One of the smaller houseboats of Chong Khneas.
A palatial two-storey stilt mansion in Lake Tonle Sap. — GRAHAM SIMMONSExcerpt from Sprung from the water
Saturday January 30, 2010
Graham Simmons
Malaysia Star
Chong Khneas, Lake Tonlé Sap, Cambodia
They are like immigrants anywhere. The mainly Vietnamese inhabitants of Chong Khneas, a unique floating village in Cambodia’s Lake Tonlé Sap, have to struggle just to survive. And their task is made more difficult by the extraordinary seasonal changes in one of Asia’s biggest lakes.
The area of Lake Tonlé Sap increases at least fourfold in the wet season, its depth rising by more than 8m. Then, during the dry season, the 1,100 families have to move several kilometres out towards the centre of the lake, taking with them all their amenities, including a floating school, fish processing factories, floating churches and mosques, and even a floating basketball court. This doesn’t exactly make life easy.
Chong Khneas is just one of around 170 floating villages in Lake Tonlé Sap. It’s also the easiest to get to from Phnom Penh, which accounts for its popularity as a day-trip escape from Siem Reap. In the wet season, Chong Khneas is about 11km from Siem Reap via Highway 63; the distance increases to anything between 12km and 15km in the dry season.
We set out on a boat cruise of Chong Khneas, picking a modest-looking covered boat parked at a floating jetty. A cruise of around 60-90 minutes costs US$11 (RM38) for a small boat (holding up to ten people) or US$22 for a larger boat. Individual passengers may be charged up to US$10 a head.
Fishing is the main source of livelihood, and it’s uncanny to see a full-scale fish processing production line out in the lake. Some of the fish caught are tiny riel, used to make the Vietnamese fish sauce nuoc nam. The villagers even have a crocodile farm, where baby crocs are raised in pretty miserable conditions to maturity, then skinned for the export market.
With Chong Kneas now seeing so many day-trippers, a few tour operators are offering trips to other floating villages.
The province of Kompong Chhnang has a couple of floating villages — Phoum Kandal and Chong Kos — not far from the town of Kompong Chhnang, while Pursat province boasts the biggest ethnic Vietnamese village of them all — Kompong Luong, complete with cafés, shops and even an ice-making plant.
Nearer to Siem Reap, the villages of Kampong Phluk and the much larger Kampong Khleang are easily accessible by public transport along Route 6, via the villages of Roluos and Domdek respectively. It’s surprising that no-one has yet come up with the idea of a floating hotel. This would enable an extended stay including trips to outlying floating villages.
Maybe that’s a project for an enterprising reader.
The area of Lake Tonlé Sap increases at least fourfold in the wet season, its depth rising by more than 8m. Then, during the dry season, the 1,100 families have to move several kilometres out towards the centre of the lake, taking with them all their amenities, including a floating school, fish processing factories, floating churches and mosques, and even a floating basketball court. This doesn’t exactly make life easy.
Chong Khneas is just one of around 170 floating villages in Lake Tonlé Sap. It’s also the easiest to get to from Phnom Penh, which accounts for its popularity as a day-trip escape from Siem Reap. In the wet season, Chong Khneas is about 11km from Siem Reap via Highway 63; the distance increases to anything between 12km and 15km in the dry season.
We set out on a boat cruise of Chong Khneas, picking a modest-looking covered boat parked at a floating jetty. A cruise of around 60-90 minutes costs US$11 (RM38) for a small boat (holding up to ten people) or US$22 for a larger boat. Individual passengers may be charged up to US$10 a head.
Fishing is the main source of livelihood, and it’s uncanny to see a full-scale fish processing production line out in the lake. Some of the fish caught are tiny riel, used to make the Vietnamese fish sauce nuoc nam. The villagers even have a crocodile farm, where baby crocs are raised in pretty miserable conditions to maturity, then skinned for the export market.
With Chong Kneas now seeing so many day-trippers, a few tour operators are offering trips to other floating villages.
The province of Kompong Chhnang has a couple of floating villages — Phoum Kandal and Chong Kos — not far from the town of Kompong Chhnang, while Pursat province boasts the biggest ethnic Vietnamese village of them all — Kompong Luong, complete with cafés, shops and even an ice-making plant.
Nearer to Siem Reap, the villages of Kampong Phluk and the much larger Kampong Khleang are easily accessible by public transport along Route 6, via the villages of Roluos and Domdek respectively. It’s surprising that no-one has yet come up with the idea of a floating hotel. This would enable an extended stay including trips to outlying floating villages.
Maybe that’s a project for an enterprising reader.
15 comments:
You called it the plight of the Viet while the Viet themselves are killing and taking over Cambodia...
Fuck the Viet!!!
Too many illegally viet immigrants in fishing villages, while khmer krom people were dinal by Phnom Penh...
These Vietnamese aren't even official nationals of Cambodia, they just come to stay in Cambodia with fake passports. They also serve the purpose of inflating votes when election day comes to keep the ruling Vietnamese Peoples Party in Phnom Penh.
Fuck Vietnamese.
cambodia should round up this illegal viet/youn person and deport her back to vietnam where she belong. she tries to save money by living on an ugly boat like this. as a khmer, i have no sympathy for illegal viet/youn, ok!
this viet/youn illegal probably can't even speak khmer fluently despite living illegally in cambodia for decades. no wonder khmer people hate viet/youn illegal. viet/youn illegal must be assimilated into khmer society, if they want to have a life in cambodia. i have more sympathy for a handicapped person than this illegal viet/youn living on a boat like this, really!
this illegal viet/youn looks nothing like khmer people! she chose life like that, it's nobody's fault but her own, she's probably better off living in vietnam than living in cambodia like an eye sore. this kind of viet/youn illegal is too weird in khmer society. in other words, she doesn't fit into khmer society, really! just look at that picture!
Fuck it! Ban the fucken floating Villages! It is so fucken strange that of all the topic in Cambodia and AH Graham Simmons choose to write about the fucken Viet!
It is time that AH Graham Simmons goes to Vietname and start writing about the plight of the Khmer Krom people!
The fucken floating villages are damaging to the Cambodian ecosystem due to the untreated raw sewage and the feces and the urine which promoting water borne and parasitic diseases for everybody who use the very water!
Stop contaminating the damn water!
May the Yuons and the Hun Sen Regime go to hell..
BOO HOOO HOOOOO....shall we cry for the poor Yuons?
Never forget what goes on in Kampuchia Krom!
KHMER on land have bug.
Yuon on water have fish.
7M Yuon are srok KHMER.
can't compare like this, one is native citizens while the boat is illegal viet/youn economic immigrant who is made worse by not assimilating into khmer society when living in cambodia like this. it's ignorant to stand out like this in cambodia as khmer hated youn for not assimilating into khmer society, etc... then they wonder why khmer people hated them? go figure!
that's what they get for not assimilated into khmer society! they want to be viet/youn, then go back to vietnam, ok! cambodia is not a place for viet/youn show, you know! get used to it, ok!
ល្អណាស់ម្នាក់ៗដល់អស់ដីនៅអស់កន្លែងដើរទើប
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យ៉ាងណាខ្ញុំដឹងថាអាមេរិកាំងបានចាញ់នៅសង្គ្រៀមនៅវាតណាមហើយឥឡូវចង់បំផ្លាញយួនម្តងទៀតឬ?ប្រទេសបានសុខសាន្តមិចង់ទេចង់តែកាប់សម្លាប់គ្នាទៅវិញទៅមកម្នាក់ៗមិនដឹងជាគិតយ៉ាងដួចម្តេចទេ។បើបក្សប្រឆាំងនៅស្រុកខ្មែរធ្វើតែយ៉ាងនេះប្រទេសច្បាស់ជាមានសង្រ្គាមហើយបើមានសង្រ្គាមតើនរណាមកជួយប្រទេសឲ្យបានសុខឡើងវិញ?ឬក៏ទៅពឹងអាមេរិកាំងមកជួយ?មិនពិបាកទេអាមេរិកាំងទម្លាក់គ្រាប់រាប់ម៉ឺនគ្រាប់មិនទាន់ទាំងគិតផងអំពីប្រជាជនខ្មែរនោះផង។អាមេរិកាំងទៅកន្លែងណាខួចខាតដល់កន្លែងនោះសូមបក្សប្រឆាំងមើលពិភពលោកផង។
i think more khmer people should build more palatial homes on the waters at tonle sap, etc... more power to khmer people!
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