Kampuchea Crossings

Bump to baby on the beaten expat track

Cambodia

late night soup messenger clak-clak-claking down the street

by 3 Comments

So Keith and I were the other night having a few drinks at Rising Sun by the river when the Soup Messenger came by. Here’s what it sounded like:
[audio:https://www.abejero.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Sound-clip-clak-clak1.mp3|titles=Sound clip clak clak|righticon=0x0000ff]

It’s a relic of the olden days, when food carts roamed the city streets and a little boy was sent ahead to let people know the food is coming. The kid taps a stick against a piece of bamboo, the sound of which the dead of night really carries– especially back when houses were mostly wooden. (The concrete shophouses along the river also bounce a healthy bit of noise). The sequence and rhythm of the clak-clak-clak is code for what kind of food they sold – bohboh (rice soup), nom ban chok (white noodle soup), etc. If you want some, the kid will run back to the cart and bring a bowl of soup to you. The cart pusher will wait until you finish eating (cuz s/he wants his bowl and chopsticks back), and the boy will go on ahead looking for more customers.

When we heard the familiar clak-clak-claks, Keith chased the kid down for a photo (we’ve been trying to catch a picture of him for months!). But it just doesn’t really do it justice. So when the kid came back around to go into the opposite direction I chased after him for a sound clip. It was dark and hardly a soul was out on the streets, so he was probably thinking how loony foreigners are.

[Read more…] about late night soup messenger clak-clak-claking down the street

offerings to the small lost souls..

by Leave a Comment

This post is about Merenang Kang Veal, the memorials and offerings to those who’ve passed into the next life while still very young (from the aborted to the stillborn to those who died at a very young age). The relationship with nature and all living things whether still on earth or physically gone is still very tangible and real in Asia and the Khmer’s Buddhist tradition. These shrines and offerings are an effort by those still alive to pay respects and appease the wandering and lost spirits. Notice the toys and miniature clothes, food and water given as offerings. We’re doing some research into these to find out more about them. Stay tuned!

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.

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.