Campuccino #94

Sou Sdei and welcome to Campuccino, your bi-monthly dispatch of key headlines in Cambodia with a dash of opinion.

To new subscribers, welcome! I’m Darathtey, a communication consultant, writer, and researcher. Learn more about my work here.

Hello from rainy Phnom Penh. We’re in our wettest month of October which means we’re inching toward the end of the rainy season. It just hit me that October is also an anniversary month for Campuccino which, in the blink of an eye, turned five years old! Over these past five years, this newsletter has been with me through a global pandemic, career changes, life milestones, and so much more. It has kept my imposter syndrome in check. It has led me to new connections all over the world, many generous cups of coffee, and the exchange of many meaningful conversations, some of which led to exciting work collaborations. For all of that, I can only say I am grateful for Campuccino and this small community of people who share the love (and sometimes the frustration) for my motherland, Cambodia.

- Darathtey

I cannot believe we’re still living through this border conflict with Thailand that seemed to come out of nowhere. To be honest with you, I am so over it. I know, I know. That sounds very un-Cambodian of me. I wish all the leaders would be over it as well and call a truce soon. How’s that for a hint of hope sprinkled with a good dose of my naivety?
To catch up on this topic without going too deep into detail, the conflict is still ongoing. Armed clashes continue to happen here and there. Recently, there have been reports of the Thai side setting up large speakers that play disturbing sounds at night causing great distress to people living along the border. Apparently, the deed was done by a Thai nationalist influencer. Talk about creativity in being mean, eh? To be honest, I didn’t want to believe this was true but I’ve gotta trust Cambodianess and their referencing of AFP. I don’t have many other options, to be honest.

Despite all that, Cambodia’s social media space has since calmed down by a lot on the topic of the conflict. I don’t observe any obvious coordinated nationalism campaign as of late other than occasional hatred towards Thailand here and there. Just the normal amount. Life goes on, as normal, as it can be.

Next up, let’s talk about the economy. With everything that is going on, it’s not difficult to take an easy guess that Cambodia’s economy is taking a hit. The question is how hard?
The Asian Development Bank has recently revised the country’s economic growth forecast for 2025 and 2026. The earlier forecast had the growth rate at 6.1% for 2025 and 6.2% for 2026. The rate has been adjusted to 4.9% and 5.0%, respectively. The IMF projection for 2025 is even lower at 4% while the Ministry of Economy and Finance has its projection for 2025 at 5.2%.
Now, how much of this rate reflects the recent influx of migrants returning home from Thailand, I don’t know. My brain cannot handle all the numbers, but my common sense has me thinking that we’re looking at bigger adverse impacts unfolding in the next few years. This analysis from Kouprey helped shape my thoughts on the topic.

By the way, Etihad recently launched a direct flight route between Phnom Penh and Abu Dhabi. I guess that’s cool 😀 That huge airport is not going to populate itself with planes.

In case you’ve forgotten, on top of the border stuff and suboptimal economy, we’re also still dealing with the issue of being a nourishing ground for scam industry and human trafficking. I’ve covered the issue quite frequently in this newsletter, so I’m not going to dwell too much on this. Below are a few recent headlines that you can check out:

• Police Arrest 80 Foreigners for Alleged Online Fraud Activities in Phnom Penh Skyscraper | Kiripost

• US State Department Labels Cambodia ‘State Sponsor’ of Human Trafficking | CamboJANews

• Cambodian Crime Complex: South Korean Student Tortured to Death | The Chosun Daily

In Cambodia, I’ve noticed that issues only gain widespread attention once they break into mainstream news. While human trafficking and scam syndicates have been circulating in our limited local independent media space and some international outlets, my observation of Cambodia’s social media landscape and conversations with Cambodian friends and colleagues reveals a troubling gap in awareness. Many don’t grasp the severity of the issue, and some know very little about it at all. This changed when when I saw a post from a young Cambodian on Facebook a few days ago.

The post was shared by a local influencer with a sizable following among young Cambodians. While I don’t agree with all of her reasoning, I find it significant that young Cambodians are beginning to voice their discontent on such a sensitive issue. I’ll keep watching.

A note to new subscribers:

While I often try to cover a wide range of topics to give you different glimpses of Cambodia, there are loopholes, so many of them, due to personal biases and limited resources. This is my way of gently reminding you that you are seeing this country through my eyes, the eyes of a middle-class urban Cambodian who is NOT a journalist. While I’m aware there are limited independent news outlets from Cambodia, I’m grateful that there is another Cambodia-focused newsletter, Kouprey, which publishes more frequently and has more extensive coverage than I do. So, if you want a bit more news, I suggest you subscribe to them as well :)

Visually Pleasing

Arts & Culture

Finally! My favourite section to write about. My little glimpse of light in a dark tunnel.

🎨 Forest Myth is a solo exhibition by Kvay Samnang, a renowned Cambodian contemporary artist. The exhibition reflects the artist’s longstanding engagement with nature and cultural beliefs, including ecological and political impacts on them. The exhibition runs from October 01 to December 05 at SNA Arts Management.

🖼️ Alive is a long-term photography project by Kim Hak. I’m a big fan who has been following this project for a few years now. The artist brings spotlight to memories tied to various objects that have been kept through Cambodian history and the Khmer rouge. For this first time in Cambodia, all four chapters of Alive will be exhibited at Bophana Centre starting from October 18 to November 15. For those in town, I highly recommend to check it out.

⏩ Recently concluded, Chakto was a project aiming to support cultural and creative industries in Cambodia. Kongchak Studio was one of the participating partners hosting an audio storytelling workshop with Khmer authors. While the stories are made for children, I think it is worth checking out if you’re interested in the Cambodian way of storytelling. I haven’t heard storytelling in Khmer for so long that listening to this audio made me feel like a kid again.

Campuccino is a bi-monthly dispatch of key headlines in Cambodia, written by @DarathteyDin.

I’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback or content ideas, please write to me at hello@darathteydin.com

☕ Buy me a coffee