Ieng Sary gets the vapors; hearing cut short

The Tribunal Report explains what happened today at the ECCC.

After a lunch break at the ECCC, Sary’s lawyers said their client felt dizzy and had not eaten much. …

The ECCC detention facility’s doctor was summoned to the courtroom and a long and convoluted discussion of Sary’s health commenced. During the question and answer session, the doctor discussed everything from Sary’s eating habits to his daily urine output. Audience members chuckled sporadically, particularly when court interpreters were unable to translate much of the medical terminology.

Despite numerous repetitions, it’s still a bit unclear to me – and probably to many observing the court – what exactly was wrong with Sary. But the doctor reported tests showed liquid in the defendant’s lung and said that prolonged sitting may cause him to become stressed and lead to hypertension.

There’s an official version of the story on the Post web site, but Ms Lesley’s blog post really says it all.

Foreigners nabbed in drug bust

Three foreigners have been arrested for attempting to export meth.

THREE foreigners – a Briton, a Pakistani and a Taiwanese-American – have been arrested in Cambodia for trying to smuggle 750 grammes of drugs out of the country, police said on Sunday.

Steven Bushel, Sha Hihan and Victor Chhan were arrested at midnight Friday in a hotel room where they were discovered with 450 grammes of crystal amphetamines known as ‘ice’ and 300 grammes of a white powder used to produce the drug, anti-drug police investigator Chea Leng told reporters.

No ages or photos were given, but a Taiwanese-American named Victor Chhan? Could that be a misprint?

UPDATE: DPA gets the names right. Victor, Victor, Victor. Illegal weapons, illegal casinos, and now illegal drugs. Victor Chao must be Cambodia’s only foreign habitual criminal.

Hitting the jackpot

Cambodian couple win $1.1 million on the lottery.

A couple who fled the killing fields of Cambodia more than two decades ago became instant millionaires yesterday when they won the London hospitals Dream Lottery.

Vorn Mak and his wife, Soeur Nhek, said they were speechless when notified by telephone they had won the grand prize.

“We have never won anything before,” said their daughter, Claudia Mak, who was with her parents when the phone rang before 8 a.m. yesterday.

Long lost relatives take note.

Why do ravers hate the planet?

If slaughtering their own brain cells isn’t enough to discourage “clubbers” from X-ing, maybe news that they are killing the planet along with their mushy grey matter might.

‘Sassafras oil, produced by boiling the roots of rare Mreah Prew Phnom trees, is illegally distilled in (Cambodian) jungles … for processing into a chemical used to make ecstasy,’ [Flora and Fauna International] said.

‘To make matters worse, the distillation process itself uses enormous quantities of fuel wood from other rainforest trees.’

As well, FFI said, sassafras oil processing plants are typically located beside streams, polluting the pristine water sources of the protected Cardamom mountains in the country’s south-west.

The Mreah Prew Phnom tree (cinnamomum parthenoxylon) is a rare tree rated as data deficient by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.

Where’s the love in that?

Blogging, politics, and your health

AFP discovers Cloggers.

When Hor Virak started blogging three years ago, he was one of only a handful of bloggers in Cambodia and quickly gained a following for his frequent postings on technology.

At first, he said, “I just rode my motorbike around and took interesting pictures to post on my blog”.

But by the beginning of last year, he was attracting several hundred readers a day and now says he is thrilled with his new-found celebrity.

It’s not all fruit shakes and free internet at T&C coffee, though

Chak Sopheap, a university student who started a blog in her own name last year to draw attention to Cambodia’s impoverished rural communities, said she was threatened criticising the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.

“The message said, ‘If I were you, I would run. Otherwise you will be killed,’” Chak Sopheap said.

First KR trials to open in September

As nearly everybody predicted, Duch will be the first KR leader to face trial.

Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge tribunal expects to open its first public trial in September, court officials say …

Sean Visoth, Cambodia’s top official to the joint UN-Cambodian proceedings, also said the court expected to put Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Khek Iev on the dock in September, more than two years after the court first began its work.

Save for the 20-some-odd years it took to get to this point, a September opening gavel, according to nearly everyone involved, is actually weeks ahead of what anybody would have dared guess just two months ago. Although the chances of getting it are about zero, somebody somewhere deserves some credit.

Inflation? What inflation?

Business Week points to this Phnom Penh Post article about inflation, elections, and the wisdom of the ruling party.

The Ministry of Planning stopped publishing inflation figures in February over fears that outrage at the spiraling costs of goods could descend into unrest.

The government halted the monthly publication of the Consumer Price Index to averting the possibility of “disorder and turmoil,” said San Sithan, the ministry’s director general.

Publication would resume “when the inflation rate is down and the situation is calm,” Sithan told the Post on June 20.

Business Week responds.

In neighboring Vietnam, where April figures showed inflation raging at 25%, the government is moving towards more, not less disclosure. Hanoi has finally realized that a lack of transparency only fuels speculative behavior and panic. In the face of widening concern about the central bank’s ability to prevent a currency crisis, Hanoi for the first time last week released quarterly data on the balance of payments.

Maybe Hanoi is is not pulling the puppet strings after all.

CORRECTION. That last sentence should have read “is not,” not is. It’s been corrected accordingly.

Cambodia closes Preah Vihear

The Nation reports that Cambodia has closed Preah Vihear to visitors from Thailand.

Cambodia yesterday shut down the controversial Hindu temple of Preah Vihear to visitors as residents of northeastern Si Sa Ket province staged a protest. …

The gate of the temple on Cambodia’s side was supposed to be opened by 9am as usual but it remained closed the whole day, according to Colonel Thanya Kiartisarn, commander of the 23rd Task Force, which oversees the area.

“Cambodian officials informally informed us that they are worried over the safety of the Cambodian community near the temple,” he said. “The temple will remain closed until the Thai authorities are able to guarantee safety.”

Thais have been protesting outside Preah Vihear for days. For some inconceivable reason, at least 500 Thai people think a temple built by a Cambodian king somehow belongs to them. It truly makes no sense.

Cold, hard evidence against Hor Namhong

KI Media has published an unsigned letter from someone who presumably spent time in Boeung Trabek. Why is not at all clear, but presumably KI Media, and certainly some of its readers, view the “testimonial” as unassailable truth. The worst of it:

Toward the end of 1977, following a visit by a Chinese delegation, Hor Nam Hong criticized Nanette of “trying to steal the limelight,” because she “knew that people know her,” whereas everybody should tried to hide their identity in the presence of foreign visitors.

Striking event: Hor Nam Hong remained impassive when Nanette kneeled in front of him, begging him to intervene in her favor so that she can return back to France to be treated for her seizure. She told him that she was a French citizen and a baptized (Catholic). Hor Nam Hong remained stoic.

Mit Ry, Hor Nam Hong’s wife, persecuted Nanette in particular. One day, Mit Ry severely reprimanded Nanette because she spoke a few words in French, either by habit or by inattention. On another occasion, because she tried to make up somewhat her hair, Nanette earned the following reprimand from Mit Ry: “Stop being a Parisian. You are disconnecting yourself from the revolution.”

At the Khmer New Year, around mid-April 1978, Nanette picked some flowers to offer to Hor Nam Hong, hoping to obtain from him some friendship or pity. Hor Nam Hong rejected this submission gesture, and he scolded Nanette for her “bourgeois habits. He promptly turned his back to a crying Nanette.

Hor Namhong may have very well been the ice-cold executioner the opposition likes to portray him as. But if this is what passes as evidence in the Sam Rainsy camp, it’s frightening to think what an opposition-led judiciary might look like.

Sam Rainsy the terrorist

Media outlets are reporting that the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, which is investigation defamation charges against Sam Rainsy, has asked the National Assembly to suspend Sam Rainsy’s parliamentary immunity.

From the Mekong Times:

Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday asked President of the National Assembly Heng Samrin to temporarily suspend the parliamentary immunity of opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) President Sam Rainsy.

The court has made the request so that Sam Rainsy can be investigated over the defamation lawsuit that has been filed against him by Foreign Minister Hor Namhong. …

“If there is no suspension, no one can arrest parliamentarians as they have immunity except in the case of very serious crimes.”

Believe it or not, that’s the good news. Defamation crimes are punished only by fines, and even the more serious crime of disinformation carries a maximum sentence of only three years — child’s play when compared to this.

Military officials and former members of the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) have said an investigation ordered by Prime Minister Hun Sen into links between the SRP and three decade-old terrorism cases are proceeding well.

The prime minister said this week that six SRP defectors to his party had brought with them evidence linking the opposition party to a rocket attack on his vehicle convoy in 1998, and the establishment of the paramilitary group Cambodian Freedom Fighters and the nationalist Moha Nokor (Empire) movement.

Compared to murder one and conspiracy to commit a terrorist act, the disinformation case appears positively embracing. Unfortunately for Sam Rainsy, it seems unlikely that the court will want a plea to the lesser charge.

It’s been a long, hard decade for Sam Rainsy. Ten years ago the Americans called him the victim of a terrorist attack when grenades exploded at a political rally, killing his bodyguard. The American FBI came to Cambodia looking for answers, and wasn’t shy to point fingers at the ruling party.

Today Sam Rainsy is the terrorist. And his American supporters from 10 years ago are now busy instructing the ruling party in — what else? — more effective ways of fighting terrorism. The hypocrisy, it seems, just comes naturally.

Hun Sen vs Sam Rainsy

The translation is a bit rough, but that doesn’t disguise the personal animosity beginning to boil between Sam Rainsy and Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Sam Rainsy accused Prime minister Hun Sen’s government of making up fictitious stories regarding the order he issued to Loeuk Bun Nhean, a former SRP activist, to cooperate with the government army spy group and high-ranking army officials, in order to follow up on a murder attempt case against him (Hun Sen) one decade earlier.

Sam Rainsy’s reaction came one day after Hun Sen issued his order for re-opening this investigation. …

Sam Rainsy said: “He (Hun Sen) should ask Mr. Sok Yoeun because Hun Sen’s tribunal accused and wanted to arrest Mr. Sok Yoeun, but Mr. Sok Yoeun left to live in Finland instead thanks to the UN. We know that this a make up story, it is made up to divert the attention from the actual problems faced by the nation. Therefore, Mr. Hun Sen’s government cannot resolve the land dispute problems, it cannot resolve the price inflation problems, it cannot face the anger of the population, so he made up these stories that he dreamed up.”

The assassination attempt is in reference to a grenade attack on Hun Sen’s motorcade 10 years ago in Siem Reap. Hun Sen pointed the blame for that attack at Sam Rainy and his associate Sok Yoeun. Fearing a hasty demise, Sok Yoeun escaped to live the life of protective custody in Finland.

Yesterday Hun Sen ordered Loeuk Bun Nhean, an advisor to the ministry of National Defense and former SRP member, to reopen the case.

Hun Sen said: “Nhean, you have one duty, because you, Nhean, was involved in activities related to many terrorist attacks. H.E. Meas Sophea who works with Mol Roeub, this Mol Roeub will work with Nhean. All the documents will not only be shown on TV, because this is a deep case related to possible spying and to our security, we must undertake this work again.”

For the moment, at least, Sam Rainsy remains nonplussed.

Sam Rainsy said: “Their goal is to intimidate the SRP, however, the SRP believes that this is laughable story. This lets the SRP members see that the CPP is very mediocre.”

Unlike previous electioneering by Hun Sen, these veiled allegations of assassination reverberate with a tone more ominous than typical political sniping. That Hun Sen would raise the issue now, without further intention, seems unlikely.  Stay tuned.

Student smashes teacher with a brick

Student who presumably “lost face” smashes teacher in the head with a brick.

More than 100 teachers from five separate schools demonstrated in front of a Bantey Meanchey provincial administration office Monday, calling for the arrest of the perpetrators who beat a teacher last month.

Demonstrators say one student who had been chastised in class drove by his teacher, Muth Bunthoeun, 38, with an unidentified man on the back of a motorcycle, who allegedly hit the teacher in the head with a brick.

Provincial Police Chief Hun Heang said his officers were seeking two suspects in the assault, student Oeun Tikea and the unidentified assailant.

It’s a shame that teachers have to demonstrate in order to get the cops to do their jobs. Maybe if teachers shared a little of that sugar they shake their students down for, they might see more action from the law enforcement community.

Dam Sith out on bond

Phnom Penh authorities last week arrested Dam Sith, the editor of pro-Sam Rainsy newspaper Moneaksekar Khmer, on charges stemming from accounts in his newspaper that linked Foreign Minister Hor Namhong to Khmer Rouge atrocities. Dam Sith was released on bail Sunday, but the damage is done.

“This is about putting pressure on journalists. This is all about politics,” Dam Sith, editor of the Khmer Conscience newspaper, told reporters after he was granted bail.

Amnesty International said Dam Sith’s arrest demonstrated how the criminal justice system “is used and abused” to silence critics of the government in the runup to the July 27 poll.

“His arrest sends a message of fear to journalists and other media workers in the lead-up to national elections next month,” the human rights group said last week.

Indeed it does.  A string of international organizations have condemned the arrest: Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, Human Rights Watch and Asian Human Rights Commission to name a few.

The charges against Dam Sith stem from an April 18 article in Moneaksekar Khmer that reported on a speech given by Sam Rainsy at Choeung Ek commemorating April 17. In his speech Sam Rainsy alleged that Hor Namhong was “chief” of “Boeung Trabek Prison,” and as such responsible for the deaths of some people.

For his part, Sam Rainsy asked the government to arrest him in the place of Dam Sith. Khmerization called Sam Rainsy’s offer “brave” and commended the opposition leader for his courage. But such hollow promises seem less a result of valor than they do of desperation.

As much as the government may want to put Rainsy away, doing so this close to the election would spark an international outcry. Rainsy and the CPP both know this. Furthermore, arresting Rainsy now would just add to his opposition cred, no doubt giving him a boost come polling day. All of which makes the odds of the government arresting Sam Rainsy at this time hover in the single digits — zero.

New skyscraper breaks into the 50s

The Mekong Times reports on the latest skyscraper development, a record-breaking 52-story highrise in Tonle Bassac.

South Korean investors will hold ground-breaking ceremony here next week for its 52-story skyscraper, the tallest building currently designed for Cambodia, said English-Khmer language newspaper the Mekong Times Friday. …

The project will include a 52-story office block, a 32-story residential block, an international school and a shopping mall, he said.

Along with all these high-tech, multi-story architectural wonders, it would be nice if someone could figure out how to keep the power on. Getting stuck in the elevator on the 50th floor won’t be much fun, no matter how nice the views are.

More defendants expected at ECCC

VOA doesn’t do a terrific job of saying it, but more arrests are expected from the ECCC.

The Khmer Rouge tribunal is prepared to pursue investigation of additional regime cadre, a prosecutor said, but no decision has been made on whom. …

Robert Petit, co-prosecutor for the tribunal, confirmed Friday that the courts were evaluating the preliminary investigation of more suspects.

“Regarding the nature of the crime committed here, and effectively based on the law and on evidence, [the tribunal] would have further investigations,” he said. “We are now in the stage of preliminary investigation and the stage of the evaluation of evidence.”

It’s no longer a question of if, but when.

Raping prostitutes to save them

Writing in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, the head of The Asia Foundation’s Counter-trafficking task force in Cambodia, Marielle Sander-Lindstrom, applauds the government for the recent data-gathering initiatives that it launched in parallel with its crackdown on public displays of prostitution.

Cambodia is regularly referred to as the human-trafficking hub of Southeast Asia, but it’s hard to know by which measure. Anywhere from thousands to hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are trafficked there annually. Without reliable data on these crimes, it’s hard to combat this clandestine trade or to prioritize needs and services for its victims.

Which is why it’s heartening to see Phnom Penh take action. Last week, the government launched its first-ever national effort to collect standardized data on human trafficking. Headed by the National Task Force, a collaborative effort between 14 government ministries and agencies and more than 200 nongovernmental organizations, the goal is to establish common definitions and data collection methodology.

It’s a bit difficult to know what to make of this. On the positive side it appears like a genuine multilateral effort aimed at understanding a problem about which much is discussed yet very, very little is actually understood.

As Lindstrom admits, the government and NGOs arrive at the number of annually trafficked people by mere guess work. It might be 1,000. It might be 100,000. Helping them, or determining whether in fact they even want help, remains an impossible task without a much better understanding of the situation. Cambodia’s National Task Force will compile the data, it is hoped, that will provide policy makers with the insight to craft more effective policy.

Which is all well and good. And probably should be applauded. At the same time, though, it’s hard not to notice that the US government, the spiritual and financial leader of The Asia Foundation, often works at objectives diametrically opposed to those it funds at The Asia Foundation.

A perfect example of this is Cambodia’s recent crackdown on sex workers. The US political monolith has applauded such efforts even as the victims of those good deeds have alleged rape and torture at the hands of authorities. In the eyes of Uncle Sam it seems, being a prostitute is criminal, raping one is just getting tough of crime.

UPDATE: Lindstrom talks to the The Phnom Penh Post.

“The donor community has not focused attention on police academy training…. After four months of training [the Cambodian police are] meant to have the same standards as international police – that’s ridiculous,” [Lindstrom] said.

She didn’t really say that, did she? Expecting police officers to refrain from gang-raping the women in their custody hardly seems like shooting for the moon.

Free and fair, my eye

Human Rights Watch remarks on the relative freeness and fairness of the current political campaign for leadership of the country.

On June 8, military police arrested newspaper editor Dam Sith, 39, who is also running as a candidate for the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), after his newspaper published allegations about the current foreign minister. … Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said that the arrest of Dam Sith is part of a pattern of intimidation by the government against opposition and independent media in the run-up to the July elections. … On May 28, the government shut down independent radio station Angkor Ratha (FM 105.25) in Kratie province.

“There’s little room for critical or opposition journalists in Cambodia, and those who express dissent risk harassment, intimidation and, at times, imprisonment,” said Sara Colm, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. …

“Arrests and other politically motivated legal actions are being used to intimidate, coerce and silence opposition members and journalists,” said Colm.

No amount of political thuggery appears capable of derailing the inevitable. The CPP will sweep to victory in July, and with red-faced applause the international community will celebrate the flourishing of democracy in Cambodia. There will be grumbles, for sure. But Uncle Sam will see that his new favorite ally in Southeast Asia gets accepted into the club. The military trucks and support for the trafficking crackdown were just the beginning. The Yanks are coming, with all their moralistic fervor.

Sex workers for the secretary general

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is a hit with the girls.

Sex workers from around the world unfurled a banner reading “Sex workers support Ban Ki Moon” during his speech at the opening plenary of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS. Sex workers thank United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki moon for his support of their efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

On March 26, 2008, the Report of the Commission on AIDS in Asia was released with a statement from the Secretary General. This excellent report calls for the decriminalization of sex work, and counsels governments and other actors to, “Avoid programmes that accentuate AIDS-related stigma and can be counterproductive. Such programmes may include ‘crack-downs’ on red-light areas and arrest of sex workers.” Realistic efforts to include affected populations including sex workers are critical to combat the spread of HIV – in fact, sex workers are generally leaders in sexual health when their human rights are respected.

Authorities in Cambodia, however, have yet to embrace the secretary general’s warm and fuzzy approach to the flesh trade.

Cambodia has recently outlawed prostitution and since then brothels, bars, street areas, and karaoke clubs across the country have been closed or gone underground. Hundreds of women have been arrested and imprisoned, or have had to move. Dozens have been raped and beaten by police and prison guards. HIV prevention and care programs have collapsed. This law makes sex workers easier prey for traffickers, and makes it impossible for sex workers to use condoms.

Sex Workers Present has the video, which includes testimony from several sex workers arrested in the recent crackdown who allege they were robbed, raped and beaten while in police custody.

Another dodgy Cambodian airline

What is it with Cambodia and shady airline companies?

The abandoned plane named “Air Dream” broke down in May 2007 and it has been lying at Noi Bai International Airport since then, said an official of the Vietnam Civil Aviation Administration. … The plane belongs to Royal Khmer Airlines of Cambodia. The Cambodian Aviation Agency had scratched its name from its aircraft registration book. The Northern Airport Management Agency said Royal Khmer Airlines paid part of the parking fees. … In the world, broken-down aircrafts are often left at airports for one month but it is strange that the Cambodian plane has been at Noi Bai Airport for over one year. This is the first such case at Noi Bai.

Royal Khmer Airlines of Cambodia? The name just sounds dodgy, doesn’t it? But really, there’s no need to speculate. The company’s web site gladly lays the facts bare.

The airline was initially established in 2000 and planned to begin service in 2001 but didn’t.

In October of 2003, Asia Aircraft Services from Malaysia chose to buy the airline and use its operating permit to launch airline services. The airline finally launched in 2006.

Since its launch, it has come under criticism from the South Korean Ministry of Construction and Transportation for substandard safety measures, including several lights indicating that emergency exits on the planes weren’t operative and that flights didn’t carry an updated guidebook for air routes.

Both engine oil and passenger’s baggage were loaded together on the plane without proper safety measures.

Actually, that’s not from the company’s web site. The Royal Khmer Airlines site is here. With catch phrases such as “The customer it will finish the hazard best always,” it’s arguably even worse.

UPDATE: According to the Cambodia Daily on Thursday, the airplane belongs not to RK Airlines but one of its board members, who left the company last year, apparently in a hurry.

Opposition editor jailed

This is deplorable.

A Cambodian newspaper editor was in jail Tuesday despite the intervention of the country’s Information Ministry seeking his release and a rising outcry from rights and media groups.

Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said his ministry had personally written to Phnom Penh Municipal Court requesting the release of Dam Sith, editor of pro-opposition Moneaksekar Khmer newspaper and a senior member of the Sam Rainsy Party.

Sith was arrested Sunday on charges of defamation, ‘insult’ and disinformation and jailed when the court determined that he was a threat to interfere with witnesses, even though none of the charges are criminal offenses.

With just 6.57 weeks to go before making a clean sweep of the national elections, you would think the ruling party would keep their jack-booted thumb-nosing of democracy to a minimum. But no.

POSTSCRIPT: Reporters Without Borders joins the outcry.

Cambodia: Headline News

Environment

In Cambodia, a case for localizing climate-change research
Researchers know global temperatures are rising. Now scientists from as far away as Finland are studying what that means for the 1 million floating residents of the Tonle Sap Lake.

Environmental concerns raised about Angkor of Cambodia
The International Coordinating Committee of Angkor held its 17th technical meeting this week in Siem Reap town, focusing on how the tourist destination can avoid becoming a victim of its success, the Cambodia Daily newspaper said Saturday.

Politics

Cambodia opposition candidate faces defamation charge
A Cambodian newspaper publisher who is an opposition candidate in next month’s elections has been charged with defaming Cambodia’s foreign minister.

Tribunal views from Khmer Rouge town
Sak Sokhum does not know who to blame for the estimated 1.7 million people who died under the Khmer Rouge.

Business

Australian company cements a place in Cambodia’s island resort boom
Australia’s Brocon Group Ltd cemented its place in the island development boom off Cambodia’s coast, earning formal government approval for its planned 35-million dollar luxury resort, CEO Rory Hunter said Monday.

Private Equity Funds Turn Toward Cambodia
As Vietnam’s overheated economy teeters on the brink of crisis, its neighbor Cambodia is being labeled the next frontier market for private equity.

Cambodian economic growth to drop to 7% in 2008
Cambodian economic performance remains robust though the pace of growth is expected to ease to around seven percent in 2008, down from over 10 percent last year, local media reported Monday.

Economic growth to slow, says IMF

The IMF expects Cambodia’s economy to contract by 30 percent in 2008, The IMF expects Cambodia’s economic growth to slow by about 30 percent in 2008, according to the Phnom Penh Post. That’s not insignificant, but perhaps not unexpected either. Inflation is orbiting in the stratosphere. The global economy is stagnating. And while tourism at home remains strong, garment orders are plummeting like UFO’s over Kampot.

But the most surprising news in the Post article is this:

While record-high international oil and food prices have contributed heavily to inflation in Cambodia, domestic commercial bank lending, which increased 100 percent year-on-year in early 2008, has also flooded the economy with cash and added to inflationary pressures, the IMF said.

One-hundred percent year-on-year growth in commercial bank lending? That’s alarming. Such rapid growth is almost certainly driven by two factors. One, a year ago the commercial loan market was still comparatively tiny, thus making any gains significant when counted in percentages. But that’s not really the problem.

The problem is that such triple-digit growth is almost certainly due to an easing of credit standards. The IMF has hinted to as much in the past, saying that some banks were leveraged 50 percent or more to very small groups of, or in some cases single, creditors. In a red-hot economy that’s not such a problem, for creditors or lenders. But when times get lean servicing those loans can become a gorilla even for massive corporations.

Any problems in the banking sector are unlikely to manifest for some time. Financial drama unfolds at a glacial pace, growing silently (at least publicly) until the weight of the problem becomes so massive that a bank or three suddenly crumble.

So how bad will it be? Thai crash of 1997 bad? That seems unlikely, but not impossible. How many banks in the last 18 months, caught up in the frenzy of the land boom, played a little fast and loose with the lending rules in favor of fast profits? It wouldn’t have been just one or two. And it won’t be surprising to see at least a few of those quietly shut the doors over the next five years or so.

UPDATE: As pointed out in comments, that first sentence was wrong. It’s been changed accordingly.

FURTHER UPDATE: The original headline on this post was ‘Major contractions ahead for economy, says IMF.’ But that was wrong, too. The headline has now been changed accordingly.

Sihanouk hints that Sihamoni could abdicate

As if timed to effect maximum political upheaval, former King Norodom Sihanouk yesterday hinted that his son King Norodom Sihamoni could abdicate the thrown and return to France to live a simple life — with his wife. That would leave the door open for fugitive Prince Norodom Ranariddh to return as the new monarch.

Thai soaps got nothing.

More evidence, less libel, please

VIA KI: The Australian Sunshine Coast Daily reports on the latest Australian Christian NGO to help Cambodian victims of sex-trafficking.

Every day, girls as young as 18 months are being sold into the sex trade in Cambodia. …

“Girls as young as five-years-old are working in brothels, servicing as many as 30 men a day,” she said. …

Lyne said the She Home project aimed to help children who were victims of a culture that encouraged women to have extra babies to sell off just to make enough money for their families to survive.

Are 18-month-olds the latest trend in Cambodian child prostitution? Such a notion is as unspeakably horrifying as it is difficult to believe. Ditto for the second second sentence. The third sentence is simply too stupid for words.

Marriage ban coming to an end

The rule of law must prevail, says Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng.

Cambodia was set to lift a ban on marriages to foreigners, Interior Minister Sar Kheng said Thursday. Speaking at a press conference on human trafficking, Sar Kheng said senior officials would meet Friday and a lifting of the ban is expected soon after.

[...]

“Tomorrow we meet to see the new sub-decree but we cannot hold this decision longer as it contradicts the Cambodian constitution and the rights of Cambodian people,” Sar Kheng said.

He said Cambodia was co-operating with the United States in a quest to find an adequate solution.

Even in the service of shameless pandering to the United States, that Sar Kheng openly admitted the constitution is something to be occasionally respected and that Cambodian people have rights is something of a moral victory. Even if he doesn’t believe it — and there’s very little evidence to suggest that he or anyone else in the ruling party does — he said it. That’s a step in the right direction, however tiny.

Khieu Samphan discharged from Calmette, returns to jail cell

Over at The Phnom Penh Post’s Tribunal Report, Elena Lesley reports that Khieu Samphan is back in his room at the ECCC detention center.

Khieu Samphan was released from the hospital Thursday and returned to the ECCC detention facility, according to tribunal spokesman Peter Foster. He said no further details were available about Samphan’s condition.

That ‘Holly’ schmuck

Guy Jacobson, the rich New York producer of the movie ‘Holly,’ is busy promoting the movie. He tells Columbus Local News how he got the inspiration for the film.

Guy Jacobson needed to clear his head.

An investment banker, attorney, writer and owner of his own film company, Priority Films, Jacobson was backpacking in Cambodia in early 2002 in an effort to stir, or perhaps settle, the creative juices.

It was while he was walking along a Cambodian street that he was accosted by a group of young girls.

What happened to him then was much more than a case of culture shock. The girls — ranging in age from 5 to 7 years old — were prostitutes.

Too stupid for words. Then there’s this:

Just three days after arriving on location, they received a distressing call from Interpol, Jacobson said.

“They said, ‘You guys are insane’,” said Jacobson. “You are in the most dangerous place in the world for shooting this film. You’re going to die. Get the hell out of there.”

Jacobson said they had to hire some 40 bodyguards and equip them with automatic machine guns to protect the cast and crew during filming.

That’s complete and total BS, every last word of it. The cast and crew stayed on the riverfront and partied openly. The film crew was able to shoot freely around the city, despite flouting the rules and refusing to get a filming permit from the Ministry of Culture. The only real danger they faced was Chris Penn dropping dead from a heroin overdose.

Regretting the error

VIA Stumblng Tumblr:  The Cambodia Daily makes Regret the Error.

Runaway headlines
June 3, 2008 – 8:00 am
From the May 12 edition:
Corrections: Due to an editing error, the headline “Three Suspects On Loose in Beheading Case” (Page 21, May 8)* should not have stated that the slain man was beheaded. Due to an editing error, the headline “Bridge From Snake Island Nearly Done” (Page 29, May 9) should have stated that bridge [...]

Whoops.

Reclining Buddha

After 38 years in seclusion the largest Buddha statue in the country has just been reopened to visitors.

The largest reclining Buddha in Cambodia, part of the Baphuon Temple at Angkor in Siem Reap province, has just opened to the public, the Mekong Times newspaper said Wednesday.

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The restoration of the temple has been an epic journey, begun by the well-known French organization Ecole Francaise d’Extreme-Orient (EFEO) before the civil war in 1970. The project was interrupted by the war and resumed by the EFEO in 1995.

The Reclining Buddha, a representation of the Buddha after attaining enlightenment, is 70 meters long and 12 meters high. The French have undertaken nine years of “complex work” on the statue, which is one of the “most astonishing” archeological remains of the post-Angkorian period, according to a French Embassy press release.

That’s wonderful news.

War on sex, cont

Police officials say they will investigate allegations that officers beat and gang-raped sex workers in their custody.

Cambodia’s top anti-trafficking official Wednesday pledged an immediate investigation after sex workers tearfully alleged a new zero tolerance policy on brothels had led to rapes, robberies and abuses of human rights by police.

Interior Ministry Anti-Trafficking Chief Bith Kimhong said the allegations were new to him and he doubted their veracity, but pledged a full and immediate investigation.

You can hear the determination in his voice, can’t you?