The introduction of new internet providers and telecommunications systems in Siem Reap over the last few months have dramatically improved internet access in the provincial town. The speed and stability of the connection in Siem Reap is now comparable to Phnom Penh and Bangkok. The price of access in Siem Reap has dropped to $2.50 - $3.00 per hour.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Cambodian Elephant is hailed as Healer
An 87-year-old elephant, named Yey Prahao is believed to be a healer with her magic water. Her mahout says that she is now the oldest elephant in Cambodia. It is also said that she knows how to stir water and put magic in it, and how to choose a spot for her house as well as sort out problems between a man and a wife.
Undoubtedly to Cambodians, she is not only a doctor but also architectural planner and marriage guidance counselor. She is very clever as well according to her owner. When her owner gets sick or get drunk and falls asleep in the sun, she keeps him in the shade then gives him a massage. There is always a crowd of believers come to receive a magic treatment by this elephant.
Undoubtedly to Cambodians, she is not only a doctor but also architectural planner and marriage guidance counselor. She is very clever as well according to her owner. When her owner gets sick or get drunk and falls asleep in the sun, she keeps him in the shade then gives him a massage. There is always a crowd of believers come to receive a magic treatment by this elephant.
Cambodia trying to restore relations with Thailand
The Cambodian government says it has arrested 150 "extremists" and will pay compensation to Thailand for the damage caused by the anti-Thai protesters on Wednesday. Those arrested include the manager of a radio station that is alleged to have stimulated the torching of the Thai embassy by wrongly reporting that Cambodian embassy officials in Thailand had been killed. The Cambodian Foreign Ministry has promised that compensation will be paid quickly without conditions for damage to the Thai embassy and Thai-owned business. The damage bill is estimate to exceed $US23 million or nearly one Billion Baht.
Cambodia opens new airport terminal
Cambodia has recently inaugurated a new 32$ million passenger terminal at Phnom Penh's Pochentong airport. The opening was taken as Prime Minister Hun Sen aware of the tumbling in tourism industry due to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak affecting Asia. The new passenger terminal is designed in a combination of traditional Khmer style with glass and metal architecture and able to handle two million passengers each year. Although Cambodia has no report of Sars case since the outbreak hit the southern China in November, tourism sector saw a decline by 30-40 percent of a number of tourists.
Horror at plans for "mass murder tourism"
Cambodia's plans to transform the Khmer Rouge site to be a tourist magnet have shocked the survivors of the country's genocide.
The Cambodian village of Anlong Veng, dotted with humble wooden huts and despair stalls selling gadgets give a hint of its dark past. Once the malaria-infested scrap of jungle, the site was the last shelter of genocidal leader Pol Pot and is being a core of controversy between a great amount of income from the mass tourism overseen by the government and the delicate matters dearly considered by relatives of almost two million victims, murdered during the Khmer Rouge Rule between 1975 and 1979.
Overseeing the potential of a big amount of revenue from tourism, the Cambodian government is enthusiastic to push forward plans to develop the site by throwing a multi-million pound to restore the old houses of the top leaders of the Khmer Rouge and even hiring the former consorts of Pol Pot and other relatives of the former Khmer Rouge members as guides. According to the state's secretary for tourism, these people are close to Pol Pot, they will know well about his life and the inside story of the Khmer Rouge.
Amidst the eagerness of the government, the opponents, most of whom suffered the bitter memory of losing their loved ones to the cruel Khmer Rouge, attacked that the project is going to commercialize the memory of those who died. Also, they give a reason that Along Veng has great religious significance because of all the suffering and that the memory should not be cheapen by the superficial tourists who jump off a coach and take a picture. Worried that the development for tourism will bring more problems than benefits as well as disvalue the memory of what happened, the opponents state that the site should not be purely developed to be a tourist destination but a historical site to remind people of what happened.
The Cambodian village of Anlong Veng, dotted with humble wooden huts and despair stalls selling gadgets give a hint of its dark past. Once the malaria-infested scrap of jungle, the site was the last shelter of genocidal leader Pol Pot and is being a core of controversy between a great amount of income from the mass tourism overseen by the government and the delicate matters dearly considered by relatives of almost two million victims, murdered during the Khmer Rouge Rule between 1975 and 1979.
Overseeing the potential of a big amount of revenue from tourism, the Cambodian government is enthusiastic to push forward plans to develop the site by throwing a multi-million pound to restore the old houses of the top leaders of the Khmer Rouge and even hiring the former consorts of Pol Pot and other relatives of the former Khmer Rouge members as guides. According to the state's secretary for tourism, these people are close to Pol Pot, they will know well about his life and the inside story of the Khmer Rouge.
Amidst the eagerness of the government, the opponents, most of whom suffered the bitter memory of losing their loved ones to the cruel Khmer Rouge, attacked that the project is going to commercialize the memory of those who died. Also, they give a reason that Along Veng has great religious significance because of all the suffering and that the memory should not be cheapen by the superficial tourists who jump off a coach and take a picture. Worried that the development for tourism will bring more problems than benefits as well as disvalue the memory of what happened, the opponents state that the site should not be purely developed to be a tourist destination but a historical site to remind people of what happened.
Cambodia arrests net phone users
Twenty foreigners were arrested and questioned for using the Internet to make illegal international phone calls.
The group consists of 14 Briton, two American, an Australian, A New Zealander, a Filipino, and a Thai. Three of them were women. To make phone calls via the Internet is a crime in Cambodia because according to the law, all phone calls must be routed through the state phone company or firms it has licensed. The companies charge comparatively high rates for overseas calls.
According to the source, military police raided a house in central Phnom Penh where the 20 were staying and found that them calling overseas to sell "stock options".
The group of foreigners is being in process of questioning to find out what they would be charged or what maximum penalty they would faced. Police said that they would be released once they paid the state phone company for the overseas calls.
Police in Southeast Asia have periodically closed companies in which Western sales staffs make high-pressure solicitations over the phone to persuade would-be-investors in other countries to purchase shares in shaky or non-existent companies.
The group consists of 14 Briton, two American, an Australian, A New Zealander, a Filipino, and a Thai. Three of them were women. To make phone calls via the Internet is a crime in Cambodia because according to the law, all phone calls must be routed through the state phone company or firms it has licensed. The companies charge comparatively high rates for overseas calls.
According to the source, military police raided a house in central Phnom Penh where the 20 were staying and found that them calling overseas to sell "stock options".
The group of foreigners is being in process of questioning to find out what they would be charged or what maximum penalty they would faced. Police said that they would be released once they paid the state phone company for the overseas calls.
Police in Southeast Asia have periodically closed companies in which Western sales staffs make high-pressure solicitations over the phone to persuade would-be-investors in other countries to purchase shares in shaky or non-existent companies.
Cambodia plans to restore Khmer Rouge site
Cambodia's Tourism Ministry plans to restore the last stronghold of the Khmer Rouge in Anlong Veng into a tourist destination.
The plan is to restore top leaders' houses and construct a museum complex with high-tech video displaying the workings within the Khmer Rouge. Those who were born to former Khmer Rouge members and who are not currently awaiting trial for genocide will be enrolled as tour guides of the site as they could tell "real stories" on the lives of Pol Pot, Tamok and Khmer Rouge soldiers after they drew off the final stronghold in Anlong Veng. The project is estimated to cost 1 million USD.
The plan is to restore top leaders' houses and construct a museum complex with high-tech video displaying the workings within the Khmer Rouge. Those who were born to former Khmer Rouge members and who are not currently awaiting trial for genocide will be enrolled as tour guides of the site as they could tell "real stories" on the lives of Pol Pot, Tamok and Khmer Rouge soldiers after they drew off the final stronghold in Anlong Veng. The project is estimated to cost 1 million USD.
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