News

The land concession overlaps the site of the Bunong community’s old village, their spirit forest and their burial grounds—religiously significant areas that, according to Bunong beliefs, are not to be disturbed or logged at the risk of incurring the wrath of local spirits. ...

The Ministry of Interior has set up a working group to oversee the elimination of illegal checkpoints along national roads and on waterways. According to a statement penned by Interior Minister Sar Kheng last Wednesday and obtained yesterday, the working group is comprised of eight ...

An official at the Cambodian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur said on Monday that with more Cambodians seeking support and refuge amid a labor crackdown by Malaysian authorities, the embassy’s budget was not enough to pay to bring them home. ...

Rescuers armed with speed boats and emergency supplies have been deployed to two Stung Treng province villages where residents remain despite expected flooding as the country’s largest hydropower dam undergoes testing. ...

The Ministry of Interior plans to offer training courses to new commune councillors, Interior Minister Sar Kheng revealed yesterday after a closed-door meeting with National Election Committee officials. ...

Two excavators turned bricks to rubble with ease on Monday as walls jutting out from the ground floor of Phnom Penh’s dilapidated White Building slowly tumbled to the ground. ...

Nearly 100 people from eight communities living alongside railways in Phnom Penh yesterday gathered in front of City Hall demanding clarification on what will happen to them as their areas are redeveloped. ...

The government will use the untapped funds of an emergency rice loan package to support struggling corn farmers who have protested the low market prices for their crop this season, state officials said yesterday. ...

The Asian Development Bank needs to be more involved in helping Cambodia implement gender equality policies in order to “tap the economic potential” for women and close “sizable gender equality gaps”, an internal evaluation has found. ...

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs assisted the repatriation of more than 450 Cambodian workers in the first six months of the year, according to figures released Saturday. ...

The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology yesterday issued a warning that an impending tropical storm may inundate the Tonle Sap and Mekong river, causing floods to neighbouring communities. ...

After about 500 protesting farmers blockaded a national road in Battambang province last week, local authorities in neighboring districts are now making efforts to placate hundreds of other farmers also restless over depressed corn and cassava prices. ...

Turkey is in talks with the Cambodian government over the possibility of taking control of the Zaman-operated schools in Phnom Penh, which it alleges have links to a “terrorist organization” behind last year’s attempted coup, the Turkish ambassador said on Friday. ...

China has revealed a plan to help Cambodia by establishing a comprehensive tourism development plan for Siem Reap province, home of the famed Angkor archeological park. ...

Preventing spoiled ballots and improving complaint resolution were top of the agenda when the National Election Committee met at the weekend to discuss ways to improve the commune polls. ...

The number of construction projects approved in Cambodia during the first half of the year increased 28 percent compared with the same period last year, amounting to a total value of around $4.9 billion, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Land Management, ...

A provincial governor’s request to rename a Siem Reap City high school after Prime Minister Hun Sen has been abandoned, according to an official and the school—a decision some have speculated was influenced by online criticism of the suggested change. ...

The doors of the Lower Sesan II dam were closed on Saturday for a monthlong test run, forcing more than 100 families holding out in Stung Treng’s Srekor and Kbal Romea communes to prepare for floods. Since the doors’ closure on Saturday morning, water levels ...

Cambodia is seeking to register more than a dozen crocodile farms under an international treaty that protects the critically endangered Siamese crocodile, paving the way for the legal export of crocodile skins to lucrative overseas markets, according to state officials. ...

The Foreign Affairs Ministry says the Malaysian government has taken notice of Thailand’s recent crackdown on illegal foreign workers and begun one of its own, wrangling 79 illegal Cambodian migrant workers in two weeks. ...

Demolition crews are set to begin tearing down the Phnom Penh landmark known as the White Building today, after the Ministry of Land Management announced on Saturday that all families residing in the dilapidated structure had left the premises.​ ...

Police in Phnom Penh will next month start issuing fines of up to $25 for violations of parking regulations by using handheld devices that scan license plates and recognize the registered identity and address of a vehicle’s owner, an official said yesterday. ...

The Thai government on Wednesday publicly announced that nationals of five countries, including Cambodia, can visit Thailand for up to 90 days without a visa to seek medical treatment, an official at the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh said yesterday. ...

The National Election Committee plans to hold a two-day meeting in Preah Sihanouk province to review the June 4 commune elections, with members of the election monitoring coalition the “Situation Room” saying yesterday they plan to table recommendations to improve certain electoral procedures. ...