The Cambodia Daily
TVK director resigns, apparently in response to gov’t criticism
Kem Gunawadh, the long-serving director-general of TVK who helped set up the state broadcaster in 1983, resigned abruptly on Saturday in what his successor said was a reaction to government criticism over his decision not to broadcast live that morning’s annual Royal Plowing Ceremony. The resignation ...
Phann Ana and Simon Henderson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/tvk-director-resigns-apparently-in-response-to-govt-criticism-58980/
Chong villagers block Chinese engineers from reaching dam
A group of 20 ethnic minority Chong villagers in Koh Kong province’s Areng Valley blocked the road Friday to prevent a group of Chinese engineers from reaching the site of a controversial proposed dam. A number of Chong villagers have been intermittently camping near the road ...
Khuon Narim
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/chong-villagers-block-chinese-engineers-from-reaching-dam-58944/
Grenade attack on deputy chief prosecutor’s home
A grenade was thrown into the home of Kompong Thom Provincial Court deputy prosecutor Say Nora on Saturday night but the official escaped injury as he was not at home when the device exploded, police said. Provincial police chief Phan Sopheng said the attack was an ...
Saing Soenthrith
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/grenade-attack-on-deputy-chief-prosecutors-home-58988/
Rising union leader behind Caltex station closures
In his fight for workers’ rights, Sar Mora has learned to be stubborn. The union leader behind the closure of Caltex gas stations across Phnom Penh, Mr. Mora’s members remained on strike Sunday despite an apparent agreement on Friday for workers to return to their stations. “We ...
Alex Consiglio and Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rising-union-leader-behind-caltex-station-closures-58995/
Judicial laws put independence of courts in jeopardy
Three constitutionally mandated judicial laws would adversely affect the independence of the courts if they are passed in their current draft state, legal experts warned on Friday. Draft versions of the Law on the Organization and Functioning of the Supreme Council of the Magistracy, the Law ...
Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/judicial-laws-put-independence-of-courts-in-jeopardy-58942/
Rubber prices tumble as industry panics
Cambodia’s steadily declining rubber prices have hit critically low levels that are destined to only get worse as Thailand prepares to offload huge rubber stocks, the secretary-general of the Association for Rubber Development of Cambodia said Thursday. As the price of natural rubber has paralleled a ...
Kang Sothear and George Styllis
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/rubber-prices-tumble-as-industry-panics-58889/
Maids set to work abroad, but safety fears linger
After a three-year moratorium on sending maids overseas—sparked by a spate of serious abuses by recruiters and employers—momentum is building to once again send hundreds of thousands of Cambodian women to work overseas as domestic servants. Since Prime Minister Hun Sen shut down the industry in ...
Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/maids-set-to-work-abroad-but-safety-fears-linger-58853/
Veng Sreng Street Upgrade behind schedule
The head of a construction company working to upgrade Phnom Penh’s dusty, potholed Veng Sreng Street said Thursday that the project would take twice as long to complete as expected. In November, Phnom Penh governor Pa Socheatvong announced that a 6.5 km strip of the road—which ...
Sek Odom
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/veng-sreng-street-upgrade-behind-schedule-58872/
17 families reject payout from minister’s wife
A special committee set up in March to settle a long-running land dispute between 52 families in Kompong Chhnang province and the wife of Mines and Energy Minister Suy Sem has finished its work, leaving 17 families without a deal. Deputy provincial governor Dork Sothea, who ...
Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/17-families-reject-payout-from-ministers-wife-58741/
Interior Ministry seeks new recruits
The Interior Ministry is seeking 478 students to work in prisons and offices across the country, according to an announcement posted online Monday. The ministry’s message, posted to the website of the National Committee for Sub-National Democratic Development, calls for 80 candidates to work as prison ...
Hay Pisey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/interior-ministry-seeks-new-recruits-58745/
Education official promises to repay shortchanged teachers
A technical error caused 57 teachers in Oddar Meanchey province to be shortchanged when collecting overtime salaries, said an education official who promised the problem will be rectified by the end of May. A teachers’ union on Monday asked the Ministry of Education to address some ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/education-official-promises-to-repay-shortchanged-teachers-58749/
Country’s first Japanese news website launched
Thmey Thmey online news website on Wednesday launched a Japanese-language version of the site to help illuminate the world of Cambodian politics and business for Japanese residents here, as well as those considering relocating or investing in the country. The news site, which was set up ...
Hul Reaksmey and Simon Henderson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/countrys-first-japanese-news-website-launched-58743/
As free man, Polonsky plans tourism mecca
Sergei Polonsky, a Russian fugitive and former billionaire real estate magnate who was recently released from prison in Cambodia, has grand plans for a string of islands off the coast of Sihanoukville. Less than a month after the Supreme Court refused to extradite him to Russia ...
Joshua Wilwohl
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/as-free-man-polonsky-plans-tourism-mecca-58726/
Women targeted at protests, Rapporteur says
The U.N.’s special rapporteur on freedom of assembly and association, Maina Kiai, has sent his third thematic report to the U.N. Human Rights Council following trips to various countries, including a three-day visit to Cambodia in February. The report focuses on groups that Mr. Kiai, a ...
Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/women-targeted-at-protests-rapporteur-says-58735/
Baby formula brands place profit above health
Dara Raksmey, the owner of a pharmacy of the same name on Phnom Penh’s Street 294, keeps a record of every can of Dumex baby formula she sells. “If you buy six large cans you get a scooter and if you buy 12 large cans you ...
Ouch Sony and George Wright
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/baby-formula-brands-place-profit-above-health-58635/
Officials accused of embezzling teachers’ salaries
A teachers’ union has accused education officials in Oddar Meanchey province’s Anlong Veng district of stealing 21 million riel, or about $5,200, that had been slated as overtime payments for primary school teachers. In a letter sent to the Education Ministry on Monday, the Cambodia Independent ...
Ben Sokhean and Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/officials-accused-of-embezzling-teachers-salaries-58676/
Year-on-year dengue cases drop sharply
Dengue fever deaths and infections have fallen dramatically during the first two-and-a-half months of this year compared to the same period in 2013, according to the government’s latest figures. Nhan Chantha, head of the Health Ministry’s national dengue control program, said his staff recorded one death ...
Phorn Bopha
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/year-on-year-dengue-cases-drop-sharply-58664/
After strong start, city bus’ future unclear
After a monthlong test run saw 10 buses often filled with passengers, a Chinese-owned company promised in early March to inject millions into the project and add hundreds of new buses. But Global Trade Development left the project last month after the municipality refused to grant ...
Hul Reaksmey and Simon Henderson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/after-strong-start-city-bus-future-unclear-58640/
Stung Treng authorities seize illegal Thnong wood shipment
Authorities in Stung Treng province discovered and confiscated a haul of luxury wood that was being transported in three trucks on Sunday night from the protected Virachey National Park, officials said Tuesday. Provincial deputy police chief Yorn Din said the trucks were stopped and searched as ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/stung-treng-authorities-seize-illegal-thnong-wood-shipment-58644/
CPP-friendly businessman launches newspaper
T Mohan, a Malaysian publisher and businessman arrested in the 1990s for attempting to extort a casino executive, is back in Cambodia’s newspaper market. The Khmer Times, the latest English-language news offering from Mr. Mohan, hit newsstands earlier this month, with a government spokesman even resigning ...
Alex Willemyns
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/cpp-friendly-businessman-launches-newspaper-58610/
Court temporarily halts lease transfer for victory beach
Russian businessmen Nikolai Doroshenko and Sergei Polonsky are locked in a legal dispute over Sihanoukville’s Victory Beach following Mr. Polonsky’s release from prison last month, according to copies of court documents obtained Monday. The Preah Sihanouk provincial court has temporarily prevented Mr. Doroshenko from transferring the ...
Joshua Wilwohl
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/court-temporarily-halts-lease-transfer-for-victory-beach-58598/
Illegal wood exports to China tripled in 2013
Cambodia’s exports of protected rosewood and other high-value timber to China more than tripled last year, according to U.N. figures cited in a new report that blames lax law enforcement across the Mekong region and skyrocketing demand in China for pushing some species to the ...
Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/illegal-wood-exports-to-china-tripled-in-2013-58593/
Opposition calls on 20,000 to march in Phnom Penh
The opposition CNRP on Monday called for 20,000 supporters to march through Phnom Penh on Friday, two days before the May 18 provincial, municipal and district elections. “The CNRP doesn’t have a wide broadcasting tool, that is why we have to do this,” said Morn Phalla, ...
Phorn Bopha
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/opposition-calls-on-20000-to-march-in-phnom-penh-58607/
Battambang official files campaign complaint against CNRP
A deputy commune chief in Battambang City filed a complaint Monday with the provincial election committee (PEC), accusing the CNRP of failing to inform him when they publicly screened a political video in his commune on May 6 and 7. “I have received this complaint,” said ...
Sek Odom and Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/battambang-official-files-campaign-complaint-against-cnrp-58600/