Opposition Commune Official Arrested in Kandal

Tuesday, 12 June 2012
Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

“The land grabbers, why have the authorities not arrested them? Why have they arrested my father, who helps villagers?”

An opposition party commune councilor was arrested near his home in Kandal province Tuesday morning, accused of inciting violence among residents in a local land dispute last year.

Meas Peng was escorted by four armed police into a waiting vehicle and taken to provincial facilities, where he is accused of inciting violence amongst residents embroiled in a land dispute with a local official in Kien Svay district.

Sam Rainsy Party officials said he was being arrested because of his politics and called for his immediate release. Meas Peng was elected as a deputy chief of Banteay Dek commune in last week’s election.

“Meas Peng was not involved with the land issue, because he’s always lived at his home,” said Eng Chhay Eang, an SRP senator. He questioned the timing of the arrest, just after commune elections last week.

SRP MPs visit and distribute aid to flood victims in Kandal province

October 20, 2011

By Son Chhay

Today, October 20, SRP team led by party provincial head Eng Chhai Eang visited flood victims in Preak Preng village, Samrong Thom commune of Kien Svay district.

This village has suffered for more than a decade of land-grabbing dispute where about half of more than one hundred families have now regained back their right to the land with the help of SRP but the rest will face more suffering when the water recede as the powerful land-grabbers will return to resume the intimidation act to prohibit villagers from using the land for cultivation.

Photo below taken before travel to visit flood victims families from the left: MP Pot Pov, a local councilor, Son Chhay, Eng Chhai Eang, MP Chan Cheng, MP Khim Laky and MP Van Rith.

MP Son Chhay spoke to the villagers of Prek Preng to explain on how Lauk Prathean Sam Rainsy and SRP are concerned over the flood situation which effected so many people, especially the poor and requested the government relief agencies such as the Red Cross and the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) to immediately without prejudice provide support to the flood victims who mostly in need at a gathering before hand out rice, medicine and other food items which were provided by oversea Cambodian and SRP leaders of Kandal province to flood victims in the village.

Eng Chhai Eang insured old woman of getting a bag of rice while Son Chhay asking for information on the situation of flood victims in the village.

"No help yet from the Red Cross or the Disaster Comittee" said the villagers.

Below, MP Chan Cheng handed out medicine to a victim who has sick children.

Below, MP Kuoy Bun Roeun was padding the boat while Eng Chhai Eang sat feeling unease on their way to flood victims.

MP Pot Pov and Senate candidate Lay Bunny gave out rice to flood victim where Chan Cheng, Eng Chhai Eang and Kuoy Bum Roeun looked on.

COMFREL will conducts Voter Voice Workshops in remote areas of Kratie, Ratanakiri​, Steung Treng, Kandal, Mondulkiri, and Kampong Speu provinces in this June, 2011

Dear all,

COMFREL will conducts Voter Voice Workshops in remote areas of Kratie, Ratanakiri, Steung Treng, Kandal, Mondulkiri, and Kampong Speu provinces in this June, 2011.

Please find and see the attached file for details.

FYI : If you need releases or articles related to workshop on voter's voices, elections reforms, democracy/political reforms, decentralisation and governance, please feel free to visit our website : www.comfrel.org

Best regards,

COMFREL
-------------
Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia
Head Office : # 138, Street 122, Sangkat Teuk La ak, Khan Tuol Kork, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
P.O.Box 1145, CCC Box 439
Phone : (855-23) 884 150
Fax : (855-23) 883 750
E-mail : comfrel@online.com.kh
Website : www.comfrel.org


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Seven people found with cholera in Mekong Delta province

Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Thanh Nien News (Hanoi)

Seven of 45 people with acute diarrhea who were admitted to local hospitals in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang between January 19 and 28, were found to have cholera, a health ministry agency reported on Sunday.

All seven cholera patients came from Cambodia’s Takeo and Kandal provinces to An Giang for treatment, according to the Department of Preventive Health and Environment.

The department did not clarify whether all the patients were Vietnamese or not.

The Ministry of Health has warned of an outbreak of cholera, an acute intestinal infection transmitted through water or food contaminated with the bacteria vibrio, causing diarrhea and dehydration that can lead to kidney failure and death if not treated promptly.

The disease has ravaged northern Vietnam two times, in 2008 and 2009, infecting hundreds of people.

Meanwhile, in the central province of Ha Tinh, which has been hit by outbreaks of the avian flu H5N1, reported that seven people had fallen sick with fever and flu symptoms after coming in contact with sick poultry.

However, tests at the Hanoi-based National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology showed they did not have the avian flu virus.

Also on Sunday, the Nam Tra My General Hospital in the central province of Quang Nam said they had admitted 25 people with malaria over the past week from Tra Tap Commune.

The local health agency found nearly 100 people affected with the mosquito-borne infectious disease, but they had not approached the hospital for treatment. Hospital staff said they had also found patients in Nam Tra My District’s other communes.

Villagers Say Military Police Halt Protest [-More land dispute protests to be held also in Siem Reap, Battambang, Kampot]

By VOA Khmer Stringers
Original reports from Phnom Penh
19 January 2009

Cambodian military police prevented a protest of villagers near the Kandal provincial home of Prime Minister Hun Sen early Monday, following a shooting incident Friday.

Nearly 40 representatives of villagers from Kandal Stung district, Kandal province, who are embroiled in a land dispute with the Heng Akphiwath Company, amassed near Hun Sen’s home, but military police dispersed them and ordered them to return home, human rights officials said.

“In the morning, a lot of villagers representing 292 families tried to hold a protest against Heng Akphiwath, but military policed armed [with weapons] and electric batons tried to block them and push them away,” said one protester, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The military police ordered villagers to stay in their homes or register with police if they planned to leave, the protester said.

Kandal Governor Chhun Sirun denied Monday that military police had blocked a protest.

“I went there this morning, but I did not see any protesters,” he said.

The attempted protest follows a shooting Friday in Kandal Stung, where villagers say military police are aiding Heng Akphiwath in a land grab.

Two men were injured by shots fired by the military police and remain in Meanchey hospital, in Takmao district, while another eight people were injured in ensuing violence.

One man was knocked unconscious, but was recovering at home Monday. Another man was arrested Friday, but was released on Sunday, after he gave $30 to military police, said Am Samath, an investigator for the rights group Licadho.

Officials from Heng Akphiwath Company declined to comment Monday.

Chhun Sirun said the military had fired in self defense, as villagers threatened them with knives and axes. The military police had not fired directly at villagers, but had fired at the ground, the wounded hurt by shrapnel, he said.

He said the incident was “small,” and military police had received reprimands from their commanders, he said.

Monday’s protest was only one among several this week: villagers in the provinces of Siem Reap, Battambang, Kampot also protesting land disputes.

Military Police Brutality during Unlawful Land-Grab

January 18, 2009
Media Statement
Licadho

LICADHO condemns the actions of military police officers who have committed violence, including shooting two people, while assisting a private company to unlawfully grab villagers’ land in Kandal Stung district of Kandal province.

Over the past few days, police and military police have been deployed to help workers from the Heng Development Company to try to confiscate villagers’ farmland – in violation of a 2006 court verdict which upheld the villagers’ right to the land.

On Friday, January 16, two villagers were shot by military police during the community’s attempts to prevent bulldozers owned by the company from encroaching on their land. According to a LICADHO doctor who saw the victims, one of the men was shot in the arm and also had bullet fragments removed from his stomach. The other suffered a deep wound from a bullet fragment which struck his waist. Both men, aged 23 and 28, remain hospitalized.

The next day, January 17, military police officers again clashed with villagers, rendering one man unconscious with an electric baton.

This morning, military police officers prevented LICADHO staff from entering the area to observe the current situation, claiming that this was for their own safety.

The land dispute involves parts of four communes (Trey On, Trey Kpeu, Cheun Kaeb and
Kandoak) of Kandal Stung district. In the 1990s, Heng Development Company purchased more than 4,000 hectares of land in the area from local villagers. Subsequently, it was accused of also trying to take land of other villagers who had refused to sell to the company.

In 2006, a group of 292 families won a verdict issued by Judge Chey Sovan from the Kandal Provincial Court which upheld their complaint against Heng Development for seeking to encroach on their land. Court officials traveled to the area to demarcate the villagers’ land from that of the company, and told the villagers that they should be issued land titles based on the court verdict.

However, local land management officials subsequently refused to issue land titles to the villagers, and provincial government officials reportedly refused to recognize the court verdict because they believed the judge was “wrong.

A district official told LICADHO that the company had intended to file an appeal against the court decision but this became unnecessary because, he claimed, the Prime Minister’s Cabinet issued a document declaring that the land belonged to the company and not the villagers.

Government officials have no lawful power to overturn judicial decisions.

“Unless the court’s decision has been overturned by a higher court, it must be respected by all levels of the government,” said LICADHO director Naly Pilorge. “Officials cannot simply choose whether or not to abide by court decisions.

“The company and government authorities are using the military police, who are supposed to respect and implement judicial decisions, to actively violate a court verdict,” Pilorge continued “In the process, they are using violence against villagers who have every lawful right to protect their land. This is outrageous and must stop immediately.”

LICADHO urges that:

• The company and all relevant government authorities must abide by the court verdict,
• and ensure an immediate end to the current attempts to take the villagers’ land.
• The military police should immediately withdraw from the area.
• The military police officer/s who shot the two villagers, and any other officers who
• committed violence, should be prosecuted.

For further information, please contact:
Am Sam Ath, LICADHO Monitoring Supervisor, 012-327-770
Cheng Sophors, LICADHO Senior Monitor, 012-879-795

Kandal Man Hit With Bird Flu

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
12 December 2008

Click here to listen to the Khmer audio program

The Ministry of Health on Friday confirmed Cambodia’s eighth case of avian influenza, the first case this year, in a Kandal province resident.

Teng Sopheak, 19, from Kadal Steung district, was diagnosed with the disease after consuming poultry at the annual Water Festival, falling ill with a fever, cough, muscle aches and a soar throat. He is now recovering at Calmette hospital.

The H5N1 virus, which typically occurs in chicken and other birds, is a concern to global health officials because of its potential to mutate into a more readily contagious form.

Health officials said Friday field investigation teams from the ministry were conducting house-to-house searches in the affected area in search of people with bird flu symptoms and are conducting a detailed investigation of poultry deaths in the village.

Cambodia’s seven other cases were fatal, while 246 people have so far died from the disease worldwide.

Thai King has organised a Kathen for a Cambodian pagoda

Picture of Thai king, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Everyday.com
4th November, 2008
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

The Thai embassy in Cambodia, representing the Thai king, on 1st November has organised a Kathen (a religious fund raising event) for Wat Prek Russey in Kandal province. Mr Chhun Syrun, governor of Kandal province, presided over the Kathen festival. On top of the donations from the Thai king, Thai officials and the Thai embassy, there were Khmer officials who have made donations to the Kathen festival as well. The Thai ambassador said that the Thai king wish to see progress in Buddhism, not only in Thailand but in neighbouring countries such as Cambodia as well.

This Kathen has raised 2 million riels ($US250) in Khmer currency, $US10,620 in US dollars and 200,000 baht ($US5,000) in Thai currency.

Kathen is the most important religious money raising event in Cambodia. This year’s Kathen started from the 15th of October to the 12th of November. During this time, all the Buddhist faithful will contribute money and donate goods to support the monks and for the maintenance and the development of the pagoda complex.

SRP election campaign in Kandal and Kampong Speu provinces

On 11 July 2008, the SRP held its election campaign in Kandal and Kampong Speu provinces.

Police Stop Protesters on Way to Capital

Suon Kanika, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
07 September 2007

Police stopped buses carrying hundreds of villagers who planned a demonstration in Phnom Penh Friday, witnesses said.

The villagers planned to protest the closure of a public road in Kandal province, but police stopped their buses from entering the city.

The road is subject to illegal checkpoints that line the pockets of corrupt military authorities in cahoots with an orchard owner and merchant, villagers told VOA Khmer.

"I am telling you, we left our homes, and the police with connection to [informal tax-collection] stopped me from going forward," village representative Soth Seng told said. "They stopped all four buses, citing checking driver licenses, car registrations, road tax certificates as reasons."

A villager named Nhanh said locals had used the public road since the time of their "ancestors," but a merchant who bought the orchard closed it.

"It is they who destroy things, mowing down the fences and closing the road. They closed the road day and night, and the villagers could not see their way," Nhanh said. "We came to ask for the court to help solve the problem for my village people."

Chan Saveth, a human rights investigator for Adhoc, said authorities must have public order, he appealed to the people to respect the regulations. He did acknowledge, however, that sending just a few representatives would mean the villagers's woes would go unheard.

Rice planting season in Cambodia

Cambodian farmers take off seedlings from the ground at a rice field in Baseth village, Kandal province, some 20 kilometers (13 miles) north Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, July 6, 2007. Cambodia is an agricultural country, over 80 percent of the population are farmers. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A Cambodian girl cleans mud from the rice near their ox-cart at a rice field in Baseth village, Kandal province, some 20 kilometers (13 miles) north Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, July 6, 2007. Cambodia is an agricultural country, over 80 percent of the population are farmers. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodian girl cleans mud from the rice at rice field in Baseth village, Kandal province, some 20 kilometers (13 miles) north Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, July 6, 2007. Cambodia is an agricultural country, over 80 percent of the population are farmers. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the Royal Government of Cambodia to Partner in New Free AIDS Treatment Clinic in Koh Thum

2007-06-01
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
KANDAL PROVINCE, Cambodia June 1

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest AIDS organization in the United States, which operates free AIDS treatment clinics in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, and Asia, and which early last year joined together with the Ministry of Health, Royal Government of Cambodia and Cambodia's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and STI Control (NCHADS) in a partnership to provide life-saving anti-retroviral therapy (ART) to people living with HIV/AIDS in four provinces in Cambodia, announced the opening of its newest free AIDS treatment clinic in this partnership: a clinic facility in the Koh Thum District, in Kandal Province, Cambodia. The Koh Thum ART Treatment Clinic will open with a formal ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony at the facility in Kandal Province this Saturday June 2nd.

"We are deeply honored to announce the opening of this newest free antiretroviral clinic in Cambodia in Koh Thum District in Kandal Province, one of five AIDS treatment clinics now operating in the country in our partnership with the Ministry of Health, Royal Government of Cambodia and the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and STI," said Dr. Chinkholal Thangsing, Asia Pacific Bureau Chief for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "Over the next five years, AIDS Healthcare Foundation with NCHADS will expand and increase our collaborative initiatives to provide technical support and strengthen the antiretroviral treatment roll out and scale up of ART delivery services in Cambodia via designated facilities in at least twelve sites in at least twelve provinces as well as in Phnom Penh. We will also work closely together to support the Royal Government of Cambodia's overall HIV/AIDS ART treatment initiatives. It is our sincere hope that this collaboration between AHF and NCHADS will improve access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment throughout Cambodia."

At a previous clinic dedication ceremony in the partnership, in Kampot when the Kampot ART Treatment Clinic opened with a formal dedication ceremony attended by over 200 people in late September, Dr. Mean Chhi Vun, Director NCHADS, and Advisor to the Ministry of Health, Royal Government of Cambodia, said, "NCHADS is very grateful and highly appreciates AIDS Healthcare Foundation's commitment to support ART clinics and save more lives of people living with HIV/AIDS in Cambodia. We highly treasure our relationship with AHF."

"The antiretroviral treatment clinic in Koh Thum being dedicated Saturday in this partnership was first established in November 2005 by NCHADS, and is located in the compound of the Koh Thum Referral Hospital, Koh Thum Operational District in Kandal Province," said Dr. Chhim Sarath, AIDS Healthcare Foundation's Country Program Manager for Cambodia. "The ART clinic is operating in a new building provided by NCHADS, and since November 2005 until now, 172 people living with HIV/AIDS have registered at the clinic. Among them, 84 have already started on antiretroviral treatment, and we are both honored and humbled to partner with NCHADS and the Ministry of Health, Royal Government of Cambodia to help bring ART to many more Cambodians who may be in need of access to such lifesaving care and treatment."

The partnerships were first formalized in March 2006 in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between AHF and the Cambodian Ministry of Health, and in a letter of agreement (LOA) with AHF, the Ministry of Health, and the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and STI Control. Through these partnerships, AHF, the Cambodian Ministry of Health and NCHADS plan to work together on ART scale up in several Cambodian Provinces -- now including Kandal Province -- with the goal of bringing 3,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Cambodia into treatment over the next five years. In mid-January of this year, a new clinic in the partnership was also opened and dedicated in Stung Streng Province.

One key aspect contributing to the success of AHF's work with its partners in Cambodia includes the linkage of clinic services provided together with other community and home-based services. In addition, the Cambodian partnership focuses on integrating the delivery of services under a Continuum of Care (CoC) approach, an approach that recognizes the complexities surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic in order to improve prevention efforts and optimize use of the oftentimes limited resources available in the successful care and treatment of those living with the disease.

Background on Kandal Province

Kandal Province, one of 20 provinces in Cambodia, is a relatively high prevalence area for HIV/AIDS. It is located in the southern part of Cambodia, and its capital provincial town is Ta Khmau. The Province completely surrounds, but does not include, the national capital, Phnom Penh, which is its own separate municipality. In Kandal Province, Koh Thum serves as one of the Operational Health Districts (OD). Ta Khmau, the provincial town, is located just 11 kms from Phnom Penh, and the population of the surrounding area is around 1,224,433. The Province consists of eight Operational Districts, with each Operational District containing one Referral Hospital and number of individual Health Centers. Koh Thum is in the southern part of Kandal Province (about 70km from the provincial town, Ta Khmau) on the border with the country of Viet Nam.

The objectives of this latest collaboration in Kandal is similar to the partnerships' other projects in Kampong Thom, Kampot and Stung Streng Provinces as well as in the capital of Phnom Penh, and are as enumerated as below:

• Capacity and skill building of the doctors and healthcare providers at the Kandal Referral Hospital in collaboration with NCHADS.
• Establishment of an ART Clinic at the Kandal Hospital and provision of free ART to PLHAs -- including treatment of both adults and children.

The initial collaboration between AHF and these respected Cambodian institutions first began and were celebrated in March and April 2006 with formal ribbon-cutting ceremonies at the first two other free AIDS treatment facilities (Kampong Thom Province and Phnom Penh). The Phnom Penh facility is located at the Preah Ket Mealea Hospital, and that collaboration was also formalized in a separate MOU between AHF and the Preah Ket Mealea Hospital of the Royal Government of Cambodia. The goal of that facility is to bring medical care and ART to an additional 300 Cambodians.

The first case of HIV infection in Cambodia was reported in 1991 and was followed by a rapid rise in its transmission. Cambodia's national HIV/AIDS prevalence rate -- around 3% in 1997 but decreasing to 1.9% in 2003 -- is still understood to be one of the highest in Southeast Asia. According to a recent AFP/France 24 News Report (as cited on Kaiser Family Foundation's Daily HIV/AIDS Report), "Almost 10,000 Cambodians die of AIDS-related illnesses annually, according to government statistics. About 1.9% of Cambodia's 13.8 million people are HIV-positive."

"This growing collaboration between AHF and our esteemed Cambodian partners includes the delivery of innovative medical and non-medical interventions; providing technical support and training resources to increase and strengthen the diagnostic and treatment capacity and skills of HIV/AIDS and ART treatment services providers in Cambodia -- all of which will now also take place in Kandal Province," said Henry E. Chang, AHF's Chief of Global Affairs. "AHF has significant expertise and experience in ART service delivery and skills and capacity building related to HIV/AIDS treatment and care, and we are therefore well-positioned to complement the Cambodian Ministry of Health in its efforts to enhance access to prevention, treatment and care at these facilities in Cambodia."

"The Royal Government of Cambodia has undertaken significant efforts to treat its people living with HIV/AIDS and to try to arrest and eliminate the epidemic, and we salute them for a pragmatic and visionary approach to fighting the disease," said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. "This partnership brings together many respected stakeholders with expertise and clinical, public health and management skills that are essential for any successful HIV treatment program, and it is a privilege for AIDS Healthcare Foundation to partner with the Ministry of Health, Royal Government of Cambodia and NCHADS to support the scale up of HIV/AIDS treatment in Cambodia through this initiative."

Land dispute between villagers and Oknha (rich businessman) in Kandal province

29 May 2007
By Kim Pov Sottan
Radio Free Asia (a station labeled insolent by Hun Sen)
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

6 representatives of villagers had expressed their concerns over the (potential) arrest (to be made) stemming from a land dispute with Okhna Kaing You Mean in Cheung Keub commune, Kandal Stung district, Kandal province. The provincial court summoned the villagers to come to court to clarify this issue on Tuesday morning.

Em Sitha, a representative for the villagers, said that the villagers have been accused of destroying the properties belonging to a private company, and of money extortion, when in fact, the villagers were preventing the company from clearing lands.

Em Sitha said: “We are being summoned, they say that we destroy and extort money from Oknha Kaing You Meng’s company. We did not destroy the company’s properties, we only prevented the company and asking it to provide a peaceful and sensible resolution for the people who did the upkeep of these lands.”

Sun Sim, another representative for the villagers, added that the villagers are very concerned about this severe accusation made by Kaing You Meng’s company: “The villagers are concerned, we don’t know what else will happen because they are summoning us one after another. Those who have not been summoned yet are also worried because in the court summon, we are accused of criminal activities.”

This is the second summon from the provincial court, and on each occasion, villagers accompanied their representatives by the hundreds because they fear that their representatives would be arrested.

This land dispute started after Kaing You Meng bought several hundred hectares of land in Chueng Keub commune, he subsequently allowed the villagers to farm the lands during the past 10 years. Recently, the company started to clear the lands according to its plan, but the villagers prevented them to do so by asking for a fee for the 10 years of land upkeep.

The villagers accused the company of buying the lands from them, but it did not pay the full price of the lands yet, and now the company wants to transfer the ownership of the lands to someone else.

Sieng Sophal, a representative of Kaing You Meng’s company, claimed that his company is the third owner of the lands. Kaing You Meng left the lands to the villagers to farm after he purchased them, and at the end, the villagers are extorting money from his company instead. “I have [my property markers] installed between theirs (the villagers), they destroyed (all my markers), I had to install them twice. They said that they do not ask for their lands back, they only ask for a fee for the upkeep of the land. At first, they asked for $20,000 per hectare as the upkeep fee. But they are troublemakers, they create troubles nonstop, my company complained to the authority saying that they (the villagers) bother our business.”

Huot Vuthy, the Kandal province prosecutor, declined to provide comment over the phone on this case to RFA, even if the case is now sent to the court for a resolution.

On the villagers’ side, they are looking for help from human rights organizations after they received court summons one after another.

Neak Ta Srok Festival in Kandal Province

A Cambodian man holds a mock gun during an annual festival in which villagers pray to Nak ta Srok, a spirit which they believe takes care of their village, for rain and a good yeild from their crops in Kandal province 20 km (12 miles) north of Phnom Penh May 21, 2007. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Cambodian villagers watch an animal race during an annual festival in which villagers pray to Nak ta Srok, a spirit which they believe takes care of their village, for rain and a good yeild from their crops in Kandal province 20 km (12 miles) north of Phnom Penh May 21, 2007. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Cambodian villagers march with their faces painted for the symbolic of ghost to get ride of the evil from their village, during an annual ceremony to dedicated the holy spirit for a good rain dropping of this year at Kandal province, some 20 kilometers (13 miles) north Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, May 21, 2007. Cambodia is an agricultural country, over 80 percent of the population are farmers. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Khmer New Year celebration in Kandal province

A woman pours water on a Buddha statue during first day celebrations of the Khmer New Year at a temple in Kandal province, 60 km (37 miles) southwest of Phnom Penh April 14, 2007. Cambodia celebrates the Khmer New Year from April 14 to April 16. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

People pray with offerings as Buddhist monks bless them during the first day of Khmer New Year celebrations at a temple in Kandal province, 60 km (37 miles) southwest of Phnom Penh April 14, 2007. Cambodia celebrates the Khmer New Year from April 14 to April 16. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

People offer rice to the bowls of Buddhist monks during first day celebrations of the Khmer New Year at a temple in Kandal province, 60 km (37 miles) southwest of Phnom Penh April 14, 2007. Cambodia celebrates the Khmer New Year from April 14 to April 16. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Women prepare food for Buddhist monks during first day celebrations of the Khmer New Year at a temple in Kandal province 60 km (37 miles) southwest of Phnom Penh April 14, 2007. Cambodia celebrates the Khmer New Year from April 14 to April 16. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

A woman and a child pray during the first day of Khmer New Year celebrations at a temple in Kandal province, 60 km (37 miles) southwest of Phnom Penh April 14, 2007. Cambodia celebrates the Khmer New Year from April 14 to April 16. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea