A bigger Kep Province would mean a lost of about 25% of the Kampot territory, especially all the east area bordering Vietnam. Kompong Trach, Tus Meas and Angkor Chey would become a part of Kep.

Development is a very complex process that depends from many factors: from the political will to the compromise of enterprises, the foreign investment and the human resources and how people get the opportunities to improve their standard of life. Planning plays a very important role on it and it does not come from a single brain, especially it should not come from a single social group willing to impose their own conceptions of society or protecting their group’s interests. Territory administration is one of those elements that can play a good role in the way development is promoted in a population. In many occasions, territorial distribution must be altered in order to promote such development process. 

In modern Cambodia, the coastal provinces have a very important role in the national development just because they are at the sea side. Even if the Cambodian sea – a share of the Gulf of Siam – is actually shallow, it must not be an obstacle to promote a big development of the region in three areas: first agriculture, fishing and mining (primary sector), services – especially the tourist industry, –  and trade.

In this context, Sihanoukville is called to become the capital of the coastal Cambodian region and it is worthy of a well thought planning as a city port, with an international airport, excellent transport and good roads and streets. The city has much place to grow in future thriving districts such as Riem, Stung Hav, Preip Nob and the islands.

A second city that is showing already its vocation as a future big center is Kampot. It has all the elements to be a dreamed city: hills, a beautiful river and the sea, plus its historical connection with Kep Province.

There is yet an illogical territorial distribution between Kampot and Kep. This last one is the smallest Cambodian province and it was created as such in 2004. Kampot has been reduced in its territory since ever, being at the beginning the only Cambodian coastal province – from this one Koh Kong, Sihanoukville and Kep were created during the last decades. But making an even smaller Kampot province could be a good initiative, while increasing the territory of Kep by giving to it the eastern Kampot area that goes along the Vietnamese border from Kep to Angkor Chey, touching Takeo.

On October 12, 1999 I arrived to the Phnom Penh International Airport at 9 AM. Between October 2001 and August 2005 I studied theology in Jerusalem, a time I used to improve my Khmer reading and writing, as well as the Cambodian history. Teleantioquia, the Colombian television channel from Medellín, dedicated this documentary about how I see Cambodia. I invite you to watch it this coming Monday at 10:30 AM, Cambodian time (3:30 AM UTC/GMT) with repetition on the following Saturday at 9:30 AM in http://www.teleantioquia.co/. Even if it is in Spanish, you will understand many images and meanings on this beautiful work dedicated to my children and youth of Cambodia.

I share this video documentary by Teleantioquia about Cambodia. It is in Spanish, but you can understand most of the story. We are doubling it in Khmer and English… coming soon. A good resume of what is Cambodia, its history, Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, Kampot, Kep and Sihanoukville and how I see Cambodia since 1999.

Albeiro Rodas in Cambodia – Part 1, Teleantioquia, 2014.

Albeiro Rodas in Cambodia – Part 2, Teleantioquia, 2014.

Albeiro Rodas in Cambodia – Part 3, Teleantioquia, 2014.

Albeiro Rodas in Cambodia – Part 4, Teleantioquia, 2014.

Chamroeun, formelly Tech, with his parents Mok Phun and Pich Pan and their nephew at the Baytea Village in Kompung Trach. Photo courtesy, February 2014.

Supporting a young man to get success in his life is just a key for a sustainable development of any country. It is very important to fight for the reduction of the gender gap and to give girls and women same opportunities. But it is also important not to forget that boys and young men need also support. To forget men just starting from the idea that they are “strong” and they can manage for themselves, prove to be a wrong position and a misunderstand of the gender reduction efforts. Men without education and opportunities can generate violence in many senses. The story of Chamroeun, a farmer boy who became Buddhist monk and then could reach a technical formation in a Don Bosco school, is a good example of how boys and young men can have those spaces to jump into a future of opportunities for the good of their country. The original articles was published in Kampuchea Thmey Daily with the title “Poverty is not a barrier for a person with high values,” but I edited this new English version with some other perspectives as he is my own pupil: 

It was in August 2010 when Venerable Chamroeun entered into my office in Don Bosco Sihanoukville for interview, among hundreds of youth coming from different farmer villages of the coastal Cambodian provinces extending from the Thai to the Vietnamese borders. He was with his saffron monk casa and a youthful expression fighting between the need to show his best to be accepted as a student and his religious dignity. He wanted to study social communication and journalism, but the scores sent him to automotive. He requested some weeks to enter the laity, something that is made in a very well organized ceremony in his original pagoda in Kampong Trach. It was the first time I knew that when a Buddhist monk was going to leave the monastery, he must follow a special ceremony… It would be a great idea for some other religious groups

In the first days of his studies in Don Bosco Sihanoukville, already wearing the uniform of the school as other youth, he visited me several times to my office to request a change to social communication. He kept the brightness monkshood in his eyes and something told us that he was claiming his own future. One student of social communication stopped suddenly, opening the place to our ex-monk.

His original name was Tech and I knew it recently. It was curious, because it was such as Technology, but in Khmer it is more like angel. But his official current name is Chamroeun, being his surname (at Cambodian tradition, of course,) Cheng… Cheng Chamroeun, born at the Battea Village, in that beautiful region of Kompung Trach, the eastern part of the Kampot Province. The fifth child of Mok Phun and Pich Pan, a farmer family living with just the necessary and limited resources to give a proper education to their springs.  It was the main reason why the boy was sent to school for his first time at 10, while Phun, his father, went to work to Thailand for three years trying to get better possibilities. During the absence of his father, Chamroeun worked hard to support the activities of his mother consisting in selling vegetables at the Vietnamese border, something that included to walk for several kilometers every day.

In 2003 Phun returned from Thailand and decided his son should become a Buddhist monk at the Kiri Kongkea Pagoda, an option for many poor families: it helps to reduce the burden if there are many children at home, while getting blessings for all relatives.

Another reason of why Phun sent his son to the pagoda was that he could get better study opportunities there and he was right. In many rural areas of Cambodia, pagodas became the best option for education. But Chamroeun did not wear the monk habit just to sit down in full meditation. The teenager monk felt he should study very hard, with all the inspiration in Confucianism, feeling that study hard would bring him to somewhere else… When Phun, his father, noticed how dedicated was his son to books, he advised him to continue that way. He knew that an educated boy would bring a better future. Tech – at that time still his name – spent several months preparing to be ordained as a Buddhist priest, including to spend some months in Poipet at the Thai border – more than 700 kilometers far from his original pagoda – learning Pali language with an elderly monk. As a monk he managed to conclud his high school and applied for English Literature at the Economics Management University (UME) in Sihanoukville. It was the time when he decided he wanted to study in Don Bosco. “I knew that youth studying technical education in places like Don Bosco, would have better job opportunities than those going to universities… and now I proved it is right,” he says.

He was careful to investigate if his religious statues would be an impediment to study in a technical school linked to the Catholic Church. “I was afraid a little, because I was a Buddhist monk and they say it was a Christian school… but some friends told me that Don Bosco did not ask for religion and did not oblige students to convert or something like this… I could prove it very well and I lived in an atmosphere of tolerance and family feeling there…” he pointed out.

When he entered in Don Bosco, he let his monkshood to become a layman. In social communication and journalism he specialized in audiovisual production, but after he graduated from Don Bosco in 2012, he worked as a communication coordinator at the Cambodian Labor Confederation in Phnom Penh for one year. As his skill was audiovisual production, he continued for the search of his vocation and joined Apsara Award 2013 as graphic designer and the Pkay Rash Knong Soun program. In September 2013 he supported the video editing team with Mr. Mean Sam Ouen, the director of One Channel Media Co., Ltd at Beung TumPon, becoming a TV staff. Currently, he is working as editor of the television program “I know you know” that is emitted from Monday to Friday at 11 AM.

“I like to contact students of Don Bosco to motivate them… and boys from rural areas to tell to them we should not stop by the facts of poverty… we should fight for our dreams,” he concludes.

Cheang Ren

Dear friends, I am saddened to report that Teacher Ren, 24, Manager of the Hotel Sections at the Don Bosco Technical School Kep, passed away this morning at 02:00 AM of March 2, 2014 at Kep Commune. Teacher Soon of the front office section survived the tragic accident. They were returning with other teachers to Don Bosco, four of them in two motorbikes. Teacher Henglay and Teacher Sela were at the other motorbike. It seems they were going on a high speed. Teacher Soon was driving when his motorbike left the road in a bend meeting a tree. Teacher Soon was ejected several meters while Teacher Ren suffered the biggest impact and was found near the motorbike.

Teacher Henglay returned immediately in his own motorbike and they found both of them in a very serious state and bloody. Teacher Lay returned to Don Bosco to take a car, while Teacher Sela stayed with them. Sela reported that Ren died in his arms. In the beginning they thought that Soon died because this last one did not give signs of life. Both were brought to Kep Hospital that sent them to Kampot Hospital.

The doctor at Kampot Hospital reported that Ren arrived dead, while Soon was in a very delicate state. At 03:00 AM I arrived to the Hospital with Teacher Ratanak. I saw Teacher Soon in a very serious condition, but alive and conscious. His arms completely broken. The doctor said he had little hope to survive. His family in Sihanoukville asked by phone to bring him to Hatien, Vietnam, that is just at the border.

Teacher Soon, 20, was brought in an ambulance with Teachers Tula and Ratanak. At 8:00 AM Teacher Tula called me from Vietnam saying that Soon was out of danger.

The body of Teacher Ren was sent to Sihanoukville, to his family and it is probably that his funeral will be this afternoon. Probably I will go to Sihanoukville this afternoon with all teachers.

During the weekdays I intend to celebrate a Mass at the school for his soul and the consolation of all of us, especially his family.

We are going to miss Ren, a very dedicated person, he was giving a lot life to the hotel sections. Recently he assisted to the wedding of his sister and he was the only male of his family.

I request from all of you prayers in this difficult moment for our community of Don Bosco Kep and the Don Bosco Hotel School in Sihanoukville and for the full recovery of Soon who still at the hospital in Hatien, Vietnam.

The funerals of Ren will be on Monday, March 3, at Wat Kraom, Sihanoukville at 9AM.

The incident of last Sunday March 2 where we lost a teacher​ in “another” motorcycle event, showed me how gloomy, hard, inhuman and barbaric are the public hospitals in Cambodia. There is not the possibility of any good review on it and we need to call the attention over this reality that affects the common Cambodian citizen and shows a high level of corruption, lack of solidarity for the poor and weakness of the national institutions. Where have gone near 30 years of humanitarian aid to Cambodia since UNTAC made its “democratic transition”? Why so much funds poured into the Cambodian health system produced this kind of gloomy hospitals where nurses, doctors, ambulance’s drivers and even the cleaning personnel concentrate with a very systematic way to get as much as money as possible from patients, especially in emergency cases? They profit the worry of relatives and friends who at the heat of the moment try to save the life of their dear ones and would not discuss any payment. 

Last Sunday night we brought the two teachers to the Kampot Public Hospital from their accident site in Kep City at 2 AM. One of them was already dead, but the other was alive and with a lot of hope. His head was completely crushed, his arms destroyed and his breathing was strong, fighting to keep his life.

The doctor checked the body of Teacher Ren and declared he was dead. His body stayed at the back of the car alone, while everybody concentrated in the survival of Teacher Soon. In those moments of high stress no dear ones put attention to the belonging of the victims, but the vultures and there are a lot vultures at the Kampot Hospital. The wallet of late teacher Ren disappeared with his last salary, a ring and a collar.

The doctor concluded that teacher Soon had few hours to live… just like this, cool blood in this man, without showing any further effect… but claiming the payment for “his mediocre services”. The only recommendation this “doctor” gave was to send him to Phnom Penh or to Vietnam. To Vietnam!!! Who is this “doctor”? What is he doing in a public hospital? Where did he study medicine? Why the Kampot Hospital has not enough equipment to attend the citizens in emergencies? Where are the funds sent by several countries like USA, EC, Japan.. to the Cambodian health system that this “Hospital” cannot save the life of a person sending him to a foreign country?

Teacher Soon´s family said by phone to bring him to Vietnam, so we did arrangement with the ambulance to cross the Hatien border. Two other teachers went with him in the ambulance. After they left, we requested to prepare the body of Ren to send to Sihanoukville for his family. The cleaning personnel requested another 80 thousand riel to do it!

In the “expensive” Kampot Hospital they took the salary of a dead person that should go for his widow elderly mother, his ring and a collar and then they ask payment to clean his body plus sending it to his town… Of course, any service should be paid, but any service must be done well and with respect, something they did not show.

When the ambulance arrived to a hospital in Vietnam – the two teachers who went with Soon reported – the doctor there showed immediately interest in his case, he did not ask money and he did not say that his life was finishing… They showed what we call professionalism. Of course, we had to pay, but in a transparent and professional system, it is understood.

It seems there is not shame to read something like the recommendations by the US Embassy of Phnom Penh that writes in its website:

“Medical facilities and services in Cambodia do not meet international standards.  Both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap have a limited number of internationally-run clinics and hospitals that can provide basic medical care and stabilization. Medical care outside these two cities is almost non-existent.”

“Non-existent”!!! Medical care outside Phnom Penh and Siem Reap is not existent according to the US Embassy!!! According to this appreciation and by exclusion, the Public Kampot Hospital is a fake center… it´s nothing more than a machine to steal the money of the people in a heath tragedy.

This is so far the correct and safer way to drive a motorbike. May Cambodians do it?

The Cambodian Motorbikes’ War still on, without any sign to decline. The victims keep the same profile: young men 15 to 25 years old, driving without helmet and many of them with alcohol in their blood at the moment of the incident. There are campaigns around the country on the media and boards along roads and streets, but nobody seems to care: people continue driving without helmet. During this weddings’ season, you can see young men drinking beer as water and after driving their motorbikes without any control. What can we do? Fines seem to work well, but it comes under a corruption network. At the end, people use a helmet only for fear to a police’s fine, but they don’t seem to connect the use of helmets to the protection of their own lives. In Colombia – where there are many traffic accidents too and also related with drunken drivers – the government established a new legislation that includes the removal of the drunken driver’s license and a fine of more than 500 US dollars… In consequence, traffic accidents caused by drunken guys reduced in 50% in the last three months!

I went through the media trying to understand the logic of a motorbike accident and I got the following conclusions:

- Traffic accidents became a main reason of mortality in the world, according to the Health World Organization. 1.2 million persons died every year in the world due to a traffic accident (2009). 46% of traffic accidents involve motorbikes.

- In a motorbike traffic accident the driver or passenger has 70% more probabilities to die than the ones on a car. It comes from the fact that the car covers the persons in a certain way, protecting them more from the impacts than what a motorbike can do. The only real physical protection in a motorbike is the helmet, because the head is the most vulnerable part in a motorcycle accident.

- There are four kinds of motorbike accident:

1. Primary impact: When the motorbike crushes a moving or static object (a car or a tree.)

2. Falling down: When the motorbike fall due to slippery floor, a bad break or other reason.

3. Dragging: The driver and/or passengers are dragged through the floor or air at the same speed that the motorbike had before the impact. So the person would impact a static object.

4. Flattening: It happens when a truck or a heavy vehicle goes over the motorbike.

- There are three types of impact:

1. Frontal Impact: The front part of the motorbike is suddenly stopped at the impact with a moving or static object, but the driver and the rest of the motorbike continues at the same speed, going over the front part. It makes that the driver’s body makes a circle, hitting his head and thorax.

2. Angular Impact: Trying to avoid the impact, the driver turns a little the motorbike and hit in a lateral way. This impact affects especially his arms and feet and it is less dangerous than the frontal impact that affects especially the head and thorax.

3. Launching Impact: The driver is launched over the motorbike and his/her body goes over the space at the same speed the motorbike had at the moment of the impact, hitting objects along until stopped by a static object. In this impact, all the body suffers and thus is the most dangerous.

- The more affected parts of the body during a motorbike’s accident:

1. The head is the most vulnerable part of the body during a motorbike accident and it causes the 50% of dead.

2. The thorax and abdomen are the second most vulnerable part and they caused the 25% of dead.

3. The backbone is the third more vulnerable part. If it is affected, the cervical spine gets the bigger impact and it causes instant dead or quadriplegia.

- Some characteristics of motorbike accidents in the world:

1. Men are more vulnerable to motorbike accidents than women.

2. Persons between 15 and 25 years old.

3. Weekends have more traffic accidents.

4. Persons of middle and lower classes are more vulnerable.

5. In the 60% of cases the drivers have used alcohol or drugs.

6. Motorbikes of high velocity are more vulnerable to traffic accidents.

- Recommendations to reduce motorbike’s accidents:

1. Being more strict to give driving license to people (men under 16 years old should not drive.)

2. Create effective campaigns on the media for prevention.

3. Increase controls on drunken drivers especially on weekends and holidays, including the removal of driving licence and high finds.

4. People must use safety customs when driving a motorbike. Every passenger must wear a helmet, jackets, boots and globes. During the night drivers must use reflective vest.

5. Car drivers must learn to respect motorbikes.

Filed under: Health, People, Problems, Society, Traffic accidents Tagged: Motorbike accidents, Prevention

Urban Voice Cambodia invited me to give a speech on its workshop this Saturday at Eden Park in Phnom Penh. The workshop was to present the website to different people and to explain the role of urban voices on the development of a city like Phnom Penh. The name of the activity was “The city speaks!”

The maps at the Urban Voice’s website help to locate things in the capital. Here the location of internet cafes. Map courtesy Urban Voice Cambodia. 

Just to reach the Eden Park from the Airport it takes one hour by car. If the Cambodian capital has its voice, it shouts it needs bridges, roads, pedestrian paths, discipline… People in motorbikes are completely out of rule. Therefore, the idea of this Urban Voice is great and a need. Let’s not forget that it was Urban Voice the one that avoids a strain ruling to shut down internet cafes in Phnom Penh on December 2012. The worry of authorities was that students could spend hours on video-games and thus ruled to shut down internet cafes that were within 20 kilometers far from any school. Urban Voice produced immediately a map of the city where it is possible to identify all schools and internet cafes. Every school was enclosed in a circle of 20 kilometers around it… the result was that ALL internet cafes would be vanished from the capital! By showing this map to the authorities, the rule was suspended.

The positive result of the Urban Voice’s map defending the internet cafes in the capital is a good example of what this organization is about. Anyone can create a report on what is going on at the city: roads, floods, trash, education, events, etc. Submit a report is easy and the website is presented in Khmer and English.

It is already one week looking for a plane during the technological revolution, in a time where we can detect planets around stars located thousands of years light far from us or lead electronic wars whatever, including professional spies in US and Britain that can read emails of anybody on Planet Earth! This search is a shame for everybody, starting by the Malaysian government with an incompetent army unable to trace a plane that chanced its rout on the sky.

It is shame for the military powers like China, US with all its power just few kilometers at the west in Pakistan and Afghanistan, for India and even Vietnam and Thailand. It means that the Gulf of Thailand, a swallow square of water surrounded by too many countries, is unprotected and it can be used by any terrorist or criminal organizations any time… This case must be taken by the International Community. In the time of the technological revolution even a kid could participate in a global search for the craft. Stop so much “military secrecy” by so many incompetent guys on uniform and open it to the public of what is happening now to the sake of the families who are suffering the long wait. All those armies, so much brave for nothing, should be at this time going around the jungles from Malaysia to Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, Burma and even India in search for the craft. Where is ASEAN???

A girl about 12 sits down near the entrance of a supermarket near the Pub Street. She holds in her arms a sleeping baby, observing with attention the foreign customers coming inside the supermarket. It is around 8PM in Siem Reap and the girl gives special gazes to women with children. A woman with two boys leaves the supermarket. Her children hold big packages of chips and cold sodas. Suddenly, the way of the three is cut by the girl, who looks to the eyes of the foreign lady with tenderness. The baby of her arms does not seem disturbed but in a deep sleep. “Ma’am, give me food for my brother, give me a pot of milk, ma’am,” she says in a very fluent English. 

The lady is shocked. She can see the sleeping baby, the claim of the girl asking only food and the presence of his two boys eating chips… The perfect scenario: she is defeated. There is not any possibility of rejection, not any Western logic to debate with such apparition.

Without any word the lady is back inside the supermarket and looks for the milk pot. She chooses the biggest one that is 20 US dollars about. She pays it to the cashier who smiles in a very compressible look. It reinforces the pushed act of charity from the foreign lady, who returns to the entrance like a public hero… but she does not give the milk pot to the girl directly: oh no, she must give a good lesson to her two boys… she gives the pot to the older boy and tells him to hand it to the girl, but… wait… “we need to take a photo”, so this “spontaneous act of charity” will be registered very well in Facebook, Twitter or in her blog.

The lady left the scenario and by sure she will sleep with a feeling of satisfaction: she did charity to that poor sleeping baby that got the biggest milk pot, while giving a lesson to her boys of how good people must behave…

As soon as the Samaritan lady and her boys are out of view, the girl comes inside the supermarket and puts back the milk pot… the baby continues sleeping… then she turns to the good cashier who makes a mark on a list. Then the girl goes back to the same place, to wait the next victim, preferable women with small children, the most vulnerable. It is also probable that the the same pot of milk is given several times that night…

This scam is one of the most frequent in the streets of Siem Reap and it has been for years without any control. But this criminal business is getting its golden time this year. Now it is possible to see about ten girls with sleeping babies asking the milk pot to foreigners. One curiosity is why the baby is always sleeping and does not seem disturbed by nothing?

The most probable is that the baby is rented and the criminals give them drugs to keep them quiet.

You can get the World Bank report in this link. It is an extensive and very accurate research on East Asia. There are some facts about Cambodia we need to follow such as the lack of skilful workforce that would make the Cambodian economy vulnerable. But there are other facts to point out as well. Here I make a list of those facts described by the report in regard to Cambodia.

1. Cambodia remains with a significant problem in malnutrition of children together with Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.
2. We are among the faster labor productivity growings in the planet.
3. Most Cambodians continue to work in the informal sector (primary sector) and not in wage and salaried employment. It is also because Cambodia continues to be a rather agricultural society.
4. Cambodia rank poorly with regard to friendly investment climate (place 137 in the world.)
5. In Cambodia training program relied more in centralized planning and government supply than by market demand.
6. Cambodia is near the worst performance Micronesia limit in “ease of doing business” rank in East Asia.
7. Cambodia is considered an agrarian society with near 80% of its population living in rural areas. It means we need to raise the productivity of agriculture in order to free labor and human capital to work in rural off-farms enterprises and eventually to migrate to town and cities.

The academic system of some Cambodian universities, especially in the provinces, is creating only lazy individuals that confuse success with corruption… just more ducks with Laxus for the next generation.

Probably we need to invest more in fight the administrative corruption of our country. Surely, we have to understand that corruption is not only an evil of certain officials and public servants, but it can be rooted deeply in the culture, in the traditions, in the society, in the most simple of the daily life like going to the market or driving through the roads. I have always defended the idea that the worst of the Cambodian corruption is not the corruption itself (in all countries, even your country, oh foreign reader) there is someone being not transparent and abusing public funds to their benefit. No. The most problematic is when the people don’t know what corruption is. If you live in Cambodia you have to face with corruption in any scale. Many times you are obliged to “pay for a service” to an official that seems not to understand his/her social duty. So, let us go to the one of the roots of corruption – besides a manipulated will of those interested in holding corruption to guarantee their status: Education. 

Certainly we can count on some very good universities in Phnom Penh with international recognition and great academic projects such as the Royal University of Phnom Penh and Pannasastra University, to say only two of some. Easy to guess that those universities celebrate international agreements with high standard centers of education oversees and many of their professors or lectures are very well referenced professionals. The problem is that the best universities in Cambodia are only in Phnom Penh. While there is a dedicated worry to build hotels and resorts in provinces like Siem Reap and Sihanokville, the worry to diversify the best Cambodian universities to reach the provinces is null. No. It is let to very curious private universities, many of them created in garages or old houses, with very limited resources and high fees.

Commercial enterprises that get very easy official licenses to provide bachelor – and even master – degrees to young people willing to study… willing? Well… we don’t know if they will or not:

- Students absency… in those “garage universities” students can be absent as much as they like, because the most important is to pay the fee and… of course… some extra fees for some hungry “lectures”.

- Teachers absency… it is common to have teachers coming from the Royal Capital of Cambodia. Probably it’s an attempt to get “good teachers” but… if they are good teachers somewhere in Phnom Penh, their compromise with the provinces is far from being responsible… also teachers are allowed to be absent anytime….

- The lack of a culture of reading is a serious problem… A 8th grade student in Thailand has read more books than certain senior “garage” university students from Cambodia… ask any Cambodian near to reach how many books he/she has read… Try to see the thesis elaborated in these “garage universities”.

- A completely lack of practicality… these “professionals” are not at the level of the international standard. They confuse the tie with the brain.

At the end, these bad universities filling the Cambodian provinces, are creating only the next generation of corrupt leaders… a lazy and ambitious generation that want to have a car, a big house and a nice smart suit, but without work, without thinking, without effort… only being vampires of the common good of their own people. If we don’t change it, Cambodia will be far from being competitive. The World Bank Report said it already.  There is a need to include Confucius in all policy making for the Cambodian development.

I am not a tourist agency and for this reason I have the duty to give some advices to those who want to plan a trip to Cambodia. Although this country seems small in the map, actually it’s not too small and it has more things than what you can imagine. Actually the official slogan “Kingdom of Wonder” is rather exact. Let us see some advices for your travel to our dear country.

The most important tourist regions are by order the following ones. Notice that I think in someone who plan to come for some days, because if you want to stay for months, we can open another discussion. It means things you have to see if you come for only few days.

1. Siem Reap Province… this is the place where the main archeological temples stay… the more noticeable ones (there are temples everywhere). For example, Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prum, Banteay Srey… these are the most famous temples. If you come to Cambodia and you don’t see those temples, it is like if you go to Egypt and you don’t see the pyramids. How many days you can stay there: minimum three days if you are in hurry. if you love archeology, you should be minimum one week…
2. Phnom Penh… the Royal Capital. It is by now a chaos in traffic, but Phnom Penh is Phnom Penh, a place of history, the center of the Cambodian culture… you find Cambodians from every corner of the country, a busy city and, especially, the object of huge developments. Minimum of days here: 2.
3. The coastal provinces… The center of them is Sihanoukville, but you have Kog Kong near the Thai border and Kampot and Kep near the Vietnamese border. Islands, white beaches, beautiful hills with waterfalls, caves… The coastal provinces would be a place to come to relax after you see the temples in Siem Reap. Minimum of days: 2.

That would be a travel of one week. But there are many other places in Cambodia to see:

- Ratanakiri and Mondolkiri provinces: they have hills, indigenous communities and jungle with an interesting fauna and flora.

- Kroche Province with the white dolphins of the Mekong… by the way on danger thanks to the fever to build dams on the Mekong (Laos?).

- Preah Vehear Province and its temple, an old dispute with Thailand… though the situation, it is rather safely to visit the place going by kilometers at the north of Siem Reap and Kompung Thom.

- Kompung Thom and its Sambo Prey Kuk temples… they are so amazing as the Angkorean ones.

And many other places such as mountains, jungles, towns…

How to schedule the flights?

I recommend to schedule the flight like this:

Cambodia has two international airports: Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. Both cities are far as 314 kilometers (191 miles). Therefore, schedule your flight arriving in one city and living from the other, for example, arriving to Siem Reap and leaving from Phnom Penh. If you arrive and leave from Phnom Penh, it means you have to travel to Siem Reap by bus and returning to Phnom Penh the same way, so you lost time.

If you come for short visits and you want to go by land to another provinces, it is better to go by vans. Bus companies can be slow. Especially avoid Sorya Bus Company and Bunthan. Mekong Express could be one of the best.

If you are traveling to Thailand in this moment or you are there, it is appropriate to take some security measures. Keep contact with your embassy. Traditionally, Thai political turbulences keep distance from the tourist industry, but be aware of incidents. Here some recommendations:

- Keep your passport and all travel documents with you all the time. Provide it to any authority if they request to see them.

- If you are travelling in group, please stay all the time in connection with your agency and the tour leaders, especially passing any security checkpoint.

- You have to know that the taxi services at the Suvarnabhumi Airport are available 24 hours. The taxis have a sticker displayed on the front windscreen as Suvarnabhumi Taxis. Please use them, because officials will allow access for those vehicles only.

- If you need any other information or assistance, contact the Survarnabhum Airport Call Center (number phone: 1722).

- Keep with you the number phone of your embassy or consulate and follow news.

- The press has been restricted (censorship). Please don’t take photos or videos of sensitive areas. Stay aways from political gatherings of security checkpoints.

- The army announced a countrywide curfew from 10PM to 5AM. Please follow instructions by the authorities.

Other interesting links:

• Emergency Message for U.S. Citizens: Curfew from 10 PM to 5 AM. US Embassy in Bangkok.
• Foreign Minister urges caution for Australians in Thailand. ABC News.
• Irish Department of Foreign Affairs issues travel advisory for Thailand. Independent.ie
• Cambodians Warned Against Travelling To Thailand.

Our promising city of Kampot opens today the branch of a new bank in town: ABA (Advance Bank of Asia Ltd), a joint Cambodia – South Korea enterprise that started in 1996 and today is growing as an option to provide commercial banking services. Other banks in Kampot Province include Canadia, Acleda, Amret and Cambodian Public Bank. ABA offers services such as deposit account, credit, trade finance, money transfer and cash management. It has also an ATM in its own offices, located just in Kampot downtown, near the Main Traffic Circle. ABA has 20 branches, mostly located in Phnom Penh. Provinces include Siem Reap, Sihanoukville, Battambang, Kampong Cham, Kampong Speu, Kampong Thom, Pursat, Chbar Ampov, Chom Chao, Takhmao, Takeo, Kampot and Kampong Chnang. It has more than 60 ATMs and 325 million in deposit portfolio. The deposit and customer base extends to 40,000 accounts with 4,000 borrowers.  

The last reports on the two stories of Somaly Mam – the fake and the real – is only a tip of the iceberg and it is a big tip. She attracted international attention for the organization that has her own name as an activist against sex and human trafficking, specialized in the rescue and support of girls and young women, who are victims of sexual slavery. In this article by Simon Marks of Newsweekly, the journalist that uncovered her fraud, it is said that she got a long list of prominent international admirers that include former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, actresses like Meg Ryan, Susan Sarandon and Shay Mitchell, New York Times Pulitzer-winning columnist Nicholas Kristof, Queen Sofia of Spain, former Facebook adviser Brandee Barker and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. Such public attention gave so much financial capacity that her “refugee center” known in French as Agir Pour Les Femmes en Situation Précaire, AFESIP (in English would be “Acting for Women in Precarious Situation”) became international, opening offices in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, France and Switzerland. 

Why is this a big tip of the iceberg? Because it shows that people like sensational stories and buy them, giving the opportunity to clever individuals or groups to profit it in detriment of the real needed. At the same time, El Mundo newspaper from Spain was also denouncing since November further accusations into AFESIP of abuse and corruption that would continue filling headlines.

It will have by sure an impact on donors to countries like Cambodia in their support to many NGOs dedicated to problems like human trafficking. Probably, it will help us to develop means of control to get to the real victims, to the real vulnerable people, while giving attention to those groups and organizations that work mostly in silence but effective in their mission. We need to be transparent.

The story of Somaly is a big Cambodian scam, not so different from the pot of milk scam of Siem Reap. And there are many others around, with less publicity or big investors, but with the same scheme: creating high impact stories.

All these clever fakers can do whatever, but they are successful only for one reason: people want to believe something. Like in a religion system, like in a dogma, blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed (John 20: 29). And then, supporting a humanitarian cause is not for romantic positions and lazy assumptions. If you go to a Cambodian beach and you fall in love with that little cute beggar, you are not a social worker or a philanthropic, or a modern version of Mother Theresa of Calcutta or Gandhi or a missionary… no… you are an ignorant and a lazy and a blind… if you are very famous, prominent or well-off, so you have the same adjectives but with grandiosity. Giving a cent to that clever beggar, does not help to stop any problem, but it increases it. It feeds the snake of corruption and abuse.

What is the common thing between Colombian and Cambodian young people? “Show me your city“, an intercultural experience. In 2013 I agreed with two teachers of the Pontifical Bolivariana University of Medellín, Maribel Rodríguez and Ariel Acevedo, to make an academic experience between their students of graphic design and my students of social communication of Don Bosco Sihanoukville and Kep. The idea was that the students meet through a Facebook page and agree over the production of a short video per groups (5 to 10 minutes). In the story they have to show their culture, traditions and environment. Communication is of course an issue, but we wanted to demonstrate the effects of a global youth culture. 

This month we finished the second season dedicated to short horror films. More than 20 videos were produced by the Cambodian and Colombian youth portraying legends and ghosts from their own culture. The first intention was to elaborate a single script between both intercultural groups, but although the interaction through Facebook and Skype, it was difficult for them to agree in a unique script. The result was a rich offering of stories.

Yim Rotha, 18:

“Communication, team working, script writing… it is what I learned in this experience. A little difficult also because the language. Sometimes we could not understand their ideas. We could share our scripts and learn things. It was an opportunity to practice our English, to know a new culture and we proved our skills for example in the composition of a script.”

Im Tula, 19:

“I knew things about Colombia through the chats and their messages. When I talked by chat with them we concluded that our ideas were different, so we decided to follow our own traditions. I realized we were different, for example we Cambodians are polite and I saw them more informal. I guess it’s a Western behaviour.”

Kong Sokha Amatak, 22:

“It is a good idea to communicate with another culture. First we knew nothing about Colombia, its language, in the beginning was difficult the communication, but after we knew things. I knew about their way of thinking, their traditions. For example, when we greet we were more polite, but their greeting was more informal. They said they want to know our country.”

Nom Sothereath, 20:

“In a next experience, it is good to promote more communication. It is important to give more importance to the quality of the audio. I liked La Llorona because it was very original to me. I saw a ghost drinking beer.”

 The experience gives so many insights to the creativity and efforts of the young people and how they put all their talent to share their ideas and own identity. One very interesting video is the one of Vuth Savong, a disabled youth who acts in his own film “Ghost in Old House“.

The next season starts on October with a new topic or challenge for the students to face. I expect that group of students of other countries, especially young people interested in film production, join the experience. If you are a teacher and you want to include your students, please contact us.

The Cambodia Daily reported this Thursday that “After Somaly Mam Resigns, Trafficking NGOs Anxious.” I think that such anxiety should not correspond to transparent and professional organizations, because a honest NGO does not relay in fantastic stories like the ones of Somaly Mam Foundation, but in processes. Donors relaying their funds in processes should not be affected also, because they are already trained to receive objective results from the transparent organizations they use to reach the victims of social evils and poverty for years. Those donors that have been attracted by Hollywood-and-even-Bolliwood-stories-like will be by sure stop to give funds to organizations that relay in scripts rather than in processes. 

I am not agree with what Samleang Seila of APLE said to The Cambodia Daily in that article that “It would be sending a very confusing message about human trafficking in Cambodia and the number of victims and who the victims are”. Yes, we need that confusion. We need that donors become more critical, more conscious and more active in auditing their own support. This is a benefit for the real victims or those who benefit from the action of any ONG or official department. A blind support or a support attracted by tricks, does not help the people in real need. It is important also to show results, to show stories, but those results and stories are inside very well designed processes, not on the mouth of celebrities. We don’t need superheroes, but we need superprocesses with real aims and results to fight social evils.

The media

This is a very good lesson for the media. The Pulitzer must be given to Simon Mark, to the Newsweek and to the Cambodia Daily. In journalism skepticism is a virtue.

The first thing we should realize is that victims of sexual trafficking do not go in front to cameras to speak out. It is a dream for several media to have the story of a real victim in cameras or radio in order to increase rating. Of course, most media in the Somaly Mam’s case were taking the flag of a great campaign to end slavery and we can believe that it was their genuine intention and thanks and sorry for the dismay. But as well as donors should learn how to do when it is about supporting causes, the media must learn also that there are more effective means to do and one is applying to the rigor of journalism, being objective and respecting also the dignity of victims.

Then we need to go through professionals and persons on the terrain. In Cambodia we have many organizations, NGOs and officials, with the authentic professionalism to fight realities such as human trafficking. While those organizations are on the terrain following effective processes and needing more funds to increase their effectiveness, the media was hypnotized by a woman who said that she was a sexual slave and coaching her own girls to say the same.

It is already one week looking for a plane during the technological revolution, in a time where we can detect planets around stars located thousands of years light far from us or lead electronic wars whatever, including professional spies in US and Britain that can read emails of anybody on Planet Earth! This search is a shame for everybody, starting by the Malaysian government with an incompetent army unable to trace a plane that chanced its rout on the sky.

It is shame for the military powers like China, US with all its power just few kilometers at the west in Pakistan and Afghanistan, for India and even Vietnam and Thailand. It means that the Gulf of Thailand, a swallow square of water surrounded by too many countries, is unprotected and it can be used by any terrorist or criminal organizations any time… This case must be taken by the International Community. In the time of the technological revolution even a kid could participate in a global search for the craft. Stop so much “military secrecy” by so many incompetent guys on uniform and open it to the public of what is happening now to the sake of the families who are suffering the long wait. All those armies, so much brave for nothing, should be at this time going around the jungles from Malaysia to Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, Burma and even India in search for the craft. Where is ASEAN???

A girl about 12 sits down near the entrance of a supermarket near the Pub Street. She holds in her arms a sleeping baby, observing with attention the foreign customers coming inside the supermarket. It is around 8PM in Siem Reap and the girl gives special gazes to women with children. A woman with two boys leaves the supermarket. Her children hold big packages of chips and cold sodas. Suddenly, the way of the three is cut by the girl, who looks to the eyes of the foreign lady with tenderness. The baby of her arms does not seem disturbed but in a deep sleep. “Ma’am, give me food for my brother, give me a pot of milk, ma’am,” she says in a very fluent English. 

The lady is shocked. She can see the sleeping baby, the claim of the girl asking only food and the presence of his two boys eating chips… The perfect scenario: she is defeated. There is not any possibility of rejection, not any Western logic to debate with such apparition.

Without any word the lady is back inside the supermarket and looks for the milk pot. She chooses the biggest one that is 20 US dollars about. She pays it to the cashier who smiles in a very compressible look. It reinforces the pushed act of charity from the foreign lady, who returns to the entrance like a public hero… but she does not give the milk pot to the girl directly: oh no, she must give a good lesson to her two boys… she gives the pot to the older boy and tells him to hand it to the girl, but… wait… “we need to take a photo”, so this “spontaneous act of charity” will be registered very well in Facebook, Twitter or in her blog.

The lady left the scenario and by sure she will sleep with a feeling of satisfaction: she did charity to that poor sleeping baby that got the biggest milk pot, while giving a lesson to her boys of how good people must behave…

As soon as the Samaritan lady and her boys are out of view, the girl comes inside the supermarket and puts back the milk pot… the baby continues sleeping… then she turns to the good cashier who makes a mark on a list. Then the girl goes back to the same place, to wait the next victim, preferable women with small children, the most vulnerable. It is also probable that the the same pot of milk is given several times that night…

This scam is one of the most frequent in the streets of Siem Reap and it has been for years without any control. But this criminal business is getting its golden time this year. Now it is possible to see about ten girls with sleeping babies asking the milk pot to foreigners. One curiosity is why the baby is always sleeping and does not seem disturbed by nothing?

The most probable is that the baby is rented and the criminals give them drugs to keep them quiet.