June 15
June 15
Three weeks in, and I’m happy to report that I’ve settled into a pretty normal routine at work. My research is going well, and I’m starting to understand more about the legal system here and how development really happens in Cambodia. Last weekend, I took the bus to Sihanoukville, which is rapidly becoming a bit of a tourist hotspot on the coast, at least going by the number of Chinese-funded resorts and casinos that are under construction in the city. I was going to spend the weekend on an island off the coast of Sihanoukville called Koh Rong Samloem, but as Sihanoukville is the biggest city on the coast and a focus of development, I’ve been researching it as a part of my work and it was interesting to see it in person.
The rapid pace of development in Sihanoukville has been especially controversial in Cambodia because it’s gone from being a relatively quiet beach town to a busy port city in a really short amount of time. Most of this development has been funded by foreign investors, mostly Chinese, who are building infrastructure both for tourism and manufacturing. The center of the city is full of high-rise hotels and resorts under construction, but if you go maybe a half-hour outside of town you pass the Special Economic Zone, which is a free trade zone established by the government to encourage foreign companies to relocate their manufacturing here. The place is huge, with dozens of garment factories making clothing for markets all over the world. If your t-shirt says made in Cambodia, there’s a good chance it came from a factory here. Cambodia’s labor force is extremely cheap compared even to its neighbors, and so more and more work like clothing manufacturing is being moved inside the country.
Sihanoukville is one of the stranger places I’ve been, because it seems like half the town is under construction and the other half has already been built into casinos and hotels. Right off the coast, though, are the islands of Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem, and that’s where I was actually headed to relax. I spent Saturday lounging on the beach of Koh Rong Samloem and if there’s anywhere in Cambodia that I hope never changes, it’s this perfectly crescent-shaped swath of sand bordering a tranquil bay surrounded by jungle. I don’t really have much to say other than that it’s one of the most relaxing places I’ve ever been. Fortunately, the island is too small to attract any huge resorts (and it’s bordering Cambodia’s first marine national park, so it’s protected by law) so hopefully it will stay this way.
Back in Phnom Penh, I had a relatively uneventful week at work until Thursday, when I was invited to represent ODC at a regional conference on sustainable development of the Mekong River. The conference was co-sponsored by a local NGO called the Mekong River Commission and the U.S. Embassy here, and it was interesting to me mostly as an inside look at how discussions of international aid and development take place. The speakers were mostly academics from the region, along with a few from the US. I’m glad I got to see what it’s like in spaces like that, although I have to say I’m glad I’m not doing that kind of work full time.
with a name way to long to bother writing out.
Finally, to wrap up the week I and a few other interns here went to see a performance of local Cambodian dance. I didn’t quite know what to expect but it turned into one of the coolest things I’ve seen here so far. The performance was put on by an organization called Living Arts Cambodia, which was founded by two artists who had survived the Khmer Rouge era, and are committed to preserving local forms of art that were almost lost in the genocide. The performance itself was great, with the dancers recreating stories from the local Buddhist myths while wearing really elaborate costumes. I’m really impressed by the work Living Arts is doing to preserve local artforms, and really glad I got the chance to see this style of dance in person.