Chasing Cars, January 20 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Green light by the government.

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

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

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

  Bus companies are already well versed with the consequences.

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

  The money going where?

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

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

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

  End of story.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Another case of not holding your breathe.

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

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

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

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

  Truck drivers incensed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chasing Cars, 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?

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'.

Chasing Cars Cambodian style, 24 May 2009

A round up:

• Cambodia’s PM goes against the grain. He actually wants bribery and especially bribing police to stop:

  ‘“Some government leaders give money to traffic police and the gendarmeries, but sometimes this kindness scorns the forces who apply the law and scorns the law as well,” Hun Sen said at a ceremony to change heads of the government’s counter-drug office. “Please stop doing it.”

  Why would he mention this at a counter- drug ceremony? And why is he so anti-Cambodian social norms?

• What is acceptable [from khmer440 forum]?

  'Someone has spent large at the Mercedes dealership today. I got pulled over by the police on Norodom this afternoon while a convoy of brand new Mercedes cars and minibuses headed south. There must have been over 40 vehicles, all of them spanking new. All the cars had signs in their front windows telling the names of different countries. Is Cambodia hosting a major international meeting?
  ....
  I wonder who payed for all those cars - that's some serious loot.'

  A.: ....?

• More gifts:

  'China on Tuesday provided about 73 million U.S. dollars of a concessional loan to Cambodia to build a part of main road in the northeastern part of the country to develop that area into a newly potential economic zone'.

  Technically it's not a gift, but who will pay this back?

• More on gifts, but now from the less fortunate Lao: '

  Lao cops accept donation.

  No doubt, these sponsored plastic traffic danger triangles will greatly assist them'.

• And now we are to find out what happens to the gifts: the speed guns are in use. At least according to the Phnom Penh Post (19-05-2009). But citing Phnom Penh's top cop:

  'We are reconsidering working at nighttime.... It is a bit hard to work at night for the police when they try to stop drunken drivers, especially in dark places'.

  Surprise, surprise, Cambodian drivers usually drink, drive and speed at night as during the day there is too much traffic and lights interfere with the drinking business!

• Meanwhile on the license plate biz front a Phnom Penh Post writer on Monday had the following:

  'The government is cracking down on cars with unauthorized police and military number plates. But around 8:30am, everyone can see Mercedeses with government plates driving the opposite way on Monivong Boulevard towards the Council of Ministers building. Why do cars with government plates insist on driving in the opposite lane during rush-hour traffic, as if they were an emergency vehicle like an ambulance or firetruck?'

• And then the PM waded in:

  'During a speech at the Ministry of Interior, Hun Sen ordered ministers to take action after he noticed that drivers were still flouting his recent ban on the use of RCAF and police plates by unauthorised vehicles. He said he had ordered the ministers of interior and defence to establish a deadline for drivers to get rid of their illegal licence plates, saying any cars still bearing unauthorised tags would be confiscated by the state.'

• Not only cars need to confiscated, according to yet again another Phnom Penh Post article:

  'Police could be empowered to seize and confiscate motorbikes without side mirrors under a Land Traffic Law amendment proposed by Prime Minister Hun Sen. Drivers without helmets would also be subject to the amendment suggested in a speech Tuesday'.

  That seems a bit harsh. Moreover it's against the law. Currently only art. 84 gives police the powers to confiscate, but only in cases of overloading a truck. Despite that traffic police do regularly confiscate cars after accidents, this in clear contravention of art. 72. One problem with laws are that they are supposed to be adhered to. And considering that a new law can take anything of up to 10 years to draw up (in the case of anti-corruption), amending this law might take some time.
  Finally, Phnom Penh's top traffic cop adds a curious remark:

  '"I think it is good that the law [will] allow police to catch the motorbikes to warn those who do not respect the law because fining them does not seem to be very effective," he said'.

  But we have already proven (see previous Chasing Cars that it's the police who are failing to be effective, not the law!

• On law enforcement, from Thailand, a mention in today's Bangkok Post.:

  'Director Nonsri "Oui" Nimibutr has been convicted on a second drink-driving offence. A court has sentenced the former drink-driving campaigner to 14 days in jail, reduced to seven days confinement after he confessed. They also suspended his licence for six months.
  ...
  "I want the court to reconsider the sentence. I don't want to just sit around for seven days. How about getting me to front another advertisement, free of charge, on the dangers of drink-driving?"'.

Yeah, how come?

• Finally on trip advisor someone who has more info on Mekong Express buses. More than the company themselves.

Somewhere along the highway in Kampong Thom province.

Chasing Cars, Cambo style, 10 December 2008

Much to mention so to see, but in reality?

• The stuff dreams are made of. Elevated rail. Elevated roadways. That's the answer of growing traffic congestion according to the government. We could have these be as early as eight years from now,

  'but project lacks money [yours for 300 million $] and must look to donors, private sector for funds'.

  And they are not forthcoming. That sucks.
  But is it a real answer? The opposition think not:

  '"I think the sky train project is not a priority. The government should focus on rural infrastructure," said Mu Sochua, deputy secretary general of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party'.

  There's some value in that. Even high ranking officials are skeptical:
  

  "If [it] materialises, it could make only a small change in congestion due to the fact that are more vehicles on the roads and there is ignorance of traffic laws," said Phnom Penh Traffic Police Chief Tin Prasoeur'.

  Growth of vehicles according citations in this Phnom Penh Post article has been phenomenal, a tripling in the last few years.
  Indeed a single rail link won't change much. And in the meantime there still is a lot of growth to deal with. So maybe what's required is a multi-track approach.
  Gridlock in Phnom Penh is partially due to non-adherence to traffic rules: driving the wrong way down one-way streets, ignoring traffic lights, haphazard parking, poor awareness of users to proper way of driving (taking left lane and then turning right is one that springs to mind). At the same time those concerned with enforcing the rules are not at all interested.
  Then there is poor planning. For instance north-south routes are lacking and one of these (Monivong) is currently being dug up. The alternative for this road (Street 63) is now also out of bounds as the great traffic roundabout that is the Central Market, is being used for market enhancements. That means that from south to north there is gridlock during rush hour.
  Furthermore there is no intermediate planning. Especially the Russian Boulevard could profit from fly-overs, thereby easing east-west traffic and forming less of barrier to North-South traffic. Other enhancements could be where Monireth crosses the Ring Road and where the (northern and eastern) bridges enter the city basically dropping all mayhem on the roundabouts at the foot of the bridges. Real city buses is also an idea, excluding certain vehicles from the city center.
  But could we expect a real plan?

• More dreams, the PM still wants a national airline.
  But didn't Cambodia just sign all kinds of agreements with an Indonesian company to do so? What happened to the deal? Has it been shelved (as was expected).
  Wanting something doesn't always mean you gone get it. The future of airlines seems to be one with over-capacity, much to the delight of passengers. Now (as was 6 months ago) the wrong time to spread your wings.
  Possibly the government should focus it's air policy elsewhere, having no national airline means that other airlines may wish to start up new routes, if only to off-set poor loading factors and getting a one-up on the competition. The Lao for instance are inviting all and sun-dry to set up a route from Hong Kong to Vietiane.
  The authorities could also focus on the air safety regulations which with the recent Siem Reap Airways flop could encourage outsiders to fly within Cambodia.

• The air industry in Cambodia is set to be enhanced, not by the PM but by the owner of Cambodia's main airports (SCA). A long interview with the prez of the company in Ka-set. On Sihanoukville:

  'We just have to attract airline companies, now ....
  If airline companies think there is a market there, they will come with their planes. The critical part is to build up the image of Sihanoukville, promote the destination and turn it into a more attractive place, particularly with the development of hotel infrastructures.'

  Don't hold your breath.

• Had an accident? Just call 119, which connects you with Phnom Penh's least worst government hospital Calmette. This article on KI Media (originally from VOA) gives you some insight in Cambodia's new decrees concerning picking up traffic victims. The reasoning behind the new regulations:

  'For the safety of victims and avoiding the anarchic activities of grabbing customers, the ministry banned private clinics from sending their ambulances to take victims of accidents'.
  ...
  'The majority [of the clinics] have abided the directive'

  
  Which seems somehow of a reassurance. But the original decree referred to

  'promote a public ambulance service'

  But what is a public service? This comment on aforementioned link:

  'This directive creates more problem for the public because Calmet's ambulance staff are all corrupt. I am one of the victims of 119. Let me tell you the story. One of my foreign customer had heart attack in my shop. she fell down on the floor. Then, I call 119 of Calmet's hospital. They arrived 5 minutes later. However, what surprised me, you guess? They asked me (the owner of the shop) for $50 without negotiation. I had no choice because the condition of the patient is very critical. Unfortunately, her husband told me that she was dead on the way to hospital'.
  

• More dreams:

  'The Ministry of Public Works and Transport said that so far, the restoration and repair of the two railroad lines from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville and from Phnom Penh to the Poipet border crossing with Thailand, ‘has not achieved any noticeable results, and the action is very slow.’

  The article continues to highlight all the features of Cambodia's rail upgrade, which has been contracted to take part in under two years.

• License plate news:

  'The National Assembly issued a notice to the Minister of Public Works and Transport, Mr. Tram Iv Tek, on 4 December 2008, saying that the National Assembly allows the Ministry of Public work and Transport to take action to monitor and to seize number plates of private vehicles that use police and RCAF number plates'.

  Funny that, an article in the Cambodia Daily in February this year states that

  'Ministry of Public Works and Transport has now ordered all state, police and army license plates on private vehicles to be replaced with civilian plates by March 1'.

  So now the parliament is (belatedly) ordering the ministry around to do something which obviously they not so good in.
  
  Relevance?

  'Police and RCAF number plates are often put on luxurious cars belonging to private individuals, and they are being driven everywhere and against many regulations, and with no respect for the law'.

• Finally more on the road to Bokor. Here's Andy fuming:

  'We got it for $30 each, but it's still a rip-off! The Toyota wagon had 11 tourists on board, a driver and a guide. Nine of us held on tightly on the back of the pick-up for one of the most uncomfortable rides of my life, and I've had a few in Cambodia over the years. The road is being repaired, renovated, call it what you will but so far the Sokha Group, who have taken over the mountain as their own private playground for the foreseeable future, have done lots of preparatory work but practically none of the 30-odd kms up the mountain is anywhere near finished. I reckon it'll be years before it is. They've widened the road in places and it bodes well for the future, but that's a long way off and today, its a bumpy, rutted, pot-holed mess'.