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I fought the law and the law won.
While enjoying a leisurely drive home after a good night with friends, i found myself skidding 15 meters across Mao Tse Toung Bld wondering what had just happened. Fairy obvious really, i had just become the latest edition to the ever increasing list of Barang moto casualties.
Now i am not here to bitch and moan, i understand that the roads here can be dangerous. That is part of life here, but in the wee hours of the morning when traffic is at its lowest, how do you manage to hit one of only two other bikes on the largest intersection in Phnom Penh? Alcohol? perhaps, however the events that were to unfold led me to the conclusion that some people in Cambodia are just know they are above the law.
Got me thinking though how important and powerful must one be, to collide with another motorbike at 50 k/h then subsequently watch me tumble across the street and not even stop to offer an apology or even worse check you have not injured a complete stranger, because of your cavalier driving.
Somehow their bike didn't topple and as they drove off my Khmer/Australian friend who had witnessed the entire crash unfold drove after them. Now he is not pursuing them to instigate violence, nor to request fiscal compensation. Just to ask "what the fuck?". So my friend catches up with them and says "You know you just hit someone back there?" and in true "off the rails" fashion the passenger who incidentally is a uniformed policeman reaches behind him and pulls a pistol on my good Samaritan friend, saying "i think you should leave this alone".
Naturally that was the end of that and i was left licking my wounds thinking who do you need to be to potentially kill somebody and show no remorse? Is that one of the hidden rights to possessing a badge Phnom Penh? i truly hope not.
Damn, glad you are ok. Now you know where they got the phrase "Cambodia the Kingdom of Wonder". Dont it just make you wonder who is really in charge of this country? The PM thinks he is, The Rich think they are, Some NGO's think they play a part in it. The answer is none of the above, it is same answer it is around the world. The guy with gun at the time of reckoning. Ole timers say that the palce has improved since UNTAC, well not much when it comes to Law & Order, I would rather it just return to a free fire zone. At least you could be strapped and protect yourself.
Dont get me wrong I am not bashing Cambodia, this a great place based on some of my travels and they are exstensive in the region. What makes it a great place, well it has great resturants.......and........... great resturants.....and I will have to get back to you on the rest.
Dont ride a moto at night-simple really.
A moto clipped my ute in bkk this morning,I was turning right and indicating.Young girl driving and boyfriend pillion.
I flew from my ute in a rage and berated them,they were shitting.
Couldnt have been more apolgetic.
I told them that they had to learn to watch for indicators and learn to drive properly for their own safety.
They got the message.
But one khmer in the crowd of gawkers was getting stuck into me.
Mistake!
I gave him absolute shit,all this was in khmer.
Hopefully the young kids will take my criticisms on board,I feel sorry for them and their stupidity.
The dickhead was put down very successfully,but i have quite a good grasp of the language now.
It makes all the difference.
I would do the same with a copper.
You're lucky! 6 months ago my 2 friends (American and Japanese) were riding home one night and got hit by a car near BKK. The driver stopped and then reversed over them breaking ribs and legs. Then attempted to finish them off with one more go, but was stopped by another American guy who happened to be show up. If it weren't for him, they would be dead.
This sort of thing happens all the time in Cambodia. Why pay $$$$$$ in medical bills when you can kill them and only pay $300 to their families??? Then, easily get away with murder by saying you accidentally ran over the person 3 times?
ritchie - thank you for sharing your experience - its saddens me when this happens to people in this country
mr latham - dont ride a moto at night? pray tell sir how else is over 80% (possibly 90%) of the population supposed to travel after dark. not everyone is fortunate to have 4 wheels sir.
it is not really that simple is it
Ritchie- That sucks. Hit and runs are common for obvious reasons. Police, generals and judges in Cambodia are some of the most despicable people I've come across in my life.
Carson- Holy Crap, that's insane! Did anyone get the license plate number as they were being backed over? What happened with it all?
Mark- What does it mean when you say, "one khmer in the crowd of gawkers was getting stuck into me. Mistake. I gave him absolute shit" I don't understand how someone can get stuck into you unless it is in a sexual way.
realistically, your rant at the intersection probably caused people to think you're a crazy barang who wants things in Cambodia to be more western. In one ear and out the other. we can always hope otherwise, but realistically, one angry barang isn't going to change them into responsible drivers. I drove by a wreck last Wednesday at independence monument and it looked like someone had thrown several buckets of blood all over the road. If seeing stuff like that isn't enough to get the young, dumb, drivers from driving like they are invincible and brainless then I don't know what will.
And even if the youth stop driving like morons, who is going to stop the cops and 75% of the drivers in Cambodia from driving like idiots? First you need cops that aren't corrupt. No need to go to "second" because "first" will not happen in a long time.
why guys like this run people over and not give a shit?
I asked myself the same question, after reading in today's paper how 2 guys on a motorbike wearing masks dowsed 2 teenage girls with acid over their bodies and faces at night, then disappeared
and I pretty much ask myself this same question around half a dozen times a week ...
why the cruelty, and lack of apathy?
why the fatalism?
why the lack of future planning?
.. this debate about spontaneous and gratuitous cruelty, and its eternal lack of answers is one of the most compelling dramas that expats will contemplate whilst living and working in SE Asia
all I can say, in my humble, working class, North American mind, is that .. we have no idea why
maybe it has something to do with the psychological aspects of compensation, meaning that when you have grown up at the bottom, exerting cruelty, or apathy in the face of cruelty, somehow makes you feel more powerful
or, maybe it's just the residual effects of total war, which many white-bread NGO hypocrites can never understand ...
hey, that's another can of worms - why is such a poor country full of square NGO zealots who somewhat hypocritically make bucket-loads of cash, whilst verbally vying to eradicate poverty?
If they were truly interested in lessening poverty, wouldn't they refuse to take such huge wages, and drive around in the largest, swankiest land cruisers whilst preaching the goodness of the united nations?
enjoy the debate...
It's human nature.
When living in China, I saw a ton of hit and runs and I almost got in trouble several times for trying to stop drivers from fleeing the scene. At the time I thought, "well it must be because they have so many people in the country and when you're in a country jammed packed full of people, life becomes cheaper and less "sacred""
I realize now that line of thought is flawed.
Every time i read the police blotter I wonder how people can be so cruel and selfish. The cruelty is nothing new. It just wears a different mask here.
As for the white bread NGO hypocrites... I think that argument has been beaten to death (even here on EA) I've met tons of racists and people that hate Cambodians working for NGO's. A lot of them don't come here to help people, its just an adventure and an assignment and numbers. Even the religious NGO's that are here, selling their personal brands of acceptance and eternity, do things that make my stomach turn...things that are obviously done for the gain and benefit of the pocketbooks of the organization with no regard for the people they are suppose to be helping.
I can say that the overhead for World Vision and the other "big" NGO's is insane, but if I get started on that I won't stop (I grew up in a very poor African country-surrounded by NGO's that were very self-righteous but did very little to help the people that needed help the most ).
If i start on the NGO's then I'll get started on the UN and I'll never stop ranting.
Could not agree more, NGO's have done more damage than good here. And most of the people I have come in contact with who work for them are those who couldnt cut it in the private sector, women with backsides as wide as 2 axe handles or ugly enough to knock a buzzard off a dead body, dopers, criminals hiding from prosecution in some other place of the world. They all have an arrogant, holy-er than thou attitude and an air of arrogance.
I think it is a real shame this happened but I have to say only a nong would chase someone who did the bolt in the first place. Asking for trouble.
As for bashing NGOs............. EXCELLENT !
Can someone please tell me what the hell it is that World Vision do ? We live near one of their compounds and they have no fewer than 6-8 brand new Ford SUVs parked in the drive and spilling out onto the street ! I mean...couldn't they deliver bibles in a cyclo and support the local economy ?
I use to live in BKK near the Garden Restaurant. One day whilst I was pushing by the side of the road to get some dinner (yes I am in a wheelchair, and no you don't see me by the riverside asking for money.... but considering it at times as they make quite a lot from the tourists there) a white brand new Lexus sped up passed me and nearly swiped me, fortunately the back bumper just grazed my hand as it went passed. A number of people saw that and ran over to help me, but no one dared to chase the Lexus as it has all those RCAF, VIP, my balls are bigger than yours cards on the front dash.
I frequently travel for work to many dirt holes in the world and yet I feel that you might as well kiss your buttocks before you venture outside your home as you might not be able to do it again later.
Life in these countries are interesting, but life in a wheelchair in these countries gives you new insight on human nature.
Live free, wheel faster!!!
added as an article - with piccys even
I fought the law and the law won
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