Cambodia - Kingdom of Wonder

I have mentioned them briefly earlier: the adverts on CNN to promote Cambodia as a holiday destination. The country did the same thing about three years ago. The difference is, this time the commercials are much more professional and - finally - the Ministry of Tourism has come up with a slogan: Cambodia - Kingdom of Wonder.

What I still don't get - and that's the same as three years ago - why they are promoting the Water Festival, which takes place next week. As if, say, Joe the Plumber, will say to his Cathy or whatever her name is: "Hey see that Cathy? There's a Water Festival in Phnom Penh next week, let's go there!"
(Not that Joe the Plumber would ever go to a country that far away from home, but you get the picture).

Anyway, in general it's a good thing Cambodia promotes itself and especially now, as millions of people around the world will have watched the presidential campaign on CNN. And yes, these Cambodia commercials also ran during election night.

The ever getting better daily The Phnom Penh Post wrote that tourism officials expect the number of visitors to Cambodia to reach 2.2 million by the end of the year. Wow, when I came here, in 2003, Cambodia attracted not even 1 million. So, a 120% increase in just 5 years time. Not a bad achievement.

Now, Cambodia is discussing an advert deal with the pan-Asian news broadcaster Channel News Asia. Ahum, well, all I can say is that my Khmer restaurant in Phnom Penh and the Cambodia Cooking Class were already featured on CNA. Twice, and for free...

Crackdown on street vendors

Recently, Phnom Penh municipality announced it would no longer tolerate blocking of pavements by vendors, and parked cars, moto's or other objects. Right..., was anyone taking notice of this? Of course not. Like many other announcements by municipality or police, the new policy would probably never be carried out.

Oooppps, wrong thinking this time: police ARE implementing the new rule by removing vendors from around the Russian Market (Psah Toul Tom Poung) and some other streets. But the vendors are very angry, because not only used police force, they also damaged their merchandise and equipment.

While in general I welcome more object free pavements in Phnom Penh, it's quite obvious the actions are only against people trying to make a living. And, add colour to the streets of Phnom Penh.

What e.g. happens to these big SUV's, of which there are (too) many in Phnom Penh, and which are invariably parked on pavements?

Well, guess...

Women wearing pyjama's

When travelling in Cambodia, you will come across many things new to you, or strange, or bewildering, or shocking.

Guests at my restaurant regularly ask me about one of the strange things they see all over Cambodia: women wearing pyjama's outdoors in broad daylight.

Yes, that's a normal thing in this country. Back in your home country probably police would stop you and ask whether you have accidentally forgotten to put on your 'normal' clothes.

Not so here. It's perfectly acceptable to wear your pyjama's when walking down the street, do some shopping or just wandering along Phnom Penh's river front.

So, why are Cambodian women wearing pyjama's out on the street? Well, first of all it's airy in this tropical climate. And then I suppose the women like the prints on their pyjama's.

But... you also have airy gowns with a nice print, so why are they not wearing those? Well, I really don't know, it's one of the mysteries in this Kingdom of Wonder!

Koh Dach - Phnom Penh's Silk Island

Koh Dach is an island in the Mekong River about 15 kilometers northeast of Phnom Penh. It is renowned for the thousands of silk weavers and the quality of the silk they produce.

It makes for an enjoyable day trip from Phnom Penh. First, you'll have a pleasant boat trip to the island. The island itself is a rural paradise, an oasis of tranquility very close to the city. You can buy silk there right from the producer.

Yesterday, the Phnom Penh Post reported the islanders are complaining about the lack of trade lately. They blame it on the troubles between Thailand and Cambodia at the Preah Vihear temple, but I think it probably has more to do with the global economic crisis and the effects it may have on the tourism market in Cambodia. I personally do not see much effect yet, but that may come in the next few months.

Anyway, if you are visiting Phnom Penh, make a day trip to that wonderful 'Silk Island'. In the dry season there's even a quite pleasant 'beach' on the north side of the island (and yes, the water there is clean). Negotiate your trip with one of the boat owners on Phnom Penh's river boulevard, Sisowath Quay.

Water Festival Phnom Penh

Right after last year's Water Festival the river front in Phnom Penh changed dramatically. A Japanese firm is working on the capital's draining system and therefor large parts of the riverfront were sealed off with a green fence. When the works started, it was promised these fences would be removed for the next Water Festival.

Not so. Instead of taking the fences down, the municipality has decided to replace them with small-holed netting fences. So, spectators will not be able to see the boat races on the Tonle Sap from up close. And just this year the Ministry of Tourism has spend 350,000 dollars on CNN spots to promote the 'Water and Moon Festival'. Great planning guys!

I think these small-holed netting fences are dangerous. The Cambodian authorities apparently have never heard of the Hillsborough stadium disaster in Liverpool where in 1989 football fans died when they were pressed up against the fence. Mind you, the annual Water Festival in Phnom Penh attracts about 1 million visitors per day (it lasts for 3 days). Yes, that's right: 1 million. Now imagine these people want to see the boat races from up close and they can't because of this fence. What will happen?

While the Water Festival normally is a colourful event, I would for this year not advice anyone to come. And next year, because the drainage works will last for at least three years.

Wait untill 2010 when Phnom Penh's river front will be restored to its former beauty.

Or so they promise...

Press Freedom in Cambodia

This year Cambodia scores much lower on the yearly Press Freedom list by Reporters sans Frontieres. The country has gone down to 126th place.

According to the website this is mainly a result of a journalist’s murder that was probably instigated by a police officer, and the fact that control of the media was stepped up for the parliamentary elections. Also, in Cambodia (as in many other countries) it is strictly forbidden to report anything that reflects badly on the president or monarch, or their family and close associates.

Would you expect press freedom to be much better in Thailand? No way: that country ranks 124th. That's higher than last year, when Thailand ranked 135 due to the restrictions after a military coup in September.

Back to Cambodia: last year this country ranked 85th, so the plunge to 126th is quite steep. And I'm afraid it won't get any better after populair news host Cheng Chivoan resigned from CTN-television. He was famous for his reports about sensitive issues like land grabbing and illegal logging.

Phnom Penh Projects delayed...

Following up on the previous post on the construction boom in Phnom Penh and the risk of the city losing its charm, there were some interesting articles in the local press.

One described the French colonial houses in Phnom Penh as important cultural heritage that should be preserved. Now, many people agree with that but probably new is that authorities now do too. With the most important one Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema who said the city is stepping up efforts to preserve these buildings.

Remember, I was suggesting some of the mega construction projects in the city would probably be put on hold, or even suspended completely? Well, that's already happening: Camko City (on the northwest of Phnom Penh) will not undertake any new construction. In other words: only Phase 1 will be finished, leaving an incomplete planned city. What will the effect of that be on the value of buildings in Phase 1? Will the buyers complain that they don't get what was promised?

Other projects:
- Construction of a 45-storey condominium tower overlooking the Tonle Sap has been delayed;
- Construction of five 25-storey residential towers on the Chruoy Changvar peninsula have not started as planned;
- The developer behind Gold Tower 42 says the project will go on as scheduled, although they still have to sell units. In this market and at this time? Housing sales in Cambodia have fallen about 50 percent over the last year. And, interestingly enough, the website of the construction company, Yon Woo Inc., is unavailable... By the way, the ONLY information you'll find about this Yon Woo Inc. is related to building the Gold Tower 42, nothing else...

It's just waiting for the housing bubble in Cambodia to collapse. And what will happen then, especially to those people who took loans to finance their purchase (esp. in CamKo city but probably also in Gold Tower 42).