Chasing Cars, October 15 2009

Not much to mention. Seems nothing worthwhile is happening maybe it's just me getting jaded. Oh yeah I could celebrate this being four years of blogging, having nearly 10,000 visitors or this being the 376th posting. But I won't.

• My only competitor in this blogging world, the Road Safety Awareness blog, increasingly focus on reporting accident reports and pics from Khmer language newspapers. That might be a good lifelong strategy, no shortage of those. I, for one are going to call it quits after 5 years and then wait for history to catch up with the uniqueness of this blog ...

• Road repairs in action in Siem Reap reported by Cambodia Calling. Since the great flood of the town the roadworks would have been futile anyway. Why is her site also not coming with new blog entries?

• The Cambodian skies are abuzz with confusing static. Story goes as follows: SRA, daughter comapny of BKK Air flies the only national route. Loses license temporarily last year, BKK Air takes over. CAA created, owned by the gov., starts flying, making lots of loses. BKK Air told to take a hike. Announces return of SRA, but gov. has doubts. To be continued.

• As well as the opening of already finished airport.

  'State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) Secretary of State Mao Havannal said Tuesday that long-awaited upgrades to the coastal resort’s sole airport had been completed by Societe Concessionnaire des Aeroports (SCA), which also operates airports in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. “I went to check all the technical equipment last Friday,” he said. “Everything is in place and complies with international standards.”'

  So if something goes wrong, we know to blame!

• Toll roads exist.

  'Local representative Van Savy said that seven illegal checkpoints were operating along the 15 kilometres of road passing through the district. “Each checkpoint will demand five or six thousand riels from anyone transporting firewood or charcoal,” he said, adding that the “tolls” were especially tough on the area’s mostly poor residents.
  ...
  These men aren’t confiscating illegal goods or stopping crimes'.

  Is deforesting the forests not a crime?

• Above report refuted!

  'District Deputy Governor Ham Sam Ang dismissed residents’ claims, saying rumours of illegal checkpoints were baseless. “I went to a place last week that supposedly had illegal checkpoints, but I didn’t see anything,” he said'.

  But the question was whether he driving a moto packed with charcoal?

• 'Workers' [whose not a worker?] in Kampot have the solution to police checks.

  'Phlang Phearin, the Kampot provincial police chief, said Tuesday that a fight broke out when the two traffic police stopped a truck carrying Chinese workers from the Kamchay hydropower dam in the province’s Teuk Chhou district. After phoning more workers, the police were beaten up and the suspects fled, he said.
  ...
  Shu Jiang, Sinohydro’s deputy managing director, admitted workers from his company had been involved in the incident but said there was probably more to the story. “My workers attacked the policemen, but there was some reason, I think,” he said. “I don’t know – maybe the police asked for money, and the workers didn’t want to give it.”

• Though it's well known that you now need a helmet, mirrors and wear a seatbelt, did you know that drunk driving and speeding is also being cracked down on?

  'In Phnom Penh alone, between August and October, 1,172 drivers were caught speeding, and 682 were caught driving under the influence of alcohol, official data show'.

  Between August and October means September? But aside from that how on earth has this taken place without anybody experiencing this?

• Lots of news on the capsizing of a 'ferry', though in actuality what's meant is a larger boat used for cross-river transport. Seventeen died. Sit.:

  'crammed onto the 8-metre-long boat.
  ...
  Roughly 30 passengers were thought to be on the ferry, which officials said was made to carry 20 people, when it sank in heavy rain Saturday night after those on board panicked.
  ...
  Blame for the ferry disaster has been liberally thrown around. An employee of the boat owner who survived the sinking previously said that passengers insisted on cramming onto the 8-metre-long vessel Saturday evening, even though it was clearly overloaded. Cambodian ferry operators had previously been ordered to equip their vessels with safety equipment, such as life vests, said Ung Chun Huor, director general in the Transportation Department at the Ministry of Public Works. Implementation, however, is another matter'.

  So is doing your work.

• Let's focus on the poor forum moderator of Expat Advisory Services. He makes a tirade about poor parking. Though he virtually could have mentioned any successful bizniz in town, instead he decided to take on just one or two. Unfortunately they are verbally able to defend themseleves and he now finds himself in a pickle.
  

  'Bloody Hell'

  He mentions two schools, picks on one, because his daughter goes to the other.

• Subtitle to the photo below (original from AFP):

  'A fleet of cyclo drivers transport Buddhist paraphernalia, somewhat precariously, for sale at a market in Phnom Penh on Wednesday'.

  Is this description not condescending to Budhist religion?

• And for something different. All theme press guys complaining about us ripping off their rags. Vuthasurf finds his blog entry on the front page with no reference, let alone some compo. Then totally unrelated he has blog entries on how hard it is to make money from blogs in Cambodia .. Now why didn't he shake the tree first?