Cambodia #07 - News : Preah Vihear - 20.07.2008

http://www.watchcambodia.blogspot.com

Fresh fighting on Thailand, Cambodia border

Singapore very disturbed by Thai—Cambodian border situation

Thursday, October 16
Channel NewsAsia/AFP

SINGAPORE: Responding to media queries on the exchange of fire between
troops at the Thai—Cambodia border, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign
Affairs said the republic is very disturbed by the turn of events.

A ministry spokesman said Singapore reiterated its call for both parties
to exercise utmost restraint in the broader interests of the region, and
urged both sides to resolve their differences through further negotiations.

Thai and Cambodian troops exchanged fire along the border on Wednesday,
killing two Cambodian soldiers, as a dispute over land near an ancient
temple turned deadly.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said that two of his country's
soldiers were killed and two others wounded in the clashes, which
erupted sporadically for more than two hours before tapering off.

Lieutenant General Wiboonsak Neeparn, the army commander for
northeastern Thailand, said that five Thai troops were wounded.

Gunfights broke out in the afternoon in a number of small patches of
disputed land just a few kilometres (miles) away from the 11th century
Preah Vihear temple, an UN World Heritage site which is on Cambodian
territory.

Cambodia and Thailand have been sparring over land near the temple since
July, and tensions soared this week after talks on Monday failed and
about 80 Thai troops entered a disputed area, enraging Cambodia.

Asia bracing itself for downturn in property markets

*Asia bracing itself for downturn in property markets*

Saturday, 11 October 2008
Property Wire

Asian property markets are falling victim to the global credit crisis
and seeking ways of lessening the impact at a local level.

In Cambodia the real estate boom which began in 2007 is over according
to a leading economist and in the Philippines real estate professionals
are calling for investment trusts to be approved in a bid to boost the
market.

'Our property markets are closely connected with the stock markets in
South Korea and other Asian countries. If these markets fall, we are
affected,' Kang Chandararot, head economist at the Cambodia Institute of
Development Study.

'Also South Korean and other Asian markets are very closely connected to
the US and these countries are our biggest investors. We will see a
recession in the short term, perhaps in six to 12 months,' he added.

The South Korean government issued a statement this week urging banks to
sell foreign assets to increase liquidity. South Korea is Cambodia's
biggest investor and a fall in South Korea would be especially harmful
to local growth.

No figures on the depth of the decline are available, but industry
experts said the impact could be felt soon. Cheam Yeap, chairman of the
National Banking and Finance Committee, said the global finance crisis
might affect the real estate market, but not the economy as a whole as
it is sufficiently diversified in tourism, agriculture and garment
manufacturing to withstand the downturn.

Property firms in the Philippines believe that establishing real estate
investment trusts (REITs), will help to boost the local market. Jaime
Ayala, president of Ayala Land, Inc., said it would open up another
avenue to raise capital and give the public a new investment vehicle.

'It will be a win-win situation. It will allow us to get more capital to
allow us to develop more projects, and at the same time, this will be a
nice form of investment for the public,' he said.

'This will spur economic activity since this will give investors good
yields. This will also give property companies a chance to develop more
projects,' said Jeffrey C. Lim, chief finance officer of SM Prime Holdings.

A bill allowing the introduction of REITs is currently going through the
House and Senate.

Cambodia vulnerable to internet scams

*Cambodia vulnerable to internet scams *

*Wednesday, October 01, 2008
ABC Radio Australia*

Internet scams are nothing new, but developing countries with new
internet users are offering scammers a whole new pool of fresh victims.
And Cambodia with about 44-thousand people connected to the web is a
prime target.

Presenter: Liam Cochrane
Speakers: Amy, Cambodian actress; Bill Caelli, Institute of Information
Security at Queensland University of Technology.

Click here to listen: Windows Media

COCHRANE: When 21-year-old Cambodian actress Amy checked her email
earlier this month, there was an unexpected message waiting for her.

AMY: When I checked it said that I won the lottery from the UK and I get
an amount on this, maybe a lot of money and then I feel surprised and I
replied to them with their requirements, like write down my name, write
down my phone number and my email address.

COCHRANE: She didn't know it at the time but Amy was being lured into an
internet scam that fools people into giving away millions each year. For
Amy, there was extra reason to be hopeful. Her sister-in-law had
recently won a visa in the annual American visa lottery and Amy thought
perhaps she really had won the 300 thousand pounds the email offered.
But there were signs that something was suspicious.

AMY: After I send them, they send me back immediately and say that
contact this bank and contact that bank. In the end I find that they
want to see my account, so I feel wonder and think why do you need to
see my account, and I'm not sure with that, so I need to tell my friend.

COCHRANE: Initially, Amy's Cambodian friends were excited about her good
luck, but still she had doubts.

AMY: So I ask my British friend and he told me, 'They cheat you Amy,
they cheat, they cheat you.' I'm very very hopeless and I still don't
believe that so I asked him, 'Why, what's the reason that you know that
I was cheated by them, why?.

COCHRANE: The reason the British man knew, was that internet scams are
well known and avoided by most internet users.

But in countries like Cambodia, where the internet is still emerging,
innocent users are prime targets for scam artists trying to steal money
or identities. The lottery scam is a variation of what's known as a
"419" scam or a "Nigerian scam", so-called because they first started in
Nigeria using a legal loophole known as clause 419. Typically, scammers
send out thousands of emails telling people they have inherited or
embezzled millions of dollars and need a bank account to stash the
money, in exchange for a slice of the spoils. In Nigeria, there's even a
cheeky pop song that boasts of ripping off gullible foreigners. It might
seem like a joke to some, but police say millions of dollars are lost
each year, a fact hidden by the victims reluctance to admit they were
fooled and report the crime. A UK study in 2006 found that 150 thousand
pounds a year was lost to these scams, with each victim losing an
average of 31 thousand pounds. That led to failed businesses and broken
marriages, said the study. Bill Caelli is from the Institute of
Information Security at Queensland University of Technology. He says
there's little a government can do about protecting the gullible.

CAELLI: The problem here is basically one of education and awareness,
that's about the best thing we can do at the present moment. Even the
concept of trying to block the source of those particular messages won't
work because the scammers simply change their addresses.

COCHRANE: New technology might help, but until internet users realise
that anything that seems too good to be true, is probably a trick,
scammers around the world will continue to chop the dollars from foreign
bank accounts.