Government

The Lao government said yesterday that it would have the controversial Don Sahong dam undergo a formal process of prior consultation – a decision that will probably delay the project further. “The government has already demonstrated that it is committed to developing the Don Sahong project ...

Authority has asked all mobile network operators in Cambodia to stop delivering free Sim Cards without getting a copy of identification card from their clients, warning that they would face legal action if they disobey the order. The warning was made during a meeting on Thursday ...

The National Assembly decided to summon three ministers to answer lawmakers’ questions on the work performance of their respective ministries, a lawmaker said Friday. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen said the government plans to establish passport offices in each province, except for Kandal Privince which is near Phnom Penh. ...

A military police official confirmed Thursday that his unit’s new headquarters were being built in the heart of Phnom Penh’s restive Boeng Kak neighborhood, meters away from the homes of some of the country’s most high-profile anti-eviction activists. About a half-dozen armed military police officers were ...

As Cambodian migrant workers return in droves from Thailand through the casino-laden border town of Poipet, Prime Minister Hun Sen is warning gambling parlour owners this does not mean a jackpot for them. “Casinos in Phnom Penh and along the border are not for Khmer citizens,” ...

Officials from the Ministry of Mines and Energy yesterday met with villagers in Ratanakkiri province’s Taveng district about a gold mine they allege violates the law and introduces toxic chemicals into the nearby Sesan River. ...

The single-party National Assembly on Thursday approved the 2014 to 2018 National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP), which will cost an estimated $26.58 billion to implement. An extradition agreement between Cambodia and Vietnam was also passed. Approved earlier this month by the Council of Ministers, it is ...

Although foreigners have long paid a fee to enter Phnom Penh’s Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has announced that the days of apparently free entry to the notorious Khmer Rouge prison are finished and the charge will now be ...

Cambodia on Thursday rejected four recommendations for improving its human rights situation that it initially accepted earlier this year during its second universal periodic review at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. It also “noted” 38 recommendations—meaning it has not committed to implementing them—some relating ...

On the side of a well-trafficked street in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district, a man with a razor blade bends over a small rectangle of sheet metal overlaid with a vinyl stencil. As letters and numbers are lifted away, the plate begins to take on a ...

CBRE Cambodia’s latest MarketView report sees strong growth in tourist arrivals resulting in growth in hotel occupancy rates and durations of stay. Quoting Ministry of Tourism statistics, CBRE said Cambodian tourism sector continued to enjoy steady growth over the course of 2013, with the number of ...

More than 250,000 Cambodian migrant workers, mostly undocumented, have fled Thailand since early this month in fears of a military junta’s clampdown on illegal foreign workers, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday. “Up to now, over 250,000 Cambodians have crossed the border from Thailand back ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday called on Thailand’s ruling junta to ensure the safety of Cambodian migrant workers and to treat well those that are being deported. Up to 250,000 Cambodians have fled Thailand or been deported since the junta took control in a May ...

Cambodia’s human rights groups are continuing to seek ways to prevent three draft judicial reform bills from becoming law. The drafts have already passed the National Assembly, but they have not been signed by the king. ...

Three border provinces with Cambodia opened offices to document Cambodian workers entering Thailand on Thursday, to combat human trafficking and illegal labour, with a fourth to open on Monday. Three new one-stop centres were opened at the border in Sa Kaeo, Chanthaburi and Trat provinces, to issue  temporary ...

The ruling Cambodian People’s Party should let members speak freely if it is going to make the reforms needed to survive, a Cambodian academic says. Writing earlier this week in The Diplomat, a Tokyo-based regional current affairs magazine, Phoak Kung noted that top CPP members had ...

The Ministry of Environment yesterday shared its vision for a greener, less-carbon-emitting, climate-resilient Cambodia, but presented few detailed steps towards getting there, and even fewer financial particulars.​ The 10-year strategic initiative did not offer any further financial guidance. Though it identifies eight priority areas and ...

A Singapore-based firm whose subsidiary plans to buy land in Phnom Penh from which thousands of families have been forcibly evicted said Wednesday that the firm had no knowledge of the long-running land dispute. The firm, HLH Group, also denied any official or financial ties to ...

Phnom Penh City Hall plans to expand a section of Sothearos Boulevard outside a main entrance to the new Aeon Mall to help ease traffic congestion when the four-floor shopping center officially opens on Monday, officials said Wednesday. “We have a plan to expand the street ...

Makers of food- and beverage-related products are for the first time facing mandatory health regulations, with the unveiling of 10 national standards by the Ministry of Industry and Handicraft. The announcement comes after the National Standard Council, a government-run committee, finally approved the standards in May ...

Detainees and prisoners continue to be administered electric shocks, beaten unconscious and even smothered by plastic bags, with 49 new allegations of torture or abuse at the hands of authorities this year, according to rights group Licadho, which says in a report released Wednesday that ...

About half the Koh Kong province villagers relocated to make way for a Union Development Group resort project have abandoned the new homes provided for them, citing poor conditions and an inconvenient location, a village representative said yesterday. More than 1,000 families living in the province’s ...

Phnom Penh City Hall said Tuesday it would revoke the licenses of companies whose subcontractors are accused of routinely overcharging motorists for parking at some of the city’s markets unless the problem is fixed, according to a news release posted Wednesday on the municipality’s website. “If ...