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. What? It's August already?

Skipped a months worth of posting so you might expect a lot to have happened in the meantime, which in a sense is true, though it's not so obvious. So let's get started:

In the past month the local strongman has been using his power to pressure all those with a differing view. However despite announcing that's he's had enough of the traffic anarchy, controlling the population as a whole is a entirely different thing. The PM thought confiscating all and sundry (i.e. those without side mirrors or moto's without helmet clad drivers) will cower the populace into submission. But alas as always, the enforcers all work once a week and by now everyone is back to the ago-old Cambodian custom of driving hither and nither.

Another important occurence is that the country has it's own airline, called Cambodiaangkorair (CAA for short) which sort of covers the subject. However the Cambodian government owns only half of the part that makes the profit. Problem though is that it's totally controlled by Vietnamese, their aircraft, their crews, so Crossing Cambodia doubts whether it will make a profit. Better to keep the fees high than produce a profit which needs to be shared. Wonder if the bright guys thought of that before?
The CAA route map though looks a bit weak, most flights are between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, how is that to serve the country by generating more passengers? The connecting flights section is actually a copy of Vietnam Airlines flights from Hanoi, to which the new carrier does not fly.
If the Cambodians are really serious they should ask Air Asia or the likes to open up routes to the northeast. With good opportunities in place to Singapore, Malaysia and Bangkok, creating more options to Hanoi (direct flight?), Hong Kong, Taiwan as well as seeking new sources of tourists from South / East China and central Vietnam is what's required. More info, here, here and here.

Subjects with less coverage / importance:

• Elsewhere tuk-tuks are coming into the spotlight for law enforcement apparently. There are roads and other roads where only tuk-tuks may not drive. Why?

  'They say we are anarchic and cause disorder in the city'.

  If that's the scale to measure, then everyone can start packing! And are they safe?

  'But the presence of tuk-tuks on the roads also adds to the chaos of traffic in Phnom Penh. Their large size makes them difficult to navigate, and some are obviously not built with safety in mind - such as those with very thin metal bars to support their back seats, which can be dangerous for larger passengers. Some tuk-tuks are powered by very weak and old motorbikes that cannot effectively transport heavy passengers and goods, leading to awkward turns that obstruct traffic.

  'Letter to the editor. Nice people?
  

  'Too many of the drivers aggressively hassle expats and tourists alike, not only with entreaties to take one to the Killing Fields, but also trying to push drugs and prostitution. Many also deliberately obstruct junctions, making it very difficult for pedestrians to make headway'.

  Letter to the editor.

• Fuel prices are also under investigation ('to reconsider price hike', please).

• Airport in Sihanoukville to open? Not yet, as Nicolas Sarkozy wants to do it himself, seeing that it was him who made the thing.... ,not. He's expected to arrive in November. No new flights either ...

• Despite the new airlines, Siem Reap Airways still remains blacklisted.

• All the law enforcing, has not resulted in less deaths. Cambodian logic:

  'Even though we have breath analysis machines, the number of accidents still increases'.

• Roads from China? Meant is money from China, roads to ...?

  'The gratitude of the Royal Government and the Cambodian people toward the government of the People’s Republic of China, a great and long term close friend'.

  All the way back to the Khmer Rouge times ....

• Priceless? Mastercard and Hotel de la Paix are donating push bikes to students in Siem Reap.

• Road tax to be paid! Vehicles excluded are:

  'ambulances and fire trucks; vehicles belonging to the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, the military police and the police; any vehicles used for national defence or security; and diplomatic or consular vehicles'.

  What's left?

• Cambodia's car industry takes off!

  'former math and physics teacher from Kampong Chhnang province, uses his knowledge to successfully come up with a solar-energy-powered car'.

• Expatadvisory's Phnom Penh forum has an article on child beggers on the street:

  'Which brings me to the Monivong - Sihanouk intersection. I see kids there every day. I frequently see traffic cops there every day, in the shade near CD World. ... Would it be a stretch to suggest the cops move the kids off the street? For their own safety?'

• More from the same forum. This time it's Phnom Penh's biggest mall, which is in for flak:

  'A Khmer friend left her moto & helmet there [Sorya] this week. When she came back they gave her her moto - but not her helmet.'

  The gist:

  'The car park attendants at Sorya are well know thieves'.

  Then the Lucky gets brought into the discussion:

  'The parking system at Lucky Sihanouk is far superior, but I still cringe at being charged to use a supermarket car park'.

  That's what you get when there's no competition ...
  

• People say Phnom Penh is safe, others deny, however after dark beware:

  'an English national is in stable condition at Calmette Hospital after being shot twice during a robbery outside his home near Russian Market early Sunday morning. Assailants shot Mark Fitzpatrick, age unknown, in the back and chest and stole his motorbike around 1:30am, according to police'.

  The discussion continues:

  'Don't tell me... this guy got here about six months ago and is calling himself an expat. I've had 3 friends "killed" here since '02. I've had dozens of friends get their motorcycles stolen.
  ...
  Foreigners have been getting knifed, conked over their heads, robbed, drugged, mugged, raped, swindled, shot, for as long as I can recall in Cambodia.'.

  That sort of sums up Phnom Penh's threats.

• Asialife focuses on Vespa's in Phnom Penh. Only for enthusiasts.

• Strongman not so in control, blames his underlings for failures:

  'Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen also repeated his previous recommendation to look at the roads. Samdech explained, ‘When I say again to look at the roads, that means: first, there must not be illegal check-points along the roads, and second, if the road is damaged, it must be repaired'.

• Kampot is getting sidewalks, according to Stan:

  'the riverside greenstrip is being completely redone. It compares favorably to its seedy, unkempt, grassy past, but it’s really not to my taste, since it’s nearly all pavement. The paving blocks are very nice and since there is no sidewalk on the river side of the street it’ll definitely come in handy for walkers.
  In practice, many people will probably continue walking in the street purely out of habit. I was at an outdoor table on Sisowath recently and saw a lot of people walking on the street even though the sidewalk was largely clear and usable. Some, the Barangs especially, seemed very uncomfortable with vehicles passing by them so closely and sometimes speedily but still didn’t think to move over to the sidewalk. I guess people have become so used to walking in the street the sidewalk just didn’t occur to them'.

  He also reveals why there are disabled ramps were built on Norodom:

  'Norodom, in fact, has gotten a lot worse with the disabled ramps that were recently installed. Now motorbikes have an easy way to use the sidewalk to avoid heavy traffic. They’ll come right at you expecting you to move out of their way. Hey Dude! This is the sidewalk UNDERSTAND - so have a little respect. I can definitely see the importance of society being more conscious of the needs of the handicapped, but in this case it didn’t work out very well, especially since it’s hardly ever used by the people it was intended to serve'.

  All in all a great entry on transportation in Cambodia.

• With the railways nearing complete dereliction, it's astounding that there is still freight getting moved, though with a downward trend.

• Car dealers are also feeling the pinch. The good news:
  

  'I am not that negative about the economy. As long as people have food to eat, there will be demand for cars.'

  Let's hope there will be no famine then.

• Haze? Here in Phnom Penh?

  'Have you ever wondered how much time gets knocked off your life expectancy when you're stuck in Phnom Penh traffic, behind an antiquated truck spewing thick, black smoke into your face?'

  Find the answer in this Phnom Penh Post article.

Chasing cars, 10 June 2009

Quite a lot to mention:

• A number of bigwigs were in town, time for a city clean up:
  

  'Police say the roundup was part of a campaign to clear the streets of drivers who sleep in their tuk-tuks'.

  Phnom Penh Post 26-05.
  It 'angers' the tuk-tuk drivers:

  'The majority of the 34 tuk-tuks confiscated during the street sweeps ahead of last month's ASEAN-EU meeting have been returned, but drivers claim unfair restrictions have been placed on them by Phnom Penh police, which, they say, put their livelihoods in jeopardy'.

  But in order to have their vehicles returned to them, tuk-tuk drivers say they have been forced to sign a contract saying they will not drive on Daun Penh district's three main roads - the popular tourist streets of Sisowath Quay and Norodom and Sothearos boulevards'.

  A tuk-tuk driver

  'had to pay US$55 to the police in order to retrieve his vehicle'.

  Law enforcement Cambo-style: No offence committed!'

• How to build a tuk-tuk? The PPP interviews an entrepreneur:

  ' "I noticed in 1998 that my country was not making any tuk-tuks.
  ...
  The factory builds about 10 units per month, which sell for between $500 and $550. Each tuk-tuk takes 3-4 days to finish, and most of the raw materials are imported from Vietnam, including welding machines, dying machines, metal cutters, cast iron machines and chisels.
  But even Tuk Tuk Craft is not immune to a global financial meltdown that started thousands of miles away, and Loun Vanna estimates sales have dropped 30 to 40 percent since late 2008'.

• Harking back on the last issue of 'Chasing cars', a letter to the editor of the Phnom Penh Post (26 May 2009):

  'Regarding the article "PM presses for bike seizures" (May 21, 2009), the police could be empowered to seize and confiscate motorbikes without side mirrors and drivers without helmets under a Land Traffic Law amendment proposed by Prime Minister Hun Sen.At the moment, we can see that officials at police posts on our streets and boulevards don't all have their proper identity numbers or uniforms. Rather, they seem more intent on pulling over motorbikes and collecting "fines". Perhaps officials think that these "guilty" fines from motorbike drivers will enhance the national income in some positive way.
  ...
  Another inequity committed by traffic police is their attempts to fine foreigners at a much more exorbitant rate. My foreign friends say traffic police regularly attempt to extract fines of between US$5 and $20. But Cambodia's traffic laws do not establish one rate for Cambodians and another for foreigners. All drivers, regardless of nationality, are legally obligated to pay only between 3,000 riels and 6,000 riels for motorbike infractions'.

• More law enforcement issues:

  'A municipal order that went into effect Monday requires motorbike passengers to wear helmets, although the Land Traffic Law does not stipulate that helmetless passengers can be fined.
  ...
  Ty Nath, a 40-year-old motorbike driver, said Monday that he was forced to pay 50,000 riels (about $12) after officers caught him driving without a helmet near Central Market. His two passengers weren't wearing helmets either. He said the police did not bother to explain the specifics of the law or the municipal order. "They just told me the fine was a compromise," he said before the officers returned and interrupted an interview'.

  Funny, though despite all this noise, still less than 2/3 of all drivers wear helmets. Personally Crossing Cambodia believes that it is a heavy core group of traffic offenders: most people driving up the wrong way on a one-way street are exactly those without helmets!

• A big event: the opening of a bridge. The city was locked off to the south-west just for a ceremony; the lock off was more than 12 hours. People failed to show up at work, my maid couldn't make it to a funeral. Anyway, commuters there who thought their worries were over, at nearly the exact same place, the ground work has started for a fly-over. Though the PM stated that the fly-over is:

  'to ease traffic congestion in the capital'.

  The city govenor associates the fly-over with the need to:

  'help to eliminate poverty'.

  Huh?

Veunxay, Ratanakiri: no bridge here!

• Despite all the hoopla for the bridge, another first goes unnoticed:

  'Cambodia will have its first taxiway next month in Phnom Penh International Airport, a path that connects the runway to where airplanes park to increase the flight capacity of the airport, local media reported on Friday'.

  More curiously the Phnom Penh airport officials see the light at the end of the tunnel:

  'Currently, only 10 passenger planes can land or take off in an hour from the airfield at Phnom Penh's airport, said Sok Puth Thoeun, director of the airport's engineering department. That will jump to at least 16 planes with the planned taxiway'.

• More in-flight information. In the never ending saga of a flag carrier, Vietnam Airlines are taking over the Cambodian skies. Beware however they are just servicing Sihanoukville. Is that's what expected of a flag carrier? Anyway it's all top-secret according to the Phnom Penh Post:

  'Ownership of the national carrier is a closely guarded secret. Aom Chenda, an information official at the Council of Ministers, told the Post Tuesday that Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An told a Vietnamese oil company delegation Monday that a new national carrier would make its maiden flight July 18.
  He repeated the comment to reporters following the meeting but did not disclose who owned the airline, saying only that it was a local company. He also told the reporters the maiden flight would be July 17, contradicting the earlier statement.
  Meanwhile, Mau Havannal, secretary of state at the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA), said Tuesday said that an "anonymous private local company" was preparing documents to apply to run flights out of Kang Keng Airport but that no official application had been received. "We do not know who owns the national carrier because it has not been named yet," he said. Chea Aun, director general of the SSCA, confirmed that the "private local company" would use French-made ATR planes'.

  Pity for the Indonesians who had been awarded the possibilty to undertake this. And for their Cambo henchmen!
  

• Anyway it's going to be a difficult start. Air arrivals dip 16% in the first four months of this year. An article in yet again the PPP with an unintentional (?) shot of Vietnam Airlines aircraft. Citation of the week:

  "We think that the decrease is not only a problem in Cambodia but it is a worldwide concern, and we hope that the problem will improve soon," he [Ang Kim Eang, president of the Cambodian Association of Travel Agents] said'.

  So do we, so do we .... Let's all hope together, then it might just go away!
  

• Why the new flag carrier would fly PP - Sihanoukville beats Crossing Cambodia: it's such a short distance and you'll face considerable inconvenience once in Sihanoukville. Anyway, despite the airport there being inconvenienced for a couple years there seems to be an urgency to get their act together. Unfortunately at the cost of villagers surrounding the airport.

  'families facing eviction said they haven't been offered any compensation since the airport expansion plans were announced in 2006'.

  The current urgency:

  'The airport expansion may become more pressing as progress is made towards a new national carrier. According to Mau Havannal, secretary of state at the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, an "anonymous private local company" was preparing documents to apply to run flights out of Kang Keng Airport'.

• A pleasant surprise on the Phnom Penh roads has been the disappearance of police and army license plates. Police are behind this:

  'Chao Phirun [army spokesperson] said Hun Sen's April 30 speech and subsequent warnings had prompted 90 percent of violators to remove their unauthorised military plates'.

  Now they just ride around without license plates.

• Accidents are going down, apparently. PPP:

  'The number of people involved in road accidents in Phnom Penh fell by 32 percent in February compared with the previous month, the Cambodia Road Traffic Accident and Victim Information System (RTAVIS) said in its most recent report'.

  Cambo Daily:

  'The number of traffic casualties in February the most recent month for which data are available dropped 10 percent around the country compared to the same period last year'.

  Now the why? Cambo Daily again:

  'attributed the drop to Chinese New Year celebrations taking place in January and not February this year'.

• The Road Safety Awareness in Cambodia blog is slowly becoming someone's daily (paid) job. Though it echo's this blog to some degree, it fails to note the context. Lately it's been including lots of pics of accidents swiped from Cambodian language web sites. Have fun!
  

• Innovative ideas from around the world. We've had the sponsored pothole patches. This time in Canada, a slightly different twist of the same theme:

  'People in a small town in Western Canada are so fed up with the rotten state of their main road that they came up with an unusual form of protest - a calendar that shows them posing nude in the potholes'.

  Pity people here are not so in to calenders.
  This weekend is also another good cause, pro bicycles, anti gas guzzlers. It's the World Naked Bike Ride, um ... but not in Phnom Penh. Nor anywhere else in Asia by the looks of it. Are Asians anti-bikists?

• A final note, who said there were no bus-stops in Cambodia?

  'Three men from Baliley village, Poipet commune and town, Banteay Meanchey province, were arrested for allegedly wounding and robbing a 33-year-old Belgium man of US$180 on May 26 while the victim was standing at the Poipet bus stop'.

Another post Khmer New Year Chasing Cars section

Traffic related press coverage has been decreasing, at least that's what seems to be the case. However Khmer New Year has resulted in a rash of articles, concerning the need for safety, the need to get out of town and the need to expect delays.

Personally, Crossing Cambodia once more went up country, to Stung Treng and Ratanakiri provinces. The road north out of Phnom Penh until Kampong Cham is patchy: they're working on the road just over the bridge. Beyond Snoul, the road opens up and especially the last stretch of road from Stung Treng northwards, the road is great. Though, this being a new road, one would not expect deterioration to be setting in, so soon.

The road to Ratanakiri is a different story. It's not black-topped and has severe problems after rainfall. Closer to Banlung it gets worse after rainfall. Surprisingly, other roads fanning out from Banlung are ok and the road to Vietnam is getting a major overhaul.

What surprised me most was the fact that helmets are now commonplace everywhere in Cambodia by the looks of it. Even in Ratanakiri. On the highways helmet compliance was nearly 80%!

The rash:

• With Khmer New Year just passed, officials have already decided that it was much better than last year. Today's (20 April, 2009) Phnom Penh Post reports that

  'Accidents down during New Year'.

  In Phnom Penh there were apparently just 4 dead (last year 8?). And to whom the credit?

  "Now Cambodian people have learned more about road accidents," Hem Ya, the deputy of the traffic police in Phnom Penh, said on Sunday.'

  CC believes that the worldwide financial meltdown may have more to do with this drop (if it is a drop)
  

• A case in point from the 'celebration' of Cambodia's Road Safety Week:

  'According to our yearly data, traffic accidents have been increasing by 15 percent every year'.

  Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhayly adds:

  "The main cause of traffic accidents is people themselves. They don't respect traffic laws, they speed, they show negligence and drink while driving. I want to suggest to all relevant ministries and authorities taking actions on a serious scale to punish these road-rule offenders," he said'.

  Yeah right, the general public are to blame for low law enforcement.

• Khmer New Year is also an occasion to celebrate the poor infrastructure situation. Going south and west out of the city are no problems, going north and east are, as there are only two bridges. The east route though got a shot in the arm apparently:

  'Technicians and engineers have been working around the clock to complete construction of the new Monivong Bridge by Thursday's target date so as to accommodate the increase in traffic expected for the Khmer New Year, officials said'.

  The new Monivong bridge getting a finishing touch?
  
  

  Unfortunately though the bottleneck is elsewhere: an estimated 10,000 motorbikes and 6,000 cars were backed up for more than 4 kilometres, waiting hours in the heat to cross the Mekong River towards Prey Veng province.

• In the never ending series of who's up next, Phnom Penh drivers will now be speed tested and breathalyzed! Despite the law enforcers even unable to catch motorcyclists without helmets or drivers licence or no licence plate, the technical route seems to have been take:

  "Speed cameras are very important because they can photograph the offender, the place, time, the speed, the number plate and the vehicle colour," said the country's Deputy National Police Chief Ouk Kimlek on Tuesday'.

  Consider the law, art. 17:

  'The driving speeds of vehicles are defined in accordance with the conditions as follows:
  1. The driving speeds for vehicles in general:
  A. In towns:
  - The drivers of all motorcycles and tricycles must drive in the maximum speed of 30 km per hour
  - The drivers of all kinds of cars must drive in the maximum speed of 40 km per hour.'

  That means many culprits. 30 km an hour is hardly faster than my push bike! Mind you if you are caught driving twice the speed limit, the fine is just $3. The law also stipulates the legal requirements for alcohol, though it also notes that using mobile phones while driving is forbidden as well as driving on the left hand side of the road. $3 is again enough to buy yourself freedom. Or ignorance.
  
  By the way, everybody who hangs out their (clean) laundry will be in line for a fine:

  'hanging clothes to dry along sidewalks and house balconies must end.
  ...
  However, this habit is well ingrained among numerous residents. The lack of education, as well as the poverty suffered by numerous families, will probably hamper this desire to embellish the city'.

• Andy also has his take on this:

  'The helmet law, for moto-drivers only whilst passengers are not required to wear them, remains in place but revenue from fines is down as the police decide standing on the side of the road to stop motos in the hot weather of April isn't such a good idea after all. When the weather cools a bit, the police will be back out in force, also equipped with brand-new speed cameras and breathalyzers I hear'.

• What Andy doesn't know is that there is a new way of dealing with no helmets and daytime heat:

  'Phnom Penh traffic police have begun to enforce the wearing of helmets after dark, said city officials, who say the lack of nighttime patrols had promoted reckless and illegal driving'.

  So are lack of nighttime patrols to blame? Mea Culpa?
  Battambang though is doing it the hard way:

  'Battambang Traffic Police chief Sath Kimsan said barely a third of drivers wore helmets at night. "At nighttime, only 20 percent to 30 percent of people wear helmets because they don't see the police standing along the road," he said.
  "I haven't taken any measures to enforce the wearing of helmets at night yet. I want to enforce them during the day until 100 percent are complying, and then I will work hard for nighttime enforcement."

  Yeah, right, 100%.
  

• Talking about push-bikes, Khmer 440 forum members can not be persuaded to use these in Phnom Penh:

  'Bicycle is good
  Motor Bike is Good
  Small Car is Good
  Big Car is Better
  
  Bicycle Vrs Motor Bike = Bad Bicycle
  Bicycle Vrs Small Car = Bad Bicycle
  Bicycle Vrs Big Car = Very Bad Bicycle
  
  Bicycle always lose.'

• Concerning the same forum: Chuangt2u suggests making a DVD of street scenes in Phnom Penh so as to

  'record a little lunacy for posterity or to amuse the folks back home'.

  Replies vary:

  'Im up for this. Why dont you want any blood and guts though? Im thinking flipped trucks, crashed motos, and other such footage will be prime viewing...'

  ... yes, possible the traffic police could use it for their new direction (see above).

  'I just had a look through an old clip I have of the junction of 63 and Sihanouk. The properties tab tells me it was taken on Sunday the 16th of October 2005, at 9:21pm. It runs for 5 mins and 28 seconds and caught 6 red light cycles. The quality is low as it was taken with a digital camera, but I counted:
  
  Running a red light = 122 road users
  
  Driving the wrong way down a 1 way street (st63) = 44 road users
  
  Using a vehicle with no visible lights = 50 people - around half of them riding bicycles
  
  "Illegal" u-turn = 1
  
  Unsurprisingly hesitant pedestrian trying to cross the road under a red light = 1'

• Though it may have been a relative accident free Khmer New Year, the Phnom Penh Post (14 April) confuses us:

  'Motorbike Market Crashed
  ...
  "In the first three months of last year, I sold about 300 motorcycles, but during the first quarter of this year, only 80 motorcycles have been sold," Hang Heng, a motorcycle dealer in Chamkarmon district, said'.

  Poor thing.

• Another mind boggling PPP article, this time on taxi / bus prices:

  'Despite officials' efforts to discourage taxi drivers and bus companies from inflating fees during Khmer New Year, several interviewed by the Post said they had no intention of passing on the opportunity to make extra dollars.
  ...
  But he [Phnom Penh Governor] said City Hall would not punish those who raise prices. "This is not a legal directive," he said.
  "City Hall has to inform taxi owners every year".

  So if you inform them every year and they still raise the prices why do you continue? Taxi driver logic:

  'Chhay Veth, who drives a taxi between Phnom Penh and Battambang province, said he believed fares would increase by 10 to 20 percent during the holiday, adding that customers expected fee inflation because it happened every year'.

  What if I expect prices to go down? Ten-twenty percent sounds doable but:

  'He [taxi driver] said most drivers on that route would increase prices from 17,000 riels (US$4.09) to 25,000 riels'.

  That's nearly 50%! Forget Somali pirates, think Cambodia pirates.
  

• More bad economic news. The World Bank are now tabbing tuk-tuk driver incomes:

  'And still, we have data showing a sharp decline in the revenue of tuk-tuk drivers'.

  Last year inflation figures couldn't be produced, but they can tab tuk-tuk driver incomes?

Chasing Cars, September 23, 2008

With Pchum Ben festivities nearing, both the police checks and bag snatching have increased, is this not a contradiction?

Despite the outbreak of police checks, moto's with mirrors are still increasing but not in majority. The same applies for helmet wearing drivers, 40-50% now have taken to wearing helmets. Still if you have witnessed the effort the traffic police have dedicated to pulling moto's up, the figure might represent a disappointment, possibly something is going wrong with the enforcement.

Witness Crossing Cambodia did of a bag snatching incident. Two guys pull up next to 2 girls, chat, chat, laugh, laugh, lung, grab and tear off down a side street. Be careful out there!

• The government is now pressuring oil companies to get their prices down. All the posturing resulted in the prices at the pump drop by a whopping 0,02 $US! This article in the Phnom Penh Post sums up all the claims: prices have failed to go down.
  But the government responds:

  'International crude oil prices soared more than 84 percent by June 2008, while the price of petrol in Cambodia only rose about 40 percent, the [Finance] minister said, crediting the difference to the government's "silent subsidy" of petrol'.

  Unfortunately the 'silent subsidy' claims that the government probably stopped increasing it's import revenue on petrol, changing from a percentage tariff to a fixed amount. So no subsidy, just less income. Then again why should the government get more by fleecing the consumer?
  

• Bangkok, this weekend, saw the 'Car Free Day'. And that does not mean that cars were exempt from paying toll on the elevated highways! No, it means grab a bike or take the bus. Funny thing is it is government endorsed:

  'In Thailand, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Bicycle for Health Society, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation and Green Peace Southeast Asia will join 14 of the world's largest cities in the car-free day'.

  The closest Cambo authorities get to even mentioning non-motorized transport is when they slag off all too poor for having no wheels. The gov of PP mentioned:

  'Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema said Sunday that the citywide pavement narrowing project will help make more room for cars, and should not be problematic as few people use the capital’s sidewalks anyway.
  “I want to reduce all the sidewalks to be smaller and smaller because our people use cars and motorbikes. We do not like to walk” Kep Chuktema said'.

• Car Free Day was 'celebrated' in Vietnam as well.
  

• In Vietiane they have a novelty:

  'The Vientiane Urban Development and Administration Authority is in the process of installing 50 road name signs around Vientiane ...'

  but

  'Forty road signs have already been installed, but the authority lacks sufficient funds to continue with the project and is waiting for further support from the International Association of French Mayors.

  Thank god for the French.

• Why Cambo airlines will never get anywhere: more than a year after an air crash involving South Koreans the relatives have actually have to sue the Cambodian airline to get some kind of compensation. Let's hope they're not holding their breath.
  What are you in for?

  'South Korean investigators have concluded that the accident was caused by pilot error, problems with the airport's automated radar terminal system and defects in the plane'.

• A very strange article in the Sydney Morning:

  'Malaysia's worst in the world taxis tarnish image
  In a survey by the local magazine The Expat, some 200 foreigners from 30 countries rated Malaysia the worst among 23 countries in terms of taxi quality, courtesy, availability and expertise'.

  Well quite correct to take those taxi drivers to the cleaners, my opinion is similar: they are not at all what Malaysia makes them to be. Then again, Malaysia = truly Asia, so not such a big surprise. Cambodia counts itself lucky they weren't part of the survey on the grounds of having no taxi's to speak of. Could Cambodia not have entered moto's instead., they are after all our local 'taxis'? See who then would end at the bottom of the heap. Our moto drivers are no where near a KL taxi driver ...

• Another bad Poipet experience:

  'We also got shepherd into a mafia taxi with another couple, we all pay 15 usd each. The mafia man taking charge of getting us into a taxi was getting angry with us because we first lied about having our visa already when he approached us at immigration on the Thai side, then we didn't go straight to his taxi and wanted to look around. He kept saying we could trust him, he was with the Tourist Police and we told him we didn't trust them either.
  We couldn't find any other option so took his anyway'.

• Back to the bag snatchers. There are also amateurs entering this profession:

  'BYSTANDERS BASH BAG SNATCHER
  Chea Dara, 16, was severely beaten by a crowd of bystanders after he pulled Kong Darany, 28, off her motorbike in an unsuccessful bag snatching attempt on the corner of street 109 and Russian Boulevard in Prampi Makara district of Phnom Penh at 11:30am Monday. The police said that Chea Dara, who was pulled off his motorbike by the bystanders, "was severely beaten by the people until he lost consciousness". He is currently in police custody awaiting trial'.

• More things increasing:

  'Some 1,777 traffic accident casualties were reported by hospitals, health centres, private clinics and traffic police departments in 24 provinces for June, an increase of 20 percent over May, according to the Cambodian Road Traffic Accident and Victim Information System'.

Politics of progress

It is perceived that Cambodia is one of the lesser developed countries in the world. Though it is in an excellent position to catch up with it's neighbours such as Vietnam (10 (?) years ahead) and Thailand (20+ years ahead), both of whom are increasingly lowering levels of poverty and creating substantial amounts of wealth.

These factors contribute to Cambodia having an industry, otherwise known as the 'development' scene, which pumps in large amounts of money in return for zillions of unread reports.

Successful development organisations are noted for their ability to create turnover while simultaneously producing reports which are timely (of utmost importance!) though mostly illegible. And, oh yes, successful organisations are those which can produce bills, preferably with date, amount and a description of what the amount was used for, corresponding to the correct year ('please hand in bills, no later than November 1, other expenses can be accounted in the following project year, though no earlier than March 1').

These terrific amount of monies are all forwarded by a number of tax payers back home, who are more than willing to dispense of these, as they know that the amounts spent will ultimately end up in the right hands. The organisations working in this development industry can be roughly placed into two groups:

1. those few, really trying to assist in helping the dis-enfranchised/poor and
   
2. the majority, intent on creating turnover and hot air.
   

In between these two groups are organisations promoting ends which have, over time, became more than evident in developed countries. Examples of these ends are for instance environmental awareness, environmental protection, etc., etc. Missing the vocal support that they have back home, they are trying somehow to find ways to get their message over,while simultaneously meeting their goals. Some face difficulties; for instance organisations against deforestation: with the lack of local support in Cambodia, they have to cooperate with Cambodian authorities whom are those who profit the most from this deforestation!

So where does this fit in with travel / transport in Cambodia? Well, most of the posts on this blog concern traffic safety issues, the lack of safety and the lack of government willingness to address this. This was never the intention, but it seems that these issues are a returning factor, which determines the way traffic takes place in Cambodia

Arguably if traffic safety is the spearhead of your organisation you are in a difficult situation. Can you pressurize the authorities from the outside, especially in light of the lack of support you'll get from the Cambodian society? Or do you support currently non-existent local safety concerned organisations? Or do you suck up to the authorities, give them what they want (preferably cash), while at the same time hope the same authorities will assist you in achieving your objective?

Well, in the more organised societies (can Crossing Cambodia say this?) traffic safety issues have often been brought about, by well-intended citizens banding together and pressurizing their elected governments to ensure their safety. For governments this a win-win situation: accidents and deaths clearly disturb (/end!) valuable lives, while creating an atmosphere of 'listening to the general public' creates (an image of) goodwill, which most politicians (for whom the governments rely on) hope the favour will be returned at the next elections.

This logic however is not visible in Cambodia. Partially due to the lack of overall organisation within society, partially to blatant ignorance towards any Cambodian citizens rights, to be treated as equal. Wealth is apparently growing, that's very evident, but even an outdated organisation, such as the World Bank, signifies that the gap in wealth is increasing: those connected to authorities are amassing huge amounts of wealth, while simultaneously grandstanding ignorance of other citizens as the number one society attribute in Cambodia.

Handicap International Belgium (HIB) is the only organisation involved in road safety in Cambodia and what have they to show for their couple of years experience?

• one of the best web-sites in Southeast Asia for recording traffic accidents
  
• a traffic law which would put many countries elsewhere on the globe to shame
• media savvy events which are eagerly attended by dignitaries and reported by otherwise news starved local reporters
• traffic lessons conducted nationwide at many schools.

In other words HIB has become synonymous with traffic safety in Cambodia.

However, at the same time they fail to address the issue: recording accidents only makes them visible, they certainly don't become less. The (new) traffic law is a farce, as the sophistication required is lost on traffic policemen who have no clue what a red light stands for, nor how to enforce even the simplest traffic rules (don't drive on the left side!). The grand, popular meetings are mostly meant to pamper to the authorities, gain some turnover and keep everybody smiling. Unfortunately Crossing Cambodia has its doubts on the worthfulness of the traffic lessons, but know insufficient details, so let's say the jury is till out on this.

The Mirror (vol.12, no. 562) of 30 May 2008 headlines an article from Rasmei Kampuchea on HIB's continuing efforts:

HIB provided 215 GPS receivers to the Commissioner General of the National Police

“Phnom Penh: On the morning of 29 May 2008, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by H.E Ouk Kim Lek and Mr. Bruno Leclercq, the Country Director of Handicap International Belgium for Cambodia, according to which 215 GPS receivers [satellite supported Global Positioning Systems] and other emergency equipment for road traffic safety were provided by Handicap International Belgium to the National Police at the Ministry of Interior.

“The Deputy Director of the National Police, H.E. Ouk Kim Lek, said that the aid now provided by Handicap International Belgium to the National Police is most important, because it is urgently needed by Cambodian people to reduce traffic accidents which are continually increasing.

“His Excellency continued, ‘Cambodia is developing, and at the same time, also traffic accidents increase. The aid provided today will contribute a lot to reduce traffic accidents in the future. Now, we are improving the traffic police to be much better than before to help reduce traffic accidents.’

“Mr. Bruno Leclercq stated that the equipment delivered will contribute to reduce traffic accidents. It is observed that traffic accidents increase in Cambodia, and he hopes that the number will decline after the new traffic law have been implemented.

“The manager of the Cambodia Road Traffic Accident and Victim Information System of Handicap International Belgium, Mr. Sem Panhavuth, said that the Memorandum of Understanding covers approximately US$100,000 for a period of two years from 2008 to 2009, which includes the 215 emergency GPS receivers, the training for traffic police countrywide on how to use the GPS receivers, and the training courses in emergency life saving skills for traffic police so that they can help traffic accident victims before they are referred to hospitals.

“Mr. Sem Panhavuth went on to say that these GPS receivers are used for road traffic safety work to find and to identify the locations where traffic accidents occur very often on some important roads. The locations which are noted as places that often have traffic accidents will be changed to avoid hazards and will be marked with warning signs to lessen traffic accidents.

“It should be known that during the period of the first four months of 2008, there were 2,249 accidents which caused 560 deaths, injured seriously 1,792 people, and injured 2,088 people lightly. The accidents which had happened involved 217 heavy trucks, 755 cars, and 186 other vehicles, 217 pedestrians, and 2,262 motorbikes. As for 2007, there were 9,449 accidents in which 1,545 people died, 7,150 people were badly injured, and 17,655 people were lightly injured.”
Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.16, #4602, 30.5.2008.

'Remarkable', is what Crossing Cambodia has to say on this. How on earth can they believe that GPS receivers can in any way contribute to achieving anything in the field of road safety? A pure waste of money! If you want to handover cash why not make it conditionable: 'you enforce the law for x months, then and only then will we reward you'. Surely they have some levearage over the authorities, afterall they are basically doing their dirty work!

' ....HIB hopes that the new traffic law will be implemented.'

Cambosix are currently taking on bets, with 2050 the most likely ...

Cycle away

Cycle your way to cheaper living

Dear Editor,
As the price of gasoline is skyrocketing, many Cambodians have thought about the ways to cut the cost of travel by using other alternative means of transport.
I have personally decided to cycle to work a few times a week. In so doing, I am able to save some money I would spend on gasoline to cover the rising price of food.
Walking or riding a bicycle is also good for health. Nowadays, we frequently hear news of friends suddenly falling sick or dying from obesity related illnesses like high blood pressure and heart attacks. By riding a bicycle to work, I feel better and I don't need the painful traditional coining Kos Kchol for occasional indispositions like before.
Riding a bicycle is also good for the environment in this increasingly polluted capital of Phnom Penh as it does not produce toxic emission like cars and motorcycles. Meanwhile, using bicycles also helps reduce traffic congestion.
However, cycling in Phnom Penh these days can also have bad consequences. Back in the 1980s, possessing a bicycle was like owning a luxury car for most Cambodians, so the cyclists also received a lot of respect from others. Because of this mutual respect, I was able to ride my bicycle to school without a single accident for nearly ten years.
Now things have changed. Except for foreigners, riding a bicycle in Cambodia today is considered a sign of low social status by many Cambodians. Some car or moto-cycle drivers would wildly honk along a busy street to disperse cyclists and pedestrians as if they were cows blocking their way.
Worse still, pedestrians and cyclists can hardly find a safe road to travel on. More than 15 years ago, Phnom Penh streets were clearly divided into appropriate lanes for cars, motorcycles and bicycles, while pedestrians traveled on the sidewalks. Now, cyclists have to be squashed between cars and motorcycles or even pushed onto the sidewalk with pedestrians who also find it harder to walk. Except for a few boulevards, most sidewalks in Phnom Penh are now used as a parking place or to display goods for sale. Nevertheless, walking or cycling is still a good way to move around the city.
To help reduce expenditure on gasoline and save the environment should encourage people to walk or ride a bicycle in the city instead of driving their cars or motorcycles. They also need to reserve part of the side walks for pedestrians and secure a safe lane for cyclists. Government officials and civil servants can also take the lead by walking or cycling to work, while strictly strengthening the traffic rules.

Moeun Chhean Nariddh
Phnom Penh

From the most recent Phnom Penh Post (May 30 - June 12, 2008). The author brings forward a number of issues related to traffic in Cambodia.

Yes, at a recent meeting on wages, staff were complaining about the costs of living: 'we even have to go by bicycle to work / market'. Hardly an argument to claim a wage increase, but it does show how cycling is frowned upon.

Crossing Cambodia has been cycling Phnom Penh for nearly 3 years and there are not many of us, mostly foreign lunatics. Increasingly, congestion and Cambodian society looking down on those less fortunate, has taken much pleasure out of cycling the city, if one can even consider this a pleasure.

Are there much more bikes now on the street? No, if anything, the roads are getting clogged more and more by increasing amounts of motorized traffic. This clogging thus gives rise to more effectiveness to cyclists: the ultimate traffic jam busters!

One also has to place large question marks towards the future of the city. Besides lacking law enforcement, there is absolute no vision about how to contain the scores of (new) drivers and their vehicles. Many streets are already bursting at their seems and the consequence is that private initiative is leading investors to invest in gated communities far away from the city center. The city center lacks parking spaces, low cost public transport, green spaces and efficient ways of dealing with traffic. And not much is being done about it.

p.s. does anyone know what Kos Kchol is?

Chasing Cars Cambodian Style, December 4, 2007

• Despite the recent surge and the ever increasing land grabbing in Cambodia, work on the already approved and financed 2 km stretch of highway number 1 is delayed

  'due to the tardiness of the Cambodian side to resolve disputes on lands bordering the road'.

  Does this signify a change in government policy?

• Did you notice the scouts and girl guides were at it again on Saturday morning? On various corners of the most important crossroads in Phnom Penh, scouts and girl guides were using flags to make sure vehicles remained behind the line while the lights were red. By eleven they were off for lunch and failed to reappear. Did this have something to do with the visit of Burma's PM?
  

Wow, everybody stands in attention.

• 'Green: go, Orange: speed up, Red: still go'.

  At least that's this bloggers assumption of Phnom Penh traffic. He recommends an IQ test. How about law enforcement?

• Reuters has little idea about roads in Lao and Cambodia. On the participation of Lao and Cambodia at the current Southeast Asian games:

  'The teams from Laos and Cambodia will travel for hours along their notoriously potholed roads before being picked up by a fleet of Thai buses'.

  The distance from Vientiane to the border is 20 km, half an hour, just 1 or 2 potholes. The pothole sections in Cambodia are the roads to Siem Reap. Facts gentleman, facts!

• Cambodia Daily (December 3, 2007) reports on a drunken policeman who crashed his Toyota (yes, it was a Camry) causing two deaths and 1 injury. He however was not arrested (even though he hit a fellow officer after the accident) but will be called in for questioning

  'when he feels better'.

  Considering he just has killed two persons, Crossing Cambodia believes that he will not ever feel better in the rest of his life. Or at least he should not.

• More lights for Cambodia's city of lights. Six sets of traffic lights. Now if everyone would take notice of them .... . Ostensibly they are there for 'beautification' (the colours CC presumes) and for 'alleviating traffic' (to which less and less people are adhering).What about producing more scouts and girl guides to patrol the lights?
  

• Another new phenomena at important crossroads: child beggars, esp. at the corner of Sihanouk and Charles de Gaulle Boulevards. Fortunately they only target unsuspecting (and guilty feeling) foreigners, mostly in tuk-tuks on their way to the 'Killing Fields'.

• Nothing to do? Join PEPY (Protect the Earth. Protect Yourself) cycle tours around Cambodia.

• The going rate for petrol in Cambodia is more than $1, shock horror! Inflationary pressure, moto-taxi's going out of business. Meanwhile over the border in Vietnam, government subsidies mean petrol is 20% cheaper. What happens. Along the streets of Phnom Penh you can buy your petrol for a discount of 20-25%! Why lament Cambodia's governments inability to subsidize it's fuel supply, when you can get the Vietnamese to foot the bill?

• Our sports desk reports on the the first international professional golf tournament, won by a Grateful dead fan (.100 concert visits), Bryan Saltus. His caddie receives a new motorcycle for her effort. And any complaints. None at least from the Cambo PM who teed off the event, this in spite of him complaining about the state of the 'road' (or was it one big pothole) earlier in the year. Possibly his driver can see the potholes as the rains have stopped!
  

Chasing Cars, 6 November 2007

Missed Crossing Cambodia? Nah? Hmm, wondering wants happening to the site? Keep wondering, Crossing Cambodia has some long term plans ....

In the meantime, CC just came back from a week holidays. Cambodia was world news! For what? The local supremo's adopted daughter officially switches sexual preference, so as a good surrogate father you cut them from your will. Don't worry, even Dick Cheney (the Darth Vader?) has these kinds of problems.

Furthermore the North Korea PM paid his Cambodian cronies a visit, to bolster economic and cultural ties.

And finally the traffic news: DPA picked upon a recent trend to use animal noises as horns. Crossing Cambodia has not witnessed this himself, though once saw a foreigner on a motorcycle using his horn which resembled a policeman blowing his whistle. It didn't help much and anyway it's not allowed anymore (for fear of 're-education' [like the sound of that]). More tidbits:

• Believe the new traffic law means every one can get a traffic license without paying all and sundry? Think again. The Phnom Penh Post apparently uncovers scams costing more than $100 to get a driver's license without sitting any exam.

• See picture, Pol Pot's car is for sale.

• Rainy season means thousands of trucks stuck on national highway 57

• Getting stuck? The Bangkok - Siem Reap blog Updates Report on October 2007, mentions

  'mafia taxi's'.

  Apparently run by the maffia for the public good. One report:

  'The road to SR is still a mess but passable with care'.

  Another lady mentions:

  'Believe me after that 6 1/2 hrs taxi ride I was pretty upset, ...'.

• Less stuck is this expose called Rush hour at Angkor: visiting the temples by push-bike. Conclusion:

  'I'm well and truly spent. One day of this type of exertion is plenty...'.

• Getting unstuck and less exerting: Dancing Roads Dirtbike:

  'Brave yourself against seemingly impassable roads, ...'.
  

• Getting stuck at the Lao-Cambodian border: Sun san's forum entry on Khmer 440 shows you the way north from Phnom Penh, literally on his flickr site.

Then finally a round up of all kind of miscellaneous announcements on infrastructure / government decisions:

• Free skies coming your way?

  'It's open skies as 10 Southeast Asian nations agreed this to week to have free air access between their capital cities by December next year'.

  Pie in the sky.

• Building bridges in times of elections.

• More roads means more Toyota Camry's.

• And what all this can lead to? Vietnam News reports that the city Hue is unable to cope with just the Thai arrivals, what with a new bridge over the Mekong and a beauty of a road to Central North coast of Vietnam. On the 23rd of October more than 6,000 Thai visited Hue, however it only has 'nearly 6,000 rooms'.

Cyclists needs ...

Apparently cyclists needs are 'neither cigarette smoke nor drugs'. This banner has been hanging near the Independence Monument for about a week. Part of a cycle race which mysteriously came through the city last Monday. Though we understand the essence of the message, could they not have included exhaust fumes? And what about professional cycling? No drugs, no celebrations. It's the thought that counts

Cambodian weekly II

Elsewhere in issue no. 12, the Cambodian Weekly focuses on the Cambodian cycling team who are participating in a 14-stage race held currently in Vietnam and Cambodia. They are setting their sights high. The secretary general of Cambodian Cycling Federation, Van Than, mentions:

"My biggest wish is not that the team will win [unlikely?], however that would be nice, but that they finish the race on their bikes, not in support vehicle".

Team Cambodia: on yer bikes!

The section business news briefs has the following caption:

Vietnam has road deaths epidemic: WHO

Some report has been studying 'human loss in traffic accidents, which has become national epidemic'. Crossing Cambodia does not precisely know what the WHO understands under an epidemic (more than person dies of bird flu?), but it seems a bit over the top. And as if the human tragedy is not enough, the 'Asian Development Bank estimate that US$885 million is lost from Vietnam's economy every year because of traffic accidents'. That's a lot of money, even to the ADB (who really only care about the money) and let's thank ADB for putting this into numbers. How much did the report cost? Will the ADB now refrain from funding roads? Doctor thinks not, lip service was what was demanded.

Furthermore in the business section of the Cambodia Weekly, the 'table of the week'! Exciting! The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) has supplied two(!) tables (from their Cambodia Investment Guide Book (can't be that voluminous)) concerning Cambodia's standing, internationally, on road density (paved) which is 0.011 (apples?). Thailand has 8 times more paved roads, Vietnam six times more. this despite the three countries having roughly the same amount of dirt tracks. Relevance to readers?
The second table reports on modes of transport. Without Crossing Cambodia mentioning CDC are off their rockers, how can they claim that 20% of all passengers (are persons) use the railways! Maybe they haven't be let in on the secret, that the railway system is defunct. ADB to the rescue!

Tour de Tonle Sap

As part of an environmental awareness campaign on environmental issues on Cambodia's Tonle Sap river / lake, a 9-day long cycling tour took place, finishing last weekend. The cyclists, amongst them some NGO presidents / CEO's averaged about 100 km per day, while part of the day was used to meet villagers and students. Well, the local press has not commented to much on this unfortunatly, here's a short article from the Voice of America site. And here's the accompanying photo: professional? At least they have helmets on!