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, September 2010

Somehow I had in mind to stop this blog after 5 years, which I believed would be soon. Just found out that I have just passed the 4 years! So no end in sight?

• Rail news. Besides the news that the railway rehab is ongoing there is the news item on the company involved ordering carriages and loco's. It also seems that the company working in Cambodia has taken on a new investor in the form of local firm Royal, but that news seems to have eluded most.

• The Phnom Penh Post once more highlights the lack of interconnecting railways in Southeast Asia.

  'The only missing link on that route is between Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh'.

  Elsewhere in the same newspaper is an op-ed on the same subject:
  

  'In terms of trade the benefits are obvious. The new network would provide links to some of the Kingdom’s most important trade partners – China, Vietnam and Thailand. With Cambodia beginning to see large increases in its exports in recent years from a small base, this rail project could provide added impetus to the development of these industries. Furthermore, a new rail connection provides an additional transport link to key deepwater ports in Singapore and Cai Mep in southern Vietnam. Economic opportunities associated with completion of the project, therefore, also benefit industries like the garment sector, as most exports flow to these ports and on to Cambodia’s primary export markets in North America.
  Given these clear benefits to the economy, why is the government not making this project an absolute priority? Instead of resorting to the type of mentality that expects others to front the capital, Cambodia needs to consider ways it could help finance the project'.

• Stan Kahn gives his own thoughts on the same subject.
  

  '... our August 20 coverage of the Mekong railway project, which included a front-page picture, an opinion column and report leave a lot to be desired. First, the opinion piece by Steve Finch lays the blame for not finishing the project solely on Cambodia, which is quite unfair considering Vietnam is also required to build new tracks. Furthermore, the huge US$1.09 billion cost of the new line, more than half of which comes from the need to construct two very expensive bridges, including one over the Mekong, is not something Cambodia could tackle on its own.
  ... it would be clear why the cost is so high. That new line starts just north of the capital, heads east and a bit north to Kampong Cham, then east all the way to Snoul, where it then makes a sharp right turn and heads south to connect with a short line in Vietnam, which should also be on the map, which comes due north from Ho Chi Minh City.
  The connection between the two major cities would be much faster and shorter if it were routed generally along Highway 1. In that case, Vietnam would be responsible for close to half the cost. The present, less-desirable routing places about 95 percent of the cost onto Cambodia, which is much less capable of shouldering the burden'.

  Maybe the Vietnamese are just smarter.

• New rail, new roads. Not always so easy to undertake. Phnom Penh's road to the north was to be widened but after that virtually knocked down all that needed to enable the widening, PM has stepped in and said that the widening was a bit optimistic. A new problem?

  'It would now appear, however, that at least some of these families were forced to tear down their homes unnecessarily'.

• Bridges galore. The bridge over the Mekong to make the road to Saigon seamless is to be tendered. The bridge has been waiting for ever to move forward. Scheduled date of completion 2015. Don't hold your breath.

• New roads open, others are being blocked.

  'Around 300 villagers embroiled in a land dispute with a sugar company owned by a prominent senator blocked National Road 52 in Kampong Speu province yesterday in an effort to prevent the company’s employees from tearing down villagers’ homes'.

  With frustration with the near daily reports on land conflicts increasing, expect more of this.

• Air transport. The national carrier has received it's own country license only a year after operation. Furthermore an as yet unidentified airline will seek to fly between Indonesia and Cambodia. Not direct but via Singapore, so that's no better than Silk Air, Tiger, Jetstar or Air Asia ...

Now we are moving into the more whacky part of Cambodia's traffic.

• First of all a sorry tale:

  '23-year-old security guard has been seriously injured after he was crushed by a luxury SUV in front of a popular city cafe, according to the man’s family.
  Mom Chamroeun, who worked as a security guard in front of Gloria Jean’s coffee house in Chamkarmon district, was hospitalised after the Wednesday incident.
  “His left leg is seriously broken and has to be amputated,” said Sam Sokla, the man’s sister. “His kidney, liver and intestines are also damaged.”
  Ney Sokhay, a security guard nearby who saw the incident, said Mom Chamroeun was sitting in front of the cafe when a van collided with a Lexus. The crash sent the Lexus veering into the guard, he said.
  Gloria Jean’s Managing Director Michael Albert said the business is soliciting customer donations, which will be matched then handed to Mom Chamroeun’s family'.

• Bricks thrown from vehicles (see also here). Police will drop the case(s) according to their own logic:

  '“We have not found the suspect.... We are not in the process of investigation,” he said. “There is no case anymore.”'

• Finally there is Cambodia's Pocket Guide Out&About for Phnom Penh which has a section on cycling on page 50. In it besides finding out where you can buy a cycle and what to do without ending up as roadkill it mentions

  'there are plans to transform whole swathes of the capital's streets into tourist-friendly, pedestrianized areas with narrow cycle lanes'.

  Funny, it as least takes a more serious look at the advantages cycling have. Further along on page 66 a piece on staying alive which is an essential article of how to survive on Phnom Penh's roads. It involves great one-liners such as:

  '... as a foreigner you're not supposed to be here and, if you weren't then the accident would never happened'.
  

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, pre-Khmer New Year '10

Yesterdays Phnom Penh Post (April 5) has put up an article based on calculations by Handicap International Belgium about what the costs are to the the nation of poor driving (and consequent accidents).
VOA Khmer had already reported on this earlier. Both though delved in the press release by Road Safety Cambodia.
The press release mentions amongst others the relative numbers (deaths per 10,000 registered vehicles) are dropping which is partially blamed by more congestion which means lower speeds = less deaths. However they are still way above regional standards. Though no doubt putting a price tag on this is all part of the pressure the government package but the reality is that putting a price on tragedy doesn't mean that it will compile the government to take action. Tragedies happen. The odd part is that the cost to humans matches the cost to properties, surely that can't be correct.
Why did they they choose blood Friday for the presentation?

• Talking about safety, the Khmer 440 forum has a thread on the safety of Phnom Penh's streets. The mostly male crowd who inhabit this forum seem to be OK with safety issues though they mostly focus on muggings ...

• Sihanoukville airport back in the news:

  '[The airport operators] determined to convince airlines to start providing scheduled flights through Preah Sihanouk province’s fully operational airport ...' then the article harks back on the national flag carrier: 'SCA and the government want the new national carrier, Cambodia Angkor Air (CAA), to begin scheduled flights to Preah Sihanouk, but the CAA is apprehensive. Cambodia Angkor Airlines’ vice CEO Lim Kao told the Post Wednesday the carrier’s three planes are already burdened with their runs, at a time when tourism has slowed. He added that CAA is reluctant to open up a new flight path without knowing if there is sufficient demand'.

  If the CAA isn't willing to take a risk in promoting Sihanoukville as Asia's newest beach destination who will? Surely that's why you have designated a national carrier in the first place?

• Much in the same vein, a conference on ground handling in Asian airports concluded that liberalization of both handling and awarding flight rights are lagging...

• And then there is the Cambodia Daily. On March 27-28 ('Airline Industry set for Recovery as Prices mount') they mention how things are looking up for the aviation industry in Cambodia, but not for the consumers? Witness new routes an/or expended capacity (Siem Reap - Shanghai; Guangzhou - Phnom Penh; KL - Phnom Penh).
  They also mention that a comeback of Siem Reap Airways is in the final stages.
  One funny thing mentioned is that since CAA have started fares between SR and HCM have risen. Flights between HCM and PP are some of Asia's most overpriced, CAA is certainly not competing ....

• More boasts are sinking. Luckily the water levels are dropping drastically ...

• Talking about rivers and boats. The annual Mekong River Swim is off. In the Asialife April edition besides a lack of volunteers they also mention that due to the newly formed Boat 'Association' prices for renting a boat have become prohibitive ...

• Next up? Cars with tinted windows.
  

  'Police have begun a crackdown on cars with tinted windows, as ordered by Prime Minister Hun Sen in a meeting Friday at the Council of Ministers. Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said Monday that police were taking a hard line with owners of cars with tinted windows, forcing them to remove the window tinting “to ensure security and order for the Cambodian people”.“Police will eliminate cars with tinted windows from the road,” Khieu Sopheak said, ...'.

  More on Khmer 440. Probably it's Khmer New Year soon ...

• Odd news. A general takes revenge on an ice seller for damaging his .... car. According to his own sense of justice, a neck shot was required, the ice seller still lives. Is this odd? No the odd thing is that the general will be prosecuted, at least that's what they are saying ...

• Then there is mob rule. Reported on in various media, no less than 400 'residents' killed two motorbike robbers and left another for dead (CD reports: 'regained consciousness just before his body was to be cremated'!) after intervening with police. Gruesome footage with Khmer media.

• More odd news.

  'A Cambodian taxi driver was arrested after he ramped up an inter-city fare, then threatened to kill his passengers by driving into a lake unless they paid, local media reported Monday. The driver had initially agreed to take 20 passengers to the eastern province of Prey Veng for 2 dollars a head, the Phnom Penh Post newspaper said. However, halfway there, he stopped the taxi and announced the fare had increased to 5 dollars each. When the passengers refused to hand over the extra money and began arguing with the driver, he threatened to drown them by driving into a nearby lake. A passenger then called the police who arrested the driver. Cambodia lacks public transport, and privately operated minibus taxis, which are often overcrowded, are a common way to travel around the country'.

  Source according to KI Media is dpa, though the PPP also runs this story ....

• Info on a new bus service to Pakse. Elsewhere there's a thread on Tripadvisor.

Chasing Cars, March 24, 2010

On a non traffic related matter I recently signed up to Smart internet, they offering some of the cheapest internet on mobile phones. Cheap is definitely not good. Needed just 3 visits to their customer service and now it's working, but soooooo slooooooow. And they have blocked access to KI Media, a seemingly unendless amount of news stories.

'While trying to retrieve the URL: http://ki-media.blogspot.com/ The following error was encountered:

• Access Denied. Access control configuration prevents your request from being allowed at this time. Please contact your service provider if you feel this is incorrect [sic]'.

Anyway on Cambodia's traffic front. Yesterday's (23 March 2010) Phnom Penh Post provided an opposition parliamentarian a couple of columns to allow him to publicly complain about the lack of redress within the Cambodian legal system. Remember his son was shot after a traffic dispute in Phnom Penh's center. Though at the time it was a bit ambiguous about the cause of the dispute, it is tellingly that the police have been unable to arrest the killer despite having his name.

' “... the police have not got any clue about the suspect’s whereabouts. I request that the police speed up their work in this case so that justice can be brought to my son,”...'

However it does seem weird that a parliamentarian thinks he can jump the line. Injustice is common within the country and the legal system is only working for the rich and well-connected. If anything this parliamentarian should know this. Or not?

• How the law sometimes 'works':

  'A 33-year-old man is facing prosecution after he was accused of involvement in a Wednesday traffic accident in Phnom Penh that killed a 30-year-old garment worker and a 13-year-old boy. However, authorities speculated that the man might not be sent to court if he agrees to pay US$4,500 in compensation to the victim’s family. By law, accused perpetrators still face court action even if they agree to out-of-court monetary compensation. But another driver who was allegedly involved in the same accident was not sentenced after he paid up'.

• In and on forums on Cambodia one of the most often asked questions regards transportation and if buses run between x and y, and how are they? Andy B. reviews on his blog his recent trip with paramount to Siem Reap: '

  If you want to do the bus trip between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap then don't choose Paramount Angkor Express, as their bus that carried me between the two, leaving the capital at 6pm, was one of the most uncomfortable I've ever been on. And believe me I've been on some crap buses'.

  After receiving a comment praising the same company he adjusts his views:

  'the bus he [bus driver] was in charge of had seen better days and needed some new screws fitted. By comparison the Mekong Express bus to PP was considerably better'.

• A small article (22 March 2010) in the Phnom Penh Post on how the number of accidents is up. As usual the article is full of statistic wonders.

• The Australian company hoping to earn a buck off Cambodia's railroads has found out that the going will be tough:

  'David Kerr, CEO of Toll Holdings Group Cambodia (THGC), asked the government to put regulations and infrastructure in place, which are needed to fix the country’s railways'.

  Should have thought that before signing up ...

• A promise is what? Cebu Pacific had promised to start to fly to Cambo land this April, but nothing seems to be in the pipeline. This thread on Khmer 440 seems to suggest that it's not such a bad thing ...

  'Cebu Pacific Air is the worst airline I have ever flown--huge delays, booking hassles, canceled flights with no advance notice, refunds that never arrive, and horrible service ...'

• Promises? That's what they hope what will get the Sihanouk airport up and running.

  'Sihanoukville airport is still struggling to attract airlines due to the enduring slump in the regional travel industry, according to an official at Societe Concessionaire des Aeroports (SCA), the French firm that manages the Kingdom’s airports.
  Still, not a single airline has agreed to flights to the airport despite the offer of zero percent airport tax.
  SCA’s Chief Planning Officer Tanguy Bertolus said Tuesday that new national carrier Cambodia Angkor Air (CAA), a joint venture between the government and Vietnam Airlines, was showing reluctance to fly to the recently renovated airport due to the difficult economic climate.
  “Cambodia Angkor is a subsidiary of Vietnam Airlines and the Cambodian government, and they are not really keen right now to take risks and open new lines,” he said'.

  That's goobledigook. The company has only been existing for 12 months and the situation when they started was probably worse than now. So why are they backtracking?

• More tourist related info. As in the previous editions of CC the ... 'boat cartel' ... Though they call themselves a Water Transport Association, they have been trying to cream off the boat owners by imposing themselves and getting the tourists to foot the bill. The way it works:

  'Ly Puthy, association president, said a letter thumbprinted by all members would be sent to the Tourism, Interior, Public Works and Transport ministries, and to Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema, requesting that Rin Naran – owner of the Chamkar Sne boat – immediately join the association'.

• Talking about boats. Why all the fuss about tourist boats?

  'Two women died when a boat sank on the Mekong River in Prey Veng province on Friday, police said, the most recent of a string of such incidents throughout the Kingdom prompting officials to issue warnings about the dangers of overloading passenger boats and other vessels'.

• Tourism helps? After visiting Cambodia in 2007 (by bicycle) Dan Austin decided to get help in, by donating cycles to children. In Cambodia of course, in Uganda, in Peru. The organisation 88 Bikes, gets a (very positive) roll call on CBS News. 88 is the cost of donating a bicycle.
  

• Has someone picked up on this? Phnom Penh is to become clean? Cambodian Beginnings has a short blog entry.

  'However, as of next month Phnom Penh City Hall intends to rectify the state of it's streets. 5000 riel fines (US $1.20) will be administered to anyone seen discarding rubbish in public places. The boulevards are wide, tree-lined and quite beautiful in some places. Perhaps this fine will go some way in returning Phnom Penh to it's hayday of being the 'Paris of the East' in the 1950's'.

• Elsewhere in the city the officials are trying to prevent anarchy from amorous bulls.

  'Police in the capital’s Dangkor district have seized 15 wayward cows and bulls after a recent spate of incidents in which lustful bulls have vigorously pursued potential mates, disrupting traffic and endangering passersby, officials said'.

  This even made the international press. Or better said the Malaysian press.
  

• A clinic in Phnom Penh was closed down due to complaints following a traffic accident. Or not?

  'The Health Ministry has opted to shut down a medical clinic that was accused of negligence in its treatment of a man who succumbed to injuries sustained in a traffic accident last week, the director of the Phnom Penh Municipal Health Department said Sunday.
  ...
  “The association ran a health-care business without approval from the Ministry of Health and was shut down,” Sok Sokun, the municipal Health Department director, said Sunday. “It will be allowed to reopen only after it receives an official license to operate from the ministry.”'

Just outside Phnom Penh

• And did I mention that Phnom Penh once more slipped up an opportunity to join in with WNBR? As Byron Bay, Melbourne, Canberra, Lima, Adelaide, Golden Bay, Sydney, Sao Paulo.
  This (northern hemisphere) summer then?
  

Chasing Cars, mid March 2010

During the past month steps have been announced to get the general public to comply to a couple of paragraphs of the traffic law as well as suggestions being made to expand the law. Helmet fines would rise 6-fold.

'The fine has been set too low, which means drivers have not stopped their bad habits. They seem to look down on the traffic law,” he [Him Yan, director of the Department of Public Order at the Interior Ministry] said'.

The idea actually comes from Handicap International. The article also suggests that higher fines will lead to more unreasonable police.
Note also in this article the photo with caption implying the offender is paying for a mirror offense. That despite the photo showing that the offender does have a mirror. An editorial mistake?

However some problems are overlooked. Poor compliance is due to poor law implementation. Go anywhere outside the capital and you'll soon see compliance to the law drops to single figures, even police don't care. Nor is there any law enforcement once the sun drops, even in Phnom Penh.

Additionally, much is made of visible law enforcement. Probably one of the biggest dangers is running red lights about which nothing is done ...

The Cambodia Mirror argues the same point of poor law enforcement in Cambodia in general. It uses the recent license plate drama as reference.

Anyway the police are positive:

'.... 10,859 motorbike drivers had been stopped during the first two weeks of February because they lacked mirrors or helmets'.

That said Khmer 440 forum once more adds some real life detail. A forum poster describes how to nail a culprit. Then follows more experiences with law enforcement.

BTW:

'officials have delayed a decision on a long list of proposed amendments to the Kingdom’s traffic laws'.

Officials need more time ...

• In a never ending list for regulating everything, the government would like suits for moto drivers in Phnom Penh. Not a three piece though. '

  “We want to give safety to the tourists and make the city look good,” Chreang Sophan said, in explanation of the motivation for creating the uniform'.

  Siem Reap already has experience with $10 suits:

  ' ... uniforms had identification numbers on them, and that no moto or tuk-tuk driver had committed crimes against passengers since the uniforms were introduced [in 2002]'.

  That's no reported crimes ...

• The national airline buys a new aircraft, it's first. No price is mentioned nor who the seller is. Hence, CC believes that the price is too expensive and that the seller is closely involved. Funny though as CC would like to check some recent info, the airlines site is in error (mid day March 11, 2010).

• KI Media has a link to a strange article. Apparently a Korean company has been awarded a contract to

  'design and supervise the improvement of two national highways and one local road and the construction of a detour'.

  The former shouldn't be too hard.

• Construction of the road to Pailin is not going according to plan. A Chinese company somehow isn't coughing up the money required according to a Phnom Penh Post article.

• Stan is writing again on Kampot. This time he blames paving for flooding after rains. Though the authorities blame clogged drains. Whatever, it's probably due to the local government.

• How many times can you make the news with the same project? A signing ceremony was held in March 2010 for a project begun in 2007! A project to improve Cambodia's railways, but that we knew already.
  Bigger news though is that something is really happening. I've seen new sleepers in Takeo and disappearing rails between Takeo and Kampot.

Kep station

• Possible real news on the rail front for Cambodia comes from China via SMH ( 10-03-10). They know somehow that

  'A third network [of high spped trains] would extend south through Vietnam, Thailand, Burma and Malaysia'.

  Is Cambodia missing the train?

• Phnom Penh's tourism boats are another recently regulated category. The Association of Phnom Penh Water Tourist Transport (essentially a government organisation) believes in order, not in competition. This contradicted by the Phnom Penh's port director. The Ministry now also wants the boats to be licensed (how much will that cost? All extra costs will be charged to the users ...).
  Anyway a few days later 5 members of the association were quitting. There complaint, surprise, surprise:

  'business went down'.

  The associations reply? Clear off!
  Now the government will be stepping in or so says the Phnom Penh Post (4 March 2010).

• A spike in car registration? Would the Phnom Penh Post have expected a decrease? Now only 1.13 million vehicles were registered.
  

Finally, we all know how whacky Cambodia's transportation system is. A photography book by Conor Wall and Hans Kemp gives examples of moto's and their freight. The issuing is accompanied by an exhibition in the FCC.

More examples of whacky moto's are available from Life in Cambodia.

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, January 27, 2010

Helmet or not?

As reported on many prior occasions in this blog, the Phnom Penh Post (20 Jan. 2010) managed to get on the message that the helmet law enforcement is far from perfect:

'Despite the heavy publicity campaigns that were tied to the amendment’s adoption, compliance has been lacklustre, and it has failed to reduce the number of traffic fatalities over the past 12 months, according to government statistics'.

Well, let's just say that those statistics are good enough to spot trends. HIB, the NGO leading traffic safety in Cambodia, now says that change can take years, though Crossing Cambodia suspect that the failure to grasp law and law implementation are more immediate issues.
Increasingly over the last years judiciary and judicial systems have been used to enforce power to the rulers rather than something impartial backed up with law and jurisdiction.
Naturally this attitude is picked up even at the lowest levels of government enforcers. Last Saturday a motorcyclist was apprehended despite wearing a helmet and having mirrors while just a few seconds later a helmet less soldier slowly passed unobstructed the same checkpoint. Moral of this story? Become untouchable.

Anyway the focus of law implementation has briefly changed to:

• - unlicensed driving schools (what happened to the more the merrier?),
• - street vendors on Sisowath

  ('“I will move my stall back from the street, closer in to the building, but many vendors will not comply,” he said. “They paid money to the police to keep their businesses open as usual tomorrow.”')

• - and trucks in Siem Reap

  ('He [ the deputy director of the provincial Department of Public Works and Transport] did not specify a specific weight limit for trucks, saying that individual police officers would be tasked with determining which ones were overloaded and could potentially damage the roads'.)

Meanwhile,

• Vietnam Airline hopes Hanoi will become a hub for tourists from / to Cambodia. Odd this ambition, if the airline doesn't even fly direct between the capitals of these neighbouring countries ...

• Hot on the heels of the Poipet bus terminal which means passengers need to pay an entrance fee, the already very uncompetitive boats believe that this is the future:

  'It is hoped a new 15-by-35 square-metre hub will clean up the look of the port serving the roughly 70 to 80 passengers a day that use the existing terminal. Foreigners will be charged $1 to use the facility, he said.
  ...
  This decline [in tourist traffic in the port] was steeper than the overall decline in air arrivals to Cambodia – which fell just under 12 percent in the first 11 months – suggesting that tourists were increasingly choosing not to travel by boat, instead opting for more cost-effective modes of transport'.

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'.