Park Si Hyun – Stunning Racing Model

Firstly we have a few latest studio shoots of Korean beauty Park Si Hyun. Whether it’s black dress, red dress or camisoles, they all suit Park Si Hyun perfectly, don’t they? Next we have a few car show pictures from Park Si Hyun in pants and shorts.

If you like hot Korean race queen Park Si Hyun and her photo shoots, you can follow more posts of her in this link. If you want to check out Park Si Hyun’s gorgeous old photo collection and statistics, you can jump to her profile page here.

It’s been ages since we last posted about stunning Korean model Park Si Hyun 박시현, who has a smoking hot body and gorgeous facial features. Park Si Hyun is among one of the most popular and beautiful race queens and models in South Korea, who I personally like a lot too. Today we’ve finally got some latest photo sets of Park Si Hyun to share with you in this post.

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Gates says China moving fast on new weapons

Sunday, January 09, 2011

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says China's rapidly developing defense capabilities are worrisome to the United States.

China has made strides in building a new stealth fighter jet and Washington is also concerned about a new ballistic missile that could theoretically explode a U.S. aircraft carrier nearly 2,000 miles out to sea. China has also apparently beaten U.S. estimates to develop that weapon.

Gates arrived Sunday in Beijing for talks about these weapons and other military issues with Chinese leaders.

"They clearly have potential to put some of our capabilities at risk," Gates told reporters traveling with him to Asia. "We have to pay attention to them, we have to respond appropriately with our own programs."

The United States has long known that China wanted to field a stealth jet, but development outpaced U.S. intelligence estimates, Gates said.

China is still years behind U.S. capabilities in radar-evading aircraft, and even by 2015 the United States would still have far more such aircraft flying than any other nation in the world, Gates said.

China says it does not pose a threat and its military forces are purely for defense — which in its definition includes deterring Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as its territory, from declaring formal independence.

In an apparent nod to U.S. calls for more openness, China allowed video and pictures of last week's runway tests of its prototype stealth fighter to be taken and posted online.

Gates is trying to coax Chinese military leaders into more regular discussions with the U.S.

The Pentagon is focusing scarcer defense dollars on ways to counter the kinds of weapons China is now building. For example, Gates said recently he wants to spend more on a new long-range nuclear bomber and updated electronics gear for the Navy that could throw an incoming missile off course.

Gates will also visit South Korea for talks about averting war with the North, as well as Japan, which is alarmed by Chinese military moves.

The invitation to visit Beijing was a coup for Gates, who invited a Chinese counterpart for similar talks and a visit to the U.S. nuclear weapons headquarters in 2009.

Read More

Gates says China moving fast on new weapons

Sunday, January 09, 2011

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says China's rapidly developing defense capabilities are worrisome to the United States.

China has made strides in building a new stealth fighter jet and Washington is also concerned about a new ballistic missile that could theoretically explode a U.S. aircraft carrier nearly 2,000 miles out to sea. China has also apparently beaten U.S. estimates to develop that weapon.

Gates arrived Sunday in Beijing for talks about these weapons and other military issues with Chinese leaders.

"They clearly have potential to put some of our capabilities at risk," Gates told reporters traveling with him to Asia. "We have to pay attention to them, we have to respond appropriately with our own programs."

The United States has long known that China wanted to field a stealth jet, but development outpaced U.S. intelligence estimates, Gates said.

China is still years behind U.S. capabilities in radar-evading aircraft, and even by 2015 the United States would still have far more such aircraft flying than any other nation in the world, Gates said.

China says it does not pose a threat and its military forces are purely for defense — which in its definition includes deterring Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as its territory, from declaring formal independence.

In an apparent nod to U.S. calls for more openness, China allowed video and pictures of last week's runway tests of its prototype stealth fighter to be taken and posted online.

Gates is trying to coax Chinese military leaders into more regular discussions with the U.S.

The Pentagon is focusing scarcer defense dollars on ways to counter the kinds of weapons China is now building. For example, Gates said recently he wants to spend more on a new long-range nuclear bomber and updated electronics gear for the Navy that could throw an incoming missile off course.

Gates will also visit South Korea for talks about averting war with the North, as well as Japan, which is alarmed by Chinese military moves.

The invitation to visit Beijing was a coup for Gates, who invited a Chinese counterpart for similar talks and a visit to the U.S. nuclear weapons headquarters in 2009.

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Russia mounts air, land and sea search for [Cambodia-flagged] trawler in Far East

08/01/2011
RIA Novosti (Russia)

Two boats, a helicopter and 14 land vehicles are searching for a trawler last heard from off the coast of Sakhalin in Russia's Far East, a regional emergencies spokesman said on Saturday.

The Cambodia-flagged Partner, which has a Russian crew, issued a distress signal on Friday when it was near the western coast of Sakhalin. It had been fishing in the Tatar Strait between the island and the Russian mainland.

"A Mi-8 helicopter from the Sakhalin company Aviashelf is conducting aerial reconnaissance in the area where the distress signal was issued. There are two ships combing the area where the distress signal was issued," the Sakhalin Region Emergency Situations Ministry official said.

The search began on Friday but there has been no sign of the vessel. The land searchers, numbering 74 people, are scouring the western coast of Sakhalin for rafts that may have saved the crew. It is thought that there were up to 14 Russian citizens on board the vessel.

"There are no roads to the coast in the search area, so the operations involve an all-terrain tracked vehicle. The ground-search group includes a doctor. They have warm clothes and food for the fishermen, if they are rescued," the emergencies spokesman said.

Russian fisheries officials said on Friday that the trawler was owned by the Belize-registered company SGI. An October 2010 record listed the captain as Sakhalin resident Alexei Maltsev and said there were 11 crew.

Shipping in Russia's Far East has been beset by problems due to bad weather in recent days and weeks, with icebreakers dispatched to the Sea of Okhotsk, north and east of Sakhalin, to rescue several vessels trapped in sea ice up to two meters thick.

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Russia mounts air, land and sea search for [Cambodia-flagged] trawler in Far East

08/01/2011
RIA Novosti (Russia)

Two boats, a helicopter and 14 land vehicles are searching for a trawler last heard from off the coast of Sakhalin in Russia's Far East, a regional emergencies spokesman said on Saturday.

The Cambodia-flagged Partner, which has a Russian crew, issued a distress signal on Friday when it was near the western coast of Sakhalin. It had been fishing in the Tatar Strait between the island and the Russian mainland.

"A Mi-8 helicopter from the Sakhalin company Aviashelf is conducting aerial reconnaissance in the area where the distress signal was issued. There are two ships combing the area where the distress signal was issued," the Sakhalin Region Emergency Situations Ministry official said.

The search began on Friday but there has been no sign of the vessel. The land searchers, numbering 74 people, are scouring the western coast of Sakhalin for rafts that may have saved the crew. It is thought that there were up to 14 Russian citizens on board the vessel.

"There are no roads to the coast in the search area, so the operations involve an all-terrain tracked vehicle. The ground-search group includes a doctor. They have warm clothes and food for the fishermen, if they are rescued," the emergencies spokesman said.

Russian fisheries officials said on Friday that the trawler was owned by the Belize-registered company SGI. An October 2010 record listed the captain as Sakhalin resident Alexei Maltsev and said there were 11 crew.

Shipping in Russia's Far East has been beset by problems due to bad weather in recent days and weeks, with icebreakers dispatched to the Sea of Okhotsk, north and east of Sakhalin, to rescue several vessels trapped in sea ice up to two meters thick.

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Thaksin offers to mediate with Cambodia in row over Thai seven [-Adding insult to injuries?]

9/01/2011
Prasit Tangprasert
Bangkok Post

NAKHON RATCHASIMA : Ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has offered to help the seven Thai detainees in Cambodia if called upon, Puea Thai MP for Lop Buri Suchart Lainamngern said.

"He wants the government to handle the issue first.

"But if anyone requires help, he is willing to lend a hand," Mr Suchart said, adding that he returned from visiting Thaksin in Dubai on Thursday.

The former prime minister is happy to mediate if need be, said Mr Suchart.

The seven Thais, including Democrat MP for Bangkok Panich Vikitsreth and coordinator of the Thai Patriots Network Veera Somkwamkid, were arrested by Cambodian soldiers during a border inspection in Sa Kaeo on Dec 29.

The seven have been charged with illegal entry into Cambodia and encroaching on a restricted military area.

Meanwhile, 2nd Army Region chief Thawatchai Samutsakhon said the army has not reinforced troops near Ta Muen Thom sanctuary in Surin's Phanom Dong Rak district despite border tension triggered by the arrests.

He said the situation around Ta Muen Thom ruins is normal and the historic site remains open to visitors from both countries.

Concerns about border tensions have been raised because the Ta Muen Thom ruins also sit on one of the disputed areas between Thailand and Cambodia.

Lt Gen Thawatchai said the arrests of the Thais is not likely to trigger violence and authorities will wait for the outcome of the court case before taking appropriate actions.

The 2nd Army chief yesterday also urged people critical of the government's handling of the border issue to keep an open mind.

Media outlets should treat Cambodia with respect when reporting the issue to avoid causing hard feelings, he said.

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Thaksin offers to mediate with Cambodia in row over Thai seven [-Adding insult to injuries?]

9/01/2011
Prasit Tangprasert
Bangkok Post

NAKHON RATCHASIMA : Ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has offered to help the seven Thai detainees in Cambodia if called upon, Puea Thai MP for Lop Buri Suchart Lainamngern said.

"He wants the government to handle the issue first.

"But if anyone requires help, he is willing to lend a hand," Mr Suchart said, adding that he returned from visiting Thaksin in Dubai on Thursday.

The former prime minister is happy to mediate if need be, said Mr Suchart.

The seven Thais, including Democrat MP for Bangkok Panich Vikitsreth and coordinator of the Thai Patriots Network Veera Somkwamkid, were arrested by Cambodian soldiers during a border inspection in Sa Kaeo on Dec 29.

The seven have been charged with illegal entry into Cambodia and encroaching on a restricted military area.

Meanwhile, 2nd Army Region chief Thawatchai Samutsakhon said the army has not reinforced troops near Ta Muen Thom sanctuary in Surin's Phanom Dong Rak district despite border tension triggered by the arrests.

He said the situation around Ta Muen Thom ruins is normal and the historic site remains open to visitors from both countries.

Concerns about border tensions have been raised because the Ta Muen Thom ruins also sit on one of the disputed areas between Thailand and Cambodia.

Lt Gen Thawatchai said the arrests of the Thais is not likely to trigger violence and authorities will wait for the outcome of the court case before taking appropriate actions.

The 2nd Army chief yesterday also urged people critical of the government's handling of the border issue to keep an open mind.

Media outlets should treat Cambodia with respect when reporting the issue to avoid causing hard feelings, he said.

Read More

Australian shot dead at guesthouse

Sunday, 09 January 2011
Thet Sambath
The Phnom Penh Post

An Australian man was shot and killed by two unknown assailants at a guesthouse in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district on Saturday night, police officials said.

A district police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Sunday that the victim was 44-year-old Australian Eric Liu, who arrived in Cambodia on Saturday.

He added that the victim was welcomed by his girlfriend and her relatives at the airport and was then taken to Reaksmey Thansuo guesthouse in Stung Meanchey commune.

The officer said the victim was gunned down in the guesthouse’s reception area at around 9.30pm.

Liu was shot twice, in the chest and right hand, by two unknown men on a motorbike and later died at Calmette hospital, where his body is being kept under instructions from Australian consular officials.

“He had no disputes with anyone in Cambodia and his girlfriend claims she has no husband, but that she was loved by a Chinese man who works at a shoe factory in Kandal province,” the officer said. “We are investigating this case because we suspect it resulted from a dispute over the girl.”

Phnom Penh municipal police chief Touch Naruth agreed that the killing was likely the result of “vindictiveness”, since the Australian man was “coming to Cambodia to meet his Cambodian girlfriend”, but declined to comment further.

Chuon Narin, chief of the municipal police department’s serious crime bureau, added Sunday that police were hunting for the suspects and gathering evidence in the case.

Chhouy Meng, head of the emergency care unit at Calmette Hospital, said he was not aware of Liu’s case and that his name did not appear on the hospital’s patient registry.

Australian embassy officials could not be reached for comment Sunday, but Radio Australia reported yesterday that consular officials from the Australian Embassy were working closely with local authorities on the case

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Australian shot dead at guesthouse

Sunday, 09 January 2011
Thet Sambath
The Phnom Penh Post

An Australian man was shot and killed by two unknown assailants at a guesthouse in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district on Saturday night, police officials said.

A district police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Sunday that the victim was 44-year-old Australian Eric Liu, who arrived in Cambodia on Saturday.

He added that the victim was welcomed by his girlfriend and her relatives at the airport and was then taken to Reaksmey Thansuo guesthouse in Stung Meanchey commune.

The officer said the victim was gunned down in the guesthouse’s reception area at around 9.30pm.

Liu was shot twice, in the chest and right hand, by two unknown men on a motorbike and later died at Calmette hospital, where his body is being kept under instructions from Australian consular officials.

“He had no disputes with anyone in Cambodia and his girlfriend claims she has no husband, but that she was loved by a Chinese man who works at a shoe factory in Kandal province,” the officer said. “We are investigating this case because we suspect it resulted from a dispute over the girl.”

Phnom Penh municipal police chief Touch Naruth agreed that the killing was likely the result of “vindictiveness”, since the Australian man was “coming to Cambodia to meet his Cambodian girlfriend”, but declined to comment further.

Chuon Narin, chief of the municipal police department’s serious crime bureau, added Sunday that police were hunting for the suspects and gathering evidence in the case.

Chhouy Meng, head of the emergency care unit at Calmette Hospital, said he was not aware of Liu’s case and that his name did not appear on the hospital’s patient registry.

Australian embassy officials could not be reached for comment Sunday, but Radio Australia reported yesterday that consular officials from the Australian Embassy were working closely with local authorities on the case

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Australian man shot in Cambodia

Sun, 9 Jan 2011
Radio Australia News

A 43 year old man from the Australian state of Victoria has died in Phnom Penh as a result of gunshot wounds.

Cambodian police spokesman General Cheath Chantharith says the shooting happened on Saturday night when the man checked in at a Phnom Penh hotel.

Consular officials from the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh are liaising closely with local authorities.

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh and the Department of Foreign Affairs in Canberra are providing consular assistance to the man's family.

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Australian man shot in Cambodia

Sun, 9 Jan 2011
Radio Australia News

A 43 year old man from the Australian state of Victoria has died in Phnom Penh as a result of gunshot wounds.

Cambodian police spokesman General Cheath Chantharith says the shooting happened on Saturday night when the man checked in at a Phnom Penh hotel.

Consular officials from the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh are liaising closely with local authorities.

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says the Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh and the Department of Foreign Affairs in Canberra are providing consular assistance to the man's family.

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WikiLeaks demands Google and Facebook unseal US subpoenas

'Free Julian Assange' protestors demonstrate in central London before the WikiLeaks founder's court hearing in December. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Call comes after revelation that US has tried to force Twitter to release WikiLeaks members' private details

Saturday 8 January 2011

Peter Beaumont

guardian.co.uk

WikiLeaks has demanded that Google and Facebook reveal the contents of any US subpoenas they may have received after it emerged that a court in Virginia had ordered Twitter to secretly hand over details of accounts on the micro-blogging site by five figures associated with the group, including Julian Assange.

Amid strong evidence that a US grand jury has begun a wideranging trawl for details of what networks and accounts WikiLeaks used to communicate with Bradley Manning, the US serviceman accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of sensitive government cables, some of those named in the subpoena said they would fight disclosure.

"Today, the existence of a secret US government grand jury espionage investigation into WikiLeaks was confirmed for the first time as a subpoena was brought into the public domain," WikiLeaks said in a statement.

The writ, approved by a court in Virginia in December, demands that the San Franscisco based micro-blogging site hand over all details of five individuals' accounts and private messaging on Twitter – including the computers and networks used.

They include WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Manning, Icelandic MP Brigitta Jonsdottir and Dutch hacker Rop Gonggrijp. Three of them – Gonggrijp, Assange and Jonsdottir – were named as "producers" of the first significant leak from the US cables cache: a video of an Apache helicopter attack that killed civilians and journalists in Baghdad.

The broad-reaching legal document also targets an account held by Jacob Appelbaum, a US computer programmer whose computer and phones were examined by US officials in July after he was stopped returning from Holland to America.

The court issuing the subpoena said it had "reasonable grounds" to believe Twitter held information "relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation".

It ordered Twitter not to notify the targets of the subpoena – an order the company successfully challenged.

The court order crucially demands that Twitter hand over details of source and destination internet protocol addresses used to access the accounts, which would help investigators identify how the named individuals communicated with each other, as well as email addresses used.

The emergence of the subpoena appears to confirm for the first time the existence of a secret grand jury empanelled to investigate whether individuals associated with WikiLeaks, and Assange in particular, can be prosecuted for alleged conspiracy with Manning to steal the classified documents.

The US attorney general, Eric Holder, has already said publicly that he believes Assange could be prosecuted under US espionage laws. The court that issued the subpoena is in the same jurisdiction where press reports have located a grand jury investigating Assange.

It has been reported that Manning has been offered a plea bargain if he co-operates with the investigation.

The emergence of the Twitter subpoena – which was unsealed after a legal challenge by the company – was revealed after WikiLeaks announced it believed other US Internet companies had also been ordered to hand over information about its members' activities.

WikiLeaks condemned the court order, saying it amounted to harassment.

"If the Iranian government was to attempt to coercively obtain this information from journalists and activists of foreign nations, human rights groups around the world would speak out," Assange said in a statement.

Jonsdottir said in a Twitter message: "I think I am being given a message, almost like someone breathing in a phone."

Twitter has declined to comment, saying only that its policy is to notify its users where possible of government requests for information.

The specific clause of the Patriot act used to acquire the subpoena is one that the FBI has described as necessary for "obtaining such records [that] will make the process of identifying computer criminals and tracing their internet communications faster and easier".

The subpoena itself is an unusual one known as a 2703(d). Recently a federal appeals court ruled this kind of order was insufficient to order the disclosure of the contents of communication. Significantly, however, that ruling is binding in neither Virginia – where the Twitter subpoena was issued – nor San Francisco where Twitter is based.

Assange has promised to fight the order, as has Jonsdottir, who said in a Twitter message that she had "no intention to hand my information over willingly".

Appelbaum, whose Twitter feed suggested he was travelling in Iceland, said he was apprehensive about returning to the US. "Time to try to enjoy the last of my vacation, I suppose," he tweeted.

Gonggrijp praised Twitter for notifying him and others that the US had subpoenaed his details. "It appears that Twitter, as a matter of policy, does the right thing in wanting to inform their users when one of these comes in," Gonggrijp said. "Heaven knows how many places have received similar subpoenas and just quietly submitted all they had on me."

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WikiLeaks demands Google and Facebook unseal US subpoenas

'Free Julian Assange' protestors demonstrate in central London before the WikiLeaks founder's court hearing in December. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Call comes after revelation that US has tried to force Twitter to release WikiLeaks members' private details

Saturday 8 January 2011

Peter Beaumont

guardian.co.uk

WikiLeaks has demanded that Google and Facebook reveal the contents of any US subpoenas they may have received after it emerged that a court in Virginia had ordered Twitter to secretly hand over details of accounts on the micro-blogging site by five figures associated with the group, including Julian Assange.

Amid strong evidence that a US grand jury has begun a wideranging trawl for details of what networks and accounts WikiLeaks used to communicate with Bradley Manning, the US serviceman accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of sensitive government cables, some of those named in the subpoena said they would fight disclosure.

"Today, the existence of a secret US government grand jury espionage investigation into WikiLeaks was confirmed for the first time as a subpoena was brought into the public domain," WikiLeaks said in a statement.

The writ, approved by a court in Virginia in December, demands that the San Franscisco based micro-blogging site hand over all details of five individuals' accounts and private messaging on Twitter – including the computers and networks used.

They include WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, Manning, Icelandic MP Brigitta Jonsdottir and Dutch hacker Rop Gonggrijp. Three of them – Gonggrijp, Assange and Jonsdottir – were named as "producers" of the first significant leak from the US cables cache: a video of an Apache helicopter attack that killed civilians and journalists in Baghdad.

The broad-reaching legal document also targets an account held by Jacob Appelbaum, a US computer programmer whose computer and phones were examined by US officials in July after he was stopped returning from Holland to America.

The court issuing the subpoena said it had "reasonable grounds" to believe Twitter held information "relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation".

It ordered Twitter not to notify the targets of the subpoena – an order the company successfully challenged.

The court order crucially demands that Twitter hand over details of source and destination internet protocol addresses used to access the accounts, which would help investigators identify how the named individuals communicated with each other, as well as email addresses used.

The emergence of the subpoena appears to confirm for the first time the existence of a secret grand jury empanelled to investigate whether individuals associated with WikiLeaks, and Assange in particular, can be prosecuted for alleged conspiracy with Manning to steal the classified documents.

The US attorney general, Eric Holder, has already said publicly that he believes Assange could be prosecuted under US espionage laws. The court that issued the subpoena is in the same jurisdiction where press reports have located a grand jury investigating Assange.

It has been reported that Manning has been offered a plea bargain if he co-operates with the investigation.

The emergence of the Twitter subpoena – which was unsealed after a legal challenge by the company – was revealed after WikiLeaks announced it believed other US Internet companies had also been ordered to hand over information about its members' activities.

WikiLeaks condemned the court order, saying it amounted to harassment.

"If the Iranian government was to attempt to coercively obtain this information from journalists and activists of foreign nations, human rights groups around the world would speak out," Assange said in a statement.

Jonsdottir said in a Twitter message: "I think I am being given a message, almost like someone breathing in a phone."

Twitter has declined to comment, saying only that its policy is to notify its users where possible of government requests for information.

The specific clause of the Patriot act used to acquire the subpoena is one that the FBI has described as necessary for "obtaining such records [that] will make the process of identifying computer criminals and tracing their internet communications faster and easier".

The subpoena itself is an unusual one known as a 2703(d). Recently a federal appeals court ruled this kind of order was insufficient to order the disclosure of the contents of communication. Significantly, however, that ruling is binding in neither Virginia – where the Twitter subpoena was issued – nor San Francisco where Twitter is based.

Assange has promised to fight the order, as has Jonsdottir, who said in a Twitter message that she had "no intention to hand my information over willingly".

Appelbaum, whose Twitter feed suggested he was travelling in Iceland, said he was apprehensive about returning to the US. "Time to try to enjoy the last of my vacation, I suppose," he tweeted.

Gonggrijp praised Twitter for notifying him and others that the US had subpoenaed his details. "It appears that Twitter, as a matter of policy, does the right thing in wanting to inform their users when one of these comes in," Gonggrijp said. "Heaven knows how many places have received similar subpoenas and just quietly submitted all they had on me."

Read More

Cambodian port foresees positive 2011

Phnom Penh Autonomous Port

7th January 2011
PortWorld

The total amount of goods shipped through the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port in Cambodia increased 44% in 2010, according to a local media source.

Port authorities stated that it plans to improve upon this by a further 20% in 2011.

According to port statistics, 62,256 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) were shipped through the port last year.

Port director Hei Bavy told local media that the port plans to ship approximately 75,000 TEUs of freight in 2011.

The 2010 increase was partly due to eased shipping requirements between Cambodia and Vietnam, he said.

“We received more shipments last year because both governments worked to facilitate access for ships,” stated Bavy.

He added that the ports location near to production and construction sites had worked in its favour.

Cambodia and Vietnam agreed to collaborate more extensively on shipping goods via water in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by representatives of both countries in late 2009.

Under the terms of the MoU, ships from Cambodia have direct access to Vietnam’s Cai Mep deep water port, while Vietnamese ships can access Phnom Penh Autonomous Port.

Currently, the port receives shipments such as raw materials for the garment sector, construction materials, and fuels.

Read More

Cambodian port foresees positive 2011

Phnom Penh Autonomous Port

7th January 2011
PortWorld

The total amount of goods shipped through the Phnom Penh Autonomous Port in Cambodia increased 44% in 2010, according to a local media source.

Port authorities stated that it plans to improve upon this by a further 20% in 2011.

According to port statistics, 62,256 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) were shipped through the port last year.

Port director Hei Bavy told local media that the port plans to ship approximately 75,000 TEUs of freight in 2011.

The 2010 increase was partly due to eased shipping requirements between Cambodia and Vietnam, he said.

“We received more shipments last year because both governments worked to facilitate access for ships,” stated Bavy.

He added that the ports location near to production and construction sites had worked in its favour.

Cambodia and Vietnam agreed to collaborate more extensively on shipping goods via water in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by representatives of both countries in late 2009.

Under the terms of the MoU, ships from Cambodia have direct access to Vietnam’s Cai Mep deep water port, while Vietnamese ships can access Phnom Penh Autonomous Port.

Currently, the port receives shipments such as raw materials for the garment sector, construction materials, and fuels.

Read More

Trespassing case 'has no bearing' on Cambodia border dispute

January 8, 2011
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation

Convicting the seven Thai nationals for trespassing in Cambodia would not overrule Thailand's right to claim sovereignty over the disputed border area near Sa Kaew's Ban Nong Chan, where the men were caught, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and legal experts said yesterday.

The Cambodian court's ruling on the case would only be binding for individuals who were involved in the case, but would never be a reference point for boundary demarcation, he said.

Seven Thai nationals, including an MP from the ruling Democrat Party, Panich Vikitsreth, and yellow-shirt activist Veera Somkwamkid were arrested by Cambodian officials last week while inspecting the disputed area.

In his testimony, Panich told the Cambodian court that he had crossed the border by accident. Information from the Royal Thai Survey Department and the Foreign Ministry indicates that the group had only gone 55 metres into Cambodian territory.

Veera and other activists insist that this area belongs to Thailand because Thai authorities issued land titles for local residents a long time ago. Veera and his group were arrested at the same site last August.

The area in question has been occupied by Cambodians who fled from civil war at home in the late 1970s and refused to return after the war.

This border location had been demarcated more than a century ago, when Cambodia was a French colony, but the boundary pillars in the area were destroyed or removed. The two countries have not yet reached common ground as to exactly where the boundary pillars were.

Worry is growing in Thailand that Cambodia will take advantage of the case to claim sovereignty over the area.

Legal expert Panas Tassaneeyanond, meanwhile, said the Cambodian court had the authority to rule on each individual's guilt in accordance with Cambodian law but such a ruling had no binding on the boundary line with Thailand.

"Legally speaking, the ruling is specifically bound to each individual in the case," Panas said on a television programme.

Meanwhile, secretary to the foreign minister Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said the case should be kept separate from the boundary issue because the two countries had a joint boundary committee to handle the dispute. The Cambodian court's ruling should have no legal implication on the matter, he said.

The main argument in the case of the seven Thais jailed in Phnom Penh is whether they entered Cambodian territory unintentionally, he said.

Separately, Army chief Prayut Chan-ocha responded to allegations that the military was too weak to deal with Cambodia over the border dispute by saying that the issue should be settled through negotiations and that it would take time.

"With both sides claiming the same location, we cannot say who has lost it to whom, but we do have to say that we need to live together peacefully and with mutual respect," he said.

"The military does not fear anyone. We have the duty to protect our motherland. If it is clear that it is our land, we will not allow any invasion, but while it is still unclear, we will have to talk with our neighbours," he said.

A group of yellow-shirt activists met with officials at the Foreign Ministry yesterday asking the ministry to help them pay a visit to their colleagues in prison.

The court finished the first round of testimony on Thursday and their lawyer will submit a bail request on Monday. The court will then take five days to consider the request.

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Trespassing case 'has no bearing' on Cambodia border dispute

January 8, 2011
By Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation

Convicting the seven Thai nationals for trespassing in Cambodia would not overrule Thailand's right to claim sovereignty over the disputed border area near Sa Kaew's Ban Nong Chan, where the men were caught, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and legal experts said yesterday.

The Cambodian court's ruling on the case would only be binding for individuals who were involved in the case, but would never be a reference point for boundary demarcation, he said.

Seven Thai nationals, including an MP from the ruling Democrat Party, Panich Vikitsreth, and yellow-shirt activist Veera Somkwamkid were arrested by Cambodian officials last week while inspecting the disputed area.

In his testimony, Panich told the Cambodian court that he had crossed the border by accident. Information from the Royal Thai Survey Department and the Foreign Ministry indicates that the group had only gone 55 metres into Cambodian territory.

Veera and other activists insist that this area belongs to Thailand because Thai authorities issued land titles for local residents a long time ago. Veera and his group were arrested at the same site last August.

The area in question has been occupied by Cambodians who fled from civil war at home in the late 1970s and refused to return after the war.

This border location had been demarcated more than a century ago, when Cambodia was a French colony, but the boundary pillars in the area were destroyed or removed. The two countries have not yet reached common ground as to exactly where the boundary pillars were.

Worry is growing in Thailand that Cambodia will take advantage of the case to claim sovereignty over the area.

Legal expert Panas Tassaneeyanond, meanwhile, said the Cambodian court had the authority to rule on each individual's guilt in accordance with Cambodian law but such a ruling had no binding on the boundary line with Thailand.

"Legally speaking, the ruling is specifically bound to each individual in the case," Panas said on a television programme.

Meanwhile, secretary to the foreign minister Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said the case should be kept separate from the boundary issue because the two countries had a joint boundary committee to handle the dispute. The Cambodian court's ruling should have no legal implication on the matter, he said.

The main argument in the case of the seven Thais jailed in Phnom Penh is whether they entered Cambodian territory unintentionally, he said.

Separately, Army chief Prayut Chan-ocha responded to allegations that the military was too weak to deal with Cambodia over the border dispute by saying that the issue should be settled through negotiations and that it would take time.

"With both sides claiming the same location, we cannot say who has lost it to whom, but we do have to say that we need to live together peacefully and with mutual respect," he said.

"The military does not fear anyone. We have the duty to protect our motherland. If it is clear that it is our land, we will not allow any invasion, but while it is still unclear, we will have to talk with our neighbours," he said.

A group of yellow-shirt activists met with officials at the Foreign Ministry yesterday asking the ministry to help them pay a visit to their colleagues in prison.

The court finished the first round of testimony on Thursday and their lawyer will submit a bail request on Monday. The court will then take five days to consider the request.

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Cambodia [air] traffic steady [with Thailand]

8/01/2011
Bangkok Post

Cambodia traffic not affected by political spat. Air traffic between Thailand and Cambodia remains robust with no effect from the growing political tension arising from the arrest of seven Thais for allegedly trespassing onto Cambodian soil.

Executives of Thai Airways International and Bangkok Airways said yesterday that they have not seen any impact from the incident.

Demand for travel between Bangkok and the two major Cambodian cities, the capital Phnom Penh and the tourist destination Siem Reap, remained strong, with little concern among tourists or business travellers about potential risks, they said.

A group including Panich Vikitsreth, a Democrat MP for Bangkok, and Veera Somkwamkid, a leading member of the People's Alliance for Democracy, were detained by Cambodian authorities on Dec 29 after they crossed the border at Khok Sung district in Sa Kaeo and entered Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province.

``I think [the border incident] is not an issue for travellers. They don't feel threatened as they see the issue is being worked out by the governments,'' said a senior executive of Thai Airways.

Both airlines reported high load factors on their flights spurred by high holiday season demand and a new visa exemption that took effect on Dec 16.

Citizens of both countries can now visit for up to 14 days without having to apply for a visa, either at the embassy, or on arrival at a border checkpoint

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Cambodia [air] traffic steady [with Thailand]

8/01/2011
Bangkok Post

Cambodia traffic not affected by political spat. Air traffic between Thailand and Cambodia remains robust with no effect from the growing political tension arising from the arrest of seven Thais for allegedly trespassing onto Cambodian soil.

Executives of Thai Airways International and Bangkok Airways said yesterday that they have not seen any impact from the incident.

Demand for travel between Bangkok and the two major Cambodian cities, the capital Phnom Penh and the tourist destination Siem Reap, remained strong, with little concern among tourists or business travellers about potential risks, they said.

A group including Panich Vikitsreth, a Democrat MP for Bangkok, and Veera Somkwamkid, a leading member of the People's Alliance for Democracy, were detained by Cambodian authorities on Dec 29 after they crossed the border at Khok Sung district in Sa Kaeo and entered Cambodia's Banteay Meanchey province.

``I think [the border incident] is not an issue for travellers. They don't feel threatened as they see the issue is being worked out by the governments,'' said a senior executive of Thai Airways.

Both airlines reported high load factors on their flights spurred by high holiday season demand and a new visa exemption that took effect on Dec 16.

Citizens of both countries can now visit for up to 14 days without having to apply for a visa, either at the embassy, or on arrival at a border checkpoint

Read More

Impossible to Forget: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Central Market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Austin Bush/Lonely Planet Images)

Five New York Times foreign correspondents (past and present) recall the places that they would go back to if they got the chance.

January 7, 2011

By STEVEN ERLANGER

The New York Times

IT was just a single day in Phnom Penh, one of many, but even now I can’t get it out of my head. The genocide was over — Vietnam, the traditional enemy, had ended it by driving out the Khmer Rouge and setting up a collaborationist government. But in 1988, Cambodia was still mourning. So many people had died, and thousands of refugees, including those who had suffered from the Khmer Rouge and those loyal to it, lived in politicized border camps inside Thailand, waiting for a diplomatic settlement that never quite seemed to arrive.

“All the intelligent Cambodians either fled the Khmer Rouge or were killed by them,” my Cambodian friend and fixer, Phin Chanda, once said to me, lightly, as if joking. “We’re the residue.”

I was the bureau chief for Southeast Asia at the time, and I tried to go to Vietnam and Cambodia whenever I could from my base in Bangkok. That winter day 23 years ago was a warm one, and long, because you could not enter Cambodia except through Vietnam. Getting a visa into Vietnam was hard enough, and then you had to get permission to enter Cambodia, which was still a place full of ghosts. There were few residents from capitalist countries, except a handful of Australian aid workers. There was no air service, so I hired a taxi in Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon, to drive me to Phnom Penh, through a landscape of rice fields and palms and scrawny villages to the stunning expanse of the Mekong, where it joins the Bassac and Tonle Sap Rivers.

The Vietnamese were trying to justify their occupation by memorializing the horrors of the Khmer Rouge. They had established a museum at Tuol Sleng, the Phnom Penh high school where the Khmer Rouge had interrogated and executed so many, first taking their haunting portraits, which hung on the walls. In a classroom, I stared at a now famous metal bed, with electrodes attached, where victims were tortured. The museum remains there, grandly titled the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

The Vietnamese were also building an ossuary, a memorial to the murdered. Cambodia was full of bones and shallow graves; I remember the empty gasoline storage tanks of a looted Shell station, used for the massed bodies of the dead. Finger bones were scattered in the grass.

Near the construction site of the new memorial, at Choeung Ek, south of the city, were heaps of bones, and a skinny Cambodian worker, with a kramar, the traditional plaid cotton scarf, around his waist, sitting at a picnic table under a thatched roof. He smoked a cigarette with one hand, while the other rested on a pile of skulls.

I then went to the Central Market, a massive and beautiful Art Deco structure left by the French. The people were scraping by; the vegetables were fresh and cheap; there was a bit of expensive buffalo meat hanging in strips, coated with flies. There were small shops to have Cambodian café au lait — with cloying condensed milk, the way my grandfather liked it; and a tiny massage clinic where young men and women exercised the old medical magic of cupping.

A young woman, carefully supervised by an older woman — her mother? — heated small drinking glasses and applied them to my back; my skin was sucked up into the glasses as they cooled. I must have looked like a sort of insect, an arthropod with glass scales. It hurt, but the pain helped me, in a way, suffer a little myself.

The day finally turned cool, with a stunning sunset and dinner at a little restaurant over the Boeng Kak lake in the city. I dined on stuffed crab and amok, a curried fish steamed in a banana leaf. Mostly I remember the short cyclo ride back to my tattered hotel in central Phnom Penh, staring up at the apartments faintly illuminated by stolen electricity and weak bulbs, thinking of how the Khmer Rouge had emptied the city entirely and murdered so many of its inhabitants, and how the people living here now, however meagerly, had won an extraordinary victory over ideology and evil.

I know the city is tarted up now, with too much Thai, Chinese and Singaporean money. But I want to see it again, to feel that quiet sense of relief that madness has an end

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