News

The Cambodian government was strengthening its capacity to combat human trafficking by focusing on poverty reduction and was eager to work with other groups tackling the crime, Interior Ministry Secretary of State Chou Bun Eng said yesterday. “The issues of human trafficking and migrating workers are ...

Cambodian women have the most to lose from the planned 2015 ASEAN integration, a coalition of more than 100 Cambodian women said yesterday at the Cambodian Women Forum. Because Cambodian women are so poorly educated, when the job market opens up, competition from other countries like ...

Six Cambodians suspected of entering Thailand last month to log trees were released by Thai authorities yesterday and repatriated to Preah Vihear province, local officials said. ...

The Cambodian government has employed two lawyers to assist in the release of Cambodian loggers arrested by Thai officials for crossing illegally into Thai territory to cut trees, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong said yesterday. ...

A casino complex on top of Kampot province’s Bokor Mountain will open in less than two weeks – but environmental groups are strangely quiet about the effects the development, the size of a small city, could have on Cambodia’s natural heritage. The complex, in the Preah ...

Cambodians working in Thailand may soon feel a little more at home if the Thai government approves a proposal to start broadcasting two Cambodian television channels. TVK Director General Kem Gunawadh said that Information Minister Khieu Kanharith made the pitch at a meeting Wednesday with the ...

A combined task force of Thai soldiers and national park officials yesterday arrested 38 Cambodian villagers who encroached on the Panom Dong Rak Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand’s Si Sa Ket province, which borders Oddar Meanchey province. Thai National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department chief Damrong ...

It was a big gamble for Khun Savy, travelling hundreds of kilometres and spending thousands of Thai baht for broker fees and bribes he said he paid to be smuggled into Thailand. At the O’Smach International Border Checkpoint in Oddar Meanchey province, the 29-year-old was one ...

Nearly two dozen fishermen were re­patriated to the Kingdom yesterday after being trafficked aboard Thai fishing boats where they endured forced labour and rampant abuse. The 11 men bring to 30 the number of fishermen repatriated from Malaysia and Indonesia this year. They were visibly shaken ...

Cambodia could overtake Thailand’s gem export market to the United States within five years, officials said yesterday. Thailand’s growing economic status could soon disqualify it for tax exemption when exporting gems to the US market, but Cambodia’s standing as a Least Developed Country would allow it ...

Police in Siem Reap province said yesterday that they confiscated two trucks in Varin district Friday morning carrying 24,228 liters of gasoline believed to have been smuggled from Thailand. Soeun Sem, chief of the Siem Reap economic police, said that officers apprehended the two ...

Revenues from Cambodian corn exports fell by 52 per cent last year as farmers scrapped the crop for the more lucrative, but less stable, cassava plant. The Kingdom exported 35,381 tonnes of corn, worth US$2.2 million, in 2011, down from 86,533 tonnes worth $4.57 million the ...

One garment worker was killed and 30 others seriously injured on Wednesday when the truck in which they were travelling crashed in Kandal province’s Ang Snuol district, a police official said yesterday. Free Trade Union (FTU) President Chea Mony said all 58 women were workers ...

The number of migrant workers abused by their foreign employers abroad more than doubled in 2011, rights group Adhoc announced yesterday before calling on the government to improve its efforts to protect both migrant and repatriated workers. “It’s a dangerous sign,” said Adhoc president Thun Saray ...

In the wake of several violent garment-factory protests last week, the International Labour Office yesterday launched a five-year, US$5 million Decent Work Country Program in Cambodia to focus on improving industrial relations. “[This] marks the beginning of a new body of work for the ILO in ...

The potential for investment in Cambodia certainly appears to be there, as the country’s location in Indochina affords much opportunity for cross-border trade with Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, says Mark Mobius. Mr Mobius, who oversees more than US $40 billion worth of investments as executive chairman ...

Cambodian border officials urged their Thai counterparts not to shoot Cambodians who cross into Thailand illegally during a special meeting in Siem Reap city yesterday to cement border relations. The request comes as Thai soldiers have already fatally shot 11 Cambodians this year who illegally ...

Agriculture Minister Chan Sarun said yesterday that Cambodia currently produces only half as many vegetables as it needs to meet demand and that more needs to be done to remedy the situation. “Cambodia only produces 40 to 60 perent of its needs and imports, the ...

Eight fishermen who escaped after more than a year of forced labour aboard a Thai fishing boat recounted tales of abuse and miserable working conditions upon their repatriation to the Kingdom yesterday. The men said that brokers had promised them salaried jobs in Thai factories, but ...

Gasoline prices in Cambodia hit an all-time high on Friday, stoking fears of limited fuel reserves and increasing production costs at some of the Kingdom’s businesses. Premium gasoline sold for $1.40 per litre last week, surpassing the $1.38-per-litre price during the global economic slump at the ...

Thai cassava farmers have asked Cambodia to stop exporting the commodity into Thailand in an attempt to keep prices high and avoid saturating the market, officials said yesterday. Sao Sarat, Pailin provincial cabinet chief, said that Thai government officials representing local cassava farmers met with Pailin ...

A Cambodian migrant worker in Thailand has said that a recruitment firm in Phnom Penh that sent him and about 1,000 others to work at an “exploitative” factory is threatening him because he spoke to the press. Keo Ratha, 37, said yesterday he received a threatening ...

Pig prices in Cambodia have fallen by 18 percent in the past three months due to a massive oversupply of pork in the country, an official at the Cambodian Pig Raisers Association said yesterday. The reason for the oversupply is twofold: Thailand increased its pig exports ...

Thailand has appealed to Cambodia to send more migrant workers to the country due to a high demand for labor following last year’s devastating floods, while Cambodia has in turn asked that Thailand render the migration process safer, speedier and cheaper, Choub Narth, deputy director ...