bajrakitiyabha of Thailand addresses the Human Rights Council at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva September 14, 2009. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

Pojaman Damapong, former wife of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, center, accompanied by her daughter Pintongta Shinawatra, left, and her son Phantongtae Shinawatra arrives at the Supreme Court to ask the court not to freeze assets belonging to the former premier and his family, in Bangkok on Tuesday Sept. 15, 2009. Thaksin, who was ranked as Thailand's fourth-richest billionaire in 2006 before the coup, is now worth $400 million after Thai authorities froze more than $2 billion of his family's assets pending the corruption cases against him.(AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Former Thailand prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra speaks to Reuters in Dubai April 16, 2009. Thailand passed a tough security law on Tuesday, giving the military broad powers to control a planned street rally this weekend by supporters of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.REUTERS/Nikhil Monteiro/Files

Labour conditions not deteriorating

Photo by: Sovan Philong
Garment workers protesting earlier this year

Tuesday, 15 September 2009

Dear Editor,

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, which represents all garment export-oriented factories, has read with grave concern The Phnom Penh Post’s article “Cambodians testify in US” (September 11).

In it, Mr Moeun Tola, the labour programme head of the Community Legal Action Centre, was quoted as saying that Cambodian labour conditions have deteriorated sharply in the last few years.

He went on to express concern for the security of union organisers in Cambodia and lack of minimum wage in the garment industry.
GMAC would like to totally object to the statement and consider it as publicly misleading.

Cambodia is the only country which has implemented a labour-linked trade policy, particularly in the garment industry.

With this, the labour conditions in the industry have been under strict monitoring by the International Labour Organisation-Better Factories Cambodia Project (ILO-BFC). BFC is a programme of the ILO, which is a specialised agency of the United Nations and is led by a Project Advisory Committee comprising representatives from the government, GMAC and Cambodian trade unions. Monitoring reports on all factories are posted on the ILO-BFC’s Web site, and synthesis reports on labour conditions in Cambodia are published every six months.

The allegation is baseless with no proper system to measure and is absolutely in contrast to the ILO-BFC’s monitoring reports, which have proved otherwise.

Over the past few years, labour conditions in the Cambodian garment industry have been constantly improving as clearly indicated by the reports, as well as statements made by the Project Advisory Committee, where the tripartite representatives sit.

As for union activities, Cambodia boasts full freedom of association in compliance with the international convention No 87 and guaranteed by our constitution.

Unofficial figures from the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training suggested there are more than 1,000 unions in the garment industry of less than 300
factories where, on average, there are four unions per factory and some would have up to 10 unions.

The number is massive. Regarding wages, the industry currently has a minimum wage of US$50 (per month) plus other compulsory payments, ie: $6 cost-of-living allowance; $5 attendance bonus (provided there is no absence/tardiness during the month) and $5 cap seniority bonus ($2 after the first year and $1 additional every subsequent year). We now hope the public is informed.

GMAC
Phnom Penh


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Send letters to: newsroom@phnompenhpost.com or PO Box 146, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Post reserves the right to edit letters to a shorter length.

The views expressed above are solely the author’s and do not reflect any positions taken by The Phnom Penh Post.

Thailand Promises Training for High-ranking Cambodian Military

Written by DAP NEWS -- Tuesday, 15 September 2009

Cambodian Royal Armed Force Chief Commander Pol Saroeun discusses bilateral military affairs with visiting Thai Air Force Chief of Commander Ithaporn at Cambodia’s Army Headquarter in Phnom Penh

The Thai Air Force Chief Com-mander on Monday vowed to continue training high-ranking members of the Cambodian military in order to boost both parties’ cooperation and development.

During the talks between Thai Air Force Chief of Commander, Ithaporn Subhawong, and Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Chief Commander (RCAF) Pol Saroeun in Phnom Penh, Thailand said that “Thailand still continues training of Cambodian high -ranking militaries, especially the air force.”

However, Thailand suggested that the Cambodian officers should study the Thai language to improve their ease of study in Thailand. In response, Pol Saroeun promised that Thai language could be included in the school curriculum as early as 2010.

“At the present, we do not have any Thai programs and curriculums to be included in the school program, but maybe it will be included in 2010,” Pol Saroeun said during the talks.

Cambodia urged to cooperation and development at the border near Preah Vihear temple to promote security and peace. “We should forget the past events in order to streng- then the future cooperation in all fields,” Pol Saroeun told the Thais.

Airspace violations by Thailand were also discussed at the meeting. Thailand blamed the incursions on clouds and new training. Thailand suggested Cambodia not regard these events as serious.

After the discussions in Phnom Penh, the Thai delegation visited Siem Reap province and the temples of Angkor Wat.

Wet weather still lethal

Photo by: Heng Chivoan

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 15:04 Tep Nimol and Chrann Chamroeun

Flooding across the country killed at least seven people last week, officials said. Four people were killed in Kampong Thom province, Governor Chhun Chhorn said. Two men from Prasat Balaing and Kampong Svay districts drowned when their raft overturned, and two children from the province’s Stoung district also died. Three were killed in Ratanakkiri province, where local authorities discovered a boy who had drowned in a hole in the province’s Seda district, and two at Boeung Yeak Loam Lake Resort, where a man died trying to save a woman from drowning. Flooding had declined in Kratie province as of Monday, when the Mekong River receded to its normal water level of 19.05 metres, and also in Preah Vihear province, where Khuoy Khun Ho, active head of Preah Vihear provincial hall, said that no evacuations would be necessary despite continued rainstorms.

Officials discuss graft

Photo by: Sovan Philong
Civic leaders head home after attending a meeting on how to tackle corruption.

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 15:03 May Titthara

PHNOM Penh Governor Kep Chuktema addressed a gathering of city, commune and district leaders from across the capital on Monday, urging them to discharge their duties reponsibly and be on the lookout for corruption.

“We should think that people are our bosses, not that the authorities are the bosses of the people,” the governor told the gathering at the Royal University of Agriculture.

Kep Chuktema urged whistleblowers to use City Hall complaint boxes if they know of any commune chiefs or district authorities who are “not helpful”.

“City Hall has 100 complaint boxes to welcome any complaint,” he said.

Prak Narunn of Stung Meanchey commune said she thought bribery was endemic among local officials.

“It’s very difficult when we need help,” she said. “When I applied for a wedding party for my daughter, [officials] made it seem very difficult. But when I paid them some money, everything was faster.”

Officials dismiss Thai protest

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
Chief Thai air marshal Itthaporn Subhawong (left) sits with RCAF Commander in Chief Pol Saroeun.

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 15:03 Vong Sokheng and Cheang Sokha

Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Commander in Chief Pol Saroeun met with Itthaporn Subhawong, Thailand’s chief air marshal, on Monday in Phnom Penh, as officials from both countries dismissed the significance of Thai protests at the border reportedly planned for this Saturday.

Bangkok’s The Nation newspaper reported on Monday that members of the Peoples’ Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a Thai political party, plan to hold a rally on Saturday near the Preah Vihear temple complex to protest the supposed loss of Thai sovereignty in the disputed area.

The Thai military, however, discouraged the protesters from following through on their plans. “We should be careful about the protest, as such an activity, despite its good intentions, could affect operating strategy on the ground,” The Nation quoted Thai Army spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaeowkamnerd as saying.

Cambodian Defence Ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat told the Post that should the protest take place, the PAD protesters will not be permitted to enter Cambodian territory.

“We are not concerned about the protests planned for September 19,” he said. “We will not allow [the protesters] to enter Cambodian soil, and we will exercise our right to self-defence if the situation warrants it.”

In a meeting at RCAF headquarters in Phnom Penh on Monday, Pol Saroeun and Itthaporn reaffirmed the warming of Thai-Cambodian relations that has taken place over the past few weeks.

“This visit is meant to promote understanding and good relations between our two countries and to facilitate training of Cambodian air force members by Thailand,” Itthaporn said. “[Thai air force representatives] have been very warmly received here.”

Pol Saroeun cited Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya’s visit to the border area this past weekend, where he was hosted by Cambodian officials, as an example of cooperation that he hoped to see continue.

“We should forget the conflicts that have happened between us and look forward to improving our relationship,” he said.

PM seeks more Chinese aid

Photo by: Sovan Philong
Prime Minister Hun Sen speaks Monday at a linking ceremony for the Cambodia-China Prek Kdam Friendship Bridge. Cambodia is seeking $600 million from China for similar projects, he said.

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CHINA WILL BE ... RESPONSIBLE FOR BUILDING THE LONGEST ROADS IN CAMBODIA.
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The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 15:03 Cheang Sokha

Hun Sen announces push to secure up to $600 million in funding for projects including national road upgrades and hydro-projects ahead of a visit in October.

The government is negotiating with China to secure funding for infrastructure projects in Cambodia worth $600 million, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced on Monday.

Projects include upgrading 11 national roads and building several hydropower dams. The prime minister said that the length of the road expansion project will total 1,500 kilometres.

“China will be the country responsible for building the longest roads in Cambodia,” he said during a linking celebration at the Cambodia-China Prek Kdam Friendship Bridge.

The bridge, which spans the Tonle Sap River in Kandal province, is replacing a ferry service and should save travellers both time and money, the premier said. It is due to be completed before the Khmer New Year in April 2010.

If the agreement comes to fruition, the prime minister will travel to China to take part in an official signing ceremony in October, he said.

Earlier this year, China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao pledged $15 billion in funding for members of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN). Cambodia is asking for $400 million for the road-expansion projects and a further $200 million for hydropower projects.

“Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon had already submitted the proposed plans to China.… China is leading in the development of infrastructures and hydro-projects in Cambodia,” Hun Sen told a crowd of hundreds on Monday.

In 2007, China pledged around $600 million to Cambodia for the construction of two bridges – Prek Kdam and Prek Tamak – as well as National Road 8 and the road that connects Kratie province with Mondulkiri province.

Cambodia has so far spent a total of $6.7 billion of Chinese capital, including $1.4 billion on infrastructure, $4 billion on tourism and about $300 million on agriculture.

PM tells transport firms to follow weight limits

Photo by: NGUON SOVAN
A truck waits to offload its cargo at Phnom Penh Port. Prime Minister Hun Sen warned the logistics industry Monday that illegal practices would lead to company closures.

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Any companies that still violate [the rules], shut them down.
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The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 15:01 Nguon Sovan

Companies that overload trucks beyond legal limits damage roads and bridges and will be shut down, Hun Sen says

PRIME Minister Hun Sen ordered senior transport and public works officials Monday to close down logistics firms that violate weight limits for trucks.

Speaking at the launch of the Cambodia-China Friendship Bridge across the Tonle Sap River at Prek Kdam in northern Kandal province, the premier said overloaded trucks damaged the country’s roads and bridges, putting life and property at risk.

“There is only one way to ensure our roads and bridges, to ensure our people’s safety,” he said.

“If we advise [transport companies] and they don’t listen, we will shut down their companies.”

Under Cambodia’s laws, trucks may carry up to 40 tonnes of cargo, but Hun Sen said some trucks transported up to 100 tonnes. He ordered Minister of Public Works and Transport Tram Iv Tek and Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh to work together to ensure that companies repeatedly guilty of overloading were closed down.

“Any companies that still violate [the rules], shut them down,” he said. “We shouldn’t fan away the smoke, we should put out the fire.”

Corruption a problem
He noted that the ministries concerned would also need to take account of low-level corruption, saying that simply weighing trucks would not be sufficient, as drivers could avoid the measure by giving money to officials.

So Nguon, the president of the So Nguon Group of Companies, which includes So Nguon Transportation and Service Import Export Co, said Monday that unlicensed truckers and companies were to blame for road damage due to overloading.

So Nguon, a permanent member of the Cambodian Transport Association, which has around 20 member companies, said that his company and other association members stayed within weight limits.

“Road destruction and bridge collapses are caused by those unlicensed transport trucks,” he said.

“Those unlicensed transport operators also compete dishonestly with us because by overloading, and by not paying taxes to the government, they can charge a cheaper fee to customers,” he added.

So Nguon said the association had already asked Tram Iv Tek to assist it in persuading transport companies to join the association.

Touch Chan Kosal, secretary of state at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, agreed Monday that the licensed transport companies were not at fault of overloading.

“Soon, we will begin to take action against trucks or lorries that connect additional compartments and overload,” Touch Chan Kosal said.

“Step-by-step, we are advising unlicensed transport operators to open up their companies to legalise their services.”

SKorean president's visit set to include trade agreement

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak is scheduled to visit Phnom Penh for two days in October, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong said Monday. BLOOMBERG

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The [PACT] is very important ... to exchange trade information.
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The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 15:01 May Kunmakara

SOUTH Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak will make a two-day visit to Cambodia in October, a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman said Monday, on official business that will include the signing of trade deals.

Spokesman Koy Kuong said the exact date was still to be confirmed.

Cambodia Chamber of Commerce Director General Nguon Meng Tech said he had been told the visit would likely take place October 6-7.

He said the chamber would use the visit to sign a memorandum of understanding with the South Korean Chamber of Commerce on trade.

“The MoU is very important for both countries to exchange trade information and to help boost trade links between the two countries,” Nguon Meng Tech said.

Nguon Meng Tech said the trade relationship was one-sided, with Cambodia importing significant quantities of goods from South Korea but exporting little of its own goods in return. He said he did not have trade figures on hand Monday.

The deputy director general of the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), Lee Hyoung-seok, also said he could not access trade data Monday. The South Korean Embassy in Phnom Penh was not available for comment.

The most recent trade data seen by the Post, which was released by KOTRA early last month, shows bilateral trade dropped 22.6 percent year on year in the first five months of 2009 to US$114 million.

Figures released by the South Korea Embassy in March show that Korea exported $294.4 million worth of goods to Cambodia in 2008, including $117.5 in textiles, $54.8 million in car machinery and $43.2 million in textile goods.

South Korea imported just $14.3 million in goods from Cambodia, including $8.8 million in textile goods, $2.4 million in non-ferrous metals and $1.6 million in agricultural goods.

The figures also show that Korean firms transferred $472.89 million to Cambodia to invest in 2008, down from $629.49 million a year earlier.

Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) figures show Korean companies won approval to invest $1.24 billion in Cambodia in 2008. The CDC approved just $109.2 million worth of investments from South Korea firms in the first half of 2009.

Making the hard sell to Cambodia's soft targets

Photo by: NOU VASSAN
Eun Elit browses footwear at Jolly Baby Kids on Street 128.

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We can get good advice about baby products, as well as how to raise our children.
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The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 15:00 PRUM SEILA

Stores and shopping centres in the capital are increasingly targeting children with specialty stores for toys and clothes as well as child-oriented marketing

SINCE the year 2000, Phnom Penh's newest potential customers have been tempting marketeers.

The children of the new urban middle-class – the nouveau riche – have spurred the growth of businesses specialising in baby products, toys and children’s clothes.

Shopping centres, fast food restaurants and supermarkets are also trying to add some fun to the shopping experience, in order to hook both young customers and their rich parents.

Often colourful and decorated with cartoons, the new children’s stores stock all manner of products and are easily identifiable – almost all of their names are prefixed by baby, kid, toy or suchlike.

These vivid emporiums are usually found along the main boulevards of the city centre and cater mainly to middle-class and expatriate families.

Photo by: NOU VASSAN
Srey Leao feeds her young daughter fast food at Phnom Penh's Sydney Shopping Center.

“That’s why I import these products: to make such customers’ lives more convenient,” he says.

“It was very difficult to find a local baby shop that stocked a sufficient range. If customerss were looking for a gift for a friend’s baby, they had to try many different places before they found a suitable present.”

Of course, items for children have always been available in Phnom Penh’s markets, but they are now beginning to focus more on quality, says Bu Chanpiru.

“Rich people don’t really care about the price – but they do care about the brand name and quality of the products,” he says, before proudly adding that most of his shop’s products are made in Denmark and Germany, with recognisable brand names like NUK and Lego.

However, Sok Piseth, owner of a toy shop named Toys and Me on Mao Tse Toung Boulevard, had a different reason for getting into the business.

After noticing a local deficit of educational toys, he consulted a relative who is also a kindergarten director before seeking to fill that gap in the market.

On the other hand, Sun Sodeth, operations manager for Jolly Baby Kids on Street 128, which imports KIKO-branded garments from Malaysia, feels children’s clothing is more important for parents.

“The two priorities for parents are obviously food and education, but their children’s appearance is becoming an increasingly important point,” she says.

“People cannot find certain products in the traditional shopping areas like Psar Orussei.”

The children’s market is still in its infancy, with most stores opening in the past few years.

Yet it is an undoubted growth area, with ever more shops springing up.

Bu Chanpiru claims that, although Kid World originally decided to target expatriates, increasing numbers of Cambodians are browsing his shop’s wares:

“I have been doing okay so far because Cambodian customers are beginning to understand about quality products,” he says.

“In fact, I’ve recently expanded my business into a wholesaler, as the demand is increasing all the time,” he continues.

But what of the consumer? Van Rattana, mother of a 5-year-old son and newborn daughter, often visits specialist children’s shops.

“Contrary to what you might expect, the prices are very competitive; sometimes it’s a bit cheaper than in the markets.

“Moreover, we can get good advice about baby products, as well as how to raise our children. The staff in the baby shops are so friendly,” she says.

However, Van Rattana adds that Cambodians also like coming to such places because they can easily park their flashy cars; it’s another way way of showing off their improved affluence – while they are conspicuously consuming.

From shops as status symbols to shopping centres and fast food restaurants as playgrounds, the capitalist trend has certainly caught on.

Some of the bigger retailers in the Kingdom, such as Sydney Shopping Center, the Lucky Burger fast-food chain and one of the four BB World outlets are introducing toys, games and playgrounds to make themselves more child-friendly.

BB World, as well as other fast-food restaurants, has taken to running special promotions for kids, in the time-honoured tradition pioneered by global powerhouses such as McDonald’s.

Celebrating birthday parties at a junk-food superstore and giving toys away to children with meal deals has long been a tactic in the West. Now Cambodia is following suit.

“It is a marketing strategy – and a way to add some fun for the kids,” says Khieu Channa, marketing manager for BB World.

“If children come and enjoy themselves, we are sure they will ask their parents to return. And when they do, they will surely eat at the restaurant in addition to their kids.”

Eagles book grand finals berth

Photo by: Nick Sells (www.nicksellsphotography.com)
Phnom Penh Dragons captain Chuoy Kimhorn (right, jumping) spikes the ball at the Battambang Tigers side during their CNVLD match Saturday at Olympic Stadium.

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 15:00 Dan Riley

Third-round matches of the Cellcard National Volleyball League witnessed the Siem Reap Globe Eagles claim a place in the grand finals, with others in pursuit

THE third round of the Cellcard 2009 National Volleyball League at the weekend served up some of the most competitive matches in the history of the league, with Siem Reap Globe Eagles swooping to an unassailable position at the top of the table, booking their place in the grand final.

The five-set rule – put in place since the end of the first round – separated the men from the boys in terms of fitness, stamina and determination.

Marathon rallies were punctuated by spectacular net work, seemingly impossible defensive manoeuvres, and fiery spikes that had the crowd on its feet in loud appreciation. Four matches stretched into five-set thrillers, and most sets were decided by only the slimmest of margins.

Announcement of details for the impending 2009 WOVD Cambodia Volleyball World Cup in December also fired up the form of the league’s best athletes, who are desperate to be selected by national team coach Christian Zepp to represent their nation in the bid to become World No 1 in front of their adoring home fans.

With only eleven matches remaining in the league, a new dynasty of elite young teams has emerged thanks to an exceptional rise in the quality of training and court play. A stunning eight wins from eight matches sees Siem Reap Eagles perching proud at the head of the table, with only Kratie Nike Changemakers Dolphins left to play.

With coach Chat Samouen stepping to the courtside to direct play, young hotshots Choeum Kong and Prep Artit dominated the net. They were backed by national team captain Chheam Chhandy, who provided typically strong leadership and team spirit to ensure the Eagles stayed hovering above the pack.

Hot on their heels, Kampong Speu Global Giving Scorpions and Battambang MOSVY Tigers, along with legendary league stalwarts Kampong Speu CTN Koupreys, all played out of their prostheses at the weekend, to stake their claim on the other three grand final spots available.

The wily skills of Koupreys coach Cha Hok, and the explosive form of national team spiker Yem Buntheoun, have seen the 2008 National League Champions recover their form to lie in third place after wiping the court with Prey Veng Kingmaker Cobras in straight sets and narrowly defeating Kampong Speu Global Giving Scorpions 3-2 Saturday.

The demise of six-time national league champions Phnom Penh ANZ Royal Dragons was the hottest news from the third round, after their shock defeats to Battambang MOSVY Tigers on Saturday and Kampong Speu Global Giving Scorpions on Sunday left them in a previously unimaginable fifth spot, forcing coach Chem Kim Horn to radically re-evaluate his ageing, once-invincible team. Expect a rebuilt Dragons team to walk out of the tunnel for the start of the 2010 National League.

With Takeo ISPP Templestowe Falcons and Kratie Nike Changemakers Dolphins holding strong mid-table, still with an outside chance of making the third-place playoffs, the final three places for the Grand Finals still remain open in the closest league finish in nine years of consecutive competition.

At the bottom of the table, spirited performances by Kampong Cham Bartu Bulls couldn’t stem their slide down the rankings to ninth, though their position doesn’t do them justice after pushing Takeo ISPP Templestowe Falcons to a five-set epic Saturday. They narrowly lost out to Kratie Nike Changemakers Dolphins on Sunday in tense late match in which only Kratie coach Nuong Piroth’s “hairdryer” halftime team talk forced them to step up their play.

Prey Veng Kingmaker Cobras’ win over Pailin Stadt Frechen Lions remains their only taste of victory in 2009, though with three matches to play in the final round, they retain a chance of creeping up the table in a late push. Pailin remain rooted to the bottom of the table, having lost all seven of their matches so far. With Kampong Speu Koupreys and Kampong Cham still to play, Pailin’s prospects for 2009 look bleak. Since their establishment in 2006, Pailin have traditionally been a team to fear, so, as with Phnom Penh, expect a radically new crew to step onto the court in 2010.

CNVLD referee team Chanthou Han, Hok Veng Ly, and Sophie Smith from the ISPP Sports Department, continued their outstanding work, ensuring that all competitions are played to an international standard.

The Grand Final will be played at 7:30pm October 18 at Olympic Stadium, with the top two teams from the league ladder playing for the championship trophy, whereas third- and fourth-place teams will play for third overall earlier in the afternoon, at 4pm. Cash prizes include US$3,000 for the winner ($500 for each player), $2,000 for the runners up, and $1,000 for the third team.

Crown blame ref for loss

Photo by: Nick Sells (www.nicksellsphotography.com)
Players from Phnom Penh Crown (left, in red) and Naga Corp (right, in blue) argue with match official Doun Sochit during their semifinal.

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 15:00 Ken Gadaffi

PHNOM Penh Crown saw their bid to retain the Cambodian Premier League title take a knockout blow Saturday, as they fell 2-0 to 2007 champions Naga Corp. The players and coaches, however, pointed the finger at decisions by the referee to disallow two goals that would have drawn them level on two occasions.

“The referee robbed us of this game,” retorted Crown’s Cameroonian striker Mohamodou Ousmanou after the game. “Our goals were clean, yet the referee didn’t give us them.”

Compatriot Oscar Mpoko also felt the officiating favoured Naga. “We tried hard to come back, but it was glaringly obvious that the referee was out to frustrate us,” he remarked.

Thailand-born head coach Apisit Im Amphai also supported the players’claims of referee bias, but admitted that his side had been suffering from fatigue due to a hectic recent schedule including competition in the Singapore Cup.

“My players were tired,” he said. “The trip to Singapore and so many games in the season affected our performance.

“I am angry because many times Chan Rithy was fouled, but referees didn’t do anything. They did not support my team. They should be 50-50,” he said.

Chan Rithy, however, was diplomatic in his reaction to the loss.
“That’s football,” he said. “We tried, but our best was not good enough. We will try to win next time.”

Meanwhile, former Preah Khan Reach (PKR) player and coach Hok Socheatra blamed the club’s failure to reach to the final Saturday on the current coaching staff’s decision to rotate the squad midway through the season.

“I think the technical crew got it wrong,” he opined. “They made so many changes, which affected the team.”

PKR manager Rith Dikar was clearly distraught at his side’s defeat to Khemara Keila on Saturday, declining comment after final whistle.

At the other dugout, Khemara coach and former captain Ung Kanyanith showed he was ecstatic in victory, as his players crowded around him in celebration.

“We are happy to win today,” he grinned. “I hope we can be champions again.”