Chasing cars, shortly after Khmer New Year

Dare I mention, that this be my last entry? Time to move on. Nearly five years (just a month short) and over 400 entries no less, so if my readers have failed to pick up the essentials of travel and traffic in Cambodia and Phnom Penh in particular ... well, more postings won't help!

To sum up, getting about here is anarchic, lawless and down right reckless. Then again, I haven't had an accident in the nearly 6 years I've been here, so driving around with caution helps. But I also know of many others less fortunate....

Oh well, the news

• I's have liked to start with a posting on tripadvisor concerning poor services rendered by a local bus company, but tripadvisor have deleted the thread. Huh.

• It is the time of the year for accidents to be more commonplace. More movement, more alcohol. But even before the festivities started accidents happened. Phnom Penh Post (6 March 2011) reports on a horrific accident near Sihanoukville where a container truck hits a minivan (with 25 persons, hows that possible?). Nineteen deaths. The said accident lead to NGO's

  'expressing concern'.

• Travelfish have added their own entry on traffic accidents in Cambodia:

  'Getting into a traffic accident anywhere is serious, but in Cambodia it's particularly so .... only to find out that there's generally no enforcement and no punishment ...'.

  Their advice is Get insured, Be prepared, Have all kinds of emergency numbers at hand and wear a helmet.

• More air traffic. Besides the (re-) launch of Air France flights, Korean Air will deploy bigger aircraft on Cambodia, effectively increasing capacity by 50% to Seoul (Phnom Penh Post, 9 March 2011). There are also

  'feasiblility studies'

  underway for finding out whether or not direct flights can be made to the UK or Turkey (Phnom Penh Post, 23 March 2011).

• More news on the fight of Hun Sen vs. the trucks:

  '“I’m very concerned about trucks loading containers. It seems that accidents would happen easily and the issues repeated again and again. Therefore, you must be cautious, and you who don’t work on this have to resign from your position,” Hun Sen said. The Ministry of Commerce needs to shut down some transportation companies that continue to violate the law.” Hun Sen also appealed to provincial governors to stop illegal road checkpoints and ensure that roads are repaired and maintained'.

  Wish him luck with that. Also with his appeal to ensure all involved adhere to the traffic law, which has proven to be impossible. Not worth the paper it's printed on.
  

• But, presto, a day later 25 trucks were

  'seized'

  (Phnom Penh Post, 18 March 2011).

• A first hand experince with the new Monivong parking fee collectors from Khmer 440. Lots of questions.

• Cambodian electric vehicles? Possibly, according to Phnom Penh Post (March 22, 2011). A local company in conjunction with

  'local inventor Nhean Phaloek – who once reportedly claimed that the doors to one of his prototype vehicles opened telepathically'

  will seek to produce at least 500 cars on an annual basis.

• A nice blog entry on Lto Cambodia on road signs in Sihanoukville which actually encourage road users to go up the wrong way of a one way street!

Chasing Cars, January 20 2011

Happy New Year. Just a couple more entries to go and I'll be drawing the curtains on this blog.

• Flights are set to take off between Cambodia and Burma, but not from Phnom Penh, according to an article in this weeks Phnom Penh Post. There's a huge market, that's for sure:

  'Cambodia received 2,614 visitors in 2010 who claimed Myanmar as their country of residence, according to Ministry of Tourism statistics'.

  Seeing how much effort is needed to get flights to countries even closeby it's a bit strange that

  'Officials also requested that Russia and Japan begin regular direct flights to the Kingdom during the ongoing ASEAN Tourism Forum in Phnom Penh.“We are hopeful that if we have direct flights with Russia and Japan, tourists will increasingly come to our country,” said Thong Khon'.

• More air. Two new airlines approved in Cambodia (PPP, 28 Dec. 2010). But only for domestic destinations, which means between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. That's what the market wants?

• Victims of a plane crash (PPP, Jan 16 2011) are waiting for insurance pay-out for 3,5 years now, how much longer? Avoid using Cambodian airline(s)? Btw, it was a domestic flight ....
  

• The new Siem Reap airport will be constructed whatever anybody else thinks (PPP, 7 December 2010).

  'A government official has claimed work on a new US$1 billion Siem Reap airport is set to begin next year, after the project was approved by Prime Minister Hun Sen'.

  Green light by the government.

• Ung Meng Hong and Kasem Choocharukul have tried to revive the idea of a Phnom Penh bus system (Phnom Penh Post, 18-01-11). Apparently 72% of the respondents might just switch if the prices would be less than nothing. The report also noted that it would be required to see if there is economic viability...
  One problem is that a bus system will help solve traffic conditions, but if traffic conditions require public transport then it is often too late to introduce bus service, nobody is gonna pay for sitting in a bus in a traffic jam.

• Another bus station in the planning. Currently there is none and buses just drop you off wherever they feel like. A senator thinks that a bus station is just what the doctor ordered. The bus station will be 20 km from Phnom Penh. The Phnom Penh Post (13 Dec. 2010) adds:

  'Ly Yong Phat [senator] has been involved in contentious land disputes in Oddar Meanchey and Kampong Speu provinces with villagers who claim to have been displaced by his development projects'.

  Bus companies are already well versed with the consequences.

  'Sok Chan Mony, general manager of the Rith Mony bus company, said the terminal would ease congestion in the city, though he also said that both passengers and transporters would see rising costs if all companies are forced to relocate'.

  The money going where?

• The roadsafetyawareness blog gives us another viral video. In it ,two ladies are asked to pull over, but go ballistic towards the police for the notion that they might just have done something wrong.

• Road rage even in Sihanoukville, with trucks (PPP, Jan 10, 2011).

  'Prum Davuth, 28, and Plong Sokhen, 26, were arrested after they were accused of threatening to run over a number of traffic officers with their truck in Sihanoukville town’s commune 3, said Prum Pov, chief of the provincial traffic police. “We released both of them after they made apologies for their mistake,” he said'.

  End of story.

• The curious world of Cambodia. Sihanoukville, the world's most expensive place for taking a tuk-tuk, is seeing a response. Hotels are now providing transportation to their guests, so they don't fall prey to the tuk-tukers. Makes sure they get to their hotel, and to the beach. But that's not fair cry the tuk-tukkers. And protest. Expat Advisory Service has no less than 42 posts on the issue. In general, the best advice is to stay away of the place altogether. It's a dump. Beach, just head to one of the islands. And why else come to Sihanoukville?

• Over the holidays just another accident to add to the list. Five dead were reported, high official and his family who were overtaking on a blind corner ... Anyway over the holidays the was a controversy in Thailand when a young lady managed to rear end a van which then lost I think 8 passengers who tumbled over the edge of the 30m high road. She was 16. And after the accident needed to text. In Phnom Penh, that's not controversial at all:

  'Koeun Sotharaneth, the 16-year-old son of a general in the National Police, has been charged with manslaughter after he killed three people in a car accident in Kandal province on Friday night'.

  Since (21 Dec. 2010, PPP) have not heard anything on the case. Personally I know two persons who were hit during the holidays while using their bicycles, a trend?

• Elsewhere the metered taxi's are not doing too bad a business (PPP, 9 Jan 2011). Though still not enough that you could hail a taxi, they are increasing in number and are not a bad alternative to tuk-tuks which are growing exponentially in the capital by the looks of it. The owners report slower than expected business but are making a profit.

• Road construction leads to electrical problems (PPP, 5 Jan 2011). Someone needs their wiring checked anyway. The company responsible for the damage, AZ Investment has a reputation for not paying up.

  'He [electricity company representative] did not comment on the extent of the damage, but said AZ has attempted to evade responsibility in the past'.

  Another case of not holding your breathe.

• The Phnom Penh Post (January 5, 2011) reports that there are really persons being apprehended for failing the breathalyzer. It also adds this police citation:

  '“At night time, if there is no presence of police, the respect of law is low,” he said'.

• Phnom Penh has witnessed a couple of new bridges which enable to move from one in-going traffic jam to another. But one needs to pay. That's fine (the roads are great), but elsewhere in the country one also needs to pay for

  '... toll along a road with numerous old bridges in Kandal province’s Sa’ang district'.

  Truck drivers incensed.

• Other bridges take more time. Already in the pipeline for ages, a groundbreaking ceremony will take place for the bridge needed to cross the Mekong between Saigon and Phnom Pen, according to todays Phnom Penh Post.

• Rent seeking. The old weapon of the corrupt. In Koh Kong province according to the Phnom Penh Post (3 Jan 2011), the eco-tourist site (Chipat?) was serviced by many smaller boats.

  'Men Sopheap, 39, a representative of 18 boat owners in Chiphat commune, said Moeng Sophea, a commune official, was set to introduce a tourist ferry service and that boatmen were informed that they would have to wind up their business this week, since their boats were “unsafe”'.

  It will only be for a few years. The site will either become a titanium mine or disappear under a hydropower lake. Progress?

• Congestion spreads to river? The Phnom Penh Post (11 jan, 2011) reports that a tourist boat sunk after hitting a sand barge. No word about how that could happen.

• Discussion topics. Are tuk-tuks safer? Khmer 440 has the answer, tuk-tuks are perceived as safer (but have their own issues) but better still take a taxi.

• For those of you wondering which street is where and whether house no. 24 is next to no. 22 or no. 543b, apparently street signs will return (Phnom Penh Post, Dec 27).

  'City officials have announced ambitious plans to reorganise the numbers of the capital’s buildings and install street signs that will be uniform in style across the city.
  ...
  He said the Chinese Chung Hong Company had been commissioned to manufacture the aluminum signs, but that businesses and homeowners in the capital would be required to pay US$4 each to cover the costs. The scheme received a mixed reaction from residents yesterday, with some expressing concern about the fee they would be required to pay'.

• Big plans not always materialize. A second flyover in Phnom Penh (PPP, 14 Jan 2011) will be downgraded, with somehow the width less than ideal. Another highlight: it will be 50m high. Mistake?

Chasing Cars, November 14, 2010

Going viral. Probably the most talked about traffic issue at the moment is an everyday occurrence on Cambodia's road. Car travels down the wrong side of the road, hits a moto, tries to evade police. The difference is that this time someone his uploaded it onto YouTube and everybody has been talking about, especially on Facebook.

• Deaths reported: three monks in one go, a professional boxer accidentally. Two girls by a soldier who was briefly arrested by police before letting him go because he had not intended to hit the girls.

• Then in Banteay Meanchey a dead cow was arrested / confiscated:

  'He [province's chief of traffic police] said the corpse was detained for two hours at the station, but the owner failed to appear and the owners of the cars decided not to wait any longer and negotiated to pay for the damage themselves. “They [ the aggrieved damaged car owners] took the dead cow with them,” he said. “I don’t know what they will do with that cow.”'

• China mending bridges? No, building new ones for Cambodia's railways (Phnom Penh Post). Other rail news. New reopened routes will lead to the costs going down for road transport.

• There's an upswing in tourism meaning more flights, none of the aforementioned promises (Hanoi, Manila, Jakarta), but more of the same. Also no flights to Sihanoukville. Which is quite pathetic. TCambodia's national airline (CAA) should be opening up routes to here, but is in a bind as the operator of the airline is none other than the Vietnamese government which has no interest at all in opening Sihanoukville up as it competes directly with Vietnam's own plans for making Phou Coc the beach destination of the neighbourhood. Talk about a neighbourhood bully.

  'Developers and real estate agents have again emphasised the need for regular flights to Sihanoukville airport, with one party calling it “possibly the single most critical issue affecting tourism” in Cambodia',

  is just one of the lines Phnom Penh Post uses to highlight the case. The final sentence in the article?

  'Mai Xuan Long, an official at CAA, declined to comment'.

  Stephen Finch's comment also focuses on the situation. He asks some poignant questions.

  'Why isn’t CAA supporting these newly emerging destinations, especially given that Cambodia’s new flag carrier is understood to be partly government-run? The surging prices on CAA’s route from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh amid nonexistent carrier competition is equally debilitating for Cambodian tourism. Whereas the new airline offered special promotion fares between Cambodia’s two biggest tourism destinations after launching in July last year, now a round trip for foreigners usually costs more than US$200 when airport tax is factored in. That route across the Kingdom must rank as one of the most expensive internal flights in the region per kilometre'.
  

• The government is planning more overhead bridges (Phnom Penh Post) despite current ones not fitting the bill.

  'is it me or are the road exits around the overpass at Chbar Ampeouv another classic piece of local planning ? It seems that if you're traveling south on Norodom and want to turn left across the Chbar Ampeouv bridge then you can only do this by turning right for a few hundred metres until you can execute an illegal u-turn around the concrete lane dividers ? And similarly if you're traveling north from Takmao and want to turn left onto the southern end of Monivong, it seems you now have to turn right to go across the newer Chbar Ampeouv bridge before turning round to come back over the old Chbar Ampeouv bridge'.

  More discussion on Khmer 440.
  

• Khmer 440 also mention that there is a radar gun in Sihanoukville working ...

Chasing Cars, Mooncake day 2010

Highlighting Cambodia's inability in providing safety for road participants, no less than the DG of the Transport Department has explained that if Cambodia is to attain the ASEAN goal for reduction of road fatalities (in 2010), it's the international communities concern, not Cambodia's.

'“We will not achieve the goal because our capacity is still young,” Ung Chun Huor, director general of the Transportation Department at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, said at a workshop in the capital on Friday. “We have insufficient funds and a lack of human resources to promote traffic safety.”'

He also had no clue on how much funds were already attributed to traffic safety but rest assured, traffic safety concerns are only donor driven, so what can he do? How about enforcing the law?

• Talking of which, police are now enforcing a one way traffic sign on street 130 in Phnom Penh. It's more newsworthier than the above.

• Along with the stoppage on major construction projects in the capital, Cambodia's first assembly plant is getting a bit late.

  'Camko finance director Lim Visal said yesterday that the plant would be ready to assemble cars by the end of the year, but declined to specify a date'.

  And Camko are not a real estate developer ....
  

• More development, a new airport in Siem Reap. Just last week a pipe dream, now awaiting construction. Logic: big airport, more and bigger planes, more tourists = more money.
  But is it a good investment? Could be, but again Camko involved as well as another until now unknown company. Maybe it's still a pipedream ....
  Btw, who saw that they believe that the new airport will result in a 4 or 5 fold increase in passengers? Does it mean they don't know?

• Again the Japanese are announcing the construction of their bridge over the Mekong. It seems to be taking for ever.
  

• 
  From the Phnom Penh Post (14 September 2010) :

  'Two technologies dear to the heart of Phnom Penh’s expat community – the tuk-tuk and free Wi-Fi – have been combined. Mobile-phone provider qb has launched 15 special tuk-tuks that are set to travel around the capital offering an internet connection to “anyone in the area”. The vehicles will also act as showrooms for qb'.

• Khmer440.com has a discussion on songteaws. Why possible in Thailand, not in Cambodia? Next week they will have a discussion on the use of old Mercedes buses. Why in Vietnam, not in Cambodia?

• Flight information. India is just another country which probably won't start flights to Cambodia even though their intentions are well-meant. In the meantime Cambodia Angkor Airways (CAA) is on the way to expansion.

  'It also plans to expand operations to South Korea, China, Singapore, Bangkok and Hanoi.
  Cambodia and Vietnam are also preparing to open a new route from Da Lat, in central Vietnam, to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, a move already approved by Cambodia’s Council of Ministers'.

  And with loads of just over 60%, a year after taking off, it's can't be deemed to be making money despite officials naming it a success. I also heard on the grapevine that CAA are still no way near to starting up flights to Sihanoukville, despite massive interest from Bangkok Air. Being a state run enterprise though means they can block that interest ...

• An exposition of photo's of Phnom Penh communities who until recently lived on the rails.

To finish off with where we began, Phnom Penh Post had a fine article (not literally!) on the stealth tactics used by the traffic police.

'“It is important that traffic police keep safety on the road. Make sure that people respect you and the law,” Touch Naruth [Municipal Police Chief] said yesterday as he relayed a message given during his Tuesday meeting. “Don’t just stand under trees and jump out to crack down on drivers without helmets or mirrors. It’s dangerous for you and drivers on the roads.”
...
However, it appears not everyone agrees with the police chief’s strategy. Him Yan, director of the public order department at the Interior Ministry, said hiding behind trees is “an unavoidable strategy”.

“This strategy is to make people cease their bad habits,” Him Yan said. He said other countries also employ such measures to enforce the law.
But Long Chy, a 34-year-old motorbike-taxi driver, said that he blamed police for causing traffic accidents when trying to surprise rule-breakers.
“Police activities are much more anarchic than regular people’s,” he said'.

Well, as trees are slowly disappearing from the city, will traffic police follow?

Chasing Cars, more than 1 month later ....

I could start of this posting by offering my apologies for not posting for such a long time. But I'm not. Traffic wise there's simply so little to report on. It's been hot so not so much traffic. Everybody is being wearing helmets so no wacky government / law instructions on that. And it seems like everybody is content.

• Starting with content. The

  'Bangkok/Siem Reap Overland Guide'
  

  has once more reinvented itself. Hardly any problems anymore with the road just with bus company rip offs and border problems. Why the bus companies and border officials can't solve this a la going to Vietnam is beyond me.

• An aircraft has been sighted at Sihanoukville airport. That's a huge increase over the past years 0 aircraft.

• Phnom Penh City is experimenting (on advice of the Japanese) with charging drivers for parking. Currently you are allowed to park virtually anywhere even to the extent of blocking traffic, who cares. The 'experiment' lasts a full week on a short stretch of inner city road. Wow!

  '...the point of the exercise, which runs through June 2, is to reduce the number of vehicles along Charles de Gaulle and discourage “anarchic parking”. Fees are being collected by Sky Security Service.
  Masato Koto, an urban planning consultant for the city who dreamed up the scheme, said his long-term vision was to restrict roadside parking along major thoroughfares to designated areas while imposing charges to drive down demand. By doing so, he said, officials could make Phnom Penh more pedestrian-friendly.
  “In other countries, sidewalks are only for pedestrians,” he said. “But Cambodia is different. Here sidewalks are for parking cars, so we have to change this characteristic.”'

  But the Cambodian side is already whining. Charges are too high. '

  Masato acknowledged that the charges had drawn criticism, but said they needed to be high in order to effectively deter parking.
  “If the cost is high, then people will no longer want to park here. That’s the point,” he said.
  “The number of cars is increasing every day, but the land in the city is limited, so we have to control the demand for parking.”'

  Yes, but now the rich dudes end up paying for something which was free. Where's the justice in this?

• An article in the Phnom Penh Post presumably about a new bridge north of Phnom Penh across the Tonle Sap river. Content of the article is about the more than 200 lorries Cambodia gets from China packed with 50,000 free military uniforms. This in exchange for kicking out a couple of asylum seekers, it seems.

• 

  'A weighty issue. A motodop driver and a security guard try to help a tuk-tuk laden with boxes of bottled water get back on its wheels at the intersection of Norodom Boulevard and Street 214 last week'.

  Phnom Penh Post April 28, 2010.

• A huge piece in the Phnom Penh Post concerning the history of Cambodia's rail network. Saturady 5 June will see the Chinese House Express, a 3 hour (or longer) trip north of Phnom Penh with a jazz concert in a rice paddy.

• What's wrong with bus companies? They all suck?

• A new piece of the Phnom Penh city has been revealed. Three of the 12 roads have been approved of this 'secretive' city expansion. Part of the plan will be a flyover for which some city citizens will have to move.

• A miscreant in Siem Reap wants to sue the police because he failed to stop when required to do so by police. He was consequently hit on the head by traffic police with a walkie-talkie device so as to enforce the stop signal. It worked. He stopped and needed stitches. Miscreant claims expenses plus

  '$1,500 for mental illness compensation'.

  But arguably he was already mentally deranged before incident ....

• Finally Monument Books have nearly sold out of he Wall & Kemp Carrying Cambodia photo book. One can though still order from others such as Borders or Amazon. Or simply open up the Life in Cambodia website with arguably more interesting photo's.
  

Chasing Cars, Cambo stylo, 26 April 2010

Absolutely nothing seems to be going on, traffic wise in Cambodia. One would have expected a lament of the many deaths and injured during the past Khmer new year celebration but nada. Well not technically, I believe the Phnom Penh Post ran a smallish article on the drop of deaths in Phnom Penh, though if you were here during the holidays it's surprising that an accident took place at all, technically the town had turned into Ghost Town as the city had emptied.

The holidays have come and gone and everybody still needs to get into the groove somehow.

• A study so says the Phnom Penh Post. A calculation of the cost of accidents. No less than an annual cost of $248 million for 2009, a doubling since 2003. That seems a conservative estimate and considering the number of new traffickers (can I say this?) has risen three / four fold in the same time, it means that the costs are proportionally dropping, good news eh? Funny this estimating the cost. The administrative part cost $43 million, while deaths and injuries $73 million. Life is cheap? the police finally add that it's because the public are ignorant and fail to comply. What about the role of the police in this?

• Though we had been hoping for boats to be leaving from Kep for Phu Quoc asap. apparently someone has decided to throw a spanner in the works. The Japanese company has objected to the intended harbor being placed 5 km from the agreed on place (a year before!), according to the Phnom Penh Post:

  'Authorities instead proposed a port location in the forest area of Poun Mountain, 5 kilometres from the centre of the town in Damnak Chang Er district, a site the company official said was shallow and choked with seaweed'.

  The local government are (literally?) standing firm ...

• This morning I picked up the newest scam on the road Siem Reap to Bangkok involving bus breaking downs and extending waits so as to get other buses full. Good advertisement. Anyway, who wants to go to BKK?

• Bamboo trains are disappearing laments none other than the LA Times. Never understood why this would anyone would be passionate for this, it's about the same as wishing you could only get to Siem Reap by moto ...

• Last week a downpour providing relief by distress to road users as the streets went under. KI Media reports. Despite multi-million drainage system which was clogged up and blamed on the local rubbish collectors ...

• Sokha to open a second hotel in Sihanoukville. Newsworthy? Funny they have enough space to develop on at their first site, but to keep land in cambodia you have to build something to really claim it, preferably a wall. Anyways in the Phnom Penh Post article they mention that Cambodia Angkor Airways might start to fly from Siem Reap:
  

  'News of the hotel build follows reports, published in Cambodian press Thursday, that Cambodia Angkor Air (CAA) is to offer domestic charter flights to Sihanouk International Airport this year.
  The Post met with blank responses when it contacted officials to verify the claims Thursday.
  Mai Xuan Long, deputy director of CAA, said that he didn’t know exactly what was happening with the company’s flights to Sihanoukville International Airport.
  Kao Sivorn, Operation Director Department of Secretariat of State of Civil Aviation, said that so far he has not received proposals from CAA to start operations to the new airport.
  He added that the company does not have enough ability to begin regular flights to Sihanouk International Airport yet.
  He added: “If [CAA] begin operation there, it will boost the tourism sector for Sihanouk province, as the airport can link it to Siem Reap International Airport.”
  Tith Chantha, director of Sihanouk International Airport, said that he has not yet heard when CAA would begin flights to the airport.
  “I have not received any official letter from CAA,” he said'.

Chasing Cars, mid-Feb 10

Ferry cross the Mekong. Phnom Penh in the background.

After a longer hiatus waiting for inspiration, a run of the mill entry. Or so it would seem.

• How the government works (or not). PM calls minister 'gang minister' Why?

  '... the senior official changed the number of National Road 67 to 66, creating cartographic confusion.
  ...
  I beg you, stop changing the road numbers,” Hun Sen said, adding that the minister was behaving like a gangster by changing numbers without consulting the proper authorities. “I announce today to cancel this and keep 67 as its number,” Hun Sen [Cambo PM] said'.

• More on the government machine. PM calls for action. Province promises. Sets date. Finds out they are too busy. Postpones and starts just in time for the Chinese New Year when Crossing Cambodia believes there are neither police nor trucks driving around to apprehend. That's the easy part, but the main part is to apprehend trucks carrying too much. So how they do it?

  'Officials have not identified a specific weight limit for trucks, saying instead that individual police officers would be tasked with determining which ones were overloaded and could potentially damage roads'.

  So arbitrarily imposing non specific limits means ....

• What about pedestrians? They need clear paths, preferably shaded. In Kampot the one means none of the other, i.e. they cut down the trees to remove the obstacles. Stan writes a letter to the editor of the Phnom Penh Post:

  'While I support the improvements to the sidewalks on the business side of Kampot River Road for safety and aesthetics, I believe authorities should go to great lengths to save every tree possible.
  The shade and beauty they provide are far more important than the slight obstacle to walking they might cause.
  Furthermore, it’s ironic that they would put so much effort into making the walk along the riverfront safe at the same time as they are widening streets in another part of town adjacent to the market and nearly eliminating sidewalks in the process; there will be no possibility of avoiding walking in traffic there. It’s not just tourists who deserve safe places to walk. The streets in question are now far wider than traffic flows would ever warrant for a small town, and cost a lot more than necessary.
  One was already paved and functional. Meanwhile, River Road north of the new bridge, the road to my house, is a very rough dirt track with immense holes in it and desperately needs improvement. Even just grading would be an important benefit to users. The authorities have their priorities askew. There needs to be a way to solicit input before such projects are undertaken'.

• And more government. Build an airport and the passengers will come. But that would be a success and success needs a celebration, so we postpone the inauguration until then, meaning that an airport is built but not opened. Understood? Even weirder is this:
  

  'It is hoped that new national carrier Cambodia Angkor Air will run the first flights at the new airport, said Tith Chantha, adding that he would like SIA to become Cambodia’s primary international airport'.

  So even the government can not force it's own airline to behave it self and do as it's told?
  

• Well, the government wants to approve a monopoly for a single Toyota dealer. But this is what Toyota want, so as to better control their produce and ease of calling back ... So why the fuss?

• More monopoly business. Find an idea (cutting out 'anarchy') and get it done. And the money will flow freely:

  'A group of boat owners is preparing to lodge a complaint against a new association that was created to streamline the booking of trips on the Tonle Sap, accusing it of cutting off direct access to customers and charging unnecessarily high fees'.

  Let the passengers pay for ..., well for nothing.

• Meanwhile in an unassumingly unrelated incident an overcrowded boat sinks and kills seven. Now shouldn't anything be done about that? The Ministry of Water Resources washes it's hands off the case:

  'He [MoWR spokesperson] said that the ministry would resume a public-awareness campaign about water safety and urged people to follow the advice given.
  “The ministry often used to inform people and publicise warnings for all boat drivers along the Mekong River and the sea to be equipped with life vests to protect their lives from disasters, but people have ignored these warnings,” he said'.

  Warnings and implementing the law.
  

• More than 14,000 were fined for not wearing a helmet in January according to official sources. That must have resulted in quite a windfall. And then there's the unofficial fines ..., so no doubt the traffic police have got something to celebrate.

  'But road safety advocates say the effectiveness of the law has been hindered by spotty enforcement, a problem that persists in part because Traffic Police rarely work at night.
  ...
  “Ninety percent of people use helmets during the day, but only around 40 percent wear helmets at night,” Him Yan [director of the ministry’s Department of Public Order!] said. “People are afraid that police will fine them, but they don’t wear them at night because Traffic Police do not work then.”'

• Chinese New Year means more accidents, so it seems. The solution:

  '“I have informed all Traffic Police in the different provinces to reinforce the law during Chinese New Year because many people leave the city to travel to the provinces,” he [director of the Ministry’s Department of Public Order!] said'.

  But now the Chinese New Year has passed (Phnom Penh Post, 18 Feb 2010) the police are celebrating:

  'the number of people who died on the road over the period matched last year’s figure, the overall number of accidents saw a decline'.

  Funny though, that the first article refers to HIB statistics which mention five times as many deaths as the police. So will the after Chinese New Year figures also be adjusted?

• Flights increase between PPN and SRP from 4 to 5 daily.

• Finally let's end with an article on how the government works. There's a law. But who cares? The opposition do. Cars with military license are not allowed.

  'He [MoD spokesperson] added that opposition lawmakers were not objecting to the use of military or police number plates by those entitled to apply for them and suggested that legitimate plate holders should paint their vehicles in military colours to help people determine which licences were legal and which ones were not.
  Chhum Socheat [opposition spokesperson] said that the 2007 law does include such a provision but that it was rarely implemented or enforced. “It is not a problem if legitimate plate owners do not spray [their vehicles] with military colours,” he said'.

  Despite the MoD defense, the Cambodia Mirror adds:

  '“Though there is such a claim from the Ministry of Defense, many citizens said that many cars of powerful officials are parked illegally and they do not obey the traffic law.”'

Chasing Cars, December the tenth 2009

Two whopping weeks have passed and I haven't hardly got anything to elaborate on. Boring, boring. Police are out doing their job. The dodgers are out dodging the police and no improvement seems to be happening.

• Phnom Penh Post looks at corruption yesterday (9 December 2009). The visual example is as follows with subtext:

Photo by Tracey Shelton.

'Police refuse to issue a traffic fine to a driver on Sihanouk Boulevard earlier this year, saying they do not have the paperwork for official fines and can only accept bribes'.

• New tax proposal accepted by the Cambodian parliament:

' “The budget law for 2010 foresees also an increase of taxes on means transportation including automobiles (road taxes):

1. Vehicles with a power over 12 HP to 17 HP, within 5 years from their production date, have to pay Riel 500,000 [approx. US$125] each year, and after the 5th years, it is Riel 360,000 [approx. US$90].
2. Cars with a power over 17 HP to 24 HP, within 5 years from their production date, have to pay Riel 1,600,000 [approx. US$400], and after the 5th year, it is Riel 1,200,000 [approx. US$300].
3. Cars with a power over 24 HP, like Lexus’ and Land Cruisers, had to pay only Riel 1,000,000 [approx. US$250] for road tax in the previous year, but next year, they will be charged Riel 2,000,000 [approx. US$500].
4. As for passengers’, general transportation, and tourists’ cars with a power of 12 HP, and small motorbikes, their taxes are kept at the same level'.

• Boating in Cambodia. A talesofasia forum entry has all the answers.

• The airport ready but still not opened (Sihanoukville) is pleased to mention that it just mite receive regular flights from neighbouring countries Malaysia and Korea. No wrong, our neighbours are Thailand and Vietnam. Wouldn't that be more logic, flights from Saigon and Bangkok? Rather than an A320 from Seoul?

• Economy getting back into shape. I mean economic indicators pointing to more money being made in the country but collectively we're getting poorer at least psychological, why need money? To buy .... motorcycles!

  'Dealers say new Honda models are driving recent rebound'

  They drive themselves?

• Yet again suckers trying to bus themselves to/from Bangkok, this time via Koh Kong.

  'The Combined tickets F*ck us travellers. And Koh Kong is not a quick way to Bangkok....The companies don't think we will spread the word.....do it! We are not collectively STUPID'.

  Is that a question? Do you really want me to answer that?

• More on buses to/from Sihanoukville. From Khmer 440:

  'Be aware that if you are doing this trip with Kampuchea Angkor Express, they do not stop in PP city area, but continue straight across the Jap. Friendship bridge to their new office on the other side of the Tonle Sap. All that inspite of me asking where they stop, before buying my ticket. Their answer was at the Old Market. Maybe this is the first stage of relocating all buses outside the city center'.

  Interesting that, spend an extra hour in the bus so as to be dropped off at some kind of out of town shelter, jam packed with creamers (moto's / tuktuks). Great system. What about the government open up bus stations for the diverse directions, i.e. a southern, western, northern and Vietnamese bus station? They could ex-expropriate some poor souls, get some git to do all the work for free, lease it out for 100+ years (that's the theory) and sit on top of the cash and do the public a favour in the process. City Hall reads this blog? Nah, they have no dosh for a internet connection ...

• On yer bike? Tomorrow an exhibition by Bike Ben on something he did and how he landed up in the Penh. @ the living room.

Chasing Cars yet again

• Under the government's search light this week are yet again the tuk-tuk's:

  'City Hall has announced it will stop fining tuk-tuk drivers who lack licence plates until the end of the year, but a ban on tuk-tuks driving along Norodom Boulevard is set to remain in place.
  ...
  Nhem Saron, director of the Municipal Department of Public Works and Transport, said drivers must all respect the Land Traffic Law. “We did allow [tuk-tuks] to drive along Norodom Boulevard, but they did not respect" the law, he said. City Hall cabinet chief Koet Chhe said the city did not allow tuk-tuks to drive along Norodom Boulevard because they wanted to keep roads clear for foreign delegations visiting Cambodia'.

  Yet, if they want the roads clear, why take all the Lexuses off, they would make a much bigger impact.

• And more under the spotlight. Now even Deputy PM's (how many?) will not be allowed to use sirens ...

Air transport seems to be the most talked about, just look at the following articles:

• Phnom Penh just might be connected to the Philippines in the not so distant future, thereby avoiding an expensive flight to Saigon or backtracking to Bangkok.

  'Cebu Pacific Air, a Philippines-based airline, plans to begin direct flights between its home country and Cambodia in the spring of 2010, Minister of Tourism Thong Khon said Tuesday'.

  Funny how you are in a regional grouping striving to be one economy and not have direct flights. Next up Djakarta?

• Sihanoukville's airport has been personally declared fit to open by the Minister some time back, but the official opening seems to be in the phase of putting off to the future.

  'The official opening of Preah Sihanouk International Airport has been delayed until next year at the request of the French embassy, State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) Secretary of State Mao Havannal said Thursday'.

  So minister yes, French embassy no. Some much for Cambodia being a sovereign state ...

• Sovereignty is at the heart of the following.
  The plot:
  Cambodia not like Thai, Thai not like Cambodia.
  Some Thai not like Thaksin.
  Thaksin get kicked out of country.
  Cambodia now like Thaksin.
  Thaksin go to Cambodia.
  Thai in uproar.
  Cambodia not care.
  Apparently Cambodian skies are controlled by Thai firm Samart using CATS as the local front office. One employee hands over flight plan of Thaksin after he has landed (and traversed Thai air space) to Thai embassy official. Cambodia arrests person, kicks official out and takes over the company.

  'Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said Cambodia’s takeover of CATS was “temporary” but necessary “to ensure national security and public safety".

  Which was not the case before hand?
  What is the reality? Nine Thai are replaced by 1 Cambodian. That should be good for the confidence of all Cambodian air travellers.
  KI Media adds:

  'Cambodia rejected Monday a Thai media claim that the daughter of Prime Minister Hun Sen is to take a stake in a Thai firm at the centre of a spying row'.

  An ASEAN spying row?

A Russian project to build a bridge to Koh Pos just off the coast of Sihanoukville.

Rail news.

• The railways are decrepit and so a foreign company will spruce them up. that costs money. So some things have to go. Personnel. Apparently the company's previous business plan was as follow:
  

  'Development at the Royal Railways of Cambodia totally stopped, trains run at speeds of 40km/h down to 5km/h'.

  A train driver laments:
  

  'At present, I only earn a salary of Riel 116,000 [approx. U$29] per month, and I have been working as a train driver for 28 years. Other workers shouted annoyingly, ‘Even nobody is promoted to new positions, and nobody knows when the salaries will be paid; if there are promotions, this happens only to their partisans.’

  The Mirror adds as final sentence:

  '“The under-secretary of state in charge of the Royal Railways of Cambodia, Mr. Touch Chankosal, told Deum Ampil, ‘I did not know that the workers had protested" '.
  

• Andy the only train spotter Cambodia has, is now focusing on finding missing train stations as there are no trains to spot.

  'For a look at one of those destroyed stations, the shell of Koh Touch, some 16 kms west of Kampot, is worth a look if you are out that way. Some of the walls remain as do the floor tiles, but very little else, as the vegetation has a stranglehold on what's left. A group of female rice-workers in a nearby field looked at me as though I was a complete madman as I took pictures of this empty ghost of the bygone days of the southern line'.

• Another boat disaster. The term used seems a bit out of sync.

  'The bodies of a father and his three children who drowned after a boat carrying seven people capsized in Kandal province’s Lvea Em district on Wednesday morning have all been recovered'.

• New Zealand teaches us road rules.

  'A stint in Cambodia teaches you to appreciate road rules. Traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, the give-way rule and seat belts reveal themselves as true blessings. In my time in Cambodia I was honked at, swerved past, almost run over and driven into the path of an oncoming concrete truck by an unrepentant tuk tuk driver.
  ...
  You certainly learn to appreciate roads rules for what they are - lifesavers'.

Chasing Cars, November 9 2009

• From Phnom Penh's Post Police Blotter (26 Oct. 2009):

  'A university student was arrested in Phnom Penh on Saturday after throwing his helmet at a police officer during a traffic stop. The accused was stopped for not wearing a helmet while driving his motorbike near Royal University of Phnom Penh. He then threw his helmet, which was hung on the handle of his motorbike, at the police officer. The man’s father explained to police that his son suffers from a mental illness as a result of a traffic accident'.

  Guy is mental for not wearing a helmet and having an accident. What does he do, continues his previous lifestyle. Symptomatic for Cambodia's (lack of) education?

• And a day later the Police Blotter (27 Oct. 2009) reports: '

  A woman who fled from traffic police on Saturday fell off her motorbike on Russian Boulevard in the Sen Sok district of Phnom Penh. The fall rendered the woman unconscious, said witnesses, who added that the bike was equipped with a licence plate and side mirrors, but that the woman had been driving without a helmet. Bystanders complained that police had caused the accident by chasing the woman, who was subsequently brought to an area hospital for treatment'.

  It's quite a common occurrence, police being more vigilant. Over the past weekend I was in Sihanoukville and along the way were a few surprise police check points one which had just then resulted in a minor accident.

• Old story, woman has an accident and goes beserk. She received instant justice: 1,5 year. Then PM wades in and finds sentence too lenient and presto, authorities are now pushing for a harsher sentence. so much for independence of justice. The new charges: trepassing [you never know how long you can go in the lock up for that, in Cambodia] and intent to kill, despite the article claiming

  'she fired a gun into the air'.

  Aiming at who?

• Another ongoing story with so many twists and turns it's hard to understand what's it about. Well, umm it's about dominance of Cambodia's internal skies with two companies vying and despite both failing to adhere to Cambodia's aviation standards which in itself is also lacking competency. Tripadvisor has the following:

  'I've flown VN air (company running flag carrier Cambodia Angkor Airways) turbo-prop planes HCMC-Nha Trang-HCMC - all fine except return leg was delayed'.

  So not so fine ...

• More on the ongoing projects of the Cyclo Center.

• Khmer 440 has pointers on moto-dups.

• Story to picture above:

'Volunteers [paid and forced kids] educate an unhappy motorist about road safety laws on Sunday as part of a regular education campaign by the nonprofit organisation aimed at reducing the number of road casualties in the Kingdom'.

Chasing cars, October 26 2009

Again a lot nonsensical news on Cambodia's roads and traffic in general:

• Probably the most extensive coverage is reserved for who is allowed to fly within the country. The government seems intent on allowing their own airline (um, actually the airline of Vietnam Airlines) to be the sole operator by throwing up all kind regulations to which it's competitors fail to comply, only for the same to apply for it's own airline! The tourist is left stranded, but who cares? the headlines:

  'Tourism head calls for government to support airlines' (21 Oct.), 'Regulator to write for SRA permit' (22 Oct.) and
  'International aviation to review' (23 Oct).

• More airline info:

  'New routes to be added'.

  All new routes are from Siem Reap to Korea.
  Then the Airport in Sihanoukville is scheduled to open according to KI Media. In the report the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) Secretary of State Mao Havannal had the following to add on the subject above:

  'According to Mao Havannal, Siem Reap Airways may be unable to fly from the airport as it has not registered any planes in Cambodia, a requirement for domestic operators to receive an Air Operator Certificate (AOC). “I don’t know for sure if Siem Reap Airways will be able to fly or not” said Mao Havannal. “It depends on the airline because we have already confirmed with them that if they want to resume their operations, they need to register an airplane [in Cambodia]. “It already completely complies with SSCA requirements and has satisfied concerns over its operations.”'

  Weird that the Cambodia Angkor Airways can fly while it also has failed to comply with this regulation.
  

• Good news for the bus masochists, Laos is planning buses to ply from Pakse to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh.

  'According to officials, the Pakxe Public Bus Association has been given permission by the Lao government to provide a bus service to Cambodia . The association planned to provide buses from Vientiane to the southern Lao province of Champassak , and on to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh in Cambodia , they said.'

  That means you will soon be able to take the bus to Jinghong, China with just two changes of bus, in Pakse and in Vientiane. Time 3 days and nites?
  

What's wrong here? Cambo authorities are lacking funds to have simpel signboards.
So they get them sponsored. But then the signboards turn into advertising bill boards.
Then if you click on the photo for detail you see how poorly the directions are given.
No design standard is used and even the opposing traffic lanes are to be used.
Going straight can on the lanes left and right
while the center lane (of a 2 lane road) is to be used to turn right.

• In Cambodia though buses are to be regulated:

  'would require that companies hire two drivers per bus, and that the drivers switch off every 150 kilometres to avoid fatigue-related accidents'.

  The bus company replies:

  'Chan Sophanna, general manager of Phnom Penh Sorya Transportation, said he welcomed the effort to improve road safety but said the cost of two drivers would be too high. He went on to defend bus drivers who had been involved in road accidents, blaming them on “careless pedestrians” who walked into traffic without looking. The drivers, he added, needed to flee the scene in many cases to avoid retribution at the hands of onlookers'.

  Blame the victims.
  

• The Phnom Penh Post has some pointers on how to establish and manage a Cambodian bus company:

  'Don’t lose sight of the small things. You can hire people to sweet-talk tourists into foregoing the money exchange booth at the border in order to rip them off at the bus station. Any day when you can convince a naïve Chinese teenager that he should change $50-worth of Thai baht into riel for an abysmal rate is a small victory.
  ...
  Once customers have purchased their exorbitantly priced tickets and gotten on your decrepit bus, it’s time to let the good times roll. What, in theory, would be a three-hour ride should be lengthened, with a minimum of four stops at shabby restaurants so your fares can purchase plates of oily fried rice for two dollars a pop'.

• In Lao they have a new solution to easing higher traffic accident rates:

  'Luang Prabang province will be the second province in Laos to launch a project to prohibit secondary school students from riding motorbikes to school.
  ...
  The project aims to help reduce road accidents and traffic, saving family expenditure and protecting the environment'.

The Cambo solution: shelve the moto and the bike.
Post Ketsana use the boat to get to school.
Original from Reuters.

• An ongoing issue, are victims allowed to punch up police?

  'Kampot rovincial police have arrested four Chinese construction workers on suspicion of assaulting two Cambodian traffic police following a traffic dispute on Sunday'.

  However.

  'When contacted on Wednesday, one company representative denied that the arrests had taken place, claiming the workers had merely been summoned for questioning. “They did not arrest people. They just asked them to court for some information,” said Shu Jiang, the deputy managing director of Sinohydro'.

  The answer is if you have good backers, sure go ahead.

• 'Road deaths rise moderately'.

  That's according to the Ministery of Interior. Though they acknowledge that there may be some differences with other statistics, most notably the RTAVIS. This databank uses the Ministries figures and the Ministry is a partner. It begs the question why there may be a difference ....?

• More indepth knowledge on how the police works, thanx to EAS. And revealing that the police are using their speedguns:

  'noticed the police had a new 'speed gun' and were pointing it at everyone. Well, the police 100 m onwards, they were aggressively flagging down every old vehicle (never Lexus or Land Crusers) and ours was one.
  ...
  the police only emboldened the police to press charges against him--trumped up. They say they clocked him going 57 in a 55 km/hr speed. Then when they checked his license, they showed it was paper and not plastic (who knows what was right?). [a.: obviously the police do] ... I noticed at least 25 cars flagged down to the similar marked 'lane' where everyone simply handed out some notes and went on'.

Chasing Cars, mid-August 2009

Imposing the law? According to their own claims

'more than 60,000 vehicles have been temporarily impounded'.

That seems a bit unlikely, even logistically. Lost in translation possibly?

'Hem Ya, deputy chief of the Phnom Penh Police Commissariat, said that vehicles have been held in order to educate owners who break the law. "I think that so far, 80 percent of Cambodian people respect the traffic law" '.

Well, wake up call. If that is respect then come again. Nowhere in Cambodia are 80% of the people respecting the law! On a good day you might see 50-60% wearing helmets nowadays, but that's common sense, it's not respect for the law. Respect for the law is having a license, stopping at stop signs, not cutting off other road users, not running red lights, not driving on the wrong side of the road, not cutting corners, not driving and using phone, etc., etc.

Well, let's hope there's better things to report on this week.

• Ban the poor souls!

  'I’m sure that it’ll be a great consolation to both tourists and tuk tuk drivers that their ban from Norodom Boulevard in the latest lunatic edict from the madcap and increasingly nagging world of City Hall, will ‘prevent traffic jams.’ As it happens, traffic jams caused by groups of people being efficiently and economically ferried around by tuk tuks happen, in my own humble experience, to be somewhere in the region of nil. Whereas, expats across the blogsphere (myself included), have been banging on for years about the exponential increase in the number of fatass, luxury SUVS blocking up the city’s streets - and something tells me that these black steel panthers may have more of a causal relationship with these traffic jams than the humble tuk tuk. The problem is as clear as a bell to me'.

• If some readers (and authorities, see above) believe that Phnom Penh is congested, wait til you see Vientiane:

  'A massive increase in new vehicles is giving Vientiane commuters a headache as peak hour traffic snarls affect transportation across the city'.

  The Vientiane Times has us believe the Lao capitol is in the same league as Saigon, Djakarta and Bangkok! What distinguishes Vientiane from Phnom Penh is the solution sought:

  'Minister of Public Works and Transport, Mr Sommath Pholsena said his ministry would focus on promoting and improving public transport as a way to address traffic congestion in the capital'.

• Koh Kong is Cambodia's wild west?

  'The driver swerved and the back end started to slide out. Shards of rock and rubble started bouncing loudly off the under-carriage, people started screaming, but by some small miracle, the driver managed to recover from the swerve and we didnt end up in the dirt ditch at the side of the road, taking a dirt nap. About 150 meters down the road (in the middle of nowhere), I see a gang of young Khmer men waiting on their motorbikes, scrutinising the bus (for damage I’m guessing?) and looking back at the debris from the smashed boulder, a few with very disappointed looks on their faces and a few others laughing their fucking heads off at our near death experience. By the time we got to the border I couldnt help feeling a bit more cynical and wondering how long it would of taken for the bus to get looted if we had of rolled? What's the value of the contents of a tourist bus these days? a couple of hundred dollars per head, 30+ people, $4-5K? A fair days take for a gang of trainee motodups, id say? I wish I could say this is my only bad experience on Cambodian Buses'.

  You mean there are worse?
  

• Odd law enforcement in Sihanoukville. The street determines what the license fee shall be.

  'According to a representative of the drivers, the temporary solution provided by provincial office was that motorcycles not bearing any license plate will not be confiscated'.

  The same in Banteay Meanchey? And what are we talking about?

  'a deputy provincial governor, warned that officials would not be able to reduce the fee, which could be as high as $200. "If we were to reduce it, it would have too large an impact on the national budget," he said'.

  The national budget in ruins? Is there a national budget?
  

• A non-report?

  'Prices at petrol stations climbed about 3 percent Wednesday, despite calls last week from Prime Minister Hun Sen for lower fuel costs, and petroleum officials said additional price spikes should be expected as world oil prices rise'.

  The PM can obliterate the opposition within 2 hours (he claims) but imposing the law on all is difficult as well as getting petrol companies to abstain from making a profit! Met his match?
  

• The National Road Safety Committee claims that traffic injuries are dropping in Phnom Penh. The Phnom Penh Post copies these claims.

  'Traffic injuries in Phnom Penh decreased by 55 percent from May 2008 to May 2009'.

  55% is a low! But he! Crossing Cambodia swept through the May 2008 and May 2009 reports. Causalities in May 2008 in Phnom Penh: 139 (source (PDF)). May 2009: 219 (source). An increase of 57%! That's just plain poor reporting.

  'Though crashes and total casualties in Cambodia decreased compared with May 2008 by 13 percent each, fatalities saw a 12 percent increase'.

  The reason for this drop in casualties?

  'Ung Chun Hour, director of the NSRC, said that enforcement of the Land Traffic Law - which requires motorbike drivers to wear helmets, among other regulations - is the most likely source of this decline in road injuries'.

  Get real, the probable cause is poor reporting. Dying on the road is increasing despite more helmets, that's the message.
  

• Headline from KI Media which must have come as a rude wake up call for the Cambodian government: New Railroads cost Money! An odd comment from an Australian business person:

  'it certainly will increase traffic on the rails because road transport as we know is very expensive and considerably dangerous, considering the safety aspects on the roads here," Mayes said'.

  The Phnom Penh Post (18 August 2009) might have a solution, by way of the magical words

  'additional funding'.

  ADB Daydreaming:

  ' "It makes Cambodia the hub of transportation between China and Singapore, and you would have a port link, you would have a link to Thailand, you'll have a link through to Vietnam, and the implications for that, for Cambodia in the region, are that Cambodia becomes the hub".'

  A port and a rail road mean nothing.

Law enforcement at night, a novelty? 'Drink and drive enforcement'

• Seldom are we treated to the details of a traffic accident. Apparently if the victim is a relative of someone important then that changes things.

  'Yont Thauron, the son of Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Yont Tharo, was shot after his car was involved in a minor traffic accident while returning from a wedding'.

  Though not necessarily packed with details, the Khmer 440 Forum for once provides us with more:

  'From the unsubstantiated rumour department...we took a tuk-tuk last night near the monument and the word according to him was that some rich guy's kid had a minor scrape with a moto around the Monument. The moto was at fault, apologized and swore he'd pay for the damage (how, who knows?). But the kid told him he'd pay at the hospital in blood after he was done kicking the crap out of him. Whereupon the moto guy pulled a gun and shot him'.

  Just a rumuor. It does appear there are different versions of the same story. Phnom Penh Post:

  'Witnesses at the crime scene said that after the traffic accident, Yont Thauron and his friends exited their vehicle and ordered the motorbike drivers around them to kneel down and apologise, leading to a furious argument'.

  Anyway the eventualities are clear, 1 dead, a couple of wounded and 1 poster banned from Khmer 440 forum. Will we ever find out the truth?

  'I'm not saying that the stories aren't true, I do not know if they are or if they aren't, but it just doesn't sound like him. Again, thank you everybody for you condolences'.

• Humour from NZ:

  'Mel writes: "Just before our departure - for the practical test of my full driver's licence - the instructor asked me to test the horn to make sure it worked. Knowing full well that the horn did not work, I turned my head to the right and let out a vocal 'hooonk'. He replied, unconvinced, 'What was that?' I told him it was my car's horn. He dryly noted that he hoped my driving was better than my honking ... I passed no problem."

  Probably would not get a pass in Cambodia; tsss... a car with no horn!