Sok Kong, owner of Sokimex group which controls many business entities in Cambodia, is a close friend and personal creditor to Hun Sen and his family. Sokimex obtained the exclusive concession for the sale of tickets to foreign tourists visiting Angkor Wat. The government recently renewed the concession to Sokimex without even going through a legal bidding process. The current huge discrepancies between the large number of visitors to Cambodia (1.4 million) and the much smaller number of tickets sale by Sokimex (0.3 million) point to a major problem and lack of transparency. Cronyism is a major plague affecting the Hun Sen regime, close friends and associates of the Hun Sen families are controlling almost all sectors of the economy. (Photo RFA)Cambodian authorities are showing different numbers
13 March 2006
By San Suwidh
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by KI-Media
The ministry of tourism had publicly announced that the number of tourists visiting Cambodia between January and December 2005, had increased from 2004 by almost 35%. In 2005, a total of 1.42 million tourists have visited Cambodia.
Coinciding with the announcement of this large number of tourists, Moeung Sokhon, the president of Eurasia Travel agency and member of the Cambodian chamber of commerce, said that he was puzzled by the number advanced by Sokimex, the company who obtained the concession for the sale of tickets to international tourists visiting ancient Cambodian ruins in Angkor. According to the report Sokimex provided to the Apsara authority, only about 300,000 tickets were sold.
Moeung Sokhon said: “The government announced that there are 1.4 million tourists, but Sokimex claimed to the Apsara authority that only about 300,000 tickets were sold. This is puzzling. Meanwhile, Angkor Wat is getting worn and torn, but no one knows where the money goes. There is no transparency.”
RFA could not contact Sokimex or the Apsara authority on this issue.
As for Moeung Son, he is very concerned with the number discrepancies. He could only attribute the difference to issues related to sex, immigration, finance, and economy.
Moeung Son told RFA: “There are 1.4 million tourists, but the Apsara authority said they sold only about 320,000 tickets, what happen to the other 1 million difference? How many of the [unaccounted] 1 million tourists came as sex tourists, what percentage, 100%? If it is 100%, it is a grave danger for the nation. If the 1 million tourists came disguised as illegal immigrants to stay permanently, it is also a serious danger for the nation. If the number discrepancies resulted from lack of transparency in the ticket sales, it is a serious problem to the finance [of the country], and it will affect business and tourism investors because the numbers are not clear.”
According to the census provided by the ministry of tourism, among the 1.4 million tourists who visited Cambodia in 2005, there are about 416,000 visitors who flew in through Pochentong [Phnom Penh] airport, 440,000 through Siemreap airport, 480,000 entered Cambodia by land or boat, and 90,000 came to Cambodia through the Preah Vihear entry point.
Coinciding with the announcement of this large number of tourists, Moeung Sokhon, the president of Eurasia Travel agency and member of the Cambodian chamber of commerce, said that he was puzzled by the number advanced by Sokimex, the company who obtained the concession for the sale of tickets to international tourists visiting ancient Cambodian ruins in Angkor. According to the report Sokimex provided to the Apsara authority, only about 300,000 tickets were sold.
Moeung Sokhon said: “The government announced that there are 1.4 million tourists, but Sokimex claimed to the Apsara authority that only about 300,000 tickets were sold. This is puzzling. Meanwhile, Angkor Wat is getting worn and torn, but no one knows where the money goes. There is no transparency.”
RFA could not contact Sokimex or the Apsara authority on this issue.
As for Moeung Son, he is very concerned with the number discrepancies. He could only attribute the difference to issues related to sex, immigration, finance, and economy.
Moeung Son told RFA: “There are 1.4 million tourists, but the Apsara authority said they sold only about 320,000 tickets, what happen to the other 1 million difference? How many of the [unaccounted] 1 million tourists came as sex tourists, what percentage, 100%? If it is 100%, it is a grave danger for the nation. If the 1 million tourists came disguised as illegal immigrants to stay permanently, it is also a serious danger for the nation. If the number discrepancies resulted from lack of transparency in the ticket sales, it is a serious problem to the finance [of the country], and it will affect business and tourism investors because the numbers are not clear.”
According to the census provided by the ministry of tourism, among the 1.4 million tourists who visited Cambodia in 2005, there are about 416,000 visitors who flew in through Pochentong [Phnom Penh] airport, 440,000 through Siemreap airport, 480,000 entered Cambodia by land or boat, and 90,000 came to Cambodia through the Preah Vihear entry point.
1 comment:
This is very helpful information for a project I am working on. If you have any more details on this issue I would appreciate it if you could pass on the information to my email address, mtegelberg@hotmail.com. Your assistance would be very much appreciated.
thanks.
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