Cambodia Impressions

Cambodia is poor. Let's get that out there. It is still suffering in a major way the legacy of the Khmer Rouge. The streets may feel dark and dangerous at night but the people I met were nothing but nice.

My driver told me that cops there make a salary of $40 a month. That is nothing. So they are corrupt. But only corrupt when they encounter a person of the same social status (low). This is a problem since the rich do anything and don't fear the consequences. There was a story in the paper when I was there of an official's son who was in a car accident and jumped out with a gun and started shooting. The cops did nothing. They told the paper that they couldn't since the dad held too much sway and to do anything would mean losing that measly $40.

So there are 3 boom markets for products in Cambodia: sex, beer, and telecoms. I am involved in the later and occassionally the second. I thought about including begging/hawking crap as a boom market but by definition those two cannot be boom markets.

Sex: around my hotel there are a lot of "bars" with blacked out windows and scantily clad women out front or "karaoke" places with lots of girls out front. It is pretty sad really that there are SO many places like that and there are so few jobs for people. Even some of the nicer and legit bars are crawling with working girls.

Beer: there are so many damn beer ads/trucks/beer that you can never get away from it.

Telecoms: there are shops all over selling SIM cards, phone cards, and generally advertising telecom products. That market it why I will keep coming back to Phnom Penh.

Other impressions: the country is very poor but is trying to pull itself up. Traffic is insane. Want to drive the wrong way aganist traffic--no problem everyone else is doing it. No light at the intersection and there are cars, scooters, trucks, and pedestrians all wanting to go--no problem just go. There is also a lot of dirt and trash that is on the streets. There lots of beggars and homeless kids. At the same time, the people are nice when you stop and talk to them and you can tell the country is trying to move forward. I may not be in Kansas (thank God) but I do like Phnom Penh.