Sacrava's Political Cartoon: A Monkey called So Khun

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Cambodia: Blog article leads to murder investigation [-Kudos to Khmerization!]

MP Mu Sochua vows to investigate the death of the teenager domestic worker

30 July 2011
Written by Sopheap Chak
 Global Voices Online

An investigation on the reported death of a Cambodian domestic worker in Malaysia has been initiated by the Cambodian Embassy in Malaysia in cooperation with the police, according to an article by the Phnom Penh Post.

The aunt of the domestic worker was informed by the labor recruitment firm APTSE & C Cambodia Resource Co Ltd that her 19-year-old niece died from pneumonia. However, the pre-departure medical test in Cambodia in September last year showed her health to be perfectly fine.

It's now alleged that she could have been murdered following an expose by a news aggregation website, Khmerization, which published and circulated an email from an anonymous person who reported that a maid in Malaysia is being abused by her employer.

Internet Freedom Under Threat

March 6, 2011
By Mong Palatino
The Diplomat Blogs

Internet freedom is under attack in many countries in Southeast Asia. In Thailand, for example, a webmaster is facing prosecution for comments written by other people in an online forum. In Cambodia, anti-government websites have been inaccessible on numerous occasions since January. In Malaysia, meanwhile, a proposed new law would empower the government to censor Internet content.

Chiranuch Premchaiporn (known to friends as Jiew) is the editor of independent news website Prachatai.com. Jiew is accused of violating the Computer Crimes Act of Thailand, but her situation is somewhat bizarre because her alleged ‘criminal’ act refers only to her failure to moderate ten lese majeste comments that were posted on Prachatai’s public web board. She had already deleted the comments when she received a notice from the government, but this didn’t stop the authorities from arresting her last year. Jiew is facing 50 years in prison if found guilty.

Thailand has strict lese majeste laws and it is aggressive in blocking websites which are deemed insulting to the monarchy. Censorship intensified last year, especially at the height of the anti-government Red Shirt protests. It's estimated that more than 400,000 web pages are blocked in Thailand.

Meanwhile, Cambodian netizens have been having a difficult time accessing anti-government websites since January. But if the Thai government is admitting that it's blocking ‘harmful’ sites, Cambodian authorities have continued to deny ordering Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to ban opposition websites.

When major blogging portal Blogspot was banned in Cambodia last January, it generated significant protests from Internet users. Fortunately, access to the website was immediately restored. Service providers blamed it on technical issues, while the government insisted it was ignorant about the reasons behind the incident.

But the issue of web censorship in Cambodia continued to sizzle last month as media groups leaked a letter by government information authorities asking ISPs to censor websites that allegedly harm Cambodian morality and tradition. The letter specifically mentioned the KI-Media, Khmerization and Sacrava websites, all of which are critical of the government.

Cambodia: Who Ordered the Blocking of Opposition Websites?

Cartoon by Sacrava

27 February 2011
Written by Mong Palatino
Global Voices Online

Last month, an anti-government website was blocked by some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Cambodia. The ISPs later denied that it received an order from the government to ban the critical website. The government also insisted that it is not a policy to block the website of opposition groups. Fortunately, access to the website was restored immediately.

But the issue of web censorship in Cambodia continued to sizzle this month as media groups leaked a letter by government information authorities asking ISPs to censor websites that allegedly harm Cambodian morality and tradition.

Sieng Sithy, deputy director of the Directorate of Telecommunications Policy Regulation at the MPTC, wrote an email to Ezecom, Metfone, Citylink, Digi, AngkorNet, WiCam, TC, Camnet, Online and Camintel thanking them for “cooperation” in blocking access to several websites, including KI-Media, Khmerization and a site featuring the art of political cartoonist Sacrava.

The government gave conflicting statements on the veracity of the letter. The Ministry continues to assert that web censorship is not being pursued by the government. Here are some parts of the controversial letter:

So Khun presided over a meeting on Feb 10 with mobile operators ... asked for cooperation in blocking traffic to unspecified websites

CPP So Khun

Ministry denies blocking website

Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Thomas Miller
The Phnom Penh Post

The government today denied reports that it has asked internet service providers to block an opposition-aligned website, which continued to be unavailable to users through at least four ISPs.

“We didn’t make any order to block KI-Media,” So Khun, the minister of posts and telecommunications, said today. “I deny that the government allowed the order to block any website.”

Mao Chakrya, the ministry’s director general, also said there had been no such directive, backing up comments by Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith on Monday saying the government would not block “any website”.

However, So Khun presided over a meeting on February 10 with mobile operators, during which he apparently asked for cooperation in blocking traffic to unspecified websites, according to official minutes from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.

“In the meeting, His Excellency said that the Royal Government did not have a principle of blocking some websites, but His Excellency made a request to all operators to cooperate in curbing some websites that affect Khmer morality and tradition and the government through using the internet,” say the minutes, a copy of which was obtained today by The Post.

“He suggested that all operators help to cooperate and report on time so that the Ministry is able to offer its report to the government.”

Internet users have reported to The Post that they were unable to access the website KI-Media through four ISPs: Online, WiCam, Metfone, and Ezecom.

However, MekongNet, and Chuan Wei have not blocked access to the site, which was also available by cell phone through provider Mobitel today.

Two other sites, Khmerization and Sacrava, which carry content that overlaps with KI-Media, could not be accessed through Ezecom.

The Koh Pich tragedy and Hun Sen’s crocodile tears

Op-Ed by Khmerization
30th November, 2010

"His sadness, condolences and mourning seem too genuine and instantaneous. However, to seasoned and veteran political observers.... His grief is fake and his tears are crocodile tears."

Three days after the Koh Pich Bridge stampede tragedy, Prime Minister Hun Sen has been seen around the world’s television screens as having cried uncontrollably for the first time.

To the novice observers of the current Cambodian political affairs, this is an extraordinary scene for a strongman who has been described as having a heart of steel, who is well-known for his brutality and arrogance, to look like a broken man for the first time in his life. His sadness, condolences and mourning seem too genuine and instantaneous. However, to seasoned and veteran political observers of Mr. Hun Sen’s political career and his political maneuverings, Mr. Hun Sen had put up an excellent show to fool the Cambodian people and the world. His grief is fake and his tears are crocodile tears.

The above rationale has been proven correct by his speech on Monday. Seven days after the tragedy and four days after he had put up a public show of emotions, Mr. Hun Sen turned around and declared that no one was responsible for the tragedy and that no head will be rolled. And adding insult to injuries, he had rejected the resignation of Mr. Kong Sam Ol, who is the chairman of the National and International Festival Committee, the body responsible for organizing and managing the Water Festival that caused the stampede.

With the magnitude of the tragedy described as the world’s worst crowd disaster in 4 years, one would have expected that some sort of accountability and culpability be apportioned. Yet, despite an admission of a ‘joint mistake’ and ‘joint responsibility’, Mr. Hun Sen arrogantly declared that no one will be sacked and punished because it is an unforeseen accident occurred because of a ‘carelessness and negligence’ of the government.

Mr. Hun Sen’s admission of a ‘joint mistake’ and ‘joint responsibility’ because of a ‘carelessness and negligence’ of the government is an admission of guilt and wrongdoing and therefore the onus is on the government and Mr. Hun Sen personally. For a tragedy of this magnitude which is a ‘joint mistake’ and ‘joint responsibility’ of a government, the buck stops here with the government and the head of the government, that is to say the government and the whole cabinet must resign, starting with Prime Minister Hun Sen first.

There seem to be a cover up at the highest level to the investigation and the cause of the tragedy. The committee, set up immediately after the tragedy to investigate the cause of the stampede, hastily concluded its investigation in just one day and publicly released its findings exactly one week later. Despite eyewitness accounts of about 30-odd people having been electrocuted, the government denied the claims and the investigation concluded that swaying bridge was the cause of the panic which led to the stampede.

In the West, the investigation into the tragedy of this magnitude will take months, even years, to complete. All evidences will be examined and witnesses interviewed and no stones will be left unturned.

The investigation into the Koh Pich Bridge stampede lacks substance, lacks transparency and credibility. It is doubtful if even 20% of the 8,000 witnesses, that was the number of people who got stuck on the bridge, were interviewed. There is no sign of physical evidences had been examined and analysed and there is no sign of autopsies being performed on the corpses to determine the causes of deaths.

People must remember that Koh Pich Island and Koh Pich bridge are owned by Mr. Hun Sen’s wife and his children and Canadia Bank, which Mr. Hun Sen’s family is the majority shareholder. As a result, Mr. Hun Sen and his family had to be personally and directly responsible for this tragedy also.

By admitting that the tragedy was a 'joint mistake’ and a ‘joint responsibility’ of the government and with mounting evidences pointing to carelessness and cover up at the highest level, the buck stops with Mr. Hun Sen. And to show that his grief and emotions are genuine and in respect to the souls of 351 dead and 329 wounded in the stampede, Mr. Hun Sen and the whole of his cabinet should do the honorable thing and resign.

Khmer Intelligence News - 16 November 2010 - Vietnam's Prime Minister welcomed even by the opposition

KHMER INTELLIGENCE NEWS

16 November 2010

Vietnam’s Prime Minister welcomed even by the opposition (1)

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung who is currently on an official three-day visit in Cambodia, has been welcomed by opposition leader Sam Rainsy in a 14 November 2010 open letter. A year ago, following a border incident, Mr. Dung publicly “proposed that the Cambodian government take due measures to deal with Sam Rainsy’s acts of sabotage and not permit similar cases to occur, as they negatively affect the fine relations between the two nations.” In light of the Cambodian government mea culpa on the circumstances surrounding this incident (see following news “Hun Sen admits mistake in localization of controversial border markers”), Sam Rainsy wrote, “I would be grateful if you would acknowledge that you actually overreacted to my pulling out a few wooden poles in Svay Rieng province and possibly encouraged some unnecessary fallout from that insignificant incident.” Read full text of Sam Rainsy’s letter at http://tinyurl.com/2a3ppln

Hun Sen admits mistake in localization of controversial border markers (1)

In a 8 November 2010 letter responding to opposition Members of Parliament, Prime Minister Hun Sen admits, at least by implication, that the government has made some mistake in the localization of some “tentative” or “temporary” border markers in provinces bordering Vietnam. « In the area of the tentative post # 185 [uprooted by Sam Rainsy on 25 October 2009], in particular posts # 184 to 187 along the border between Cambodia and Vietnam, the joint technical group from the two countries is continuing their study on the ground in order to search for material evidence/reference points necessary for the determination of the real location of those border posts. Because the joint technical group from the two countries has not planted any border post # 185 yet, the border demarcation work -- which is the work of the joint technical group to be conducted after the planting of those posts -- has not started yet either. » Therefore Sam Rainsy, who has been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for “crimes” stemming from “destruction of public property,” could not cause any damage to anything that does not exist and could not create any problem to any work that “has not started yet.” Read Hun Sen’s letter in Khmer at http://tinyurl.com/25ulw7c

Reasons for the government to prohibit visits to eastern border areas (2)

The Hun Sen government is adamant that no Members of Parliament, no journalists, no diplomats, no NGO workers, no civil society representatives and no independent observers are allowed to visit areas near the border with Vietnam. There is a two-fold reason for this strict prohibition:

1- Nobody must be given the opportunity and possibility to do what Sam Rainsy did last year with the “tentative” border post # 185 in Svay Rieng province, i.e. collect the precise geographic coordinates of any border post with a GPS device, find out the location of that post on any official French-made or US-made map using appropriate computer programs, and see that the corresponding post is actually on Cambodian territory.

2- Nobody must meet with, and talk to, any Cambodian farmers living along the border who have been victims of land grabbing associated with border encroachment. Those farmers, whose number keeps increasing, are living evidence that is a denial to the government assertion that “not a single Cambodian farmer has lost his/her rice field in the ongoing border demarcation process.” Read Hun Sen, Chea Sim and Heng Samrin’s 16 November 2009 deceitful letter to King-Father Norodom Sihanouk at http://tinyurl.com/2uozunz

The strategy of the Vietnam-backed Hun Sen government is to prevent any form of border protest so that all currently “tentative” or “temporary” border posts will become, by 2012, permanent border posts, with the Cambodian people being placed before a fait accompli.

Sam Rainsy in Australia (1)

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy will be visiting Australia from 18 to 30 November 2010. He will meet with Cambodian communities, the press, government officials and NGOs in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Adelaide.

A single “royalist” party under CPP control (2)

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party is pushing hard for the merger of the two small and discredited “royalist” parties: Funcinpec and the Nationalist Party (formally Norodom Ranariddh Party). The CPP is desperate to give more credibility to the crumbling democratic façade of a two-party coalition government between former communists and present “royalists” in what is in fact a one-party system where all decisions are made by the CPP.

French court dismisses Hor Namhong’s complaints (2)

The French court in Paris has recently dismissed legal complaints for defamation lodged by Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong against three Web sites particularly critical of the Hun Sen government: KI-media, Khmerisation and Sacrava, which can be visited at http://ki-media.blogspot.com/ , http://khmerization.blogspot.com/ and http://sacrava.blogspot.com/ respectively.

[End]

Cambodia: Military, Inc.

US Military command in Cambodia

16 Aug 2010
By Jody Ray Bennett for ISN Security Watch
International Relations and Security (ISN, Zurich, Switzerland)

The US has provided at least $4.5 million worth of military equipment and training to Cambodia since 2006

In a controversial decision by Cambodia’s Prime Minister, multinational corporations and other local enterprises will now be able to hire the country’s royal armed forces, Jody Ray Bennett writes for ISN Security Watch.

Just a little over two years ago, The Guardian ran aquiet article claiming that the Kingdom of Cambodia was a “country for sale.” The article outlined specific events of Cambodian history that lead to the overwhelming privatization of the kingdom - the Khmer Rouge regime sending more than 300,000 locals into exile and two million from its cities directly into the paddy fields and farmland in the 1970s, and once overthrown, to the 1985 “frenzied land-grabbing” after the rise to power by Hun Sen, Cambodia’s current prime minister.

The article noted that once Sen came to power, “influential political allies and wealthy business associates raced to claim land that the Khmer Rouge had seized, gobbling up such large chunks of the cities, forests and paddy fields that Cambodians used to say the rich were eating the country.” Throughout the 1990s, nurses became restaurateurs and school teachers were transformed into rural farmers.

By July 2007: “The forests, lakes, beaches and reefs - and the lives of the thousands of residents - were quietly transferred into the hands of private western developers. Arguing that Cambodia could become a tourist magnet to challenge Thailand, [Hun Sen] began a fire sale of mainland beaches. By March [2008], virtually all Cambodia's accessible and sandy coast was in private hands, either Cambodian or foreign.”

According to a report from Global Witness, over the last 15 years, 45 percent of the country’s land has been purchased by private interests.

And now those private interests are requesting security in a country that has much of its forces dedicated to an ongoing border standoff with Thailand. Earlier this month, Time reported that the solution to this problem, as innovated by Prime Minister Sen, came in the form of a program in which local businesses and multinational corporations in Cambodia could “provide donations” and “sponsor” specific parts of the Cambodian Armed Forces in return for the continued guarding of “large-scale private land concessions across the country” or to “evict the rural poor for business developments” and other locations where corporations operate.

According to Dr Emmanuel Yujuico - research fellow in Southeast Asia International Affairs at the London School of Economics and Political Science - “[This] is, unfortunately, a somewhat common occurrence.”

He told ISN Security Watch: “Given that military service is not the most remunerative occupation, branches of the military operating throughout Cambodia have sought alternative sources of livelihood. One of these has been protecting commercial interests. What the new initiative does in a way is formally recognize these arrangements. While a number of sponsorships can be innocuous such as those not involving possession of agricultural land, telecommunications and the like - those which do have raised concerns among activists.”

Corporate involvement

Critics of the policy believe it will solidify political, military and business powerbrokers in the country and ensure allegiance to the ruling party.

“Only major corporations having close ties with the ruling Cambodian People's Party of Prime Minister Hun Sen [are sponsoring the armed forces]. Most of these companies are Cambodian-owned, but there are a few foreign companies which have joint ventures with Cambodian companies such as Lao Meng Khin who is the partner in Shukaku, a Japanese company which is developing the Boeng Kak [area] which also involves large-scale evictions of slum-dwellers there,” a journalist and publisher of the Khmerization blog told ISN Security Watch. (For security reasons, the journalist requested anonymity).

“Metfone, a Vietnamese phone company and Mobitel Telephone company, a joint venture between Kith Meng's Royal Group and Sweden's Millicom and ANZ Royal Bank, are also involved.”

“Security is now in the hands of private business. Because private businesses [have the financial ability] to control the army, they therefore hold national security at ransom. [It is unclear how] it might affect international relations, but it will be a detriment to national security as private sectors in Cambodia are not concerned about the interests of the nation, but about their interests only,” the journalist said.

While the government denies that the partnership between its armed forces and domestic corporations will be problematic, human rights organizations in Cambodia believe this kind of corporate sponsorship will undermine security equality by turning it into a lucrative competition for government favors.

US military support

While Cambodia’s ruling elite claim the sponsorship exists merely to “compensate for the military's lack of funding for troops' basic needs,” curiously absent is the acknowledgment of increasing US support of the Cambodian military. The US has provided at least $4.5 million worth of military equipment and training to Cambodia since 2006.

In early July 2010, Human Rights Watch condemned the announced partnership of US and Cambodian forces for the 2010 Global Peace Initiative. “The US selection of a Cambodian military unit with a record of human rights abuses to be the host of [the] annual peacekeeping exercise in Asia undermines the US commitment to promoting human rights in Cambodia,” the report said.

To train Cambodian forces for a mere two weeks, the US Department of Defense built a $1.8 million training center for Cambodia's ACO Tank Command Headquarters in Kompong Speu province.

According to Human Rights Watch, “In November 2008, the [ACO] unit seized the farmland of 133 families in Banteay Meanchey province, ostensibly to build a military base [and] in 2007, soldiers from the unit in Kompong Speu province used armored vehicles to flatten villagers' fences, destroy their crops, and confiscate their land.”
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Jody Ray Bennett is a freelance writer and academic researcher. His areas of analysis include the private military and security industry, the materialization of non-state forces and the transformation of modern warfare.

Local news blog a haven for dissent

A Cambodian woman visits ki-media.blogspot.com, the Web site of the Cambodian news blog KI-Media. The site posts news, opinion and political cartoons from local and international sources. (Photo by: Sovan Philong)

Thursday, 01 October 2009
James O'toole and Khouth Sophak Chakrya
The Phnom Penh Post

Dear KI-Media Readers,

Please rest assured that I am still a woman and I have no intention of becoming a man any time soon.

Yours truly,

Socheata

The anonymous authors of KI-Media are forging an independent place in the political sphere.

ON September 16, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a press conference in which it attempted to dispel a report that Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian Mu Sochua had participated in an “official” meeting in Washington with United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“The US ambassador met with me yesterday and said that what was published on KI-Media was not true,” a secretary of state for the ministry, Ouch Borith, said. “It is an exaggeration and a lie.”

The meeting between Clinton and Mu Sochua did in fact take place, but debate continues over whether it was strictly official or not. Whatever one makes of this controversy, however, Ouch Borith’s comments signal the rising stature of KI-Media, an English-language news aggregation blog founded several years ago by a group of like-minded Cambodians who met on a series of Internet discussion forums.

Their first post appeared on July 27, 2005, featuring a controversial video interview with Chhay Vee, a man who claimed involvement in the 1997 grenade attack in front of the old National Assembly building that killed 16 people.

“Looking back,” wrote Socheata, one of the administrators of the site, “posting that video essentially defined one of our goals that we have maintained since: disseminating information that is not easily available through the traditional media, or that has been suppressed/banned/censored by the Phnom Penh regime”.

Like the other contributors interviewed, Socheata insisted on confining correspondence to email and requested that he be identified only by his Internet handle, citing concerns about “safety and security”.

In the four years since the Chhay Vee video, the KI-Media team has stepped up its output, culling from local and international news outlets to produce a mix of news articles, political cartoons and editorials that numbers in the double digits on a daily basis. For the week of September 14, Socheata said, the site tallied 73,400 page views from almost 32,000 unique users.

KI-Media’s dozen or so regular contributors include four Cambodian residents, with others in Europe, Australia and North America. Though Socheata said the site is “not aligned with any political party”, another contributor, Khmerization, acknowledged that it “tends to be opposition-oriented”.

This assessment is borne out by the blog’s design. Passages of articles that include condemnations of the government are often enlarged and printed in red font, and contributors do not hesitate to editorialise. “15% garment sector decline, double digits drop in air arrivals, construction slowdown, but… all is fine in Hun Xen’s Cambodia!” read the site’s heading for a press release from the International Monetary Fund posted last week, the premier’s name spelled Vietnamese-style, with an “X”, in a jibe at his ties with the neighbouring country.

KI-Media’s site, ki-media.blogspot.com, has garnered attention across Cambodia’s political spectrum. Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith said he checks it several times a day, and that many other members of government are also regular readers.

Despite their frequent attacks on the government, Khieu Kanharith said that those who post on the site need not fear government prosecution.

“People have the right to comment about whatever they want without fear of defamation or disinformation lawsuits,” the information minister said.

“But if journalists take comments from the blog and publish them in newspapers or on radio and TV to incite violence or defame someone, they will face a complaint.”

Others do not see the distinction between traditional news outlets and Web sites like KI-Media in such a cut-and-dried manner.

Soy Sopheap, publisher of the Deum Ampil newspaper, said he was one of many local and international journalists who regularly check KI-Media. He expressed frustration at the blog’s aggregating style, however, saying its contributors are siphoning revenue from professional journalists.

“I pay US$1,000 per month to my staff to report the news, and they steal from us,” he said. “It’s not fair to my media company.”

Heng Soy, another KI-Media blogger, dismissed this allegation. Though the site does post and translate articles from other news outlets, he said, this is done only with proper attribution to the original source. As for theft of revenue, Heng Soy noted that he and other contributors refuse paid advertisements “to avoid criticisms that we are trying to make a profit from this blog”.

Pa Nguon Teang, director of the Cambodian Centre for Independent Media, agreed that KI-Media properly sources the news it takes from other outlets, and said that he supports online debate. He worried, however, about the anonymous Web site’s lack of accountability.

“If they want to continue with this kind of work, they should identify themselves,” he said. “They are a media outlet, and they need to show their professionalism.”

Though contributors exchange only limited personal information with one another, most, Socheata said, appear to be students. He and others noted several events on which KI-Media helped drive coverage by traditional outlets, including the 2005 arrest of Human Rights Party President Kem Sokha and the controversial “ilovethailand” Web site that drew the ire of the Cambodian government this July after claiming parts of Cambodia as lost Thai territory.

Rather than competing with the mainstream media, however, Socheata said the goal of KI-Media is simply to encourage dialogue on the part of its readers.

“What we would like to foster is a healthy political debate on all issues that affect Cambodians,” he said.

Websites put Thai and Cambodia relations in a shaky ground

Jul 19, 2009
By Reinhard Hohler

Chang Mai, Thailand (eTN) - According to some Cambodian media sources, a new website launched by the Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva recently has caused a stir in the Cambodian local media as well as among top officials.

The website at the heart of the controversy, www.ilovethailand.org, claims that parts of today's Cambodia were in fact Thai territories.

The website's claims make headlines in most major newspapers in Cambodia. Khmerization was the first site that has opened the debate on this controversial website, when it received an e-mail from Mr. Dith Nimol alerting the website's claims relating to Thai "lost territory.”

Reaksmei Kampuchea newspaper picked up Khmerization's report. Then Khmer Sthapana, Deum Ampil and Khmer online website, www.everyday.com.kh, have all reported the Thai PM web-site's controversy extensively.

The major English daily Phnom Penh Post reported that Cambodian officials are scurrying to investigate the claims. It quoted Mr. Phay Siphan, spokesman for the Council of Ministers, as saying that "they (the Thai) are twisting the facts of history. It is completely exaggerated."

According to Phnom Penh Post, in 1794, Thailand - then known as Siam - annexed Siem Reap and Battambang provinces from the declining Khmer kingdom, but the territories were returned following a March 1907 treaty between Thailand and France.

And, according to historical records, other Khmer territories annexed by Thailand in the late 18th centuries include Kauk Khan (Sisaket), Surin, Sa Keo, Nokor Reach (Korat) and many more provinces.

What is happening in Cambodia this week

By Khmerization

Events in Cambodia in the last few days deserved some attention. The Human Right Party is holding its first congress today, with one of the agenda being a debate about the possibility of a merger with the Sam Rainsy Party.

News that Ms. Mu Sochua was elected as the head of the Sam Rainsy Party's Women Movement also deserved attention simply because she has been in the news spotlight recently for being a daredevil to challenge the Cambodian strongman, Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Another the hot news that deserved close attention would be Mr. Yim Sovan's blasting of the Cambodian court for "turning white into black, black into white". Asked by Deum Ampil journalist whether the SRP is considering changing its name in the near future, Mr. Sovan responded that the SRP will only change its name whenever the corrupt Cambodian courts become fully independent and Cambodia becomes a state of laws.

But the one that is hottest would be the news about the birth of ilovekhmer.org, a Khmer website created with the sole intention of countering the "provably false accusations" made by the Thai PM's website, ilovethailand.org. The site proved an instant popularity with internet users, with its site metre hotly counting the numbers of visitors.

Cambodia's Scale of Justice

7th March, 2009
Opinion by Khmerization

“In Cambodia of today, people win court cases not because they deserve to win. People win court cases based on how much money they can bribe the judges, regardless of whether they are on the right or the wrong side of the laws.”

Cambodia’s justice has been suffering image problems since the formal inception of the Cambodian judiciary. From one regime to the next, Cambodia’s justice system, and its tarnished image, remained virtually unchanged. And after the 1970 coup d’etat that toppled Sihanouk’s royalist regime and the installation of the Khmer Republican regime of Marshall Lon Nol, Cambodian judicial and justice system has suffered incessant political interferences. But the level of political interferences in the judiciary has never been on a scale seen today.

Political and legal pundits are dumbstruck about the level of injustice that has been practising in the Cambodian courts today. The high level of injustice comes about in large part due to the economic factor of the judges because of very low pay which lead them to practise corruption. But the main factor leading to rampant corruption and injustice is mainly due to the condonation of corruption and impunity tolerated by the government. As a result, justice has become too expensive for many ordinary Cambodians.

The scale of justice in today's Cambodia is tilting toward the rich and the powerful at the expense of the poor. In Cambodia of today, people win court cases not because they deserve to win. People win court cases based on how much money they can bribe the judges, regardless of whether they are on the right or the wrong side of the laws. The more people are willing to bribe the judges, the more chances they will be assured of winning. This is why nowadays, the poor people have lost confidence in the justice system and resort to take matter into their own hands. Regardless of what purpose it was originally designed for, the Cambodian justice system has effectively become the tool for the rich and the powerful to oppress the poor.

Corruption has made justice in Cambodia unreachable by the have-nots, but it served the rich and the powerful well because of the money and the political powers they wield. But the political interferences in the judicial system have made it virtually impossible for those who are on the opposite side of politics to the government to obtain justice. Crimes perpetrated against opposition figures by government agents have never been resolved. On the contrary, crimes perpetrated against supporters of government, whether the perpetrators are from the opposition or elsewhere, have always resulted in the wrong convictions of opposition supporters.

Case in point: The recent lifting of Mr. Sam Rainsy’s parliamentary is a gross injustice and a blatant proof of high level of political interferences in the judiciary. The Cambodian People’s Party-controlled judiciary failed to take action on Mr. Sam Rainsy’s lawsuit against the National Election Committee (NEC) for electoral frauds. On the contrary, the court took action against Mr. Sam Rainsy, following lawsuit lodged by the NEC for failing to pay fines, which resulted in his parliamentary immunity being lifted.

The lifting of Mr. Sam Rainsy’s parliamentary immunity is illegal for many reasons. First, Mr. Sam Rainsy has not been allowed to exhaust all avenues of appeals. He was still appealing to the High Court when the Permanent Committee of the Parliament hurriedly lifted his immunity in contravention of the constitution. The Cambodian constitution stipulates that only the full session of the parliament can decide on such a matter. Secondly, Mr. Sam Rainsy had paid the fines on the same day as when his parliamentary immunity has been lifted. And immediately after the payment of the fines, the NEC, the plaintiff against Mr. Sam Rainsy, withdrew the lawsuit against Mr. Sam Rainsy. Mr. Sam Rainsy immediately wrote to the president of the National Assembly requesting for his immunity to be re-instated. As a matter of fact, without political interferences, the matter is considered finished. But due to political interferences, up until today, nearly two weeks after the fines have been paid, Mr. Sam Rainsy is still without his parliamentary immunity.

Mr. Sam Rainsy’s case, if not for any political motivation, can be resolved in split seconds. Cambodia has more urgent and pressing issues for the government, especially Prime Minister Hun Sen, to deal with. Political pundits and observers put the blames squarely on the government, Prime Minister Hun Sen in particular, for artificially creating a lot of trivial issues for itself to be occupied within a deliberate attempt to divert public attention from the more pressing issues of unemployment, global financial crisis, crimes and border issues.

For the sake of Cambodia and her suffering people, Cambodian political leaders, Prime Minister Hun Sen and Mr. Sam Rainsy in particular, should set aside their political differences and unite in one force to work together in helping to tackle urgent issues facing the Cambodian nation today. Border issues, political, economic and social ills should be on top of their agenda. Internal infighting, as is always the case, has brought havoc and destruction. Internal infighting against one’s own fellow countrymen, even against those who are from the opposite side of politics, is effectively a national suicide.

To sum up, in order to make Cambodian justice system a clean and just system, the judges have to be paid well and severe punishments of judges who are involved in corruption must be applied. But more importantly, political entities must stop interfering with the courts’ works and the courts and judges must be made to be neutral and truly independent of politics.

Thai authority denied Cambodian tourists entry to Thailand and demanded them to pay $1500 each

Reaksmey Kampuchea newspaper

8th January, 2009
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

The 7-storey Jupiter Cruise liner (pictured) with 450 passengers had docked at a Bangkok Seaport on 25th December, 2008 at 10:30am with the hopes that the passengers will be able to celebrate Christmas in the land of Thailand. On the cruise ship there were 269 Cambodian passengers but it was the worst nightmare for them that the Thai authority did not allow them to leave the ship and sent them packing back to Cambodia.

On the 4th of December, Jupiter Cruise, as part of its first launch, has left Phu Quoc (Koh Tral) island in Nha Trang province for Kompong Som in Cambodia to go to Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket in Thailand. This is a free cruise and according to Mr. Benson Samay, defence attorney for the cruise, on the cruise ship there were 269 Cambodian passengers, among them there were 27 Cambodian passengers who hold diplomatic and government official passports, 22 Cambodians who hold foreign passports and 215 Cambodians who hold ordinary passports with Thai visas stamped on them.

In a letter to Mr. Chheang Vun, Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, sent on 6th January, 2009, Mr. Benson Samay said that, according to an English captain of the Jupiter Cruise, the Thai authority did not allow the Cambodian passengers to enter into Thailand by using an excuse that “there might be some Khmer Rouge disguising among the passengers who can create insecurity in their country (Thailand).” The letter added that the Thai authority will only allow the Cambodian passengers to enter Thailand “on the condition that those Cambodian passengers agreed to pay $1500 each person in security bond and the bond money can only be withdrawn after 3 months time.”

Mr. Chheang Vun has told Reaksmey Kampuchea newspaper that he has sent the letter to Mr. Long Visalo, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to summon the Thai officials to explain the incident.

Mr. Chheang Vun added: “if this information is true, it is a regrettable incident”, by adding that he was not aware whether the cruise ship has sufficient documents to enter Thailand or not, Mr. Chheang Vun said that Cambodia and Thailand have a visa agreement, and among the 269 passengers, only 5 passengers who did not have the Thai visas. Mr. Chheang Vun said that according to Mr. Benson Samay, those 5 passengers did not wish to leave the cruise ship to enter the Thai territories. By saying this, Mr. Chheang Vun wanted to stress that there is no reason for the Thai authority to bar the 269 Cambodian passengers from entering Thai territories.

Mr. Benson Samay added that the Thai authority allowed the Vietnamese passengers to disembark the cruise ship to enter Thai territories by transporting the 24 Vietnamese passengers by boat to Bangkok. The Cambodian were not allowed to enter Thailand unless they agreed to pay the $1500 security bond as requested.

Under international regulations, regulated by the International Maritime Organisation (OMI), the regulations for any ships to dock at any international seaports are not linked to the passengers on board of the ships. This means that as long as the passengers on the ship have appropriate visas agreed between the two countries, they must be allowed to enter the country they intended to visit. On the contrary, if the passengers have no proper documentations, when the ship has already docked at any international ports, those passengers can remain on the ship legally because that ship is considered as “a country” as well.

Two days ago an official from the Thai Foreign Ministry told the Thai media that he did not know of the incident and that same official has assured that Thailand will launch an investigation if there is a detailed diplomatic protest from Cambodia.

Mr. Bora Touch: I Am A Monarchist

Dear Readers,

After my article titled "Cambodia: The Monarchy Or A Republic" was posted here in my blog, I received a few replies in my emails. Among them, the comments from Mr. Bora Touch, a lawyer from Sydney, Australia have been very academic and interesting. His comments are below - Khmerization.

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Learned friends:

I am too a monarchist, a Khmer monarchist to be particular, as I came to appreciate the Khmer monarchy as a symbol, if not the symbol, of the Khmer culture, tradition, civilisation and institutionally maturity.

For us Khmer, republicanism is not a new (exciting) conception.It has been around before the times of our Lord Buddha. Buddha, our Lord guru, after experiencing life, philosophically and practically, rejected, because of a pragmatic knowledge of human failings, the republicanism way of ruling. The Lord had this to preach:

" For as Long as there are bullies and liars, monarchs are needed. For as long as the poor look for hope and the rich seek excess, for as long as the wicked fight for dominion and other nations manoeuvre for control, for as long as evil men oppose the impulses of the good, we need to believe in a king whose power comes from above."

In this regard, I am with Dr. Lao Mong Hay.

Still in the relevant subject. We all know that India and Cambodia had the oldest/superior polity/political science treatises and teachings, Kaulya's Artharastra, to name one. Some dozen centuries later, ie in 4th century, Kamandakiya authored another significant treatise on political science called Nitisara (elements of polity). According to Khmer inscriptions, most if not all of Indian treatises, such Artharsastra and Nitisara, (Mahabatara, Mahayana, Buddhism included) etc. came to Cambodia before Angkor: ( KK Sarkar, Early Indo-Cambodian Contacts (1968). During the French colonial dominion, instead of teaching us the Khmer-Indian philosophies and polity, they taught us the western ones. Until today, we still are taught the same things at those universities because we/ the Khmer teachers are unable to teach our own thoughts. Lok Sar Sarun, through his Aryadharma ning Varpadharma Khmaer, (Khmer Civilisation and Culture (1972), arguing a long the line of Dr. Theos Bernard, Hindu Philosophy, (1947) gave us a starting point, but again we failed to pick his thoughts up and expand.

The French had also known that by the time they arrived in Cambodia in 1863, the later had a surviving constitution/Kram Srok (1693) which was older than theirs, older than the US's, and a rather sophisticated legal system and laws. The Khmer 1947 constitution, which most scholars wrongly called it the first constitution of Cambodia, was a copy of the draft constitution of the fourth French Republic. Again we ignored our own thoughts.

My Saturday's ranting.

Bora Touch.
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And the following is another reply from a reader named Salen Sy.

Dear Bora and all,

I personally have enough with the Monarchy, and the Royalist Character's is detestable but for the Khmer interests, and the Khmer glory to the future though, Royalist State in Cambodia is a must, as long as I can understand the Cambodian problem. Therefore, I am another person who support the Monarchy state in Cambodia. Bravo ! ! !

Regards

Salen Sy.

Khmer Culture And The Thai People

Reaksmei Kampuchea newspaper
30th December, 2008
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

The Thai people have copied Khmer culture, adopted and practised it as a new culture to build a brand new society on the lands of the ex-Khmer territories and developed Thailand into a more advanced and prosperous country than Cambodia, which is the original owner of the culture and the lands.

Who are the Khmers? What is the Khmer culture? Who are the Thais? Where did they come from?

Khmer are peace-loving people who never fight one another. They are a people who were born and lived in the Golden Peninsula (Chroy Sovannaphum) since a long time ago.

According to the evidence from the pre-historic sites of Spean Neak Bridge at a reservoir northwest of Cambodia, it show that the Khmer people lived in the areas since 5000 years before the Christian Era. The Khmer people practised Khmer culture, which was a culture that taught Khmer people to behave appropriately, to become law-abiding citizens. It is a culture that teaches people to always respect elders, especially their parents, their teachers and older people.

The culture Khmer is the Khmer language, Khmer literature, ancestors worshipping, Brahmanism, Buddhism, Khmer traditions and Khmer arts etc. Khmer culture teaches Khmer to be intelligent and sow the seed of a hard working Khmer race. Khmer culture educate Khmer to be a dignified race, the first settlers in the territories of Nokor Phnom (Funan in Chinese). At the beginning of the first century of the Christian Era, Khmer culture was the most civilised culture during the Angkorian Era of 802-1431 AD. The Khmer people speak Khmer language which was the oldest language of the Khmer-Mon family in the region. During the Funan Era, the Khmer language was the most developed language due to the integration of the two languages of ancient Khmer language and the Sanskrit language of India.

Khmer have created the system of writing in the 7th century AD, which was evidenced by the first stone inscription in 611 AD at Angkor Borei in Takeo province. This system of Khmer writing, which was a source of Khmer values, have helped develop a more advanced culture until this present day which is the Khmer cultural assets including Khmer literature, traditions and arts. This culture has helped built many fine Khmer ancient temples, including the temple of Angkor Wat which was built in the 12th century and the Preah Vihear temple which was built in 911 AD.

Who are the Thai? Where did they come from?

The proper answer is very easy and that is the Thai people were wanderers who have moved to settle on the former Khmer territories. According to Mr. Henri Parc Monde (spelling?), a French author who wrote a book titled “Angkor” published by a Phnom Penh bookstore in 1960, wrote in page 9 that “The Thai people, who have a T’ai bloodline, came from southern China to settle in the Khmer territories, influenced by Khmer civilisation and have considered Khmers as their masters, but the T’ai people didn’t wait too long before usurping against their masters, the Khmers, through wars and at the end they have conquered the whole of Khmer territories.”

Mr. Dolfin Miniere (spelling?), another French author who wrote the “History of Cambodia” which was published in 1968, wrote in page 50 that “the T’ai people have created a state called ‘Nanchao’ in the 8th century in Yunan province of China and later moved to live in the mountain valleys of central China and Burma. Taking the chance when Burma was sacked by the Mongols led by Kublai Khan, the T’ai have taken control of most parts of Burma and learned the military strategy and tactics from the Mongols and copied the system of Khmer writing and later the T’ai managed to gain control of the whole Khmer administration in the Menam region."

The Khmer have fought against the T’ai (Thai) fiercely but lost and the T’ai established their capital at Sukhothai, which was a former Khmer capital. Even Mr. Anumarn Rajathorn, a Thai professor of the University of Chulalongkorn and a chairman of Thai History Review Committee, in 1968 wrote similar to what Mr. Parc Monde and Mr. Miniere had written.

Mr. Anumarn had written a book titled “Essay on Thai folklore”, published in Bangkok in 1968 in which he wrote on pages 8-11 that the T’ai people were originated in the south of the Yang-tse Kiang River in China and the Chinese people have recorded in their history book that called the T’ai as “jungle people”. In the 7th or 8th century, the T’ai people have created a state called “Nanchao” which was a name originated from the combination between the T’ai and Chinese words formed together. The word “nan” in Chinese means south and the word “chao” in Thai means prince/king.

In the 13th century, under the leadership of two leaders, the Thai have taken control of the Khmer capital of Sukhothai from the Khmer king and established their capital at Chiangmai. At the end of the 13th century in 1283, the Thai king, the third king of Sukhothai named Ramakamhaeng, had modified the Khmer alphabets into Thai alphabets, which the Thai people considered as the historical year of the Thai culture.

Before they have their own alphabets, they used Khmer alphabets in writing and because they have used Khmer alphabets they were able to seize Sukhothai from the Khmers. After they have created a state at Sukhothai, the Thai still use Khmer alphabets in their writing, especially Buddhist literatures which the Thai used to write on “Rith” leaves to make religious scriptures because the Thai believe that Khmer alphabets are sacred letters. After they sacked Sukhothai, the Thai were not satisfied and began their military expeditions to sack Angkor, which in 1431, 193 years after the sacking of Sukhothai, the Thai sacked Angkor and plundered almost all of Khmer cultural assets which caused miserable separations of Khmer families for hundreds of years afterward.

Since then, Khmer people do not know clearly what is Khmer culture which is an obstacle to the developments of Khmer society. Mr. Anumarn wrote in page 85 in his book “Essay on Thai Folklore” which describes that “ The Thai have combined little by little the Mon and Khmer languages into the Thai language and literature.”

In fact the Thai language is a language of the natives of Nanchao but the Thai borrowed many Khmer vocabularies. For example, the Khmer word “tess diel”(criticism), the Thai write and read as “tik tien”. The Khmer word of “kol” (movie), the Thai pronounced as “kon”, “kampeng“ (fortress/wall), the Thai pronounced as “kamphaeng”, thnol (road), as “thnon”, “rup reang” (form/shape), as “rup rang”, salarien (school), as “rong rien’, “chamroen” (prosperity), as “charoen”, preah vihear (temple), as ‘phra viharn”, ktum tess (water crest), as K’thum thet” etc. Mr. Anumarn wrote that the royal vocabularies that have been used by the Thai royal families were also borrowed from the Khmer royal vocabularies.

The Thai copied Khmer culture of the young respecting the old, copied the Khmer traditional code of dress like wearing sarong and they copied the Khmer architecture of building their houses in Khmer styles. In Khmer literature, the Thai copied from Khmer the Reamker epic (Ramayana) and called it “Ramaken”. The Khmer prawn soup “sngor nheaim“, the Thai called it “tom yam”. And the Thai ‘h’mok” (steamed spicy meat/fish paste) which Khmer called “amok” is also a Khmer food.

In arts, the Thai have copied many Khmer artistic performances, but they changed they way they dance to differentiate from Khmer.

In the Brahmanic (Hindu) belief, the Thai have copied many ceremonies and festivals from Khmer such as the royal ceremony of Royal Ploughing, Water Festival (om touk), kite flying etc.

Mr. Peter Jensen wrote in the Hindustan Times published on the 18th May, 2008 which quoted Mr. Sulak Sivaraksa, a renowned Thai historian on Khmer empires, who said that “The Thai invasions of Khmer territories made the Khmer to become weak, but the Thai copied all Khmer cultures and traditions, including the belief in the god-king and the ceremonies in the royal palace and the most influential belief among the circles of present Thai politicians is the “Khmer black magic”.

The above brief history show that the Thai people came from Nanchao of southern China in the 13th century to invade Khmer territories. Now, in the 21st century, the Thai still harbour the ambitions and still invade Khmer territories and plunder Khmer cultural assets. The Thai actions can only be likened to the words of Mr. Anumarn, the renowned Thai historian, on page 10 of his book “Essay on Thai Foklore” which he said “The Thai never ceased to be on the move.”

Indeed, they are still on the move……

The History of Cambodian -Portuguese Relations

20th December, 2008
Written by Khmerization

I wrote the article below out of friendship. A Portuguese blogger, Francisco Castelo Branco, who has recently found my blog Khmerization by chance has asked me to write something about Cambodia in his blog so that the Portuguese people can learn something about Cambodia. Here is his message to me: “Can you make a text about Cambodja and your people to my blog? for people here in Portugal known more about Cambodja...I think it was interesting to maintain this Portugal- Cambodja contact (sic)”. As a goodwill gesture, I’ve have done a quick research of the Portuguese-Cambodian relations and come up with a short article below. Through this short article, I hope that the Portuguese people can learn of the historical Cambodian-Portuguese relations which dated back to about 600 years ago. Here it is:
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1. Introduction

The Khmer people were among the first in Southeast Asia to adopt religious ideas and political institutions from India and to establish centralised kingdoms covering comprehensive large territories. The earliest known kingdom in the area, Funan, flourished from around the first to the sixth century A.D. It was succeeded by Chenla, which controlled large areas of modern Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. The golden age of Khmer civilisation, was the time from the 9th to 13th century, when the kingdom of Kambuja, which gave the name Kampuchea, or Cambodia, which according to sources, derived from the Portuguese name of Cambodja, had governed large territories from its capital in the region of Angkor in western Cambodia.

The Portuguese were the first recorded Europeans to do Christian missionary works in Cambodia. They arrived in Cambodia as early as in the 15th century and were very active in the Cambodian affairs.

2. The Prominence of Portuguese People in Cambodian Society

The Cambodian-Portuguese connections dated back the mid 1400s when Portuguese traders and missionaries first set foots in Cambodia. But it was in the 19th century that the Portuguese have played a very significant role in the Cambodian society. Many descendants of Portuguese traders and missionaries took many leading roles in the shaping of the Cambodian affairs.

The Diaz and the Moneiro played an important part in the Cambodian society of the 19th century. Constantine Monteiro, on a mission to Singapore in 1850, wrote an article on Cambodia titled “notes to accompany map of Cambodia” which was published in the journal of the “Indian Archipelago and Eastern India” in 1851. Another Portuguese wrote “Lettre sur le Cambodge” which was translated into the “Revue Maritime et Coloniale” in June 1865. Another Portuguese, Col de Monteiro (1839-1908) had become King Norodom’s secretary and the Kralahom or the minister of the navy. His father, Bernardos Ros de Monteiro, who was later one of the major mandarins of king Norodom, had accompanied Father Bouillevauv when he visited Angkor Wat in 1850 in which he described Angkor Wat as “is of such extraordinary construction that it is not possible to describe it with a pen, particularly since it is like no other building in the world.” Col de Monteiro’s grandfather had come to Cambodia on a missionary works in the early nineteenth century and decided to settle in Cambodia permanently and played an important part in Cambodian politics at the time.

The De Monteiro descendants have played very prominent roles in Cambodian politics up until the mid 1950s. Some of their descendants have served as ministers during Prince Sihanouk’s rule. Today, many of the De Monteiro Cambodian descendants have spread across the continents. Some are still living in Cambodia and some have settled in some western countries, especially in Australia where some of the De Monteiros have settled after escaping war-torn Cambodia in the 1970s and 1980s.

3. The Portuguese Influence?

The Khmer people called their country Kampuchea, a word which derived from the Pali word of Kambuja. But the word Cambodge in French and Cambodia in English was said to be derived from the Portuguese word of Cambodja. This rationale might have some merits and truth in it since the Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in Cambodia in the mid 1400s. The Portuguese word of Cambodja was certainly derived from the Khmer word Kampuja but it was certainly the Portuguese word of Cambodja that has introduced the name of Kambuja to the vocabularies of the European languages as they were the first Europeans to have arrived in Cambodia.

Another Portuguese influence in Cambodian language was the name of the Cambodian currency, the Riel. There are suggestions that the Cambodian unit of currency, the "Riel", is probably derived from the Portuguese unit of currency "Real" that was in use between A.D.1430-1911.

4. The Cambodian-Portuguese Earliest Connections

When the Thai kingdom of Ayudhya sacked Angkor in 1431, the Spanish and Portuguese, who had recently become active in the region, also played a part in these wars until resentment of their power led to the massacre of the Spanish garrison at Phnom Penh in 1599.

The first known Portuguese missionary to have come to preach in Cambodia was Gaspar de Cruze, who came to Longvek, the Cambodian royal capital, in 1556 in an attempt to convert Cambodians to Christianity. He leaves a year later disappointedly unable to convert any Cambodians, whom he blames for believing in superstitions and loyalty to Buddhism. During that period, many Portuguese came as traders and missionaries and were met with fierce resistance from the local Chinese merchants and the devout Cambodian Buddhists. Many of them were massacred.

To protect these traders from local attacks, in 1580 Portugal and Spain sent reinforcements of Spanish soldiers of fortune and Dominicans from Manila, the Philippines, to protect Portuguese in Cambodia. Many Portuguese traders and missionaries are in the Khmer royal court of Longvek during this period.

Another Portuguese, who perhaps played the most important parts in the Cambodian affairs at the time was Diego Belloso (Diogo Veloso), an adventurer, who came to Longvek in 1585. He later married a relative of the King.

At the same time other Iberian adventurers were trying their luck in Cambodia, a few missionaries had gone there as early as the 1550s, but Buddhist opposition had always forced them to leave again. This changed in the 1580s, when an ongoing struggle between Siam and Cambodia turned against the Cambodians. As the Siamese king, Naresuen, advanced on Longvek (Cambodia's capital for much of the 16th century), the feeble Cambodian king, Settha, became desperate. Using Diogo Veloso, a Portuguese as his envoy, soldier of fortune, Settha pleaded for aid, first from the Portuguese at Malacca, then from the Spaniards at Manila. A Spanish force was sent from Manila in 1594 but it arrived too late; the Spaniards found that Cambodia had fallen to the Siamese, Veloso was a prisoner in Siam, and King Settha was a refugee in Laos. The Spanish leader, Blaz Ruiz, was captured and placed on a prison ship headed for Siam. Unwilling to give up so easily, Ruiz managed to hijack the ship and take it back to Manila. Meanwhile the equally resourceful Veloso gained favour with Naresuen, the Siamese king, and got himself placed in command of a ship carrying the Siamese ambassador to Manila.

The adventure became even more bizarre once Veloso and Ruiz were united in Manila. Forgetting that he was now officially a diplomat of Siam, Veloso claimed that he represented Cambodia's ex-king and signed a highly irregular treaty. This document allowed Spanish troops, merchants, and missionaries to travel freely in Cambodia, and promised that the king and queen would become Christians in return for military aid. Then Veloso and Ruiz led a raid on Siamese-occupied Phnom Penh. Deciding at first to return to Manila after this affair, they later changed their minds, jumped ship in a Vietnamese port, and marched overland from Vietnam to Laos, where they discovered that Settha and his eldest son had died. The adventurers returned to Cambodia in 1597 with Settha's second son in tow; fearing another Spanish invasion, the terrified Cambodians allowed them to crown the prince as King Barom Reachea II.

In 1595 Diego Belloso managed to convince Dasmarinas, the Governor of the Philippines, to send military expedition to protect King Settha's throne and at the same time established the de facto Spanish rule over the Khmer court. Three ships with 130 soldiers were sent.

The Hispano-Portuguese expedition sent from the Philippines arrived in Phnom Penh in 1596, but the King, Ream the second or Chau Ponhea Nou (1596 – 1597), had already fled the court at Srei Santhor and Reama Chong Prei was installed. Belloso and Ruiz, who comes with the expedition, along with 38 men travelled to Srei Santhor and attacked the palace at night. They killed King Reama and fought their way back to their ships at Phnom Penh.

On April 12, 1596, Portuguese Belloso and Spaniard Ruiz’s men attacked and ruthlessly killed many Chinese traders in Phnom Penh. They also burnt houses in the Chinese quarter of Phnom Penh.

In May 1596, Veloso (Belloso), Ruiz and some 40 of their men made a surprise attack on the Khmer court at Srei Santhor, killing the King, burning his palace and blowing up a powder magazine. They then returned to their ships in Phnom Penh and fled.

In May 1597, Veloso and Ruiz, fled Cambodia after killing a Khmer King Reama Chong Prei the previous year. They reappeared in Cambodia with the son of King Settha Chau Ponhea Ton (Barom Reachea II), who took the throne at Srei Santhor.

In 1599, the Spaniards and the Malays (the Chams, the Cambodian Muslims) in Phnom Penh clashed, in which Veloso and Ruiz were killed. At the time, the two Portuguese and the Spaniard adventurers were at Srei Santhor for discussion with the King as violent incident occurred in Phnom Penh between Spaniards and Malays (the Chams). Against the King’s advice for them to hide and wait for the violence to calm down, the two adventurers rushed to Phnom Penh to help their compatriots and were both killed by the Chams.

The Cambodian-Portuguese connections have been the longest of any European peoples. Britain, the greatest empire in the 18th and 19th centuries, only had contacts with Cambodia in the early 17th century. Peter Floris, who arrived in Phnom Penh through the Mekong River in July 1612, appeared to be the first British to reach Phnom Penh and Cambodia. Even the Dutch who had established themselves in Batavia (Indonesia) much earlier had only made contacts with Cambodia in the mid-1600s, when the manager of the Dutch factory, Pierre de Regemortes, arrived in Oudong, the Cambodia royal court, in September, 1643 to protest to the Cambodian king against the violence and damages suffered by his company. Irritated by his insolence, the Royal Guard killed him and 36 of his followers, while some 50 others were thrown into prison.

The French, the colonial power of Cambodia for 90 years, arrived in Cambodia much later than the Portuguese. Bastian de Bouillon, according to the English documents, appeared to be the first Frenchman to arrive in Cambodia when he docked at the Cambodian port in 1653. He arrived from Batavia (Indonesia) with two junks laden with cloth worth 30,000 reals.

The French people only returned back to Cambodia some two hundred years later, to colonise it in the mid 1800s. France signed a treaty with the then Prince Norodom on 11th August 1863 to establish a Protectorate over Cambodia which France maintained a colonial rule for 90 years until Cambodia gained independence on 9th November, 1953.
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5. The Present Cambodian-Portuguese Connections

It is hard to know to what extent Portugal and the Portuguese people have played a part in the Cambodian society of today. But there must be some Portuguese people who have come to do volunteer works in Cambodia. I am sure that there must be some Portuguese people who have set up businesses and charity organisations in Cambodia. At the time of writing this article I was unable to find any evidence of significant Portuguese involvements in the Cambodian society. However, I hope that Portuguese people and their government can play a leading role in the Cambodian society as what their ancestors have done from the 15th to the early 2oth century.
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References:
1. http://books.google.com/books?id=h6SOvP6FLskC&pg=PA75&lpg=PA75&dq=col+de+monteiro&source=web&ots=6qugoEOgJY&sig=5N7QB-FA_upK0aVLeN-vswzbR-0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result
2. http://books.google.com/books?id=CMTBAB-D2soC&pg=PA250&lpg=PA250&dq=ros+de+monteiro&source=bl&ots=Qrz3t100Jl&sig=6W8isricEsySybNREl2L5YawH4w&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPA250,M1
3. http://www.globeaware.org/Content/trips/cambodia/cambodiahistory.php
4. http://www.geocities.com/khmerchronology/1400.htm
5. http://www.guidetothailand.com/thailand-history/cambodia.php
6. Miltom E. Osborne, The French Presence in Cochinchina and Cambodia.

NEC sues Sam Rainsy for not paying fines

everyday.com
20th December, 2008
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

The National Election Committee (NEC) has lodged a lawsuit in the Phnom Penh First Court to implement the decision of the Constitutional Council which fined Mr. Sam Rainsy (pictured), president of the Sam Rainsy Party, 10 million Riels ($US2,500).

Mr. Sam Rainsy has again faced the court because he defied the ruling of the Constitutional Council by refusing to pay the fines from charges that he insulted the leaders of the Cambodian People's Party during the 2008 election campaigns.

At the same time as repeatedly refusing to pay the 10 million Riels fines, Mr. Sam Rainsy has also threatened to sue the NEC (for electoral fraud). Mr. Tep Nytha, Secretary-General of NEC, has appointed two NEC officials to represent the NEC in court. He said that during the last election campaigns, 8 people, including Mr. Sam Rainsy, have been fined for violating electoral laws. But he added that among the 8 people fined, only Mr. Sam Rainsy has not paid the fines yet.

Governor Kep Chutema gives green light not to sue actress Vang Sreyno

everyday.com
20th December, 2008
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

Governor Kep Chutema has returned from an official visit to Paris on 19th of December and told Koh Santepheap newspaper that he has instructed the Phnom Penh City Administration not to sue actress Vang Sreyno (pictured) for damaging the statue of the Buddhist Patriarch, Samdech Chuon Nath. Recently, actress Vang Sreyno has crashed her car into the statue of Samdech Chuon Nath which caused damages to the tune of $6,000.

On the 15th of December, actress Vang Sreyno has written a letter of apology to the governor for the damage caused by her. Upon arriving back from Paris, the governor hinted that he will instruct the Phnom Penh City Administration not to proceed with the lawsuit against her. He did not eleborate of what extent the Administration can forgive her, but hinted that her apology will be accepted.

Prince Ranariddh’s spokesman dismissed allegations that he requested a royal residence and sought to appoint 200 loyalists

Prince Ranariddh (L) and PM Hun Sen (R).

Koh Santepheap newspaper
19th December, 2008
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

Phnom Penh - Mr. Chea Chanboribo, spokesman for Prince Ranariddh, on 18th December has written a letter rejecting reports published in the Moneaksekar newspaper that Prince Ranariddh has requested to Samdech Dejo Hun Sen to provide him with a royal residence in from of the Preah Meru Royal Ground. The reports further accused that the prince has also asked for the appointments of 200 of his supporters to work in the King’s Cabinet.

In a letter to the editor of Moneaksekar newspaper, Mr. Chea Chanboribo wrote: “The spokesman of Prince Ranariddh, chief of the king’s advisory council, vehemently denied all unjust allegations levelled at Samdech Krom Preah (Ranariddh). The publication of unclear sources shows the irresponsibility, the lack of professionalism and the lack of journalistic ethics of the journalist.”

The letter further added that: “Up until this time, Samdech Krom Preah has never requested to the king to appoint any officials, so the reports published in the Moneaksekar newspaper are malicious allegations intended to damage the honour, the reputation and the dignity of Samdech Krom Preah as well as the honour of Samdech Dejo Hun Sen, the prime minister of Cambodia.”

At the same time, the letter has warned that, shall the Moneaksekar newspaper failed to provide evidence of the allegations as requested, legal measures will be taken to find justice for Prince Ranariddh.

Mr. Dam Sith, editor of Moneaksekar newspaper, cannot be contacted for comments at the time this article is published.

Emeritus Professor Keng Vannsak has died

Radio Free Asia
By San Suwit
19th December, 2008
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

The famed emeritus professor of Khmer literature, Prof. Keng Vannsak (pictured), has passed away on Thursday (18th December) in a hospital in Montmorency, about 13 kilometres north of Paris.

Prof. Keng Vannsak, the former professor of Lycee Sisowath who was the inventor of Khmer typewriter and was the author of many books on Khmer culture, literature, Khmer theatre, poetry and short stories since the 1940s, has passed away age 84 at a hospital in Montmorency at 12:12pm.

One of his close associates told Radio Free Asia that he had died of lung failures. He said: “Yesterday he went to the hospital because he got a temperature and felt shiver for the past 4 days. The doctors admitted him to an intensive care unit. And this morning I telephoned him but the doctors told me that he is in a coma and they asked if I am his relative and if I wanted to see him I must see him now before his passed away. At 12:20 (pm) they called me and told me that he had already passed away.”

His closest friend said that Prof. Keng Vannsak wished to have his ashes buried in the same stupa as his mother’s ashes in Cambodia. He said that Prof. Keng Vannsak has no relatives or children to continue is surname. Prof. Keng Vannsak is survived by his wife, Sivorn, who is now living in France.