Tourism in the country is up, up, up, and expected to bring in more than $1.3 billion this year ... that's up .3 bill over last year ... with the biggest share coming from South Korea to the tune of 300,000.

In a move that can only help the tourism industry, as well as every other business that relies on transport, money coming in from many sources will be used to restore rail service to much of the country.

Links to Thailand are part of the plan, as well as improved connections between Sihanoukville and PP.

Here's another link about trains.

If anyone likes keeping track of the money coming into the country and what it's earmarked for, here's a story about $14.5 million from France for getting the water supply in PP sorted, and another with info on $3 million from the EU to, "reform public finance management."

From the EU press release:

The finance will be used for strengthening the public institutions, public fund management and accountability and for reducing poverty effectively and developing with sustainability.

If anyone knows what that means, I'd appreciate an explanation.

And now ... ta daaaaaa ... for my weekly kvetch about royals and other slime balls:

Ousted party leader, but still royal, Prince Norodom Ranariddh's wife, Princess Norodom Marie Ranariddh, wants to prosecute her estranged husband for adultery. With new monogamy laws on the books in Cambodia ... tailored made for this case, it might appear ... he could go to prison for up to a year.

Since he went everywhere, including official functions, with his mistress, it may be a tad difficult for him to deny that he was fooling around. Who knows what he'll come up with, though. I'm sure there will be some creative thinking involved.

I doubt he's worried about the $250 fooling-around-fine, but with between one and twelve months in prison as the rest of the sentence, he may be sweating a bit.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. I hope she takes him to the cleaners.

And speaking of nastiness coming back to bite ...

The Heng Pov saga is wrapping up ... maybe. Reportedly, he's back in Phnom Penh and being 'detained'.

Five months of searching and wrangling to get him back from Singapore, then Malaysia almost resulted in him finding a permanent home in Finland, but that didn't work in the end.

He was convicted in absentia for the murder of a judge and six others, as well as illegal confinement, murder and other no-Mr-Nice-Guy things.

It's not too much of a surprise that he didn't manage his getaway when you read the description of him ... the "one-legged and 49-year-old Heng Pov".

Forgive the way my brain works, but thoughts of Richard Kimball spring to mind. I'm sure it's nothing like that ... or ...?

And that's another Friday of news from Cambodia!