Timeline Cambodia
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 Traditional Cambodians gave each day its
own color and each month its own gender.
 (SFEC, 10/20/96, zone 1 p.2)
 April is the hottest month in Cambodia.
 (SFEC, 7/30/00, p.T10)
Chronology of Cambodian History: http://www.geocities.com/khmerchronology
Odyssey of the Khmer People: http://members.aol.com/cambodia/
Cambodia Information Center: http://www.cambodia.org/
200-700ADÂ Â Â Era of the kingdom
of Funan at Angkor Borei (Cambodia). In 1997 excavations were
proceeding on what might have been the capital.
   (AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.A,D)
400Â Â Â Â Â Â About this time sage-prince
Kambu of the Cambodian legends, who belonged to the Kamboja lineage,
appears to have sailed from Indian subcontinent, probably from
Saurashtra/Gujarat on the west coast of India and established a
small Kamboja kingdom in Bassac around Vat-Ph'u hill in Mekong
Basin. The first Khmer or king, know as Kambu, founded Kambujadesa,
which means the Sons of Kambu or Kambuja for short.
   (SFEC, 10/20/96,
T5)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kambu_Svayambhuva)
611Â Â Â Â Â Â At Angkor Borei (Cambodia)
the earliest known Khmer inscriptions date to this time.
   (AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.D)
802Â Â Â Â Â Â Jayavarman II proclaimed
himself a "universal monarch" in a ritual that united religion and
politics (Cambodia) and gave rise to the cult of the Devaraja
(deified king). He declared the region’s independence from Java.
   (WSJ, 7/3/97, p.A9)(SFC, 8/14/07, p.A18)
889-1324Â Â Â The Khmer Empire‘s dominions roughly
correspond to present-day Laos and Cambodia and reached its height
during the Angkor period (889-1434 AD). The kingdom flourished from
the 6th to 15th centuries AD and then declined with invasions from
neighboring Thailand.
   (HNQ, 8/7/00)
c1000-1400Â Â Â Angkor Thom, capital of the Khmer
empire, reached its apogee during this period. It included the
religious monument of Angkor Wat. In 2007 new technology indicated
that the city covered an area over 115 square miles at its peak and
used sophisticated technology for managing and harvesting water.
   (AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.A)(SFEC, 7/26/98, p.T6)(SFC,
8/14/07, p.A18)
1100-1200Â Â Â The Khmer empire reached its peak under
King Jajavarman II in the 12th century.
   (SFEC, 7/26/98, p.T7)
1150Â Â Â Â Â Â Suryavarman II, Khmer
ruler (Cambodia), died about this time. He commissioned the building
of Angkor Wat, possibly the largest religious monument in the world.
He traded elephant tusks, rhinoceros horns and kingfisher feathers
for gold. The feathers were prized in China for bridal attire.
   (WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R4,6)
1186Â Â Â Â Â Â The temple monastery of Ta
Prohm at Angkor (Cambodia) was consecrated. Inscriptions say that
79,365 servants were required to for its upkeep. It was paid by
funds from over 3,000 villages.
   (SFEC, 7/26/98, p.T7)
1191Â Â Â Â Â Â Preah Khan (Cambodia) was
dedicated on what is thought to be the site where the Khmer defeated
their eastern neighbors the Cham. The central temple was dedicated
by Jayavarman VII to his father, King Dharanindravavarman II, in the
name of Lokesvara, a god who embodies the compassionate qualities of
the Buddha. The temple covers 140 acres.
   (AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.E)(Arch, 5/04, p.64)
1350-1500Â Â Â There was cold and drought during this
period in Central Asia as temperatures came down with low rainfall
and low productivity. The climatic effect on Sindh was that Jam
Banbhniyo Samma, tried to capture some areas of Delhi Sultanate in
the Multan Sarkar and also south in Gujarat.
   (http://panhwar.com/Article129.htm)
1415-1439Â Â Â The city of Angkor Wat (Cambodia) went
into rapid decline as a period of severe drought extended over South
East Asia.
   (Econ, 3/14/09, p.82)(http://tinyurl.com/d84z56)
1431Â Â Â Â Â Â Thai armies invaded and
plundered the Khmer civilization at Angkor Thom (Cambodia). The
court moved south of the great lake Tonle Sap and later to Phnom
Penh.
   (SFEC, 7/26/98, p.T6)
1596Â Â Â Â Â Â The first documented
official contact between the Cambogee and the West took place. The
king of Angkor, Barom Reachea, in fear of attack sent to the Spanish
governor general at Manila a request for the assistance of his
musket-armed soldiers. The Spanish governor complied and sent a
small expedition to the king of Angkor (Cambodia).
   (SFEC, 10/20/96, T5)
1598Â Â Â Â Â Â The Spanish governor of
Manila sent a 2nd small expedition to the king of Angkor in what is
now Cambodia.
   (SFEC, 10/20/96, T5)
c1598Â Â Â Â Â Â A party of Iberian
conquistadors overthrew the Cambodian king and set themselves up as
governors in the Mekong delta.
   (Econ, 1/3/04, p.29)
1614Â Â Â Â Â Â Portuguese writer Diego do
Couto wrote of a king in Cambodia who discovered an abandoned city
during an elephant hunt in the middle of the 16th century. The
report did not get published until 1958.
   (SFEC, 7/26/98, p.T6)
1641Â Â Â Â Â Â Gerritt van Wuysthoff, a
Dutchman, struggled up the Mekong River through Cambodia and reached
Vientiane, Laos.
   (Econ, 1/3/04, p.29)
1863Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul, The European public
first learned of Angkor (Cambodia) from the posthumously published
journal of French naturalist Henri Mouhot.
   (SFEC, 7/26/98, p.T6)
1866Â Â Â Â Â Â French colonial officials
sent an expedition to explore the Mekong River (Cambodia) and check
its commercial potential.
   (Econ, 1/3/04, p.29)
1872Â Â Â Â Â Â Frank Vincent Jr., an
American adventurer, journeyed from Bangkok to Angkor Wat
(Cambodia). The 175 mile trip took 17 days to traverse.
   (SFEM, 4/30/00, p.6)
1893Â Â Â Â Â Â French colonialists seized
control of Laos and tried to turn the Mekong River into a
thoroughfare linking their Indochina colonies.
   (Econ, 1/3/04, p.29)Â
1907Â Â Â Â Â Â Explorations under Louis
Deleporte and the French School of the Far East began at the ancient
city of Angkor. Found artifacts were shared between France and
Cambodia.
   (AM, May/Jun 97 p.60)(SFC, 2/4/04, p.D10)
1908Â Â Â Â Â Â In Cambodia the seaside
town of Kep (Kep-sure-Mer) was founded during the French colonial
era. It was all but destroyed during the civil strife of the 1970s.
   (SSFC, 8/31/08, p.E4)
1925Â Â Â Â Â Â May 19, Pol Pot (d.1998),
Cambodian dictator and mass murderer, was born in Prek Sbauv,
Cambodia.
  Â
(www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1999/990823/pol_pot1.html)
1918Â Â Â Â Â Â The French established the
National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh to house the findings from
their explorations.
   (AM, May/Jun 97 p.60)(WSJ, 7/3/97, p.A9)
1922Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 31, Norodom Sihanouk
(d.2012), 2-time king (1941-1955 and 1993-2004), president and
premier of Cambodia, was born.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk)
1923Â Â Â Â Â Â Andre Malraux was
arrested, while doing archeological research in Cambodia, for
dislodging 7 heads from a temple with a handsaw, a chisel and
crowbar.
   (WSJ, 7/3/97, p.A9)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, The US placed an
embargo on oil shipments to Japan in response to Japan’s occupation
of French Indochina (later Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam).
   (Econ, 12/6/14, p.24)
1941Â Â Â Â Â Â The French colonialists
chose Norodom Sihanouk (19) from the ranks of royalty to serve as
king of Cambodia.
   (WSJ, 5/15/03, p.A8)
1945Â Â Â Â Â Â At the end of World War II
Thailand was compelled to return territory it had seized from Laos,
Cambodia and Malaya. The exiled King Ananda returned.
  Â
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1243059.stm)
1949-52Â Â Â Saloth Sar (aka Pol Pot of Cambodia) went
to Paris on a government scholarship and became absorbed in
Communist ideology.
   (SFC, 6/14/97, p.A15)
1950Â Â Â Â Â Â May 21, French sources
reported that Viet Minh guerrillas had infiltrated Cambodia and
opened an arms-smuggling corridor to Thailand.
   (www.geocities.com/khmerchronology/1950.htm)
1950Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 30, Vietnam, Laos and
Cambodia became independent states in a French Union.
   (MC, 12/30/01)
1952Â Â Â Â Â Â Hun Sen, later Cambodia
prime minister, was born in a village northeast of Phnom Penh.
   (WSJ, 7/9/99, p.A12)
1953Â Â Â Â Â Â King Norodom Sihanouk
gained independence for Cambodia from France. Pol Pot helped set up
the Communist Party.
   (SFC, 6/14/97, p.A15)(SFEC, 3/7/99, p.A17)
1954Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, SEATO (Southeast
Asia Treaty Organization), a sister organization to NATO, was
created under the Manila Pact by the Southeast Asia Collective
Defense Treaty, to stop communist spread in Southeast Asia (Vietnam,
Cambodia and Laos). The United States, Australia, France, Great
Britain, New Zealand, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Thailand signed
the mutual defense treaty. SEATO dissolved in 1977.
   (HNQ, 4/2/01)(http://tinyurl.com/hpawj)
1955Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, King Norodom
Sihanouk of Cambodia put his father on the throne and assumed the
position of prime minister. Sihanouk had renounced the throne to run
in Cambodia’s first elections.
   (SC, 3/2/02)(WSJ, 5/15/03, p.A8)(Econ, 10/20/12,
p.86)
1960Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 9, The Laos government
fled to Cambodia as the capital city of Vientiane was engulfed in
war.
   (HN, 12/9/98)
1960-63Â Â Â Prince Norodom Sihanouk repressed the
Communist party and Pol Pot, general secretary of the CP, and other
leaders fled to the jungle.
   (SFC, 6/14/97, p.A15)
1962Â Â Â Â Â Â The Int’l. Court of
Justice awarded the Preah Vihear temple, located on the
Cambodia-Thai border, to Cambodia, but did not specify where the
border should be drawn.
   (Econ, 7/26/08, p.47)
1963Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 27, Cambodia severed
ties with South Vietnam.
   (HN, 8/27/98)
1964Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, Cambodia was
receiving military aid from Communist China.
   (HN, 3/15/98)
1966 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Cambodia warned
the UN of retaliation unless the U.S. and South Vietnam end
intrusions.
   (HN, 1/3/99)
1967Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 23, American troops
began the largest offensive of the war, near the Cambodian border.
In order to deny the Vietcong cover, and allow men to see through
the dense vegetation, herbicides were dumped on the forests near the
South Vietnamese borders as well as Cambodia and Laos.
   (HN, 2/23/98)
1967Â Â Â Â Â Â May 10, The Stockholm
Vietnam Tribunal condemned US aggression in Vietnam and Cambodia.
   (MC, 5/10/02)
1967Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 24, Cambodian triple
agent Inchin Lam was murdered. Special Forces Captain John J.
McCarthy was accused and later tried for the murder in a court in
Vietnam. Murder charges were later dropped.
  Â
(HN,11/24/98)(www.copvcia.com/Mac.htm)(www.geocities.com/larryjodaniel/17.html)
1967-68Â Â Â The Khmer Rouge took up arms in support of
a peasant uprising in northwest Cambodia against a government rice
tax. The army ruthlessly suppressed the insurrection.
   (SFC, 6/14/97, p.A15)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 19, Cambodia charged
that the United States and South Vietnam had crossed the border and
killed three Cambodians.
   (HN, 1/19/99)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 29, A court convened
in Vietnam for the murder of Cambodian, triple agent Inchin Lam, by
Special Forces Captain John J. McCarthy Jr. Murder charges were
later dropped due to exculpatory evidence and proven prosecutorial
fraud on the court. A civil action for $1.3 billion in US Federal
District Court, Washington D.C. against the CIA and associated
agencies was dismissed in 2003.
  Â
(www.copvcia.com/Mac.htm)(http://johnmccarthy90066.tripod.com/id299.html)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, Cambodia admitted
that the Viet Cong used their country for sanctuary.
  Â
(www.nationalreview.com/robbins/robbins200408180835.asp)
1968Â Â Â Â Â Â Asia’s first int’l. film
festival was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
   (Econ, 4/6/13, p.97)
1969Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 23, Pres. Nixon
ordered plans for the secret bombing of Cambodia.
  Â
(www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a04242670parrotsbeak)(SFEC,
4/23/00, p.A19)
1969Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 18, President Richard
M. Nixon authorized Operation Menu, the 'secret' bombing of Cambodia
[see Feb 23].
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Menu)
1969-1973Â Â Â The US Air Force dropped 539,129 tons of
bombs on Cambodia and killed some 700,000 people. The bombing drove
rural people into the cities and caused a collapse of the
agricultural system that contributed to the rise of the Khmer Rouge
and a famine that was later blamed on the Khmer Rouge.
   (SFC, 8/14/97, p.A25)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 13, Cambodia ordered
Hanoi and Viet Cong troops to get out.
   (HN, 3/13/98)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 18, Prince Sihanouk
was overthrown by Gen’l. Lon Nol in a right-wing coup backed by the
US. He joined the Khmer Rouge in a resistance war. The US and
Vietnamese forces invaded and drove the Viet Cong from border
sanctuaries deep into Cambodia where they joined with the weak and
isolated Khmer Rouge. A full scale civil war began. The next 8 years
are covered in the 1988 book "Goodnight Cambodia, Forbidden History"
by Vibol Ouk, who lived through the horrors of Pol Pot.
   (SFC, 6/14/97, p.A15)(SFEC, 1/11/98, BR p.3)(WSJ,
7/9/99, p.A127)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 24, President Nixon
ordered US and South Vietnamese troops to secretly invade the
“Parrot’s Beak” region of Cambodia, thought to be a Viet Cong
stronghold. Operation Patio was a covert aerial interdiction effort
conducted by the United States Seventh Air Force in Cambodia from
24-29 April 1970 during the Vietnam Conflict. It served as a
tactical adjunct to the heavier B-52 bombing missions being carried
out in Operation Menu.
  Â
(http://tinyurl.com/69ndsz8)(www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Operation-Patio)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 28, The US invasion of
Cambodia took place. Congress and the press learned of the invasion
on April 30.
  Â
(www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a04242670parrotsbeak)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, 50,000 US and
South Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia [see Apr 30].
   (SFEC, 4/23/00,
p.A19)(www.democraticcentral.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1972)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, President Nixon
announced the United States was sending troops into Cambodia, an
action that sparked widespread protest. Nixon widened the war to
Cambodia and protests increased. U.S. troops invaded Cambodia to
disrupt North Vietnamese Army base areas. U.S. President Richard
Nixon announced to a national TV audience American troop movements
into Cambodia to attack Communist border sanctuaries. Calling the
joint U.S.-South Vietnamese operation "indispensable," some 32,000
American and 48,000 South Vietnamese troops captured large caches of
supplies, but most Communist forces had already been withdrawn. A
storm of protest against expansion of the war swept the United
States and four days later four student protesters at Ohio's Kent
State University were shot dead by National Guardsmen.
   (AP, 4/30/97)(TMC, 1994, p.1970)(HN,
4/30/98)(HNQ, 5/3/98)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, A dispatch filed
from Saigon described looting by US soldiers at the Cambodian town
of Snuol. The mention of looting was removed by an editor in New
York before the story was transmitted to newspapers in the United
States. An AP story was killed by Wes Gallagher (d.1997 at 86),
general manager of the new service.
   (AP, 7/11/07)(SFC, 10/12/97, p.B5)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â May 10, In Cambodia Spec.
Leslie H. Sabo Jr. (b.1948), of Elwood City, Pa., saved his comrades
and lost his own life as his unit was nearly overrun by North
Vietnamese forces. Documentation of his heroism was lost until 1999.
On May 16, 2012, Pres. Obama presented the US Medal of Honor to his
widow.
   (SFC, 5/17/12,
p.A10)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_H._Sabo,_Jr.)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â May 20, Some 100,000
people demonstrated in New York's Wall Street district in support of
U.S. policy in Vietnam and Cambodia.
   (AP, 5/20/97)(HN, 5/20/98)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, In Cambodia 9
journalists (American, Cambodian, Indian, Japanese, and French) were
ambushed by Khmer Rouge and Viet Cong guerrillas near Kandoul
village south of Phnom Penh. 4 of the CBS employees were killed
instantly. 5 others were believed to have been taken to Kandoul in
the days after and executed. Their bodies were dumped in a shallow
grave amid the untilled earth of rice paddies.
   (AP, 4/23/10)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 17, North Vietnamese
troops cut the last operating rail line in Cambodia.
   (HN, 6/17/98)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 29, The United States
ended a two-month military offensive into Cambodia.
   (HN, 6/29/98)(AP, 6/29/99)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, Khmer Republic
(Cambodia) declared independence.
   (http://flagspot.net/flags/kh_hstry.html)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â Cambodia's Prince Norodom
Sihanouk fled to China and began compiling his Bulletin Mensuel de
Documentation (Monthly Documentation Bulletin). The bulletin
continued on an off thru 2003.
   (WSJ, 5/15/03, p.A1)
1970Â Â Â Â Â Â In Cambodia Sean Flynn
(28), son of Hollywood star Errol Flynn, and a close friend, Dana
Stone, disappeared in the province of Kampong Cham. In 2010
searchers believed they had found Flynn’s remains and awaited
forensic confirmation.
   (AP, 3/29/10)
1970-1975Â Â Â Lon Nol was officially backed by the US
as leader of Cambodia. He officially invited the US to extend the
war in Vietnam into Cambodia to wreck the Ho Chi Minh supply trail.
   (SFC, 8/14/97, p.A25)
1970-1998Â Â Â The history of Cambodia over this period
was covered by Henry Kamm of the NY Times: "Cambodia: Report from a
Stricken Land."
   (SFEC, 10/18/98, BR p.2)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, Communist forces
shelled Phnom Penh, Cambodia for the first time.
   (HN, 1/22/99)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, The Cambodian
military launched a series of operations against the Khmer Rouge.
   (HN, 8/20/98)
1971Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct, Francois Bizot,
French ethnologist, was kidnapped and imprisoned by the Khmer Rouge
in Cambodia. He was released after 3 months by camp commander Kaing
Guek Eav (aka Duch). In 2003 Bizot authored "The Gate," an account
of his captivity and the Khmer Rouge takeover. In 2012 Bizot
authored “Facing the Torturer,” an account of his appearance as a
witness at Duch’s 2009 trial.
   (WSJ, 3/12/03, p.D10)(SSFC, 11/25/12, p.F6)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 17, Twenty were killed
in Cambodia when a bomb went off that was meant for the Cambodian
President Lon Nol.
   (HN, 3/17/98)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, Nixon vetoed a
Senate ban on Cambodia bombing.
   (HN, 6/27/98)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, A US plane
accidentally bombed a Cambodian village, killing 400 civilians.
   (HN,
8/7/98)(www.massviolence.org/+-Cambodia-+?id_rubrique=6&artpage=11-18)
1973Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, The U.S. "secret"
bombing of Cambodia came to a halt, marking the official end to 12
years of American combat in Indochina.
   (AP, 8/14/97)(HN, 8/14/98)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 9, Cambodian
Government troops opened a drive to avert insurgent attack on Phnom
Penh.
   (HN, 1/9/98)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Ta Mok (1926-2006), a
Khmer Rouge senior advisor, cleansed Cambodia’s old royal city of
Oudong of its 30,000 residents and burned it to the ground.
   (Econ, 8/5/06, p.77)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, On New Year's Day
Communist troops launched an offensive which, in 117 days of the
hardest fighting of the war, collapsed the Khmer Republic.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Cambodia)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 6, President Gerald
Ford asked Congress for $497 million in aid to Cambodia.
   (HN, 2/6/99)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 12, The US removed its
embassy personnel from Phnom Penh. Some of Cambodia's most senior
government ministers, including the Acting President, Saukham Khoy,
were among the evacuees.
   (http://tinyurl.com/rsqt5)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â April 17, The US-backed
Lon Nol government of Cambodia surrendered to the Khmer Rouge. The
nominal leader of the Khmer Rouge was Khieu Samphan. Pol Pot, leader
of the Khmer Rouge (Red Cambodia), occupied the capital Phnom Penh
ending Cambodia's five-year war. This began the brutal regime that
resulted in the death of one to three million people. The Khmer
Rouge began to immediately clear Phnom Penh. Agrarian communism was
forced on the people and purges extended from the leadership down to
the masses. The country was renamed Democratic Kampuchea. After the
Khmer Rouge took power they employed a system of forced marriages to
help engineer a classless society.
   (NG, 5/85, p.574)(WSJ,4/17/95, p.A-12)(AP,
4/17/97)(SFC, 6/14/97, p.A15)(WSJ, 6/16/97, p.8)(SFC, 4/17/98,
p.A16)(http://tinyurl.com/qot7t)(SFC, 1/23/96, p.A10)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â May 11, The Cambodian
government seized an American merchant ship, the Mayaguez.
   (SFEC, 5/11/97, p.T10)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â May 12, The White House
announced the new Cambodian government had seized an American
merchant ship, the Mayaguez, with 39 crew members in international
waters. Pres. Gerald Ford sent a company of Marines to rescue the
ship. The ship was freed but there were 41 Americans killed or
missing and more than 50 wounded.
   (SFEC, 5/11/97, p.T10)(AP, 5/12/97)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, US forces raided
the Cambodian island of Koh Tang and recaptured the American
merchant ship Mayaguez. All 40 crew members were released safely by
Cambodia, but some 40 US servicemen were killed in the military
operation. Some 200 Marines stormed the island of Koh Tang to rescue
the crew of the Mayaguez, but the crew had been moved. The Marines
fought all day against the Khmer Rouge and escaped by helicopter in
the evening. Three comrades were left behind and later died under
the Khmer Rouge. The crew was freed about the same time that the
Marine assault began.
   (SFEC, 5/16/99, p.A14)(AP, 5/15/08)
1975-1979Â Â Â Pol Pot (1925-1998), whose real name is
Saloth Sar, led the Khmer Rouge and ruled Cambodia. He regarded
artists as superfluous saying “to keep you is no gain, to kill you
is no loss.” In 1987 Joan D. Criddle and Teeda Butt Mam authored "To
Destroy You Is No Loss: The Odyssey of a Cambodian Family." The work
was recorded on cassette in 1992 and told the extraordinary story of
a Cambodian family caught up in the genocide under Pol Pot's Khmer
Rouge. An estimated 1.7 million people were killed under the Khmer
Rouge. In 2000 Loung Ung authored "First They Killed My Father: A
Daughter of Cambodia Remembers."
   (WSJ, 6/7/96, p.A11)(AR, 9/4/99)(SFC, 9/8/99,
p.A15)(SFEC, 6/11/00, BR p.6)(Econ, 4/6/13, p.96)
1975-1979Â Â Â During this period the Khmer Rouge of
Cambodia executed hundreds of thousands of Cambodians and condemned
more than a million to death by starvation and disease. Some 14,000
men, women and children entered Cambodia’s Tuol Sleng prison, but
only a dozen survived. In 1997 two of the administrators of the
prison, known as Duch and Chan, were living openly in territory
controlled by the government.
   (WSJ, 4/17/95, p.A-12)(SFC, 8/5/97, p.A9)(Econ,
6/27/09, p.52)
1975-1979Â Â Â During this period the Khmer Rouge of
Cambodia about 90,000 of some 250,000 Cham people died as the
government tried to exterminate both the tribe and Islam. Only 21 of
113 imams survived.
   (Econ, 10/2/10, p.46)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, In Cambodia Khmer
Rouge leader Khieu Samphan (b.1931) succeeded Prince Sihanouk as
premier. In 1979 he was succeeded by Heng Samrin.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khieu_Samphan)(Econ, 1/12/08, p.52)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 23, The Thai
government returned 26 refugees to Cambodia saying that they are a
threat to the national security. The government said some 70,000
refugees in Thailand who escaped Communist rule in other Indochina
states, including 10,000 Cambodians, would also not be permitted to
stay.
   (AP, 11/23/02)
1976Â Â Â Â Â Â Nhem Ein, photographer,
was assigned by the Khmer Rouge to Cambodia’s Tuol Sleng
interrogation center called S-21. He proceeded to methodically
photograph all the prisoners who arrived before they were tortured
and executed.
   (WSJ, 9/16/97, p.A20)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 9, Pres. Carter
proposed an end to travel restrictions to Cuba, Vietnam, N. Korea
and Cambodia effective as of March 18.
   (www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/print.php?pid=7139)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 31, Cambodia broke
relations with Vietnam.
   (HN, 12/31/98)
1977Â Â Â Â Â Â Hun Sen, a Khmer Rouge
battalion commander in Cambodia, defected to Vietnam. He became
prime minister of Cambodia in 1979.
   (Econ, 11/2/13, p.43)
1977-1978Â Â Â Pol Pot of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge,
fearing traitors, purged his own Khmer Rouge, especially in the
eastern zone. Many of his former cadre flee to Vietnam.
   (WSJ, 4/17/95, p.A-12)
1978 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, Vietnamese troops
were reported to be occupying 400 square miles in Cambodia. North
Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops were using Laos and Cambodia as staging
areas for attacks against allied forces.
   (HN, 1/3/02)
1978Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 25, Vietnam invaded
Cambodia and drove the Khmer Rouge into sanctuaries along the Thai
border, finally ending the mass genocide depicted in the 1984 film
"The Killing Fields." It was the first full-scale war between the
two countries since 1917. 400 people were killed in initial clashes.
   (NG, 5/85, p.574-5)(WSJ, 2/27/96, p.A-1)(SFC,
6/14/97, p.A15)(SFC, 4/30/98, p.A11)
1978Â Â Â Â Â Â An estimated 15,000
Chinese advisors were present in Cambodia during Pol Pot's rule.
   (SFC, 5/10/99, p.A10)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 7, The Vietnamese army
captured the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh overthrowing the Khmer
Rouge government. The People’s Party, a Hanoi installed Khmer Rouge
faction, took power with Hun Sen as prime minister and Heng Samrin
as president. This finally ended the mass genocide depicted in the
1984 film "The Killing Fields." The Khmer Rouge retreated into
sanctuaries along the Thai border, set up bases and picked up
support from Thailand and China.
   (WSJ, 2/27/96, p.A-1)(SFC, 6/14/97, p.A15)(WSJ,
5/3/96, p.A-10)(SFC, 4/29/97, p.A8)(AP,
1/7/98)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heng_Samrin)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 15, The Soviet Union
vetoed a United Nations resolution and called for the withdrawal of
all Vietnamese troops from Cambodia.
   (HN, 1/15/99)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan, As the Vietnamese
army closed in on Phnom Penh Comrade Duch was ordered to kill the
prisoners remaining in his charge at Tol Sleng (S-21). He was later
the first high Khmer to go on trial.
   (Econ., 9/12/20, p.78)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, Chinese diplomats
of Cambodia crossed into Thailand after a 15-day, 125-mile escape
from the Vietnamese Army. In 1992 "Chinese Diplomats in
International Crisis Situations" was authored by Yun Shui. An
English translation came out in 2003.
   (AP, 1/13/03)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, In Cambodia a
Phnom Penh court tried, convicted and sentenced Pol Pot and his
deputy, Leng Sary, to death in absentia for genocide during the
Khmer Rouge regime. A "Hate Day" was created to recall Khmer Rouge
crimes. Denise Affonco’s testimony during the trial was later
published as “To the End of Hell: One Woman’s Struggle to Survive
Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge.”
   (SFC, 9/15/96, p.A16)(WSJ, 7/19/00,
p.A14)(http://tinyurl.com/2onrxp)(Econ, 12/15/07, p.93)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â The National Museum
re-opened in Cambodia. It had been closed under the Khmer Rouge
rule.
   (AM, May/Jun 97 p.60)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Cambodia signed a border
agreement with Vietnam. Hun Sen was foreign minister in a government
installed by a Vietnamese occupation force.
   (AP, 8/15/15)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Documents from Phnom Penh,
Cambodia, that detailed the genocide by the Khmer Rouge, were
discovered and copied for storage in American libraries.
   (SFC, 6/7/96, p.A16)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â The Khmer Rouge took
refuge in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains and fought on for another 19
years. Their presence in the area acted as a preservative for the
natural wildlife.
   (SFC, 4/8/00, p.A14)
1979Â Â Â Â Â Â Cambodian farmer Neang Say
stumbled onto the Killing Fields, the main execution and disposal
site for the condemned inmates of Tuol Sleng, Pol Pot’s most
notorious prison.
   (Econ, 5/14/05, p.45)
1982Â Â Â Â Â Â The Khmer Rouge and 2
non-Communist groups formed a resistance coalition with Sihanouk as
a figurehead leader. The UN recognized it as the government of
Cambodia.
   (SFC, 6/14/97, p.A15)
1985Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 7, Vietnam seized the
Khmer National Liberation Front headquarters near the Thai-Cambodia
border.
   (HN, 1/7/99)
1985Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 14, Hanoi troops
surrounded the main Khmer Rouge base at Phnom Malai, Cambodia.
   (HN, 2/14/98)
1985Â Â Â Â Â Â Vietnam installed Hun Sen
as prime minister of Cambodia.
   (Econ, 11/15/14, p.86)
1989Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 30, The Cambodian
peace talks in Paris collapsed.
   (Hem, 4/96, p.15)(http://tinyurl.com/nz3x5)
1989Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, The last
Vietnamese soldiers left Cambodia. Vietnam withdrew the last of
26,000 troops.
   (SFC, 6/14/97, p.A15)(PC, 1992 ed, p.1113)
1989Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 22, Khmer Rouge
occupied Pailin in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge used the gem mining
town of Pailin near the Thai border to finance its operations with
gem and timber profits.
   (http://tinyurl.com/p6u5f)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 26, Five permanent
members of U.N. Security Council agreed on peace plan for Cambodia.
   (AP, 11/26/02)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â "Homrong" was recorded by
the musicians of Cambodia’s National Dance Company.
   (NH, 9/97, p.75)
1990Â Â Â Â Â Â Bernard Krisher founded
the nonprofit group ‘American Assistance for Cambodia following a
request from Prince Sihanouk.
   (SFC, 8/21/00, p.B7)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, Cambodia's warring
factions and representatives of 18 other nations signed a peace
treaty in Paris. All the factions signed The Paris Peace Agreements
with the UN to provide peacekeeping and elections. Khmer Rouge Pres.
Khieu Samphan and commander Son Sen soon returned to Phnom Penh for
the first time since 1979, then fled the same day as mobs tried to
lynch Khieu Samphan.
   (SFC, 6/14/97, p.A15)(SFEC, 7/26/98, p.T6)(AP,
10/23/01)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 11, The United States
stationed its first diplomat in Cambodia in 16 years to help the
war-shocked nation arrange democratic elections.
   (AP, 11/11/01)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 14, Cambodian Prince
Norodom Sihanouk returned to his homeland after 13 years of exile.
   (AP, 11/14/01)
1991Â Â Â Â Â Â HIV was first detected in
Cambodia. By 1999 some 100 people were being infected with the AIDS
virus per day.
   (SFC, 8/11/99, p.C2)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, The United Nations
officially embarked on its largest peacekeeping operation with the
arrival of a diplomat in Cambodia. The UN peacekeeping mission in
Cambodia soon began running a radio station to disseminate reliable
information before elections.
   (AP, 3/15/97)(Economist, 9/1/12, p.51)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â The Asian Development Bank
began building and improving transport and telecom links between
China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
   (Econ, 11/8/03, p.42)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â The Association of
Cambodian Local Economic Development Agencies (ACLEDA) was set up by
the UN and the Int’l. Labor Organization as a microfinance
non-governmental organization. By 2010 it was Cambodia’s largest
bank by assets.
   (Economist, 9/22/12, p.85)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â The Greater Mekong
Subregion was created grouping 5 South-East Asian countries
(Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam) and 2 Chinese
provinces.
  Â
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Mekong_Subregion)(Econ,
2/6/10, p.48)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â UNESCO named the Angkor
temples of Cambodia a World Heritage Site.
   (SFC, 2/4/04, p.D10)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, Sihanouk was
reinstalled as king of Cambodia.
   (HN, 9/24/98)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â "The Music of Cambodia"
was recorded by David and Kay Parsons as a 3-CD box that included
Royal Court music and a nine-gong ensemble.
   (NH, 9/97, p.75)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â Cambodia held free
elections under UN supervision. The communist Cambodian People’s
Party (CPP) under Hun Sen lost the elections and formed a coalition
government with the elected Funcinpec under Prince Ranariddh, son of
King Sihanouk. The Khmer Rouge boycotted the elections. The
communists maintained control over the defense and interior
ministries. Ranariddh and Hun Sen ran the country as co-premiers.
   (WSJ, 5/3/96, p.A-10)(SFC, 6/19/97, p.A13)(WSJ,
7/9/99, p.A12)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â Cambodian law prohibited
the removal of cultural artifacts without government permission.
   (AP, 6/11/13)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â The Int'l. Coordination
Committee was created to channel aid to Cambodia's Angkor Wat zone.
   (SFC, 2/4/04, p.D10)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â In Cambodia an armed group
robbed the Angkor storage depot at Siem Reap and took 22 pieces
including several important stone sculptures.
   (AM, May/Jun 97 p.60)
1993Â Â Â Â Â Â Somaly Mam (b.~1970-71)
escaped Cambodia following years of forced prostitution. She moved
to Paris and later returned to Cambodia to help women caught in
similar situations. In 2006 she was honored as one of Glamour
magazine's women of the year. In 2007 she published her
autobiography: "The Road of Lost Innocence." In 2008 she was the
co-winner of the $150,000 World's Children's Prize for the Rights of
the Child, awarded by the Swedish Children's World Association to
recognize those who defend the rights of children. In 2014 she
resigned from the New York-based foundation she helped found after
reports alleged that she had distorted aspects of her personal
history.
   (AP,
5/29/14)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaly_Mam)
1993-96Â Â Â In Cambodia the Khmer Rouge remained
active in the countryside. They killed 100 Vietnamese settlers,
abducted villagers for forces labor and kidnapped westerners.
   (SFC, 6/14/97, p.A15)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 19, Cambodian
government seizes control of Pailin, the Khmer Rouge main
stronghold.
   (AP, 3/19/02)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, In Cambodia 3
Western backpackers were kidnapped from a train by the Khmer Rouge.
The surprise train attack left 13 dead. Frenchman Michel Braquet,
Briton Mark Slater, and Australian David Wilson were held at the
base of Nuon Paet, who later ordered them killed. Paet was convicted
for the killings in 1999 and sentenced to life in prison. Sam Bith
and Chhouk Rin, former Khmer Rouge guerrillas, were charged in
connection with the abduction and slayings in 1999. Col. Rin was
arrested in 2000. Chhouk Rin was acquitted in 2000 due to an amnesty
for rebel defectors. In 2002 Bith was convicted and jailed for life.
   (SFC, 6/8/99, p.A12)(SFC, 6/22/99, p.A12)(SFC,
6/22/99, p.A12)(SFC, 1/19/00, p.A16)(WSJ, 7/19/00, p.A1)(MC,
7/26/02)(AP, 12/23/02)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â The book "Cambodian
Culture Since 1975: Homeland and Exile" by Sam-Ang Sam was
published. It included information on Cambodian music.
   (NH, 9/97, p.75)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â Bernard Krisher founded
and became the publisher of The Cambodian Daily, a small
English-language newspaper in Phnom Penh.
   (SFC, 8/21/00, p.B7)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â The Australian foreign
minister, Gareth Evans, accused "freelance military personnel and
business spivs" (shady dealers) in Thailand of providing refuge for
Khmer Rouge leaders and helping them get gems and timber out of
Cambodia. The statement was made after 2 Australians were murdered
by the Khmer Rouge.
   (SFC, 6/7/96, p.A12)
1994Â Â Â Â Â Â Cambodia’s 7 million mines
amount to two for every single Cambodian child, and between 200 and
250 people become victims every month.
   (UNICEFF Mailer,11/94)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, The Mekong
Agreement created the Mekong River Commission with Cambodia, Laos,
Thailand and Vietnam as members.
   (Econ, 1/7/12,
p.34)(www.kellnielsen.dk/mekong/agreem.htm)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov, In Cambodia Hun Sen
arrested the sec. general of Funcinpec, Prince Norodom Sirivudh, and
tried him for terrorism and coup plotting. The trial was a
transparent mockery of justice.
   (WSJ, 5/3/96, p.A-10)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â The Future Light Orphanage
in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, was founded to teach children skills to
avoid poverty.
   (SFC, 5/3/00, p.A12)
1995Â Â Â Â Â Â The Khmer Rouge was ousted
in Cambodia after a 3 year reign of terror in which hundreds of
thousands died.
   (WSJ, 7/11/96, p.A10)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 26, In Cambodia the
Khmer Rouge kidnapped Christopher Howes (37), a mine-clearing expert
from Bristol, England, and Huon Huot, his interpreter. In November
Howes’ employer paid $120,000 for his release. The two men were
killed shortly after their abduction. Their remains were found in
1998. In 2008 a Cambodian court sentenced four former Khmer Rouge
rebels each to up to 20 years in prison for their involvement in the
murders.
   (SFC, 11/23/96, p.A11)(SFC, 4/13/98,
p.A14)(http://tinyurl.com/7s7x4)(AP, 10/14/08)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, Khmer Rouge
guerillas attacked a group of tourists near Kompot, 85 miles
southwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Reports have it that they killed
and wounded a number of people and kidnapped about 20.
   (SFC, 4/17/96, p.A-10)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 7, In Cambodia it was
reported that Pol Pot was gravely ill or possibly dead. Pol Pot died
1998.
   (WSJ, 6/7/96, p.A11)(SFC, 4/16/98, p.A1)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 21, In Cambodia Khmer
Rouge guerrillas held dozens of sawmill workers for ransom and
killed 14 of them with axes.
   (SFC, 6/27/96, p.A12)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, The Khmer Rouge
attacked a government base in southwestern Cambodia. They were also
accused of killing 60 forestry workers kidnapped previously. 25,500
people have died since 1995 in fighting with the Khmer Rouge.
   (WSJ, 7/11/96, p.A10)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, In Cambodia the
government announced an internal power struggle and split in the
Khmer Rouge. Leng Sary, a Pol Pot chum and the Khmer Rouge foreign
minister, opposed Son Sen, the minister of defense and led
defections that grew to 10,000.
   (SFC, 8/12/96, p.A13)(SFC, 6/14/97, p.A15)(WSJ,
4/17/98, p.A13)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, Cambodia rushed
troops to aid the 1,000 or so Khmer Rouge dissidents near the
village of Chup Koki. About 5,500 Khmer Rouge rebels remain loyal to
Pol Pot.
   (SFC, 9/6.96, p.A14)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, In Cambodia King
Norodom Sihanouk granted amnesty to Leng Sary, the Khmer Rouge rebel
leader.
   (SFC, 9/15/96, p.A16)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 18, Cambodia’sÂ
king granted amnesty to all prison inmates except those convicted of
serious crimes and judged to be too dangerous. He also proposed
tearing down the country’s dilapidated prisons which house about
2,000 people, many held without trial. Leng Sary was granted amnesty
and formed a political party. His followers maintained rule over
Pailin under nominal government control.
   (SFC, 10/19/96, A11)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 27, Cambodia’s king
reversed his decision for amnesty after students issued a warning of
increased national insecurity.
   (SFC, 10/28/96, p.A10)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct, Mr. Robert Prins,
president of Iowa Wesleyan College, bestowed an honorary law degree
to Hun Sen and his Cambodia chief of cabinet Sok An at the behest of
Mr. Ted Sioeng, Indonesian businessman.
   (WSJ, 1/13/98, p.A22)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov, The IMF canceled a
$20 million loan because of Cambodia’s failure to halt illegal
logging and channel timber revenue into its budget.
   (SFC, 4/29/97, p.A10)
1996Â Â Â Â Â Â In Cambodia Ta Mok ousted
Pol Pot from power and kept him under house arrest until his death
in 1998.
   (SFEC, 3/7/99, p.A17)(SFC, 7/21/06, p.A20)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 14, Khmer Rouge
guerrillas killed all but three Cambodian government officials sent
to make peace.
   (SFC, 4/12/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, In Cambodia a
grenade attack at a political rally killed at least 16 and wounded
over 100 as opposition leader Sam Rainsy led some 200 members of his
Khmer Nation Party in front of the National Assembly.
   (SFC, 4/29/97, p.A10)(SFC, 6/18/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, The 7-member ASEAN
alliance, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, met in Kuala
Lumpur and agreed to allow Burma to become a member in July. Laos
and Cambodia were also to be admitted. The members were Thailand,
Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.
   (SFEC, 6/1/97, p.D3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, In Cambodia Pol
Pot ordered the killing of the former Khmer Rouge defense minister
Son Sen (67) and his powerful wife, Yun Yat (63), and 9 relatives.
   (SFC, 6/14/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 17, Fighting broke out
in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, between the 2 competing prime ministers.
Security troops of Prince Ranariddh faced troops of the national
police under Hok Lundy, a supporter of Hun Sen.
   (SFC, 6/18/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 18, In Cambodia it was
reported that Pol Pot had surrendered with 15 followers.
   (SFC, 6/19/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 19, In Cambodia the
report of Pol Pot’s surrender was rescinded.
   (SFC, 6/20/97, p.A19)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 21, Cambodia
government sources announced that former Khmer Rouge troops had
captured Pol Pot.
   (SFC, 6/21/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun, Cambodia’s Hun Sen
wrote to the UN and asked for help in bringing remaining Khmer Rouge
to trial.
   (WSJ, 7/19/00, p.A14)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, In Cambodia troops
of prince Ranariddh laid down their arms and some 140 were taken
prisoner by troops of 2nd Prime Minister Hun Sen. Ranariddh was on a
trip to France and Hun Sen claimed that illegal negotiations were
taking place with Khmer Rouge guerrillas.
   (SFC, 7/5/97, p.A10)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, Cambodia's 2nd PM
Hun Sen launched a bloody coup that toppled 1st PM Norodom
Ranariddh. Heavy fighting in Phnom Penh indicated the collapse of
the fragile coalition.
   (SFEC, 7/6/97, p.A3)(AP, 7/5/98)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, In Cambodia Hun Sen
declared victory while Prince Ranariddh planned from France to carry
out a resistance effort.
   (SFC, 7/7/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, Cambodia Interior
Minister Ho Sok was seized and executed by forces loyal to Hun Sen.
Some 30 soldiers loyal to Ranariddh were captured and tortured by
Regiment 911 at Kambol
   (SFC, 7/9/97, p.A6)(SFC, 7/21/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 9, In Cambodia some 30
opposition officials were arrested in Pray Veng Province, 13 in
Battambang, and 20 in Kompong Speu. Prince Ranariddh was in
consultation with the United Nations for support.
   (SFC, 7/10/97, p.E3)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, ASEAN foreign
ministers voted to suspend Cambodia’s pending membership. The US
announced a 3/4 reduction of staff and some aid. More than 50 people
were dead after 2 days of fighting.
   (SFC, 7/11/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, In Cambodia Hun
Sen named a new co-premier, Ung Huot, the foreign minister and a
member of Ranariddh’s Funcinpec Party. Exiled legislators said was
the appointment was illegal.
   (SFC, 7/17/97, p.A8)(WSJ, 7/17/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, In Cambodia Prince
Ranariddh called off armed resistance and proposed a caretaker
government and new elections.
   (SFC, 7/19/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, In Cambodia Hun
Sen rejected a peace plan proposed by the 7-nation ASEAN group.
   (SFEC, 7/20/97, p.A19)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, Communist
guerrillas in Cambodia announced that Pol Pot was sentenced to
life imprisonment. Nate Thayer, a US reporter for the Far Eastern
Economic Review, claimed to have seen Pol Pot and prepared a report
for the Review.
   (WSJ, 7/28/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, US Sec. of State
Madeleine Albright announced that the bulk of US aid to Cambodia
would be suspended.
   (SFC, 8/9/97, p.A9)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 19, In Cambodia 35,000
people fled across the border to Thailand to escape fighting between
forces loyal to Prince Ranariddh and troops of coup leader Hun Sen.
   (WSJ, 8/20/97, p.A1)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 24, In Cambodia troops
of Hun Sen overran O’Smach, the last frontier town held by forces
loyal to Prince Ranariddh.
   (SFC, 8/25/97, p.A8)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, In Cambodia a
Vietnam Airlines, Tupelov 134, Soviet jet crashed on approach
to Phnom Penh airport and killed 65 people. One child, 1-year-old
Chanayuth Nim-Anong, survived. A 2nd child about 4 also survived.
   (WSJ, 9/3/97, p.A1)(SFC, 9/4/97, p.A12)(SFC,
9/5/97, p.A12)
1997Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 20, Theng Bunma,
Cambodian business tycoon and accused drug trafficker, was awarded
an honorary doctorate from Iowa Wesleyan College via the
manipulations of Ted Sioeng, an Indonesia-born businessman. Sioeng
was at the heart of the "donorgate" scandal over China’s attempt to
influence the 1996 US elections.
   (WSJ, 1/13/98, p.A22)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 29, In Cambodia
civilians fled fighting between factions of the Khmer Rouge
   (WSJ, 3/30/98, p.A1)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, Prince Norodom
Ranariddh returned to Cambodia and planned to oppose Hun Sen in the
Jul 26 elections.
   (SFC, 3/31/98, p.B4)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 31, In Cambodia
government soldiers made a major offensive to destroy the remnants
of the Khmer Rouge guerrillas, whose numbers were disintegrating due
to defections and internal fighting.
   (SFC, 4/1/98, p.A8)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, Pol Pot (73) died
of a heart attack in Anlong Veng, northern Cambodia. His body was
cremated. It was later reported that he killed himself with malaria
pills and tranquilizers after learning that an aide planned to hand
him over to the US. In 1999 it was reported that Ta Mok had Pol Pot
executed. In 2001 the place of his death was designated as a
historic site and plans were made to make it a tourist attraction.
In 2004 Philip Short and John Murray authored “Pol Pot: The History
of a Nightmare.”
   (SFC, 4/16/98, p.A1)(SFC, 4/18/98, p.A8)(WSJ,
1/21/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 5/27/99, p.A1)(SFC, 12/21/01, p.H5)(Econ,
11/6/04, p.89)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 17, A Thai military
team collected evidence from the body of Pol Pot, former chief of
Cambodia's Khmer Rouge guerrillas, to confirm that one of the
century's worst tyrants was truly dead.
   (AP,, 4/17/99)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 18, In Cambodia the
Khmer Rouge killed 22 ethnic Vietnamese at Chhanok Tru, a fishing
village on Tonle Sap Lake.
   (SFC, 4/21/98, p.A15)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, Khmer Rouge rebels
drove a large government force back in 2 days of fighting along the
Thai-Cambodian border.
   (SFC, 4/22/98, p.A9)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â May 2, Cambodian refugees
entered Thailand as government troops declared that they had all but
destroyed the Khmer Rouge.
   (BS, 5/3/98, p.16A)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â May 20, In Cambodia Prince
Ranariddh quit as head of an opposition alliance against Hun Sen and
chose to support Son Soubert.
   (WSJ, 5/21/98, p.A1)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 5, Over 1,000 former
Khmer Rouge soldiers were inducted into the Cambodian army at Anlong
Veng. Khmer Rouge leader Ta Mok and some loyalists were still in the
jungles along the Thai border.
   (SFC, 6/6/98, p.A11)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 28, In Cambodia an
opposition activist was found beaten to death near Phnom Penh.
   (WSJ, 6/30/98, p.A1)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, In Cambodia Khmer
Rouge guerrillas under Ta Mok attacked a convoy of election workers
and killed 2 people.
   (SFEC, 7/19/98, p.A24)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 23, It was reported
that 3 ethnic Vietnamese were killed last week in a racist attack
prior to Cambodian elections. Ethnic slurs against the Vietnamese
were turning up in the election campaign.
   (SFC, 7/23/98, p.A10)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, In Cambodia a
Khmer Rouge attack left 10 people dead as the nation voted for a new
government. 40-50 guerrillas struck at an army outpost at O’Kong
Bich. No party was expected to win a majority of the 122 seat
National Assembly.
   (SFC, 7/27/98, p.A8)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, The Cambodian
People's Party (CPP) of Hun Sen claimed victory and preliminary
results showed him with 67 seats, Ranariddh with 42 and Rainsy with
13.
   (WSJ, 7/29/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 7/9/99, p.A12)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, In Cambodia
election officials declared Hun Sen the winner and int’l. monitors
backed the results.
   (WSJ, 8/6/98, p.A1)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, A grenade attack
in Phnom Penh, apparently aimed at Sam Rainsy, killed one man but
left Rainsy unhurt.
   (WSJ, 8/21/98, p.A1)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7, In Phnom Penh Hun
Sen ordered the arrests of his opponents and at least one person was
killed as police fired into a crowd of protestors.
   (SFC, 9/8/98, p.A8)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, In Phnom Penh
police scattered demonstrators and ended a 2-week protest against
alleged fraud in the national elections. Protestors called their
tent city Democracy Square and thousands participated with hopes of
launching a people-power revolution.
   (SFC, 9/9/98, p.A8)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, In Cambodia a
rocket attack intended for Huns Sen killed 4 people including 2
children.
   (SFC, 9/24/98, p.A14)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, In Cambodia the
warring political parties agreed to form a coalition government led
by Hun Sen. Opposition leader Prince Norodom Ranariddh will become
president of the National Assembly.
   (SFC, 11/14/98, p.A10)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 25, Cambodia’s new
National Assembly began office with Prince Ranariddh as speaker of
the 120-seat group.
   (SFC, 11/26/98, p.B8)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, In Cambodia the
last Khmer Rouge fighting force surrendered, but 3 leaders refused
to give up.
   (WSJ, 12/7/98, p.A1)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 7, The UN agreed to
give Cambodia’s UN seat to the new government.
   (SFC, 12/8/98, p.A15)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 9, In Cambodia Khmer
Rouge guerrillas kidnapped 48 people, including 3 aid workers, and
demanded ransom.
   (WSJ, 12/10/98, p.A1)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 20, In Cambodia there
were riots in Sihanoukville to protests suspected toxic waste
imports from Taiwan. Hundreds of Cambodians fled the city after
reports of deaths from 3,000 tons of toxic waste dumped 2 weeks ago.
The waste was loaded with mercury and a plan was made to move it
away from Sihanoukville. Taiwan ordered Formosa Plastics to take
back the 3,000 tons of waste but the firm said the government used
tests by an environmental group.
   (WSJ, 12/21/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 12/22/98, p.A1)(WSJ,
12/28/98, p.A1)(WSJ, 12/29/98, p.A1)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 26, In Cambodia 2
aides of the late Pol Pot, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, emerged from
the jungle and expressed in writing their desire to become ordinary
citizens and allegiance to the government. Prime Minister Hun Sen
welcomed them and spoke against a trial and reopening old wounds.
   (SFEC, 12/27/98, p.A22)(SFC, 12/29/98, p.A8)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 31, In Cambodia Hun
Sen said he would not oppose a trial of the 2 recently emerged Khmer
Rouge defectors. The National Assembly passed a $393.4 million
budget that included $133 million for defense and security.
   (SFC, 1/2/99, p.A8)(SFC, 1/2/99, p.C12)
1998Â Â Â Â Â Â Over 8,000 Cambodians died
from AIDS in this year.
   (SFC, 8/11/99, p.C2)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, Some 1,700
guerrillas of the Khmer Rouge were inducted into the Cambodian
military.
   (SFC, 2/10/99, p.A10)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, In Japan int'l.
donors at a 2 day conference pledged to provide $470 million in aid
to Cambodia, if the country takes steps to reduce its army and
promote democracy.
   (SFC, 2/27/99, p.A16)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb, A UN panel
recommended that an int'l. tribunal be established to prosecute
those persons most responsible for the crimes of Cambodia’s Khmer
Rouge.
   (SFC, 5/10/99, p.A10)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 6, In Cambodia Ta Mok
(72), aka "the butcher," the one-legged last senior leader of the
Khmer Rouge, was arrested.
   (SFEC, 3/7/99, p.A17)(SFC, 3/8/99, p.A12)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar, In Cambodia Hun Sen
rejected a UN proposal to hold an int’l. tribunal.
   (WSJ, 7/19/00, p.A14)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr, Kaing Guek Eav (aka
Comrade Duch), the chief executioner of Pol Pot's regime, was
uncovered by Nick Dunlop, a foreign journalist. The Cambodia
government reportedly knew of his whereabouts for 2 years. In May
Duch was put under protective custody after agreeing to testify
against his former comrades. In 2006 Dunlop authored “The Lost
Executioner: A Journey to the heart of the Killing Fields.”
   (SFC, 5/10/99, p.A8,10)(SSFC, 3/5/06, p.M3)(Econ,
6/27/09, p.52)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, Cambodia was
admitted as the 10th member of the Association of Asian Nations
(ASEAN).
   (SFC, 5/1/99, p.B1)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr, Hun Sen accepted a
compromise offer for an int’l. tribunal with both foreign and
Cambodian judges. Talks soon collapsed.
   (WSJ, 7/19/00, p.A14)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 26, Samdach Vira
Bhante, a Cambodian monk, died in Stockton, Ca. at age 110.
   (SFC, 7/1/99, p.C4)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, Srei Chea (29),
Cambodian film star, was shot 3 times by 2 gunmen. She died a week
later. Her films included "Shadow of Darkness," which was about life
under the Khmer Rouge.
   (SFC, 7/19/99, p.A12)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, Piseth Peaklica
(34), Cambodian actress, was shot by 2 gunmen in a Phnom Penh market
and died on July 13. It was rumored that she was involved with a
high official (Hun Sen) and ordered killed by a jealous wife (Bun
Rany).
   (SFC, 11/4/99, p.A15)(http://tinyurl.com/5n83tu)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, It was reported
that an estimated half of Cambodia's 10-20 thousand sex workers were
infected with the AIDS virus, HIV.
   (SFC, 8/11/99, p.C2)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7, In Cambodia the
military court charged Ta Mok, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla chief,
with genocide.
   (SFC, 9/8/99, p.A15)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 9, In Cambodia Kaing
Khek, aka "Duch" and former head of Tuol Sleng, a converted school
that served as a Khmer Rouge torture center, was charged with
genocide.
   (SFC, 9/10/99, p.D4)(SSFC, 3/5/06, p.M3)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 19, In Cambodia Prime
Minister Hun Sen reportedly gave his approval for a tribunal to hear
genocide charges against the Khmer Rouge.
   (SFC, 10/20/99, p.A10)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Cambodia agreed to allow
environmentalists to begin an experiment in wildlife and forest
protection with enforcers paid by outside nations.
   (WSJ, 6/19/01, p.A1)
1999Â Â Â Â Â Â Bernard Krisher, American
philanthropist (retired magazine journalist), began to link rural
schools with solar power and Internet linked computers. His Japan
Relief for Cambodia was responsible for the Cambodia Daily, the
country's first English language daily newspaper and an orphanage in
Phnom Penh.
   (SFC, 12/15/99, p.AA7)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 2, It was reported
that Cambodia’s Hun Sen, in an effort to boost tourism, had approved
direct flights to Angkor Wat, with a required one night stay in the
adjacent town of Siem Riap.
   (SFEC, 1/2/00, p.T3)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan, In Cambodia Hun Sen
moved ahead with plans to hold national trials without int’l.
assistance.
   (WSJ, 7/19/00, p.A14)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â May, At least 6
anti-government royalists were killed by government soldiers in
Cambodia’s Kratie province according to charges made by a human
rights group in August. 25 people were missing and presumed dead.
   (SFC, 8/18/00, p.D6)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, In Cambodia and
Vietnam the Mekong River flooded. At least 89 people had died in
Cambodia and 8 in Vietnam since the floods began in July.
   (SFC, 9/15/00, p.A18)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, In Southeast Asia
the death toll from floods reached 235. The Red Cross issued an
appeal for emergency aid to Cambodia.
   (SFC, 9/22/00, p.D2)
2000Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 24, Several dozen
gunmen attacked government offices in Phnom Penh. At least 7 people
were killed and 12 wounded. Police fought a US-based anti-communist
group known as the Cambodian Freedom Fighters (CFF). 8 were killed
and 60 rounded up. 38 people, including 4 American citizens, were
later charged with terrorism. In 2002 a court sentenced 20 people to
prison terms of 5 years to life for the plotting to overthrow the
government.
   (SFC, 11/25/00, p.A18)(WSJ, 11/27/00, p.A1)(SFC,
11/30/00, p.C3)(SFC, 3/1/02, p.A17)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Cambodia’s
Constitutional Council approved legislation to establish a special
court to try former Khmer Rouge leaders for crimes against humanity.
   (SFC, 8/8/01, p.A9)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 10, Cambodia’s King
Sihanouk signed war-crimes legislation to try senior Khmer Rouge
leaders.
   (WSJ, 8/15/01, p.A1)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 23, Cambodia’s PM Hun
Sen shut down the country’s bars, nightclubs, discos and karaoke
parlors. He said they were spawning crime and eroding traditional
values. The action followed a series of shootings at nightspots.
   (SSFC, 12/2/01, p.C13)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Kay Kimsong, along with
two Americans working for the Cambodian Daily, were sued over two
articles published in early 2001 that said Foreign Minister Hor
Namhong had played an active part in running a Phnom Penh prison
camp during the Khmer Rouge's brutal 1975-79 reign. An appeal by
Kimson in 2005 was rejected and he was fined $7,500.
   (AP, 8/31/05)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Arn Chorn-Pond started the
Silipak Khmer Amatak (Cambodian Living Arts) organization. It aimed
to locate and support Cambodian master artists.
   (SFCM, 8/8/04, p.12)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â The UN said 170,000 people
in Cambodia had HIV. About 2.7% of the adult population was infected
with AIDS.
   (Econ, 11/22/03, p.41)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 3, In Cambodia’s 1st
local elections Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party won control of up
to 1600 of the 1,621 local councils. A US monitoring group said the
polls were competently run but neither free nor fair.
   (SFC, 2/5/02, p.A7)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 30, Floodwaters along
the lower stretches of the Mekong have wreaked havoc in Laos,
Cambodia (18), Thailand (12) and Vietnam (25), claiming at least 55
lives and leaving thousands homeless across the region.
   (AP, 8/30/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, In Cambodia 2 nuns
and a monk burned to death in bathtubs of gasoline and three
suffered multiple stab wounds in Wat Thmar Sar. Police later
detained Dem Mam the leader of an extremist Buddhist cult.
   (Reuters, 10/2/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, The ASEAN group
(Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos,
Vietnam, Brunei, Thailand and Myanmar) ended a 2-day conference in
Cambodia that was also attended by representatives from China,
Japan, and India and South Africa.
   (AP, 11/5/02)
2002Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 19, In Cambodia some 1
million people participated in the transfer of some remains of
Buddha from Phnom Penh to a new shrine in Oudong.
   (SFC, 12/20/02, p.A18)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 29, In Cambodia
protesters looted and set fire to the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh.
The protest was against a Thai TV star who was quoted in the media
as saying Cambodia had stolen the famous Angkor Wat temple from
Thailand.
   (AP, 1/29/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 30, Thailand sealed
its border with Cambodia, recalled its ambassador and sent military
planes to evacuate hundreds of terrified Thais after rioters looted
and torched its embassy in the Cambodian capital.
   (AP, 1/30/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 5, Cambodia
sealed its border with Thailand, due to sluggish progress "to
normalize relations in border areas" since January’s anti-Thai
riots.
   (AP, 3/5/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, Cambodia and
Thailand agreed to resume full diplomatic relations, which were
suspended after anti-Thai riots shook Cambodia's capital in January.
   (AP, 4/11/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, Cambodia held
elections for seats in the123-member national Assembly in the third
democratic election in a decade.
   (AP, 7/27/03)(SSFC, 7/27/03, p.A9)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, In Cambodia PM Hun
Sen's party claimed victory in general elections, saying it expects
to win around 73 of the 123 seats in the National Assembly. Hun
Sen's party swept to victory, but apparently fell short of the
two-thirds majority needed to govern outright.
   (AP, 7/28/03)(AP, 7/29/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 30, In Cambodia
opposition parties said they would only form a coalition government
if PM Hun Sen stepped down.
   (SFC, 8/1/03, p.A3)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 26, It was reported
that Cambodian prostitutes were being subjected to gang rapes, and
that the practice, called "bauk," has been common for years.
   (SSFC, 10/26/03, p.A11)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, Cambodia's three
main parties agreed to form a tripartite coalition government with
Prime Minister Hun Sen at the helm, ending a deadlock from
inconclusive elections.
   (AP, 11/5/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 25, In Cambodia PM Hun
Sen's nephew was arrested on murder charges for allegedly shooting
to death two people after a car crash.
   (AP, 11/25/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 15, Cambodia's prime
minister ordered the destruction of the country's surface-to-air
missiles to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorists.
Hun Sen issued the order after a meeting in Phnom Penh with U.S.
Ambassador Charles Ray.
   (AP, 12/16/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 30, In Cambodia former
Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan (72) acknowledged for the
first time that his regime committed genocide.
   (AP, 12/30/03)
2003Â Â Â Â Â Â Evan Gottlesman authored
"Cambodia: After the Khmer Rouge."
   (WSJ, 4/25/03, W6)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, In Cambodia gunmen
assassinated Chea Vichea, a prominent labor leader linked to the
main opposition party, as he read a newspaper on a capital street.
   (AP, 1/22/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr, SF based non-profit
Room to Read (R2R), founded by former Microsoft executive John Wood,
opened its 1000th library in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
   (SFCM, 9/26/04, p.7)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â May 11, The Int’l. Justice
Mission, a US-based evangelical Christian organization, was reported
to be active in battling the child-sex trade in Cambodia. The group,
founded in 1997 by Gary Haugen, was operating with $1.7 million in
federal funds.
   (SFC, 5/11/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, Actress Angelina
Jolie (29) arrived in Cambodia. PM Hun Sen had offered her
citizenship in recognition of her nature conservation work in the
country’s northwest.
   (SFC, 7/7/04, p.E3)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â cJul 8, In Cambodia Hun
Sen and Prince Ranariddh signed an agreement to share power with Hun
Sen as PM and Ranariddh as speaker of the National Assembly.
   (Econ, 7/10/04, p.36)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, Police forces
loyal to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen forced the acting head of
state Chea Sim out of the country in a purge of the ruling party.
   (AP, 7/13/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, King Sihanouk
reappointed Hun Sen as Cambodia’s premier.
   (WSJ, 7/15/04, p.A1)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 4, Cambodia's
legislature approved a long-delayed agreement to put surviving Khmer
Rouge leaders on trial for atrocities that claimed nearly two
million lives during their murderous rule in the late 1970s.
   (AP, 10/4/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 7, Cambodia’s King
Norodom Sihanouk (81) abdicated due to poor health.
   (SFC, 10/7/04, p.A9)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 14, In Cambodia Prince
Norodom Sihamoni, retiring King Norodom Sihanouk's son, a former
ballet dancer and U.N. cultural ambassador, was officially confirmed
to succeed his father on the throne.
   (AP, 10/14/04)
2004Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 28, Cambodia's King
Norodom Sihamoni, the 51-year-old son of former king Norodom
Sihanouk, was formally sworn in as monarch.
   (AP, 10/29/04)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, The 1974
Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA), which had restricted Chinese textile
exports, ended. This forced Cambodia to face fierce competition from
rival exporters. This led to the loss of some 30,000 jobs in
Mauritius.
  Â
(www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/February06/Features/feature2.htm)(Econ,
2/19/05, p.42)(Econ, 10/18/08, p.58)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 3, The US embassy in
Phnom Penh condemned the Cambodian parliament's vote to strip
opposition leader Sam Rainsy and two of his deputies of immunity.
   (AP, 2/3/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb, Sam Rainsy fled
Cambodia after his parliamentary immunity was removed.
   (Econ, 11/5/05, p.47)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 18, A
Cambodian-Japanese joint venture, JC Royal, was awarded a 30-year
management lease to oversee and upgrade the Choeung Ek memorial,
site of the killing fields (1975-1979). Profits were marked for the
unregistered Sun Fund charity.
   (Econ, 5/14/05, p.45)(http://tinyurl.com/dlpm7)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, Cambodia and
Vietnam each confirmed an additional death from bird flu, raising
Southeast Asia's death toll to 48.
   (AP, 3/25/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â May 18, Cambodia's
legislature ratified a pact with the US exempting each country's
citizens from extradition for prosecution by the International
Criminal Court, an agreement sought by Washington to avoid political
trials of its citizens.
   (AP, 5/18/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 16, In northwestern
Cambodia a man driven by a grudge against his former employer
spearheaded an assault on an international school, taking dozens of
children hostage and silencing a crying a 2-year-old Canadian boy by
shooting him in the head.
   (AP, 6/17/05)(SFC, 6/17/05, p.A3)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 30, A Cambodia doctor
reported that 2 infants have died in Cambodia from influenza, part
of an outbreak that has hospitalized more than 1,000 children. He
said the illness appears to be a form of human flu, not the avian
influenza.
   (AP, 6/30/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 20, Cambodia handed
over some 107 Montagnards, a largely Christian hilltribe people, to
Vietnamese authorities. More than 1,000 Montagnards fled to Cambodia
after security forces put down demonstrations in Vietnam's Central
Highlands in 2001 against land confiscation and religious
persecution of ethnic minorities. In January, Vietnam, Cambodia and
the UNHCR signed a memorandum of understanding to resettle or
repatriate about 700 ethnic minority Vietnamese who were estimated
at the time to be in Cambodia.
   (AFP, 7/20/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, In Cambodia 2 men
who said their confessions were coerced by police were convicted of
murder in the death of a prominent labor union leader. Chea Vichea,
the former head of Cambodia's Free Trade Union of Workers, was
gunned down in January 2004 at a roadside newsstand in the capital,
Phnom Penh. The union leader was an outspoken critic of government
corruption and human rights abuses.
   (AP, 8/2/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, The US Embassy in
Cambodia said the US has established a $2 million endowment (DC-Cam)
to assist a Cambodian group researching crimes committed by the
Khmer Rouge government in the late 1970s.
   (AP, 9/2/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 6, Australia staged a
high seas arrest of a Cambodian-flagged ship with an international
crew suspected of fishing illegally in sub-Antarctic waters.
   (AFP, 9/10/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 25, Chhouk Rin, former
Khmer Rouge field commander, was caught in northwestern Cambodia. In
1994 he was convicted in absentia for the murder of 3 Western
backpackers.
   (AP, 10/26/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 31, In Cambodia police
arrested two leading human rights activists on defamation charges as
the UN human rights body expressed "extreme concern" over the move.
   (AFP, 12/31/05)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec, The IMF decided to
write off Cambodia’s $82 million debt.
   (Econ, 2/24/07, p.52)(http://tinyurl.com/yvqvuh)
2005Â Â Â Â Â Â Some 80% of Cambodians
lived in the countryside.
   (Econ, 2/19/05, p.42)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 17, Cambodia, under US
pressure, released four prominent government critics from a Phnom
Penh prison but said they will still face defamation charges.
   (AP, 1/17/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 22, Cambodia held its
first Senate election. PM Hun Sen's ruling party secured a landslide
victory. Only 123 parliamentarians and 11,261 members of commune
councilors, local administrative bodies, were able to vote.
   (AFP, 1/29/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, Cambodia's king
pardoned exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy who was sentenced to
jail for defamation, in a move officials said was at the request of
PM Hun Sen.
   (AP, 2/5/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 10, Sam Rainsy, an
exiled Cambodian opposition leader, returned home to cheering crowds
of supporters after a royal pardon ended his long feud with PM Hun
Sen.
   (AP, 2/10/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, Cambodia’s National
Assembly convened to amend 8 legislations to the constitution
especially the new article 90 to diminish the votes of support for
lawmakers from 2/3 to 50% plus one votes in order to form a
government, according to the lawmakers' proposals from the 3 main
parties.
   (http://tinyurl.com/jg63b)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, Cambodia deported
an American for running websites that promoted the impoverished
kingdom as a destination for people who wanted to end their lives.
Californian Roger Graham, 57, who owned the Blue Mountain Coffee and
Internet Cafe in the quiet coastal backwater of Kampot, had
advertised his avid support of euthanasia, or mercy killing, on his
websites www.euthanasiaincambodia.com and www.asian-hearts.com.
   (AFP, 3/4/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 29, Cambodia's PM Hun
Sen said that Yash Ghai, a UN human rights representative, was no
longer welcome in the Southeast Asian nation after the envoy
criticized the government's crackdown on dissent.
   (AP, 3/29/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, Cambodian soldiers
departed to Sudan for a UN-backed landmine clearing operation,
saying they hoped they could use their experience recovering from
civil war to help the war-torn Sudanese.
   (AFP, 4/15/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, The Cambodian PM
Hun Sen ruled out sending troops to Iraq, rejecting a request by the
US for non-combat forces to assist with humanitarian work.
   (AP, 4/21/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr, China’s PM Wen Jiabao
visited Cambodia and announced aid for roads, dams and other
projects for up to $600 million.
   (Econ, 3/31/07, SR p.14)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â May 4, Cambodia's highest
judicial body approved 30 Cambodian and UN judges to preside over a
long-awaited genocide tribunal for surviving Khmer Rouge leaders.
   (AP, 5/4/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â May 9, A land mine killed
five Cambodian soldiers and maimed another as they tried to remove
it from an area being developed to build a casino.
   (AP, 5/10/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 6, In Cambodia more
than 1,000 police, many armed and in riot gear, evicted hundreds of
families who had refused to leave a Phnom Penh shantytown, as
authorities moved to end a standoff that has stalled millions of
dollars in commercial development.
   (AP, 6/6/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 3, Judges and
prosecutors from Cambodia and abroad were sworn in to begin the
UN-backed judicial process to try former Khmer Rouge leaders for
genocide and crimes against humanity.
   (AP, 7/3/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, In Cambodia Ta Mok
(80), known as "The Butcher" for his brutality as military chief of
the communist Khmer Rouge, died.
   (AP, 7/21/06)(Econ, 8/5/06, p.77)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, Cambodian customs
over the weekend seized 12 luxury vehicles stolen in Canada,
including a Hummer and a Cadillac popular with hip-hop music stars,
giving an intriguing insight into the world of international car
smuggling.
   (Reuters, 8/7/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 30, Cambodian
lawmakers curtailed parliamentarians’ right to speak without fear of
prosecution in a bill that granted them pensions and other perks.
   (Econ, 9/9/06, p.46)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 31, Heng Pov, former
Phnom Penh police chief, was arrested at a hotel in Singapore when a
clerk brought food for him. A Cambodian court warrant had been
recently issued against him accusing him of involvement in a number
of crimes such as the killing of Phnom Penh judge Sok Sethamony,
assassination attempts on general Sao Sokha and judge Uk Savuth, as
well as a number of other criminal cases. Pov claimed that he was
being framed for refusing orders to kill Hok Lundy, the internal
security chief.
   (http://tinyurl.com/gtumm)(Econ, 9/9/06, p.46)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 1, Cambodia’s PM Hun
Sen pushed a bill through the lower house of parliament banning
extra-marital affairs. The legislation could get adulterers up to a
year in jail.
   (Econ, 9/9/06, p.46)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 19, Cambodia's King
Norodom Sihamoni started the official part of a week-long visit to
the Czech Republic, a country where he spent 13 years from 1962-1975
and considers as his "second home."
   (AP, 9/19/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 3, In California
Cambodian and US representatives signed a sister park accord between
Samlaut Park and Sequoia National Park.
   (SFC, 10/4/06, p.A1)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 9, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen began a six-day official visit to Australia that will focus on
security and trade.
   (AFP, 10/9/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 18, Cambodia's
royalist party voted to remove Prince Norodom Ranariddh as its
leader, saying his long absences from the country left him unable to
lead the fractious party.
   (AP, 10/19/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 31, Cambodian police
said an American police officer, killed himself while in custody in
the capital. Donald Rene Ramirez of SF was accused of sexually
abusing a 14-year-old girl. Ramirez had been going on vacation to
Asia for at least 2 decades.
   (AP, 10/31/06)(SSFC, 11/5/06, p.B1)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, Asian nations
reached their first international agreement to implement what has
been dubbed the "Iron Silk Road." Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia,
China, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Laos, Russia, South Korea,
Turkey and seven other nations agreed to meet at least every two
years to identify vital rail routes, coordinate standards and
financing and plan upgrades and expansions, among other measures.
The UN first conceived the Trans-Asian Railway Network in 1960.
   (AP, 11/10/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 21, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen, other senior officials and South Korea’s President Roh Moo-Hyun
arrived in Siem Reap, the gateway to the famed Angkor temple
complex, to kick off the Angkor-Gyeongju Culture Expo, a joint
cultural festival that runs through January 2007.
   (AFP, 11/21/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 30, Cambodia's PM Hun
Sen condemned attempts by Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels to push for
a separate state, after talks in Phnom Penh with the island's
premier.
   (AFP, 11/30/06)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Cambodia’s PM Hun Sen
financed and provided a foreword to a book by Ros Chantrabot about
Sdach Korn, an alleged Cambodian historical figure. 5,000 copies
were distributed out. Hun Sen wanted to rehabilitate this ordinary
man who supposedly toppled his king and ruled during the 16th
century.
  Â
(http://ki-media.blogspot.com/search/label/Hun%20Sen)(Econ, 4/7/07,
p.38)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan, In Cambodia villagers
reported seeing a naked woman stealing food. Sal Lou (43) a retired
police officer, identified her as his oldest child, Rochom P’ngieng,
by a scar on her arm. P’ngieng (29) had vanished in 1989 while
tending buffalo near the jungle in remote northern Rattanakiri
province. In 2010 Rochom P’ngieng reportedly fled back to the
forest.
  Â
(www.salem-news.com/articles/july092008/jungle_girl_7-9-08.php)(AP,
5/28/10)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 2, US Peace Corps
volunteers flew to Cambodia to teach English at rural schools,
marking the 45-year-old organization's first mission
there.  Â
   (AP, 2/2/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, In Cambodia the
American navy's USS Gary docked at Sihanoukville, becoming the first
US military craft to visit the former communist country in more than
30 years.
   (AFP, 2/9/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 15, It was reported
that shooting ranges continued to operate in Cambodia despite
government cancellation of licenses in 1997. Tourists were
able to fire 30 rounds with an AK-47 for $30. Other offers included
tossing grenades at chickens for $200 and killing a cow with a
rocket-propelled grenade for $555.
   (SFC, 2/15/07, p.14)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27, In Cambodia the US
ambassador said direct US aid to support Cambodian government
projects will resume following the lifting of a decade-old ban by
Washington.
   (AP, 2/27/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 5, In Cambodia PM Hun
Sen publicly rebuked members in the upper ranks of his Cambodian
People’s Party for dodgy land deals as small farmers and
slum-dwellers fell victim to land-grabbing.
   (Econ, 3/10/07, p.38)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 12, Preah Maha
Ghosananda (78), Buddhist spiritual leader of Cambodia, died.
   (Econ, 3/24/07, p.98)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 16, Cambodian and
foreign judges reached a key agreement on procedures governing
Cambodia's long-stalled Khmer Rouge tribunal.
   (AP, 3/16/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 19, A Cambodian court
official said that Prince Norodom Ranariddh has been charged with
adultery for having a mistress while still being legally married to
his wife.
   (AP, 3/19/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 24, Thieves in
Cambodia poisoned a 62-year-old domesticated elephant and sawed off
its tusks to sell on the black market. In 2008 2 men were arrested
for the killing and faced up to 3 years in prison for the
intentional destruction of private property.
   (AP, 3/27/07)(AP, 3/26/08)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 1, Cambodia held local
commune elections. The Cambodian People’s Party won control in 1,592
of 1,621 communes amid opposition claims of fraud.
   (Econ, 4/7/07, p.38)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 6, Health officials
said teenage girls in Cambodia and Indonesia have died of bird flu
as the virus continues to stalk across Asia.
   (AP, 4/6/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â May 22, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen met with junta head Senior General Than Shwe in military-ruled
Myanmar, as the two nations moved to improve tourism links.
   (AP, 5/22/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 4, Cambodian and
foreign judges began a weeklong meeting to confirm rules for the
much-delayed genocide trials of former Khmer Rouge leaders, blamed
for the deaths of 1.7 million people.
   (AP, 6/4/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 13, Cambodian and
foreign judges announced rules clearing the way for a UN-assisted
genocide tribunal to begin investigating Khmer Rouge leaders in the
deaths of 1.7 million people during their 1975-79 communist regime.
   (AP, 6/13/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 14, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen, visiting Japan, pledged to fight corruption to lure more
investors from top donor Japan as he tries to wean his government
away from foreign aid.
   (AP, 6/14/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, A charter plane
carrying 22 people between two popular Cambodian tourist
destinations crashed in a mountainous region in the south of the
country. All aboard were killed.
   (AP, 6/25/07)(AP, 6/27/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun, CambodiaÂ
received pledges from foreign governments, agencies and charities of
$690 million in aid, 15% more than last year as China joined the
pledge process.
   (Econ, 6/23/07, p.49)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, Cambodia's
government issued a directive preventing Christians from promoting
their religion in public places, or using money or other means to
persuade people to convert.
   (AP, 7/17/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 31, In Cambodia Kang
Kek Ieu (alias Duch), a former Khmer Rouge prison chief, was charged
with crimes against humanity and detained by Cambodia's UN-backed
tribunal in the first legal action taken by the court against regime
leaders.
   (AFP, 7/31/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 19, In Cambodia Nuon
Chea, the top surviving leader of the notorious Khmer Rouge, whose
radical policies were responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7
million people, was charged with crimes against humanity and war
crimes.
   (AP, 9/19/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 17, In Cambodia
Alexander Trofimov (41), the Russian chairman of Koh Puos Investment
Group Ltd., was charged with debauchery, a Cambodian legal offense
covering sexual abuse of children. He was detained in the southern
resort town of Sihanoukville and accused of raping at least six
girls. In September last year, the Cambodian government gave
Trofimov's company permission to develop an island near
Sihanoukville into a tourist resort.
   (AP, 11/16/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, In Cambodia Ieng
Sary and Ieng Thirith, the ex-foreign minister of the Khmer Rouge
regime and his wife, were arrested on charges of crimes against
humanity. Ieng Sary was sentenced to death in absentia in August
1979, eight months after a Vietnam-led resistance movement overthrew
the Khmer Rouge regime. In 1996 the king rewarded Ieng Sary with an
amnesty for breaking away from his comrades-in-arms.
   (AP, 11/12/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 19, In Cambodia a
UN-backed tribunal arrested Khieu Samphan (76), the former Khmer
Rouge head of state. He was the fifth senior official of the brutal
regime to be rounded up ahead of a long-delayed genocide trial. In
his book "Reflection on Cambodian History Up to the Era of
Democratic Kampuchea," which was released last week, Khieu Samphan
says the Khmer Rouge only wanted what was best for Cambodia.
   (AP, 11/19/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, In Cambodia Kaing
Guek Eav (66), also known as Duch, the head of the Khmer Rouge's
largest and most notorious torture center appeared in court in the
first public session of the long-delayed UN-backed tribunal probing
the regime's reign of terror in the 1970s.
   (AP, 11/20/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 25, Some 600
protesters marched in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh to call
for speedier trials for the former leaders of Khmer Rouge regime.
   (AP, 12/25/07)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Khamboly Dy authored "A
History of Democratic Kampuchea," the first history book written by
a Cambodian about the Khmer Rouge.
   (AP, 4/23/07)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 19, Activists said
actress Mia Farrow has arrived in Cambodia and plans to defy a ban
on holding a ceremony at a former Khmer Rouge prison, as part of her
campaign on Darfur.
   (AFP, 1/19/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 20, In Cambodia
American actress Mia Farrow was forced to cancel a ceremony in Phnom
Penh highlighting human rights abuses in Sudan after authorities
barred her access to the city's genocide museum.
   (AFP, 1/20/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan, In Massachusetts Ly
Van Aggadipo (b.1917), a Cambodia-born Buddhist monk, died. He had
fled Cambodia in 1979 and later settled in the US. In 2010 friends
and followers released a book of his poetry titled “Oh! Maha Mount
Dangrek,” which contained an autobiographical poem on the horrors of
the Khmer Rouge and a friend’s story of love in the time of
genocide.
   (SFC, 3/23/10, p.E3)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, Cambodia passed
legislation on the “Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual
Exploitation” to comply with the United States policy on human
trafficking.
   (http://healthdev.net/site/post.php?s=3840)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 30, Dith Pran (65),
whose experiences during the Cambodian genocide of the 1970s were
adapted into the award-winning movie "The Killing Fields," died in
New Jersey.
   (AFP, 3/30/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 16, In Cambodia an
attacker hurled a hand grenade into a crowd of people dancing at a
Buddhist temple to celebrate the traditional New Year, killing one
villager and wounding 25.
   (AP, 4/17/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 2, The US gave 31 used
trucks to Cambodia in its first direct supply of military hardware
in more than a decade, saying ties between the two countries were
improving.
   (AFP, 6/2/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 20, Cambodian
officials said authorities working with Australian police had
destroyed an enormous stockpile of 33 tons of safrole-rich oil, a
key ingredient used in producing the synthetic drug Ecstasy.
Cambodian authorities have been working since 2002 to stem the
distillation of the oil and since then have succeeded in detecting
and dismantling more than 50 clandestine laboratories capable of
producing up to 15 gallons of oil a day. Cambodian officials are
trying to preserve the sassafras tree, which is classified as a rare
species that grows mainly in Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains.
   (AP, 6/20/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, Thailand’s deputy
prime minister said the Thai government has suspended its decision
to support Cambodia's bid to have an 11th century temple near the
Thai border declared a world landmark. In 1962, the International
Court of Justice awarded the Preah Vihear temple and the land it
occupies to Cambodia.
   (AP, 7/1/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, A UNESCO official
said that an 11th century temple that sits on Cambodia's disputed
border zone with Thailand has been designated as a world heritage
site. Hindu-themed Preah Vihear reflects the beliefs of the kings
who ruled what was then the Angkorean empire.
   (AP, 7/8/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, In Cambodia
journalist Khim Sam Bo (47) was shot twice and his 19-year-old son
was seriously wounded in the chest and died at the hospital. A
gunman on a motorcycle shot five times at the victims as they were
leaving a sports stadium on a motorcycle.
   (AP, 7/12/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, Cambodia assembled
its troops near the Thai border in the second day of alleged
incursions by Thai soldiers amid tensions over disputed border land
near a historic temple.
   (AP, 7/16/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, Thailand sent more
military reinforcements to a disputed part of the Cambodian border,
after the tense four-day standoff nearly erupted into gunfire during
the night.
   (AFP, 7/18/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, Talks between
Cambodia and Thailand to resolve a military stand-off on their joint
border ended without a solution.
   (AFP, 7/21/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, Cambodia asked the
UN Security Council and its Southeast Asian neighbors to intervene
in resolving a military standoff over disputed border territory
around an ancient temple, stepping up its rhetoric against Thailand.
   (AP, 7/22/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 27, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen's party claimed it won a sweeping victory in polls overshadowed
by a military standoff with Thailand. Tens of thousands of
opposition supporters were excluded from the elctoral register.
   (AFP, 7/27/08)(Econ, 8/2/08, p.45)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, Cambodia said that
Thai soldiers are occupying a second temple site on their border in
an escalation of an ongoing armed standoff that nearly led to
clashes between the neighbors last month.
   (AP, 8/3/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, Officials said
Cambodia's genocide tribunal has been hit by new corruption
allegations, compelling foreign donors to withhold more than
$300,000 from the proceedings pending a review of the claims.
   (AP, 8/6/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, Cambodia's
genocide tribunal formally indicted Kaing Guek Eav (aka Duch), a
former prison chief of the country's notorious Khmer Rouge, paving
the way for a historic trial.
   (AP, 8/12/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, A monthlong
standoff between Cambodia and Thailand appeared to be ending as both
sides pulled back their troops from disputed territory around a
temple near their shared border.
   (AP, 8/16/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug, Cambodia leased
agricultural land to Kuwaiti investors following mutual prime
ministerial visits.
   (Econ, 5/23/09, p.62)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, The United States
pledged 1.8 million dollars to Cambodia's cash-strapped Khmer Rouge
court, making its first donation to the UN-backed genocide tribunal
aimed at trying regime leaders.
   (AFP, 9/16/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 3, Soldiers from both
Cambodia and Thailand were wounded in a brief clash along their
volatile border.
   (AP, 10/3/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 7, The UN food agency
(WFP) said it is resuming free breakfasts for hundreds of thousands
of poor Cambodian schoolchildren after securing new funds for a
program suspended due to high food prices.
   (AP, 10/7/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 8, The Asian
Development Bank announced $35 million in emergency food aid to ease
the burden of soaring food prices among some of Cambodia's poorest
people.
   (AP, 10/8/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 13, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen gave Thailand an ultimatum to withdraw troops from a disputed
stretch of jungle-clad border within 24 hours or his forces would
turn the area into a "death zone." Thai troops retreated the next
day.
   (Reuters, 10/13/08)(AP, 10/14/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, Cambodia and
Thailand exchanged fire on the border in a clash over disputed land
which left two soldiers dead and several wounded.
   (AFP, 10/15/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 16, Cambodia and
Thailand agreed to joint patrols of disputed border areas after
deadly clashes, but made little progress toward resolving their
long-standing territorial spat.
   (AFP, 10/16/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 18, A Cambodian monk
(17) was arrested for raping a British woman (39) while taking her
on a tour of a cave in the northwestern Sampov mountains near his
Buddhist temple. The monk also allegedly stole $55 and a cell phone
from the woman.
   (AP, 11/20/08)
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 10, The government of
Cambodia and the UN agreed in principle to strengthen measures to
prevent corruption among staff at the country's genocide tribunal.
   (AP, 12/10/08)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 9, Cambodian judges
denied that they paid kickbacks to government officials to secure
jobs on a genocide tribunal to try former Khmer Rouge leaders.
   (AP, 1/9/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 2, In Cambodia police
in Siem Reap arrested Jack Louis Sporich (75), an American from
Chicago. He was charged with sexually abusing four Cambodian boys.
   (AP, 2/4/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, A nongovernment
organization said the corrupt elite of Cambodia, one of the world's
most impoverished nations, has laid the groundwork for siphoning off
vast profits from a coming boom in mining and oil exploitation.
   (AP, 2/5/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 31, In Cambodia Kaing
Guek Eav (aka Duch), the chief Khmer Rouge torturer, formally
apologized for the deaths of more than 14,000 people at S-21 prison,
the first Pol Pot cadre to accept blame for crimes committed by the
regime 30 years ago.
   (Reuters, 3/31/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 3, Cambodian and Thai
soldiers traded fire with machine guns and rocket launchers along a
disputed border, killing as many as four people in an escalation of
tensions in a long-standing feud over an 11th century temple.
   (AP, 4/3/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, In Cambodia a court
official said Japan has donated $4.17 million to the UN-backed
genocide tribunal trying former Khmer Rouge leaders on war crimes
charges, just as the troubled court was running out of funding.
   (AP, 5/1/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 18, A study by an
environmental group said pollution in the Mekong River is putting
the rare Irrawaddy dolphin in danger of disappearing from Cambodia
and Laos.
   (AP, 6/18/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 26, In Cambodia a
Phnom Penh Municipal Court Judge found Michael James Dodd of
Washington, DC, guilty of soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl. He
was arrested in October 2008 at his rented house in Phnom Penh, in
the girl's company. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and
ordered to pay 20 million riel ($4,878) in compensation to the
girl's family.
   (AP, 8/26/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 10, In Cambodia an
overloaded river ferry capsized on its way to a Buddhist ceremony in
Kratie province, killing 17 passengers in a tributary of the Mekong
River.
   (AP, 10/11/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 2, Tropical Storm
Mirinae slammed into Vietnam's central coast, unleashing heavy rains
and winds and forcing more than 80,000 people to evacuate before
losing steam as it moved inland. The storm killed at least 98
people. Mirinae also killed two people in Cambodia and left 19
people dead and three missing in the Philippines.
   (AP, 11/2/09)(AP, 11/3/09)(AFP, 11/5/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 4, Cambodia said it
has appointed former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as
economic adviser to premier Hun Sen and his administration.
   (AFP, 11/4/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 5, Cambodia and
Thailand recalled their ambassadors from each others' countries,
deepening a diplomatic row after Cambodia made fugitive former Thai
PM Thaksin Shinawatra an economic adviser.
   (Reuters, 11/5/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 6, Japan pledged $5.5
billion in aid over 3 years for Southeast Asia's 5 Mekong River
nations (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam), seeking to
deepen ties with the region amid growing influence from China.
   (AFP, 11/6/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, Thailand's ousted
PM Thaksin Shinawatra, whose political battle against his successors
has left his country bitterly divided, received a warm welcome in
neighboring Cambodia, which shares his disdain for the current
government in Bangkok.
   (AP, 11/10/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, Cambodian police
confiscated two tons of live snakes and tortoises and arrested two
men trying to smuggle the slithering cargo up a river from Cambodia
to Vietnam. Police arrested two Cambodians, aged 17 and 20, who said
they were hired to transport the cargo but did not know the
identities of their employers.
   (AP, 12/3/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, In Cambodia
Siwaraks Chothipong (31), a Thai employee of the Cambodia Air
Traffic Service, was ordered to serve seven years in prison for
spying on Thailand's former prime minister while he was in Cambodia
as a guest of the government. Chothipong was accused of stealing
Thaksin's flight schedule before his Nov. 10 arrival and sending it
to the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh. The case threatened to
worsen a diplomatic feud between the two neighbors. On Dec 11
Cambodia's king pardoned Chothipong.
   (AP, 12/8/09)(AP, 12/11/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 18, In Cambodia a
tribunal charged Khieu Samphan, the Khmer Rouge's 78-year-old former
head of state, with genocide, adding new momentum to long-delayed
trials against the brutal regime that ruled Cambodia 30 years ago
(1975-1979).
   (AP, 12/18/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 19, Cambodia sent back
to China 20 Uighur Muslims who had fled China after deadly ethnic
rioting and sought asylum in Cambodia, even though rights groups
feared they faced persecution and possibly execution there. 2 other
Uighurs who had been with the group were missing.
   (AP, 12/19/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 21, In Cambodia Ieng
Thirith, the last of the former Khmer Rouge leaders standing trial
for alleged crimes committed three decades ago, was charged with
genocide. The ultracommunist regime's social affairs minister and
the wife of another defendant, Ieng Sary, had earlier been charged
with crimes against humanity.
   (AP, 12/21/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 21, Cambodia signed 14
deals worth an estimated $850 million with China, two days after
defying international pressure by deporting 20 ethnic Chinese
asylum-seekers, underlining growing trade and diplomatic links.
   (AP, 12/21/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Cambodia banned int’l.
adoptions amid concerns that some children were being trafficked.
The ban was lifted in 2013 and int’l. adoptions were expected to
resume in 2014.
   (SFC, 12/5/13, p.A2)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 1, A free-trade
agreement between China and the 10 members of the Association of
Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) came into effect. The 6 richest
members scrapped tariffs on 90% of goods. The 4 poorest (Vietnam,
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar) will not need to cut tariffs to the same
level until 2015.
   (SSFC, 1/3/10, p.A4)(Econ, 1/9/10, p.44)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 24, Cambodian and Thai
troops exchanged fire near a disputed border temple, the latest in a
string of gun battles between the countries since last year.
   (AFP, 1/24/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 25, New York-based
Human Rights Watch called on the Cambodian government to shut down
its drug detention centers alleging abuses such as torture and rape,
as well as the lockup of children and the mentally ill.
   (AP, 1/25/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 27, A Cambodian court
convicted and sentenced in absentia Sam Rainsy, the nation's main
opposition leader, to two years in jail on charges of uprooting
border markings. Rainsy, who is in France, said by telephone that
the court had made a "most unjust" ruling, saying the border markers
he had uprooted in protest were illegally placed.
   (AFP, 1/27/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, In Laos senior
officials from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam met in Luang
Prabang to discuss the Mekong River. The Mekong River Commission in
a draft report said severe drought has dropped the river to its
lowest level in nearly 20 years, halting some cargo traffic and boat
tours on the waterway, the lifeblood for 65 million people in six
countries.
   (AP, 3/3/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 10, Cambodia said it
will preserve 14 sites at the last bastion of the murderous Khmer
Rouge, including the home of their leader Pol Pot, as tourist
attractions.
   (AP, 3/10/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 19, Cambodia’s foreign
ministry said Cambodia has temporarily suspended marriages between
South Koreans and its citizens to curb human trafficking. The latest
ban came after the March 3 conviction of a Cambodian matchmaker who
arranged marriages between Korean men and 25 Cambodian brides.
   (AFP, 3/19/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 25, China agreed to
share water level data at 2 dams to ease pressure from nations
downstream, including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
   (SFC, 4/6/10, p.A3)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 31, US envoy Stephen
Rapp said the US has pledged $5 million to Cambodia's Khmer Rouge
tribunal amid the troubled court's attempts to address corruption
allegations.
   (AFP, 3/31/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 2, Cambodia bristled
at a US decision to cut a small military aid program to protest the
December deportation of Muslim asylum seekers to China, saying if
they deserved protection the United States could have offered it.
   (AP, 4/2/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 19, Winners of the
2010 Goldman Environmental Prizes, known as the "green Nobels," were
honored in San Francisco. Sereivathana Tuy of Cambodia won for his
efforts in stopping farmers from killing elephants. Randall Arauz of
Costa Rica won for his campaign to halt the maiming and killing of
sharks for their fins. Humberto Rios Labrada (47) of Cuba won for
his campaign to shift farming practices toward increasing diversity
and reducing chemical use. Malgorzata Gorska of Poland won for her
fight to stop a highway through the Rospuda Valley, one of Poland’s
last vestiges of untouched wilderness. Thuli Makama of Swaziland won
for her efforts in getting citizen participation on the Swaziland
board in charge of the environment. She helped prompt investigations
into allegations of private park rangers killing suspected poachers
in sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarchy. Lynn Henning of the
USA won for exposing polluting practices of livestock ranches in
Michigan.
   (AP, 4/19/10)(SFC, 4/19/10, p.A1)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 23, China stepped in
to provide Cambodia with more than 250 military vehicles after the
United States earlier suspended a similar shipment when the
Cambodian government deported 20 asylum seekers.
   (AP, 6/23/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, Thet Sambat,
Cambodian journalist, and Rob Lemkin, British director, premiered
their documentary “Enemies of the People.” It features his
conversations with Nuon Ceha, Pol Pot’s right hand man. In January
it won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Prize at the
prestigious Sundance Film Festival.
   (Econ, 7/31/10,
p.31)(http://enemiesofthepeoplemovie.com/)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, In Cambodia a
UN-backed court sentenced Kaing Guek Eav (67), a Khmer Rouge prison
chief better known as Duch, to 30 years in jail for crimes against
humanity over mass executions during Cambodia's "Killing Fields"
era.
   (AFP, 7/26/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, Cambodia's
UN-backed court said 4 top Khmer Rouge leaders will stand trial for
crimes including genocide during the "Killing Fields" era.
   (AFP, 9/16/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, Cambodia's main
opposition party leader, Sam Rainsy, was convicted in absentia and
sentenced to 10 years in prison for a politically sensitive comment
about a border dispute, in what critics said was another example of
the government's intimidation of its opponents.
   (AP, 9/23/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, Cambodia's
opposition leader, Sam Rainsy, said he has filed a criminal lawsuit
in the United States against PM Hun Sen, accusing him of being
behind a deadly 1997 attack on a political rally.
   (AFP, 9/24/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, Cambodia laid out
plans to tackle graft in one of the world's most corrupt nations, in
an attempt to reassure foreign investors.
   (AFP, 9/27/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 18, In Cambodia 20
people remained hospitalized after 14 people died over the weekend
from drinking wine tainted with weed killer at a ceremony where
villagers were appealing to spirits to protect children.
   (AP, 10/18/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 21, A global tiger
summit meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, approved a wide-ranging
program with the goal of doubling the world's tiger population in
the wild by 2022 backed by governments of the 13 countries that
still have tiger populations: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China,
India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam
and Russia. Experts said wild tigers could become extinct in 12
years if countries where they still roam fail to take quick action
to protect their habitats and step up the fight against poaching.
   (AP, 11/21/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 22, In Cambodia a
stampede by thousands of festival-goers left at least 351 people
dead and hundreds injured. A panic-stricken crowd, celebrating the
end of the rainy season on an island in a river, tried to flee over
a narrow bridge in the capital of Phnom Penh. Reports from
provincial officials put the death toll at 456.
   (AP, 11/23/10)(AP, 11/24/10)(AP, 11/25/10)(AP,
11/29/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 30, Cambodia charged
seven Thais, including a ruling party politician, with illegal entry
and put them in jail awaiting possible trial, despite strong
protests from Thailand. The detainees were inspecting contested
territory from Thailand's eastern Sa Kaeo province when they were
captured a day earlier by Cambodian soldiers.
   (AFP, 12/30/10)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â The population of Cambodia
was about 14 million.
   (Econ, 7/31/10, p.32)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 28, In Cambodia a
tribunal statement said Japan has agreed to make a contribution of
$11.7 million to the UN-assisted genocide tribunal that is trying
former leaders of Cambodia's communist Khmer Rouge. Japan has
provided a total of about $67 million to the tribunal, about 49
percent of all contributions.
   (AP, 1/28/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 1, A Cambodian court
sentenced two Thais to lengthy prison terms for illegally crossing
the border and spying. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court found Veera
Somkwamkid, who heads a political pressure group, the Thailand
Patriot Network, and his assistant Ratree Pipatanapaiboon, guilty of
espionage, illegal entry and trespassing in a military zone. Veera
was sentenced to eight years in prison and Ratree to six years.
   (AP, 2/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 4, Cambodian and Thai
soldiers exchanged heavy fire on the two countries' shared border
near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple killing one soldier and a
civilian, as tensions between the neighbors boiled over.
   (AFP, 2/4/11)(Econ, 2/12/11, p.50)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 5, Renewed fighting
between Cambodian and Thai troops along the countries' disputed
border killed a Thai soldier and sent thousands of people fleeing
before military commanders agreed on the second cease-fire in two
days.
   (AP, 2/5/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 6, The Cambodian
government said part of an 11th century temple was damaged by the
Thai army as the two sides exchanged artillery and mortar fire
across their disputed border, shattering a shaky cease-fire and
escalating tensions.
   (AP, 2/6/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 7, Cambodian and Thai
troops clashed for a 4th straight day as the UN chief called for
"maximum restraint" in a border dispute that has claimed 7 lives and
displaced thousands. On April 6 the London-based Cluster Munition
Coalition said Thailand's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva
confirmed the army had fired 155mm cluster shells into Cambodia.
   (AFP, 2/7/11)(AP, 4/6/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, A Cambodian mother
died from bird flu after preparing and eating meat contaminated by
the deadly H5N1 virus. Her 11-month-old son died on Feb 17. A
5-year-old girl died earlier this month in Phnom Penh, a case also
linked to contact with sick poultry.
   (AP, 2/24/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, In Cambodia a
speeding truck crashed into a tour bus in the southwest, leaving at
least 20 dead and eight seriously injured.
   (AP, 3/4/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 1, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen declared his personal assets to the country's new
anti-corruption unit and urged officials to follow his lead in a bid
to tackle rampant graft.
   (AFP, 4/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, Cambodia’s
government said PM Hun Sen has cancelled a controversial titanium
mine project in the country's southwest because of environmental
concerns.
   (AFP, 4/8/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 22, Cambodia and
Thailand exchanged artillery and gunfire for several hours in a
flare-up of a long-running border dispute that left six soldiers
killed.
   (AP, 4/22/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 23, A 2nd day of
fighting between Cambodian and Thai troops killed at least four
soldiers, bringing the two-day death toll to 11, the worst bloodshed
since the United Nations called for a ceasefire in February.
   (AP, 4/23/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 24, Cambodian and Thai
troops exchanged artillery fire in a third day of fighting that has
killed 10 soldiers and uprooted thousands of villagers from their
homes.
   (AP, 4/24/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, Cambodian and Thai
troops clashed with guns and artillery after almost a full-day break
in fighting that has killed at least 12 people in four days and sent
nearly 50,000 into evacuation centers.
   (Reuters, 4/25/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, Cambodian and Thai
troops fought with short-range rockets and guns near 900-year-old
Preah Vihear temple, opening a second front in a five-day
confrontation that has killed 13 people.
   (Reuters, 4/26/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, Thailand pulled
out of talks with Cambodia and deadly border clashes continued for a
sixth day.
   (AP, 4/27/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 28, Cambodia and
Thailand called a ceasefire halting their bloodiest clashes in
decades, after seven days of fighting left 15 dead and around 75,000
civilians displaced.
   (AFP, 4/28/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, Cambodian and Thai
troops broke a brief cease-fire and clashed for an eighth day,
shattering hopes of a quick end to a long-running border conflict
that has forced nearly 100,000 villagers to flee. The death toll
rose to 16.
   (AP, 4/29/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, Troops from
Cambodia and Thailand exchanged fire at the countries' contested
border, marking the ninth straight day of clashes that have left at
least 16 people dead and displaced nearly 100,000.
   (AP, 4/30/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, A Cambodian soldier
was killed in fighting with Thailand, bringing the total number of
dead to 17 as the Southeast Asian nations' festering border conflict
dragged on.
   (AP, 5/1/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â May 7, Cambodia accused
Thailand of invading its territory on the opening day of a summit of
Southeast Asian leaders that was supposed to focus on plans to
create a regional economic zone.
   (AFP, 5/7/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, In Cambodia the
top four surviving members of the brutal Khmer Rouge (Khieu Samphan,
former head of state; Nuon Chea, “Brother Number Two;” Ieng Thirith,
social affairs minister; and Ieng Sary, deputy prime minister) went
on trial before a tribunal aimed at finding justice for the
estimated 1.7 million people who died in Cambodia's "killing fields"
of the 1970s.
   (AP, 6/27/11)(SFC, 6/28/11, p.A3)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, In Geneva more
than 80 states began meeting for the first four-day intercessional
meeting on the Convention on Cluster Munitions to advance their
commitments to a world free of cluster bombs. During the meeting
Thailand and Cambodia indicated their intention to join in the near
future.
   (AFP,
7/1/11)(www.stopclustermunitions.org/news/?id=3086)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 11, The Cambodia
Securities Exchange (CSX) was officially launched after the
government delayed it several years. Finance Minister Keat Chhon
said that trading was expected to begin by the end of the year and
that three state-owned firms, including the Phnom Penh Water Supply
Authority, Telecom Cambodia and the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port
have announced plans for listing.
   (Econ, 7/16/11,
p.76)(http://www.cambodiastockexchange.org/)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, The UN's highest
court ordered troops from both Thailand and Cambodia to immediately
withdraw military forces from disputed areas around a World Heritage
temple straddling their border.
   (AP, 7/18/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, In Cambodia a
6-year-old girl died from bird flu. She was the eighth person to die
from the H5N1 flu virus this year in Cambodia.
   (AP, 8/24/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, Cambodian painter
Van Nath (65) died. He had been forced to paint portraits of Pol Pot
while interned at S-21 from 1978-1979. From 1980-1981 he painted
from memory somber oils of what had happened at S-21 under the Khmer
Rouge.
   (Econ, 9/17/11, p.93)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 6, The UN's labor
agency said more than two dozen global clothing brands pledged to
investigate a spate of mass faintings among Cambodian garment
workers.
   (AFP, 9/6/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, New Thai premier
Yingluck Shinawatra held her first official talks with her Cambodian
counterpart seeking to patch up relations after deadly border
clashes.
   (AFP, 9/15/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, Cambodian
officials said nearly 100 people have died in recent flooding with
100,000 families affected and some 100,000 acres of rice fields
inundated.
   (SFC, 9/27/11, p.A2)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 2, Cambodia’s
government disaster agency said that flood waters along the Mekong
River and other places have killed at least 150 people since August
and damaged 670,000 acres of rice fields, as well as 904 schools and
361 Buddhist temples.
   (AP, 10/2/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 5, A Cambodia disaster
official said the worst floods in over a decade have killed 167
people, as efforts intensified to provide aid to tens of thousands
of families.
   (AFP, 10/5/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, Flooding in
Cambodia was reported to have killed at least 247 people as China
began delivering the first of some $7.8 million in flood relief aid.
   (AP, 10/15/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 4, A Cambodian court
sentenced American James D'Agostino (56), a volunteer doctor at a
children's hospital in the Cambodian capital, to four years in
prison on charges of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy.
   (AP, 11/4/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 28, Burundi told
delegates at a global anti-landmine summit in Phnom Penh that it had
cleared its territory of landmines, becoming the 18th state party to
do so. Myanmar was the only country recorded as laying new landmines
last year, but the Intl. Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) said it
has since been joined by Israel, Syria and Libya, bringing the
current global use of landmines to its highest level since 2004.
   (AP, 11/29/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 8, In Cambodia Hun
Hean, the former police chief of Banteay Meanchey, confessed to
accepting over $100,000 in bribes during the final day of a
corruption trial against him and four of his subordinates. On Nov
15, he was convicted and sentenced to 4 years in prison.
   (SFC, 1/6/12, p.A3)(http://tinyurl.com/7lwyk7x)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 7, Cambodia opened the
Kamchay dam, the country's largest hydropower dam to date. The $280
million dollar Chinese-funded project has destroyed hundreds of
hectares of forest and farmland and attracted criticism from
environmental groups.
   (AFP, 12/7/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Joel Brinkley (d.2014 at
61), former NY Times reporter, authored “Cambodia’s Curse: The
Modern History of a Troubled Land.”
   (SSFC, 4/17/11, p.G5)(SFC, 3/14/14, p.D4)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 5, In Cambodia Lt.
Gen. Mok Dara, the former sec-gen. of the National Authority for
Combating Drugs, was sentenced to life in prison for masterminding a
drug ring from his office. Associate officer Chea Leang also
received a life sentence. Morn Doeun, a 3rd defendant still at
large, was sentenced to 25 years.
   (SFC, 1/6/12, p.A3)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 19, Vietnam confirmed
its first case death from bird flu in nearly 2 years, a day after
Cambodia also logged its first fatality this year from the H5N1
virus.
   (SFC, 1/20/12, p.A2)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 14, In Cambodia the
badly decomposed bodies of Frenchman widower Laurent Vallier (42)
and his four young children were discovered inside Vallier's white
4x4 vehicle after it was retrieved from a large pond behind his
house in southern Kampong Speu province. The family had been missing
since September. Vallier's Cambodian wife died in childbirth in
2009.
   (AFP, 4/5/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 3, In Cambodia a
UN-backed tribunal's Supreme Court lengthened the sentence for the
Khmer Rouge's chief jailer, Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, to life
imprisonment because of his "shocking and heinous" crimes against
the Cambodian people.
   (AP, 2/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 19, Cambodia's
UN-backed war crimes court was rocked by the second resignation of
an international judge in recent months. Laurent Kasper-Ansermet of
Switzerland said in a statement his authority to investigate
possible third and fourth cases at the tribunal had been constantly
blocked by his Cambodian counterpart.
   (AFP, 3/19/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, CH. Karchang, a
Thailand construction giant, officially began work on the $3.5
billion dam at Xayaburi in northern Laos. A December agreement by
the Mekong River Commission had called for further study on the
environmental impacts of the dam.
   (Econ, 5/5/12, p.43)(Econ, 9/7/13, p.40)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, ASEAN leaders in
Cambodia issued a statement showing a veneer of unity and promising
to "intensify efforts" toward the full implementation of an
agreement, signed 10 years earlier, to "promote peace." The
association paralyzed by differences over how to deal with regional
superpower China's claims to strategic islands in the South China
Sea.
   (AFP, 4/4/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, ASEAN leaders
called for Western countries, including the European Union, to
immediately lift punitive sanctions imposed on Myanmar now that the
once-pariah nation has embraced democratic reforms.
   (AP, 4/4/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, In Cambodia Chhut
Vuthy, the director of Natural Resource Protection Group, was killed
after military police apprehended him at Veal Bei in Mondul Seima
district on behalf of a company that asked them to stop him from
shooting photos of their development. The site was near the
construction of a 338-megawatt hydropower dam being built by China
Huadian. Investigators later said that In Rattana, the officer who
killed Vuthy, was shot with his own gun during a scuffle with
security guard Ran Boroth (26), who had tried to disarm him.
   (AP, 4/27/12)(http://tinyurl.com/7hjmxkh)(AFP,
5/5/12)(Econ, 5/5/12, p.43)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â May 24, In Cambodia prison
sentences were imposed on 13 women who protested evictions from
their land without adequate compensation. Their old houses were
demolished by developers in 2010.
   (AP, 5/25/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â May 27, A 10-year-old
Cambodian girl died from H5N1 bird flu, the country's third fatality
from the virulent disease this year.
   (AFP, 5/28/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â May, Cambodia’s government
suspended the allocation of all new land concessions following a
string of protests.
   (Economist, 9/29/12, p.44)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 3, In Cambodia PM Hun
Sen's ruling party won local elections in a vote that monitors said
was tainted by vote buying and other irregularities.
   (AP, 6/3/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 4, In Cambodia
Alexander Trofimov, who built a $300 million tourist resort in the
country, was arrested at the house of an under-aged girl (11-12)
outside of the capital Phnom Penh. Authorities planned to deport him
shortly. Russian businessman Trofimov was arrested in 2007 facing 17
complaints of sexually abusing minors, the youngest just six years
old. He was sentenced to 17 years, reduced on appeal to eight years.
He was controversially freed early in December last year after
receiving a royal pardon.
   (AFP, 6/5/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 13, Cambodia arrested
French architect Patrick Devillers, with ties to disgraced Chinese
politician Bo Xilai, in a new twist to China's biggest political
scandal in decades. Devillers was released on July 17 and flew to
China voluntarily to help its investigation.
   (AFP, 6/19/12)(AFP, 7/18/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 27, A Cambodia appeals
court ordered the release of 13 women who were jailed for protesting
being evicted from their homes without adequate compensation, in a
case that had critics had highlighted as an example of injustice. On
May 24 prison sentences were imposed on the 13 women.
   (AP, 6/27/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 4, Cambodian officials
reported that 61 of 62 children, admitted to hospitals with a
mysterious respiratory disease, have died. Lab tests soon confirmed
that a virulent strain of hand, hoof and mouth disease, known as
EV-71, was to blame for some of the cases.
   (SFC, 7/5/12, p.A5)(SFC, 7/10/12, p.A2)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, In Cambodia the
10-member ASEAN group ended its latest meeting for the first time
without a communique reflecting a rift between countries loyal to
China and those contesting territory with China.
   (Econ, 7/21/12, p.35)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 18, Cambodia and
Thailand pulled hundreds of soldiers out of a disputed strip of
border land adjacent to the Preah Vihear temple, a year after a
ruling by the UN's highest court, replacing them with police and
security guards.
   (AFP, 7/18/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 9, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen said allowing the construction of a spate of border casinos was
part of a "secret strategy" to protect the country's territory from
its neighbors.
   (AFP, 8/9/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 30, Cambodia police
arrested Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, a co-founder of The Pirate Bay
file-sharing website following a request by Sweden. He faced a
one-year prison term in Sweden for violating copyright laws.
   (SFC, 9/4/12, p.A2)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, Cambodia's
UN-backed tribunal issued a statement saying that Ieng Thirith (80)
suffers from a progressive, degenerative illness that is likely
Alzheimer's disease and which diminishes her mental capacity. The
court ruled that she was medically unfit to stand trial for genocide
during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 rule, a decision survivors called
shocking and unjust. Ieng Thirith was freed on Sep 16.
   (AFP, 9/13/12)(AP, 9/16/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 30, In Cambodia 6
farmers were killed in northwestern Battambang province when their
tractor ran over an anti-tank mine left over from the 1980s civil
war.
   (AP, 10/1/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep, Cambodia’s government
ordered employers to pay out an extra $10 a month in allowances to
every worker.
   (Economist, 9/29/12, p.44)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 1, A Cambodian court
sentenced Mam Sonando (71), a dissident radio station owner, to 20
years in prison on insurrection charges that critics claim are part
of a political vendetta by the government. His Beehive Radio was one
of the country's few radio stations broadcasting criticism of PM Hun
Sen's government.
   (AP, 10/1/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 15, Cambodia's former
King Norodom Sihanouk (b.1922) died of a heart attack in Beijing,
where he had been receiving medical treatment. The cunning political
survivor had reinvented himself repeatedly throughout his often
flamboyant life.
   (AP, 10/15/12)(Econ, 10/20/12, p.86)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 15, Cambodia
authorities arrested eight villagers for plastering the US
president's picture on their rooftops beside spray-painted messages
of "SOS." Villagers say they were ordered in July to vacate their
land so the airport could enlarge its runway and build a security
buffer zone.
   (AP, 11/15/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, Cambodia hosted
the 10-member ASEAN summit of Southeast Asian countries. Talks for a
Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) were formally
launched between the member states at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia.
It was scheduled to be finalized by the end of 2017.
   (AP, 11/17/12)(http://tinyurl.com/opcf8zo)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 18, In Cambodia Asean
leaders decided to ask China to start formal talks "as soon as
possible" on crafting a legally binding accord aimed at preventing
an outbreak of violence in disputed South China Sea territories.
ASEAN leaders also adopted a human rights declaration despite
last-minute calls for a postponement by critics.
   (AP, 11/18/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 19, President Barack
Obama made a 6-hour stop in Myanmar. In a notable detour from US
policy, the president referred to Burma as Myanmar in his talks with
President Thein Sein. Obama then became the first US president to
set foot in Cambodia, a country once known for its Khmer Rouge
"killing fields."
   (AP, 11/19/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, In Cambodia
President Barack Obama closed his Asian tour in diplomatic talks
with leaders of Japan and China, their economic message overshadowed
by security tensions over disputed waters and territories.
   (AP, 11/20/12)
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 1, In western Cambodia
four workers were missing and presumed to have drowned after the
partial collapse of a dam being constructed on the Atay river. Work
on the 120-megawatt Atay hydroelectric project began in 2008.
   (AP, 12/2/12)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 4, Cambodian
translators angry that they have gone without pay for three months
stopped working at the UN-backed genocide trial of former Khmer
Rogue leaders, a new setback for an international justice effort
that has been hobbled by conflicts with the Cambodian government.
   (AP, 3/4/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 14, In CambodiaÂ
Ieng Sary (87), brother-in-law of late Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot,
died. He co-founded the communist Khmer Rouge regime responsible for
the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians in the 1970s, and
decades later became one of its few leaders to be put on trial, but
died before his case could be finished.
   (AP, 3/14/13)(Econ, 4/6/13, p.106)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â May 12, Global Witness
presented a report “Rubber Barons” on illegal logging and land
grabbing in Cambodia by local and foreign companies, including the
Vietnam Rubber Group.
   (Econ, 5/18/13,
p.46)(www.youtube.com/watch?v=3epqpR9OBhY)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â May 16, In Cambodia the
ceiling of a factory, a Taiwanese-owned operation called Wing Star,
collapsed on workers, killing 2 people and injuring 7. The firm made
sneakers for Asics, a Japanese sportswear label.
   (AP, 5/16/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, Two 10th century
Cambodian stone statues displayed for nearly two decades at New
York's Metropolitan Museum of Art were returned to their homeland in
a high-profile case of allegedly looted artifacts. Widespread
looting of Cambodia's ancient temples took place in the 1970s
through the 1990s, with many items smuggled through Thailand.
   (AP, 6/11/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 17, Scientists
reported that the use of airborne laser technology has allowed them
to uncover a network of roadways and canals linking together
Cambodia’s 1,200-year-old Angkor Wat temple complex.
   (SFC, 6/19/13, p.A5)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 26, Scientists from
the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups
announced that a previously unknown bird species has been discovered
in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The wren-sized Cambodian tailorbird,
Orthotomus chaktomuk, is one of two species unique to Cambodia.
   (AP, 6/26/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 28, Cambodia’s
Ministry of Information said all radio stations must be neutral in
their coverage before the election and not carry reports on
foreigners playing any role in the election. Stations must also
suspend broadcasting Khmer-language programs by foreign media.
   (Reuters, 6/28/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 12, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen engineered a pardon for his most prominent rival, Sam Rainsy,
clearing the way for the self-exiled politician to return home and
campaign in this month's general election.
   (AP, 7/12/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, Cambodian
opposition leader Sam Rainsy returned from self-imposed exile to
spearhead his party's election campaign against well-entrenched PM
Hun Sen.
   (AP, 7/19/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, Cambodia held
general elections. The opposition appeared to make significant gains
in parliament. The ruling party of PM Hun Sen claimed a victory with
68 of the national Assembly’s 123 seats.
   (AP, 7/28/13)(SFC, 7/29/13, p.A2)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, Cambodia's
long-ruling PM Hun Sen faced his biggest political setback in two
decades as the country's opposition rejected an election result as
tainted by widespread fraud, despite heavy losses for the ruling
party.
   (Reuters, 7/29/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 31, Cambodia's
long-serving leader, Hun Sen, said his party was ready to talk to
the opposition after both sides claimed victory in the July 28
general election.
   (Reuters, 7/31/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, In Cambodia the two
rival parties claiming victory in the July 28 general election
reached an agreement with the state National Election Committee to
investigate polling irregularities, a move that could pave the way
to ending the country's political deadlock.
   (AP, 8/3/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 6, In Cambodia
thousands of supporters of the main opposition party rallied to
demand an international inquiry into the recent general election,
rejecting the victory claimed by long-serving PM Hun Sen, who showed
no sign of stepping aside.
   (Reuters, 8/6/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, In Cambodia final
but unratified election results were released reaffirming the
victory by the ruling Cambodian People's Party. The angered
opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) said they should
have been delayed until there was an impartial probe of alleged
electoral irregularities. Provisional results said the CPP won 68
seats while the CNRP gained 55. The CNRP had formed this year when
two opposition parties merged.
   (AP, 8/12/13)(Econ, 8/3/13, p.32)(Econ 6/10/17,
p.42)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, Cambodian staff at
a Khmer Rouge war crimes tribunal went on strike, as a funding
crisis deepened at a court already bogged down by resignations,
political interference and the frail health of its elderly
defendants.
   (Reuters, 9/2/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7, Thousands of
Cambodians, many holding lotus flowers symbolizing peace, joined a
mass protest in the capital Phnom Penh in a last-ditch bid to
challenge PM Hun Sen's disputed election win. The CPP took 68 seats
to 55 for the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP),
according to the country's National Election Committee.
   (AFP, 9/7/13)(AFP, 9/8/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 8, Cambodia's election
committee handed victory in hotly disputed polls to the ruling party
of PM Hun Sen, prompting the opposition to say it will boycott
parliament and stage further protests over allegations of widespread
fraud.
   (AFP, 9/8/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, Cambodia police
used teargas, smoke grenades and water cannon to disperse hundreds
of demonstrators after a rally in Phnom Penh to push for an
independent investigation into the July election they say was fixed
to favor the ruling party. One man was shot dead.
   (Reuters, 9/15/13)(Reuters, 9/16/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 16, In Cambodia
thousands of opposition supporters gathered for a 2nd day in Phnom
Penh to push for an independent investigation into the July
election.
   (Reuters, 9/16/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 23, In Cambodia the
long-ruling party of PM Hun Sen pushed ahead with forming a
government, ignoring an opposition boycott of parliament and mass
protests over its disputed election win.
   (AFP, 9/23/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 24, Cambodia's
parliament reappointed premier Hun Sen for another five-year term,
extending his nearly three-decade rule as the opposition threatened
to mount fresh protests over the disputed elections.
   (AFP, 9/24/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, A Cambodian court
acquitted, and ordered the release of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun,
said by rights groups to have been wrongfully convicted and jailed
for the 2004 murder of a prominent opposition activist.
   (Reuters, 9/25/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, Thousands of
Cambodia opposition supporters staged a demonstration over disputed
elections that extended strongman PM Hun Sen's near three-decade
rule, under a heavy security presence after bloody clashes last
month.
   (AFP, 10/23/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 25, Some 20,000
Cambodian opposition supporters wrapped up a three-day demonstration
to petition foreign embassies and the UN for intervention in what
they claim was a rigged election.
   (AP, 10/25/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 11, Cambodian police
arrested Russian real estate tycoon Sergei Polonsky (40) for the
second time this year and said they planned to extradite him at
Moscow's request to face embezzlement charges there.
   (Reuters, 11/11/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 11, The International
Court of Justice said a 1962 ruling by its judges gave Cambodia
sovereignty over the Preah Vihear promontory and Thailand is now
obligated to withdraw any military or police forces stationed there.
Cambodia thus held sovereignty over a 1,000-year-old Khmer temple on
the disputed promontory.
   (AP, 11/11/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, In Cambodia a
woman was shot dead and several people injured as riot police used
live rounds, rubber bullets and teargas in clashes with protesting
garment workers.
   (AFP, 11/12/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 29, In Cambodia tens
of thousands of opposition supporters, backed by striking
garment-factory workers, rallied to demand long-serving PM Hun Sen
step down and call an election.
   (Reuters, 12/29/13)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 2, Cambodian soldiers
forcefully quelled a demonstration by garment workers striking for
better pay. Workers at more than 500 garment factories were on
strike demanding an increase in the minimum wage to $160 per month,
double the current rate.
   (SFC, 1/3/14, p.A2)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Cambodia At
least 4 people were killed when police outside Cambodia's capital
opened fire to break up a protest by striking garment workers
demanding a doubling of the minimum wage.
   (AP, 1/3/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 4, Cambodia's
government launched a broad crackdown on the political opposition,
clearing its main protest site, banning its street demonstrations
and having a court call in opposition party leaders for questioning
on charges of inciting social unrest.
   (AP, 1/4/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 7, In Cambodia tens of
thousands of garment workers returned to work, ending a two-week pay
dispute after authorities used deadly force to quell a strike and
thwart a protest by their political allies seeking a re-run of a
July election. An estimated 65-70% returned to work.
   (Reuters, 1/7/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 13, A Cambodian court
freed Russian real estate tycoon Sergei Polonsky and he will not be
extradited to Russia to face embezzlement charges there.
   (Reuters, 1/13/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 27, Cambodian riot
police used smoke grenades and electric batons to disperse
demonstrators in the capital demanding a government license for an
independent television station.
   (AFP, 1/27/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 7, In Cambodia a boy
(8) died of H5N1 bird flu, the country’s first case this year. His
sister (2) also died the same day.
   (AP, 2/12/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 14, In Cambodia Dave
Walker (58), a Canadian filmmaker, went missing. His body was found
April 30 in the woods near the famous Angkor temple complex.
   (AP, 5/1/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 17, Cambodian police
arrested two Vietnamese men who were trying to smuggle almost 80 kg
(176 pounds) of illegal ivory from Angola.
   (AP, 2/17/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, The Cambodian
Anti-Drug Authority said it has banned the import, sale and
promotion of e-cigarettes and shisha tobacco, a favorite of
hookah-using smokers.
   (AP, 2/26/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 24, The EU approved
sanctions and said it will no longer import any fish caught by
vessels from Cambodia, Belize and Guinea, accusing their governments
of failing to cooperate in fighting illegal fishing.
   (AP, 3/24/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 27, Cambodia's
opposition party said it will defy a government ban on meeting in
one of the capital's public parks, setting up a possible clash with
authorities.
   (AP, 3/27/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 3, In Cambodia 118
employees passed out at work at the Shen Zhou and Daqian Textile
factories in Phnom Penh.
   (Reuters, 4/3/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, A Cambodian court
sentenced 13 men to prison terms ranging from five to nine years for
plotting to overthrow the government in a case that was criticized
by a human rights group as a political setup. The men were members
of a self-styled Khmer National Liberation Front calling for PM Hun
Sen's removal, primarily through Internet postings.
   (AP, 4/11/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, Cambodia's highest
court ruled that a prominent Russian property developer wanted in
his homeland for allegedly embezzling millions of dollars cannot be
extradited. Sergei Polonsky expressed satisfaction with the ruling
and said he will spend up to $100 million developing an island he
purchased off Cambodia's southern coast. Polonsky was charged in
Russia in June last year with embezzling more than 5.7 billion
rubles ($175 million) from 80 property investors.
   (AP, 4/25/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â May 1, In Cambodia May Day
demonstrators denounced low wages and called for better treatment of
workers during rallies that turned violent.
   (AP, 5/1/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â May 2, Cambodian security
forces clashed with demonstrators in Phnom Penh for a 2nd
straight day as the opposition canceled plans for a rally amid a ban
on demonstrations and a large-scale police presence.
   (AP, 5/2/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â May 9, Cambodian
authorities intercepted 3 tons of illegal ivory that was stashed in
shipping containers, its largest such seizure.
   (AP, 5/9/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â May 14, In Vietnam a
1,000-strong mob stormed a Taiwanese steel mill in Ha Tinh province
and hunted down Chinese workers, killing one, attacking scores more
and then setting the complex alight in response to Beijing's
deployment of an oil rig in the long-disputed South China Sea. Some
600 Chinese crossed into Cambodia over the land border in southern
Vietnam.
   (AP, 5/15/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â May 31, In Cambodia 7
people died from a lack of oxygen after climbing down a well in
Cambodia to retrieve about 75 cents.
   (AP, 6/1/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, In Cambodia the
Phnom Penh Municipal court sentenced Daniel Johnson (35) to one year
in prison for abusing five boys, aged 11 to 15, at the Hope
Transitions orphanage, where he served as director. Johnson was
sought in the US on child sex allegations.
   (AP, 6/11/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 14, A Cambodian
official said Cambodian workers were leaving Thailand in growing
numbers, with the total who have returned to their homeland this
month topping 160,000. Rights groups say Thai authorities are
coercing the Cambodians to go home and abusing them.
   (SSFC, 6/15/14, p.A6)(AP, 6/16/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 26, Cambodia's PM Hun
Sen said at least 250,000 of his countrymen who were migrant workers
in Thailand returned home this month under circumstances that
initially violated their human rights. Both countries are now
seeking the migrants' return to Thailand, which has a shortage of
low-wage workers.
   (AP, 6/26/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 1, Cambodia agreed to
free Thai nationalist Veera Somkwamkid. He was imprisoned for more
than three years for illegally crossing its border to claim
territory for Thailand.
   (AP, 7/1/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 8, In Cambodia William
Glenn (43), an American teacher from Mississippi, left his
guesthouse in Phnom Penh on a motorcycle taxi and never returned.
His body was discovered the next day at a garbage dump.
   (AP, 7/11/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, Cambodia said it
will build a memorial at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum to remember
at least 12,000 people tortured and killed there during the radical
Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979).
   (AP, 7/10/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, In Cambodia 2
generals who led the helicopter unit of the air force were killed in
a crash, along with two pilots. Defense Minister Tea Banh, who
rushed to the crash site in a muddy pond south of the capital, said
a fifth person on the chopper was seriously injured.
   (AP, 7/14/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, In Cambodia about
200 protesters marched to a park in Phnom Penh and attached an
orange banner that read "Free the Freedom Park" to the surrounding
razor wire barricade. As armed police watched from inside the public
park, several dozen security guards attempted to disperse the rally.
Three leaders of the opposition CNRP were arrested and denied bail.
   (AP, 7/16/14)(Econ, 7/19/14, p.37)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 16, Six Cambodian
opposition politicians were charged with leading an insurrection
movement after a clash with security forces who prevented their
followers from rallying in a public park a day earlier.
   (AP, 7/16/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 17, Cambodian police
arrested two more opposition members of parliament on charges of
leading an insurrection.
   (Reuters, 7/17/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, Cambodia's main
opposition party struck a deal with strongman premier Hun Sen to end
its year-long boycott of parliament triggered by a disputed
election.
   (AFP, 7/22/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, In Cambodia a
UN-backed war crimes tribunal sentenced Khmer Rouge leaders Khieu
Samphan (83) and Nuon Chea (88) to life in prison on war crime
charges from 1975-1979, when the Khmer Rouge held power under top
leader Pol Pot (d.1998).
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khieu_Samphan)(SFC,
8/7/14, p.A4)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, Cambodian
opposition lawmakers ended a 10-month boycott of Parliament, joining
the assembly for the first time after reaching a breakthrough
political deal with the country's ruling party.
   (AP, 8/8/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, Cambodian
officials said at least 45 people have been killed due to flooding
in the last month. Some 11,500 families have been forced to flee
their homes due to the flash floods along the Mekong River.
   (SFC, 8/21/14, p.A2)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 19, Cambodian police
arrested three Thai men whom they accused of carrying counterfeit US
$100 bills with a face value of $7.16 million. It appeared to be the
biggest-ever seizure of counterfeit money in Cambodia, where dollars
are commonly used for financial transactions.
   (AP, 9/19/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 26, Australia and
Cambodia signed an agreement for asylum-seekers, who are refused
residency in Australia and currently held in Nauru, to instead be
resettled to Cambodia criticized for its deteriorating human rights
record.
   (AP, 9/26/14)(Econ, 10/4/14, p.48)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 8, Cambodia enacted a
regulation to protect nightclub hostesses and other adult
entertainment workers under the same laws that protect other
workers' rights.
   (AP, 10/8/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, In Cambodia
freelance journalist Taing Try (49) was shot in the forehead and
died instantly at a remote forestry site in Kratie province. He was
investigating illegal logging in the region. Police soon detained
three men, including a timber trader, believed to be linked to the
murder.
   (AP, 10/13/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 28, Cambodian police
arrested Michael Edward Harris, identified by media there as a US
Army deserter wanted in the US for offenses involving child
pornography and possible related crimes. Sgt. Harris entered
Cambodia on Jan. 17 after earlier skipping bail in Florida.
   (AP, 10/29/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 12, Cambodia agreed to
raise the minimum wage in its important clothing industry by 28
percent to $128 a month, falling short of labor unions' $140
proposal.
   (AP, 11/12/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 18, Cambodia's PM Hun
Sen appealed to villagers in the northwest not to lynch an
unlicensed medical practitioner who they suspect caused more than
100 people to become infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
   (AP, 12/18/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 20, State media
reported that China has offered more than $3 billion in loans and
aid to neighbors Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos to
improve infrastructure and production, and to fight poverty.
   (Reuters, 12/20/14)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Sebastian Strangio
authored “Hun Sen’s Cambodia.”
   (Econ, 11/15/14, p.86)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 12, Cambodia's biggest
hydropower dam began operating as PM Hun Sen inaugurated the
Chinese-built project to help supply electricity for underserved
villages and factories.
   (AP, 1/12/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 17, In Cambodia Thong
Sarath, a wealthy military general charged with murdering a fellow
tycoon over a business dispute, was taken into police custody.
Police in neighboring Vietnam had detained him and sent across the
border a day earlier. The Defense Ministry suspended Thong Sarath
after he was charged with masterminding the killing of tycoon Ung
Meng Cheu last Nov. 22 in a dispute over a property sale.
   (AP, 4/17/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â May 15, Cambodia, a
Russian fugitive, was arrested today for living illegally in the
Southeast Asian country after he was accused of embezzling $175
million in his homeland. Sergei Polonsky was arrested in coastal
Sihanoukville because his visa has been expired for two years. On
May 17 Polonsky was put on a flight to Moscow.
   (AP, 5/15/15)   (AP, 5/17/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â May 20, Cambodia accepted
the first four people under an agreement it made with Australia nine
months ago to take in asylum-seekers rejected for residency there.
   (AP, 5/21/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 11, A Cambodia court
sentenced Australian school teacher George Moussallie (52) to five
years in prison after finding him guilty of sexually abusing six
underage boys.
   (AP, 6/11/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 20, Cambodian police
said they have made one of their biggest drug seizures in several
years, netting 55 kg (121 pounds) of methamphetamine and heroin at
four locations this past week in Phnom Penh.
   (AP, 6/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 30, In Cambodia
hundreds of people marched on parliament to protest against new laws
that would require foreign and domestic NGOs to register with the
government or face fines.
   (Econ, 7/4/15, p.32)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 2, In Cambodia a video
showed property tycoon Sok Bun dragging well-known actress known as
Sasa (Ek Socheata) off a couch at a Japanese restaurant in Phnom
Penh. He throws her to the ground, kicks her head and when she tries
to get up he punches, kicks her and stomps on her in a beating that
lasts about a minute. His bodyguard points a pistol at the actress'
head as his boss attacks her, until a worker at the apparently empty
restaurant manages to pull him away. Sok Bun soon fled the country.
On July 14 Sok Bun issued a pair of statements to plead for mercy
from his victim, society and PM Hun Sen. Bun was arrested on July 18
and charged with intent to commit violence.
   (AP, 7/16/15)(AP, 7/18/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, Cambodia's
National Assembly approved a controversial draft law that critics
say gives authorities sweeping powers to crack down on civil society
groups that challenge the government.
   (AP, 7/13/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 21, In Cambodia a
court in Phnom Penh sentenced 11 members of the opposition Cambodia
National Rescue Party to long prison terms after convicting them of
insurrection in connection with the July 15, 2014 violent protest.
Meach Sovannara, an opposition spokesman, was one of three
defendants sentenced to 20 years in prison for leading the protest.
Eight others received seven-year sentences for taking part.
   (AP, 7/21/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, Cambodia's Senate
approved tight restrictions on non-governmental organizations,
rejecting appeals from rights groups that say the law could be used
for political repression.
   (AP, 7/24/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, A Cambodian court
charged three activists from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue
Party with insurrection in connection with a July 15, 2014, protest
that turned violent.
   (AP, 8/5/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 8, In Cambodia Chhouk
Bandith, former governor of Bavet town in the eastern province of
Svay Rieng, turned himself in for arrest in Phnom Penh. He had been
convicted of shooting and wounding 3 female garment workers during a
2012 protest.
   (AP, 8/8/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, Cambodian
authorities arrested opposition Senator Hong Sok Hour, two days
after PM Hun Sen accused him of treason for comments criticizing a
36-year-old border agreement with Vietnam posted on Facebook.
   (AP, 8/15/15)(AP, 10/2/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, In Cambodia Ieng
Thirith (83), a Khmer Rouge leader, died. She was the
highest-ranking woman in the genocidal regime that oversaw the death
of nearly 2 million Cambodians in the late 1970s. She had served as
minister of social affairs and was married to Ieng Sary, the
regime's former foreign minister, who died in 2013.
   (AP, 8/22/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, Cambodian police
said they have confiscated nearly 1.5 tons of marijuana from Laos in
what they described as their biggest seizure of the drug since they
started cracking down on it 15 years ago.
   (AP, 8/25/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 14, In Sweden
Cambodian activist Phymean Noun was awarded the $50,000 World's
Children's Prize for helping children who live in garbage dumps in
Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. Another $50,000 was evenly split
between the winners of the World's Children's Honorary Award: Javier
Stauring of the Catholic Archdiocese in Los Angeles who works with
jailed children, and India's Nobel Peace Prize winner Kailash
Satyarthi who fights against child slavery and for children's right
to education.
   (AP, 10/14/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct, In Cambodia two
opposition lawmakers from the Cambodia National Rescue Party were
beaten after being confronted by a pro-government mob, which was
demanding the resignation of the party's deputy leader Kem Sonkha.
   (AP, 5/27/16)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 6, Cambodia's defense
minister said China has provided Cambodia with shoulder-fired
anti-aircraft missiles, as the two countries agreed on new military
aid to boost close ties.
   (Reuters, 11/6/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 11, The Mekong-Lancang
Cooperation forum (China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and
Vietnam) was created by China to promote sustainable development and
boost the quality of life for the millions of people living in the
Mekong subregion. The forum was seen as a rival to the Mekong River
Commission, formed in 1995, but excludes China and Myanmar.
   (http://tinyurl.com/y88vgs57)(AP, 1/10/18)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, A Cambodian court
issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Sam Rainsy in
connection with an old defamation case as tension rises between Sam
Rainsy and PM Hun Sen.
   (Reuters, 11/13/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 16, In Cambodia
opposition leader Sam Rainsy was stripped of his lawmaker status and
parliamentary immunity, paving the way for his arrest in connection
with a defamation case. Rainsy was on a visit to South Korea.
   (SFC, 11/17/15, p.A2)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 20, Cambodian
officials said about 370 workers fainted at factories in the past
two days, possibly because of pesticide spraying on nearby rice
fields.
   (AP, 11/20/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 22, In Malaysia ASEAN
nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) established a formal
community that attempts to create freer movement of trade and
capital in an area of 625 million people with a combined economic
output of $2.6 trillion.
   (Reuters, 11/22/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, In Cambodia 6
people died after eating the barbequed carcass of a dog that had
died for unknown reasons. 4 others died on Dec 8 after drinking rice
wine.
   (AP, 12/11/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 16, In Cambodia
garment workers in eastern Svay Rieng province went on strike to
boost their monthly wages to $148.
   (SFC, 12/18/15, p.A2)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 21, Cambodian police
made dozens of arrests and used water cannon to break up a strike by
garment workers protesting over low pay.
   (Reuters, 12/21/15)
2015Â Â Â Â Â Â The documentary film
“Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll,” was
directed by John Pirozzi.
   (SFC, 5/8/15, p.E5)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 12, In Cambodia two
trucks transporting garment workers to their factory crashed,
killing 5 of the workers and injuring 65 others.
   (AP, 1/12/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 29, Thailand police
said they will have to tighten security on Koh Kut island after four
French tourists were brutally assaulted, including two women who
were raped. The next day Cambodia said that five of its citizens
were involved in the attack.
   (AP, 2/29/16)(AP, 3/1/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 2, Cambodian National
Police and Chinese police took part in rounding up 105 Chinese
citizens at the Golden Crown Casino's hotel, releasing 67 after
confirming they were not on wanted lists. Police said the people
arrested are suspected of involvement in scams carried out against
Chinese citizens over Internet phone services.
   (AP, 3/3/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 3, In Cambodia a
driver trying to ease his car onto a river ferry stepped on the
accelerator instead of the brake, plunging the vehicle into the
water and killing 7 passengers.
   (AP, 4/4/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 7, Suth Dina,
Cambodia's ambassador to South Korea, was charged with
corruption-related offenses, following his arrest on April 4.
Investigators said his assets increased by $3 million during his two
years as envoy.
   (AP, 4/7/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 17, Cambodian Leng
Ouch (42) was one of six winners of this year's Goldman
Environmental Prize. He worked to uncover mass logging that
devastated his homeland.
   (SFC, 4/18/16, p.D1)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 25, The New York-based
Wildlife Conservation Society said Cambodia's Royal Turtle is nearly
extinct, with fewer than 10 left in the wild, because increased sand
dredging and illegal clearance of flooded forest have shrunk its
habitat.
   (AP, 4/25/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 30, It was reported
that Cambodia's PM Hun Sen has ordered a million hectares of forest
be included in protected zones as the country faces one of the
world's fastest deforestation rates.
   (AFP, 4/30/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â May 9, In Cambodia two
foreigners were among eight people arrested by police on in Phnom
Penh for protesting the jailing of a group of human rights workers
and an election official on what demonstrators said were
politically-motivated charges.
   (Reuters, 5/9/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â May 26, Cambodian armed
security forces raided the headquarters of the main opposition party
and surrounded the car of Kem Sokha, its No. 2 leader, in an
apparent attempt to apprehend him, but left empty-handed after not
finding him in either place.
   (AP, 5/26/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â May 27, A Cambodian court
convicted three military commandos of beating up two opposition
lawmakers outside the parliament last year, and sentenced them to
one year each in prison. The attack occurred in October 2015 when
the two opposition lawmakers from the Cambodia National Rescue Party
were confronted by a pro-government mob, which was demanding the
resignation of the party's deputy leader Kem Sonkha.
   (AP, 5/27/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 14, A Cambodian court
sentenced American businessman Brian David Naswall (53) to 10 years
in prison for sexually abusing nine underage girls.
   (AP, 6/14/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, Cambodia deported
39 suspected criminals to mainland China, including 25 Taiwanese
whom Beijing insists it has jurisdiction over despite protests from
Taipei.
   (AP, 6/24/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, Cambodia dismissed
accusations by anti-corruption pressure group Global Witness that PM
Hun Sen and his family have amassed $200 million in business
interests including some with links to land grabs and environmental
destruction.
   (Reuters, 7/7/16)(Econ, 7/9/16, p.31)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 7, Cambodia said
tourists showing cleavage or wearing skimpy clothes will be banned
from the famed Angkor temple complex, after a slew of photos emerged
of scantily-clad visitors at the sacred site.
   (AFP, 7/7/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, In Cambodia Kem
Ley (45), a well-known critic of the government, was shot dead in
what police said was a personal dispute over money. He was killed at
a gas station in Phnom Penh. His attacker, identified as Oeut Ang,
was soon arrested. Ang’s wife later said her husband was too poor to
have loaned any money. Opposition parties suggested a political
conspiracy behind the killing.
   (AP, 7/10/16)(AP, 7/12/16)
2016 Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 24, In Cambodia tens
of thousands joined the funeral procession of Kem Ley, a prominent
government critic, whose July 10 murder in broad daylight has raised
suspicions of a hit job in country with a long history of political
violence.
   (AFP, 7/24/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Jul 24, Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) failed to agree on maritime
disputes in the South China Sea after Cambodia blocked any mention
to an international court ruling against Beijing in their statement.
Within a week China gave Cambodia an aid package worth around $600
million.
   (Reuters, 7/24/16)(Econ, 1/21/17, p.30)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, Cambodia's Phnom
Penh Municipal Court fined self-exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy
for defaming Heng Samrin, a former president (1979-1992) and a
senior member of the country's ruling party, adding to legal woes
hurting his party's ability to operate.
   (AP, 7/28/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 5, Cambodian customs
seized more than 600 kg of illegal ivory in a container packed with
corn that had languished unclaimed at a port for two years after
being shipped from Africa.
   (AFP, 8/5/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 30, Cambodian police
arrested 64 people from mainland China and Taiwan, accusing them of
taking part in an internet scam. They were accused of defrauding
victims in China using phone calls made over the internet.
   (AP, 8/30/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 9, Cambodian
opposition leader Kem Sokha was sentenced to five months in jail in
the latest faceoff between the government and opposition as
political tensions over challenges to PM Hun Sen's longstanding
autocratic rule show no signs of easing.
   (AP, 9/9/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, Cambodia released
more than 200 nearly extinct royal turtles in muddy waters at a new
breeding and conservation center that was built in hopes of keeping
the national reptile from disappearing.
   (AP, 9/13/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 20, A Cambodian court
sentenced two Chinese citizens to life in prison after finding them
guilty of producing and trafficking heroin and methamphetamine in
one of the country's biggest drug cases. Deng Yuan Ping (53) and Ly
Yong (42) were found guilty of smuggling 55 kg (120 pounds) of the
illicit drugs worth an estimated $3 million from Laos in June last
year. Two Cambodian men involved in the case also received life
sentences, one in absentia.
   (AP, 9/20/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, Cambodia’s
Ministry of Labor, Vocational and Training said in a statement that
the minimum wage for clothing and footwear workers would be raised
by 9.2 percent to $153 a month, effective at the beginning of next
year. The increase falls short of the $171 a month wage proposed by
unions.
   (AP, 9/29/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 10, A Cambodian court
sentenced opposition lawmaker Um Sam An, who has been a strong
critic of the government's handling of demarcating the border with
neighboring Vietnam, to 2 1/2 years in prison for online postings he
made.
   (AP, 10/10/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 13, Chinese President
Xi Jinping arrived in Cambodia for a two-day visit, praising the
close ties that have seen Cambodia side with Beijing on the South
China Sea, and signed dozens of economic agreements.
   (Reuters, 10/13/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 29, In Cambodia former
PM Pen Sovann (80), died. He was installed in 1981 and then
imprisoned by the Vietnamese after they defeated the brutal Khmer
Rouge regime.
   (AP, 10/30/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 2, Cambodian officials
promised to investigate problems in the sand mining business
following complaints from fishermen that dredgers have been stealing
the shore beneath their boats on an industrial scale.
   (Reuters, 11/4/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 7, A Cambodian court
sentenced opposition Senator Hong Song Hour to seven years in prison
for criticizing a 36-year-old border agreement with Vietnam.
   (SFC, 11/8/16, p.A2)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 8, A Cambodian court
found Sam Rainsy, the country's exiled opposition leader, guilty of
defamation for alleging that a senior government official sought to
inflate PM Hun Sen's online popularity by buying "likes" for his
Facebook page.
   (AP, 11/8/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 18, In Cambodia an
Australian woman and two local associates were detained for
providing commercial surrogacy services — a practice the country
banned last month after becoming a popular global destination for
would-be parents seeking women to give birth to their children.
   (AP, 11/21/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, Cambodia's King
Norodom Sihamoni pardoned Kem Sokha, the deputy leader of the
country's opposition party, acting at the request of PM Hun Sen in a
complicated maneuver that could have a major political impact ahead
of nationwide local elections next June.
   (AP, 12/2/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte arrived on a state visit to Cambodia,
where a meeting with PM Hun Sen will witness the signing of
memoranda of understanding on cooperation in sports and combating
transnational crime.
   (AP, 12/13/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 16, Cambodian
authorities found 1.3 metric tons of ivory, 10 cheetah skulls and 82
kg (180 pounds) of cheetah bones, and 137 kg (301 pounds) of
pangolin scales concealed in three containers shipped from
Mozambique.
   (AP, 12/22/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 27, A court in
Cambodia sentenced the exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy to five
years in prison after finding him guilty of conspiring to incite
chaos by posting misleading documents on his Facebook page.
   (AP, 12/27/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â The population of Cambodia
was about 16 million.
   (Econ, 7/16/16, p.34)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 6, Cambodian police
said they arrested a Japanese man and two Cambodians last week
suspected of tricking Cambodian women into working in the sex trade
in Japan.
   (AP, 2/6/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 11, Sam Rainsy, the
self-exiled leader of Cambodia's opposition party, he would resign
his post, a shock blow to a movement struggling to unseat the
country's authoritarian premier. Rainsy has led the Cambodia
National Rescue Party (CNRP) since its creation in 2012 and has
spent over a year in France to avoid several lawsuits.
   (AFP, 2/11/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, Cambodia's main
opposition party named Kem Sokha as its acting president after
exiled leader Sam Rainsy resigned unexpectedly in the face of a
possible ban ahead of elections.
   (Reuters, 2/12/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 23, A Cambodian court
sentenced prominent land rights activist Tep Vanny to 2 1/2 years in
prison on charges of committing violence at a protest she helped
lead outside of Prime Minister Hun Sen's residence in March 2013.
Vanny said all the protesters in the incident were women, and were
so weakened by a long walk to the prime minister's house that they
were in no shape to beat up government security forces, and in fact
were beaten by them.
   (AP, 2/23/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 26, Cambodian cabinet
spokesman Phay Siphan posted remarks on Facebook this weekend saying
US President Donald Trump's attacks on the media are an inspiration
to his own country to observe limits on freedom of expression.
   (AP, 2/27/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 1, In Cambodia migrant
worker Oeut Ang said he fired shots that killed Kem Ley last July
because he was upset over the $3,000 he was owed. Kem Ley's
relatives believe the suspect isn't telling the whole truth and that
the government may have masterminded the killing.
   (AP, 3/1/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 7, Cambodia’s drug
czar said authorities have arrested more than 4,800 people in a
two-month-old campaign against drugs and that number could more than
double.
   (Reuters, 3/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, In Cambodia Sok An
(66), a deputy prime minister who was one of PM Hun Sen's closest
political and personal allies, died.
   (AP, 3/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 21, A legal officer at
Cambodia's Customs Department said Cambodia has suspended the export
of human breast milk by Utah-based Ambrosia Labs Ltd., a business
pioneered last year by former Mormon missionary Ryan Newell. On
March 28 the ban was made permanent.
   (AP, 3/21/17)(AP, 3/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 7, In Cambodia Tan
Saravuth, a Cambodian-American man, was arrested in Phnom Penh for
procuring children for prostitution, a crime punishable by seven to
15 years in prison.
   (AP, 4/11/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 21, In Cambodia Evrard
Nicolas Sarot (53) of the Netherlands was formally charged for
taking nude photos of boys and possessing at least 1,300
pornographic pictures. Sarot was arrested April 18 while
photographing naked boys aged 11-15.
   (AP, 4/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 8, A Cambodian
official said authorities said they have confiscated nearly 70 tons
of counterfeit cosmetics and raw materials for making them in raids
during march and April, The major haul included imitations of South
Korean, Thai, Japanese, Chinese and US brands. Six people were
arrested — four Chinese, a Vietnamese-Cambodian dual national and a
Cambodian — for illegal production of cosmetics.
   (AP, 5/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 8, The British-based
Environmental Investigation Agency accused the Vietnamese government
and military officials of taking payoffs to ignore vast smuggling of
lucrative lumber from neighboring Cambodia.
   (AP, 5/8/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â May 8, Attackers in
Central African Republic ambushed a convoy of UN peacekeepers from
Cambodia and Morocco, killing one Cambodian soldier and wounding 8
others. Eight fighters from the anti-Balaka rebel group were also
killed in the battle. Three Cambodian soldiers and a Moroccan
peacekeeper were reported missing and possibly kidnapped. The three
Cambodian soldiers were found dead the next day.
   (AP, 5/9/17)(AP, 5/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 4, Cambodians voted in
local elections. PM Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party
retained its dominance in most regions, obtaining 51 percent of the
total popular vote, but lost ground to its opponents.
   (AP, 6/4/17)(AP, 6/5/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, In Cambodia final
results were released from the June 4 local elections confirming the
dominance of PM Hun Sen's ruling party, but a strong showing by the
opposition saw its prospects boosted for next year's general
election. The percentage of the popular vote captured by the CPP
declined to just under 51 percent from about 62 percent in 2012
local elections, while the CNRP's share rose to almost 44 percent
from 30 percent.
   (AP, 6/25/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun, In Cambodia James
Ricketson (68), an Australian filmmaker, was arrested for flying a
drone to capture images of an opposition political rally.
   (AP, 8/16/18)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 10, Cambodia’s
National Assembly passed a bill barring political parties from
having links with convicted criminals.
   (SFC, 7/11/17, p.A2)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 13, China turned over
to Cambodia 100 buses to be used to expand public transportation in
its capital, Phnom Penh.
   (AP, 7/13/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, Cambodia's PM Hun
Sen ordered the ouster of Agape International Mission, an
American-led Christian organization that seeks to rescue and
rehabilitate women working in the sex trade, saying its comments in
a TV report last week demeaned the country.
   (AP, 8/1/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 2, Cambodian officials
arrested 175 Chinese citizens after a tipoff from Chinese police
about their suspected involvement in an internet phone scam.
   (AP, 8/4/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 3, Cambodian police
detained Nhek Bun Chhay, a former ally of PM Hun Sen, in connection
with allegations of illegal drug production from 2012.
   (AP, 8/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 9, Cambodia said it is
recruiting hundreds of maids to work in Hong Kong. The minimum
monthly wage for maids in Hong Kong was $550.
   (AFP, 8/9/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, Cambodia's PM Hun
Sen issued a six-day ultimatum to Laos to pull back troops who have
allegedly trespassed into a border area or face a military response.
   (AFP, 8/11/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen, who threatened a day earlier to use force over a border crisis
with neighboring Laos, announced that the situation had been
peacefully resolved after he made a lightning trip for face-to-face
talks with his Laotian counterpart.
   (AP, 8/12/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 16, Cambodian tax
authorities denied there is a political motive for a crackdown on
delinquent taxpayers that prominently targets media and civil
society organizations critical of the government.
   (AP, 8/16/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen denounced the media, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and
the United States, amid growing government impatience with criticism
ahead of a general election next year. Hun Sen directed much of his
anger at the English-language Cambodia Daily newspaper, saying it
had to pay taxes accrued over the past 10 years by Sept. 4 or face
closure.
   (Reuters, 8/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, Cambodia's PM Hun
Sen said he has rescinded his decision to expel Agape International
Missions, an American-led Christian organization that seeks to
rescue and rehabilitate women working in the sex trade, accepting
its apology and explanation that it did not intend to demean
Cambodians.
   (AP, 8/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 23, Two independent
Cambodian radio stations that allowed rare criticism of the
government said they are being forced to shut down, further limiting
opportunities for political activity and expression ahead of next
year's general election. The closures were announced the same day
the foreign ministry ordered foreign staff members of the
Washington-based National Democratic Institute to leave the country
within a week and halt operations.
   (AP, 8/23/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 31, A Cambodian court
found Park Youl (63) a Korean man, guilty of child sex offenses and
sentenced him to 14 years in prison. Youl was a pastor of a
Christian church in Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia.
   (AP, 8/31/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, Cambodian
authorities overnight arrested Kem Sokha, the leader of the main
opposition party, accusing him of conspiring with the United States
to topple the government.
   (AP, 9/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 3, The Cambodia Daily,
which is often critical of the government, said its Sep 4 edition
would be its last after it was slapped with a multi-million dollar
tax bill that its publishers said was politically motivated.
   (AFP, 9/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 4, The
English-language Cambodia's Daily appeared in newsstands for
the last time, the latest victim of a determined push by the
government of Prime Minister Hun Sen to silence critics in the
run-up to 2018 elections.
   (AP, 9/4/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 5, A Cambodian court
said opposition leader Kem Sokha has been charged with treason and
could face a jail term of 15 to 30 years if convicted.
   (Reuters, 9/5/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, Cambodia’s PM Hun
Sen threatened to dissolve the main opposition party if it gets
involved in legal proceedings against its chief, Kem Sokha, who was
charged with treason last week.
   (AP, 9/11/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 13, Cambodia's main
opposition party was blocked from holding a memorial ceremony for
victims of a 1997 grenade attack on a political rally.
   (Reuters, 9/13/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 14, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen said he was suspending cooperation with the United States to
find the remains of Americans killed in the Vietnam War in the
latest ratcheting up of tensions between the two countries. Hun Sen
has accused the United States of plotting treason with opposition
leader Kem Sokha.
   (Reuters, 9/14/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 15, Cambodia's PM Hun
Sen escalated his feud with the United States, calling for US Peace
Corps volunteers doing development work to be withdrawn.
   (AP, 9/15/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 28, A Cambodian court
sentenced British man Toby James Nelhams, suspected of involvement
in the Jan 24 gangland-style slaying of Briton Tony Kenway in the
Thai resort town of Pattaya, to eight months in prison for fraud.
The whereabouts of two other suspects were unknown.
   (AP, 9/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 29, A deputy Cambodian
party leader said around half the opposition members of parliament
have left the country in fear of a crackdown by PM Hun Sen’s
government. Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has a
slim majority in the 123-member parliament, which voted on Sept. 11
to allow the prosecution of Kem Sokha in a vote boycotted by
opposition members.
   (Reuters, 9/30/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 3, Mu Sochua (63), an
outspoken deputy of Cambodia's detained opposition leader fled the
country, saying she feared for her safety after Prime Minister Hun
Sen threatened further arrests of opposition politicians.
   (Reuters, 10/3/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 5, Cambodia's
government agreed to raise the minimum wage for workers in the
garment and footwear industry, a move likely aimed at winning their
support ahead of a general election next year. The minimum wage will
be raised by 11.11 percent to $170 a month, with $165 to be paid by
the employers and $5 to be paid by the government, effective next
year.
   (AP, 10/5/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 6, Cambodia's
government took initial legal steps to dissolve the Cambodia
National Rescue Party, the country's main opposition party, the
latest in a series of moves to gain an advantage ahead of next
year's general election.
   (AP, 10/6/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, Cambodia deported
74 Chinese citizens accused of extorting money from women in
mainland China with threats to circulate naked images of them
online.
   (SFC, 10/13/17, p.A2)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 28, Cambodia police
deported 61 Chinese nationals wanted in China on suspicion of
extorting money over the internet and by phone. Taiwan's government
said 19 of them were from Taiwan, and that it had lodged a strong
protest with China about the deportations.
   (Reuters, 10/28/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 4, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen called on lawmakers from the main opposition party to defect
ahead of a court ruling on whether to dissolve it, saying they could
be banned from politics for five years if they left it too late.
   (Reuters, 11/4/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 16, Cambodia's Supreme
Court ordered the main opposition party to be dissolved, dealing a
crushing blow to democratic aspirations in the increasingly
oppressive Southeast Asian state.
   (AP, 11/16/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, The United States
announced it was ending funding for Cambodian election, and promised
more "concrete steps", after the Supreme Court dissolved the
Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) at the request of the
government, on the grounds it was plotting to seize power.
   (Reuters, 11/19/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 19, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen challenged the United States to cut all aid after it announced
it was ending funding for a general election next year in response
to the dissolution of the main opposition party.
   (Reuters, 11/19/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 21, Sweden said it was
stopping new aid for Cambodia, except in education and research, and
would no longer support a reform program after the main opposition
party was outlawed by the Supreme Court at the government's request.
   (Reuters, 11/21/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 22, The United States
opened a $2 million tender to help clear unexploded bombs in
Cambodia weeks after the government's mine clearance agency said its
US funding had been stopped.
   (Reuters, 11/22/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 23, Cambodia
reallocated parliamentary seats held by the recently banned
opposition party to smaller parties that had failed to win any seats
in the last election. The 55 seats the CNRP won in the 2013 election
were being shared among five other political parties.
   (Reuters, 11/23/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 30, Cambodian
officials said the diplomatic passports of some opposition members
have been cancelled weeks after a Supreme Court ruling dissolved
their political party.
   (Reuters, 11/30/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov, In Cambodia the
400-megawatt Lower Sesan 2 Dam, a joint venture between China's
Hydrolancang International Energy Company and Cambodia's Royal
Group, began operations.
   (Reuters, 2/4/18)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 2, A set of ancient
Angkorian gold jewelry was returned to Cambodia from Britain with an
elaborate procession through the capital, decades after the precious
pieces were looted from a famed jungle temple.
   (AFP, 12/2/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, In Cambodia
Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina met with her counterpart, Hun Sen,
during an official visit to the Southeast Asian country. Several
agreements on trade, economic and technical cooperation were signed
by officials. Hasina said she asked for Hun Sen's support in helping
to find a durable solution to the Rohingya refugee crisis.
   (AP, 12/4/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 6, The Trump
administration announced it will restrict visas for Cambodians
"undermining democracy" in the Southeast Asian nation following the
dissolution of the main opposition party and a crackdown on
independent media.
   (AP, 12/7/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 12, The European Union
said it has suspended funding for Cambodia's 2018 general election
because the vote cannot be credible after the dissolution of the
main opposition party.
   (AP, 12/12/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 27, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen vowed to extend his more than 30 years in power by at least
another decade, weeks after the highest court dissolved the main
opposition party ahead of a 2018 general election.
   (Reuters, 12/27/17)
2017Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 29, A Cambodian court
ordered exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy to pay $1 million for
defaming PM Hun Sen in a Facebook post.
   (AP, 12/29/17)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 7, Thousands of
Cambodian survivors of the Khmer Rouge marked 39 years since the
fall of the brutal regime that killed an estimated 1.7 million
people.
   (Reuters, 1/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 10, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang were joined by leaders from
Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar over development in the Mekong
subregion. The leaders agreed in a joint statement to enhance
connectivity between their countries to accelerate
industrialization, urbanization, trade and financial integration.
They also called for greater cooperation in managing and utilizing
water resources.
   (AP, 1/10/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 13, Foreign-based
members of Cambodia's dissolved opposition party, the Cambodia
National Rescue Party (CNRP), launched a movement to demand the
release of its detained leader and to call for free and fair
elections and possibly protests.
   (Reuters, 1/14/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 25, Cambodian police
raided a rented villa where the foreigners were taking part in what
organizers billed as a pub crawl and found people "dancing
pornographically." While almost 90 foreigners were detained, all but
10 were released. On Jan. 28 the ten foreigners were charged with
producing pornographic pictures.
   (AP, 1/28/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 27, The leaders of
India and Cambodia agreed in New Delhi to work toward a bilateral
investment treaty that could see tens of millions of dollars pour
into the Southeast Asian nation.
   (AP, 1/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 2, Cambodia's Cabinet
endorsed an amendment to the criminal code making insulting the king
a criminal offense punishable by a fine and up to five years in
prison.
   (AP, 2/2/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 2, The campaign group
International Rivers said floodwater released by a recently opened
Chinese hydroelectric dam in Cambodia has completely submerged the
village of Srekor. Hundreds of families from five villages in the
northern province of Stung Treng had moved several months ago to
designated project resettlement sites, before the floodwater from
the dam submerged the area.
   (AP, 2/4/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 7, A court in Cambodia
allowed the release on bail of seven Westerners who were arrested
last month for allegedly posting photos on social media of
themselves engaged in sexually suggestive dancing. Three other
people remained in detention.
   (AP, 2/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, Cambodia arrested a
woman, Sam Sokha, after she was repatriated from Thailand, where the
UN refugee agency reportedly had formally recognized her as a
refugee. She had thrown a shoe at a billboard depicting PM Hun Sen.
   (AP, 2/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 9, It was reported
that former Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy has filed a legal
case in the United States to get Facebook to release information on
PM Hun Sen's use of the social media platform.
   (Reuters, 2/9/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 12, In Cambodia a
Dutch man and a Norwegian man, arrested for allegedly posting photos
on social media of sexually suggestive dancing, were released on
bail and ordered deported. One British man still incarcerated out of
the 10 originally detained.
   (AP, 2/15/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 14, A government
source said Canada will create a legal framework to guarantee the
rights of indigenous people in a bid to head off court battles over
treaty rights with aboriginals.
   (Reuters, 2/14/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 17, Australia accepted
the family of a murdered Cambodian political activist as refugees.
Kem Ley's wife and five children arrived in Melbourne, from
Thailand. Kem Ley was shot dead in a convenience store in Phnom
Penh, in July 2016, and his family escaped to a Thai refugee camp.
Australia continues to pay Cambodia to accept refugees that
Australia holds in the Pacific island nation of Nauru.
   (AP, 2/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 22, Germany said it is
withdrawing a system of special visa treatment for Cambodian
officials, including PM Hun Sen and his family, citing the southeast
Asian country's crackdown on the opposition.
   (AP, 2/22/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 25, The ruling party
of Cambodian PM Hun Sen claimed a sweeping win in today’s elections
for the country's Senate, a victory that it assured itself by
eliminating any serious opposition from the contest.
   (AP, 2/25/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 27, The US said it
will suspend or curtail several aid programs to Cambodia, citing
setbacks to democracy in the southeast Asian nation.
   (AP, 2/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 3, Cambodia's PM Hun
Sen accused the US government of being dishonest in its announced
suspension of aid to the Southeast Asian nation, saying Cambodia had
already stopped receiving aid from Washington in 2016.
   (Reuters, 3/3/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 8, In northeastern
Cambodia at least seven policemen and two protesters were hurt in a
clash after villagers in Kratie province blocked a national highway
to protest being forced off land they have occupied for at least two
years.
   (AP, 3/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, In western
Cambodia a land mine exploded accidently during clearance training
at a military base, killing two people, including an Australian
trainer, and injuring three others.
   (AP, 3/15/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, Cambodia's
ambassador to the UN's office in Geneva rejected a statement to the
UN Human Rights Council endorsed by 45 nations that urges
improvements in the Southeast Asia nation's rights situation ahead
of a general election this July.
   (AP, 3/22/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 31, In Vietnam the
leaders of six countries along the Mekong River adopted an ambitious
investment plan worth $66 billion over the next five years. The
summit included the prime ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and
Vietnam, as well as a vice president of Myanmar and the Chinese
foreign minister.
   (AP, 3/31/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 2, A rights group said
farmers from Cambodia have filed a lawsuit in a Thai civil court
against Mitr Phol, Asia's largest sugar producer, accusing it of
rights abuses after it allegedly kicked farmers off their land.
   (Reuters, 4/2/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 5, Forty-three
Cambodians deported by the United States arrived in Phnom Penh, the
largest batch yet under a controversial deal that enables America to
expel legal residents with criminal records. More than 600 US-based
Cambodian convicts have been forcibly returned to the Southeast
Asian country since 2002.
   (AFP, 4/5/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 8, In Cambodia Japan
signed a grant and loan agreement with Cambodia totaling over $90
million, despite concerns from the international community over PM
Hun Sen's crackdown on government critics ahead of a July general
election.
   (Reuters, 4/8/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 11, Cambodia deported
nearly 100 Chinese citizens accused of defrauding people in China in
an internet scam. They were arrested last month after a police
investigation.
   (AP, 4/11/18)  Â
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 13, It was reported
that the US embassy in Cambodia has fired 32 people after they were
allegedly caught sharing pornographic material in a non-official
chat group. There were no diplomats among those fired.
   (Reuters, 4/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 24, Cambodian
journalist Aun Pheap (54), charged with "incitement to commit a
felony" over his election coverage, said that he fled his country
and arrived in the US fearing arrest and has been given refugee
asylum status by the UN refugee agency.
   (Reuters, 4/24/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 27, Thailand deported
Sam Serey, the leader of a Cambodian anti-government group. He was
at risk of being extradited to his homeland for imprisonment but
said he is safely back in Denmark, where he has had political asylum
for seven years.
   (AP, 4/27/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 5, It was reported
that Cambodia's English-language daily The Phnom Penh Post was
bought by a Malaysian investor, amid concerns that the sale could
signal the end of independent media in the country ahead of
elections in July. Australian businessman Bill Clough sold the Phnom
Penh Post, considered the sole remaining independent media voice in
Cambodia, to Sivakumar Ganapathy, a public relations executive in
Malaysia.
   (Reuters, 5/5/18)(AP, 5/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 6, Cambodian health
officials said ten villagers have died and 120 others have been
sickened after drinking water suspected to be contaminated with
insecticide.
   (AP, 5/6/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 7, In Cambodia the new
owner of a newspaper, considered the sole remaining independent
media voice, fired editor Kay Kimsong for publishing a story about
the publication's sale and the purchaser's links to the government.
   (AP, 5/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 7, A Cambodian health
official said 14 villagers whose sudden deaths were thought to have
been caused by polluted water actually died from drinking rice wine
containing methanol. He said 214 other people from the same area who
had fallen ill were sickened by drinking water that was contaminated
with human or animal waste or insecticide.
   (AP, 5/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â May 12, In Cambodia Khieng
Navy was arrested in his home for posting comments online that
allegedly insulted King Norodom Sihamoni by suggesting he was behind
the November court decision to disband the main opposition party to
benefit Cambodia's enemies. The school director became the first
person to be arrested on charges of insulting the monarchy.
   (AP, 5/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 5, A Cambodian appeals
court denied bail for a 4th time to opposition leader Kem Sokha on a
treason charge widely seen as part of the government's crackdown on
the media and political opponents before next month's elections.
   (AP, 6/5/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 12, The US Treasury
Department announced sanctions against Gen. Hing Bun Hieng,
commander of Cambodia's PM Bodyguard Unit, which it said had been
engaged in serious human rights violations for at least the past 21
years.
   (AP, 6/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 17, In Cambodia former
PM Prince Norodom Ranariddh (74) was seriously injured in a road
crash that killed his wife and injured at least seven other people.
   (AP, 6/17/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 21, In Cambodia four
Cambodian women and a Chinese man were arrested in a house in Phnom
Penh on charges of providing commercial surrogate services. Police
rescued 33 pregnant surrogates who were allegedly hired by the
Chinese man.
   (AP, 6/23/18)  Â
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 22, A Cambodian court
sentenced a Belgian man to life in prison on charges of smuggling
cocaine into the country. David Noel Catry (34) was convicted of
trafficking 1.03 kg (2.27 pounds) of cocaine earlier this year.
   (AP, 6/22/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 30, Cambodia won a
place in the Guinness book of World Records for a 1,100-meter
(3,600-foot) long version of the country's popular krama scarf.
   (AFP, 7/1/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, In Cambodia 33
pregnant women hired to act as surrogate mothers were formally
charged with surrogacy and human trafficking offenses. A Chinese man
and four Cambodian women accused of managing the business were
charged last week with the same offenses.
   (AP, 7/6/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, The latest Global
Slavery Index showed one in 10 people in North Korea live in
slavery, with most forced to work for the state. The index listed
Eritrea, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Afghanistan,
Mauritania, South Sudan, Pakistan, Cambodia and Iran as the worst
offenders after North Korea.
   (AP, 7/19/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 26, In the Philippines
the six winners of this year's Ramon Magsaysay Awards, regarded as
Asia's version of the Nobel Prize, were announced. The recipients
included a Cambodian genocide survivor (Youk Chhang) who helped
document the Khmer Rouge atrocities, an Indian psychiatrist (Bharat
Vatwani ) who led the rescue of thousands of mentally ill street
paupers to treat and reunite them with their families, a Filipino
(Howard Dee ) who led peace talks with communist insurgents, a
polio-stricken Vietnamese (Vo Thi Hoang Yen) who fought
discrimination against the disabled, an East Timorese (Maria de
Lourdes Martins Cruz) who built care centers for the poor amid civil
strife and an Indian (Sonam Wangchuk) who tutored village students
to help them pass exams.
   (AP, 7/26/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, Cambodia held
elections. The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) said that it
had won a general election that rights groups said was neither free
nor fair due to voter intimidation and the absence of any
significant challenger to PM Hun Sen. The National Election
Commission said voter turnout was 80.49 percent.
   (Reuters, 7/29/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 30, The ruling
Cambodian People's Party (CPP) said it had won all 125 parliamentary
seats up for grabs in a general election. The opposition and an
analyst said more than half-a-million spoilt ballots in the general
election represent a protest against the vote that critics have
called a sham. As many as 594,843 votes, or 8.4 percent, of the 7.64
million votes cast, were invalid and spoiled.
   (Reuters, 7/30/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 15, An announcement by
Cambodia's National Election Committee showed that the Cambodian
People's Party had swept the July 29 polls winning all 125 seats in
the National Assembly, ensuring that Hun Sen, who has held power for
33 years, will receive another five-year term.
   (AP, 8/15/18)(SFC, 8/16/18, p.A2)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 20, Cambodia's King
Norodom Sihamoni pardoned Tep Vanny, a prominent leader of the land
rights movement, along with three activists who were sent to prison
with her.
   (AP, 8/20/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, Cambodian
journalists Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin, charged with espionage
for filing news reports to a US-funded radio station, were freed on
bail in a move seen by a rights group as a government bid to improve
its image weeks after a disputed election.
   (Reuters, 8/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, Cambodia's Supreme
Court denied a bail request for Kem Sokha, the leader of the
now-dissolved main opposition party who has been detained for nearly
a year without trial on a treason charge.
   (AP, 8/22/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 22, Thirty Cambodians
who had been living in the United States arrived in Cambodia after
being deported under a 2002 bilateral agreement and US law that
allows the repatriation of immigrants who have been convicted of
felonies and have not become American citizens.
   (AP, 8/22/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 25, Cambodia's King
Norodom Sihamoni granted Um Sam An amnesty from his jail term. He
was sentenced in October 2016 to 2 1/2 years in prison for making
comments on the politically sensitive topic and implying that Prime
Minister Hun Sen's government failed to counter land encroachment by
Vietnam.
   (AP, 8/25/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 28, Fourteen Cambodian
opposition activists were freed from long prison terms, their
pardons coming as the latest in a series of releases engineered by
PM Hun Sen after his party's election sweep last month. Those freed
were serving prison terms for the July 15, 2014, protest in Phnom
Penh.
   (AP, 8/28/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 31, In Cambodia
Australian filmmaker James Ricketson, arrested after flying a drone
to photograph an opposition party rally last year, was convicted of
spying and sentenced to six years in prison.
   (AP, 8/31/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 10, A Cambodia court
granted Kem Sokha (65), the leader of a now dissolved opposition
party, bail due to health reasons. The court's release order was so
restrictive that it amounted to a form of house arrest.
   (AP, 9/10/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 21, Cambodia granted a
royal pardon to Australian filmmaker James Ricketson, who was
sentenced last month to six years in prison on spying charges in a
trial widely criticized as unfair.
   (AP, 9/21/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 13, Cambodia's PM Hun
Sen said he has agreed to the resumption of US military-led missions
to search for the remains of Americans missing in action during the
Vietnam War. The long-running program was suspended a year ago after
the US government stopped issuing visas to senior Cambodian Foreign
Ministry officials and their families. The visa ban remained in
place.
   (AP, 10/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 13, A Cambodian court
charged 18 people, including 11 pregnant women, with violating laws
against surrogate births.
   (AP, 11/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 16, In Cambodia Nuon
Chea (92) and Khieu Samphan (97), the last surviving leaders of the
Khmer Rouge regime that ruled Cambodia in the 1970s, when their
reign of terror was responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7
million people, were convicted by an international tribunal of
genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
   (AP, 11/16/18)(SFC, 11/17/18, p.A2)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 26, Police in Cambodia
arrested more than 200 Chinese citizens accused of defrauding people
in China over the internet.
   (AP, 11/26/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 5, Cambodian officials
said 32 Cambodian women who were charged with human trafficking for
serving as surrogate mothers have been provisionally released from
detention after agreeing to keep the babies rather than giving them
up as originally planned.
   (AP, 12/5/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 7, Rath Rott Mony
(47), a Cambodian labor activist, was arrested in Bangkok as he
attempted to travel to the Netherlands with his family after helping
produce a sex-trafficking documentary for the Russia Today channel
in October. Cambodia has dismissed the documentary as fake.
   (Reuters, 12/7/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 11, Six Cambodian
union leaders each received suspended 2 1/2-year prison terms in
connection with labor protests in January, 2014, in which four
garment workers were killed and around 20 others hurt.
   (AP, 12/11/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, Cambodia's
Parliament passed legislation that could allow the lifting of a
five-year ban on political activity by some top opposition
politicians.
   (AP, 12/13/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 13, Cambodian
authorities seized more than 3 tons of rare African ivory hidden
inside an abandoned shipping container, the country's largest haul
of elephant tusks in the last four years. The ivory was sent from
Mozambique.
   (AP, 12/15/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 17, Cambodia's PM Hun
Sen inaugurated the 400-megawatt Lower Sesan II hydropower dam in
the northeastern province of Stung Treng. It was built over four
years at a cost of nearly $800 million and is a joint venture of
China's Hydrolancang International Energy, which has a 51 percent
stake.
   (AP, 12/17/18)
2018Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 20, The eldest son of
Cambodian PM Hun Sen joined the inner circle of his father's ruling
Cambodian People's Party, bolstering speculation he is being groomed
to succeed to the premiership. Lt. Gen. Hun Manet (41) was boosted
from the 865-member Central Committee of the ruling Cambodian
People's Party to its 37-member Standing Committee.
   (AP, 12/20/18)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 9, In Cambodia Kong
Korn, a veteran member of the dissolved opposition, party broke
ranks with his colleagues and became the first to apply for a
government-offered lifting of a ban on engaging in political
activity.
   (AP, 1/9/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 9, A Cambodian court
jailed Ieng Cholsa for three years for insulting the king in
Facebook posts, the second known conviction under a new lese majeste
law enacted last year, which rights groups fear could be used to
stifle dissent.
   (Reuters, 1/9/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 11, The EU announced
that it is beginning the process to withdraw preferential duty-free
and quota-free status for imports from Cambodia. EU Trade
Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom charged Cambodia with "severe
deficiencies when it comes to human rights and labor rights".
   (AP, 2/12/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 25, Vietnamese
President Nguyen Phu Trong arrived in Cambodia for a 2-day visit to
strengthen already close bilateral ties.
   (AP, 2/25/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 18, Cambodian police
sought to evict 600 villagers from land said to be occupied
illegally. Villagers in Sihanoukville said most of them had been
living there for two years and received no eviction notice before
bulldozers arrived to demolish their homes. The next day eight
protesters were arrested and six policemen were hurt when the
villagers tried to block a main road.
   (AP, 4/19/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 22, The leaders of
Cambodia and Thailand met at the Thai border town of Aranyaprathet
to mark the ceremonial reopening of a rail link that will restore
train service between the two countries after more than four
decades.
   (AP, 4/22/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 28, A Cambodian court
charged three Chinese nationals with money laundering after the men
were allegedly caught carrying more than $3.5 million without proper
provenance for the money.
   (AP, 4/28/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 29, Myanmar State
Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Cambodia for an official
visit to strengthen ties between the countries.
   (AP, 4/29/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 24, Cambodia's Supreme
Court upheld a life prison term given to Oeut Ang, a man convicted
of murdering prominent government critic Kem Ley in July 2016.
   (AP, 5/24/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â May 28, Cambodia's Appeal
Court acquitted six union leaders, all of whom had been given
suspend jail terms of between eight months and four and a half years
for leading anti-government protests in 2013 and 2014.
   (Reuters, 5/29/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 19, Two UN human
rights experts said Cambodian authorities have questioned, summoned
or detained more than 140 members of the former Cambodia National
Rescue Party (CNRP) in an escalating suppression of dissent.
   (Reuters, 6/19/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 22, In Cambodia a
seven-story building under construction in the coastal city of
Sihanoukville collapsed on workers housed inside early today,
killing seven workers and injuring 23. Four Chinese nationals
involved in the construction were detained
   (AP, 6/22/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 23, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen said that he was heading to the seaside resort town of
Sihanoukville, where a seven-story building under construction
collapsed, killing at least 19 workers and injuring 24.
   (AP, 6/23/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, In Cambodia
rescuers found two survivors in the rubble of a building that
collapsed two days earlier while under construction in
Sihanoukville, killing 28 workers and injuring 26.
   (AP, 6/24/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 25, A Cambodian court
charged seven people, including five Chinese nationals, with
involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy after 28 people died in a
collapsed building on the weekend.
   (Reuters, 6/25/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 19, A Cambodia court
said three Cambodian women have been charged with violating
surrogacy and human trafficking laws after they gave birth to babies
they delivered to Chinese nationals in Vietnam for $8,000 per child.
   (SFC, 7/20/19, p.A2)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 22, Cambodia's PM Hun
Sen denied that he was allowing China to set up a military outpost
in his country. The Wall Street Journal alleged the two nations had
signed a secret pact allowing Beijing exclusive use of a naval base
on the Gulf of Thailand.
   (SFC, 7/23/19, p.A2)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 29, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen said that an additional $40 million would be spent on weapons
from China to modernize the Southeast Asian country's military.
   (Reuters, 7/29/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 4, In Cambodia Nuon
Chea (93), the chief ideologue of the communist Khmer Rouge regime
that destroyed a generation of Cambodians, died. He was known as
Brother No. 2, the right-hand man of Pol Pot, the leader of the
regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.
   (AP, 8/4/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 18, Cambodia said it
is banning online gambling, which helped propel a wave of Chinese
investment in casinos in the country, saying that the industry had
been used by foreign criminals to extort money.
   (Reuters, 8/18/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 14, Cambodian police
arrested the Turkish-Mexican former director of a school run by the
movement of US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara
blames for a failed 2016 coup. His wife feared he would be deported
to Turkey.
   (AP, 10/19/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 23, Cyprus said it
would investigate the circumstances under which relatives of
Cambodia's prime minister were granted citizenship and did not rule
out revoking passports if necessary.
   (Reuters, 10/23/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 9, Cambodian
opposition veteran Sam Rainsy (70) flew into Malaysia and told
supporters to "keep up the hope" after promising to return home from
self-imposed exile to rally opponents of authoritarian ruler Hun Sen
(67).
   (Reuters, 11/9/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, Cambodia lifted
house arrest restrictions on opposition leader Kem Sokha, more than
two years after he was charged with treason, but the charges remain
and he is banned from politics and from leaving the country.
   (Reuters, 11/10/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, Cambodia's
self-exiled opposition veteran Sam Rainsy, speaking in Malaysia,
said he would help organize protests against authoritarian ruler Hun
Sen to build on growing international pressure for change in his
home country.
   (Reuters, 11/10/19)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â In Southeast Asia the
Mekong River fell to its lowest level since records began more than
60 years ago. A study in 2020 claimed that 11 dams built on the
Chinese portion of the river had exacerbated the water shortage
affecting Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. Brian Eyler authored
"The Last Days of the Mighty Mekong."
   (https://tinyurl.com/y767b5m6)(Econ., 5/16/20,
p.30)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 3, In Cambodia a
building under construction collapsed in the coastal province of
Kep, killing at least four workers. The death toll soon rose to 36.
   (SFC, 1/4/20, p.A2)(SFC, 1/6/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 11, In Cambodia
thousands of striking workers of NagaWorld hotel and casino complex,
a Hong Kong-listed casino company, returned to their jobs after
winning wage increases and the reinstatement of a suspended union
leader in a rare labor victory.
   (Reuters, 1/11/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 13, The cruise ship MS
Westerdam, stranded at sea for about two weeks after being refused
entry by four Asian governments because of virus fears, finally
docked in Cambodia. No cases of the COVID-19 viral illness have been
confirmed among its 1,455 passengers and 802 crew members.
   (AP, 2/13/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 18, Cambodian health
authorities said that 409 of the 2,257 passengers and crew of the
Westerdam had left Cambodia for their homes scattered across the
globe. The rest remain in hotels in Phnom Penh, the capital, or on
the ship. After hundreds of passengers had earlier disembarked, one
soon tested positive for the coronavirus.
   (NY Times, 2/18/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 20, China said it was
helping its downstream neighbors cope with a prolonged drought by
releasing more water from its dams on the Mekong River, adding it
would consider sharing information on hydrology to provide further
assistance in the future. The drought over the past year has
severely hurt farming and fishing in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar,
Thailand and Vietnam.
   (Reuters, 2/20/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 13, Cambodia recorded
two new cases of the coronavirus.
   (Reuters, 3/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, Cambodia said
French national travelling from Paris via Singapore to Phnom Penh
has been infected with the coronavirus, bringing the country's tally
of cases to eight.
   (Reuters, 3/15/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, Cambodia reported
31 new cases of coronavirus, 29 of them among French tourists,
bringing the total number of infections recorded in the country to
84. Two Cambodians who were infected had been tour guides
accompanying the tourists.
   (Reuters, 3/22/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, Vietnam closed its
borders to all foreigners. This made it more difficult for rat
catchers in Cambodia's rice fields to market their catch in Vietnam.
   (https://tinyurl.com/u22tj88u)(Econ., 1/2/21,
p.26)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, Cambodia reported
three new coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 87.
   (Reuters, 3/23/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 24, New York-based
Human Rights Watch said Cambodia has arrested 17 people since late
January for sharing information about the coronavirus in Cambodia,
including four members or supporters of the dissolved opposition
Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
   (Reuters, 3/24/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 29, Cambodia reported
one new case of the coronavirus, bringing tally to 103. The country
prepared to tighten entry requirements for foreign nationals to try
to curb the spread of the virus.
   (Reuters, 3/29/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 1, Cambodia's labor
ministry said at least 91 garment factories in Cambodia have
suspended work due to coronavirus, with 61,500 workers affected. The
ministry said the government would provide salary replacement of
about $38 per month for about 61,500 workers.
   (Reuters, 4/1/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 24, Cambodian woman
Ven Rachna (39) was sentenced to six months in prison after a court
ruled that her Facebook live streams selling clothing and cosmetics
while wearing skimpy outfits amounted to pornography. Arrested in
February, Rachna will go free early next month with the remainder of
her sentence suspended.
   (Reuters, 4/24/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â May 16, Cambodia's health
ministry said the last patient with the new coronavirus has
recovered and left hospital, leaving the Southeast Asian country
with zero cases. Cambodia has reported 122 cases of the virus that
causes COVID-19 and no deaths.
   (Reuters, 5/16/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 4, In Cambodia armed
men snatched Thai dissident Wanchalearm Satsaksit (37) in front of
his apartment in Phnom Penh. Wanchalearm was among 29 exiled Thai
activists accused of violating Thailand’s lese majeste law,
officially Section 112 of the Criminal Code. He fled Thailand
after the coup in 2014, but had been summoned by the military before
he fled.
   (https://tinyurl.com/yav37vwe)(SFC, 6/6/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 10, In Cambodia four
people died and 10 others were hospitalized over the last 24 hours
after drinking rice wine that police believe was adulterated with a
toxic substance.
   (SFC, 6/11/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 24, Cambodia's PM Hun
Sen announced that the government would spend $25 million on cash
transfers to 560,000 households identified as the poorest in the
country to alleviated financial burdens due to the coronavirus
pandemic.
   (SFC, 6/25/20, p.A7)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 6, In Cambodia the
province of Siem Reap outlawed the trade of dog meat. The trade
remains legal in other parts of the country. Recent reports
estimated that 2-3 million dogs are killed annually in Cambodia for
their meat.
   (SFC, 7/10/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 1, Cambodian
authorities arrested Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian
Confederation of Unions, for incitement to commit felony. The
longtime government critic had complained about farmers' land being
infringed upon by neighboring Vietnam.
   (SSFC, 8/2/20, p.A5)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 2, In Cambodia Kaing
Guek Eav (77), the former schoolteacher known as Duch who became the
most notorious killer during the Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror in
the 1970s, died at a hospital in Phnom Penh.
   (NY Times, 9/2/20)(Econ., 9/12/20, p.78)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 11, In Cambodia a
group of women in Phnom Penh held a small but spirited protest
demanding the release of their detained husbands, as the United
Nations human rights office joined two international rights groups
in condemning a recent wave of arrests of dissidents and activists
in the Southeast Asian nation.
   (AP, 9/11/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, In Cambodia a
lightning strike killed seven people, a family of four and three
relatives, in Battambang province.
   (SFC, 9/19/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 25, The British
charity People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) said Magawa, a
giant African pouched rat, has been awarded its Gold Medal for his
"lifesaving bravery and devotion” after discovering 39 landmines and
28 items of unexploded ordinance in the past seven years in
Cambodia. Before Magawa, all the recipients were dogs.
   (AP, 9/25/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 12, It was reported
that recent flooding in several provinces of Cambodia has killed at
least 11 people dead.
   (SFC, 10/12/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 11, Cambodia banned
all state-organized events in the capital and a neighboring province
for two weeks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
   (SFC, 11/12/20, p.A6)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 28, In Cambodia seven
people died and more than 130 were hospitalized after drinking
adulterated rice wine at a funeral ceremony.
   (SFC, 12/2/20, p.A2)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 30, Cambodian PM Hun
Sen banned wedding parties and gatherings of more than 20 people, as
authorities moved quickly to try to thwart a coronavirus outbreak
after announcing rare cases of community transmission. Cambodia has
just 323 cases so far and no deaths reported.
   (AP, 11/30/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 22, A Cambodian court
convicted two rappers and sentenced them to up to a year and a half
in prison on charges of incitement over their rhymes about social
injustice and loss of sovereign territory.
   (Reuters, 12/22/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 28, Cambodia's
long-awaited first commercial extraction of oil was begun by
KrisEnergy, a Singapore-based oil and gas company, from a well in
offshore Block A in the Gulf of Thailand.
   (AP, 12/29/20)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jan 16, An effort by Mu
Sochua, a self-exiled senior member of the banned opposition
Cambodia National Rescue Party, to return to her homeland failed
after Singapore airlines refused to carry her.
   (AP, 1/17/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 11, Cambodia confirmed
its first death from COVID-19. The country has confirmed only 1,163
coronavirus cases. A new local outbreak has infected several hundred
people.
   (SFC, 3/12/21, p.A5)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 7, Cambodia said it is
shutting its most popular tourist destination, the centuries-old
Angkor temple complex, to visitors for two weeks to help curb the
country’s coronavirus outbreak.
   (AP, 4/8/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 15, In Cambodia a
2-week lockdown began in Phnom Penh under orders from PM Hun Sen.
Cambodia has so far confirmed 4,874 coronavirus cases and 35 deaths.
   (SFC, 4/16/21, p.A8)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 19, Cambodia reported
20 deaths from COVID-19, a record for a single day, as the country
detected its first Delta variant cases and authorities urged people
to be vigilant. The outbreak has caused infections to climb to
42,052 cases with 414 deaths.
   (Reuters, 6/19/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 15, Cambodian health
authorities called for urgent public action to slow the spread of
the coronavirus and avert a health and economic tragedy, after the
country reported a daily record 39 COVID-19 deaths.
   (Reuters, 7/15/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 28, India contested
Cambodia's claims that Indian buffalo meat was infected with
COVID-19, saying it exports the meat only after getting COVID-free
certification. Cambodia earlier this week said three out of five
containers of frozen buffalo meat imported from India tested
positive for coronavirus.
   (Reuters, 7/28/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 11, Official data
showed Cambodia has administered at least one coronavirus vaccine
dose to half of its population, among the highest rates in Asia with
vaccine diplomacy playing a key part in its success.
   (Reuters, 8/11/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 12, Cambodia started
offering coronavirus vaccine booster shots in a renewed public
health drive after managing to inoculate more than half of its
population.
   (Reuters, 8/12/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 12, Chinese Foreign
Minister Wang Yi pledged $270 million in aid and three million more
COVID-19 vaccine doses to Cambodia.
   (Reuters, 9/12/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 17, Cambodia started
vaccinating children aged 6 to 12 against COVID-19, joining a small
number of countries to inoculate minors of elementary school age, as
it seeks to expand its immunization program and revive its economy.
   (Reuters, 9/17/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 13, The United States
accused Cambodia of lacking transparency about Chinese construction
activities at its biggest naval base, and urged the government to
disclose to its people the full scope of Beijing's military
involvement.
   (Reuters, 10/13/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 8, Cambodia PM Hun Sen
said Australia has pledged more than three million COVID-19 vaccine
doses helping the Southeast nation give booster shots to its people.
   (Reuters, 11/8/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 10, The United States
stepped up its campaign against corruption in Cambodia, issuing an
advisory to US businesses and blacklisting two government officials
accused of scheming to profit from construction work at Cambodia's
biggest naval base.
   (Reuters, 11/10/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 15, Cambodia reopened
its borders to fully vaccinated travelers, two weeks earlier than
originally planned, as it emerges from a lengthy lockdown bolstered
by one of the world's highest rates of immunization against
COVID-19.
   (AP, 11/15/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 17, Cambodia released
26 political, environmental and youth activists facing charges of
incitement against the government, which human rights groups said
was a positive step but that many more remained incarcerated.
   (Reuters, 11/17/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 22, Cambodia police
said three refugees deported by Thailand have been jailed on charges
of conspiracy and incitement. pressure grew on Thailand to protect
activists at risk of persecution at home.
   (Reuters, 11/22/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 28, Cambodian former
prime minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh (77), the current king's
half-brother, died in France. He spent his later years in the
political shadow of his one-time rival PM Hun Sen.
   (Reuters, 11/28/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 8, The United States
imposed an arms embargo and new export restrictions on Cambodia to
address human rights abuses and corruption, as well as the growing
influence of China's military.
   (Reuters, 12/8/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 17, A UN-backed court
set up to try leaders of the brutal Khmer Rouge dropped genocide
charges against Cambodian ex-navy commander Meas Muth. The court
said it was terminating the case "in the absence of a definitive and
enforceable indictment".
   (AP, 12/17/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 24, Cambodia's
longtime ruling party voted to endorse PM Hun Sen's eldest son as
"future prime minister," but did not specify when he might succeed
his father, who has been in power for more than three decades.
   (Reuters, 12/24/21)
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