EU vs Sam Rainsy

The European Union is calling Sam Rainsy a liar.

“I would say that on the basis of the provisional results published so far, CPP very clearly has a large majority and therefore any irregularities would have to be of a very large scale to invalidate the result,” Martin Callanan, chief observer for the EU mission told the media in Phnom Penh on Tuesday.

“While it is fair to say we have some evidence of irregularities these are not of such significant scale,” he said.

[...]

“Every vote is important,” said Tom Andrews, a senior advisor to the National Democratic Institute, which worked with NICFEC on the audit and on training observers placed in 378 of the country’s 1,245 polling stations.

“But we need to base our conclusion on the evidence we have seen in the audit and our observers did not show what has been suggested by the opposition,’’ Andrews said. “It showed that people had been taken from the list but that the number was small and there was no clear pattern.”

Troop movements

In meetings yesterday in Siem Reap, Thailand and Cambodia both agreed to pull back their troops from the Preah Vihear temple area.

Cambodia and Thailand agreed Monday to pull back 1,200 troops stationed near a historic temple, but failed to end the long-running border dispute that has stirred up nationalist anger on both sides.

Foreign ministers from the two Southeast Asian neighbors agreed to hold further meetings on how to demarcate a slice of land near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, but no date was set for the next meeting.

About 800 Cambodian troops and another 400 from Thailand stationed inside and around a pagoda near the temple complex will be pulled back. It is unclear, however, where those troops will be moved and when it will take place.

That yesterday’s talks achieved anything is a bit of a small miracle. Separating the troops, who mingle daily, will go a long way toward ratcheting down the possibility of clashes. It’s a good first step.

CPP wins!

Amazing as it may seem, preliminary results show the CPP winning yesterday’s national election by a landslide. The Herald Tribune and Asia Times have the full story. John Vink has the photos.

Investors are happy. The opposition not so much.

Losing the plot

It’s probably not polite to question the age and senility of an elder statesman. But really, this kind of crack-pipe paranoia is unhealthy.

“A deal has been done, no doubt about it, to jointly manage the Preah Vihear temple,” said Son Chhay. “The Cambodians will get ownership and the Thais will get casinos and hotels. I have no proof in terms of black and white evidence on paper. But we have evidence of meetings between Thai and senior members of the Cambodian government pointing to a deal.”

A secret deal to open not one but several casinos at a UNESCO World Heritage Site recognized for its deep religious history? That is insane.

The obvious question is where do these casinos go. There’s just three answers, only one of which makes even the tiniest morsel of sense. Answer number one is a house man dealing stud in the Preah Vihear antechambers. Unlikely, to say the least. Answer number two is somewhere on non-disputed Thai soil — but Thailand hardly needs to make secret deals with Cambodia to open a casino on its own land (to say nothing of the fact that casinos are illegal in Thailand). That leaves answer number three: somewhere in Cambodia. Considering the geography of the area, that leaves only one option: at the bottom of the cliff upon which Preah Vihear sits, 525 perilous meters below and a million miles away from ideal.

Thailand and the art of diplomacy

The Thai government is on a full-scale PR offensive, making asinine comments to any national media outlet willing to reprint them.

Deputy Prime Minister Sahas Banditkul:

“Three permanent members of the Security Council whom I have met with here said Cambodia had been in too much of a hurry in putting the issue before the UN. Thailand and Cambodia can resolve the problem bilaterally,” Sahas told reporters.

Thai ambassador to the United Nations Don Pramudwinai:

“Sometimes our sincere friendship has prompted us to overlook our neighbors’ ultimate motive,” the ambassador told a Thai radio station, speaking from New York, where Cambodia has asked the UN Security Council to help resolve the dispute.

“In this case they are using guerrilla tactics to ambush us,” he said.

In the same story, Thai prime minister Samak Sundaravej:

“After the elections they will soften their stance, and talks will be easier,” he said. “Everything has been done for the July 27 poll, and I need to keep quiet so as not to discredit Prime Minister Hun Sen” of Cambodia.

And Samak today:

“Prime Minister Hun Sen promises me during today’s telephone conversation that he will withdraw the request for the UN to help settle the border dispute.

Insults, name calling, and lies. You’d think Thailand was actually trying to start a war, not stop one.

UN will hear Preah Vihear case

From Reuters:

UNITED NATIONS, July 23 (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council will hold a special meeting on a border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand that has sparked fears of a military clash, France and Vietnam said on Wednesday.

French Ambassador to the United Nations Jean-Maurice Ripert told reporters the council discussed a request by Cambodia to take up the issue, adding that council members would likely decide on Thursday on the date and format for the meeting.

“We are worried about the situation and the potential tension,” said Ripert, whose country holds the European Union’s rotating presidency until the end of the year.

Thailand, unsurprisingly, has asked the UN to mind its own business. Eric has more.

Pictures from Preah Vihear

John Vink recently made the trip to Preah Vihear. The photos are here.

UPDATE: There’s a multimedia slideshow on the same subject at the Ka-set web site.

And the winner is …

Human Rights Watch has bestowed two Ka-set journalists, Chheang Bopha and Duong Sokha, with Hellman/Hammett writer’s awards.

Bopha, 28, and Sokha, 27, worked as reporters at Cambodge Soir, Cambodia’s leading French language daily newspaper. They quit in 2007 to protest the dismissal of a colleague who was fired for writing about a report by Global Witness, an international environmental organization, that documented the alleged complicity of top government officials in illegal logging.

Congratulations.

Guns vs diplomacy at Preah Vihear

In a rather unfamiliar move for the government, Cambodia today asked the UN for help in dealing with a recalcitrant Thailand.

Cambodia has asked the United Nations Security Council for an emergency meeting to resolve a military stand-off with Thailand over an ancient temple on their border.

Phnom Penh’s appeal to the world body came after bilateral talks on Monday failed to end the week-long border fracas, which regional neighbors fear could turn violent.

“In order to avoid armed confrontation, the Royal Government of Cambodia has decided to request an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to find a solution to the problem in accordance with international laws,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

If Thailand has thus far pilloried the idea of ASEAN intervention, the thought of Security Council involvement must leave Thai officials reaching for the hemlock.

There is a reason for that. The treaty of 1907, which Thailand ratified, is the legal basis for the Thai-Cambodia border. No matter how you try to massage it, Thailand is clearly in violation of that treaty. Under the scrutiny of independent third parties, it will become impossible for Thailand to deny that reality — which is why Thailand would really rather no one look too closely.

By making its case to the larger community, it is clear that Cambodia wants to usher this fact center stage. By making its case to the UN Security Council, it is clear that Cambodia wants to push Thailand not just out of Preah Vihear, but all the way back to the 1907 line.

Will such a plan work? Who knows? But Cambodia, with legal precedence and 100 years of history behind it, definitely has the upper hand.

Criticizing the Post

The Phnom Penh Post has found a new detractor. Draw you own conclusions.

CORRECTION: This post stated previously that the author of the above blog was not just a “detractor” but an employee of the Post. That statement was incorrect. It has been deleted.

Talk of the town

It’s not Preah Vihear or Sunday’s election. It’s these guys. Four Americans who not just speak totally flawless Khmer but sing it too. Although their choice in music is absolutely appalling, Brigham Young still must be mighty proud.

VIA Mongkol.

An SUV in every garage

The Star Malaysia puts a finger to the economic winds of “The Mekong Region.” The climate in Cambodia, it says, is decidedly shaky.

On the back of rising inflation, potentially weaker garment exports and slower construction and tourism sectors this year, the economist said the challenge for Cambodia would be to diversify its sources of growth.

Economic growth in the previous couple of years has been absolutely torrid, so a slow down isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Seven percent GDP growth, as the story points out, still makes Cambodia one of the fastest growing economies in the region. That’s not a silver bullet for all the country’s demons, but it’s not a bad start, either.

Bad water

VIA JINJA: Cartoon fun on the runs: “Little boy drinking bad water,” a animated public service announcement, with subtitles.

Killing the messenger

VIA The Mirror: UNHCR speaks on the killing of veteran Moneaksekar Khmer reporter Khem Sambo, putting his name on a growing list of unsolved attacks against journalists.

“The murder of Mr. Khim Sambo is similar to eight other murders and attempts of murder of journalists in Cambodia since 1994 – in all cases the criminals still continue to live happily with impunity. Those cases are:

“Mr. Nuon Chan, editor-in-chief of Samleng Yuvachun Khmer, was shot dead by two people riding on a motorcycle in Phnom Penh on 7 September 1994.

“Mr. Sao Chandara, a journalist of Koh Santepheap, was shot dead on 8 December 1994 in Kompong Cham. A military official was sued, but not sentenced, and he was free from any punishment. The Appeals Court decided to file an appeal against this decision to absolve him from punishment, but the appeal was not filed at the Supreme Court.

“Mr. Ek Mongkol, a reporter of Radio FM 90 MHz, was shot with many bullets while he was driving along a road in the center of Phnom Penh on 21 October 1995. He survived the shooting.

“Mr. Thun Bunly, editor-in-chief of Udom Katte Khmer was shot dead by two people ridding on a motorcycle in Phnom Penh on 18 May 1996. Half an hour before he was murdered, he told a friend that he was worried about his safety. In 1995, he had been accused and sentenced twice on accusations of publishing many articles criticizing the Royal Government.

“Mr. Leng Sam Ang, editor-in-chief of Kumnit Koun Khmer, was hit and shot by police on 2 January 1997. He survived the attack.

“Mr. Michael Senior, a freelance photographer who was originally Khmer, was shot dead by soldiers when he attempted to take pictures of many soldiers who were stealing goods in a market in Phnom Penh on 8 July 1997.

[...]

“Mr. Thong Uy Pang, editor-in-chief of Koh Santepheap was shot in Phnom Penh on 8 June 1998, but he survived the injury. Last year two grenades were thrown into this newspaper’s office.

“Mr. Chuo Chetharith, reporter of Radio Ta Prum was shot dead when he arrived at his workplace, by two people riding on a motorcycle, on 18 October 2003.

“Meanwhile, three other journalists died from violence, cases that have not been solved – Mr. Tou Chhom Mongkol, editor-in-chief of Antarakum died on 11 June 1994; Mr. Pich Em, technician of National Television of Cambodia in Sihanoukville, died on 5 May 1997; and Mr. Ou Sareoun, a journalist of Samleng Reas Khmer was also killed.

Oh for 12. That’s a pretty abysmal record.

Jesus loves a cage fight

This is so wrong, on so many levels.

A family in Cessnock donated hundred’s of dollars worth of Wrestling toys (WWF) for the children because they discovered that Wrestling is Huge in Cambodia! To inspire the children at Windy Village to learn their memory verses, we told them they could have one toy each if they could recite 5 scriptures. Wow! They were SO keen. A number of kids jumped up straight away and gave it all they had…

That somebody thought it was a good idea to spend several hundred dollars on WWF toys is stupefying. That such a purchase was made in the name of Jesus Christ is disturbing. That the people who made such a purchase perceive themselves as role models fit to lead others is terrifying.

Hurling temple stones

Harry McKinnon over at A Cambodian’s Blog takes a measured look at the growing Preah Vihear crisis.

The bulk of the emotions (mostly negative) pouring out of Thailand are, however, those of the Thai public. I cannot help but speculate how much of Thailand’s force buildup along the border is politically motivated. The current Thai government is in a crisis. It is charged by its own electorate of being incompetent. A sudden change of position in the Preah Vihear issue as well as a (more tangible) deployment of troops to the disputed area seem just the things to appeal to the current nationalistic fervor fermenting in Thailand’s streets.

That sounds about right, doesn’t it? The whole Preah Vihear saga has all but been manufactured by the Thai opposition in an attempt to take down the sitting Thai government. Trying to get out in front of the problem, the Thai government has countered with troop buildups and vehement refusals to cede even one molecule of Thai air to Cambodia. In fact, Thai politics are out of control, and Preah Vihear is just an easy stone for Thai politicians to hurl at each other.

Propoganda vs The Truth

The propaganda:

VN News Agency helps Hun Sen’s regime fabricate news in Cambodia

The truth: VNA gave Agence Kampuchea Presse a printer.

Showdown at Preah Vihear

The Phnom Penh Post has the latest on the Preah Vihear standoff.

Senior Cambodian officials are calling for calm a day after Thai soldiers crossed the border near Preah Vihear temple amid a growing ownership row over territory surrounding the 11th-century Hindu ruins, which last week were designated a World Heritage Site.

Nearly 600 Thai and Cambodian troops remain at a Buddhist pagoda on the Cambodian side of the border, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told reporters Wednesday, adding however, that tensions had lowered since the Thai troops first breached the border.

“We’ve called for both sides to be calm. There are no tanks or guns pointed at each other,” he said, adding that a joint committee had been formed to resolve how the Thai soldiers should be withdrawn.

With a bayonet at their backside.

Unconventional wisdom

Quote of the day:

“[The election results are] certainly not a foregone conclusion.”

So says IRI resident country director John Willis, who apparently arrived in Cambodia only last week after an extended posting on the moon. Everybody knows that Sam Rainsy is gonna hang ten to victory on a wave of empty promises.

Investigative journalism awards

The Club of Cambodian Journalists this week announced the winners of its “Investigative Journalism Awards Competition.”

Mr. Oum Layum, of Rasmei Kampuchea Newspaper, took first place for his reporting on land disputes and land management issues in Cambodia’s O’Chrov area. Mr. Leang Delux, Miss Ung Chan Sophea, Mr. Hang Sokmony, and Mr. Neth Pheaktra took second through fifth place honors for reporting dealing with issues ranging from the efficiency of public services to charges of medical malpractice.

A humble tip o’ the hat to them all. Their service to their country is as great if not greater than any politician.

Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary

In addition to Cambodia’s newest World Heritage site, Preah Vihear province also boasts an extremely rare population of the Kingdom’s critically endangered national bird, the white-shouldered ibis. The Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary is an award-winning ecotourism project designed to rescue the near mythical, and nearly extinct, species.

With ecotourism context in Cambodia, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has established a pilot ibis ecotourism project at Tmatboey in Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary, Preah Vihear province, the only known site where both Giant and White-shouldered Ibises breed and can be reliably seen. The birds are found in the forests surrounding the village, which are a mosaic of seasonally inundated dipterocarp deciduous trees. This project was awarded as a winner of “Wild Asia’s 2007 Responsible Tourism Award” which is organized by Wild Asia. The awards act as both a showcase for these exemplary resorts and as an inspiration to others.

Wildlife Conservation Society has more.

The garment sector might be in trouble

If the newspapers are to be believed, in just 30 short days the Cambodian garment industry has moved from facing a near lethal worker shortage to facing a near lethal work shortage.

From The Phnom Penh Post on June 12:

The garment industry is becoming a victim of its own success, with expansion in the sector contributing to a serious labor shortage, factory owners and industry officials say.

Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Kingdom’s largest labor group, said five garment factories have closed since March because they could not hire enough staff. …

He said some factory administrators had asked him to help find workers but the situation was “hopeless”.

AFP tells a very different story today.

[Sath Vanny] left her hometown in the southern province of Takeo seven years ago to work at a women’s shirt factory, sending most of her earnings back to help the family farm.

But a slowdown in orders has the 25-year-old worried about her job. Overtime work has fallen off as Cambodia’s textile sector, the country’s biggest industrial employer, struggles against stiffer global competition and slowing demand.

More than 10 Chinese-owned factories have moved to cheaper markets, leaving hundreds of thousands of garment workers — mostly young women like Vanny who support their impoverished families — facing destitution.

That must be a world record or something. Seriously.

Blogostan briefly

Worth reading: Kevin Murphy, an SF tech writer bumming through Cambodia. Witty observations of this great country we call home.

Vihear and loathing

Unless you’ve been vacationing on another planet, you’ve by now heard that Unesco approved the Cambodian temple of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site last week. Depending on your political leanings, this is cause for either dancing in the streets or contemplating suicide.

Khmerization reflects:

I am sad because I felt that it is a Pyrrhic victory due to the fact that there is a possibility that Cambodia might lose the ownership of the 4.6 square kilometres to Thailand. The fact that only the temple proper had been listed and the surrounding areas, including the staircases and the reservoir, had been left out of the listing suggested that Cambodia will face an uphill battle to recover the 4.6 square kilometres claimed as a “disputed zone” by Thailand.

Sokheoun over at Son of a Khmer Empire waxes even more despondent: “I personally see it as a loss and feel so much pain in my heart without proper words to express.”

Such glorious melancholy is hardly necessary. As the organization’s name rather unambiguously states, Unesco is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. As such, its designation of Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site has absolutely zero influence over Cambodia-Thai border negotiations.

The inability of the opposition to view anything without anti-Hun Sen glasses really is mesmerizing. The Unesco designation will bring huge benefits to the people of Preah Vihear — the province and the temple. Preah Vihear is now effectively Angkor Wat II. As such, its popularity, singularly driven by the Unesco listing, will skyrocket. Tourism will explode and restoration projects will flourish. So will business aimed at serving the leisure market — hotels, restaurants, bars, clubs, art shops, etc. The effects are certain to reach west to Anlong Veng and south to T’Bang Meanchey, and over time likely even to Kompong Thom.

Since getting the news a week ago, much of the country has been celebrating. Phnom Penh officials last week threw a concert at Wat Phnom. There’s another one scheduled for tonight at Olympic Stadium. Ten thousand Tens of thousands are expected to turn up. Meanwhile, opposition voices remain fraught over the possibility that at some uncertain point in the future, Thailand might be able to use the Unesco decision to its advantage in negotiations with Cambodia over the two countries’ disputed border.

The demarcation issue is certainly an important one. Nobody should ignore it. But the benefits of the Preah Vihear decision are both real and great, too. In the remote villages of Preah Vihear province, the listing will likely change a lot of people’s lives for the better. That’s no reason for despair. As for the border issue, the chances that Cambodia will cede land to Thailand based on something Unesco says seems remote, to say the least.

Sticks and stones

Consistently a voice of moderation, Mongkol’s forbearance has found a limit.

First of all, please call us Khmer. We are not Khom nor Khamen (nor Kha-Men) as some Thais like to call us.

How about that.

Moneaksekar Khmer journalist murdered

This is horrible news.

Khem Sambo, 47, reported on corruption and other social ills under the rule of Prime Minister Hun Sen for the opposition newspaper Moneaseka Khmer.

He was riding a motorcycle with his 21-year-old son on Friday when they were each shot twice by a man who was also riding a motorcycle, Phnom Penh police Chief Yim Simony said. They died later in a hospital.

[ ... ]

Moneaseka Khmer editor Dam Sith called the attack “the gravest threat” to his newspaper, which is affiliated with Cambodia’s main opposition Sam Rainsy Party.

Oum Sarin, president of the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists, said the killing is “creating a climate of fear” among journalists.

The case is the first killing of a Cambodian journalist in five years, according to Pen Samithy, president of Club of Cambodian Journalists.

Like so many other high-profile murders, almost nobody expects the people responsible for Khem Sambo’s death to face trial, much less penance. Everybody knows the police and the courts are useless.

While many will fume in private about such injustice, the voice of public outrage is too often muted on these matters, which makes it far too easy for authorities to ignore calls for accountability. Newspapers, politicians and the public must do more, starting with relentlessly demanding the resignation of impotent police chiefs and other officials incapable of doing their jobs.

If Yim Simony can’t find Khem Sambo’s killers, he should resign in shame. If he won’t resign, then the authorities above Yim Simony must force him out, lest the newspapers, politicians and public start calling for their resignations.

If Cambodia ever wants a responsible government, its citizens will need to start demanding that their officials are held accountable. The ruling elite is never going to police themselves.

Postcards from Cambodia

How slow is the Cambodian postal service?

Tensions simmer at Preah Vihear

A group of Thai radicals are digging in over Preah Vihear.

A group of residents in Si Sa Ket province have threatened to take over the disputed temple of Preah Vihear within a month in an expression of their anger over its listing as a World Heritage site.

The group – calling themselves the Council of Saha Drammic I-san and staging a protest close to the temple over the past weeks – yesterday declared they would take over the temple unless the authorities removed some 500 Cambodians from the area.

They also called on the governments of Thailand and Cambodia to speed up the demarcation of the border within 30 days to mark a clear division of sovereignty.

The government should make the Preah Vihear issue a national priority to reclaim the Hindu temple from Cambodia, as the then foreign minister Thanat Khoman reserved to the right to do so at the United Nations in 1962, they said.

Oh, brother.

Royal Group snatches Koh Rong

Bloomberg reports that Kith Meng has big plans for Koh Rong.

Royal Group, which owns Cambodia’s biggest mobile-phone operator, plans to raise as much as $2 billion with Hong Kong-based t to build resorts, casinos and an airport on an island off the coast of Cambodia.

Royal Group and the Millennium real-estate investment firm are seeking investors and partners for resorts, apartments, casinos, golf courses, polo fields and an airport on Koh Rong island, according to a financing investment document obtained by Bloomberg News. The island is the largest of 22 off the coast of the southern port city and beach resort town of Sihanoukville.

“This is a place that people haven’t discovered yet,” said Royal Group Chairman Kith Meng in an interview in Phnom Penh. “It’s like the Maldives,” an island country in the Indian Ocean southwest of Sri Lanka, he said.

Polo fields and golf courses need massive amounts of fresh water, a precious rarity in the middle of the salty ocean. Desalination plants need huge amounts of energy, another Cambodian rarity. Two billion, though, that’s serious money even by Kith Meng’s standards. With that kind of cash it doesn’t matter if it cost $150 to flush the toilet.

Unesco approves Preah Vihear

From the Phnom Penh Post.

Preah Vihear temple has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site after years of efforts by Cambodian officials to get the 11th-century Hindu monument listed, sparking jubilant celebrations across Phnom Penh.

The inscription, approved on July 7 by the 21-nation World Heritage Committee during a UNESCO meeting in Quebec, Canada, comes despite an ongoing dispute with Thailand over ownership of the land surrounding the temple, which sits atop an escarpment on the border between the two countries.

It will comes as no surprise that Thailand is not very happy about this. From the Thai Indian:

Sources say various organizations including Isan Ku Chart (อีสานกู้ชาติ) Network, Si Sa Ket Development Coordination Committee, and people’s councils in the Northeastern region, are gathering at Lan Phlan Hin (ลานผลานหิน) near the entrance of the Preah Vihear Temple to protest against the encroachment on the Thai territory by Cambodia people.

The protestors arrange a seminar attending by activists and local philosophers who have good knowledge on backgrounds of the 11th century Hindu temple.

Coordinator of Isan Ku Chart Network Wiwat Akkabutr (วิวัฒน์ อรรคบุตร) says the protestors will pressure police for progress of a complaint they filed against Cambodian aliens encroaching on the Thai land area at Preah Vihear.

In Phnom Penh, meanwhile, it’s a party.