SAD NOTES: The abrupt deaths of two celebrity hip-hop artists on the same day stunned the Kingdom’s arts community. RuthKo, 25, died in a traffic accident, and Theavin Uk, 43, from a heart attack. Rest in Peace.
BREAK OUT: A group of foreign workers, many from Nepal and Pakistan, made weapons out of bed frames and fought their way out of a casino owned by an infamous CPP tycoon. Police called it a labor dispute.
RISING UP: The post-Covid tourism recession is officially over, at least statistically. A record 6.7 million visitors arrived in 2024, eclipsing the former mark set in 2019. Experts predict more than 7 million arrivals this year.
A lone gunman shot and killed a former CNRP lawmaker in Bangkok — an attack colleagues and activists are calling a cold-blooded assassination.
The shock killing of Lim Kimya, an outspoken CPP critic, cast a dark cloud over the Kingdom, which is working overtime to reform its global image. The murder sent tremors of fear through the opposition, which accused Hun Sen of masterminding the assault — speculation blasted by the government as baseless.
A former Thai marine, the chief suspect, was arrested after illegally crossing into Cambodia, and Thailand has issued an arrest warrant for a Cambodian accomplice.
Rights groups have demanded a transparent investigation — although few expect one.
The sudden deaths of two influential hip-hop standouts have devastated the local arts community.
David Rithyruth, 25, a prominent rapper better known by his stage name RuthKo, was killed this week in a head-on traffic collision. Born in Battambang and raised in France, he signed as an 18-year-old with the KlapYaHandz record label in 2017 and had become a fixture on the local music scene. His death prompted an outpouring of grief on social media.
Theavin Uk, 43, a successful video producer from Long Beach, died of a heart attack just 12 hours earlier. Like Ruthko, he was a pivotal member of KlapYaHandz and an important voice in local hip-hop. A GoFundMe campaign is being held for his family.
Plans for a tourist-friendly walking street on the Phnom Penh riverfront are just weeks away from reality.
Starting this month, cars and bicycles will be banned from Sisowath Quay from Friday evening to late Sunday night, in a massive effort to turn the area into a tourism draw. The blockade will stretch from Wat Phnom to the Royal Palace, covering more than 3 hectares of prime Bassac River real estate.
Vehicles will make way for pedestrians and dozens of pop-up vendors selling everything from fried bugs to fried chicken, in a plan that looks a lot like the street closures on New Year’s Eve.
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The FBI is investigating a Cambodian-owned digital payment platform for its role in a $500-billion Ponzi scheme. The FBI alleges Connectum, owned by the wife of a retired senior government official, allowed the theft of $150 million from unsuspecting users.
The Kingdom has officially beat the post-Covid tourism blues, recording a record 6.7 million arrivals in 2024. The figure beats the previous mark of 6.6 million set in 2019. Officials predict visits will top 7 million this year.
Confess, apologize, defect — for dissidents caught in the government’s free-speech dragnet, the 3-step dance is one of the surest paths to freedom. It worked for three youth activists charged with incitement, who in a public video addressed to Hun Manet and his father, admitted to being misled by the opposition and expressed remorse for protesting a controversial development project. Then, they joined the CPP. A number of their colleagues, who remain behind bars, haven’t been so lucky.
Authorities disrupted a tiny illegal logging operation in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, seizing about 280 planks of prized hardwood. The suspects, who escaped, were likely harvesting wood for personal use, officials said. More than 20% of the sanctuary’s forest cover has disappeared since 2001, with 2023 being among the worst years on record.
Residential mortgages fell 4% over the first 10 months of 2024, reflecting lingering weakness in the new home market. The government has responded with a number of measures — including tax exemptions, debt restructuring and the establishment of an affordable housing working group — that the industry hopes will boost struggling sales.
Dozens of foreign workers overpowered guards and escaped from a notorious O’Smach casino owned by Ly Yong Phat, the CPP Senator and tycoon. Activists have demanded an investigation, while police downplayed the event, calling it a labor protest and saying workers would be deported.
The Phnom Tamao Zoo has a new star, Lomphat, an adorable 138kg baby elephant rescued last month from a Ratanakiri jungle snare. The playful pachyderm is a hit with visitors, who are turning up in record numbers. She will likely become a permanent resident, staff said, because she was abandoned by her herd and the chances of her survival in the wild are slim.
January 8, 2005
So many works of art fill the cramped, unlit basement of the National Museum in Phnom Penh that they make the series of open rooms lined with locked glass cases appear small at first glance.
January 6, 2005
It should have been a moment of triumph for Cambodia. An alleged large-scale human trafficking operation had been investigated and raided by government authorities, eight suspects had been arrested, and 83 women and girls had been delivered to safety.
January 5, 2005
Arguably one of Cambodia’s most breathtaking islands lies not on the coast, but several hundred kilometers inland. Its name is Koh Lungo, a sandy Shangri-La just a few kilometers past the Laotian border crossing on the Mekong River, in a sparsely populated region of Stung Treng province’s Thala Barivat district.
Cambodia’s ban on overseas cryptocurrency exchange websites is well-intentioned, but it ignores more systemic issues.
Photos: RuthKo, Facebook. Ing Bun Hoaw and his wife Heng Sokha, owner of Connectum, Instagram.
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