Chasing Cars, November 14, 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  More discussion on Khmer 440.
  

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

Phnom Penh: Streetwise

Out since February 2010 is the Streetwise Phnom Penh street directory produced by Cambodia Pocket Guides. On sale at various points in the city (amongst others Monument Books and Lucky's supermarket) it costs are $5. For this price one gets a compact 80+ pages street guide as well as extensive description of how one should navigate Cambodia's capital.

The publishers themselves mention on Expat Advisory Services:

'We believe the guide should prove indispensable for anyone seeking help and advice as to how to navigate Phnom Penh’s increasingly congested streets, especially the newer business and residential areas outside the centre of the city'.

But is it any good? Worth it's value?

What others say
Cambodia Beginnings believe's so:

'this map-nut is excited to have another navigational aid at her disposal; I'll now point with a lot more confidence; and the motodops can just drive'.

Andy B, Phnom Penh's premier expat blogger:

'I'm not sure how often I will look at the directory, but it's a good addition to the 'city map scene' and exceptionally well presented. Though I must take issue with the spellings of Wat Onalom and Wat Botumwatdei - I have never seen those spellings before for two of the city's main pagodas. Well done those Pocket Guide folks'.

But's that about the extent of the online reviews, so let's get this expert to look at this....

The maps
Format
First of all, the format is great; the cheap, free, folding maps of town are quite cumbersome, prone to flying away and come with invitations to visit girlie bars. And yes half of the city is off the map anyway.

Coverage
But then, how often does one need to travel off these folding maps anyway? And how does Streetwise Phnom Penh help?
For example I play football a lot and sometimes need to find places such as Khemera field (north of town), Mekong field (behind Northbridge) or the 'over the bridge' places. Streetwise Phnom Penh does cover these areas but though it can mention every one of the exponentially expanding number of Phnom Penh's minimarts, these football fields are still out there somewhere, waiting to be found and correctly identified.

Furthermore with the main part of town shifting west, it seems an omission to miss covering the area uptil and beyond the airport.
Possibly another mapping suggestion to improve on, would be to include a wider overview map; apparently a ring road (with toll) is under construction (see bridge construction site north of PP towards Pursat) but this is outside of the coverage of Streetwise.

Detail
The degree of detail depicting the center of Phnom Penh city is great and much info is provided. This is certainly a boon to local residents seeking something specific and already comfortable with Phnom Penh's lay out. However tourists (and with them the moto drivers) will probably be overwhelmed with the many details and have failure tracking the right street.
Then the advantage of much detail will also result in the disadvantage as changes in the city are so quick; such that they will quickly render the map out of date, at least if you need to find Phamrmacy Y, Restaurant X.

Layout
The layout of side by side maps can be advantageous over folding maps but one needs to beware of the jump between the facing pages, the maps are made to overlap each other, meaning traveling from facing page 1 to another means a slight readjustment is required.

The information
Besides the maps there are another 20 pages of information included, which covers the history of the city, tips for getting around, places of interest, Cambodia's road rules and what the future of Phnom Penh might look like.

History
Certainly adding to most expats knowledge on town, though the section on street names is only for aficionados.

Getting around
Getting around is certainly in too much detail; as always sites of traffic jams change by the hour, day, season or vintage. And traffic lights are cropping up on the alternatives as fast as a crew can set up a wedding tent.

In depth knowledge
This section mentions amongst others that the British ambassador's residence is 'splendid' (cheers to him/her). Covering no less than 4 pages, this is a waste of money. Who is interested in this?

How to get around
Here though pedestrians get a little coverage, the guidance seems to be steering readers to motorized transport options.
Cyclists are seen as crazy so it seems, requiring

'optional knee and elbow pads'

and

'vital face masks'.

Having cycled up and town for four and a half years I've yet to have a scratch. And why would you need a face mask?
Funny though if you see how many motocyclists end getting cut up (and that's the real picture I am getting) that they are not advised to use the optional knee / elbow pads ...
And why to cyclists require a sturdy lock and the motorised version not? I can't even count how many of my (temporary) friends who have had their motocycles stolen ...

Law and Order
No less than 2 pages explaining the difficulties of getting by the Cambodian law. Considering what's included on this blog on this subject 2 pages might be a let off. The publisher could have kept it short, i.e. like the traffic jams, the interpretation of the law changes hourly, daily, seasonally , etc., etc.

The future
Two pages on Phnom Penh's new tomorrow no less. It presents a rather rosy picture of the future. And much info on non-transport issues. It even claims that the

'city fathers'

are busy planning the new city layout, which I seriously doubt. Since 2000 not much activity has been seen other than paving the dirt and accepting the odd gift of a bridge here and there.
There is serious talk of a mass transit system? Define serious. Again these are donors giving advice and hoping the government chooses their option using a soft loan to pay-off the donor's host country companies ...
Bicycle lanes? Dream on, if anything the officials are closer to outlawing pedestrians and cyclists. Anything to prevent your Lexus from scratching ...

Overall call

• I like it, it certainly adds info not yet available.
• It's shelf life I'm afraid will remain limited and no doubt other publishers will copycat the issue less the 'schmuck' which I'm afraid adds little to the maps.
• Possibly a bit too expensive ...
  
• Then again I'm a map freak...

Chasing Cars, two days before Christmas, 2009

Nearly 2 weeks have passed since the latest edition and I'm yet again sorry to say hardly anything has happened. That said I mean on the traffic front. Elsewhere the Cambodian government has been staking it's claims by forming the Thai opposition, pussy footing the Vietnamese, getting more from the Chinese than even the rest of the world managed during the Climate talks (well, actually selling a dozen Uigers and their criminal kids) and slagging Bangladesh's efforts to control battery acid as undoable. So if you are waiting for miracles for next year, they just might well happen ...

• Public transport is on the cards. Cambodia can do all the above but fails to even set up a system under which private enterprise may well do all the public transportation. Within the city, it relies on a load a free-wheeling cowboys who's mass transport is literally that; motorcycles with a slightly extending sitting area which will either take you, your family and their neighbour's daughters school class or anything smaller than a container. Can we call this public transport?
  Outside of town we use mini-buses which have been deliberately not changed to facilitate passengers, which are subsequently overloaded and decrepit. Or we use saloon cars, beyond their purchase by date, stuff as many people as possible (10 or more), plus a number in the (open boot) and thus we travel up and down the country.
  But that's set to change:

  'Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema has pledged to create a public transport service within five years in a bid to ease traffic congestion in the capital'.

  So public traffic is not for the public but it's there to allow hot shots to keep easing through the city. Five years? Ambitious.

  '“Now, we are thinking that if we create a bus system, people will travel by bus,” Kep Chuktema said, adding, however, that “Cambodian people do not like to walk, and they like to use their own vehicles to travel quickly to their destinations. This is an obstacle to creating a public bus system”'.

  The biggest obstacle to public transport in Phnom Penh is the lack of forward thinking and common sense.
  

• Thailand will start cracking down on pillion riders without helmets.

• More back slapping yourself. Helmet wearing triples due to the efforts of:

  'The primary reason for the increase in helmet wearing rates is the multi-stakeholder helmet awareness campaign'.

  And law enforcement. And more law enforcement. And more law enforcement. And ..., well you get the idea.
  The fact of the matter is that the organization involved has been propagating helmets for years and only once the police started to see the point, the system kick in. The result?

  'The latest figures from Cambodia's Road Crash and Victim Information System (RCVIS), meanwhile, show that the helmet wearing increase has led to a nationwide 3-percent drop in motorcycle crash fatalities due to head injuries'.

  Three percent. My thoughts are that the drop may well be related to the economic slump ...

• Anyway the RCVIS has no back-up data on this, they have been wrong in the past. Just looking at most recent data. Fatalities are up (and the number of hospitals reporting to them is especially here in Phnom Penh is low), on average this year 25% were hit and run cases, more than half reported speeding as cause and 1 in eight of the cars involved had the steering wheel on the wrong side ... Do I hear the government ?

• How many times can you get in the press? ADB congratulates itself yet again for reviving the national railways. Let's just wait till it's happened.

• Trade with Vietnam can go up, if only there were good roads.

  'Locals, government officials and economists say the ill repair of Kampot’s Road 33 does more than slow motorcycles: it slows trade and economic growth'.

  Road 33 is slated for an upgrade next year it seems as ADB and Australia match Cambodia's 3.7 $ million with 4 times as much ...

• Fighting the law? A first hand account of being crashed and seeking redemption. Not.

  'So my friend catches up with them and says "You know you just hit someone back there?" and in true "off the rails" fashion the passenger who incidentally is a uniformed policeman reaches behind him and pulls a pistol on my good Samaritan friend, saying "i think you should leave this alone"'.

  Elsewhere on the EAS forum I read that police are concerned about getting bad press ... Now why would any one slag the police? Or the countryf or that matter?

Chasing Cars, mid-August 2009

Imposing the law? According to their own claims

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

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

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

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

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

• Ban the poor souls!

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

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

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

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

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

• Koh Kong is Cambodia's wild west?

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

  You mean there are worse?
  

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

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

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

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

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

• A non-report?

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

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

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

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

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

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

  The reason for this drop in casualties?

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

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

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

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

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

  'additional funding'.

  ADB Daydreaming:

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

  A port and a rail road mean nothing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• Humour from NZ:

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

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

Chasing Cars, 29 June 2009

Not much to mention, everyone (in the english press) is on holiday.

• There's always the Khmer press to entertain you. Road safety blog dilengently jots down every Khmer and traffic related article. Pictures tell you most, what about this picture of a leg?

• Did anyone notice this article from Phnom Pehn Post's Police blotter?

  'Two bodyguards of a highranking official, Chhel Chhein, 28, and Chea Chantha, 27, were taken to the Dangkor district police station for hitting a man with a gun in a motorbike incident. The accident was caused by the two bodyguards, who were speeding up on their motorbike and ignored the traffic lights at a juncture. They nearly crashed into the victim, who shouted at them for violating the traffic law. At the police station, the victim demanded a compensation of US$700. The bodyguards paid him only $100, which he had no choice but to accept'.

  Typical only in Cambodia?

• Another typical only in Cambodia article:

  'Tuk-tuk crackdown targets Wat Phnom'

  (Phnom Penh Post (18 June 2009). Wat Phnom is one of Phnom Penh's main tourist area's. Tuk-tuks are one of the main modes of transport for tourists. The article mentions that Tuk-tuks are to stay away from this area. Why?

  'The police told me that I was parked in a disorderly manner'.

  The real reason?

  '... they [tuk-tuk drivers] believed the latest crackdown followed a recent near collision between Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema's car and a tuk-tuk in the Wat Phnom area'.

• A general message from the ADB:

  'without immediate action, the transport sectors of developing countries will account for the overwhelming share of increased carbon dioxide emissions by 2030'.

  Great news, but not really. Anyway, with the economic slowdown this prospect will also disappear.

• ADB, though finances the alternatives:

  'the new [railway] station would be funded by a US$20 million loan from the ADB'.

  The alternative however is

  'expected to displace 200 families in Dangkor district should be completed by 2012'.

  The good news is that something is happening. Lot's of hot air has passed on the revamping of the national railway, but little substance. This seems concrete at least.

• More general world news:

  'Nearly half of the 1.2 million people killed in traffic accidents around the world each year are not in cars. They are on motorcycles and bicycles or walking along roadsides.
  ...
  Traffic accidents were the 10th-leading cause of death in the world in 2004, behind lung cancer and ahead of diabetes, and they are on track to become the fifth-leading cause by 2030'.

  Surprisingly the report then neglects this highlight and recommends the following action:

  'The report identified five risk factors for injury on the road, each of which can be lessened by well-enforced laws: speed, drunken driving, helmets, seat belts and child restraints'.

  As if this were unknown. Though this article shows what's needed:

  'the focus should shift to what it calls "vulnerable road users" -- i.e. pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.
  Naked cyclists [the World Naked Bike Ride took place on the 14th of June] who braved the elements last weekend couldn't agree more. Some people have a hard time understanding what being in your birthday suit has to do with bicycle advocacy. Cyclists themselves, especially those braving city streets, totally get it'.

  Now let's hope the Cambodian traffic authorities get it ....

Phnom Penh waterfront

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'.

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'.

Public vs. private

The perpetual battle between private and public is coming back to the forefront. Roads are a classic example of a public space needed and required for everybody. However, Crossing Cambodia in the past few weeks has mentioned a road (to Bokor) being upgraded by private companies to stimulate private investment though it is unclear whether or not the previously public road will become private and if so what the fees might be. Discussed as well was the use of roads and sidewalks as parking space for successful companies' customers. Then there is the privatisation of the railways which again privatises a public investment with unknown returns. Yesterday's (Wednesday March 5, 2008) Cambodia Daily a Letter to the Editor harks forth on the same topic.

'Return public sidewalks to use for public. Provide the public with a smooth and peaceful walking area please!'

It refers to a TV programme which highlighted Phnom Penh traffic problems and how the government was dealing with this issue.

'However the program did not raise much about the issue of messy and disorderly sidewalks, which need to be addressed if we are to reduce traffic jams and beautify Phnom Penh. Homeowners, restaurants or hotels overtake most sidewalks.They try to own sidewalks. .... They park their vehicles on the sidewalk. ... Pedestrians always have to walk on the street to avoid stuff that has been placed or built on the sidewalk. Or walkers have to maneuver up and down the sidewalk in order to proceed. Why doesn't the Phnom Penh municipal authority do something to solve this problem? ... The municipal authority should push for public parking lots and no longer allow people to park arbitrarily, especially on narrow streets. ... Kimsan Chantara, Phnom Penh'

As if to compensate for that, 100 ramps to allow access for people in wheelchairs have been constructed on the west side of Norodom Boulevard. Note that Norodom is probably the road that has the least obstructions on the sidewalk as it's the alley for all dignitaries to parade themselves.
Paid by the businesses along Norodom? No (in Cambodia,it is customary for riparians to fund the construction of sidewalks) By the government then? No, but funding came from a 'semi-autonomous government body, the National Centre for Disabled Persons'.
A Handicap International spokespersons applauds the efforts:

'officials are on the right track. ... He added that as much as 8 percent of traffic accidents in 2006 involved pedestrians, highlighting the need for accessible sidewalks.'

Well, let's take a closer look at what they have done. Actually it's pretty amazing: at certain driveway's and side streets they have taken out the street stones and made ramps by applying cement. However, these ramps are sometimes quite steep, certainly not uniform. What's more, some side streets have them, others don't. Not very continuous. Crossing Cambodia included a couple of photo's:
The above example shows a ramp but after a couple of meters the sidewalk is blocked by cars, is it the World Bank that is using the sidewalk as a parking place? The next photo is even clearer, great ramp, but of no use!


Despite the sincerity of the project, one must ask the question why the heck initiate this if you can not ensure that the intended solution to the problem can not be obtained due to other reasons! All-in-all a good (i.e. bad) example of how the authorities muddle onwards trying to address the problems but never solving them!

Chasing Cars, Cambodian Style 5 March 2008

Most updates are just morsels found in other (blog) sites:

• Expat Advisory Services dishes this out:

  'Commenting on increasing traffic burdens, Dr. [Gavin, who 'has lived in Cambodia for 15 years'] Scott is puzzled by the apparent lack of urban planning, "prestige projects will congest the streets with traffic and sewage. Immediate acquisition of status and money take precedence over long term planning".'

• Cambodia Calling has a posting on roughly the same theme as highlighted last week on this site:

  'No Public Transport. Why is there no public transport within towns in Cambodia? Not even in the capital Phnom Penh. There cannot be many cities the size of Phnom Penh without public transport. ... It's probably harder than it seems to get a public transport system right and people the world over complain about their country's public transport. But we have to start somewhere'.

• Cambodia Calling also mentions Stan Kahn who has a number of passionate plea's for different attitudes to traffic over on Khmer 440. According to that site he now has put up shop in Kampot. Relevance?

  'Meanwhile the train should be running again this August. It won't be as fast as the taxi but it will be a pleasure'.

  Don't count too much on it!
  

• More trains on this comment from (DaS) to a link from here which was originally a link to another web-site, which was a translation of , etc., etc. :
  

  'I rode the train two weeks ago.
  From Phnom Penh there’s only one active line, to Battambang. It leaves every Saturday morning at 6:20 am.
  I wanted to go to B’Bang but boredom made me get off in Pursat. Nice little town to spend an afternoon.
  Besides wood I didn’t see much cargo, and although all seats were taken (two cars) it was hardly crowded. No wonder, it’s unreliable, slow and relatively expensive. It was cool though to see how a heap of wood was loaded from a bamboo train onto and into the last passenger car, while on the move. I wanted to take pictures, but one of four train conductors said no. I wonder why…'

• More on public transport. The Mirror (Vol. 12, No. 550) publishes an article from Neak Cheat Niyum. Apprarently the ban on big buses in the city center is back on, but only from the end of this year:

  'To solve the problems of daily traffic congestions in Phnom Penh due to the growth of the population and the increasing number of vehicles, the governor of Phnom Penh, Mr. Kep Chuk Tema issued a strict announcement: to prohibit large passenger buses from operating on the roads of Phnom Penh by the end of 2008'.

  To solve the problem, buses will halt near the city perimeter, however no mention is made of how passengers would then get to their final destination. Has the municipality ever thought of setting up a bus station?
  
  On another note, the municipality also stressed the following:
  

  'In particular, the disrespect of traffic laws is one of the main causes of traffic congestions'.

  Despite this long overdue admission, there may be new ones lurking.
  
  Yesterday I travelled down Monivong at 4 in the afternoon, but it was far from smooth; KFC have opened their first chicken bar and the clientiele apparently prefer to come by car, but KFC or their local reps (read investors) never thought about where their clients would need to park their cars. Just block the road! Increasingly, succesful businesses (as well as expanding markets) such as Mobitel and Lucky's supermarket are encroaching public roads to use for the clients who are allowed to park, double even triple park their cars. Can't the municipality do something with this?
  

• Kampuchea Crossings highlight an Asialife March 2008 article (not available online) on probably Cambodia's one and only female moto-dup driver.

  'When she attempted to work in the nearby areas she found that fellow Khmers – even the women – were more comfortable taking the traditional male motodup than going with her. Because foreigners are open to the idea of a female driving a mototaxi she is able to get more business there'.

  It's a very good article and gives an insiders view of Khmer women taking up 'male' professions and the strength of single mothers in face of adversity.

• More background on the expressway to Phnom Penh from Can Tho. Mystified, so is Crossing Cambodia and the Cambodian government as well:

  'Kem Borey [director of the Transport Ministry's Road Infrastructure Department] said the highway will run from Can Tho, through An Giang province before the final stretch of approximately 120 km from the border to Phnom Penh. He added that the final route of this last stretch has not been finalized but would either follow National Road 2 through Takeo province, National Road 21 through Takeo province, or comprise a new road traversing Kampot province'.

• Softening the Khmer from the other side is Thailand:

  'After having met with Cambodian Leader Hun Sen, Mr. Samak said Thailand’s assistance to Cambodia would be beneficial to both countries, especially the highway 68 construction project with an additional budget on top of the 1.4 billion baht (US$43.7 million) already allocated.
  
  The road will connect Thailand’s Surin province to Cambodia’s Siem Reap, and seen as an opportunity to boost the tourism industry in the region'.

• KI Media highlight a photo reportage (from the bureau's of AP) on the height of the petrol price in Cambodia. Oddly though, the price they mention is 4,600 riel, which is the amount charged at the petrol pump not at the road stalls which are the subject of all the photo's; petrol at these stalls is still less than 4,000 riel!
  

Chasing Cars Cambodian Style, a day later than the last entry

• Today's (Feb. 21, 2008) Cambodia Daily draws attention to the Bokor road upgrading (highway 32 from Kampot) which seems to be going good:

  'In just a few weeks, the 30 km road that winds its wau upthe mountain, and previously famous as a challenging dirt-bike trip, has been leveled and widenend almost the entire way to the top. ... reversing the previous policy that tourists would be kept from going up the 1,000 m high mountain until the development was complete, Sok Kong [the Cambodian investor] said Wednesday that the road would be re-opened from this week.'

  Tough luck for the alternative trekking industry which had appeared. But anyway what's the attraction in going up a hill just to see a building site? Enough of them here in Phnom Penh! Why do the tourists not try Kirirom for a change, nearly just as high, more accesible and some failed investments to be seen as they were abandoned and no building site.

• Cambodia Pocket Guides in their recent publication the Tuk-tuk tales:

  'Unlike the traditional tuk tuk of Thailand and India which is a more or less enclosed single vehicle on three wheels, the Cambodian flavor is more of a trailer, secured, ahem, to a dodgy-looking hitch bolted onto a moto’s back seat. The apparatus (a metal knuckle about as big as a family-size can of kidney beans and located about an inch behind the driver’s third lumbar vertebra) looks like a grim recipe for instant paraplegia should a speeding Camry ram into the back of the hapless driver’s contraption.
  Like the taxi, it can carry four Western passengers in relative comfort, if not relative speed, or the members of up to three extended Khmer families. And unlike the moto it can carry a considerable amount of cargo, useful for moving or the late night eviction of a drunk and wild-eyed scissor-wielding loved one. They are also everywhere, easily beckoned with a casual wave unless you are like me when, like the cops, they seem to be unavailable when you really need one'.

  Why take a tuk-tuk?

  'At about $2 for a short trip or $12 for a half day or 50km, it’s a little cheaper than a taxi but definitely more, uh, fun. And with their predictable movements and constant speed they are probably safer than motos, at least for the passengers. The view is great, second only to a moto, and you can take in the sights and smells in relative protection from the elements. Also, you won’t be contributing so much to the problem of cars in the kingdom causing gridlock'.

• For those of you who like the occasional photo, parishwithoutborders, has been putting some of his best up on the web for 8 (!) years. His series of Motorcycle passengers and Cargo is now up to no. 87. Here's one of the better ones from 2007, sleep tight!
  
  
  

Chasing Cars, Cambodian Style, 20 February 2008

• This week the big news is the start sign towards the re-habilitation of Cambodia's railways. A connection to Bangkok will be relaid; it's safe to assume that the Khmer Rouge were responsible for this disappearance. Furthermore all other railways will be restored with a timetable of 2 years, it is hoped. ADB Bank is investing heavily in the project as well as other donors chipping in. The $73 million project covers nearly 500 km of rail. Photo's are here, the report is here (though the original is from Xinhua).
  
  The Cambodian Daily (Feb 18) quotes Transport minister Sun Chanthol:

  'Can you imagine getting on the train in Singapore and ending up [by mistake?] in Sihanoukville?'

  Neither can Crossing Cambodia, but if so, it will be a tedious affair; most probably 5 days on board! Ansd as passenger services do not seem to be very important it might be a hard sit.
  
  Further reports by Cambodge Soir, here from KI Media site, also report that $500 million more is required to hitch the Cambodian railways to the Vietnamese. The caption photo is great: Hun Sen helping the public with counting. 'How many fingers? Five! That's right five hundred million!'
  
  A report copied in The Mirror, but originally from Khmer Machas Srok however points out that:

  'It was only seen that the general director of the Royal Railways [of Cambodia] quietly bought one more villa and changed to new cars'.

  Co-incidence?

• More co-incidence:

  'Editor-in-chief of Sakal Khmer Newspaper Khuon Playvy was hit from behind with [Toyota] Camry car as he was riding his motorcycle in Phnom Penh. The event occurred around 8:40pm near Pet Lorksang hospital. Playvy said that before the hitting attempt he was threatened on phone to recheck his news article on page eight. He was seriously cruised [probably mean injured] in hands, feet and face'.

  Today's (20 February 2008) Cambodia Daily elaborates on the story:

  'Municipal traffic police chief Tin Prasoer said Tuesday he was unaware of the case'.

  Southeast Asian Press Alliance stated it was an:

  'apparent attack'.

  If everybody who has been rear-ended in Cambodia is victim of press-related intimidation, press freedom in Cambodia must surely be down the drain. Or not?

• Trouble in paradise. Paradise called Ponchentong, Phnom Penh's airport. In contradiction to the Cambodian conviction of kidnapping customers before they even arrive, at the airport it's a rather sedate affair; you want a taxi you pay $7 and you are escorted off the airport to a hotel of your liking. What? You live in a house, well that's going to cost you more!
  
  Anyway the airport operate some kind of licensing fee which limits the number of taxi's which can pick-up customers in exchange for a $40 monthly fee. My regular cabbie says getting a taxi which has such a license requires putting up another $5,000 just for the privilege, so quite rightly they try to earn as much as possible by persuing commissions As if they have not enough headaches, the government is now adding another. Apparently tuk-tuk's have been now licensed to do the same, but naturally cheaper. Unfair competition! Despite the governor of Phnom Penh openly championing the cause (tuk-tuks), his deputy in today's Cambodian Daily says:

  'Our stance is not so clear yet'.

  (!)

• It's nearly a year since the traffic law was adopted and the

  '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'.

  In the Cambodian Daily, on the eigtheenth, so it must be true. As roughly 1 in 10 cars drives without plates at all and the aforementioned plates give certain privileges (the 'untouchables': you crash me, you pay!), license plate enforcement might become spectacular as of March 1!
  

Chasing Cars, Cambodian Style 20-12-2007

• Vietnam is catching up with Cambodia: as of 15 December wearing helmets is compulsory and universally enforced according to VoA and Reuters.
  In Cambodia wearing a helmet is also compulsory but only 20-30% wear them and the police are very relaxed on enforcement: they don't give a hoot, nor do they have helmets themselves. And the government? ....
  The articles on Vietnam make much of the problems of beauty versus wearing a helmet. Crossing Cambodia wonders why. Have you noticed that here in Phnom Penh it are women who are wearing helmets proportionally more (~50%) than males? Now, why is that?

• So why are petrol prices in Cambodia so much higher (20-25%) than in neighbouring countries? It's because PM Hun Sen's government 'quietly' subsidizes the prices by over 100 million $USD. Here and here. Unfortunately he fails to clarify how this takes place, and as transparency concerning government expenditure is lacking, he can just as well call any number without being challenged. Wonder how much the Vietnam and Thai governments are 'quietly' subsidizing prices in Cambodia?

• The main attraction of Phnom Penh, it's waterfront boulevard park, is being dug up which means that tourists have to walk on the road. Just for the coming year. At least Phnom Penh's traffic police are getting into action, towing away parked vehicles, which has lead to an unicum: '

  'You might have noticed you can actually walk along some parts of the pavement now...'

• A great article in December's SE Globe, unfortunately, too long to type and too bulky (8 MB) to download. 'Back seat drivers' explores the current and future prospectives of Phnom Penh's cyclo's. Many cyclo's face hard conditions making ends meet. The article ends on a positive note:

  'With tourist numbers on the increase and the municipality considering limiting the number of tuk-tuks [are they?] in the city centre, maybe the future for Phnom Penh's cyclo drivers is not as bleak as it appears at first glance'.

  Furthermore in the same issue a 'comment' on the widespread acceptance of impunity which leads to negligence when it comes to individual responsibility in Cambodia's modern society:

  ' ... personal responsibility has been characterized by a careless hit-and-run approach'.

Stan the Man

Stan is well known on this site for a few postings referring to publications on the Khmer 440 site which earned him a write upon Crossing Cambodia. Considering he managed today (30 November, 2007) to make The Cambodia Daily 'Letter to the Editor' section, on a subject ,not only dear to our heart, but the topic of the previous posting, I feel compelled to retype it here:

Trams a Nice Idea but Buses Needed Now

Now there's talk of a tram system for Phnom Penh. A short while ago it was a skytrain. Both are great ideas and essential for a modern city's future but both are akin to expecting a baby to walk or even run before it learns to crawl.

What a city needs is a bus system which would be easier, cheaper, simpler and faster to initiate than rail transit. In any case, it would take years to get trams or skytrains operational, whereas Phnom Penh needs public transit now.

Besides, buses are needed regardless: rail transit is not a substitute for a bus system, only a complement. The city is densifying very quickly along with accelerating growth in vehicle registrations.

People who applaud the new sky-scrapers being constructed in Phnom Penh don't seem to realize that bringing large numbers of people to those destinations will also bring traffic chaos if those workers and visitors don't have the option of getting there by mass transit. A bus system should be one of the city's highest priorities.

Stan Kahn, Phnom Penh

This is very much in line with what Crossing Cambodia suggested a couple of days ago. Co-incidentally,the rest of the page was dedicated to an article on (the failures of) modernism. Is this similarly a case? Believing that the Messiahs will arrive once Phnom Penh has a tram and or Skytrain? Think again!

Cambodian Officialdom on Planes, Trains and Assorted

Sometimes reporting on transport concerns in Cambodia has much to do with 'Aladdin and his magic lamp", Alladin being Cambodian officials, the lamp representing the 'idea'.

Take for example a number of messages the last week.
Case 1: Cambodia to set up new national airline
As reported all over the world, but here linking to the article on the KI Media website. The essence: Cambodia's government strikes a deal with an Indonesian company allowing it to operate a national flag carrier in return for a significant amount of the profit.

Two problems in this story, they are 'national' and 'profit'. The current situation in Cambodian skies is that there is no government owned airline (though there are other Cambodian companies such as Royal Khmer and President Airlines), a unique factor which has attributed to the overall growth of the tourism sector, one of the main pillars of Cambodia's economy. With the absence of vested (national and thus political) interests, the Cambodian government has been encouraging as much business as possible. the more the merrier. Nearly everyone can fly in to / out of Phnom Penh and whether they make a profit or not is not the Cambodia's government's concern. The one exception is the Bangkok - Siem Reap sector which is run as a monopoly by Bangkok Airways, condoned by the current Cambodian government.

So why now try to set up a national flag carrier? With the significant recent growth of tourism, the perception has been that Cambodia's economy fails to profit sufficiently. One problem is the lack of national production meeting tourists demand. As such nearly everything is flown in, leaving just construction and employment in tourist services as significantly contributing to the Cambodian economy. To address this 'leakage' problem, the idea apparently is to get an airline in place and tax the profits. One problem is that even if profits are forthcoming (a big problem for other flag carriers in Southeast Asia) accounting procedures in Cambodia are hardly established meaning that the Cambodian government may well see nothing of it's share of the profits. Even though they have a substantial part of the airline, the aircraft will probably be leased, so the government is getting 51% of the airlines assets which equals zero, which in Crossing Cambodia's calculation is still zero.

That said, in the meantime there may be the possibility to commandeer seats or even a whole aircraft so as to get officials kids/wives to school/shopping in Bangkok / Hong Kong, a phenomena which has arisen in recent years just over Cambodia's eastern border.

But with the current 'open skies' policy, there is hardly any room for extra flights (i.e. there is perfect competition). This implies that these policies must change so as to allow the national carrier to access profitable routes (to / from Thailand and / or China) or (so as not too frighten the current carriers) to make sure any future growth in flights to Cambodia is awarded to the national flag carrier.

Even though some questions remain (how big will the flag carrier be?), with the signature of Peter Sondakh, the Cambodian government seems to have a guarantee that future payments to the state will take place. Mr. Sondakh is an Indonesian with quite some experience and very deep pockets: his company is currently trying to take over the Indonesia flag carrier, Garuda. However, Indonesia has in the past had massive problems with corruption as well as having a dismal record in regulating it's skies, not necessarily aspects which would look good on a potential airline's investor's report card. With Cambodia's recent past in aviation littered by accidents and failed airlines one might wonder whether or not this investment will assist Cambodia at all.

But one thing that does stick is that in the run-up to elections, playing to nationalistic sentiments surely must pay off. But whether it makes economic sense?

Case 2: French company plans to operate trams in Cambodia
The full story here. The essence. Big French muliti-billion company (Alsthom) devise plan to have it's products up and running in Cambodia. It impresses local officials who will now support it. No mention is made of who will pay for this.

Possibly this latter, is part of the overall strategy: here we are, we will solve all your plans, you just have to start to yearn /crave for it, then cough up some money (in case no money is forthcoming maybe we can ask French 'gouvernement' for some bridging finance, possibly with some EU money somewhere along the track). Whether or not it solves the problem is entirely besides the question, who doesn't want to impress all and sundry (including voters) with a swish train / tram / lorrie which does not seem to cost anything?

Just a few months back, the Thai were here proclaiming how their Skytrain would be up and running in the near future.

Possibly both the Thai and the French should heed the experience of the Japanese who couldn't even get a bus system running within Phnom Penh. Let's hope the Chinese can get a reliable taxi system working (should not be beyond them).

So should we not dream? Yes, no problem with that, but current problems with traffic congestion are simply due to the lack of adhering to a simple language of red light means stop. Last Tuesday evening Crossing Cambodia plied through Monivong Boulevard during rush hour while it was totally packed, but only due to the fact that the main crossings were blocked and blocked again. Get everyone to stop when lights are red, go when green and the need for sophisticated systems of transport will not be required at least for the near future.

If starting now with a city bus system , this would be effective in 1-2 years time and in 5 years time look for a mass transport system, preferably underground, that's how it is done internationally, even in Bangkok and Paris!

Case 3: Dong Thap [province in vietnam] approves road link to Cambodia. The link, the essence: with just 4.5 million dollars this Vietnamese province will build a road, basically for their own satisfaction. Where's the money coming from?[everybody suddenly takes an interest in their shining shoes and /or are all the lights on?]

Case 4:Cambodia asks China, India, Japan to help improve rural projects
The link, the essence of the stories: Hun Sen (the ever-serving Cambodian PM) needs to develop the country fast (after all elections are coming up in six months) so he now requests China and Japan for hand-outs. What the Chinese get out of the deal Crossing Cambodia hardly knows, but they tend to look well after themselves (as do all other 'donors'). With Toyota cars making up half of the standard Cambodian car-park, their 'donation' will always reap handsome rewards.

But what do the cases have in common? A lack of vision, a lack of will to tackle the problems themselves, a absolute disregard to finances ('Cambodia is such a poor country, please forgive us our debts') and a faith in piecemeal approaches to overall economic and social problems. It all seems to be tied in with power, the power to have and how to keep this power. Well, as long as it's not Crossing Cambodia's money, it's not my problem. What does worry Crossing Cambodia is that in the event of an adverse economic climate elsewhere (the states?) how at all will the country survive? On nearly all aspects Cambodians rely and continue to rely on having absolute faith in the goodness of foreigners / foreign countries to dole out money to address their simple problems. In Thailand you win elections promoting self-sufficiently, here presumably by passing the bill on to future generations, be they Cambodian or foreigners. Let's hope that the money tap continues to be open for a long, long time, while the local politicians start rubbing up the lamp once more!

Cambodia's main railroad from phnom Penh to the coast!