Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l
Date:         Wed, 2 Sep 1992 14:05:21 -0400
From:         Nhan Tran <tran@PEORA.SDC.CCUR.COM>
Subject:      CAM: Analysis: new invasion of Thais threatening Cambodia's
              independence
X-To:         FISHLM%SNYBUFVA@pucc.princeton.edu, seasia-l@msu.BITNET

08/20

ANALYSIS: NEW INVASION OF THAIS THREATENING CAMBODIA'S BID FOR INDEPENDENCE

PHNOM PENH (AUG. 20) IPS - Three years after Vietnamese troops left Cambodia, a
new invasion force of Thai speculators and investors is threatening the
country's fragile bid for independence.

A diplomat in Phnom Penh described it as "Thailand colonizing (Cambodia) with
money" as the United Nations tries to steer the country towards free elections
next May.

The U.N.-sponsored agreement signed in Paris last year by the four rival
Cambodian factions raised hopes for peace and triggered a flood of foreign
investors into the country.

Thailand, which shares a long land border with Cambodia, has raced ahead of its
competitors. Over 80 Thai companies have been granted licence to operate while
France, the former colonial power in Cambodia, has lagged far behind in second
place.

The lucrative Bangkok-Phnom Penh air link is controlled by Thai Airlines. In
the hotel, banking, gem mining and logging industries, Bangkok is exerting a
dominating influence.

Some Cambodian officials say their country is being "sold" to its neighbor and
resent it.

"Before it was Vietnamese domination, now it is the other big neighbor," said
an adviser to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen. Cambodian history has seen a
succession of invasions by both Vietnam and Thailand.

The Siam Commercial Bank launched a joint venture with the Cambodian National
Bank last year which allowed Thais access to confidential details of Cambodian
riels and reserves.

Several officials of the Cambodian bank feel their Thai partners have cheated
them on foreign currency dealings, taking advantage of their lack of expertise
in international banking.

A Thai journalist specializing on Cambodia agrees Thai bankers had been
"shortchanging" their Cambodian partners: "it's not only in banking that Thai
businessmen have been pulling a fast one."

Bangkok speculators have also gobbled up a huge chunk of real estate in Phnom
Penh in anticipation of the arrival of U.N. peacekeeping forces, reaping huge
profits.

Renovated French villas now fetch over $2,500 a month and a small plot of land
can be sold for $150,000. The average citydweller earns only 12,000 riels a
month, less than $10.

Cambodia, once crippled by a cold war embargo, is now at the mercy of market
forces. "Some people have the wrong idea that (a market economy) is some kind
of economic pill that cures everything, but this is wrong," said Hun Sen
adviser Khieu Kanharith.

"Economic liberalization also causes headaches, and it is easy for foreign
investors to take advantage of a country that has been devastated by war," he
added.

Relief organizations here are alarmed by galloping inflation and the economic
dislocation caused by the 22,000 U.N. troops and officials now in Cambodia.

"A few Cambodians are getting rich from the U.N.," said Brian Veal of the
Catholic Aid group "Cidse." "But the majority are worse off with the prices of
basic commodities leaping up 100 percent compared to six months ago before the
U.N.'s arrival."

Another sign of Thailand's growing domination is the spread of the Thai
currency, with the stable baht pushing out the Cambodian riel as the preferred
trading currency in many markets.

Bangkok companies with close links to the Thai military have also pounced on
gem mining and logging industries. Some Thai businessmen deal with the Phnom
Penh government, but others have signed contracts with opposition groups,
including the Khmer Rouge.

Twenty Thai firms are using sluice mining techniques in Khmer Rouge-controlled
Pailin to extract rubies, causing heavy silting of the Tonle Sap Lake, a vast
resource for freshwater fish.

The Thai military has built new roads inside Khmer Rouge zones to facilitate
logging. New border crossing points have been opened by the Thai government,
providing even more access routes for loggers.

A special report by the United Nations Development Program and the recent Earth
Summit in Brazil warns of an impending disaster unless there is an
"environmental ceasefire" pending the creation of an effective environmental
conservation plan.

The U.N. Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) has said it may oversee the
pre-election fund-raising activities of Cambodian factions to curb
environmental destruction.

But so far there has been little sustained international criticism of
Thailand's all-out assault on Cambodia's natural resources, which could inflict
far more permanent damage than the 1979 Vietnamese invasion which ousted the
Pol Pot regime.

Observers say the Thai stronghold over the Cambodian economy is undermining the
country's capacity to attain self-determination and independence guaranteed by
the Paris peace accord.
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