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).

Phnom Penh the Worst Historic Site?

According to the National Geographic the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh is one of the "worst historic sites" to visit:
Once displaying "the best of French urban planning," the city has now been "lost to uncontrolled urban growth and the outright greed of land speculation," one expert said, adding it is a "very sad story."

Well, in my previous post I was already referring to the risk of Phnom Penh losing its charm, but I don't think it is already as bad as National Geographic wants you to believe. Yes, there are some projects underway that will change the landscape dramatically, like the Canadia Bank tower near Central Market and the "Gold24" tower on Sihanouk Blvd (although I doubt whether this last one and some other planned projects will go on given the current worldwide credit crisis).

But does that mean Phnom Penh has lost it all already? No, definitely not. There are a few encouraging signs: the art deco Central Market (Psah Thmei) is currently under renovation, the FCC plans to renovate a beautiful colonial building on Sothearos, UNESCO is housed in another building from French times next door. A few houses along Norodom Blvd. have been restored to their former beauty (although, yes, a few others along that street have been demolished). The post office and the building of Van's restaurant nearby are beautiful examples of colonial architecture (although in the same area some buildings urgently need repairs).

Not all is lost, yet. There is a risk Phnom Penh will, but it's definitely NOT the worst historic site to visit!

Here you see Phnom Penh's Post Office. Read more on colonial architecture in the city in the Phnom Penh Travel Guide.

Fast food in Cambodia

For years Cambodia has had it's own version of Western fast food chains: Lucky Burger (part of the Lucky supermarket group) and BB World. Late last year America's KFC has entered the market, with two outlets in Phnom Penh and planning to open another two.

Some people (especially expats and tourists) regret this development as they don't want Phnom Penh to 'loosing its charm and become just another Asian capital'. While indeed there is a danger Phnom Penh will loose much of its appeal in the next ten years, I don't think the threat comes from international fast food chains, but rather unregulated development of the city.

And, wait a minute, the Khmers love KFC! They go there in droves. Why? Because it is something they never had here before. It's American, so it must be good (I disagree with that, but that's what most Cambodians think). It tastes different from Khmer food, but still with chicken in it (or beef in hamburgers) Cambodians like it, especially the younger generation.

So, is it a bad thing international chains enter the Cambodian market? No, I don't think so. Overall Cambodians still prefer the Khmer cuisine with every once in a while a burger or a drumstick.

The only question now is: when will McDonald's open up here and what will be the effect of that on the Cambodian burger chains?