spun off as a new topic in the pub

I heard tonight that there was a silver porsche parked in the middle of the road surrounded by coppers on sihanouk,same incident?

Yes, I do know, but have learned it is best not to talk about these things - it will all be known very shortly I am sure though! And come on now, what night goes by when someone is not shooting a gun on a major road here?

No.no it is best to talk about these things.
The worse the rich and powerful behave then the more they should be exposed.
Even the english language press publlish the stories so why would be silent?

Well i live in the Vicinity of Phnom Penh Center and that is a ways from the Place and this was not 1 or gunshots we heard last night, this was an engaged gun battle and sounded as it was moving and very close to our place. I don't care what the law says about guns and Expats, I am about to start packing my own. What the hell there aren't any cops out at night and last night sounded like downtown East St Louis.

There is an item in the Daily today about the "son of a high-ranking government official" shooting a handgun into the air after his SUV "collided" with a moto. It doesn't give an exact location but said both vehicles were heading east on Sihanouk. The clip says "Sunday evening" - another incident?

I was in the Indian restaurant nearby, and the PP Post reported the same incident today, as I saw almost the entire episode.

A spectacular SUV had a minor collision with a grubby motorbike outside 'The Place'.

If it hadn't been for the witnesses, there would have been more, eh, trouble.

Anyway, it was as if a national emergency had taken place, with the entire area blocked and dozens of police scampering to deal with this terrible crisis.

Luckily, I was able to exit the area with my chickpea curry, yellow rice and pappadams.

For those of you who care, the chickpea curry was good value for money, with hints of roasted tomato, nutmeg and nutty palates.

"Truth and honesty are not necessarily bedfellows"
HappyDaysAreHere

Can you confirm if the police were running toward the scene or away from it?

Remember the safest place to be when a Khmer pulls a gun on you is directly in front of him

It wont be long before a westerner is caught up in this type altercation, heaven forbid. Then lets see what happens, Marshal Law? Doubt it

I didn't see much, just what you read in the PP Post.

I had this experience in Nigeria, with my Nigerian wife, and my approach is not to see and not to hear, too much at all.

I got involved as a witness there, and it was a peein' nightmare ...

Please, judge me on my critique of my curry, as this is a safer bet

Talk to the hand,
HappyDaysAreHere

Confirmed now that these are TWO different events being discussed. The one one in front of the place and there appears to have been some type of gunfire exchange between some other people down around the intersection of Sotheros & Sihanouk.

Ho hum just another night in dodge....
Surely,eventually the government is going to have to confront the criminals who use guns with impunity and the criminals who run bureaucracies as their own personal fifedoms.
The pressure of so many young people seeking jobs is going to mean that institutionalised corruption that strangles the countries development is going to have to cease.
The next generation unscarred by the events of the past will surely not let the regime continue to dud them.There are so many children out there in the provinces,in my family alone there are twenty two under the age of eight.
If I live long enough to teach them what a vote is worth look out local member in kandal province.

Its worth a Krama and 10,000 reil

I've recently been informed of two incidents. On May 25, in mid afternoon, a mechanic was shot by a group of youths at his workshop located at St.51/Sihanouk. Then on the same day, a group of young men riding two motorbikes fired at a coffee shop frequented by teenagers at Sangkat Boeng Rang along st#163.

Wow it just keeps getting worse. Has anyone else heard about these two incidents?

Don't let it get you down...

As the REM song goes, it's not particularly the end, but the end as we know it.

The tenet is extraordinarily simple, but for some reason, extremely rich people in all countries seem to conveniently forget the following simple, but eternally ancient and true proverb...

- "Poor people mostly have little to lose... and the poorer they get, the more likely it is that they will attack rich people (the richer they get)"

HappyDaysAreHere

Thanks Happy and I absolutely agree with that proverb. I've seen it happen over and over again in other third world countries I've lived in and unfortunately there is no easy fix for this problem.

I have no issue at all about earning a decent income, however, human nature has it that when we become extremely rich quickly (Machiavelli used the term, ''parvenus' or 'new rich') there is a corresponding tendency to self-deceive and believe oneself to be morally superior to those who don't have money, without recognizing the important and obvious sociological variables at play.

Thus, suddenly, poor become become ''bad"... and people driving expensive vehicles and living in Napoleanic mansions, are ''good".

I could go on, but I have to go to the toilet.

HappyDaysAreHere

As we Jersey folk say, Absofrigginlutley! The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, the rich get cocky and the poor get angry and resentful. It's a never ending cycle which almost always leads to violence. I could go on and on too, but we can continue this over a drink someday. Keep safe everyone!!!

That the rich are getting richer is certain but are the poor really getting poorer? Sure, there are evictions etc and the gap between rich and poor is growing, but that's not to say there's no trickle down. Cambodians, for the most part, value stability over practically everything else, and don't forget that the majority voted for the big man and his cronies in the last election. The saying "An egg cannot break a rock," is very popular among the downtrodden poor. Don't hold your breath for a revolution just yet...

don't get me wrong, I agree with many long-timers here - that there is no alternative to the big man

the poor are getting poorer - actually, the World Bank and UNDP have been in the news a lot lately, with actual statistics, that the poor ARE getting poorer.

It should be a no-brainer that this is not good for anyone in society, as it creates instability (and the wheels go round, and round, and round).

I don't want to get political, so I won't include a link to such statistics - just Google it, or pick up a mid-week Cambodia Daily.

It makes sense, as the cost of staples has increased, such as rice, fuel, fruit and vegetables, etc, as well as the cost of fuel - whilst real wages have not increased in the 3 major export sectors (in fact, many jobs have been lost in these sectors).

So, yes, the poor are getting poorer.

I don't profess to be an expert, however, I think that it's far too simple to blame one person, or a group of incumbents - systematic changes are needed at many levels.

Have a Beer Good Weekend,
HappyDaysAreHere

Well I am just a High School graduate from the USA and have lived and worked in this part of the world since 1986. A lot of you super smart college educated people who I babysat for 20 years in the US Navy so we did not get killed for the lack of common sense, need to to step back look at the real deal and not all this touchy feely stuff about saving the world. The hell with the economics and the KR history, stop walking into the future, looking backwards. I am sorry but I have always been the guy that everyone come sto when the balloon goes up and asks what are we going to do, this is not about anything except these people are starting are resorting to the type of violence that is common in this region..... and in man and that is survival. You better start think about what you are going to do when you are violently confronted out here one day.

I'm from the U.S. also, and I've also been violently confronted, not just in the U.S. but in Spain, Australia (those guys are tough) and a few other places.

I'm certainly no bleeding heart, and believe in self defence, however:

- it's important to get to the root cause of problems, regardless of your biases and influences

- it's also important not to let bad experiences make you bitter (like getting mugged, or shot at, or held up) and allow yourself to see life in simplistic terms ("blue people are just dogs, and deserve to die, and screw the touchy-feely analysis")

- the thin line between complete tyranny (I watched the documentary on North Korea last night on CNN, and it scared me more than any horror movie) and freedom (you don't know what you got, until it's taken away) is when people, especially at the top, stop thinking (and stop encouraging people to think)

- ignorance is like a black hole, and more than ever, it is about to suck us like a vacuum into the abyss, and like Nietzsche says, "when you stare into the Abyss, the Abyss stares back into you"

- stupid people are dangerous, however, I have to go to the toilet now

My name is HappyDaysAreHere and I have had my say
HappyDaysAreHere

There is no doubt that the poor are getting poorer here,this is an expensive country for everybody.
But the sort of gun crime we are seeing in PP is being carried out by either the very rich or the quite rich.
Certainly one has to be quite rich to own a handgun or be in a position of power so that one has accesss to one.
Maybe the day will come when the poor rise up but i doubt it,where else has it happened in the third world?
The rich and powerful have most of the weapons,end of story.
I cant think of a third world country where the poor have managed to overthrow the ruling elite recently.
Any examples?

I would say the the last two posts are spot on and I am afraid that we are just spectators in this show

I got robbed by a pop-gun wielding freshy boy trio just before my wedding. I willingly gave up my wallet $300, my phone and my nice watch. When they asked for my wedding ring ( in my wallet but i took it out in view of them ) i told them to fuck off and that I was getting amrried in a week. They smiled and rode off.

In answer to your question....the next time it happens I will do what one famous gun slinger did outside Sharkies a few years back. Simply wait until they turn around and then out comes a rude one in the spout / 12 in the clip surprise. Fuck em.

THE KID

"I cant think of a third world country where the poor have managed to overthrow the ruling elite recently.
Any examples?"

Nepal. That hasn't worked out so well...

"I cant think of a third world country where the poor have managed to overthrow the ruling elite recently.
Any examples?"

If the poor overcame the rich, they wouldn't be poor anymore - isn't that how it goes.

... Reality is so complex now, that this can't be answered in a simple way (thus my previous point that, as the human race annhilates itself at a rapid pace, our only defence is to at least die intelligent).

The only simple example of the "poor" taking over the rich I can think of recently - are the paradigm South American, communist and social revolutions, however, in essence, they are not really "revolutions".

For example, if you look at Hugo Chevez (Venezuela), and to a lesser degree, Eva Morales (Bolivia), the lines are really blurred, as to who are representative of the rich and the "poor".

In historical terms 34 years ago is recent, and look what happened here back then- Year Zero.2 in the near future?

im more fascinated by the fact that Happy has a Nigerian wife AND a Cambodian wife and keeps going to the toilet...

Sorry Cuz, but any notion of a "people" revolution here would have to be off the table, for many reasons... so I really doubt there will be another Year Zero, or similar:

- if you have a chance, try to locate a copy of the PP Post's hierarchical guide to entrenched political power (published about 2.5 years ago, as a center-spread (then you will see how entrenched power is here, in the one party)
- the situation with Lon Nol was vastly weaker, and very different
- Agrarian "communism" is arguably now defunct, and more or less, ideological dead ... and disproven as a practical and applicable alternative to free market capitalism, with its adjacent style of democracy
- the role of globalization has made the world a vastly different place (than, say in in the 60's and 70's), with, for example, a greater importance on international trade, and non-military, interventionist politics from other countries
- consider the militaristic role of the U.S., Vietnam and China in the 1960's and 70's which exacerbated and in a complex interweaving of events, gave rise to the KR
- even the educated elites here quietly admit that there is no realistic alternative to the big guy

I could go on, hope that make sense ... I really enjoyed doing my policial science major (got almost perfect marks)

Anyway, got to go (my Sudanese wife is going to oil me down)

HDAH

Whats the story on packing a piece in Phnom Penh? Not that i have a burning desire to be packing heat just wondering what the go is?

Cheers,
Murph

I agree.

The revolution will not come from the people, it will come from a split in the power base.

Anyone have a soft copy of this, BTW, or a hard copy that they can give us the exact title wording from? Then maybe a copy could be found online.
Or, a friendly PPP-staffer-forum-reader could make an archival copy available for us?
Thks
BC

I have a copy, but I've been in Cambodia for too long and my compassion and empathy have disippated (I can't even spell anymore)

Go to the PP Post and ask nicely

HDAH

to the guy who wants to pack heat

the maximum sentence for a foreigner carrying an unlicensed firearm (foreigners aren't allowed by law to carry one anyway) is 20 years.

so, the only thing you'll be packing, son, if you get caught with a piece

are your trousers

Word to the Muther,
HDAH

Firstly, BOY. you are uneducated in weapons and what can cause enough pain and make you wish you were dead. I do not need a firearm, nor need the law quoted as per Cambodian law (what a joke).
[attachment=0]TaserM18L.jpg[/attachment]

I pack a piece, heat, meat and a johnny wad as well. There is no law that prohibits a man from packing a weapon. If there was - all the Nigerians would have left ages ago. I only have a problem with mine when ;

a) I jump into my car and said weapon lodges itself under my thigh and I sit on it. Then I have to get out and re-adjust everything and away I go .

or

b) When I get frisked upon entering Heart Of Darkness and am wearing loose fitting pants and forget I am packing said weapon. If I don't concentrate and start to drift off and day dream as all those hands wander all over me.....it can get messy.

THE KID

Re the Taser

Where can you buy these in PP?

HDAH

Why get a taser when you can get on of these ;

THE KID

where can one buy one of those?

I want to buy one for my 4 year old nephew

HDAH

KidKhmer wrote

"I'm so cool that I have a car and a plastic water pistol that lodges itself under my sweaty fat thigh when I sit on it. Then I have to get out and re-adjust everything before I can bumpstart my heap.

or

b) When I beg to be frisked upon entering Heart Of Darkness and am wearing loose-fitting sexpat pants and forget I am packing said fake weapon. If I don't concentrate and start to drift off and day dream as all those rough man hands wander all over me.....my pants can get messy."

WOW, you are just the COOLEST guy EVER! I wish I could swagger around internet forums telling porkies to impress like you do. Everybody like TOTALLY believes you!

And you are like......a total fucking retard.

Tell you what numb nuts, take off your humour bypass hat and re-read my post.

I wasn't talking about a gun you fool. I was taking the piss. You know....like what you like your boyfriends to do on your face you noncing little pedophile/................

THE KID

this really cracks me up that two people who do not even know each other, waste time like children in a play ground calling each other names. WARNING...take it off the forums or we will. I and others who use this forum are sick and tired of you.

Here what he said MUKKY MUK - he is sick of you damn it !

pffffffffffffffft

THE KID

HappyDaysAreHere says:

censored by mod

Let's See Anthony Censor That One
HDAH

Yall funny. Ive found no problems wit the locals here. Erybodies cool wit me. I do have to say that the fu*kin rich people do get on my nerves. What da fu*k is wrong wit dese people? But I learned somethin a few weeks ago when I got into a street fight wit some locals over the rental bike. Since Ive been here Ive made friends wit some locals and dey be puttin me on to whats what. When the police came I call my man and told him that I had to go the the station and he said ok just call me when you get there. But to make a long story short when my man found out that I threw the 1st punch he was like next time dont fight em, just all tha police (they're police) and we'll come and shoot em. And he was dead serious. They told me dat if foreigners get into some shit just call tha po po and they will handle it. And if you need em to do somethin just slip em a lil somethin and dey will handle MF's for you.

But I dont know how well dat will go for Nigerians cause dey dont like Nigerians. WTF's up wit dat shit? No matter where I go I always here "Dont trust dem Nigerians." Dats shits world champ!

A letter sent today to local media by a friend

NWA were 100% right - fuck the police!