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Ten former Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) activists have been released from prison after releasing a video clip and sending a handwritten apology to Prime Minister Hun Sen in early May. On May 6, Kong Mas and nine other former CNRP activists wrote a letter to the Premier requesting their release from jail. Mas’s letters stated that after serving five years in prison, he realised his guilt and recognised that he had been conned by the opposition leader’s propaganda at the time. The ten activists added that they regretted being engaged in the ‘ideological actions’ of the CNRP leader and asked for Mr Hun Sen to assist in obtaining a pardon and release them on bail. The activists were jailed for conspiracy to incite social unrest and support the return of former CNRP President Sam Rainsy to Cambodia in 2019. The opposition activists are Mas, Vorn Savann, Thuy Vy, Chhun Bunchat, U Rim, Chan Sarath, Nop Von, Peng Sokha, Vorn Leng and San Saury. On May 6, Mas, a former CNRP member in Svay Rieng province, was pardoned by a royal decree, but nine other members have not yet been pardoned. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501290267/former-cnrp-activists-released-from-prison-after-apologising-to-pm/

PHNOM PENH: Everyone in Phnom Penh, it seems, wants a selfie with Bou Samnang. The Cambodian runner has become a star of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games since her gritty performance in the 5,000m event. Although she came last, her determination to finish the race under torrential rain charmed the country and even won plaudits from Prime Minister Hun Sen. Videos of her crying after crossing the line have gone viral. "I can say now I'm famous," the 20-year-old said at the Morodok Techo Stadium, the scene of her unlikely rise to prominence, where passers-by were lining up for photos with her. "Although I lost, they support me from the bottom of their hearts." This week's race was not the first time Bou Samnang has had to show determination, but is the latest step on an athletics journey that started on ill-equipped dirt tracks and has defied health problems and bereavement. "I knew I was losing. The rain was so heavy," said the Phnom Penh native, whose mother is a housewife and whose father died in an accident a few years ago. read more https://www.channelnewsasia.com/sport/cambodia-sea-games-runner-bou-samnang-3486461

Heritage experts at the Ministry of Environment said in an online lecture yesterday that they had unearthed fossils of marine flora and fauna in Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Stung Treng, Battambang, Oddar Meanchey, Banteay Meanchey and Preah Vihear provinces. Archaeologist Lim Vanchan, director of the Cultural Heritage Office of the Ministry of Environment’s Department of Heritage, said the fossils provide information about life forms and their way of life. He said the study of fossils, or paleontology, is closely related to other scientific areas such as archaeology, biology and geology. However, Cambodia has only limited experience in this scientific area with the Ministry of Environment starting to research fossils in 2019. Prior to the official start of the search for fossils, a research team led by Vanchan discovered fossils of sea shells in Koh Tay in Preah Vihear province in 2017. The Ministry of Environment has since officially launched the paleontology programme with government support. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501287424/marine-plant-fossils-discovered-across-cambodia/

Candlelight Party’s Rong Chhun would have gone head-to-head with Prime Minister Hun Sen. Cambodia’s election committee on Tuesday rejected a top candidate from the country’s main opposition party and said the party must correct several things before its candidates can be allowed to run in the July 23 parliamentary elections. The decision comes a day after Monday’s deadline for parties to submit applications to participate in the vote that Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party is widely expected to win. The CPP already controls all 125 seats in the National Assembly – a stranglehold that the opposition Candlelight Party hopes to crack at least a bit. But authorities are making it difficult for the Candlelight Party to run for the election. The National Election Committee has not approved its application to field candidates in July. On Tuesday, Rong Chhun, the party’s vice president and a prominent labor activist who joined the Candlelight Party in January, was barred from being listed as the party’s top candidate in Kandal province due to a prior conviction, said the committee’s secretary general, Tep Nytha. In August 2021, Rong Chhun was sentenced to two years in prison for criticizing the government’s failure to address disputes over Cambodia’s shared border with Vietnam. He was later ordered to serve for 15 months, with the remainder of the sentence suspended with a three-year probation. “He was convicted and has not been rehabilitated,” Tep Nytha wrote in a statement. Versus Hun Sen Rong Chhun would have been on the ballot opposite Hun Sen, who is running as the CPP’s top candidate in Kandal, which surrounds the capital of Phnom Penh. Rong Chhun said he was allowed to vote in last year’s commune elections. If that wasn’t a probation violation, then running as a candidate this year also shouldn’t be a problem, he told Radio Free Asia. The party will have no option but to remove him from its candidate list, said spokesman Kim Sour Phirith. “It is sad that the NEC won’t allow him to run,” he said. “Election law says Rong Chhun can run, but this was just an excuse.” The Candlelight Party submitted its application to the election commission on Saturday after the Ministry of Interior issued a statement recognizing the party. The party had lost its original statement from the ministry during a 2017 raid on the offices of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, which at the time was the country’s leading opposition party before it was shut down by the Supreme Court. The party had received 44 percent of the votes in the 2013 general election, but was unable to run in the 2018 elections. The election commission still needs a copy of the Ministry of Interior's statement and has asked that the party also provide a copy of the receipt showing it paid 15 million riel (about US$3,600) to register. Another key opposition figure, Sam Rainsy, who lives in self-imposed exile in France, urged the international community not to recognize the results of the July 23 election, which he said would be a sham. This year’s election is “shaping up along the usual lines” compared to 2018, the Sam Rainsy wrote in an op-ed for Nikkei Asia on Tuesday. “There will not be any surprises when the votes are counted,” he wrote. “The presence of a small symbolic opposition allows Hun Sen to present a facade of democracy to dampen international criticism.” Translated by Samean Yun. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/candlelight-candidate-ballot-05092023133447.html Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.

Cambodia has hosted its first international kite flying festival “SkyFest” in the southwester coastal city of Sihanoukville, aiming to preserve traditional culture and inspire the younger generation to pursue their dreams. Under the slogan of “Khmers can fly”, the event held on Saturday was presided over by senior minister Ly Thuch, first vice president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA). Thuch said the Southeast Asian country was honoured to host kite enthusiasts from nine different countries, saying that each had brought their unique talents and contributions to this extraordinary event. “SkyFest is not only a celebration of our cultural heritage but also an opportunity to learn from each other and build lasting relationships,” he told Xinhua on Sunday. “The theme ‘Khmers Can Fly’ reflects not only the grace of our kites soaring high above us but also the aspirations and dreams of the Cambodian people as we continue to make strides towards a brighter future,” Thuch said. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501286340/cambodia-organizes-intl-kite-flying-festival-in-coastal-city/

The Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Interior on Saturday afternoon, May 6, 2023, presented two suspects in public They were wanted in connection with a brutal attack with a handgun and a sharp knife on New Zealander Geoffrey Brent McComb on April 29, 2023 at the village of Kbal Damrey, Mak Prang commune Teuk Chhouk district, Kampot province. The attack took place on April 29, 2023, at 22:20. The victim had visited Kampot City with his girlfriend and then went home. A group of suspects locked the victim’s house and entered the house to demand money, but the victim refused to pay and argued. At that time, the suspects pulled out a pistol and shot the victim in the thigh, and then fled On May 4, 2023, at 14:12, the Criminal Police Department, in cooperation with the Battambang Provincial Police, Pursat Provincial Police and Kampot Provincial Police, arrested two suspects. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501285880/2-arrested-for-attempted-murder-of-new-zealander/

Footage showing a senior Cambodian official communicating with smugglers is part of U.S. case against him Hidden camera footage has emerged showing what U.S. prosecutors say is clear involvement by a senior Cambodian official in running a research monkey smuggling operation. In the video, whose existence was first reported by RFA last year, former Cambodian Department of Wildlife and Biodiversity head Kry Masphal is seen facilitating an illicit drop-off of long-tailed macaques at a breeding facility in northern Cambodia, even offering advice on how to move the endangered species more efficiently. “Why don’t you make another road?” Kry is seen asking a worker. “If you make another road, this means [it’s] more safe for your smuggling.” The footage was filmed in 2019 by a confidential informant for U.S. investigators and submitted by prosecutors as evidence against Kry in a high-profile U.S. government smuggling case against him and other conspirators. It was obtained from the court by animal rights group PETA, which shared it with RFA. In aviator sunglasses and a buttoned-down blue checkered shirt, Kry carries himself in the video with a swagger a world apart from the nervous figure who sat in a Miami court two weeks ago listening to his lawyers fight to exclude the contents of his mobile phone from his upcoming trial. Kry was director of Wildlife and Biodiversity in Cambodia’s Forestry Administration at the time of his arrest at New York’s JFK airport in November 2022, where he was transiting on his way to a conference in Panama on the protection of endangered species. He has been charged with being party to a plot to launder wild-caught long-tailed macaques - a primate prized for medical research - from the jungles of Cambodia and Thailand into U.S. research laboratories. In part to conserve dwindling wild populations, but also to preserve the integrity of scientific findings, only captive-bred monkeys can be used in medical experiments. Also accused are Kry’s boss, Forestry Administration Director General Keo Omaliss and six individuals involved in the management of the Chinese-owned Vanny Group’s monkey farms in Cambodia. Kry has pleaded not guilty, while the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, which oversees the Forestry Administration, and the Vanny Group have both denied any improper activity took place. However, the video that has emerged among a mountainous pile of evidence against Kry contains damning proof of his involvement and acknowledges the illegal nature of the operation. Kry is seen helping to offload crates of monkeys from the back of a pickup truck at what prosecutors say is Vanny Group’s monkey farm in Pursat province. The person working with him asks how many monkeys Kry has brought with him “this time.” “Twenty-four,” Kry replies. “We cannot take more because many observers, we have to do [it] very quick and go very fast.” In a last-ditch attempt to avoid a trial, Kry’s lawyers – whose firm has been a registered lobbyist for the Cambodian government since January 2022 – have pushed for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that he was acting on orders from his government. For conservationists, the stratagem was a confirmation of their worst fears: that the poaching and laundering of wild-caught macaques from Cambodia was not the behavior of a few rotten apples but the de facto policy of the government. “This means that there is no safe, legitimate and legal supply of monkeys,” Lisa Jones-Engel, a primatologist with PETA, told RFA. “When you have somebody like Kry involved, working so out in the open, saying, ‘This is great for our smuggling.’ From a government official who signs on the dotted line?” “Kry is just another run-of-the-mill monkey juggler, there was nothing that distinguished him from every other person on that video,” she added. An RFA investigation last month showed the deep penetration of the primate industry into Cambodia’s ruling elite, from the immediate family of Prime Minister Hun Sen down through the relevant regulatory and enforcement bodies that are supposed to be policing the trade. Agriculture Minister Dith Tina did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why a public official might need to hide their activities from observers. Vanny has denied the U.S. prosecutors’ central allegation that wild monkeys were laundered through its farm and passed off as captive bred ones for export. However, in conversation with RFA earlier this year an employee at the farm said that in 2022 the practice became almost routine as demand, amped up by spiking prices, vastly outstripped legitimate supply. “There weren’t enough monkeys before because demand was so high, so we bought them from a nearby mountain,” the person said, not wanting to be identified for fear of retaliation. “If they had good eyes, a good body, good fur, then we exported them,” they added. “We have a lab to weigh them and do blood tests to see if they have diseases or not.” The unsealing of the indictment against Kry, Keo and Vanny’s management last November halted exports from the farm, the employee said. Prior to that, they added, the farm’s outbound shipments in 2022 regularly included between 100 and 200 “mountain monkeys,” in clear violation of international laws and regulations governing trade in the species. The employee was insistent that this was something that only took place in 2022. However, the U.S. prosecutors’ case alleges illicit activity to have taken place between December 2017 and January 2022. Kry’s case is due to go to trial in Miami in June. Edited by Boer Deng. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/cambodia-monkey-05052023165359.html Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia — Cambodia kicked off its first-ever hosting of the Southeast Asian Games on Friday, in a historical ballyhoo of singing, dancing, flag-waving and fireworks. The evening's festivities welcomed athletes from across the region to the biennial multi-sport event while trumpeting the country's rich history and thanking its long-ruling leader for recent modernization. Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party is keen to build excitement and patriotic fervor around the SEA Games, with a successful event and medals haul likely to boost national sentiment two months ahead of parliamentary elections, which the CPP will almost certainly win. "For me, this event is very wonderful. We have been waiting for this for 64 years," said Seng Meng Hong, a 24-year-old attendee. The SEA Games were first held in Bangkok in 1959. "I'm so happy that the government could organize such an event so the Cambodian people can come and support the national athletes," Meng Hong added. Tickets to the Games have been given away for free — and demand has been high. Inside the Morodok Techo National Stadium on Friday, a clear and balmy evening, all of the venue's 60,000 seats were packed. Cambodian dancers perform during the opening ceremony of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Morodok Techo National Stadium outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia, May 5, 2023. Built and paid for by China, the stadium looms over the open, wooded parts of Phnom Penh's far outskirts like a crash-landed spaceship. But its two dramatically cresting pylons also evoke the keel and stern of Chinese trading junks that plied the capital city's waterways hundreds of years ago. Almost all in attendance wafted themselves with handheld fans or brandished Cambodian flags — when not participating in an impeccably observed stadium wave. All stood for the national anthem when soldiers in ceremonial uniform performed a flag-raising ceremony. The main production — a riot of golden finery, elegant costumes and spear-toting warriors — told the story of the kingdom, from its founding myths through the Angkor period. Athletes demonstrated Kun Bokator, the national martial art making its debut at this year's Games. Skipping ahead to mention a bleaker period, a speaker noted only the end of "the dark era of the genocidal Pol Pot" in 1978 and thanked Cambodian leaders since then for "prosperity and peace." The most senior of those leaders were in attendance. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, center right, waves to the crowd as he presides over the opening ceremony of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Morodok Techo National Stadium outside Phnom Penh Cambodia, May 5, 2023. Along with dignitaries including the prime minister of Vietnam and the president of Laos, Hun Sen entered the stadium to great applause. The prime minister spoke briefly, expressing his gratitude for peace in the country under his leadership and declaring the opening of the Games. Critics say Hun Sen, one of the world's longest-ruling leaders, has wound back democratic freedoms in the country as he prepares for the general election in July and has used the courts to stifle opposition. Several events of the SEA Games have already been played, and the hosts are top of the medals table for now with five golds. Events kick into full gear Saturday, with the Games running to May 17, before the Para Games in early June. https://www.voanews.com/a/flags-fireworks-as-cambodia-kicks-off-sea-games-/7081009.html

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Four Cambodian prospectors who were digging for gold in the central province of Kampong Thom were killed when earth collapsed into the pit where they were mining, a government official and a fellow villager said Friday. Information Minister Khieu Kanharith on his Facebook page quoted reports from a local official saying the four men who died had been hired by a couple who own the mine in the rural jungle village of Snong An. The accident occurred Thursday morning as the men were digging, said Ven Srey Tith, a villager living near the site. Speaking by phone from her home, she said the pit was only a little more than two meters (six feet) deep, but mounds of excavated earth collapsed into it without warning and no one was nearby to see the men’s plight. read more https://apnews.com/article/cambodia-gold-mine-accident-c25f8683bf851ce7c3d36e6ab3d55291

Cambodia has agreed to resume international adoptions between Italy after the two countries temporarily suspended the process due to legal and technical issues. The agreement came after Minister of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation Vong Sauth met with Vincenzo Starita, Vice-President of Italy’s Commission for Intercountry Adoptions, at the ministry on Wednesday. After the law was drafted, the government announced the resumption of the adoption process, but it was interrupted due to the spread of COVID-19 in Cambodia, as well as in Italy and other countries, Sauth said. “Italy has provided training on adoption procedures, legal training to protect victims and other relevant rights to ensure that adoption is in line with international law to avoid trafficking,” he said. In addition to training and coaching, the Italian side also has its own agency to conduct adoptions and to cooperate with the relevant ministries and institutions to re-commence the adoption procedure, the minister added. Sauth also urged relevant institutions and officials to continue to share and exchange ideas with each other. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501284813/cambodia-agrees-to-resume-child-adoptions-with-italy/

Dissidents typically try to paint Hun Sen as unpatriotic, expert says Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced that he – and not Cambodia’s king – would preside over Friday’s opening ceremony of the Southeast Asian Games, provoking criticism from exiled dissidents who say he is disrespecting the monarchy. Cambodia is hosting the Southeast Asian region's premier sporting event for the first time. The May 5-17 games will include 11 nations in the region competing in 36 events, and the country has built a new Chinese-funded 60,000 seat stadium for the occasion. In host countries, including monarchies, the sitting head of state is usually given the honor of declaring the start of the games at the opening ceremony. Though King Norodom Sihamoni is the official head of state in Cambodia, he rarely exercises his limited powers granted by the constitution and tries to avoid getting involved in politics. Hun Sen, 70, has ruled Cambodia since 1985, and is believed to be manipulating the government and the country’s laws in an attempt to pass his role as leader to his son Hun Manet before retiring. The country is scheduled to hold national elections in July that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party is widely expected to win. At the groundbreaking ceremony for the Sihanoukville container terminal on Monday, Hun Sen mocked his detractors. "You should know well, if you do not know well, don’t act like you are so wise and do not be arrogant and incite conflict between the king and the prime minister,” he said. “The king does not take the role of prime minister, and the prime minister does not take on the role of the king, just as [the king] carried the torch before the SEA Games while the prime minister walked along with him,” he said. Visitors take photos in front of the logo of the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games - the first time the regional multi-sport tournament will be hosted in Cambodia, in front of the Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, May 2, 2023. Credit: Reuters Finland-based political analyst Kim Sok told Radio Free Asia that Hun Sen’s slight was destroying the achievements of the king, the former king and the ancestors of the Khmer people. “This is not only a violation of the role of the king, but a betrayal of the throne and the king, not only in front of the Cambodian people, but in front of international guests around the world," he said. Driving a wedge Hun Sen’s critics are trying to discredit him by trying to show that there’s a split between the prime minister and monarchy, said David Hutt, a journalist and researcher for the Central European Institute of Asian Studies. “It’s a way for anti-CPP critics to try to paint Hun Sen as unpatriotic, given that he taints most opponents as traitors,” said Hutt. “They probably also reckon it might turn some ordinary Cambodians against the ruling party. But the monarchy has been a political football for some time.” Tensions between Hun Sen and the royal house arise because of the monarchy’s protections, he said. “After all, the monarchy is the only institution left in Cambodia that [Hun Sen’s] ruling party cannot completely dominate,” said Hutt. “Maybe Hun Sen has long thought it may become a rival institution, although that’s less so with King Norodom Sihamoni compared to his father.” Hutt said that Hun Sen sees himself as a monarch, as he is preparing a dynastic succession of the prime ministership to his son. But Kim Sok denied that he and other critics only want to drive a wedge between the king and the prime minister, and compared the treatment of the monarchy with other neighboring monarchies. "In Thailand, when there are big sports events, both national and international, before the athletes enter the arena, they prepare the king's portrait for the athletes to respect him before entering the arena,” Kim Sok said. “But in the Kingdom of Cambodia, we have not seen such preparations yet.” Cambodian Buddhist monk and activist Ven. Bor Bet [right], who fled to Switzerland, says Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen does not respect King Sihamoni. Credit: Bor Bet Hun Sen tends to get angry whenever his critics call him out on his disrespect, Bangkok-based social development researcher Seng Sary said. "The prime minister seems to feel uncomfortable when he is compared to the king, who is protected by the constitution,” said Seng Sary. “The monarchy is a supreme institution that cannot be violated, but the prime minister is only the chairman of the executive branch." Buddhist honors Meanwhile, a Thailand-based international Buddhist organization has granted Hun Sen the honorary title “Patron of the World,” and made his son Hun Manet an honorary “senior advisor,” confusing some members of the organization. The Venerable Buth Buntenh, who lives in exile in Massachusetts, said the Cambodian leader does not deserve the title and he does not understand why the organization gave it to him. “Hun Sen has committed the highest immoral things in Cambodian society,” the monk said, adding that under Hun Sen’s rule, monks have lived in repressive conditions that rival the time when the country was ruled by Pol Pot’s regime, during which the Khmer Rouge defrocked and killed them. “But now, under the rule of Hun Sen, monks are defrocked and put in jail. Or monks are shot dead by unidentified gunmen.” said Buth Buntenh.” So, the Khmer Rouge regime and Hun Sen are the same in terms of persecution of the Buddhists.” Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/king-05042023122856.html Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.

Cambodia Angkor Air announced the launch of a new direct flight connecting Siem Reap and Vientiane, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Laos. The flight is expected to boost the tourism potential of both countries, the airline said in a release. The flight using an Airbus-A321 aircraft is operated once per week, Monday, and is expected to increase the number of flights. Flight K6 908 will depart from Siem Reap International Airport at 6 am and land at Vientiane’s Watey International Airport at 7:05 am. The return flight K6 909 is at 7:50 am, and its arrival time at Siem Reap is 9 am. Cambodia Angkor Air said that the new flight is committed to providing excellent services to tourists to destinations in the shortest possible time. “Travelling to these two rich historic sites is an adventurous tourist’s dream come true about the culture, wonders and natural treasures there. Thus, the new flight will attract many tourists and other travellers, which may contribute to the tourism and economic development of the two countries,” the airline said in a release. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501283283/siem-reap-vientiane-direct-flights-to-revive-tourism/

Preah Vihear provincial authorities discovered remnants of an ancient sandstone temple at Kulen Tboung commune in Kulen district yesterday. Called Neang Ngor, the abandoned temple is located three kilometres away from Ba Taing temple in Kulen Tboung village. Nov Chankong, director of Preah Vihear provincial Department of Culture and Fine arts, said yesterday that they found the abandoned temple. “Experts concerned are preparing to study about the architectural style and age of the temple. Now it is difficult to guess how old it is, or when it was built, or for what purpose it was built,” Chankong said. “The people of Kulen Tboung village are familiar with the temple, but they didn’t pay attention to it until Preah Vihear authorities found it,” said Um Bo, a temple guard in Srayong commune. He added that Srayong is 20 kilometres away from Kulen Tboung commune where the new temple has been found. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501284085/remnants-of-temple-made-of-sandstone-found-in-preah-vihear/

Multi-sport event begins on Friday with parade through 60,000-seat Morodok Techo National Stadium, which China built for US$160 million With the Asian Games later this year and the Paris Olympics in 2024, athletes are looking beyond making a mark regionally Cambodia will welcome thousands of athletes from across the region when the Southeast Asian Games begin on Friday with an opening ceremony at a new stadium built and paid for by China. The capital Phnom Penh will stage the 32nd edition of the biennial SEA Games, the first time Cambodia plays host. More than 11,000 athletes, coaches and delegates from 10 other countries will descend on the country for the Games, which run until May 17. Regional glory is up for grabs but competitors will also have one eye on the Asian Games in China later this year and the 2024 Paris Olympics. Southeast Asia’s finest will take part in a host of competitions including athletics, swimming, badminton and football, as well as more obscure sports such as Kun Bokator, an ancient Cambodian martial art. read more https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3219232/cambodia-poised-host-southeast-asian-games-competitors-keeping-one-eye-hangzhou-event-later-year

Thank you. We'll go to CW ASAP to get the answer from the officers.

Thank you to be honest and clever.

Please study this photo. We see a first and short visa extension then another for one year. From when should we count to determine the day to make the first 90-day reporting. February 1 or February 23 ? First is the "under consideration stamp". Then, we have the final stamp. THANK YOU

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA — Five years ago, Chinese investors began turning Sihanoukville, a sleepy coastal city with pristine beaches, into a gambling mecca rivaling Macao and Las Vegas, but that ended with a ban on online gambling and the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 200,000 Chinese workers had to return home. Casinos closed and partially built skyscrapers, resorts and condominium projects were left abandoned. One pro-government media outlet described the remaining skyline as “a stark reminder of botched investments, mostly by Chinese nationals.” Housing has slumped by as much as 90% in recent years according to the Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance. Chantha Lach, like many small private investors, told VOA he was hoping for better times and foreign investment. “Many Cambodians want the Chinese investor to return because the property prices are dreadful, and we want the Chinese businesspeople to return to help the market to recover,” he said. In response, Cambodia is drawing up an action plan to clean up more than 1,100 incomplete buildings in Sihanoukville. Suggestions include tripling the local population to 1 million with visa-friendly regimes for foreigners and tax breaks for Cambodia’s expanding middle class. Authorities are also considering a 2026 deadline for developers, ordering them to either tear down or complete buildings still under construction. “One of the biggest challenges is to ensure that these half-completed projects, which are dotted around Sihanoukville city, are ready for construction,” said David Totten, managing director of the investment company Emerging Markets Consulting in Phnom Penh. “So there needs to be a process of validating that. In some cases that might involve removing the existing construction, starting over from scratch,” he said. Totten also said about 50% of the incomplete buildings left suspended or abandoned have created legal issues regarding ownership and responsibilities. “A large proportion of those, ownership may be in doubt, legal entities that are the beneficial owners of those projects may no longer exist or be relatively inactive,” he said. “There will be a lot of challenges therefore in claiming those properties from previous owners.” Investors are trickling back A substantial Chinese-funded upgrade of the controversial Ream Naval base, about 30 kilometers east of Sihanoukville, is also under way. The United States is concerned the base could extend China’s military presence in Southeast Asia, where Beijing is increasingly assertive over its contested claims to the South China Sea. Washington said Ream will be China’s second foreign naval base, after Djibouti. However, Beijing and Phnom Penh have dismissed those concerns, saying it is not a Chinese base. Cambodia said the base’s facilities will be open for many nations. Not far from Ream, construction of a new tourist development, known as the Bay of Lights, is being built on 934 hectares of land reclaimed from the sea by Canopy Sands Development, led by Chinese businessman Chen Zhi. The project is expected to be completed by 2028. However, Harrison White, editor of the Cambodia Investment Review news outlet, said much more is planned for the area and further construction could last until 2040. “The project’s going to be bringing a very large amount of investment, approximately $16 billion, could even be more,” he said. “As the project goes along, we’re expecting [the] population to grow to 160,000, as well as 330,000 jobs, as well as many more, maybe even 3 million more tourists that are going to visit the region,” he added. Cambodia wants economic growth to return to pre-pandemic levels, buoyed by Chinese investors and tourists, which, according to the Tourism Ministry topped 2.36 million visitors in 2019 and generated about $1.8 billion in revenue. The ministry also said Chinese investment in tourism-related sectors accounted for more than 50% of total foreign direct investment and there has been speculation that Chinese people will be allowed to emigrate and work there. Some projects, like the Chinese-funded $2.5 billion expressway linking Phnom Penh with Sihanoukville, have been finished. Another expressway will be built by China Road and Bridge Construction from the capital to the Vietnamese border. There are multi-billion-dollar plans to link the Thai and Vietnamese borders and the south coast through a network of high-speed railways. Most will be built by Chinese investors and fit neatly within Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, which is reemerging in a post-pandemic world. “Cambodia is very much in need of appealing to foreign buyers. The country itself, whilst [having a population of] only 17 million, is sitting in a region of billions, with China, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and many more, are looking to enter the market,” White said. “So, these sorts of projects are critical for Cambodia to ensure itself open to foreigners, and also to develop its economy,” he added. The cost of these investments is raising eyebrows. On Friday, the minister of public works and transport, Sun Chanthol, said 150 infrastructure projects worth about $30 billion had been prioritized for 2022-2030. A tall order given Cambodia’s GDP was just $27 billion in 2019. Sreynat Sarum contributed to this report. https://www.voanews.com/a/rebuilding-cambodia-s-gambling-mecca/7073219.html

Three opposition figures send hand-written apologies and pre-recorded videos to Hun Sen in recent days. A string of recent defections and public apologies by opposition party officials and critics of Prime Minister Hun Sen has given the longtime leader a boost less than three months before July’s parliamentary elections. The high-profile defections to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party are just the latest – at least nine opposition party officials have switched their allegiance to the CPP since November 2022 as the party works to co-opt and silence opposition figures. On Sunday, the president of the little-known Khmer Win Party was appointed to be the secretary of state of the Council of Ministers. Suong Sophorn has been a fierce critic of Hun Sen and once served as the youth movement leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, the country’s main opposition party before it was banned in 2017. “I, Suong Sophorn, have made a clear decision to join my political life with the CPP,” he said in a pre-recorded video addressing both Hun Sen and the prime minister’s son and presumed successor, Hun Manet. “I love my nation and love my people dearly. However, being in the opposition, I appear to think that I have contributed so little to the nation and our homeland, so I have made a clear decision to join the government so that I may use my abilities to serve our people directly.” Cambodian army chief Hun Manet, center, a son of Prime Minister Hun Sen, attends a ceremony of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces at the Defense Ministry in Phnom Penh, on April 20, 2023. Credit: Heng Sinith/AP ‘I was too young’ The video was posted on Hun Sen’s Telegram channel. On Monday, the prime minister posted on the same channel a handwritten apology letter and a pre-recorded video from the deputy chief of the opposition Candlelight Party’s organization in Takeo province. Ir Channa, a Norwegian citizen and a former outspoken border critic, was arrested last year after he returned from exile to support the Candlelight Party in last year’s local commune elections. Speaking from jail, he apologized for information he shared on Facebook in 2020 regarding the possible return to Cambodia of a top opposition leader. “I admit all these mistakes and leniently beg you to accept my apologies,” he said. “I pledge to always comply with the national laws and the constitution of Cambodia.” He was released later on Monday, and Hun Sen posted another video clip in the evening of Ir Channa thanking him. Ir Channa did not mention whether he would defect to the CPP in exchange for his release. Another critic, Kean Ponlork, also issued a hand-written apology letter and a pre-recorded video on Monday in which he asked to join the CPP. The former CNRP official was in charge of the party’s training department and has also served as the secretary-general of the Federation of Cambodian Intellectuals and Students. “I, Kean Ponlork, would like to apologize to Samdech Hun Sen for having joined hands with the opposition and civil society, and for providing interviews to Radio Free Asia, Voice of Democracy and The Cambodia Daily to attack your leadership that causes confusion on your legitimate government,” he said. “I was too young to be able to fully understand the depth of Cambodian politics.” Hun Sen responded on Telegram: “I warmly welcome Mr. Kean Ponlork. Since he is residing in Takeo province, the Takeo provincial CPP committee is requested to make proper arrangements for Mr. Kean Ponlork in accordance with the party procedures.” ‘Positions, benefits and titles’ Last month, former CNRP youth leader Yim Sinorn was appointed secretary of state for the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training. Just weeks before that, he was in jail. Yim Sinorn was arrested in March after posting a comment on Facebook that seemed to highlight the political powerlessness of King Norodom Sihamoni. Another opposition activist, Hun Kosal, was also arrested at the same time for similar remarks. They were both released after posting their own online apologies to Hun Sen. Afterward, Yim Sinorn met with the prime minister at his home in Kandal province, where he and his family posed for photos as Hun Sen sat at his desk. Hun Kosal also recently received a government appointment – undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Land Management and Urban Planning. Um Sam An, a former CNRP member of parliament, said he’s not worried about the possibility of more opposition defections in the coming months. The politicians who share a genuine belief in the future of the nation won’t take Hun Sen’s bait, he said. “Both positions, benefits and titles will not be essential for us. What we really want is for a positive change in Cambodia, a true respect of human rights and democracy,” he said. The recent defections will help clean the “rubbish” politicians away from the true democrats, said Seng Sary, a political commentator who lives in Australia. “I accept the fact that some defectors are successful in their political life after defections,” he said. “However, 95 to 99 percent among those defectors have lost their political lives and their reputations in Cambodian politics.” CNRP Vice President Eng Chhai Eang, who lives in the United States, told Radio Free Asia last week that Hun Sen has, in the past, made serious overtures to him about joining the CPP and the government. But last week, the prime minister grew angry after Eng Chhai Eang made critical comments online following the news of the defections of Yim Sinorn and Hun Kosal. “He posted a comment to mock me,” Eng Chhai Eang said. “He said, ‘If you want to get the government positions, first you must join the opposition party. If you want, I will pardon you and appoint you to a position in the government.’” Translated by Keo Sovannarith. Edited by Matt Reed. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/opposition-defections-telegram-05012023162643.html Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.

Prime Minister Hun Sen on April 24 signed a sub-decree opening a Cambodian embassy in Brazil. According to the sub-decree, said the embassy has a residence in the capital Brasilia and will be headed by a chief of mission with the rank of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. The makeup of other diplomats employed at the embassy, its technical officers and other staff will be determined according to the actual work requirements and the funding system for diplomats. read more https://phnompenhpost.com/national/cambodia-opens-embassy-brazil

Prime Minister Hun Sen confirmed in a message on the occasion of the 137th anniversary of International Labor Day on May 1, that currently there are about 1.3 million Cambodian workers abroad, while the employment rate in the country remained at 99.3 percent. The premier said that the Royal Government has been paying close attention to the development of high-income labor market, continue to strengthen the effectiveness of the labor market coordination mechanism by expanding the scope of employment services and labor market information of the National Employment Agency of the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training. “The current employment rate in Cambodia is 99.3 percent,” he said.Mr Hun Sen continued that along with domestic job opportunities, the Royal Government strives to provide options for people who wish to work abroad by strengthening cooperation with partner countries to provide employment opportunities abroad for workers. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501282502/cambodia-has-1-3-million-migrant-workers-abroad-while-domestic-employment-rate-is-over-99-percent/

Europa 2, a cruise ship sailing under the flag of Malta, paid a day-long visit to Cambodia on April 25. The cruise ship with 343 tourists of 15 different nationalities on board and 367 crewmembers of 24 nationalities, coming from Vietnam, docked at Sihanoukville Autonomous Port at 6:00 am and left for Thailand at around 10:00 pm. According to Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, most of the tourists are German (293), and Swiss (18). The Europa 2 cruise ship is 225.38 meters long, 29.90 meters wide and 6.30 meters deep. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501280407/europa-2-cruise-ship-with-over-300-multinational-tourists-visit-cambodia/

Candlelight Party is having a hard time finding candidates because they fear being assaulted. Several opposition Cambodian political parties have not registered to participate in July’s general election and will wait until the last minute to take action because intimidation, threats and attacks have made it dangerous to do so, domestic civil society groups said. Seven parties, including Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party, or CCP, already have registered and submitted their candidate lists for the July 23 election to elect members to the National Assembly, which is currently dominated by the CCP. Political parties can submit candidate lists to the National Election Committee from April 24 to May 8. The main opposition Candlelight Party is having difficulty recruiting candidates because of intimidation and physical assaults against its activists. Some supporters are afraid of publicly campaigning for candidates. "Activists, especially those in Phnom Penh, were physically attacked,” said Candlelight Party spokesman Kim Sour Phirith. “They are being threatened emotionally. It is not good for our country that one party is discriminating against its opponent.” He said the party is reviewing candidates and will try to register them with the NEC before the May 8 deadline. Other parties also are experiencing difficulties recruiting and registering candidates due to political discrimination, said Sam Kuntheamy, executive director of the Neutral and Impartial Committee for free and fair Elections in Cambodia, an organization that monitors elections. Attacks on activists have tarnished Cambodia’s election environment, he said. “I don’t want to see any violence against political activists because at this stage, the parties are preparing to participate in the election,” said Sam Kuntheamy. “Political violence should be avoided.” Recent attacks Over the weekend, four assailants on motorbikes assaulted a Candlelight Party activist as he was traveling to the capital of Phnom Penh, striking him several times with a metal baton. Another party activist said her car was intentionally rammed by an unknown assailant. Six other opposition party members have reported attacks in the past months. Hang Puthea, spokesman for the NEC, which oversees voting in the country, told Radio Free Asia that the body is reviewing the applications submitted by the seven political parties and will notify them of their status after May 8. The NEC has created an app for all parties to register their candidates to avoid duplication and to prevent fraud, he said. So far, more than 40 political parties have been officially recognized by the country’s Ministry of Interior, which regulates the formation of parties. Translated by Samean Yun for RFA Khmer. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/delayed-registration-04262023162845.html Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.

Cambodian leader Hun Sen on Thursday cancelled a law he created just two months ago to protect critically endangered Mekong dolphins as the mammals continue to die from illegal fishing activities. The population of Irrawaddy dolphins in the river Mekong has dwindled from 200, when the first census was taken in 1997, to just 89 in 2020 largely due to illegal fishing and habitat loss. Hun Sen issued a new decree in February creating protection zones in a 120-kilometre (75-mile) stretch of the Mekong, in which fishing is banned, following the death of three dolphins in a week. Conservationists have also stepped up efforts to protect the mammals -- small, shy creatures with domed foreheads and short beaks that once swam through much of the river, all the way to the delta in Vietnam. But two dolphins have since died, including a four-day-old calf found dead last week entangled in fishing nets. Hun Sen said Thursday he had decided to cancel the new decree because "dolphins keep dying and thousands of fishing families were affected". "We want to protect dolphins that are at risk of becoming extinct, but dolphins keep dying," he said at an event in Phnom Penh. read more https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/cambodian-leader-u-turns-rare-050337788.html

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Late in the summer of 1994, as the hot season was finally breaking in Cambodia, three scraggly men in flip-flops showed up at the Phnom Penh Post’s compound looking for American journalist Nate Thayer. The trio, members of Vietnam’s oppressed Montagnard hill tribes, had initially snuck across the border looking for fellow freedom fighters in the decades-long battle against the communist government. But those hopes had given way to weeks of living on the city’s streets and sleeping in pagodas. Their hair was long and stomachs empty. They were paranoid that they would be discovered by Vietnamese agents in Cambodia and returned home to face prison or worse. Now they wanted to secure asylum in America, where hundreds of their people had found safety and a new start. The United Nations refugee agency wouldn’t help them. So a Montagnard contact in America said they should find Thayer. They arrived at the Phnom Penh Post’s office — also the home of the newspaper’s owners and Thayer — and nervously asked for the journalist. Thayer, with a college swimmer’s build and a bald head, walked outside and saluted the men. He welcomed them inside like old friends. For the next few months, the three Montagnards lived with Thayer, his girlfriend, and the Post’s owners, Michael Hayes and Kathleen O'Keefe. They largely kept to themselves, wary of bothering their hosts and limited in their ability to communicate across languages. But it was the nicest place they had ever lived, and they could eat and sleep soundly. Months went by with no progress on securing refugee status. Eventually, Thayer and O’Keefe tearfully told their new friends that they couldn’t help, and the trio covertly made their way back across the border into Vietnam. Even before the U.N. brokered a peace deal in 1991 that restored Cambodia’s monarchy and paved the way for internationally-observed elections in 1993, Thayer had established himself as a journalistic force. He had spent much of the late 1980s on Cambodia’s border with Thailand, where the civil war was raging between the Vietnamese-backed government in Phnom Penh, remaining elements of the Khmer Rouge, and royalist forces loyal to Norodom Sihanouk. Thayer developed close relationships with hardened guerillas during treks through the jungle and with U.N. officials during extended stays at the refugee camps housing tens of thousands famished and shell-shocked Cambodians. Andy Pendleton, a career humanitarian officer who oversaw Thai refugee camps in the 1980s, remembers Thayer showing up on his 125 cc motorbike in areas where U.N. officials would go out in Land Rovers. “He would come in and his little motorcycle would break down on the way, and he’d run and jump in a ditch when the artillery started,” Pendeleton recalled. During one trip across the border, Thayer was in a truck that drove over an anti-tank mine, and Pendleton was called to respond. “I went over and he was limping across the border with bandages on his feet. He was the only surviving person in that truck when it got hit. So pretty brassy.” By the time Cambodia opened up to the foreign press in the early ‘90s, Thayer had a running start. “The vast majority of the journalists on the ground there, they were good and professional, but they didn't know the territory, they didn’t know the layers, and they didn't know the players like Nate did,” Pendleton said. “And when Nate put the screws on something, he had a good chance of making it happen, because he was the number one journalist in Southeast Asia. He was the man to listen to.” While Thayer would become most famous for being the last foreign journalist to interview Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, just months before his death in 1998, perhaps his most impactful story came years earlier. In the summer of 1992, two years before the Montagnard trio showed up at Thayer’s doorstep, the United Nations became aware of nearly 400 members of the Degar hill tribes hiding deep in Cambodia’s northern jungles. It was a politically volatile discovery, coming as the international community was attempting to steer Cambodia from Vietnamese occupation and civil war to a sovereign multi-party democracy. An UNTAC military official told Thayer at the time: "We have enough problems in Cambodia dealing with the four factions, and now this army we never even heard of turns up.” read (a lot) more https://www.voacambodia.com/a/7068904.html