Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, September 13, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
DOZED OFF: After five weeks there’s been zero construction on Hun Sen’s prized Funan Techo Canal. Speculation over the delay is now piling up, with some wondering if the $1.7 billion price tag was a bridge too far.
BOOTED OUT: Immigration officials are taking aim at the scam center workers, citing a danger to the public. At least 1,200 Chinese suspects have been deported since January, roughly five per day.
LAST WORD: It was fun while it lasted, as well as being gossipy, lewd, informative and hilarious. Say a fond or furious farewell to the Khmer 440, the beloved expat forum, which has shut down on its own accord.
THE LEDE
Squeeze Play
You know what they say about karma. The U.S. just slapped sanctions on CPP Senator Ly Yong Phat for his role in rights abuses linked to the Kingdom’s brutal cyber scam mills.
The move comes as a major blow to Hun Manet’s efforts to reform the country’s reputation and rebuild trade ties with the West. Investment from China has diminished as Beijing battles a slowing economy, leaving the government to hope for a political reset with the U.S. and E.U. to shore up its sagging economy.
The new prime minister had one job: Rebuild the economy. That job just got a whole lot harder.
Seeing REDD+
The Southern Cardamom REDD+ project looked great on paper.
The globally glamorous, carbon-credit scheme — co-managed by Wildlife Alliance and the Ministry of Environment — hit all the greenest buttons in its lofty mission to protect 465,000 hectares of rainforest and the 29 communities living there.
The wheels came off when local Cambodians, backed by Human Rights Watch, accused the project of evicting their families and burning homes. Rampant abuse allegations led to the project's suspension.
In the latest twist, the REDD+ project has been reinstated — even though, as HRW put it, “not a single victim” was interviewed. Activists and villagers will be ready to act as this carbon-credit conundrum reboots.
Art Heist
The Met appears in no hurry to return stolen Khmer artifacts.
It barred the Ministry of Culture’s lead lawyer from important repatriation talks last week and tried to charm — you might say bribe — Cambodian officials into abandoning their claims over dozens of priceless relics.
“The Met knows it has a collection of ‘blood antiquities’,” said the ministry’s attorney. “The entire Asian collection at The Met may be under question. The Met doesn't want to face this. They want Cambodia to go away and their approach appears to be offering gifts to keep the statues at the museum.”
The ministry remains firm: We’re not going to let this slide.
TALKING POINTS
False Start
No signs of progress are to be seen five weeks after the groundbreaking of the Funan Techo Canal. No bulldozers, no dust, no construction workers — only growing speculation about the reason for their absence. One theory is that the government is working on buyout offers for residents. The other is that funding for the $1.7 billion project has yet to fully materialize. Both are possibilities.
Protest Power
Call it crowd control by committee. National authorities set up a sand-dredging commission 48 hours after hundreds of Prey Veng province residents demonstrated against dredging on the Mekong. Protesters blamed rampant sand extraction for collapsing river banks, crumbling homes and disappearing farmland. The commission, critics fear, is not a solution but a delay tactic.
Crossed Lines
Immigration officials deported 60 Vietnamese nationals over the weekend, as calls intensify for beefed-up police efforts along the border. Officials have deported at least 1,200 Chinese nationals since January, many tied to telecom fraud and violent crime.
Wage Talks
Representatives for garment manufacturers and employees inched closer to a deal on the 2025 minimum monthly wage. Workers are asking to raise the current $204 base by $10. An agreement is expected next week.
Social Cause
The Extraordinary Chambers are trailblazing into unchartered digital waters: TikTok. The court, charged with finding justice for the estimated two million Cambodians who died under the Khmer Rouge, is using the popular short-video platform to educate the Kingdom’s young population. Similarly, thousands of survivors are searching for lost relatives on Facebook.
Drive Time
Gas prices dropped to $.96 per liter, down nearly 5% from a month ago and below the psychological threshold of 4,000 riel. The government sets gas prices about every 10 to 15 days. Major gas stations are required to follow the directive, while smaller sellers are allowed to set prices individually.
Show Stopper
Khmer 440, the contentious and often controversial online forum site that for years served as a digital watering hole for the Phnom Penh expat scene, announced its permanent closure. The cause, according to the site’s Facebook page, was unresolvable technical issues.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Hun Sen’s ‘War on Corruption’ a Tall Order
September 13, 2004
The government has launched its “War on Corruption,” but the battle front appears yet to have reached the five traffic police officers stationed outside Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Phnom Penh house on Sunday afternoon.
Five Charged in High-Tech Forgery Ring
September 9, 2004
Five men were arrested Tuesday and Wednesday in a bust of a major forgery ring whose precision and scope may have caused long-term damage to national security, Interior Ministry officials said Wednesday.
Sam Rainsy Sues PM, Ranariddh—Again
September 8, 2004
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Tuesday that he filed yet another lawsuit, this time accusing the leaders of Funcinpec and the CPP of plotting his death.
WEEKEND READING
Southeast Asia Doesn’t Want to Choose between China and the U.S.
The U.S. Wants China’s Neighbors to Take Sides. But Based on America’s Record, Why Would They?
Photos: Ly Yong Phat, RFA. Cardamom Mountains, Axel Drainville, Flickr.
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