In Sihanoukville we got to explore Cambodia's beach scene. Annoyingly it rained for most of the week which left us reading or watching discovery channel in-between quick motorbike tours to the surrounding area. I ended up reading all about a very controversial, bold and possible stupid move the Cambodian government have just made. Almost half of the country has just been sold to outside investors. A huge 45% of the land in Cambodia has now been sold off to foreign speculators in the past 18 months. It struck me first as an un-believable gamble by the prime minister Hun Sen, who has handed over most of best parts of the country in return for promises of better infrastructure, foreign investment, new jobs and a slice of the mighty tourist dollar.

There are countless stories around about how the coastal area evictions in Sihanoukville were nothing short of criminal. The local fisherman living along the coastline had their homes bulldozed while they were out fishing one day, then were chased away with electric batons. Of the seven or so small beautiful islands just off the coastline all of them have been sold to Russian, British, French and Swiss owned companies. The thousands of residents who have built homes on these islands, after escaping from the Khmer rouge, have once again been made homeless and more important, have not been offered compensation. Figures from amnesty international predict that around 150,000 people in Cambodia are now threatened with eviction to make way for large hotels, golf courses, casinos and private villas.

Massive corruption in the government leaves almost everyone in the country just guessing how greedy the government have become. For example, the current political party, the CPP, who have just won another landslide victory last week, have created laws where they are not required to report their interests or assets, so its impossible to discover what percentage of each deal they receive. One sign of new wealth we noticed in the capital was a brand new yellow Hummer with blacked out windows that rumbled past us, hmmm and in a land where the average wage is 15 quid a month.

Its a big gamble that Hun Sen is making, he could have waited a hundred years for the locals to re-build the country but instead he is hoping that after just ten years foreign investors can do. After all the building work is finished, Cambodian builders are better off, unemployment figures are getting lower, the country is getting wealthier and all the roads are well paved, he will look like the hero. Its just a shame how badly the local people made homeless around the beach's were treated in the giant Cambodian land sale.

Thanks to the Guardian for much of this information.

Not to leave the blog on such a low note, we were reading the classified adds section in a local rag and came across these beauties:
Female seeks Male
Sincere Khmer lady wants to take care of very old, sick but generous American man with no living dependants.
Pretty Khmer lady have big money problems. Need to marry westerner very quick. For intro contact this paper.

Cooper Out

Love Dan & Kat