A GROUP of Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmakers-elect are holed up at their party headquarters in the capital's Meanchey district, while top leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha are meeting in "a safe place," after authorities forcefully evicted opposition demonstrators from Freedom Park today.

Amid rumours that the government intends to arrest key opposition and union figures, CNRP lawmaker-elect Mu Sochua said the party's lawmakers-elect had gathered in solidarity in its office – close to the Ministry of Interior.

"I don't think it [the arrest warrants] is a rumour," she said. "I think it is a reality. "It's a matter of time, [but] I have no idea [what the government is accusing us of]. How would I? We've done nothing wrong."

Rainsy and Sokha, meanwhile, were meeting with leaders from the international community, she said, adding that she was not privy to the location.

When called for comment, Phnom Penh Municipal Court president Chiv Keng, pled ignorant of any warrants.

Negotiations with the government, meanwhile - originally planned for yesterday, but nixed by the opposition following a violent crackdown against garment workers and monks - appear to be off the table altogether now, Sochua added.

"[Interior Minister] Sar Kheng said he no longer wants to communicate with Mr. Rainsy," she said.

Kong Athit, vice president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), said he had moved to an undisclosed area on the outskirts of the capital.

"It's unbelievable," he said of the crackdown in Freedom Park. "I don't know what their plan is. But this is their own fear."

Athit said he had been trying to contact his president, Ath Thorn – one of the union leaders rumoured to be the subject of an arrest warrant – without success.

Earlier in the day, riot police in full body armour were seen blocking off Freedom Park ahead of its planned clearing.

Minutes later, two trucks with loudspeakers pulled into the northwest corner of the park, followed by a large contingent of military police who charged into the crowd with shields and batons.

Most of the peaceful protest quickly scattered, though a number of demonstrators, including monks, were seen being beaten by police as they attempted to flee.

Amid the large group of riot police, a separate group of men dressed in plainclothes and armed with sticks were also seen taking part in the operation. They were identified by a red ribbon tied around their arms.

After clearing out the majority of people, military police began violently dismantling the tents and tearing down the stage set up by the opposition.

The action followed a letter sent this morning from Phnom Penh city governor Pa Socheatvong to CNRP president Sam Rainsy, announcing that the opposition would not be permitted to hold further demonstrations due to recent violence.

"In order to maintain security and social order… the Phnom Penh Municipality decided not to allow the Cambodia National Rescue Party to hold further demonstrations at Freedom Park and rallies on streets in Phnom Penh starting January 4, 2014, until the security situation and public order is returned to normal," the statement says.

Long Dimanche, spokesman for Phnom Penh City Hall, conflated the party's peaceful protests with recent violence that has erupted during an ongoing national garment strike over the minimum wage, claiming that some CNRP demonstrators, including monks, had left Freedom Park to join striking workers, damaging public and private property and disrupting the public order.

Military police yesterday shot dead at least four people during a strike outside the Canadia industrial park on the outskirts of the capital.

This afternoon, with Freedom Park cleared of all but journalists and rights activists, armed forces marched through the side streets surrounding Freedom Park, threatening and chasing bystanders as military helicopters, recently purchased from China, flew low overhead. Additional reporting by Stuart White

GUNFIRE at Phnom Penh's Canadia Industrial Park today killed at least four people, a military police official said, after armed forces firing weapons stormed the area – where garment workers and supporters set fires and gutted at least one building.

"We received news from the hospital claiming that four people were killed and another 26 strikers were injured," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Naly Pilorge, director of rights group Licadho, which tallied the casualties, also said four had been killed, adding that 29 others were shot in the crackdown and 12 more treated for injuries that have not been confirmed as gunshot wounds.

Rights group Adhoc has said that five people were killed in the crackdown, while Phnom Penh deputy police commissioner Chuon Narin told the Post only three people died and two were seriously injured.

The demonstration at Canadia comes amid an ongoing national strike that began last week when the Ministry of Labour's Labour Advisory Committee set a new monthly minimum wage of $95 – $65 less than striking unions demanded. The ministry raised the minimum wage another $5 earlier this week, but many workers have remained on strike.

Bloodshed this morning and afternoon stemmed from a peaceful demonstration yesterday afternoon, which police broke up with an unprovoked attack, beating people with batons, witnesses said last night.

Demonstrators then started at least three tyre fires in the middle of roads, which they blocked to traffic using vehicles and debris.

After midnight, an estimated 500 police in riot gear moved in to remove hundreds of remaining protesters from outside the factory.

Road blocks and fires resumed this morning, with demonstrators also breaking windows and gutting Ekreach Clinic, throwing medical equipment onto a bonfire burning on Veng Sreng Boulevard.

At about 10am, authorities began firing live ammunition at demonstrators, who allegedly threw stones at the security forces, a statement released by Licadho says.

Demonstrators began scattering from Veng Sreng at about 1:30pm, when military police descended upon the area, armed with automatic weapons.

Rapid volleys of gunfire and some screams could be heard for about 15 minutes, as soldiers walked behind buildings on the street, which protesters had ran toward.

Factories at Canadia Industrial Park supply to H&M, Puma, Adidas and PVH – whose brands include Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein – said Moeun Tola, head of the labour programme at Community Legal Education Center.

Pilorge, from Licadho, said the violence was the worst seen in Cambodia since the shootings and grenade attacks on political demonstrations in 1998.

"[Past violence] was all political... this was originally triggered by workers," Pilorge said. "In terms of labour, we've never seen this."

Dave Welsh, from labour rights group Solidarity Center, condemned the use of live ammunition as outrageous.

"In that economic zone, things have been getting out of hand," he said. "Whatever the case, this is complete disproportionate use of force, illegal and completely outrageous on behalf of the government."

Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, said he had received information that four strikers had been shot dead and many more injured.

"Why are they cracking down on us when we are just demanding our salary?"

But National Military Police spokesman Brigadier General Kheng Tito defended the use of force.

"We're just doing our jobs. We fear the security situation, so we have to crack down on them," he said. "If we allow them to continue the strike, later on, it will become messy and more complicated to control."

Tito added that nine police officials were injured by stones, some fired from slingshots, during clashes with workers in the area.

As of tonight, authorities have secured the situation at all locations where clashes erupted and 11 protesters arrested will be sent to court for formal charges, he added.
Among the bloodied was part-time garment worker Yean Sothear, 25, who said he received head injuries during the crackdown.

"The workers didn't want violence. We just wanted to block the road . . . the police attacked us and shot us," he said. "Most of the workers were injured. My friend went to the nearby hospital, but the police ordered them not to treat them – that's why they were angry."

San Sino, 28, whose brother, a garment worker, was shot dead, said staff at the Khmer-Soviet Friendship hospital had refused to release his brother's body for a funeral service in Freedom Park.

"My brother was a factory worker. He went to demonstrate a few days ago," he said. "I begged him not to strike – because it is very risky. I came back from Takeo province to see my brother dead in the hospital."

The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, whose protests calling for a re-election following last July's ballot and the resignation of Prime Minister Hun Sen have coincided with the garment strikes, said the violence was totally unacceptable.

"I condemn the act of violence. I condemn the use of armed forces led by the CPP to kill their own people," he said. "We cannot stand still and be calm. The CNRP will do its best to show solidarity with the workers. On the 5th, more people will [join demonstrations]."

Sovann said the opposition would not let "powerful people kill their own people."

"The CNRP together with the people" had organised a ceremony, also being referred to as a peace vigil, at Freedom Park today, Sovann added.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy this evening met with demonstrators at Freedom Park and began visiting victims in hospital.

In a statement released after the violence, the Ministry of Labour said the CNRP – not just the six unions groups it has previously attributed blame to – had encouraged "provocative behaviour" for their own political benefit.

"They have to cooperate with authorities," the statement says. "The ministry will call the five unions to meet on January 8 to discuss this."

A statement from the Ministry of Defence also took aim at the opposition, saying it had "provoked" outrage after July's election by saying the military had been deployed to the streets and by urging soldiers and civil servants "not to fulfil their obligations" in protest against the election result.

"RCAF would like to appeal to the public to ignore such provocative and inaccurate information that could lead to violence and affect social order and national security in Cambodia," the statement says.

Phnom Penh City Hall issued a statement blaming "anarchists" for the violence.

"The group of anarchists has used violence, blocked roads, burnt private property, intimidated investors [in economic zones] and threatened to set fire to factories in that area," the statement says.

"Due to the high risk presented, the authorities were forced to take action to disperse these anarchists, who caused violence leading to clashes that injured both the authorities and some anarchists."

But it also blamed politicians – though without naming the CNRP – for "causing unrest, chaos and violence that affected workers, investors and social order".

The bloodshed follows violence yesterday at the Yakjin factory, in the capital's Por Sen Chey district, when soldiers, armed with an array of weapons, injured dozens, including 15 people they also arrested.

According to the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, the five monks arrested in that incident – who authorities accused of being "fake monks" who had damaged private and public property – were released the same night.

The remaining 10, including Vorn Pov, president of the Independent Democracy of Informal Economic Association (IDEA), were taken to court this morning and charged with intentionally causing damage with aggravating circumstances and acts of violence with aggravating circumstances. They were sent to Prey Sar prison.

In the wake of that violence, the CNRP yesterday announced it would not attend planned negotiations with the ruling Cambodian People's Party today over the political deadlock, which still has the opposition boycotting its 55 seats in the National Assembly.

In response to the violence, the US embassy, via its website, put out a "security message" to its citizens in Cambodia, warning them to avoid areas southwest of Phnom Penh International Airport.

"You should remain alert to local security developments by monitoring local news reports, be vigilant regarding your personal security and preparedness, be aware of your surroundings, and plan your activities accordingly," the message says. Additional reporting by Sen David and Khouth Sophak Chakrya

At least three protesters have been shot dead by police this morning at the Canadia industrial complex in the capital's Por Sen Chey district, Phnom Penh deputy police chief Chuon Narin has confirmed.

The use of force came as riot police moved in to break up a demonstration by thousands of workers who blocked Veng Sreng street, the site of an ongoing demonstration that began yesterday evening and saw hundreds of riot police deployed to the area after midnight.

Only moments ago, Post reporters on the scene confirmed that the widespread use of automatic weapons fire was still ongoing.

Union leaders and rights activists reported even higher death totals.

Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, said he had received information that four strikers had been shot dead and many more injured.

"The situation now is still tense," he told the Post. "Why are they cracking down on us as we just demanding our salary?"

Chan Soveth, a monitor for local rights group Adhoc who was at the scene, also said he had heard four strikers were killed, with another 10 badly injured and multiple arrests.

"They were beating people on their heads," Soveth added, saying authorities tried to chase strikers who attempted to run to their rented rooms near the site.

National Military Police spokesman Brigadier General Kheng Tito, who would confirm only one death when reached earlier, defended the use of force.

"We're just doing our jobs. We fear the security situation, so we have to crack down on them," he said. "If we allow them to continue the strike, later on, it will become messy and more complicated to control."

Tito added that nine police officials were injured by stones, some fired from slingshots, during clashes with workers in the area.

Dave Welsh, from labour rights group Solidarity Center, condemned the police use of live ammunition as outrageous.

"In that economic zone, things have been getting out of hand," he said. "Whatever the case, this is complete disproportionate use of force, illegal and completely outrageous on behalf of the government."

The demonstration comes amid an ongoing national strike that began last week when the Ministry of Labour's Labour Advisory Committee set a new monthly minimum wage of $95 - $65 less than striking unions demanded. The ministry raised the minimum wage another $5 earlier this week. Additional reporting by Shane Worrell and Sean Teehan

They have a job to protect the nation. This is not a demonstration … this is a rebellion.

Authorities yesterday injured dozens of union leaders, garment workers and monks, arresting at least 15 of them, in a series of crackdowns against demonstrators protesting the industry's minimum wage.

Garment workers and their supporters who were gathered yesterday in front of the Yakjin factory, off National Road 4 in the capital's Por Sen Chey district, said tensions between demonstrators and soldiers from a local military base guarding the factory boiled over at 9am when soldiers began unprovoked attacks on them.

The demonstration occurred amid a national garment worker strike that began last week when the Ministry of Labour's Labour Advisory Committee set this year's minimum monthly wage for workers in the garment sector at $95 – $65 less than unions demanded. The ministry this week tacked another $5 onto the minimum wage, which will now rise to $100 next month.

As the groups stood face-to-face on the dirt road just off the main road, soldiers began throwing water bottles at demonstrators, who picked up the bottles and threw them back at soldiers, said Chean Kongkea, a 20-year-old employee at Korean-owned Yakjin.

The groups then exchanged volleys of projectiles, with soldiers using slingshots to fling rocks at demonstrators, said Sophorn, a witness who asked to be identified only by his first name.

During that first melee, soldiers also attacked people with batons, seemingly at random, Kongkea said. Soldiers grabbed two men off their motorbikes and three women from the crowd, heavily beat them and dragged them inside the grounds of the factory – which had dismissed workers for the day shortly before.

A second outburst came at about noon, when four monks who approached soldiers were allegedly severely beaten with batons and three also dragged inside, Sophorn said.

The fourth monk was beaten unconscious and taken by witnesses to the Choam Chao clinic and treated for his injuries.

Soon after the monks were beaten, which coincided with more throwing of projectiles from both sides, a group of about three soldiers surrounded Van Peuv, an employee with the NGO IDEA, unprovoked, and pummelled him severely, dragging him inside along with the others, said Uch Serey Juth, who was standing next to Peuv.

During Peuv's beating, Serey Juth pleaded with soldiers for them to stop to no avail, he said. "They said only, 'My boss ordered me to,'" Serey Juth said.

The scene remained tense for hours after the arrests, with Chab Sophorn, the soldier giving orders to the others, shouting for the demonstrators and onlookers to back up and initially refusing to allow UN peacekeepers inside the factory to see the injured arrestees.

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Authorities eventually allowed a group of people, including Cambodia National Rescue Party member David Sovann, inside the factory, but those arrested had already been taken to the nearby base of the Special Forces Airborne 911 Unit, where they were being held, Sovann said after emerging from the factory.

Bloodstains on the floor of the factory led Sovann to suspect the people taken inside were further battered after their arrests, he said.

A statement from rights group Licadho and the Community Legal Education Center described the incident as "unprecedented" and a "violent crackdown" by soldiers armed with a number of weapons.

"The conduct of the authorities is a flagrant attack on the freedom of association of Cambodian workers and a blatant and illegal attempt to break a legal strike," the statement says.

The two NGOs believed 10 people had been arrested, including at least four monks, Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association president Vorn Pao and Coalition of Cambodian Farmer Community coordinator Theng Savoeun.

In all, 15 people, including five monks were arrested, according to the National Police's website.

"We are gravely concerned for the safety of those still held, especially in light of recent threats to leaders of unions and informal associations," Licadho director Naly Pilorge said.

At the scene, Chab Sophorn defended actions taken against demonstrators. They posed a threat to Yakjin's property, which they were charged with protecting, he said.

"I was ordered by my boss to protect the factory, so I have to protect the factory," Chab Sophorn said. "They threw a lot of stones at us."

Women from the Boeung Kak community, including Yorm Bopha, joined in, at times kneeling in prayer in front of soldiers standing in formation and at other times shouting at them. Monks standing in the front of a crowd of onlookers about 50 metres away from soldiers linked arms, refusing to leave as Sophorn ordered.

According to a press release issued by its partner firm last week, Yakjin Trading Corp, which also operates factories in Vietnam and Indonesia, makes clothes for Gap, Walmart and Old Navy, among other big brands.

The protesters strategy changed at 4:45pm, when about 400 people walked into National Road 4, blocking traffic on both sides with their bodies, tuk-tuks and motorbikes.

Just over an hour later, after several speeches made over loudspeakers attached to a tuk-tuk, the group mobilised, marching about a half-kilometre down National Road 4, and blocking it right in front of the street leading to the military base. Demonstrators soon blocked the base's road as well, demanding authorities release the people being held.

Traffic on the main road backed up with headlights going back far in the distance. Demonstrators blocked attempts by several people on motorbikes to get past the human barricade in front of the military base road.

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As he helped block the road, Sieng Sovannara, chief of the Khmer Krom monk community, said he did so because five of his monks were being held inside the base, accused of being "fake monks".

"I decided to block the road because I want authorities to release the monks," said Sovannara, who added that the monks there had been defrocked.

Chan Soveth, a senior investigator for rights group Adhoc, also decried the military response to an initially peaceful protest.

"It was very wrong, because they are soldiers," Soveth said. "They have to protect the nation, not the factory, but they protect the factory and beat monks."

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan defended soldiers' role in detaining the monks and union leaders, comparing their role to that of the National Guard in the US.

"They have a job to protect the nation," he said. "This is not a demonstration … this is a rebellion."

Asked whether monks involved could be said to be a threat to national security, Siphan claimed they were "fake monks" who had destroyed public and private property.

"They are abusing the law. If you have the uniform, you need to own the ethics … the monk should be in the pagoda."

At about 7pm, demonstrators left on their own accord.

Authorities later released the five monks at about 11:30pm.

Nearby, at the Canadia garment factory, authorities also carried out an unprovoked attack on peaceful demonstrators armed only with speakers, injuring 10 people, said Phoeun Chhorn, a 21-year-old worker at Canadia whose foot was injured during the crackdown.

A doctor at Ekreach Clinic said three people came in for treatment. Two were sent home and one was transferred to the Cambodian-Russian Friendship Hospital. In the wake of that incident, a group of protesters estimated at more than 200 strong blockaded the street and set large bonfires.

After midnight this morning, an estimated 500 police in riot gear moved in to remove hundreds of remaining protesters from outside the factory.

At the sign of movement, most of the crowd scattered, though a few remained, throwing rocks from a distance, as police fired warning shots into the air.

At least one man was seen being dragged from a nearby building after attempting to hide from the police.

Earlier yesterday, members of the six unions leading the strike announced they would suspend the strike if the government and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia begins negotiations with unions within three days.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHANE WORRELL, MOM KUNTHEAR, DANIEL QUINLAN AND BENNETT MURRAY

Some 300 residents of Kampong Thom province will submit their thumbprints to the provincial governor calling for the ouster of the chief abbot of a Stung Sen town pagoda – a move opponents say is motivated by the abbot's perceived support of the opposition.

However, Khieu Khean, chief of Krochab village in Achar Leak commune, maintained yesterday that residents were upset with Krochab pagoda abbot Ann Mony because he had been uncooperative, and had had "scores of problems with people".

"He ignores people and was insincere about money with the pagoda committee by using pagoda money to buy a motorbike and a car," Khean said.

But some, like villager and Cambodia National Rescue Party supporter Kem Sosal, 31, accused Khean and others of seeking Mony's ouster in order to install a more pro-ruling party abbot.

"The village chief and his deputy have collected thumbprints, saying [the abbot] is involved in politics, so they want to drive him out, but when we ask why they say it is not political, and that [it's because] he is not honest with the pagoda instead," she said.

"As for the accusation of him buying moto or car, I can say that the mother of the chief abbot has money to buy one for him; [he was] not using pagoda's money."

Last month, Mony allowed the CNRP to hold a Buddhist ceremony to collect money to build improved toilets for the pagoda. He also took part in the opposition's mass demonstrations in the capital, one of the reasons authorities intend to expel him, Sosal added.

Stung Sen town Governor Hok Rin said yesterday that he was unaware of the campaign, but that only the provincial or district board of monks could remove an abbot.

Mony could not be reached for comment yesterday.

A reputed drug addict in Banteay Meanchey's Sisophon town with a host of alleged crimes to his name finally ran out of luck on Wednesday.

According to police, the man was known for snatching bags, grabbing phones and stealing in the early morning every time he and his wife ran out of money for drugs.

But the good times finally came to an end when police were issued an arrest warrant and raided his guesthouse, sending him and his wife to court. KAMPUCHEA THMEY

Go down to Phnom Penh's Central Market at 8am and you'll find that the food court on the west side is crowded with diners. Stalls offer the usual fare: pork and rice, borbor rice porridge, kuy taev or rice noodle soup. Market vendors fuel up for the day ahead.

Tucked in the middle of the stalls is a stand adorned with the usual unidentifiable meat products. In a glass case, enormous shrimp are for sale. But behind the display a harried young woman prepares a vibrantly yellow dish on a metal tray: cha knyay sach moan, or chicken with ginger. Every morning, she opens her stall at 6am.

On the Sunday I visited, the place was packed. Men sitting at our table were eating Khmer noodles, and a woman was eating pork and rice.

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Cha knyay sach moan isn't strictly for the morning: it can be eaten throughout the day, and comes in various styles. Cambodians often swap the chicken for pork or beef. The ginger can come either raw or cooked, and chili is sometimes added to provide an extra kick. The dish is made by frying chicken with salt and sugar, before adding the ginger. When the ginger is cooked, it's fried along with the other ingredients.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, my helping of cha knyay sach moan was served atop a mound of white rice, and although I was given a generous portion it was the yellow zing that caught the eye, making for an attractive plate and a more exciting breakfast than murky grey borbor porridge. The ginger was grated in thin strips, adding some elegance to the lumps of on-the-bone chicken. Sprinkled on top were thinly-sliced green slivers of spring onion.

We ordered iced coffees, but there wasn't much need: like with many street food stalls, cold tea comes with every dish.

Although the raw ginger overpowered the subtle taste of the chicken, it wasn't such a bad thing given the dryness of the meat. Like many Cambodian dishes, there's a lot of bone. For people used to gnawing on close-cuts, this might suit. I prefer fleshier cuts of meat, and became self-conscious of constantly raising my hand to my mouth to take out bits of cartilage. Eventually I gave up on the meat altogether, but happily ate the rest of the ginger and rice.

If you're not averse to meat on the bone, cha knyay sach moan is an attractive dish. Even if it's not your thing, the taste is extremely pungent, and just the thing to wake you up in the morning. Just make sure you like ginger. ​​​

American author Peter Maguire is as comfortable in big waves as a surfer as Mike Ritter was when smuggling drugs across the Pacific Ocean. Together they have written a fantastic tale, Thai Stick – Surfers, Scammers and the Untold Story of the Marijuana Trade. Luke Hunt reports.

For some, it was the time of their lives. Chasing double overhead barrels along the exotic surf beaches of Bali, where a few dollars would buy an abundance of marijuana and a lifestyle that was the stuff of big wave legends.

'Young surfers from California, Hawaii, Australia and elsewhere toured the beaches and went searching for ways to underwrite their lifestyles. They dabbled in pot and soon discovered a lot of money could be made exporting the product into the United States. It was the 1960s, the Vietnam War was about to enter high gear and Southeast Asia had become a awash with hippies, ex-servicemen, draft dodgers and drifters, surfers and backpackers looking for an adventure and willing to risk what little they had on what was then an inoffensive drug industry.

Surfboards were hollowed out, suitcases with false bottoms were built, yachts were bought and all were initially stuffed with hash. That changed when Thai sticks, which consists of buds from high grade marijuana, rolled and tied into sticks, emerged and put the smugglers on Easy Street.

"Having worked Mexican marijuana before, I realised how much more Thai marijuana was worth," said Jim Conklin an agent with Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Shipments of 10 tonnes worth $30 million each were not uncommon as the smugglers' work stretched from the 1960s through the 70s and 80s when the authorities finally gained the upper hand after the Reagan administration ordered a crackdown. For many, the wild parties and lavish lifestyles ended in lengthy prison terms.

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Throughout their book, authors Peter Maguire, an accomplished surfer, and Mike Ritter are sympathetic. After all, pot was considered a soft drug and those smuggling it would be likened to Robin Hood when compared with the.American mobs and Mexican drug cartels which would ruthlessly run the cocaine and heroin rackets that followed.

Among the wackier dealers was the Brotherhood of Eternal Love – a messianic Utopian movement that took massive amounts of LSD and used profits from the sale of Thai sticks to support their free distribution of acid across the United States.

Of the bigger fears faced by the smugglers were the Khmer Rouge, who had taken control of Cambodia and cut it off from the rest of world while carrying out what some have called an auto-genocide that would account for the deaths of about two million people.

Michael Deeds and Chris Delance were clean living friends from schooldays in Long Beach, California. Allured by promises of adventure in the Far East the pair attempted to smuggle a boat load of weed across the Gulf of Siam and the Pacific Ocean but their plans went wrong and their boat strayed off-course and into Cambodian waters where they were arrested and taken to the dreaded S-21 torture and extermination camp in Phnom Penh. They died just weeks before Pol Pot was ousted by an invading Vietnamese army. But for the most part the DEA, Interpol, Thai customs, local police and immigration were more nuisances to be skillfully avoided.

Maguire said his relationship with Ritter, who was jailed for drug smuggling, was always good but that friendship grew into one of absolute trust and enabled this book to be written. "After he went to prison and sent me all of his research, I found out just how amazing a researcher he was. We never differed on the book's content, we never wanted to pander to whims of Hollywood or commercial publishers," Maguire said.

"We both wanted to write a serious, scholarly history of the marijuana trade that would meet the same rigorous standards as my previous books and that is why we chose Columbia University Press, they did a great job."

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He said the smugglers that were interviewed were at first coy, however, many were also Ritter's former coconspirators so they had already established some kind of trust through him.

"The interview process was cathartic for men who had led secret lives and could finally talk," Maguire said. "By far the most amazing thing has been the number of aging surfer smugglers who have come out of the woodwork to embrace our book.

"One major smuggler showed up at a book signing in California. He spent 14 years in both Thai and American prisons and although he did not want to be interviewed, he came to shake our hands and tell us that he thought the book was fair and accurate," he said.

Maguire and Ritter also shared similar experiences with the men sent to capture and jail the smugglers.

"Although we respectfully disagree on the dangers of marijuana, the retired DEA agents we interviewed thought the book was fair and concede that compared to meth and cocaine, the Thai marijuana trade looks positively innocent."

What makes Thai Stick a great read is that the authors successfully capture the imagery of idyllic beaches and surfing which makes this all the more memorable for those who can remember the era. It also serves notice on the American war on drugs which would put thousands behind bars and cost billions of taxpayer's dollars without making a dent on pot sales in America.

"American law enforcement is basically in the same place the US military was in Vietnam during the early 1970s. They have conceded defeat in the war on pot and they are now looking for a face saving way out," Maguire said.

"However, there is none as it was a massive waste of time and resources. Today pot is basically legal in California and the marijuana industry is growing more quickly than even the tech sector," he said.

That might sound like cold comfort for the smugglers, like Ritter, who went to prison. But with Thai Stick they may also have had the final – and a scholarly – say in the whole affair.

SERGEI Polonsky is either freed or extradited
Once among Russia's richest businesspeople, ex-real estate billionaire Sergei Polonsky is now behind bars in Phnom Penh. He was first imprisoned in January after several Sihanoukville boatmen accused Polonsky of threatening them with a knife at sea. Although freed on bail in April, Russian courts then charged him with embezzling $176 million back home. He was re-arrested in November. The question now is whether Cambodia will send Polonsky back to Russia, keep him locked up here or allow him to live freely in the Kingdom as an international fugitive

Cambodian maids return to Malaysia
Ministry of Labor secretary of state Othsman Hassan announced last month that Cambodian maids may return to Malaysia as soon as 2014. A moratorium on sending maids to Malaysia was enacted in October 2011 after stories of violence and abuse emerged. But a memorandum of understanding is currently in the works that will allow the resumption of Malaysian domestic work recruitment in the Kingdom. Such an agreement, said Hassan, will include enhanced safeguards to hold recruitment agencies responsible for the workers' treatment.

Thailand complies with Preah Vihear ICJ ruling
The International Court of Justice ruled in November that the promontory on which Preah Vihear temple sits is Cambodian territory. Thailand, however, has yet to officially accept the ruling. Cambodia has been patient, with Information Minister Khieu Kanharith saying in November that the government would not "rush" Thailand's implementation of the ruling. But with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's future uncertain as the political situation in Bangkok continues to deteriorate, it is unknown if and when Thailand will accept the ICJ's decision.

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Construction on new airport begins in Siem Reap :
After much delay, ground is scheduled to be broken for Siem Reap's second airport in early 2014. Approved in late 2010, the new airport is expected to handle between 10 to15 million passengers per year. Siem Reap's current airport handles the majority of Cambodia's tourist air traffic, with 766,000 foreigners touching down in Siem Reap between January and August this year compared to Phnom Penh's 541,500. The airport's site, which will be owned by Korean companies Camco Airport Co Ltd and Lees A&A, is located 60 kilometres out of town.

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Genocide RESEARCH institute designed by Zaha Hadid breaks ground:
Iraqi-born British architect Zaha Hadid, whose buildings have graced major corners of the globe, will design the Documentation Centre of Cambodia's Sleuk Rith Institute. The institute envisioned by DC-Cam's executive director Youk Chhang as a leading genocide studies centre in Southeast Asia, has been years in the making, and is expected to break ground this year. Last year, she told 7Days that she and her team will take influence from Cambodian elements of style.

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The Last Reel is released:
There's been a lot of buzz about a new film set to come out of Cambodia – The Last Reel, starring sixties screen siren Dy Saveth. The film follows the story of a directionless daughter of a colonel who runs away from an arranged marriage and makes her home in an abandoned cinema. Inside, she finds an incomplete melodrama from the pre-Khmer Rouge 'golden era' of film and tries to remake the missing last reel. Filmmakers are in post-production, and aim to screen at major film festivals. Hanuman Productions, the largest locations services company in the country, is behind the film.

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Khmer Rouge Tribunal resumes:
The second Khmer Rouge Tribunal sub-trial for Khieu Samphan, former Head of State of Democratic Kampuchea, and Nuon Chea, former Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, is scheduled to begin this year – though exactly when is still unclear. Hearings in February will discuss the fitness of the defendants to stand trial and what charges will be tried in the new case, but issues to be resolved before evidentiary hearings can begin include whether to start Case 002/02 while drafting a verdict in Case 002/01. Following the death of co-defendant Ieng Sary, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as the ruling that Ieng Thirith, former Minister of Social Affairs, is unfit to stand trial, the prosecution is under pressure to wrap up the trials of the octogenarian defendants.

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January

Adaptation of Francois Bizot's The Gate starts filming in Siem Reap:
The filming of a joint Cambodian-French adaptation of Francois Bizot's memoir The Gate will begin in January. The book, which was published in 2003, tells the story of the French ethnologist's capture under the Khmer Rouge in 1971, four years before they came to power. The film will be directed by Rithy Panh and Regis Wargnier.
Siem Reap.

Director Rithy Panh is nominated for an Oscar?
On the 16th, the Academy Awards will announce the final shortlist of five nominees for the foreign language film category. Cambodian-French filmmaker Rithy Panh's The Missing Picture, which re-creates the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime using clay figures, has made it to the last nine, from the original list of more than 70 films submitted.
Los Angeles.

Our City festival begins:
The Our City festival will present a series of art, architecture and urban planning themed exhibitions, events, performances, screenings, educational talks and tours and workshops across Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Battambang in an attempt to stimulate ideas and discussion about the development and future of Cambodia's urban environments. Runs from January 17 to 26 in Phnom Penh and the subsequent weekends in Siem Reap and then Battambang.
Various venues, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Battambang.

PP Designers' Week:
After the success of the first event last year, a three-day long fashion week will be held at The Plantation Urban Resort. Each day will feature three designers, including Waterlily, CGBCN, A.N.D and Eric Raisina. The fun kicks off on the 13th.
The Plantation, Street 184, Phnom Penh.

Cambodia Living Arts celebrates 15 years:
Arts organisation Cambodian Living Arts, which aims to keep traditional music alive, will celebrate its fifteenth anniversary in January, and will commemorate with a photography exhibition on January 23. The display will document founder Arn Chorn-Pond's journey fifteen years ago to reunite Cambodia's artists who survived the Khmer Rouge era. It will also show photographs and testimonials of key points in the history of Cambodian Living Arts.
Cambodia Living Arts, #128G9 Sothearos Boulevard, Phnom Penh

Burger King opens a branch in Boeung Keng Kang One:
A sign has popped up announcing the arrival of Burger King at the old True Coffee shop at the corner of Streets 51 and 310 in BKK1. After almost a year of operations at Phnom Penh International Airport, the manager announced in December that the American fast food chain's first outlet in the city itself would open in January.
Corner Streets 51 & 310, Phnom Penh

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February & March

Friends International hold music festival:
Friends International will celebrate its 20-year anniversary on February 8 with a family friendly music festival. The boldly titled International Amazing Acoustic Picnic will feature a mix of local and international artists, food from the Friends restaurants, craft for children and pedicures and massages for adults.
Mith Samlanh Centre, Street 13, Phnom Penh, 2pm.

Rithy Panh wins an Oscar?
The Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 2 could see Rithy Panh receive his, and Cambodia's first Oscar. He will learn whether The Missing Picture has secured a nomination in early January. The other films in contention for a nomination include Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad's thriller Omar and Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai's ode to the Kung Fu martial arts genre, The Grandmaster.
Los Angeles.

CAMBODIA Fashion Illumination Spring/Summer:
Sovereign Retail Group, which specialises in importing and retailing luxury fashion items, will be holding the second Cambodia Fashion Illumination show at Diamond Island City Hall on February, 21 to 22. The event, which is to include six local designers and eight international brands, aims to bring Cambodian and foreign designers together to generate global buzz on the Kingdom's fashion scene. The Kingdom will be represented by six brands, including Soknan, Rong, Seam Fashion, Chin FDesign, CGBCN and Natacha Van. The eight international companies will include denim giant Levi's from the United States, Axara from France and Mango from Spain.
Diamond Island City Hall, Phnom Penh

Giant Puppet Parade:
The annual puppet show, featuring a parade of enormous illuminated puppets ranging in size from 10 to 33 metres, will be held in Siem Reap, on February 22. The event is a community-based arts project involving various organisations. Children carry the puppets, which are modeled after ancient Chinese dragon puppets, and address various community themes: road safety, endangered species, hygiene, local cultural appreciation, environmental awareness and more.
Starts at the Old Market, Siem Reap.

Chaktomuk Film Festival:
Cambodian film will continue to be celebrated in March with the third edition of the Chaktomouk Short Film Festival, organised by Kon Khmer Koun Khmer and the Bophana Centre. Held between March 26 and 29, it will take place in various locations around Phnom Penh. The Festival will promote filmmakers from Cambodia and other Southeast Asian nations. Running parallel will be FilmCampKH, a workshop for young filmmakers. Last year was a success for Cambodian short film, with young filmmaker Kavich Neang's Where I Go, following a young man trying to track down his African father, screening at several international film festivals. Deadline for submission is Wednesday, January 15 and the categories will be Southeast Asian Competition, Cambodian Competition and Short Films Showcase.
Various venues, Phnom Penh.

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April & May

Khmer New Year:
Falling over April 13 to 16 this year, Khmer New Year is the Kingdom's most important festival. Locals load up on incense and fruit to ring in the incoming year, as well as play traditional games like pole-climbing and dancing with pots. Battambang is well-known for New Year boxing matches while Kandal province's Mekong Beach, or Koh Dach, is a popular spot for lounging by waterfront cottages. The nearby Wat En Pise celebrates with 12 days of games. Revellers paint their faces with powder and throw water over each other. Prey Ta Ouk village in Kangpisey district, Kampong Speu province holds an annual traditional oxcart race on April 12, one day before Khmer New Year begins.
Various venues.

Vattanac Capital Tower opens
The 188-metre, 39-storey building is already a distinct feature of the Phnom Penh skyline. Shaped like a dragon's back, the tower is set to open in spring 2014. Inside, there will be 21 floors of office space. International luxury hotel and resort group Rosewood will operate the top 14 floors. There will also be a high-end retail zone and a 'lifestyle cube' with medical, education and entertainment facilities.
Monivong Boulevard, Phnom Penh.

Contemporary dance platform:
An evening of modern Cambodian dance will be held in May by Amrita Performing Arts after last year's November showcase sold-out. Dancers combine new skills, which were developed after working with international collaborators, with classical styles. November's event featured two new works: Bach Cello Suites by Chumvan Sodhachivy and Dream by Nan Narim, which were presented alongside Ferocious Compassion by Peter Chin, artistic director of Toronto based Tribal Crackling Wind. The public performance was followed the next day by two intensive sessions with international guests.
To be confirmed.

Memory International Film Heritage festival begins:
An international film festival will run May 31 to June 8, on the theme of 'Laughter'. Last year's nine-day event showcased local and foreign films by filmmakers ranging from Georges Méliès to late King Father Norodom Sihanouk. In the spirit of heritage, the films were mostly screened in the Chaktomuk Theatre on Sisowath Quay, which was designed by acclaimed Khmer architect Vann Molyvann and completed in 1961.
To be confirmed.

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June, July & August

World Cup 2014 is screened on CTN:
Broadcaster Cambodian Television Network (CTN) last year secured the exclusive free-to-air and pay-TV rights to screen the 2014 FIFA World Cup live from Brazil. The games kick off on June 12 with Brazil playing Croatia. (Sadly, Cambodia didn't make the cut this year. The last time Cambodia took part in a large international football tournament was ASEAN 2008, when they played three games, scored two goals and were knocked out.) CTN, owned by the Royal Group and operated by Cambodian Broadcast Service (CBS), outbid other TV stations to secure their second successive rights to the quadrennial tournament after South Africa's 2010 edition. World Cup coverage, set to be run on both CTN and its sister channel MyTV, should extend beyond the actual tournament, with official FIFA football events during the build-up to the summer being partially or fully covered by the station. Live matches from the World Cup are set to be broadcast between the hours of 11pm and 7am Cambodian time.
Various venues.

Luxury car dealerships open:
Those lucky enough to be in the market for a luxury drive should be able to get their paws on a Porsche or an Audi by mid-2014. Porsche announced plans to open a full sales, service and spare parts facility in Phnom Penh.
To be confirmed.

Cambodia's first full marathon:
Cambodia's most famous architectural and cultural icon already is home to an international half marathon. But, if everything goes to plan, the Angkor complex will host a traditional 42km marathon in September. A large number of foreign and local runners who regularly participate in the annual Angkor Wat International Half Marathon urged the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia to launch a conventional 42-km race.
Various venues, Siem Reap.

Aeon mall opens:
Japanese megamall operator Aeon Group is set to open a $205 million, 68,000 square metre mall with more than 100,000 square metres of floor space, about 150 shops and parking capacity for 1,400 cars and 1,800 motorbikes on Sothearos Boulevard, next to the Sofitel, in July.
Sothearos Boulevard, Phnom Penh.

Youth Arts Festival:
Currently slated for August 2014, the festival will be hosted by arts organisation Cambodia Living Arts in partnership with the Royal University of Fine Arts and the National Museum. The organisers plan to turn the entire area into a festival campus. Previous years have brought together live performances from both amateur and professional artists as well as demonstrations, jam sessions, visual arts and talks.
Street 278, Phnom Penh.

Youk Chhang is one of the country's foremost scholars on the Khmer Rouge regime. But when his deaf sister was diagnosed with terminal cancer and the pair spent more time together, he finally learned her story. Here, he reflects on their different lives as genocide survivors.

As a witness to the horrors of Democratic Kampuchea (DK) – commonly known as Khmer Rouge – and as a researcher who has worked for many years studying and documenting the stories of individuals who suffered and died under the Khmer Rouge regime, I felt like I understood most aspects of Khmer Rouge history.

Of course I learn some-thing about humanity in every single story, and there is never a moment that I am not awed by the incredible spirit of Cambodian people. But there are times when I come across stories that make me question everything I know.

In 1959, Keo Kolthida Ekkasakh was born deaf. She was the youngest of five sisters in my family and as a deaf child she was ostracised by most people. Lacking the ability to communicate with all but those trained in sign language, she learned to depend on herself and the few people who had the patience and love to know her. My mother had always paid special attention to her, and because she was only two years apart from I, we were like best friends. But when the Khmer Rouge came to power we were separated, and I didn't see her again until after 1979.

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While we re-connected after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, both of us had already forgotten much of our sign language, and over the years our ability to communicate decreased significantly. It is no surprise that over the years, she found alternative ways to express herself. After the Khmer Rouge regime, she taught herself how to draw and paint, and she turned to the canvas as her microphone to the world.

Recently she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and we have been spending a great deal of time together, visiting our home town in Tuol Kork and discussing the death and disappearance of loved ones. At one point our conversations drifted to her experiences during the Khmer Rouge regime.

During the Khmer Rouge regime she worked on a cooperative planting potatoes and clearing forest under Ta Mok's Division (one of the military commanders during the DK regime). Like all victims, she learned to survive by sheer instinct. On the verge of starvation, she resorted to eating roots, leaves and insects in the field. One day, however, she was caught. Angkar (the DK's concept of the supreme organisation) owned everything – the crops, the dirt and even the insects. The Khmer Rouge saw her eating some roots and promptly arrested her. They bound her hands behind her back and out of sheer luck her captors decided to simply scold her and let her go.

We talked for hours about her experience. When the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975, she remembered that I was alone at home and she told me how she often wondered what ever happened to me during the Khmer Rouge period. She recounted the tragic deaths of one of our sister's children, Tan Keoketana, who was born in 1975, the loss of our father, and the disappearance of other family members. As I came to learn more about her story, I felt a mixture of emotions. I felt so honoured to be one of the few people to have ever learned her story, and yet I felt so incredibly sad and guilty.

As a deaf person, no one bothered to ask her about her experience during the Khmer Rouge period. Over thirty four years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime and I did not even know the true story of my sister's experience under the Khmer Rouge.

As I communicated with her about what she endured during the Khmer Rouge regime, it made me wonder how different her experience was as a deaf person and the indescribable spirit and resourcefulness she must have had to survive the Khmer Rouge period.

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I also wondered how many other people with mental or physical disabilities have had to suffer alone. How many other life stories are forgotten, overlooked or are simply never told?

The unavoidable tragedy of all mass atrocities is the loss of history, but having studied the history of Democratic Kampuchea for so many years, I realised that my sister's story was a testimony to just how much our effort in obtaining justice really falls short. My sister did not even know there was an international tribunal dedicated to bringing justice to Cambodia.

Her story made me re-evaluate what I thought I knew about Khmer Rouge history, and I believe the story of her life is a challenge to our current efforts at finding justice in Cambodia. In Cambodia you cannot have a conversation about justice, democracy or human rights without a discussion on history. To have a conversation about the former inevitably requires an interpretation of the latter and vice versa.

Keo Kolthida Ekkasakh's story may be only a small piece of Khmer Rouge history (and a personal one for me), but like others who do not have the capacity to speak, her story challenges us to really evaluate our definition of justice and whether we are really doing all that we can for those without a voice.

Youk Chhang is Director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia - a prominent non-governmental organisation in Phnom Penh dedicating to the study and prevention of genocide and related crimes and preserving the memory of the Cambodian genocide survivors.

There were lots of Cambodian people travelling to celebrate the New Year, but only one crime.… This shows that Cambodian people's knowledge has improved and progressed now.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is the independent agency of the Japanese government that coordinates Official Development Assistance (ODA) for economic and infrastructure improvement in developing countries. JICA offers technical cooperation, ODA loans and grants, all paid by Japanese taxpayers.

JICA project formulation advisor Uchida Togo sat down and spoke with the Post about the current state of infrastructure in Phnom Penh and the provinces and the projects that JICA is involved with in the Kingdom.

Post: What do think about the situation of infrastructure in Phnom Penh?
Uchida: Overall, as you will know, Phnom Penh has been growing very quickly, with lot of activity in the private and public sectors. We want to help promote development, but on the other hand, development without a good plan can lead to difficulty in managing urban growth in the future.The way we see development in Phnom Penh is that it is beginning to need to cope with the issues that arise when a city experiences rapid growth, such as traffic congestion, garbage management, wastewater treatment and rising demand for both water and electricity. The objective of our assistance is to address these needs in the proper way.

What has JICA been working on with the Phnom Penh municipal government?
We have been engaged in many areas. We view development of infrastructure comprehensively and realise that it's more important to have many different infrastructure projects that work together rather than focusing on individual projects to address individual issues. In Phnom Penh, we've provided assistance in the areas of transportation, energy, flood protection, drainage and water.

What kinds of funding does JICA use?
It varies. We are involved in quite a bit of grant assistance in Phnom Penh, but we also often use loan financing.

Why does JICA provide this kind of assistance?
Very simply put, Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia and is its most important city in terms of economy and culture. If Phnom Penh develops soundly, we believe there will be substantial benefits for the rest of the Kingdom. With this in mind we've been actively assisting the government in the key sectors I mentioned before as well as energy, health and education. We do this through careful planning with the Cambodian government in order to identify key projects and sectors for cooperation. This is how we identified traffic congestion and environmental degradation as increasingly important issues, which we are now working on to address.

All told, how much funding has Japan provided Cambodia?
The total disbursement from Japan to Cambodia between 1992 and 2012 was $2.2 billion, which includes technical cooperation, ODA loans and grant aid. We are still calculating financial data for 2013, which we will release in March 2014.

What are some of the recent projects in which JICA has been involved?
In terms of water projects, we recently completed a water treatment facility in Phnom Penh – the Niroth water treatment plant. It is already operational. We are involved in a lot of drainage projects in Phnom Penh, as it is still a major issue for the city. We're involved in one phase-two project and a phase-three project in drainage in the capital.

We are currently putting drainage pipes underground, which is disrupting traffic. We are trying to minimize the traffic jams we cause by the work to be on the side of the road rather than block the entire road, to whatever degree is possible. This drainage project began in 2012 and it will be completed in 2015.We are also working on a transportation master plan. This requires us to analyse current traffic volumes and pinpoint existing and potential bottlenecks. We are working with the city government on that.

Additionally we are putting an electricity master plan for the city together, as well as plans for drainage and sewage. With so many people living in Phnom Penh, wastewater is a major issue to address.

What other projects is JICA involved with in Cambodia?
We're working on replacement and expansion of water supply infrastructure for provincial capitals, which also involves capacity building. This is all done through a mix of technical cooperation, grant aid and loans.

What message do you have for the general public?
The end user of this new infrastructure is the people. We would like to emphasize that this infrastructure can improve living conditions, but if you don't take care of it, then it will not last long. If you do take care of it, you will be able to use it for a long, long time. We are assisting in drainage improvements in Phnom Penh with the goal of reducing the impact of flooding caused by rain on the city. For this to be most effective, people will need to stop littering and keep the streets clean so that the drainage systems can function properly. We know this kind of change takes some time, but we have to promote these ideas along with assisting with physical infrastructure so that living conditions in the capital can further improve in the future. We are also doing this in the provincial cities through Cambodian counterparts who have accumulated knowledge and experience working with us in Phnom Penh.

The number of foreign and local tourists who spent time in Cambodia's coastal destinations increased in 2013, according to provincial officials in Preah Sihanouk, Kampot, Kep and Koh Kong provinces.

"Visitors come here for the beach and seafood," said Seng Kha, director of tourism in Preah Sihanouk.

The total number of tourists travelling to the area in 2013 reached more than one million, according to Kha.

Foreign visits swelled to 302,325, a 42 per cent rise compared with the same period in 2012.

Domestic tourist figures rose 12 per cent to 731,604.

Chinese tourists ranked number one, followed by Russians and Vietnamese.

Bun Beang, the director of tourism in Koh Kong, said foreign tourism has increasing noticeably.

Thai tourists frequent the beaches and resorts, while locals head to eco-tourism destinations like Ta Tai, Chi Phat and Trapang Rong.

According to Bun Beang, foreign visitors in Koh Kong province reached 47,446, a 514 per cent rise of foreign visitors in comparison to the number in 2012.

The total number of local visitors shot up to 96,080, a 16 per cent rise from a year earlier.

Kampot and Kep also saw a rise in tourism.

Mok Sekano, deputy chief of tourism in Kampot, said the casino on Bokor mountain is becoming a main attraction for the province.

"Vietnamese visitors rank number one," he said.

Famous for its crab market, Kep province is a 25-kilometre drive from Kampot.

Som Chenda, a provincial tourism official, said Kep is riding the coastal tourism wave.

"More hotels and restaurants are being built. It's a reflection that more tourists are coming to this province."

Villagers patrolling a protected community forest in Mondulkiri province yesterday morning found more than 100 logs of luxury timber, believed to be headed for Vietnam.

The timber, discovered just outside the Trapaing Ka Eu community in Pech Chreada district's Pou Chrei commune, was logged inside the protected forest, but patrollers found no one logging or transporting the wood, said patroller Chreung Pro, 30.

"[Luxury wood] is gathered and placed outside the community before it is taken to Vietnam for sale," Pro said yesterday. "Our forest is under the threat of deforestation, so we patrol every day."

Since the logs were found outside the protected area, community members did not confiscate the wood, Pro said.

From August to December, patrollers confiscated six chainsaws and more than 15 cubic metres of luxury timber.

Commune police chief Trang Thoeurn yesterday said he was unaware of the discovery.

Farmers from Kampong Thom province's Baray district filed a complaint to the authorities yesterday accusing a village chief of signing off on the sale of their land to a local businesswoman.

Deap On, 50, a spokesman for the villagers, said in 2008 they were given 339 hectares of farmland to cultivate rice, but they later discovered that about 60 hectares had been sold to the businesswoman.

"We were shocked when we saw that some of the villagers' land was sold by the village chief, Real Ron," he said.

Attempts to reach Ron for comment yesterday were unsuccessful.

Another resident, Ngek Real, 48, said villagers received the land from the authorities to live on and farm.

"Why did [Ron] sell some parts of the land?" Real said.

Mak Mong Hoat, Baray district hall governor, said he had received the complaint and the authorities were examining the dispute's history, which he said was complicated by a change in village chief since 2008.

"We are examining the local administration's affairs to find a solution to this issue," he said.

New Year's Eve, often associated with rowdy revellers in Western countries, was practically devoid of crime in Cambodia due to Cambodians' desire for "peace and progress", police maintained yesterday.

Despite the fact that officials' tabulations left out a drug-raid shootout that left one suspect wounded, National Police spokesman Lieutenant General Kirth Chantharith and others maintained yesterday that throughout the entire country, only one crime – the theft of a foreigner's wallet – had been reported on New Year's Eve.

"I would like to say that this New Year's Eve was a good year.… There were lots of Cambodian people travelling to celebrate the New Year, but only one crime happened in Cambodia," Chantharith said. "This shows that Cambodian people's knowledge has improved and progressed now," he continued. "They want their society and their country to have peace and progress."

Acting Phnom Penh police chief Lieutenant General Mok Chito seconded Chantharith's assessment, saying there had been only one theft in the city this year, compared to last year's three, though he attributed the lack of crime to other factors.

"We noted that the reason why no more crimes happened this New Year's Eve was because we have been deploying many police and military police as civil forces everywhere in the city," he said.

Cheth Vanny, deputy chief of Battambang Provincial Police, also said that his jurisdiction had been totally quiet.

However, authorities weren't so lucky on the traffic front, with both road accidents and fatalities up from last year, said Major General Him Yann, chief of the Traffic Police Department at the Ministry of Interior.

"According to our traffic accident report, there were a total of 20 cases of traffic accidents in which eight people died this New Year's Eve, while there were 10 cases of traffic accidents in which six people died last year across the Kingdom," he said.

"The reason why it increased was because there were more people travelling to meet with their families in the cities or provinces, and they were driving fast," he added.

A New Year's Eve shootout between police and drug dealers has led to the arrest of two men allegedly in possession of $1,000 worth of methamphetamines in Kampong Cham.

Captain Sem Kheng, chief of the provincial anti-drug military police unit in Kampong Cham, said the police descended on the residence of the known drug smugglers on Tuesday evening.

"They were old targets of ours. They were arrested for smuggling drugs from Phnom Penh to Kampong Cham Province with intention to sell," he said.

The two men captured have been identified as 23-year-old Huoth Thai and 27-year-old Tin Zary.

During the raid, the men attempted to flee and began driving away before shots were fired.

"The ringleader, who was carrying a pistol, jumped from the car after we had shot at it to stop them from driving away and we arrested two of them, one escaped," the chief said.

One of the suspects was shot in the hip by police and is in a stable condition in the provincial hospital.

Police seized 24 grams of meth from the men, which has a street value of $1,000.

"The men were initially accused by our military police with possession of drugs and trafficking drugs. They will face the provincial court on Thursday," Captain Sem Kheng said.

The police are now looking for the third man, who fled the scene.

In an attempt to crack down on rampant cheating on nationwide testing, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) has announced that primary and high school teachers will begin individually authoring and writing final exams on the white board for the 2014 academic term, MoEYS officials said yesterday.

Educators are seeking ways to stamp out cheating, which in recent years has affected the integrity of the exams, as widespread collusion between exam proctors and teachers have resulted in answers being leaked to students ahead of the test.

Eliminating paper copies of nationwide tests traditionally distributed to teachers by the MoEYS will stanch the sale of cheat sheets, placing more responsibility on teachers to ensure the answers won't be sold as easily, said Lim Sotharith, a director at the MoEYS's department of textbook supply and curriculum development.

"Doing so is to make the teachers responsible in case the test sheets are leaked. We will do as we did in the 1980s," Sotharith said yesterday.

Even though the process of writing final examinations out on a board may be time consuming for teachers, according to Sotharith, it will pose a powerful way to hold teachers and test proctors accountable.

"If we can do it, I believe we can reduce and prevent copying or posting [final exam test sheets] on Facebook for other people to answer and use," he said, adding that the ministry's official timetable for implementing the procedure would be announced in the near future pending further discussions with Minister of Education Hang Chuon Narong.

San Chey, coordinator for the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in East Asia and the Pacific (ANSA-EAP), lauded the reform efforts, while highlighting that any mandated changes required an examination of the ensuing effects on teachers.

"The ministry should discuss how to train the proctors and teachers administering the tests, especially if the subject they are proctoring is not their specialty," Chey said.

Last week, a report by the Khmer Institute for National Development and ANSA EAP found that school textbooks paid for by the Asian Development Bank have been routed to district education offices, some of which have been charging schools for books that are supposed to be free.

Environment officers captured three men on Monday after a long pursuit through the Phnom Sankos Wildlife Sanctuary in Pursat.

The Pursat provincial court yesterday charged 20-year-olds Korng Puth and Bork Oem and 31-year-old Rien Rob for illegally clearing more than a hectare of trees in the sanctuary.

Environment officers, acting on a tip, inspected the land on Monday and found 15 men chopping down protected trees, Thai Chantha said, director of the provincial Environment Department.

"The men immediately ran into the jungle when they saw our officers, however we chased them and managed to catch three men with permission from the court," he said.

"It took many hours to find the suspects in the jungle. They were employed to clear the forest so we are now searching for that employer."

If found guilty the three men could face up to 10 years in prison under Article 97 of the Cambodian forestry law.

As garment union groups resume their strike today, thousands of workers plan on returning to work, largely citing financial necessity rather than ideological disagreement with the unions.

The Ministry of Labour on Monday ordered union leaders to cease a nationwide strike that began nine days ago, after the ministry's Labour Advisory Committee set this year's minimum monthly wage for workers in the garment sector at $95 – $65 less than unions demanded. The ministry this week tacked another $5 onto the minimum wage, which will now rise to $100 next month.

"If we do not return to work, the factory will not pay us," said Noun Bunthoeun, a worker representative at Chu Hsing Garments (Cambodia) Co Ltd in Phnom Penh, who added that more than 7,000 workers – about 80 per cent – at the Russey Keo district factory's three branches will return today. "This does not mean we are abandoning our demand for [a minimum wage of] $160."

Lacking financial resources is the primary motive for workers at 30 factories in Svay Rieng province, who will come back to work today, said Sok Na, a representative for the Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW) at the Best Way garment factory in Bavet town.

Na yesterday pointed out that after overtime pay, transportation bonuses and other benefits, workers at his factory typically take home more than $160 each month.

"We do not want to lose our work," Na said in an interview yesterday. "If the workers in Phnom Penh get the Labour Ministry to increase the minimum wage, we will get the same here."

Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) vice president Kong Athit yesterday said he is not worried about too many strikers returning to work, because enough people are willing to remain on strike to make a serious impact. It stands to reason that workers in an industry where employees live paycheque to paycheque cannot bear the financial burden of a prolonged strike, he added.

"These are working poor people," Athit said. "Nobody forced them to go on strike.… We will support any decision that is taken by the workers."

Labour Ministry spokesman Heng Sour yesterday said ministry officials will closely watch union leaders who continue striking despite an order to stop.

"The Labour Ministry and authorities will keep an eye on union leaders who are leading the strike, and their activities," Sour said.

The six unions on strike – C.CAWDU, CUMW, the Free Trade Union, the Coalition of Cambodian Unions, the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions and the Worker Friendship Union Federation – will hold a press conference this morning to respond to public statements made by the Labour Ministry and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, said Athit.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SEAN TEEHAN