Kampuchea Crossings

Bump to baby on the beaten expat track

Life

a magazine “for people who give a damn”

by 2 Comments

Above is a great series of videos from the YouTube GOOD channel. This one was taped last year, and is quite timely for starting this year’s holiday season.

I love data visualisation blogs. There are so many infographics published every day, and these data scientists critique the transparency and fairness of the data, as well as the presentation of the message. One of the blogs I came across is GOOD, which is a quarterly US general-interest magazine founded in 2006 with a focus on social issues, politics, and sustainable living. Check out their website. It’s chock full of questions and features to stimulate dialogue and collaboration for solving some of the world’s biggest problems.

Billed in its first release as a “free press for the critical idealist”, it was launched in 2006 by Ben Goldhirsh, son of the creator of Inc. Magazine. Departing from the normative industry strategy, Good’s subscription fees go entirely to charity, and their marketing budget go to throwing block parties in large cities rather than to direct mail. While critics charge that this model is not viable– it has yet to break even after two years– the magazine has attracted a lot of attention and press, particularly from NPR, Foreign Policy, Washington Post and NYTimes. It’s also been nominated for several national magazine awards.

I’ll be giving a subscription to some friends this Christmas, before I leave again for Cambodia.

the Khmer side of SE Asia’s politics..

by Leave a Comment

Young journalists and bloggers are not plenty in the Kingdom, but they are gaining in numbers and spine. From just a few bloggers you can count on one hand in the early 2000’s to, literally, hundreds today, these guys are now lending a decidedly Khmer voice to the contentious politics of Cambodia, the ongoing belligerence with Thailand and shrewd maneuverings with Vietnam.

Events have traditionally come from a skewed Western or Thai perspective. So I’m glad to see the increasing articulation of the Khmer point of view.

Here are two new bloggers I just found. Worth a watch? We’ll wait and see.

More fodder for hate

by Leave a Comment

The nationalist fodder continues, tit for tat…

THE government took control of the Thai-owned aviation firm Cambodia Air Traffic Services (CATS) on Thursday and banned its Thai employees from the offices after the arrest of one of their co-workers on suspicion of stealing the flight schedule of fugitive Thai former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra during his visit to Cambodia last week.

The move, which is likely to further damage diplomatic relations between the two countries, comes amid accusations by a Thai opposition leader that Thailand’s foreign minister ordered the theft.

from the Phnom Penh Post

So CATS is now in the “caretakership of a Cambodian government official”. I might just have to delay my flight back into the country.

Movie rave: Hurt Locker

by Leave a Comment

We just saw Hurt Locker, a film by Kathryn Bigelow about an American bomb squad in Baghdad 2004. It’s a great movie that centers on the intense daily routines of Sgt Will James lead expert on disposing improvised explosive devices, and his company. You gotta see it cuz it’s billed as the best of the recent dramatizations of the Iraq War.

Here’s why I bring it up: There’s a part where James is back home after duty, picking up cereal at the grocery store. In the scene he looks up one side of the cereal aisle and down the other, paralysed by the endless options. This is how I feel every time I come home. A quick trip to the store is never simple when your choices are endless. Green tea yogurt antibacterial wash? Pomegranate mango Purell? or…? or…?

Thaksin– LIVE in Cambodia

by 2 Comments

Recent actions of Cambodia’s PM Hun Sen, inviting former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra to live in Cambodia and take a post as the Economic Advisor– on the eve of a regional meeting of ASEAN at that!– have now come to a very tense head. Thaksin, who initially declined the offer, arrived in Cambodia.

The average Cambodian is largely ambivalent to the storm of fury across the border. Generally speaking, an enemy of Thailand is a friend of theirs. But this matter isn’t to be taken lightly. Here’s what Details Are Sketchy has to say:

… Thaksin’s current visit to Cambodia is not merely some political stunt designed to enrage the Thai establishment — although it is certainly that — but part of a larger strategy aimed at regime change in Thailand. It’s hard to underestimate the stakes in such a gamble. The danger of war, say some analysts, has never been greater.

It is impeccable timing to grab the headlines. Obama is jumping in the fray for influence in the East Asia region and arrives tomorrow for meetings with the leaders of its powerhouse nations.

and the pot calls the kettle black (Thailand on Cambodia)

by Leave a Comment

Hun Sen Shows Lack of Class and Tact, an editorial by The Nation (one of Thailand’s English-language news publications) on 25 Oct 2009, says of Cambodia’s PM:

Holding on to power by any means and turning his once war-torn country into his personal playground would not count for much in terms of achievements in this day and age. Under his rule, Cambodia continues to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world. We think the Cambodian people deserve better.

And the Political Prisoners of Thailand blog responds:

Just in case anyone wanted to compare the Cambodian government with that in Thailand, the writer claims that “the current Thai government came through a parliamentary process, not because of the 2006 coup.” No one would describe Cambodia as a model democracy, especially not domestic opponents of the regime. And one would expect Thailand to do better than Cambodia on most indices. That said, on both the Reporters Without Borders Index and the Transparency International index of the perception of corruption, while still ranked lower than Thailand, Cambodia is rising while Thailand is falling.

Hat tip to PPT, and read their About page. This is a good blog for those interested in Southeast Asia politics, especially with increasing political repression in Thailand in face of the impending succession.