femme farang

Siem Reap

After Phnom Penh, we caught a bus to Siem Reap, which cost $8 and took six hours. I read the new Harry Potter the whole way. It is BRILLIANT, by the way. One of the best books I have ever read and, before you judge me, I cite Orwell as one of my favourites.

I have to say that my interest lies much more in modern history, so the wonder of all the temples and Angkor Wat is a bit lost on me, though we did make an effort to understand the history of each temple we visited.

The presence of international aid projects becomes even more apparent outside of Phnom Penh. There are billboards everywhere touting one cause or another and each temple's restoration has been sponsored by Japan, Germany, India or France.

The most happening street in SIem Reap, Bar Street, where it is always happy hour. Actually, it is quite a nice street, full of bookshops, funky shops and restaurants. There is a visible French influence here and a sweet little night market too.

   

 

This was a charming restaurant called Dead FIsh, which also housed three sluggish crocodiles. As my computer is being unresponsive, I am going to post this as soon as possible to avoid losing my work, which means you won't be able to see the photo I took of the pregnant crocodile.

I have booked my flights to Burma in September, so I am in the process of learning all I can about the current situation there. Our resource centre at work is very comprehensive and we have quite a lot of info on Burma. Look out for my next post on it.

Cambodge

Because of the type of visa AYADs get when they come to Thailand, we have to leave the country every three months and re-enter. It's good because it gives you an excuse to take advantage of the cheap flights and see more of the region, plus your organisation is meant to give you $80 and a day off towards it. I decided to take a visa run to Cambodia.

One of the things I enjoy most about travelling through the region is the diversity. It is interesting to compare these countries with our life in Thailand. The first thing that struck me about Phnom Penh was how much quieter and less developed it is than BKK. The buildings are mostly low-rise and everything is dusty. There are old cars everywhere that don't go over 40 kph (seriously). Piles of burning rubbish can be seen everywhere, as can the nude and barefoot children playing in it.

Children followed us everywhere, mostly selling books. I couldn't help but be moved by them as I had just spent the last month researching child sex tourism in Cambodia for a publication my office is putting out on child sex tourism. There is a brothel village about 11 kms outside of Phnom Penh called Svay Pak which is notorious for offering child prostitutes to men from all over the world. We are talking about eight- and nine-year olds. Authorities and international organisations have tried to crack down on it in the past, but no real progress ever seems to be made. There are so many orphans and street children in Cambodia one cannot help but consider where they will end up in a few years. There is also a concerning number of old farangs (or barangs, as they are called in Cambodia) travelling alone that drew my attention as I contemplated their agendas. The whole situation is made worse by the fact that, as a result of crackdowns on prostitution and trafficking in Thailand, much of the market has moved to Cambodia. The majority of child prostitutes in Cambodia (of which there are estimated to be 30,000, but the real number is probably higher) are trafficked from Vietnam. One thing to remember is that most 'clients' of prostitutes are locals, not sex tourists. This is the case in most countries. The impression that it is always the old German men stems from the fact that they are usually the ones who are caught (as a result of efforts from their governments) or attract international attention. Of the arrested/convicted foreign pedophiles, I have to say that most of them are from the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, Germany and France, but that over-representation could be because these governments have more effective measures in place to find and prosecute these people.

I have learned a lot about the international law side of the commercial sexual exploitation in children, particularly when it comes to extraterritorial jurisdiction and trafficking.

It is probably the case that all of these thoughts clouded my impression of Cambodia. I certainly appreciate the time I had there more now that I look back on it than when I was experiencing it. I know a lot of people who cite Cambodia as one of the most powerful and moving places they have ever travelled. They say it changed them somehow and they are always desperate to go back. All i can say is that, when I was there, i kept thinking how glad I was to have applied for a job in Bangkok and not there. Upon reflection though, I think I could make a life there, though I still don't think it would be my first choice. I certainly preferred Vietnam.

 

One of the things I enjoyed most about my trip to Cambodia was our visit to the Genocide Museum, a school that was turned into a prison for political prisoners and other enemies of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. I don't know why, but I have always been fascinated by particularly horrendous periods of modern history, such as Hitler's concentration camps and Mao's cultural revolution. I think it has something to do with my sociology/psychology background but I enjoy delving into the harrowing and dark human experiences of others, whether it be someone's stint in a Thai prison or surviving Auswitch. I am interested in the survival aspect but, more than anything, I like being confronted with what drives individuals to commit such atrocities that result in these experiences.

A set of rules prisoners had to follow.

Tool Sleung comprises a series of old classrooms that contain the bloody evidence of torture committed by the Khmer Rouge, such as beds bent under the pressure of victims struggling under duress and various torture tools.

 

Particularly moving were the mugshots taken by the Khmer Rouge of the prisoners. I was struck by the expressions of prisoners and what their eyes revealed. Who knows what horrors they saw moments before these photos were taken. I was particularly drawn to the photos of prisoners who had a defiance about them.

And the sadness:

There are hundreds of these photos, and I found it difficult to hold back the tears.

Most of the torture and medical care of prisoners was carried out by children.

After Tool Sleung, we visited the killing fields, about 20 minutes drive (at 40 kph) from Phnom Penh. Apart from a pockmarked landscape where mass graves once lay, there is not much to see here except a memorial tower full of skulls.

Then it was on to the Royal Palace.

   

Let's hug the world!

Because my posts are becoming less frequent, I have a build up of random photos and events to report.

Possible the CUTEST dog I have ever met. Her name is Fiona and we met her down at the restaurant complex near my house (Ari) after brunch one Saturday. It is so nice to meet something so sweet and clean in the Bangkok filth. Basically, this dog is better groomed than most people.

After the new intake of AYADs arrived, we met up for drinks at this fabulous bar/restaurant on the river, near the UN. It has such a lovely view and atmosphere. The temple you see behind me is called Wat Arun.

There really are some beautiful places to spend your time (and money) in BKK.

About a month ago, an Australian girl named Joanne called the office looking for someone to train her and her colleagues on care and protection methods. She works for an organisation based an hour out of Phuket called Childtrac, which was set up after the tsunami (along with a billion other NGOs). The area in which she works was one of the worst affected by the tsunami. Her organisation aims to track and monitor the children orphaned by the tsunami and ensure their wellbeing. We have a staff member at ECPAT whose job is to travel around and train people who work for child rights organisations to ensure they know all current best practice in dealing with children. So Jo called up looking for someone to talk to about this and I answered my colleague's phone. On the basis of her being Australian and friendly sounding, we started chatting and I ended up inviting her to the office to meet the appropriate staff member but also visit our resource centre and gather material for the resource centre she is trying to set up.

I invited her to stay in my little studio and, after work, we went for a drink at the bar on the 61st floor of the Banyan Tree Hotel.

 

The view gets even better after sunset.

My friend Avi has a constant stream of visitors to BKK, and he is a very devoted tour guide. I have started calling his tour of Bangkok 'Mr Avinesh's Happy Tour of BKK'. As part of his latest tour, we were invited to join him at a ladyboy cabaret show at the Asia Hotel. For reasons unknown to me, Thailand has a rather large population of ladyboys, called Katoeys. These men make better women than women and great sport is made of trying to pick them from a crowd (an Adam's apple usually gives them away).

All of these 'ladies' are men. On the whole, the show is dodge city, with crappy miming and poor choreography, but it was good for a laugh.

This photo is old now, but this is us in Avi's room watching the Australia versus Japan match in the Asia Cup. Avi is the most patriotic person I have met.

Things are going well here. I am trying to wrap up a number of things before I leave, like projects with the tailor et cetera. I continue to meet interesting people (most recently, journalists from the Bangkok Post and AFP who had just moved back from Cambodia) and feel very at home here. I still see things on the street every day that make me smile and happy to be here. I think what i like about it is that I am not a member of this society, but an observer. It makes one acutely aware of one's own culture by comparison and it is also nice to feel like a guest here. I know some people would think that is strange and would much prefer to belong to their own society, but I feel much happier when my normal reality is suspended and I am exploring a new and exciting environment. It's probably something to do with my upbringing. 

There are a lot of great things about living in Asia. The first being that, for the most part, it is quite safe. In places like BKK, KL and Ho Chi Minh, for instance, women can feel very safe as random violence is not part of Asian culture generally as it can be in the West. I also enjoy the spirituality of Thais and how it manifests itself in day-to-day activities, such as wai-ing (clasping the hands in prayer) on the BTS when the train goes past a temple or the offerings shopkeepers make on their counters, which can include anything from a tub of yoghurt complete with spoon or a cup of tea. I always smile when I see shrines and mini-temples set up in seemingly random places, like under a tree in a busy walkway or on top of what looks like an abandoned construction site.

I like how music wafts over the countryside in most parts of Asia and how the smell of incense is ever present even in high-class department stores and busy streets. I like how I haven't been eating so much processed food since living here and how, over time, I actually feel healthier. I love how there are cheap and reputable massage parlours everywhere in Asia  - that it is such an ingrained part of Asian culture to stop in for a foot massage on your lunch break. I also admire how patient Thais are in what can be very trying situations, though sometimes I feel they are too patient at the expense of getting things done, but that is just me being a farang.

With some exceptions, I like the international community here. Most Westerners who are here are working on very interesting projects in a wide array of fields, most of which seem to be making a difference in people's lives. There is so much to learn from people around me and I can pretty much take it for granted that they are just as interested as me in seeing what the world has to offer culturally, politically and with a view to making a contribution.

I find it interesting to see how the political and historical landscape has affected and continues to affect the psyche of the population, whether it is the chaos waiting to unfold here as a result of the ongoing coup, their complete reverence of the Monarchy or the visible communist influence in Vietnam. The region is so diverse. I found the poverty in Cambodia and the visible presence of international NGOs in every facet of society quite in contrast to the relative affluence of Thailand.

I now know more than ever that working at the international level is where I belong and feel happiest. I am grateful that there are lots of opportunities to work towards that in Canberra and that I have a clear direction. I am in the process of trying to figure out my next move there.

There are many things about coming home that I am looking forward to, not least of which is resuming domestic bliss with Damon and Pepina. I don't have a domestic life here at all. I haven't cooked a thing since moving here 5 months ago. Apart from laundry, I don't turn my mind to domestic matters. It will be nice to do things around the house and garden and throw a few dinner parties.

It will be nice to reconnect with friends and family too. I am looking forward to planning a wedding as well.

I didn't mean for this to turn into a self-affirming monologue about what potential the future holds, but I guess that is what it is. See what happens when I don't post as often?