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Cambodia this morning celebrated the 30th anniversary of the promulgation of the Constitution (Sept. 24, 1993 – Sept. 24, 2023) under the royal presidency of His Majesty Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia. Leaders of the executive, legislative and judicial bodies, as well as Im Chhun Lim, President of the Constitutional Council, accompanied His Majesty the King at the celebration held at Koh Pich Convention and Exhibition Centre in Phnom Penh. Addressing the function, His Majesty the King expressed his appreciation for the progress of Cambodia and thanked the Constitutional Council for their efforts in fulfilling their duties. “I always observe that the Constitutional Council is a constitutional court which has played the best and most accurate role as an arbitrator between the nation’s top institutions, especially between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary,” he said. The monarch added that from time to time, the Constitution Council runs smoothly under the guidance of the rule of law and firmly maintains a strong unity, close cooperation, honesty, mutual trust, harmony in the development of the nation. At the same time, His Majesty the King firmly believed that under the umbrella of the Constitution, all national institutions will continue to fulfil their duties with high responsibility to achieve the 2030 and 2050 National Development Goals of becoming a strong and prosperous nation. Im Chhun Lim read a report about the constitutional achievements in the past 30 years, stressing that the Constitution of Cambodia is a historical achievement approved by the Constitutional Assembly on Sept. 21, 1993 and promulgated by Preah Bat Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk (Preah Borom Ratanak Kaudh) on Sept. 24, 1993. The 16-chapter Constitution of Cambodia was amended 10 times in 1994, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2014, 2018, and 2022. AKP https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501372561/cambodia-marks-30th-anniversary-of-national-constitution/

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia attracted fixed-asset investment of 3.76 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months of 2023, up 8.6 percent from 3.46 billion dollars over the same period last year, a Council for the Development of Cambodia's report showed on Saturday. The Southeast Asian nation approved 191 investment projects during the January-September period this year, up 27 percent from 150 projects over the same period last year, the report said. Five top foreign investors to Cambodia were from China, Malaysia, British Virgin Islands, Singapore and Vietnam. https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501372822/cambodia-attracts-3-76-billion-investment-in-the-first-9-months-an-increase-of-8-6-percent/

The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and the Bank of Thailand (BoT) are developing a new money transfer system for Cambodians working in Thailand to remit their cash safely, rapidly and cost-efficiently to Cambodia. This will be in addition to existing cross-border payment and transfer systems, said NBC Governor Chea Serey. The new cross-border banking technology development plan was revealed on Wednesday at a meeting between NBC Governor Chea Serey and Cherdkiat Atthakor, Ambassador of Thailand to Cambodia, at the NBC headquarters in Phnom Penh, which was also attended by other central banking officials and Thai diplomatic officials. “The two central banks have been developing a money transfer system for Cambodian people who are working in Thailand to remit money to their families in Cambodia safely, rapidly and cost-efficiently,” said Serey, adding that the two countries also plan to expand collaboration with each other in sharing credit information of their respective banking service consumers. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501372065/cambodia-thailand-developing-new-money-transfer-system/

Billboard owners deny ever hosting messages heralding Hun Manet as prime minister. The billboards are striking. In videos shot in the heart of New York’s Times Square, one of the most iconic tourist destinations in the world, three massive digital billboards fill with blue, the color of the Cambodian People’s Party, and a message of congratulations to the newly elected Prime Minister Hun Manet. The only problem? They’re fake. Last month, images and videos of the billboards went viral on Facebook, with Hun Manet thanking a supporter for purchasing ad space on two prominent digital billboards at 1530 Broadway. His father, former Prime Minister Hun Sen, posted a video showing a third billboard, a sprawling video screen the length of a city block. "This billboard at the center of New York City in Times Square welcomes the presence of Samdech Thipadey Hun Manet, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia in the land of the United States of America,” Hun Sen wrote. Government friendly media and even Radio Free Asia reported on the billboards, noting that they had run to coincide with Hun Manet’s visit to New York during the U.N. General Assembly. His visit to the annual gathering of world leaders marked his first since he took over the premiership from his father in August. The three billboards are owned by three different advertising companies, all of which told RFA that the videos never ran on their boards. “This did not run on the large billboard at 1530,” said Douglas Cordova, vice president for Times Square at Outfront Media, which owns the top billboard at 1530 Broadway. The bottom billboard at 1530 Broadway is owned by Heritage Outdoor Media. Co-founder Terry Carmody said the congratulatory ad featuring Hun Manet never ran on his company’s billboard either. “It definitely seems to be a mock up that was posted on Facebook,” he wrote in an email. The third and largest billboard sits in front of the New York Marriott Marquis, a four-star hotel located just down the street from 1530 Broadway. A video of the enormous billboard posted by Hun Sen to his Facebook page has garnered 30,000 views. That billboard is owned by Silvercast Media. In an email, a company representative said the video “is a fake rendering.” Uncovering a fake: In the image at left of a faked billboard, white scaffolding can be seen beneath the video screen. At right, an image from a YouTube video of the billboard shot the same day the purported tribute ran, shows no scaffolding. Credit: Facebook/Hun Sen [left]; YouTube@ActionKid Save for the advertising content, the video is identical to that of a Zimbabwean musician who found himself in hot water last month for photoshopping himself onto the same billboard. In both the Hun Manet video and the Baba Harare video, identical cars, bicycles and foot traffic can be seen passing by. The real film was evidently shot on an earlier date, as scaffolding sits below the billboard, but a tourist video filmed the same day as the Hun Manet ad was purportedly shot shows none. A cursory search of the freelance marketplace Fiverr shows scores of visual effects artists offering to render logos and ads onto videos of Times Square billboards for as low as $10. It is unclear where the videos originated, but at least one Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) supporter posted video of the billboards on Facebook before they were shared by the premier and his father. In his post, Hun Manet thanked a man named David Soth for the ads. Soth was later quoted by government-friendly news site FreshNews as having “lobbied his boss to feature premier Hun Manet for free of charge.” The ads all carry a credit line of “CPP Chapter of San Francisco, CA,” though the group appears to have no internet presence. One video that never went viral is a Facebook livestream showing a fourth billboard, located at the corner of 40th Street and 11th Avenue, a desolate stretch of parking lots and construction sites far from the bustle of Times Square. In the video, Hun Manet appears on the screen for about 10 seconds. “Last night, we put it up there and we were so busy therefore, we were unable to [film] it live at Times Square,” the streamer explains in a Facebook live shot on Sept. 23. “So, [we come] here to show that we are not doing photoshop or faking the photos. We are not faking the photos. We love Samdech. We are waiting for the photos of Samdech to pop up again then we will shoot it again.” Anthony Fontanello, programmatic channel development director at Outfront Media, which owns the billboard, said the ad ran on Sept. 22 and 23. It was purchased by a company called Blip for just over $500 on behalf of the CPP Chapter of San Francisco, according to data seen by RFA. Through Blip, anyone can purchase short ads on the billboard, which can be rented for as little as a few dollars, depending on the time of day. The cost to rent a billboard in Times Square is considerably higher but not necessarily prohibitive. Carmody of Heritage Outdoor Media estimated that it might cost around $1,200 for a series of 15-second ads to run on the lower 1530 billboard hourly for a single day. But supporters may well have run into approval issues. Asked whether it was possible the billboard could have been subcontracted out without his company’s knowledge, Cordova, from Outfront said, “It is not possible as the landlord would have to approve that, and they never would.” “It’s political content and that is against the landlord’s rules for the billboard,” he said. Additional reporting by Asia Fact Check Lab. Edited by Jim Snyder. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/fake-times-square-billboards-10052023160156.html Copyright © 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.

The Phnom Penh Capital Hall have prepared a total of 455 buses to provide free transport service for people for five days, from Oct. 12 to 16, during the upcoming Pchum Ben Festival. Of the figure, 60 will be used in the capital while the rest, 395, will transport people back and forth from Phnom Penh to their home provinces, said an announcement of the Phnom Penh Capital Hall AKP received this afternoon. The announcement also gave details on the times and locations to get on the bus from Phnom Penh to provinces and vice-versa. The Phnom Penh Capital Hall took the opportunity to call on all taxi service providers not to increase the transport fees during the Pchum Ben Festival in order to contribute with the Royal Government and the Capital Hall in easing the people’s living standard. This year, the Pchum Ben Festival, or the Festival for Dead, will fall on Oct. 13 to 15. Generally, during the three-day holiday, people return to their homeland, go to pagoda, travel to different tourism destinations, and join various entertainment activities. The Royal Government annually provides the free bus service to help reduce people’s travel cost during the Pchum Ben Festival and Khmer Traditional New Year.AKP-C.Nika https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501372359/some-455-buses-ready-for-free-transport-service-during-pchum-ben-holiday/

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia had recorded 21,568 dengue fever cases in the first nine months of 2023, a significant rise of 184 percent from 7,597 cases over the same period last year, a health official said on Thursday. "The disease killed 38 people during the January-September period this year, up from 14 deaths over the same period last year," Leang Rithea, National Dengue Program manager and deputy director of the National Center for Parasitology and Malaria Control, told Xinhua. With the instruction from Health Minister Chheang Ra, the provincial health departments across the country have provided Abate, a chemical substance used to put in water pots to kill larvae, to households and sprayed insecticide to kill mosquitoes since August, he said. "We have been working actively with development partners and organizations to curb an outbreak of dengue fever in the country," he added. Dengue fever is a viral disease transmitted through the bite of an Aedes mosquito, which is a day-biting mosquito. The disease causes an acute illness that usually follows symptoms such as headache, high fever of up to 40 degrees Celsius, exhaustion, severe muscle and joint pain, swollen glands, vomiting and rash. Rithea urged parents to take their sick children to health centers or state hospitals within 48 hours if they suspected their kids were infected with a dengue virus. Also, he appealed to households to fill in puddles around their houses, saying that they are sources of mosquitoes. In the Southeast Asian country, the peak of the dengue epidemic period is in the rainy season from May to October. https://english.news.cn/20231005/2c4e264dc6194cabbebde1bd215b5a37/c.html

Chasing Deforestation is a series that explores the world’s most threatened forests through satellite data and reporters on the ground. Cambodia has one of the highest deforestation rates in the world, and the situation in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary which spans four provinces is emblematic of the problem. Preliminary satellite data from Global Forest Watch indicate that deforestation in Prey Lang in 2023 is set to surpass both 2022 and 2021, with the latter year marking the highest recorded forest loss since the start of the century. In the latest episode of Chasing Deforestation, host Romi Castagnino sent Mongabay reporter Gerry Flynn on a mission to find out what’s happening inside the supposedly protected area. PREY LANG, Cambodia — Cambodia has among the worst rates of forest loss of any nation, and Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary is a quintessential case. The protected area has long faced relentless devastation in near-total obscurity, with many observers saying that Prey Lang’s status as a sanctuary exists only on paper. In this episode of Chasing Deforestation, host Romi Castagnino delves into the heart of the matter, uncovering the dire situation in Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary. Officially spanning 431,683 hectares (1.07 million acres) across four provinces in Cambodia, Prey Lang is not only a refuge for threatened species like the Asian elephant and the Malayan sun bear, but is also home to 80% of the country’s threatened native tree species. Despite its ecological significance, widespread deforestation continues unabated. https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/the-truth-about-cambodias-prey-lang-sanctuary-chasing-deforestation/

Washington — The United Nations has cast a harsh spotlight on the cyber trafficking industry that has blossomed in Southeast Asia in recent years, estimating that the trade has ensnared some 100,000 victims in Cambodia alone. In a sweeping new report on online scam operations in the region, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights seeks to frame the online trafficking networks as an urgent international human rights threat that demands the attention of both national governments and global advocacy groups. It argues that because persons trafficked into the operations effectively carry out the crimes — using the internet and social media as tools to help orchestrate various scams to take money from unwitting victims in other countries — they are often treated as complicit in their new and home countries. Yet the report urges officials to treat them as victims too. “People who have been trafficked into online forced criminality face threats to their right to life, liberty and security of the person,” the U.N. report says. “They are subject to torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary detention, sexual violence, forced labour and other forms of labour exploitation as well as a range of other human rights violations and abuses.” Prime Minister Hun Manet's government has quickly gone on the defensive against the report, playing down the scale of the problem. Both the report and experts on the issue say Cambodia has yet to show the necessary resolve to root out and shut down the trafficking networks. A group of Chinese nationals were arrested during a police raid on suspicion of running an online love scam syndicate that ensnared hundreds of victims in China, at a building of the Kara Industrial Park in Batam, in Indonesia's Riau Islands province. One reason for that, according to the report, is that officials and other powerbrokers in Cambodia may be sharing in the significant profits. It estimates that scam centers operating in Southeast Asia generate billions of US dollars in revenue. “Corruption undermines accountability and threatens the rule of law; it often precedes the human rights violation, exacerbates its effects, and is a barrier to access to justice and remedy,” says the report, which also focused on trafficking in Myanmar and Laos and functioning scam centers in those countries. “Reports indicate that there has been a lack of investigation into claims of collusion between the criminal actors behind these scam operations and senior government officials, politicians, local law enforcement and influential businesspersons.” Al Jazeera, which conducted a groundbreaking investigation on Cambodia’s “cyber slaves'' in 2022, found that some of the wealthy businessmen who own the compounds where scam rings operate had close relationships with former Prime Minister Hun Sen, who handed power to his son after July’s election. The report describes how the COVID-19 pandemic fueled the growth of the industry in Southeast Asia. Many young professionals across the region were desperate for work — becoming prime targets for online recruiters promising fake jobs — while people across the world were bored and spending hours connected to the internet on their phones, computers or other devices. The pandemic also forced casinos across Asia to close, sending Chinese investors looking for new, and often illicit, business opportunities online and in places with limited regulation and legal risk, like Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, the report explains. “Faced with new operational realities, criminal gangs increasingly targeted migrant workers, who were stranded in these countries and were out of work due to border and business closures, to work in the scam centers,” it says. Cambodia’s Interior Ministry announced an aggressive campaign to confront the cyber scams in August 2022. FILE - Barbed wire fences are seen outside a Great Wall Park compound where Cambodian authorities said they had recovered evidence of human trafficking, kidnapping and torture during raids on suspected cybercrime compounds in the coastal city of Sihanoukville, September 21, 2022. Chou Bun Eng, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Interior and vice chair of the National Committee for Combating Human Trafficking, told VOA Khmer in September that authorities had since responded to more than a thousand requests for intervention and rescued more than 1,500 people. She dismissed the report’s claim that “credible estimates” have “indicated at least 100,000 people forcibly involved in online scams” in Cambodia. “We already know that Cambodia is not big, and for businesses and locations in the provinces, there are not many,” she said in an interview. “We ask, where are those people?” Chou Bun Eng added that the government was convening experts to come up with a more accurate estimate and would send a report back to the United Nations. The issue of cyber trafficking was raised during a meeting between new Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and Hun Manet in Phnom Penh last week. A social media post from Thailand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said the leaders discussed a range of security issues, including joint efforts to “crack down online scams.” Jason Tower, the Burma country director for the United States Institute of Peace, which monitors cyber trafficking across the region, said he was somewhat skeptical that 100,000 people had been trafficked into forced labor in Cambodia’s scam networks. But he said that figure may capture the total number of people involved in the industry in some capacity over a period of years. Still, he said the Cambodian government’s “pretty strong pushback” to the report was “unfortunate,” both for advocates and for other countries in Asia who want greater protections for their citizens in Cambodia, and more commitment to freeing those trapped by traffickers. “My understanding is there's still a lot of victims and that law enforcement in neighboring countries is still putting pressure on the Cambodian authorities about very specific victims that they're trying to recover and that there's a lot of foot dragging and that things just are not happening anywhere near quickly enough,” Tower told VOA Khmer. “So you know, the problems certainly have not gone away, and I think that a lot more could be done to send out a very strong message that simply there's no tolerance for this in the country, and I don't think we're anywhere near there yet.” The U.N. report says that as of July 2023, online scam centers were reportedly operating in at least eight Cambodian provinces: Phnom Penh, Kandal, Pursat, Koh Kong, Bavet, Preah Sihanouk, Oddar Meanchey and Svay Rieng. It also specifically named two special economic zones believed to be hosting cyber scam facilities, the Dara Sakor SEZ and Henge Thmorda SEZ. Dara Sakor’s primary developer is the Chinese-owned Union Development Group. Henge Thmorda appears to refer to the MDS Thmor Da SEZ, which has previously been linked to human trafficking and is owned by Cambodian tycoon Try Pheap. Jacob Sims, the regional director for the International Justice Mission in the Asia Pacific, said the organization has seen “commendable” improvements from the Cambodian government in its response to cyber trafficking. Among the signs of progress is opening a hotline to help victims seek help, and making greater efforts to identify victims, he said. And large cyber slavery compounds in Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh have been shut down, to some extent. “However, there is also significant evidence that many of these compounds simply relocated to new areas within Cambodia,” Jacob Sims said. “At a high level, accountability for compound owners and crime bosses is key. One compound may close, but another will likely open in its place as long as the risk to operating and facilitating this criminal industry remains low.” Sims said he thought the 100,000 figure “seems imminently plausible,” given public reports, witness testimonies, the size of the broader online gambling industry. FILE - Police officers from the Taiwan Criminal Investigation Bureau search the bodies of two suspect who were deported from Bangkok and believed to be involved in scam cases in Cambodia as they arrive back at the Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan, Aug. 18, 2022. Tower noted there’s also a growing financial pressure on Cambodia to address the problem. China has ramped up its efforts to warn citizens about the risks of being trafficking in Southeast Asia, leading to travel advisories and even a blockbuster movie about Chinese nationals lured into a scam compound through the promise of high-paying jobs. “So part of the strategy is to just terrify Chinese people, you know, such that nobody wants to go to Southeast Asia,” Sims said. This has posed a significant threat to Cambodia’s tourism industry, which is focused largely on Chinese visitors and has yet to fully recover from the global pandemic. Western countries are also paying more attention to the problem, with countries like the U.S. losing billions annually to online scams — as well as having nationals recruited into the cybercrime syndicates, said Tower. Both Sims and Tower were hopeful that the U.N. report would bring greater attention and resources to combating the trafficking rings. “I think that adding the human rights lens will probably get a lot more Western actors to look at these issues,” Tower said. “And it will add, I think, another layer to the response.” Sim Chansamnang in Phnom Penh contributed reporting https://www.voacambodia.com/a/un-spotlights-scale-of-cambodia-s-cyber-trafficking-industry/7297951.html

Singapore-listed food and beverage company ThaiBev, has revealed its investment plan of 7 billion baht to expand domestically and internationally. The expansion includes the construction of a new beverage factory in Cambodia, as well as logistics facilities, a biogas factory, and other strategic initiatives. ThaiBev aims to strengthen its brand and improve its competitive position in the industry. Acknowledging the rebound of the tourism and food and beverage industries, ThaiBev’s CEO, ThapanaSirivadhanabhakdi, stated that the company is ensuring sustainable growth through three strategic pillars: development, sustainability, and enablement. This includes diversifying its market presence, expanding its product portfolio, and meeting evolving consumer demands. ThaiBev plans to invest 4 billion baht in constructing a new beverage factory in Cambodia, which will be the country’s first brewery factory. The facility is expected to be completed within two years and will have a production capacity of 50 million hectoliters per year. This investment reflects the company’s confidence in the growth potential of the Cambodian market. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501371751/thaibev-plans-7-billion-baht-expansion-including-new-factory-in-cambodia/

The October 1 closure of Lucky Mall in Siem Reap signified farewell to the last vestiges of the retail boom that erupted in 2008 when a clutch of cash-registered Temples of Mammon thrust forth, all eager to profit from the tourism wealth flowing from the Temples of Angkor, a flow that was thought would never ebb– until it did. The retail rush began early in 2008 when the four-storey Angkor Trade Centre opened on the riverside with a batch of trendy stores alongside, such as Swensen’s and The Pizza Company. This was followed in August with the splashy opening of Lucky Mall, while simultaneously ground was being cleared for construction of another large Canadia Bank-financed mall, The Angkor Shopping Arcade, on National Road 6. Plus nearing completion was the construction of the supposed four-storey, 18-escalator, two-glass-encased-elevator, 430-store Royal Shopping Galleries. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501371460/lucky-mall-bust-bursts-retail-bubble/

Six people were killed, six were injured, 15,549 houses were inundated and 22,713 hectares of paddy fields were flooded from January till September. Flood waters laid to waste 4,000 hectares of the paddy fields. National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) spokesman Soth Kim Kolmony said yesterday that from January to September 25, 19 provinces and Phnom Penh were affected by floods. He said provinces hit by floods were Pursat, Siem Reap, Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Kratie, Stung Treng, Kampong Cham, Tboung Khmum, Kandal, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Speu, Takeo, Preah Sihanouk, Kampot, Koh Kong, Kep, and Oddar Meanchey. According to Kolmony, the floods this year affected 29,489 families living in 15,549 houses and 2,029 families were moved to safe grounds. Some 106 houses, he added, were destroyed. “This year’s floods also inundated 1,297 hectares of mixed crops and 22,713 hectares of paddy fields. Some 4,000 hectares of the paddy fields were destroyed. Six cattle were killed and 6,878 cattle had to be relocated because of the floods, he said. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501371469/flood-woes-continue-in-19-provinces/

Public outcry over proposed new taxes prompts an angry voicemail from the retired leader. After a public uproar – and apparent input from his father – new Prime Minister Hun Manet this week reversed a government plan to introduce new taxes and raise existing taxes. The announcement on Tuesday followed the release of a voicemail that former leader Hun Sen sent to government ministers about widespread criticism of the tax proposals. “For the tax issue, please take a look into it,” Hun Sen said in the voicemail, which was released earlier this week on Facebook. “Why is it exploding? We are not taking any action yet, but the talk is causing an outcry.” Hun Sen, 71, stepped down in August after leading the country since 1985. Hun Manet, his eldest son, was appointed prime minister on Aug. 22 – a move that had been planned for years. The voicemail shows that Hun Sen continues to control the government behind the scenes and remains a potent political force, said Seng Sary, a Cambodian political analyst granted asylum in Australia. Cambodia is attempting to recover from the economic damage brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused inflation, a decline in trade and increase in job losses in the vital garment sector. As a result of the downturn, the government’s General Department of Taxation reported that collections during the first eight months of 2023 were 21% lower than what was projected in the annual budget. ‘We have to be on top of the timing’ The department’s increased efforts at collecting taxes helped spark the recent outcry on social media, Seng Sary told Radio Free Asia. Hun Sen noted in the voicemail that the tax issue came up just as Hun Manet was settling into office and while neighboring Thailand has proposed debt forgiveness measures and other ways to help people deal with economic hardship. “Some problems, we have to be on top of the timing,” he said in the message to the ministers. “If we are not on top of the timing, we may go wrong. Please help with the direction of the government.” On Tuesday, Hun Manet spoke in front of 20,000 workers in Phnom Penh, telling them the government won’t be creating any new taxes or increasing the old ones. “We did not take it and we will not take it,” he said of a decision on taxes. “So be clear on this.” He noted that the government doesn’t currently levy taxes in some areas, such as farmland, agricultural materials and products, real estate worth less than 100 million riel (US$25,000) and inheritance. Details on future tax policies will be released in November, after the annual Government-Private Sector Forum in Phnom Penh, he said. The current tax payment procedures make it easier for corrupt tax officials to commit corruption and oppress taxpayers, Seng Sary said. “Hun Manet should announce the reform of how to collect taxes effectively and reduce corruption in the tax sector so the people can have a positive view on the government of Hun Manet,” he said. Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/hun-manet-taxes-10042023162542.html Copyright © 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.

Cambodia Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) has confirmed that 26 landmine casualties were reported over the past nine months, with four dead, 14 injured and eight crippled by the explosions. Ly Thuch, First-Vice President of the CMAA, said yesterday that the 23 explosions led to 26 victims. “In 2022, there were 28 explosions with 40 victims compared to the same period this year. The number of victims since January this year is a decrease of 35% compared to the same period last year. “We observed that out of 23 cases this year, 13 were mine accidents and 10 were explosive remnants of war (ERW),” Thuch said. He said the four provinces with the most victims were Banteay Meanchey, Oddar Meanchey, Battambang and Ratanakiri followed by Preah Vihear, Siem Reap, Tboung Khmum, Pursat, Kampong Thom, Kampong Chhnang, Kratie and Takeo. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501369989/four-dead-in-23-landmine-erw-cases-says-cmaa/

27 Filipino nationals have been rescued by the Anti-Trafficking Department as they were being transported from the Thai border at Oddar Meanchey Province to work in Koh Kong Province. Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department Forces in collaboration with the Anti-Gambling Department stated that the 27 victims of Human Trafficking has been subjected to passport confiscation and forced labor fraud at O’Smach Resort, Oddar Meanchey Province. On September 28, 2023, specialized forces found 3 Chinese and 1 Malaysian suspects as the masterminds of the operation, which was reportedly connected with cryptocurrency scam.The Department of Anti-Human Trafficking and Protection of Minors has coordinated with social officials to receive the 27 victims to provide social services, legal services and other necessary procedures. The suspects are being prosecuted by the Anti-Gambling Department. https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501369204/27-filipinos-rescued-3-chinese-1-malaysian-arrested-by-anti-trafficking-department/

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A court in Cambodia on Monday barred three environmental activists who are serving suspended prison sentences for their advocacy work from traveling to Sweden next month to receive the prestigious Right Livelihood Award. A copy of a letter from the Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s chief prosecutor, Chreung Khmao, said the trip by the members of the group Mother Nature Cambodia was “not necessary.” The letter, seen by The Associated Press, came in response to a travel request from the activists. Thon Ratha, 31, Phuong Keo Reaksmey, 22, and Long Khunthea, 25, asked for permission to make a Nov. 24- Dec, 1 trip to receive the award, which is sometimes characterized as the “Alternative Nobel.” read more https://www.thestar.com/news/world/asia/cambodian-court-bars-environmental-activists-from-traveling-to-sweden-to-receive-alternative-nobel/article_255f2dc2-3421-510a-827b-a2f5104f0372.html

A prominent Cambodian-American was transferred from a remote prison to one in the city a day after aid was resumed. The resumption of US$18 million in U.S. aid to Cambodia just two months after it was suspended in protest against the legitimacy of the country’s July 23 election does not mean the United States now recognizes the vote as fair, according to a spokesperson for the State Department. A spokesman for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party told The Khmer Times on Wednesday that the sudden unfreezing of the aid meant that the American government “has recognised the national election.” But that the reversal, which was revealed by Cambodia’s government after new Prime Minister Hun Manet met with Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland on Sept. 22, was not tied to election legitimacy, a State Department spokesperson told Radio Free Asia speaking on condition of anonymity under rules set by the State Department. “Of course we still have concerns about the elections, which we’ve conveyed clearly,” the spokesperson said in an email. “We decided to make this gesture for two reasons: first, because these programs benefit the Cambodian people; second, to encourage the new government to live up to its stated intentions to be more open and democratic and to work more closely with us on shared priorities,” they said. ‘Free and fair’ Last month, Manet met with Nuland on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, where he falsely told world leaders that the July 23 vote – the second in a row in which the country’s main opposition party was prevented from participating – was “free and fair” and “credible and just.” The CPP won 120 of 125 available seats at the election, after which former Prime Minister Hun Sen subsequently handed formal power over to Hun Manet, his son, after 38 years in power himself. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the day after the election that the aid cut was because “the elections themselves were neither free nor fair” and that it would last beyond just this year. “It’s a serious amount of money both this year, and in coming fiscal years,” Miller said at his regular press briefing on July 24. But some in the State Department now seemingly hold out hope the 45-year-old West Point graduate could usher in improved ties after more than a decade of tensions over Hun Sen’s usurpation of the country’s fledgling democracy and the rise of China as an ally. Business as usual Cambodia’s government, meanwhile, has shown little interest in change, and has appeared at pains to show it’s business as usual. Hun Sen penned a letter to Chinese Premier Li Qiang in late July saying that ties between the two countries would not change under his son, and Hun Manet made his overseas trip as prime minister to Beijing last month prior to the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Among the few positive steps in ties was the transfer of Cambodian-American lawyer Theary Seng – a prominent member of the country’s opposition jailed on treason charges – from a remote prison on the northern border with Thailand to one in Phnom Penh. The decision, revealed last week, was made on Sept. 23, the day after Hun Manet and Nuland’s meeting, according to Cambodian officials. Sophal Ear, author of Aid Dependence in Cambodia and an associate professor of global political economy at Arizona State University, said there were still open questions about the unfreezing of the aid just two months after it had been frozen due to a stage-managed election. “It’s disappointing to see the U.S. not explain transparently why the $18 million was released,” Ear told RFA. “Releasing it is up to the U.S., but this strategic ambiguity is sometimes not helpful.” https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/hun-manet-aid-10022023133445.html Copyright © 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian authorities had arrested 14,722 drug-related suspects, including 331 foreigners, during the first nine months of 2023, the country's Anti-Drug Department said in a report on Sunday. Some 51 percent of the suspects were drug traffickers, manufacturers and transporters, while the rest were drug users, the report said. "A total of 2.68 tonnes of illicit drugs and some 911 kilograms of ingredients were seized in the suspects' possession during the January-September period of 2023," the report said. Most of the seized drugs were ketamine, heroin, ecstasy, cocaine, crystal methamphetamine, methamphetamine pills, and cathinone. Compared to the same period last year, Cambodia saw a spike in drug arrests, but a decline in drug seizures, the report said, adding that the kingdom arrested 11,431 drug suspects, confiscating 6.25 tonnes of narcotics during the first nine months of 2022. The Southeast Asian country has no death sentence for drug traffickers. Under its law, someone found guilty of trafficking more than 80 grams of illicit drugs could be jailed for life. https://english.news.cn/20231001/d592d26f5a424ac9957821226f6b3201/c.html

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s decision to visit Cambodia this week is a measure of the solid relationship between the two countries. It is the first time that a newly elected Thai leader has chosen Cambodia for his first foreign trip, attendance at the UN General Assembly notwithstanding. The one-day visit, which came less than a month after assuming prime ministerial duties, was aimed at strengthening bilateral relations in all respects, including trade, investment, border area management and development, and the new economy. Government spokesman Chai Wacharonke described Srettha’s trip as the beginning of “a new era” in the relationship between the two countries, which share an 817km border. Their relationship has gone through many ups and downs, though, due to boundary disputes and overlapping claims. Their friendship has, however, been closer for the past several years and the personal rapport between the countries’ leaders has been amicable. Both sides have elevated their ties to a strategic partnership, according to Chai. In addition, as newly elected leaders, Srettha and Hun Manet had an opportunity to become acquainted. read more https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thai-cambodian-ties-entering-a-new-era/

Prime Minister Hun Manet has announced a raise in garment workers’ minimum wages for 2024. The PM announced the increase in wages for workers in the textile, garment, footwear and travel products and bags will be $4 more for 2024, which will increase the minimum wage of workers to a total of $204 dollars per month The Prime Minister confirmed through his official Facebook page that “A while ago, I received a report from HE Heng Sour, Minister of Labor and Vocational Training on the election results of the National Council for the Minimum Wage on three figures: $ 202, $ 204, and $ 213, of which $ 202 received 46 out of 51 votes and $ 213 received 5 out of 51 votes. According to the vote on each figure and according to the law on the minimum wage, the National Minimum Wage Council will set the figure of $ 202 as the minimum wage figure for 2024. I have been following this minimum wage discussion from the beginning. Helping to improve the living standards of the people, including the workers, is the highest priority of the Royal Government. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501368227/garment-workers-minimum-wages-raised-for-2024/

PHNOM PENH Cambodian investigative sources said Thursday that mobile phones seized by local authorities after they raided an apartment in Phnom Penh used as a base by over 20 Japanese nationals for alleged fraud were destroyed before the raid. The group's members, who have been detained by Cambodian authorities, are suspected of committing multiple cases of fraud in Japan from the location. Investigators from Japan have been sent to Cambodia and the suspects will likely be deported, according to the Japanese police. Cambodian authorities raided the apartment on Sept. 11 and confiscated dozens of mobile phones, as well as computers and documents that appear to be manuals for committing fraud, the sources said. About 20 of the phones have been broken, they said. The suspects said that they had been instructed to destroy the phones and documents if people other than the group's members sought to enter the apartment. There has been a series of cases involving Japanese scam groups using locations in Southeast Asian countries as hideouts. In April, Cambodian authorities deported 19 Japanese nationals over their alleged involvement in phone scams, who were arrested once they were returned to Japan. read more https://japantoday.com/category/crime/japanese-detained-in-cambodia-over-fraud-destroyed-phones-sources

Police in Phnom Penh arrested an elderly Swiss national yesterday accused of sexually abusing three Cambodian boys and sent him to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for questioning. Lieutenant Colonel Keo Kimheng, Deputy Chief of Municipal Anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection office in Phnom Penh, said yesterday that the suspect was arrested on Tuesday in Prek Leap commune, Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changvar district. Lt Col Kimheng said that according to the police, in June this year the suspect, who is a Swiss tourist, gave $150 to a poor Cambodian woman, the mother of the three boys, living in Kork Klaing village, Prek Leap commune, to have sex with them. The suspect would take the young boys to his rental room in Chroy Changvar district three to four times a month where he had sex with them, he said. After engaging in immoral liaisons with the young children, he would give them a small amount of money, buy them food and other items, he said. The suspect was arrested on Tuesday morning after he went to meet the three young boys in Kork Klaing village in order to have sex with them again, Lt Col Kimheng said. The police were following his activities and observed that he always took boys, aged 10 to 14, for walks around the city, he said. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501368373/elderly-man-arrested-for-abusing-3-boys/

Theary Seng is serving a 6-year sentence for treason. Cambodian authorities have transferred an outspoken Cambodian-American lawyer and human rights defender from a remote jail to the country’s largest prison on the outskirts of the capital Phnom Penh, a Prison Department official said Friday. Theary Seng, a 52-year-old American citizen, has been serving a six-year sentence in Preah Vihear Prison, in the north, since June 2022, when she was convicted treason, stemming from her failed efforts in 2019 to bring about the return to Cambodia of political opposition leader Sam Rainsy. The Ministry of Interior transferred her to Prey Sar II Prison, which houses detained women, in the capital on Sept. 23, said Prison Department spokesman Nuth Savna. “There is no reason for the transfer,” he told Radio Free Asia. “It was the decision of the ministry’s leadership.” Theary Seng’s lawyer and supporting NGOs requested her transfer because her appeal case is being tried in the capital. Sam Chamroeun, her attorney, said the transfer will enable Theary Seng to work with her defense team and to meet with her family in Phnom Penh. Theary Seng was one of many casualties of former Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government ahead of a July 23 general election that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party won in a landslide. But Western governments and opposition activists deemed it a sham because officials prevented the main opposition Candlelight Party from participating on a technicality. In the months leading up to the election, Hun Sen used a combination of legal action, threats, harassment and arrests to target the political opposition, activists, independent media and civil society groups. People wait at an entrance to Prey Sar Prison on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in an undated file photo. Credit: RFA/Uon Chhin Though Sam Chamroeun filed an appeal against the guilty verdict handed down by a court in the Phnom Penh verdict, the Appeals Court has not yet scheduled a hearing. He said that he will meet his client soon to discuss further steps. “I received two statements from the Prison Department to meet with Theary Seng, so there will be no obstacle for a meeting between client and lawyer because she is nearby,” he said. Hunger strike After her arrest, authorities sent the activist from Phnom Penh Prison to Preah Vihear on June 15 to ensure public security and order, according to the Prison Department. While in Preah Vihear Prison, Theary Seng went on a 10-day hunger strike five days after the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a judgment calling her detention “arbitrary, politically motivated, and in violation of international law.” Jared Genser, Theary Seng’s pro bono international human rights lawyer, told RFA on Wednesday that he will use the working group’s report to build momentum for her case. He will also push for the United States to designate her case as “wrongfully detained” under the Levinson Act, a 2020 law that would allow sanctions to be imposed on individuals responsible for holding U.S. nationals hostage. Humanitarian groups said that the transfer was meant to politically persecute her since her case is being handled by the Phnom Penh court. Soeung Sengkaruna, a spokesman for the rights group Adhoc, urged Cambodia’s judiciary to speed up Theary Seng’s appeal process so she can receive justice because she did not commit a crime. “We haven’t seen the new government improve freedom spaces yet,” he said, referring to the government of Prime Minister Hun Manet, Hun Sen’s son who came to power following the July election, won by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party in a landslide. “We will continue to monitor the situation and hope that Theary Seng’s case is a start for resuming freedom and political space,” Soeung Sengkaruna said, referring to the government’s illiberal rule and rights violations. Translated by Yun Samean for RFA Khmer. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/theary-seng-09292023161027.html Copyright © 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.

Responding to questions about the living conditions of the people, Prime Minister Hun Manet stated that through the 39-month programme to support poor and vulnerable families, the Royal Government had spent a total of 4,805,801,699,000 riels (or $1,172,146,756; that is, nearly $1.200 billion). According to the statement on the official Facebook page of Prime Minister Hun Manet on September 29, “Some people have questioned how the Royal Government of Cambodia has taken into account the lives of people who have a difficult life.” In response to this question, the premier presented as an example the daily report that the Minister of Social Affairs, Veterans, and Youth Rehabilitation sent to him for September 28, 2023. According to the study, the government has released monetary data to assist poor and vulnerable people, pregnant women and children under the age of two, and vulnerable families in dealing with inflationary pressures through three cash subsidies: 1. Supporting Poor and Vulnerable Families during COVID-19, the programme started on June 24, 2020, and has been running for 39 months. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501368830/royal-government-released-more-than-1200-billion-to-help-the-poor-and-vulnerable-in-39-months/

The Prime Minister of Cambodia, Dr. Hun Manet, received Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin who is on an official visit to Cambodia. Thavisin arrived in Cambodia this morning, September 28, 2023, for a full-day official visit. The visit is at the invitation of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet. A statement from the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that during his visit to Cambodia, the Prime Minister of Thailand will lay a wreath at the Independence Monument and pay tribute to His Majesty King Norodom Sihanouk, the former King of the Kingdom of Cambodia, at the Royal Palace. The two Prime Ministers will hold bilateral meetings aimed at deepening the direction of action to further deepen and expand cooperation in all areas of mutual benefit within the bilateral and multilateral frameworks. The two sides will also exchange views on regional and international issues of common interest and concern. In addition, the two leaders will hand over the “Centre for Rehabilitation and Rehabilitation for Victims of Trafficking in Persons and Other Vulnerable Groups” located in Poipet, an initiative of bilateral cooperation. Srettha Thavisin will pay a courtesy call on Say Chhum, Acting Head of State and President of the Senate; Hun Sen, Chairman of the King’s Personal Advisory Council; and Khuon Sudary, President of the National Assembly. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s first official visit to Cambodia will further strengthen the traditional ties and promote multifaceted cooperation between the two countries in the spirit of “Strengthening Partnership for Peace and Prosperity”, which provides mutual benefits for the people of the two countries and contributes to the promotion of peace, stability, and prosperity in ASEAN and the international community. https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501368176/pm-hun-manet-receives-thai-pm-during-his-official-visit-to-cambodia/

The Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has issued a statement regarding the construction of a temple in Thailand – that social media commentators have blasted as an ‘Angkor copy’ The temple is located in Borei Rom Province, Thailand and have recently inspired a resurgence in critical comments from Cambodian social media denizens – including a comment from Tycoon Chea Tong Hour, who stated “???? Does the ministry know how to be brainwashed? People criticize all over the country and why are they silent ??? His Excellency, Excellency, Businessmen, famous stars, journalists and lotions sellers, why are you all silent? Why don’t you get hurt, don’t you protest or be strong, but you can only separate about useless things. What is the meaning of having money and wealth for being abused on our head as Khmer forever like this? Angkor Wat temple of Khmer was stolen and placed on Thailand under the word “Builder” !!! If the Ministry of Culture works as hard as the Ministry of Taxation, how good it is. In our country, the tourism sector is declining. Suddenly, foreigners steal the temple of the Khmer flag and take no action. I’m very disappointed as a Khmer citizen, who live with cowards, fearful, who dare not to face protest on the matter, only to protect their national interests in the case of the construction of a temple at Wat Phu Man Fa in Borei Rom Province, Thailand.” read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501367338/ministry-of-culture-confirms-action-on-angkor-replica-temple-construction-in-thailand/