Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE ETHNIC VIETNAMESE
The first Vietnamese settlers in Cambodia were
rice farmers
, many of whose ancestors
migrated across disputed borders as long ago as the late seventeenth century; over
generations they moved north along the Mekong and today mostly farm in the southeast
provinces. The educated, predominantly Christian Vietnamese population of Phnom Penh has
its origins in the
civil servants
brought over during Vietnamese rule and the French
protectorate. Indeed, records of the time suggest Phnom Penh was more Vietnamese than
Khmer. These days the majority of Cambodia's commercial fishing is accounted for by
impoverished ethnic Vietnamese
fishing families
; predominantly Buddhist, they live in
floating villages on the Tonle Sap and Mekong River, moving around with the annual
inundation. Government estimates put the number of ethnic Vietnamese living in Cambodia
at around 100,000, but given the di
culty of monitoring the large number who live in floating
villages, the true figure is thought to be much higher.
Historically, Cambodians have long entertained feelings of hostility towards the Vietnamese,
who are all too often referred to using the derogatory Khmer term,
Yuan
. The roots of this
resentment go back to the Vietnamese annexation of the Mekong delta in the seventeenth
century. Tensions were exacerbated during the brief period of Vietnamese rule over the whole
country, during which time they tried to impose their language, names and mores on the
Khmer. The situation was aggravated during the French protectorate, when Vietnamese clerks
were installed in Cambodia's administration, and not helped when the French redrew the
Cambodia-Vietnam border in favour of the Vietnamese after World War II.
You're unlikely to witness any overt racism today, despite the recent surge in anti-Vietnamese
feeling stirred up by Sam Rainsy's Cambodian National Rescue Party (see p.300), who accuse
the Vietnamese of taking Cambodian jobs and lands. Even so, it's as well to note that no
Cambodian would be seen dead in the pointed hats worn by Vietnamese rice farmers, and
that the country's current leader, Hun Sen, is often accused by his opponents of being a
“Vietnamese puppet”.
2
which reduces the risk of damage to the fragile cargo). Several
pottery-making villages
can be visited nearby.
Kompong Chhnang dates back to colonial times, and has a rather more solid and
permanent air than many of Cambodia's other provincial capitals. NR5 runs right
through the centre, forming a wide boulevard bounded at one end by the imposing
Independence Monument
(looking rather like a big red cake-stand) and the more
modest
Vietnamese Friendship Monument
(resembling an overambitious bird table) at
the other. Southeast of here stretches the sedate old
French quarter
, with rambling villas
set amid spacious walled gardens, some of them still retaining old colonial touches
- even the large Kompong Chhnang Prison, bang in the middle of the district, has a
rustic air.
The opposite side of town, northwest from the centre and past the bustling
Psar Leu
market
en route to the fishing port and Tonle Sap lake, is contrastingly lively and
ramshackle. The 1.5km-long road to the lake is actually built on a causeway across the
water, and although modern buildings block most views of the lake you can still see a
few stilted houses with water lapping around their bases. At the end of the road the
waterfront offers fine views over the lake to the pair of floating villages offshore, while
the hectic
fishing harbour
is a photogenic chaos of boats, fishermen and hawkers.
The floating villages
On the Tonle Sap lake, 2km from Kompong Chhnang • Small rowing boats to explore the floating villages can be rented from the
waterfront (around $6/hr); alternatively, a twice-daily ferry (1000 riel) crosses the lake, departing at around 8.30am and 11am, returning
at 1pm and 4pm
he
floating villages
on the Tonle Sap lake make for a rewarding half-day excursion
from Kompong Chhnang. The town is the principal fishing port for Phnom Penh,
