Continued from here:

On the money front ...

China is going to build some massive power plants in Cambodia. One in Battambang alone will cost $190 million and is expected to generate 465 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year.

And a number of articles on Cambodian oil are worth a read. This one talks about oil companies from Japan, South Korea, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Kuwait, Australia and France lining up for licences to, "tap Cambodia’s gigantic oil wealth", and wonders if it's a glorious future ahead or just another Nigeria.

Here's another that takes a harder hit at the Cam government:

Cambodia is still viewed as one of the most corrupt countries in the world with the ruling Cambodian People’s Party using violence in maintaining its power. But in recent years, Prime Minister Hun Sen's government has had to accept some reforms and show some more respect for human rights in order to get foreign aid which represents about 60 per cent of its working budget. However, soon it will no longer need Western aid and could disregard human rights groups altogether.

In fact, Prime Minister Hun Sen’s regime has already created a Cambodian National Petroleum Authority under his full direct control over the oil wealth.

Sokimex, Cambodia's leading conglomerate, is expected to play a key role in the energy sector. It is majority-owned by Sok Kong, a long-time friend of Hun Sen.

Excuse me if I'm sounding cynical here, but I can't help but wonder if this story, "Australian Senate president promises more cooperation with Cambodia" has anything to do with the ones above ... ? China's power plants, too?

And, of course, it can't be Cambodian news without a word about the Khmer Rouge trials.

How about this, noticing there's corruption in the country ... wow/duh -- film at 11 ... and calling in the UN.? Read it for the usual annoying silliness.

And Cambodia and Vietnam have agreed to let a VN Rubber Corp plant a whole bunch of rubber trees.

Monoculture. I'm not so sure if this is a good thing or not.

And speaking of culture ...

This feature on the Angkor Wat temples voices concern over the pounding they're taking from tourists.

And this gives a wonderful look at the spirit world of the Elephant Mountains, a place that could use and handle some of those visitors.

And that's it for this week. Have a great weekend!