Cambodia is slightly smaller than Laos and mostly flat. The countries highest mountain is 1813, and the mountainous areas can be found at the border in the north to Thailand and east to Vietnam,
Cambodia also has a coastal stretch at the Golf of Thai with some beautiful islands.
The population is approx. 16 million and most of the people live in the low areas between the Mekong River and the Lake Tonle Sap.
With the Mekong River running through the country from north to south. Tonle Sap that flows into the Mekong River at Phnom Penh, where the Bassac River starts, means Cambodia has plenty of water. Although, there is a big difference in how much water depending on whether it is the rainy or the dry season. Tonle Sap (large lake) is halved in size here in the dry time, where it is also not particularly deep. The floating villages become land-based, and sailing from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh is not possible. On the lake, there are many fish farms – also in the dry season.
Tonle Sap has a unique ecosystem. In the rainy season, the stream turns and it is water from the Mekong River that fills up the lake.
For those who live in low areas, it must be like having two different lives, with such different nature as a neighbor.
Of course, the water is essential to growing their rice and other crops, and for the moment they are very concerned about the many dams being built at the Mekong in China and Laos, and what significance it has for Cambodia.
In other areas, Cambodia itself is the cause of significant changes. In the 1960s, approx. 60% was covered by forest. Today it is only 7%. It means a hard life for wildlife. There are few areas left, and according to the Wildlife Center I visited, they can hardly accommodate more animals and Tigers can now only be found in resorts.
Greed has prevailed over reason. Many of the areas were leased out to other countries that cut down the forest.
I’ve traveled a lot by bus, and the roads are good. There are virtually no animals in the streets, but with the flat areas, there is also enough space for them in the fields. There is a lot more traffic than in Laos. A lot more cars, and as many motorcycles and scooters. The traffic especially in the cities I cannot describe. They have their very own rules. Independent of the direction they use both the right and the left side, but somehow they respect each other, so it becomes possible to cross a road as everyone stops. If you are brought up with traffic rules, I think it best to stay away from driving on your own here.
History
The Khmer kingdom was once a great kingdom. When Angkor Wat was built in 1113-50, it is estimated that the nearby town of Angkor had over 1 million inhabitants. At that time, the Kingdom also included the Vietnamese Mekong Delta area.
However, the great kingdom did not last. The King who built Angkor Wat died in 1177, and his successor moved to another area. There is nothing left of the old town that was abandoned, and the capital moved to a few different places in the Phnom Penh area. In contrast to the temples, the city was not built in any surviving material. Angkor Wat and the whole area with the many temples were abandoned and forgotten, and when a Frenchman discovered the place again hundreds of years later, they had to clear the jungle for animals and cut down a lot of trees to get some light down.
Cambodia regularly struggled with the neighbors Thailand and Vietnam after the glory, which means that they still have reservations about them. It was during a period of war against Thailand that more and more Vietnamese people moved to the Mekong area and Cambodia did not have the strength to resist when Vietnam incorporated the region into Vietnam.
After almost 100 years as a French colony, Cambodia became independent in 1953 and experienced an ok period until they got involved in the Vietnam War against their will. It started a turbulent political period. As in Laos, they were carpeted with cluster bombs, and they still have many unexploded bombs left, but only in the less open areas.
The flat areas are cleared entirely. It was, of course, a terrible period, but it is talked less about here because of the horrible regime they subsequently received.
Pol Pot and the Red Khmer
Pol Pot and the Red Khmer took power in April 1975, and before they were stopped by the Vietnamese in early 1979, 2-3 million people were dead. Tortured or died of hunger.
In record time, Pol Pot emptied Phnom Penh and other cities and transported the people out to the country to work in the fields to produce rice that could be sold for weapons.
The people who could not grow rice were killed or died of hunger. Pol Pot did not like the minorities including all foreigners, so they were the first to disappear, nor did he like the intellectuals, so everyone with education was killed. It is said that wearing glasses was similar to wearing the Jewish star during World War II.
All Religion was banned, so many Temples, Mosques, Catholic churches were destroyed or used for storage. All people associated with them incl. All monks were sent out in the field or killed.
As all the doctors and teachers were exterminated, treatment of the disease in the period was sparse and teaching/education non-existent.
Eradication occurred mainly at torture, and then they were killed by blows of an ax. A group of young people from the country was trained to interrogate and torture until they received the answers they wanted. Maybe they had stolen food, perhaps they were CIA agents. They did not need to know anything about the CIA or have taken anything. All accusations were fabricated. Victims were not allowed to die during the torture, if it happened, the interrogator himself could become the next victim.
Pol Pot wanted to raise the production of rice to three times more, so people worked for many hours every day and the only thing they got was a small bowl of food one for lunch and one in the evening. If there was rice in the pot, they were lucky, but the many who didn’t know anything about growing rice got no proper food, so they quickly became worn out by the hard work.
When Pol Pot had complete control of his own people, he began to attack Vietnam. He wanted the Mekong Delta area back to Cambodia, but a hungry and depraved army is not worth much, and many fled with the Vietnamese to Vietnam. At the end of 1978, Vietnam had had enough. They wanted to get a buffer zone so the Red Khmer could not reach the border, but they ended up in early 1979 taking Phnom Penh and forcing Pol Pot and his organization out in the jungle at the Thai border.
Then one would think it was over with Pol Pot, but no, the Western world was indeed not thrilled that Vietnam, as a Communist country with close ties to the Soviet Union, had occupied Cambodia, so the US, UK, Germany, France, Australia supported the Red Khmer, and Pol Pot even had a seat in the UN.
As China was not on good terms with the Soviet, it suited them fine. They even invaded northern Vietnam in the hope that the soldiers would be pulled from Cambodia. They did not, so the Chinese had to retreat again.
Knowledge of Pol Pot’s horrors was first known when the Vietnamese came to Phnom Penh. Here they found the Tuol Sleng prison and got to know about the Killing Fields. Like all executioners, they had documented all their terrible deeds, and those files were finally used in 2009/2010 to prosecute some of the guilty ones.
Pol Pot died 72 years old in 1998 when he had been under house arrest for a year. It was his own people who arrested him. They were all paranoid, and his death was not natural. However, he did experience children and grandchildren as opposed to many of his countrymen, and he never regretted what he had done.
A few have been sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2010, the head of Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng prison Comerade Dutch was sentenced to 35 years in prison. He appealed that sentence, and in 2012 he got convicted for life. During the trial, he was confronted with relatives to his victims, and he apologized.
When both Soviet and Vietnam ran out of money in 1989, Vietnam had to withdraw from Cambodia and end 10 years of war with the Khmer Rouge. Cambodia had in the 1980s been divided between the Red Khmer supported by the West, China, and the United Nations and a government-backed by Vietnam. It took until 1993 before they found a solution. It lasted until 1997, and the Red Khmers were finally finished in 1998.
Today
Cambodia is a kingdom. The current king is called Norodom Sihamoni and has been on the throne since 2004. He is approved by the Prime Minister and has no political influence.
The country’s prime minister is called Hun Sen, and he has been on that position since 1985 – the longest-serving prime minister in the world. He was initially a Khmer Rouge soldier but fled under the Pol Pot regime to Vietnam. He was deployed by the Vietnamese during the 1980s, and after Vietnam’s withdrawal and the subsequent peace process, he entered into a co-operation with another party in 1993. That cooperation lasted until he made a coup in 1997 and took over power alone.
He is elected by the people – today with a vast majority – but you should not put anything into that. Voting is not secret, so very few people dare to vote for others. The opposition has terrible conditions, and if someone poses a threat, they often disappear or perish. Hun Sen has huge security police reporting directly to him. Large enough to prevent a military coup it is said.
His party is called Cambodia’s Peoples Party. The people part, I have to say, is not what I have experienced. It is not much that benefits individual Cambodians. The country is probably the most corrupt in the world, and unfortunately, it is the western countries that have helped to create it. Today it is the Chinese, and I believe. “Cambodia’s Chinese party” as its name will fit better today. The Chinese pay Hun Sen and others and then they can do what they want. They build casinos, hotels, factories and take over everything. No matter who I talked to, it only takes 2 min before the phrase “it´s all Chinese” comes, and no the Chinese are not popular here. People are not happy with the changes, but primarily because, it does not benefit them. The Chinese are taking their land, building Chinese hotels restaurants, etc. They are for example called, 0-$ tourists, because whatever they do, it only benefits Chinese people, this apparently also applies in Thailand and many other countries.
There have been attempts at rebellion against the Chinese, but then they call the government, and in Cambodia, you solve this by shooting into the crowd of rebels.
There has been a rebellion against Hun Sen, but he is a survivor, and since the coup in 1997, he has strengthened his position more and more. He is 67 years old and has said he will stay until he is 74 as no one else can do his job. By that time, he plans to give the power to a son who is at present high placed in the military. All his children are highly placed. A daughter is a TV director. The same applies to children of others in the government. Nepotism – no no they maintain there are no relations with the government.
It begins to look like a form of government like in North Korea.
Cambodia has no middle class. There are rich who becomes more and more prosperous and then the ordinary population, which main concern is to get enough food every day. Those working for the government, and at the Chinese factories, are paid $ 170 A MONTH
In Phnom Penh, residents fear that too many Chinese will arrive and cause the prices for houses and apartments to go up so they no longer can afford to stay in the city. If they get sick, they have to sell something to pay for doctors and hospitals. They don’t know about Dentists, or rather their teeth do not know, because they have never seen one. There are still many who do not attend school or have any education.
A lot has happened in the country over the last 10 or just 5-6 years because of the Chinese and not least because of the many more tourist. Statistically, it is one of the fastest growing economies, but too little of this benefits the population. The money ends up in the pockets of the few. Last year the ticket price to Angkor Wat was raised a lot when they told the story about how much more money had been generated there was not one word about what the money should be used for.
The beautiful islands mentioned at the beginning are today dominated by Chinese hotels and casinos. Residents who had a house or owned land have already been displaced from the first islands.
Local fishermen in front of the Marble island – an island only for the rich people
Summary
It’s tough to find something positive about what is happening in Cambodia when talking to people at the hotels, guides, tuk-tuk drivers, etc. What made such a big impression on me, was that the story I was told, was the same each and every time. When I arrived in Vietnam, I met an Australian who has come to Cambodia for many years, and he just repeated or confirmed my experiences.
Cambodia history from the 70s and 80s is cruel. Signs of improvements in the 90s are unfortunately now ending. All free press is now closed, there is no opposition to the government, so nothing suggests anything for the better will happen.
There is progress in the country. For example, it is not considered to be as poor a country as Laos, but that is not something that has had any impact on the general population.
People were all helpful and very friendly, but unlike Laos, where the young people talked about education and their desires for the future, it seems as if in Cambodia no-one has any wishes beyond peace and food.
In English, they did not mind to talk about it, but nobody dares to say anything to each other or in social forums.
This I guess is how to live in a democratic country when the prime minister has become a dictator.
This entry was posted in Asia, Cambodia, Destinations
