A beautiful clip of the song "Stand By Me"

A new clash between Thailand and Cambodia on April 3. 2009

The clash happened at the same place Veal Entry, near Preah Vihear, as in last October 2008 as the result of unresolved border demarcation issue. Both sides have promised to resolve the border issue peacefully but nothing has been done so far except talking and talking. Thailand's side has been busy with its own internal affair and Preah Vihear is a hot subjet to Thai government. Many Thais still consider that Preah Vihear belongs to Thailand even it is clearly Cambodian temple. The international court gave reason to Cambodia in 1962.

The strange thing is that gunfire erupted when the Thai government is in difficulty with its own internal affair. The current Thai government faces pressure from the Red T-Shirt protesters who want the government fall. When the gunfire erupted lin october 2008, the then government were under pressure from the Yellow T-Shirt protesters.

Thai soldiers
The war is so a sort of diversion game the Thailand government does in the hope that it can remain longer in power.

On military aspects, Thailand is far more well equipped (by the US) than Cambodia. Thailand has modern guns, modern jet fighters, modern helicopters, ... Cambodia is poorly equiped with old guns from the civil war, some old Russian made helicopters, a couple of old jet fighters that cost too much to maintain, ....




Cambodian soldiers
But Cambodian soldiers are highly motivated to protect their land. Some (if not most) of them are former Khmer Rouge soldiers and they look for a mission to accomplish. When I visited Cambodia last February, I met a military doctor from Preah Vihear. According to him, Khmer soldiers were "happy" of the war because the government took care of them, they had enough and delicious food, they felt they did something to protect Cambodia and the majority of Cambodians support them (the soldiers). He said that villagers living near Preah Vihear brought them chickens, cows, ....

Anyway, war is not a solution. I hope that the border issue will be resolved peacefully soon and Cambodians and Thais can live along together as good neighbors.

God bless Cambodia and its soldiers

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Some articles from the net.....
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Saturday, April 04, 2009

Two Thai soldiers killed in Cambodia border clash: army

BANGKOK, April 3, 2009 (AFP) - Two Thai soldiers were killed and another 10 wounded in a border clash with Cambodian forces on Friday, army officials said, updating an earlier toll.

One of the soldiers died at the site of the clash near a disputed 900-year-old temple and the other died later in hospital, said regional Thai army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Wichit Makarun.

The toll was confirmed by a second army official speaking on condition of anonymity, who added that the military was already sending the bodies back to their home towns.

Soldiers exchanged rocket, machinegun and mortar fire near the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple on the frontier, following a brief skirmish earlier in the day, officials from both sides said.

The area was the scene of several clashes last year after Cambodia successfully applied for United Nations world heritage status for the ruins in July, with four soldiers killed in a battle there in October.

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Article du Cambodgesoir: http://www.cambodgesoir.info/content.php?itemid=35661&p=

Accrochages khméro thaïs : la version officielle

04-04-2009

En attendant les déclarations du Premier ministre Hun Sen, qui devraient être rendues publiques dans l’après-midi, le ministère des Affaires étrangères cambodgien vient publier un communiqué officiel résumant les derniers événements dans la zone frontalière de Preah Vihear. Selon les officiels cambodgiens, un soldat thaïlandais a sauté sur une mine dans la zone de Veal Intry, située 500 mètres à l’intérieur du territoire cambodgien, le 2 avril au matin. Après l’incident, plusieurs de ses camarades ont alors cherché à retourner à l’endroit concerné pour récupérer des armes et des indices. Ils ont essuyé des tirs de la part des soldats khmers et se sont repliés. Le 3 avril, un nouveau groupe de soldats thaïlandais a pénétré sur le territoire cambodgien. De nouveaux échanges de tirs ont eu lieu. Une rencontre entre les deux commandants en charge a ensuite été organisée dans la pagode Keo Sikkha Kiri Svara pour résoudre le problème sans faire usage de la force. Toutefois, de nouveaux affrontements ont eu lieu dans l’après-midi et des armes lourdes ont été utilisées. Le marché situé au bas de l’escalier principal a été brûlé et le bureau de l’Autorité nationale pour Preah Vihear, situé à proximité du temple, a été détruit par les tirs. Aucun mort ne serait toutefois à déplorer côté cambodgien. Le ministère des Affaires étrangères insiste par ailleurs sur le fait que la mine qui a explosé était située nettement à l’intérieur du territoire cambodgien et que les intrusions thaïlandaises constituent une violation des accords internationaux et bilatéraux signés sur cette question frontalière. Le gouvernement du Cambodge exprime ses regrets et réaffirme que les soldats khmers n’ont réagit en situation de légitime défense. Il souhaite plus que jamais régler cette dispute frontalière par la négociation.

Cambodian cooking lesson from Las Vegas

A small video took during my visit to Samphal & Sophorn in Las Vegas in April 2008.

You can admire the talent of the cook Sophorn :-)

Weddings

Wedding pictures from Site 2 and Cambodia...

More pictures from Site 2

Pictures from Site 2

Khmer New Year 4/1985, Site 2... a month after fleeing from the Vietnamese Attack on Site 1


In the lake behind Ampil High School School, Site 2, 1986.


Ampil High School, Site 2, 10/4/1986 -- Khmer New Year


Dangrek High School, Site 2, 1987?



Ampil High School, Ampil, Site 2, 1986?

Some pictures with Fr. Vincent

Fr. Vincent and Boney in Bangkok end 1989 (?)


Fr. Vincent, Boney & Yon on 18/2/1989 (Rithysen, Site 2)


Picture took in Cambodia after 1993?


A happy man

The only picture from Site 1

Ampil Camp: 1982-1985

Below are 3 souvenir pictures from Ampil camp where we had spent almost 4 years of our life. Ampil was a military camp belonging to KPNLF led by his excellency Son San. It was the first camp to offer the middle school studies at the beginning of 1982. Students from the other camps under the control of KPNLF were encouraged to come to Ampil to continue their studies. The only thing to know by the time was that it was (nearly) impossible to visit the families living in the other camps.

The first picture is from Hok's album. Thank you Hok. The last two are from mine. If you have pictures from Ampil, please share them with us. Great thanks in advance!

Above: Souvenir from Ampil middle school. 13/4/1983 (Khmer New Year)
Left to right: Rom, Vuthy, Phally and Hok
Building on the left: Office of the school director
Building behind: boarding school's cafétéria


Above: Souvenir from Ampil middle school. Unknown date
Left to right:
Building left: dormitory for intern students
Building right: Office of the school director


Above: Souvenir from Ampil middle school.
Date: 24/9/1984, after the first vietnamese dry season attak on the camp in april 1984
The picture was taken in the middle of the school's compound. The building behind was Class C?

Strange images of development in Phnom Penh

On Saturday 7/2/2009, I did a small promenade along the Mekong River before I went to Raksmey's house. We stopped at Samdech Chourn Nath Park and took some pictures. Near the park, there are a big building and a small Khmer style building.

The big building is Naga Casino and the small one is Buddhist Institute (something like that). For me, the big building represents Money and/or Corruption Power and the small building religion, morality and wisdom. So, it is strange that the two buildings that have nothing in commun can be built colse to each other. Well, this is Cambodia and everything is possible.

Left: Naga Casino, Right: Buddhist Institute

I continued walking toward Mekong River and looked back to the Casino. I saw again a new Khmer Style building. I asked Vansak and Savonnara what is it? It is the Cambodian Foreign Ministry. I joked: well, the Casino is there to relax employees working for the foreign ministry. This way, they will not spend much time to drive as the Casino door is on the ministry's fence :-) Or may be there is a underground tunnel between the ministry and the casino! Waoh, I have never thought that Cambodian politicians think as much toward their beloved employees :-))

Behind the foreign ministry is the new national assembly (if I remember correctly). May be the deputies want to be closed to the Casino to have an eye on it all the time:-))

Left: Foreign Ministry, Rigth: Naga Casino

Along the Mekong River, there are panels which announce the undergo constructions of "Elite Town" on the island which stands at the separation of the Mekong River into two (the Mekong River itself and Bassac River -- if I remember well my lesson!).

In the picture below, you can see the island on the left. It will be soon enlarged by sands pumping from the Mekong River itself. On the right is the map of the future island.

People come to visit their dreaming house



Below are the type of houses/flats they propose. Each house has its private swimming pool. Well, they look very nice!

I was thinking of buying a house in this Elite Town for my old days but they price frozen me. Even the price is reduced by 1 million USD, it still costs too much. I can afford only 1 buck a day :-)) Well, at least dream is free for all ordinary Cambodians.

I hope that the land is not donated for free to the beloved investors of the Cambodian government.Well, I think it doesn't change much if the governmet get paid or not for this island as the poor Cambodians have never seen anything.Or may be the money is already spent in the Casino? [I joke of course]



People come to visit their dreaming residence...

KPNLF commemoration

The article below is excerpted from The Phnom Penh Post. I am happy to read this kind of article which talks about the hard past we underwent at the border.

Enjoy,
Sakun

The original articile is here:
http://ki-media.blogspot.com/2009/03/kpnlf-commemoration.html

KPNLF commemoration

Written by Brendan Brady and Kouth Sophak Chakrya

Friday, 06 March 2009

Former border resistance leaders stand by antagonism towards Vietnamese. Photo by: BRENDAN BRADY Prince Norodom Ranariddh inspects a monument to KPNLF resistance fighters Thursday in Kandal province. A WHO'S who of anti-Vietnamese leaders of the 1980s gathered at a stupa in Kandal province Thursday to commemorate resistance fighters who had died as part of the movement's effort to expel the foreign power. The Khmer National Liberation Front (KPNLF) was one of the main resistance groups to emerge along the Thai border following the fall of the Khmer Rouge by Vietnamese forces and their subsequent administrative takeover of Cambodia. Former KPNLF army and political leaders inaugurated a monument with inscriptions of the names of resistance fighters who died between 1979 and 1991 at a ceremony in Kien Svay district. Chuor Kim Meng, who had been a lieutenant general for the movement's military wing, said the resistance helped push the Vietnamese out and forced the local officials it had installed to accept multiparty democracy. "If not for these fighters, Vietnam may have continued to occupy Cambodia," he said. Dien Del, former chief of staff of the group's army, said the event "preserve the memory of those who died expelling the Vietnamese occupiers". Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the guest of honour, praised the resistance. "I have never forgotten its fighters who died," he said. He, too, described the Vietnamese troops in Cambodia at that time as "invaders" and "occupiers". While there was no official condemnation from the government, the commemoration should have proved controversial as the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) evolved from the People's Revolutionary Party of Kampuchea (PRPK), the regime that governed Cambodia under the control of Vietnamese forces. Photo by: Brendan Brady Son Soubert (left), son of the Front's founder, prays as Ranariddh lays a wreath on a monument to the movement's fallen soldiers. KR alliance necessary Son Soubert, son of Son Sann, founder and former president of the KPNLF and himself a participant in the movement's administration, said he had sent a letter of invitation to Prime Minister Hun Sen, Senate President Chea Sim and Deputy Prime Minister Sok An. Only Chea Sim responded, saying he had other obligations. Cheam Yeap, a senior CPP lawmaker, criticised the KPNLF for characterizing the Vietnamese as enemies. "Vietnamese troops did not invade Cambodia," he told the Post by phone. "They came to help Cambodia from the Pol Pot regime - we should be thankful to the Vietnamese." The exit of Vietnamese forces in 1989 came about not from resistance pressure from the border but because the PRPK was ready to rule on its own, he contended. Opposition party representatives present at the ceremony, however, insisted the Front's cause was righteous and attributed the exit of Vietnam to its efforts. "They fought for our freedom and sovereignty - that represents Khmer nationalism at its purest," said Human Rights Party President Kem Sokha. Sam Rainsy Party spokesman Son Chhay had been the KPNLF's representative in southern Australia, where he was based then. "Without the resistance from the border, we would not have had the Paris Peace Accords," he said. Nationalism first The KPNLF started in 1979, recruiting some of the hundreds of thousands of Cambodian refugees seeking sanctuary along the border with Thailand. Its key figures had held prominent positions in the administrations of Sihanouk and right-wing general Lon Nol, and were unified in their opposition to communism and to the presence of Vietnamese forces in the country. The Front was seen by the US and other Western allies as the most reliably anti-communist and pro-Western group in Cambodia. In its effort to drive out the Vietnamese, the Front struck an awkward alliance with remnants of the Khmer Rouge. In 1982 the KPNLF entered the tripartite Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea. The new coalition included the Party of Democratic Kampuchea, a splinter group of the defeated Khmer Rouge led by Khieu Samphan, and the royalist resistance movement known as Funcinpec, and represented Cambodia at the United Nations. For the former leaders of the Front, the alliance with their ideological counterparts was a necessary evil. "Son Sann always said the country is more important than the party or faction," said Pol Ham, who had been the Front's Information Minister. "We hated the Khmer Rouge, but at that time we had to prioritise - and the foreign occupiers were the first enemy. We formed a coalition but kept our own identity." Son Soubert was adamant the Front had never "joined" the Khmer Rouge. "We were forced to enter a temporary coalition to achieve our goals," he said. Funcinpec Senator Sabu Bacha, a former general of the Front's army, said the dire circumstances required divisions among Cambodians be put aside "so first we could expel foreign troops from our soil".

Go skiing at Chamrouuse. Feb.21.2009

[I will drop some more articles later on Cambodia.]

Back from Cambodia, I went skiing on a sunny saturday Feb. 21 with my family & Saren at the ski resort Chamrousse.

Chamrousse is one of the popular ski resorts near Grenoble. It is about 30 Km from my home. When the sky is clear, I have a nice view on the top of the ski resort.

Some pictures from Chamrousse.

A beautiful blue sky. In front is the cloud.


View on the top hill Restaurant de La Croix.
Behind the building is the TV/Telephone Antenna for Grenoble



View on the top of the mountain


Pauline walked back


Maelle took a rest



At Télésiege des Amoureux


View from the top of the mountain