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Getting to understand YouTube culture

August 18th, 2008 • By: Phy • Learn Tech

If you can spare 55 minutes, watch this video and get to understand this lil part of Youtube culture: An Anthropological Introduction to Youtube.  Also, it gets you to understand how Web 2.0 is influencing the future of media and broadcasting.

The video was from a presentation made by Prof. of Digital Anthropology Michael Wesch of Kansas State University at the Library of Congress, June 23rd 2008. More info at http://mediatedcultures.net

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Cambodia-Thailand border dispute worsens over weekend

August 4th, 2008 • By: Phy • News Review

[Thai] Government faces tough task over sea border: Bangkok Post

As Cambodia has granted permission to big companies from China, England, France and the US to explore for gas over over the disputed waters covering 26,000 square kilometers, Thai government would have to face tough task, Bangkok Post reported yesterday.

This means Thailand will have to deal with these countries when negotiating the overlapping waters with Cambodia, said Pratheep Chuen-arom, former chief of staff at Sattahip Naval Base who has monitored disputed sea boundaries between the two nations.

The four superpowers are ready to support Cambodia if the border conflicts between the two nations rage on or escalate into a crisis, he added, urging the Thai govt to be careful and step up ties with them under the framework of sovereignty and economic development.

”If Thailand carelessly handles the issue of the Preah Vihear temple, the country might lose other parts of its territory, including disputed waters in the Gulf of Thailand,” he was quoted as saying.

A senior adviser to the Thailand Institute of Marine Affairs Development, proposed the two countries hold further talks to discuss the overlapping sea territory. Thanom Charoenlaph, also a former director-general of the Hydrographic Departmen, suggested the two countries set up a joint development area committee to solve the problem, similar to the Malaysian-Thai joint development area committee which has been active in gas exploration and development.

Cambodia and Thailand talked once in 2001 without fruitful results, he said.

Thai fruit exports stopped, agricultural fairs canceled

Thailand has canceled fruit exports and called off two agricultural fairs because of strong anti-Thai sentiment in Cambodia over the ancient Preah Vihear temple, according to Bangkok Post.

In response, Cambodian Commerce Minister ChamPrasidh on Sunday welcomed the Thai government’s decision, saying some Cambodians would become angry and destroy those products on show if they didn’t do so, according to Xinhua.

See also, Thailand cancels product fairs in Cambodia, Bangkok Post.

Cambodia accuses Thailand of occupying another temple

70 Thai soldiers on Thursday occupied 13th century Ta Moan Thom temple in Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia told AFP and AP Sunday.

Maj. Sim Sokha, a Cambodian border protection unit deputy commander, said Thai soldiers have been deployed in an 80-yard radius around the temple grounds and have prevented Cambodian troops from entering. About 40 Cambodian soldiers are in close proximity to the Thai troops, he said.

“[Thai troops] said they will pull back only when the issue near Preah Vihear temple is resolved,” the commander told AP reporter by telephone from Oddar Meanchey province. Who he received the information from was not reported. But Var Kimhong, chairman of the Cambodia Border Committee, said this was not a “new thing” and that Thailand agreed in 2003 that the temple belonged to Cambodia and that their troops would be withdrawn as soon as there were proper roads there, according to AFP.

While Khieu Kanharith, the chief Cambodian government spokesman, told AFP he was aware of a new troop movement but was unable to give details, a Thai foreign ministry spokesman said to AP that he was not aware of the latest confrontation.

Maj. Taveesak Boonrakchart, a spokesman for the Thai army in the disputed area, denied the allegations of an incursion.

“We have a paramilitary post which has been there for several years,” said Major General Sujit Sithiprabha, Thai army commander for the Cambodian border. “Prasart Ta Moan Thom belongs to us. We have to have soldiers to take care of the area which belongs to us.”

Like the disputed area near Preah Vihear temple, Ta Moan Thom is also in a so-called “white zone” or “no-man’s-land zone”. Thailand-based Bangkok Post wrote the same thing, confirming the proposition.

The 40 Cambodian troops stationed in the area were told to exercise restraint pending the two govts’ efforts to resolve the issue peacefully.

See also:

- Thailand occupies 2nd temple on Cambodian border, AP

- Thai accused over new temple row, BBC

- Cambodia starts squabble over second temple, Bangkok Post

- Anti-Thai ’sentiment increases in Cambodia’, Bangkok Post

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Thailand seeks foreign support for bilateral talks

August 2nd, 2008 • By: Phy • News Review

Thailand has approached Japan and France and the US for their support for its bilateral talks with Cambodia, according to Bangkok Post.

On his call on Thai FM Tej Bunnag to congratulate him for his appointment, French Ambassador to Thailand Laurent Bili agreed to pass on the information to his country and to an envoy based in the UNSC as the dispute was sensitive in nature and very important for the Thai people, Bangkok Post wrote today.

Japanese Ambassador to Thailand Hideaki Kobayashi, who also called on Mr Tej yesterday, agreed that talks at the bilateral level would be enough between Thailand and Cambodia to resolve this thorny problem, the newspaper reported.

US First Lady Laura Bush is going to visit the disputed area from Bangkok, Thailand, the newspaper wrote in a separate article.  It’s one of the places she planned to tour while in Thailand next week.  Why she decided to pay the area a visit was not reported.

Channel News Asia, AFP, BBC, CNN and AP did not cover the story.

In a another separate article, Bangkok Post wrote the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesters, an anti-government coalition, on Saturday morning marched to the capital’s revered Temple of the Emerald Buddha to oppose the government’s plan to amend the constitution and to pray for “Thailand to regain the Preah Vihear temple from Cambodia.” That happened just a day after Cambodia’s first lady Bun Rany presided over a huge religious celebration at Preah Vihear temple calling on ancestral spirits to defend Cambodia and chase away its enemy.

Sources:
- France urged to settle border row, Bangkok Post (2 Aug 08)
- Laura Bush to visit border area, Bangkok Post (2 Aug 08)
- PAD protesters march to temple of Emerald Buddha, Bangkok Post (2 Aug 08)

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Thailand waits for Cambodia’s pullout, Cambodia to hold joyous celebration

August 1st, 2008 • By: Phy • News Review

Thailand would not have to react as Cambodia has not shown any sign of its troop withdrawal, said Thai FM Tej Bunnag Thursday in response to Cambodian PM Hun Sen’s statement that it’s up to the Thai govt as to when to redeploy troops in the disputed area, according to Bangkok Post.

The Cambodian government has “not informed Thailand officially” when it will pull out its troops from the area, Tej said. “So far there is no official reaction from Cambodia.”

Such a reaction could be seen as another failure in bilateral negotiation between the two nations.

Meanwhile, Cambodia has planned to hold a lavish celebration at Preah Vihear temple Friday, Cambodian govt spokesman told DPA today.  it will be attended by the country’s first lady, Bun Rany, and other high ranking officials.

“We are all in preparation for Bun Rany’s arrival. We have no security concerns because as a World Heritage site, the temple is a tourist destination, not a war zone,” Preah Vihear Deputy Governor Ka Lean said by telephone.

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Real estate boom v. land grabbing in Cambodia: A typical example

July 31st, 2008 • By: Phy • My Thoughts

Check out this video report by Bloomberg to get a feel of what the real estate boom is like in Cambodia.

It’s true. Marc Faber, the founder of Marc Faber Ltd, is also interested.

The boom is not without disadvantages. The rich and powerful has taken advantage of the situation where many poor people do not have land titles. They take the people’s land, most often by use of force. If you speak Khmer, take a listen to this chunk of report by Radio Free Asia (RFA) Jul 30.

WARNING!!! Be prepared to fight back your tears!

If you don’t, you can read this quick summary i wrote. A woman has been struggling to seek justice since 2007 in a land dispute in Preah Vihear province. She went to the National Assembly, which told her to go to the Ministry of Interior. The ministry told her to go to court. She also has sought help from the Cambodian premier, without any luck just yet. (These are common approaches for the poor in Cambodia when it comes to land grabbing.)

Her daughter in law was shot dead with her little baby being breast-fed in her hand as she refused to leave her home. Her son has been detained in Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar Prison. All she wants now is to have her son released so he can come and take care of his four children who the old woman has, in Phnom Penh, been begging food from people to feed.  Two sons, a son in law and a nephew of hers were jailed in the dispute.

She claimed it was the authority who moved her family from Anlong Veng, Battambang to Preah Vihear and that it was also them who forced her to leave her land she had lived on for more than 8 years.  (Art. 18 of the land law allows for legal ownership of any vacant or not-owned land to people who have lived there for more than five years.)

Just a typical example of how real estate boom is affecting the impoverished and disadvantaged in Cambodia.

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