Fight between Hun Xen and Sondhi, but Xok An asked kid scouts to issue a statement against Sondhi instead: Xok An's Circus Maximus

Scout-in-chief Xok An (All Photos: Council of Ministers)
Cub scouts who will be used as cannon fodder in the verbal fight between Hun Xen and Sondhi Limthongkul, courtesy of Xok An

03 Sept 2010
Rasmei Kampuchea
Translated from Khmer by Soch

Vice-PM Xok An, the minister in charge of the Council of Ministers and president of the Cambodian scouts association, asked the plenary congress of the scouts association where 174 members representing 70,000 scouts attended, to issue a statement to attack those Thai extremists who look down on Samdach Akkok Moha Xena Bat Dey Dek Cho Hun Xen, Cambodia’s PM.

The scouts 2nd congress was held in the morning of 02 September 2010 at the Council of Ministers where scout representatives from all the provinces and municipalities attended, as well the scout national executive committees and the scout provincial and municipal committees.

Xok An said that Sondhi Limthongkul used savage words to look down on Hun Xen, the respected PM of the Cambodian people, by chopping his head and using his blood to wash his feet while displaying Hun Xen’s head impaled on a pole, then later on, another ceremony was held whereby Hun Xen was tied to a banana tree trunk and he was slashed so that his blood can be used to wash Sondhi’s feet.

Xok An said that Hun Xen did not want the scouts to fight with Thailand, but the verbal attack and the serious disdain of the Cambodian leader cannot be left without an answer. In the name of the 70,000 national scouts, and in the name of Hun Xen, the president of the scout movement, the scouts must issue a statement, but that statement must no touch upon the bilateral relationships between Cambodia and Thailand, and it also must not touch on the interest of the Thai people. Furthermore, the scouts’ statement must not bear words that lack virtue unlike those used by the Thai extremists, i.e. this statement should be a lesson from a noble and Buddhist population.

Therefore, the scouts will issue a statement for the Thai people and government to teach such [Thai] people so that a single savage would not affect the friendly relationships between Cambodia and Thailand, and if [Thailand] let such person create problems, then it will foment fight between the two countries and there will be no gain for the two countries.

Xok An added that the head chopping to take blood to wash feet, and impaling the head on a pole are savage actc that existed thousands of years ago where the law of the jungle prevailed and when only savage could undertake such act. He added that in the Cambodian Constitution, even death sentence is banned and Cambodia cannot use such barbaric act.

In conclusion, Xok An said that a handful of Thai extremists led by Sondhi and others who are VIPs in a country with high culture, is it reasonable for them to use savage words to look down on the leader of a country that is sovereign and has full independence?

Clash between the pro-communist and atheist government underlings and human rights NGOs in Phnom Den pagoda

Takeo authority ended festivities organized by civil society

09 November 2007
By Sophorn
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The Kirivong district authority confiscated loudspeakers, and ended the Bon Phka (Flower fundraising) festival organized at the Phnom Den North pagoda which was organized by civil society, during a prayer session and a call for the release to freedom of former Monk Tim Sakhorn.

In the morning of 09 November which coincides with Cambodia’s National Independence Day, during a Bon Phka fundraising festival organized at the Phnom Den North pagoda, a verbal clash started between the authority and the NGOs when the latter reminisced the name of former Monk Tim Sakhorn.

Mam Sonando, director of the Beehive radio station and one of the organizers of the Bon Phka, reacted immediately to the authority telling them that they do not respect Buddhism, the state religion, when they foment empty politicking (pun used by Mam Sonando when he said: “Thveu noyobay khmean bay”, meaning empty politicking): “You trample on Buddhism, you only threaten on everything.”

In response to the issue raised by Mam Sonando, Vong Chhon, the deputy district governor of Kirivong, immediately claimed that Khmer Kampuchea Krom suffered for many generations because of the same types of callings made by Mam Sonando.

Vong Chhon added: “During Sdech Sihanouk, they formed the “white scarf” and the Khmer Serey movements which called Khmer Kampuchea Krom for help, when they came over, a large number of them died because of such calls. We are uniting the monks in order to rebuild Buddhism back at the Phnom Den pagoda, this is done in the name of the local authority. You call us the cheaters, but those who currently are the cheaters, they are convicts who have just been released, you think I don’t known this Mam Sonando?” [KI-Media note: Mam Sonando was jailed by Hun Sen in January 2006 for protesting against the illegal border treaty concluded by Hun Sen and Vietnam, and approved by King Norodom Sihamoni]

Dr. Pung Chiv Kek, President of the Licadho human rights organization and also an organizer of the Bon Pkha Samaki festival, expressed her regrets (to see such behavior from the authority). “Because, you don’t understand our custom, and this is my right … what I said, there is nothing wrong about it, we did not violate any law, we did not raise any banners, we did not do anything, we did not shout, what we did was done according to our Khmer custom … you shut down our loudspeakers … I say you are violating the rights of the people,” Dr. Pung Chiv kek said of the pro-government authority,

Ngoeun Song, the Phnom Den North pagoda committee leader who is newly installed by the pro-government authority after the defrocking of Monk Tim Sakhorn and his deportation to Vietnam, immediately put up an anger scene claiming that recalling the name of Monk Tim Sakhorn’s name is tantamount to destroying his pagoda.

On her part, the younger sister of former Monk Tim Sakhorn spoke out loudly, asking what was her brother’s fault? Why is the Cambodian authority unable to put him on trial in Cambodia?

According to civil society, the reason human rights organizations in Cambodia organized this Bon Phka at Phnom Den pagoda today, because it is the National Independence Day, and it also coincides with a Buddhist holy day as well, therefore, they all want to pray for the freedom of former Monk Tim Sakhorn so that he can lead a normal free life just like other citizens in the kingdom.