Sou Sdei and welcome to Campuccino, your fortnightly dispatch of key headlines in Cambodia with a dash of opinion.
To new subscribers, welcome! I’m Darathtey, a communication consultant, writer, and researcher. Learn more about my work here.
Welcome back to the first Campuccino of 2025! I’m glad to say yay, we made it through January, barely. I took a longer newsletter break than expected because I needed to spend some time traveling with family, but also I just couldn't get myself to look too closely at the news, locally and globally. There have been way too many depressing headlines, which I couldn't read too much of, or I'd spiral down the hellhole of humanity-is-doomed mindset. Hence, I protected myself by skimming through things and procrastinated from reading too deeply to preserve what little optimism I have left. Anyway, here we are!
- Darathtey
I’d be lying if I said I knew exactly where to start. I’m aware that I owe you, dear readers, weeks of updates. Hence, I’m going to try my best to select those that can help you paint at least an outline of what has been going on here in my Kingdom of Wonder.
One of the biggest news as Cambodia headed into the new year was Grab’s acquisition of Nham24. For context, Grab is Southeast Asia’s Uber; and Nham24 is Cambodia’s leading super app which started out by providing food delivery service. I have mixed feelings about this because on the one hand, I’m happy for Nham24 because they have built themselves to be recognised and acquired by a tech giant as big as Grab. It is a validation of some sorts. On the other hand, as a proud daily user of Nham24, I was a bit bummed that they would be gone in the future. They are very good as a food delivery app!
Speaking of external validation, Cambodia is graduating! From what, you may ask? We’re set to graduate from the UN’s Least Developed Countries (LDC) status in 2029. What does this mean? As far as Cambodia’s face is concerned, this is great news. Thank you, peace. If we’re talking numbers, this means that the country has made significant socio-economic progress to meet the graduation criteria which includes income per capita, human assets and economic vulnerability. Of course, this is a classic case of “be careful what you wish for”. With this change of status, Cambodia is looking at the withdrawal of many major benefits such as preferential trade agreements and concessional financing, potentially affecting key export sectors like garments, rice, and bicycles. While a five-year preparatory period seems like a long time, it is not, and I’m very curious to see how the government navigates these challenges.
Graduating from LDC, you say? Better off economically, you say? Explain this:
Four people died and five injured in a stampede on January 23 in the crowd waiting for a Chinese red envelope, aka money gift, in front of tycoon Sok Kong’s villa. It was reported that hundreds of people showed up to wait for the gift. It was an unfortunate incident and I couldn’t wrap my head around how this happened. It just happened that the day of the incident witnessed one of the worst air quality the city has ever witnessed. Could this be avoided if it was recognised that it was dangerous to be outside in the 180-190+ AQI air quality and some actions were taken to avoid such gathering? Maybe?
Maybe this opinion piece can shed some lights on why I’m being reasonably irrirated about the air quality.
I wish I didn’t have to talk about the next news item but it is important, and was everywhere in international news so if you haven’t seen it already, now you have.
On January 7, Lim Kimya, a former member of the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was shot dead in Bangkok. The Thai suspect was arrested one day later in Cambodia and was handed over to the Thai authority. If you start questioning why, why, why? You’re not alone. So do I. This is where I’m going to tell you to do your own research with more readings and make up your own analysis because I’m going to keep my two cents to myself.
Under normal circumstances, what would you do if you were unhappy with your job? Maybe you’d talk it through with your supervisor, or you’d go to HR, you’d resign, right?
Well, according to a provincial police official, nearly 60 foreign workers equipped with metal rods. repurposed from bed frames, stormed past security guards because they were “unhappy” in their current jobs and wanted to work in another place 200km away. Totally normal 😅
According to RFA, the workplace in question is a casino complex known as O’Smach resort located in northern Cambodia.
Despite the news of scam compounds and human trafficking, Cambodia is still a safe place to visit, I think. If you need encouragement, here’s one: Cambodia reduced its e-visa fees for tourists and business travellers as part of the government’s strategy to boost tourism. Tourist e-visa (e-visa T) decreased from USD 36 to USD 30; and regular e-visa (e-visa E) decreased from USD 42 to USD 35, effective from January 1, 2025.
For those who consider visiting Phnom Penh, here’s another reason. Well, kind of.
Phnom Penh is planning to open a pedestrian-only zone along the Riverside area at the end of January. The project spanning 57 hectares will be exclusively open to pedestrians from Friday to Sunday, between 6pm and 11pm. As a resident of this city, we sorely lack public space. So, I welcome this news with open arms. I just hope that the implementation is as good as it sounds on paper. But hey, beggars can’t be choosers.
Visually Pleasing
Arts & Culture
🇰🇭 I finally managed to visit Sosoro Museum on one random weekend morning. It turned out to be really fun. I can confidently say that this is one of the best museums I’ve ever visited in the country, to date. It was well designed, modern, a mix of passive and interactive display of Cambodia’s history through the lens of monetary exchange and economy. I found it very intriguing to learn about history through a different lens. I wish we had another museum such as this but through the lens of music. Wouldn’t that be amazing?
🍚 A few hundred meters walk from the museum was a newly opened restaurant called Bai Sor which I visited on the same day. The restaurant's tagline on their Instagram profile was "real real Khmer," which I read with scepticism. "How real can you be?" "Who gets to decide what real Khmer is?" I thought. As soon as I walked through the door, I was welcomed with a strong whiff of Prahok. It was a smell emerging from ladled Prahok hitting boiling water in a pot of Samlor Machu. It smelled like my mother's kitchen during lunch. If nostalgia is the restaurant's strategy, they hit the nail on the head. Food was served in familiar tableware – floral-rimmed plates and bowls made of both ceramic and plastic, small water glasses with floral designs. I'm no stranger to these tableware items. I grew up with them. Then, when I tasted the Somlor Machu Sach Ko, the grilled beef with Prahok sauce, and the grilled stuffed frogs, they were all very good – I was choked with emotions. I wouldn't call myself a softie, but the combination of the atmosphere, the tiny details, and the good Khmer food was a very strong force that tapped into my memories. In a nutshell, I still can't tell you if they were "real Khmer" because I'm not sure if I am real enough as a Khmer person to judge, but they sure did a good job of making me feel like I'm eating at home. This is not a sponsored post by any means. I'm just a very happy customer.
🙏🏽Ruth Ko, one of Cambodian very talented rappers, was killed in a traffic accident on January 6. His motorbike was hit by a drunk military officer driving an SUV. His case was far from unique, a young life gone too soon due to other people’s responsibilities. Rest in Peace, brother. You left a big hole in the Cambodia Hip Hop scene.
Worth Watching
The carbon credit system was designed to help preserve forests through funding from global corporations, and Cambodia is an emerging champion of carbon credit in Asia. However, how that works on the ground is a bit more complicated than that.
Notables
I’m aware many of you are here for the news and some of you are interested in the region. Therefore, I would like to recommend a few newsletters about countries in the Southeast Asia (SEA) region. I believe that many of the new subscribers found me through one of these newsletters. So, once again thank you.
Dari Mulut ke Mulut by Erin Cooks | SEA
Asia Undercovered by Seulki Lee | Asia
Vietnam Weekly by Michael Tatarski | Vietnam
We, the Citizen by Kirsten Han | Singapore
Indonesia at Crossroads by Febriana Firdaus | Indonesia
Campuccino is a fortnightly dispatch of key headlines in Cambodia, written by @DarathteyDin.
I’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback or content ideas, please write to me at hello@darathteydin.com
Grab buying Nham24 is a good thing imo. For SEAsian tourists like me, we already have Grab app on our phones. I wouldn't even know about local brands, or apps, or does it work in English and how do I pay? I would be hiring a tuktuk and maybe feeling ripped off!
International brands makes Cambodia a little more familiar, more worldly, less provincial, and I think you want growth. The Grab acquisition also acknowledges a viable business and tech market there for outsiders. The Nham24 founders' and investors' deal help validate the business opportunities for local entrepreneurs. Uber spun off Grab in Vietnam years ago, now there are lots of local startup competitors, even huge Gojek from Indonesia. You will have local options soon!