Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
To protect Angkor, the country's most prized asset, Eng threw his full support behind
tentative proposals for an unusual agreement with sixteen foreign countries and the United
Nations to restore and preserve the Angkor temples under the authority of Cambodia. The
agreement was eventually reached. Eng's abilities were noticed and in 1995 he was named
Cambodian ambassador to Thailand; four years later he presented his credentials in Wash-
ington as the Cambodian ambassador to the United States.
Cambodia's tourism industry then grew under several new ministers who lacked Eng's
credentials or vision. In 1997, Hun Sen took over full power of the country following
a coup d'état and much of the balance of power in the government was lost. In the
tourism field that meant an increase in cronyism and corruption. Since then, Cambodia
has broken nearly every tenet of good tourism management set out by organizations like
the U.N. World Tourism Organization. Under the government of Hun Sen, most decisions
are made at the very top with little or no community input. Regulations that exist on paper
are rarely enforced; courts can be bought off with bribes; and corruption is so endemic
that foreign investors list it as the major stumbling block to doing business in the country.
Tourism brings in $2 billion each year, but it enriches Cambodia's elite rather than
helping the underprivileged. Poverty and unemployment is worse around tourist areas, es-
pecially Angkor. It is changing the face of Cambodia—not for the better. In two recent
surveys the National Geographic evaluated how countries cared for their priceless cultural
heritage sites and coastlines. Cambodia was the only country that ranked among the worst
in both categories. Angkor still impressed but was criticized for the unrestricted flood of
tourists under “atrocious” management, the overdevelopment of nearby hotel areas that
was threatening the temples themselves, and the exclusion of local Cambodians from be-
nefiting from “this resource.”
Tourism has thrived on the practice of the government grabbing land from the farmers
and peasants and then selling the property to firms tied to a few dozen elite officials. They
are behind the country's new resorts, hotels, spas and prime beachfronts. Those beach re-
sorts in the south were singled out by the National Geographic jury for shoddy develop-
ment, with too many seedy bars and hotels, poor waste management and a strong whiff of
corruption.
The most troubling side of tourism is Cambodia's new reputation as one of the globe's
hot spots for sex tourism. Men can easily buy young boys and girls for the night despite
laws against it. Even the national tragedy of the Khmer Rouge period has become a luc-
rative niche market of “dark tourism” for foreigners.
Little of this is evident from the vantage of tourists staying in air-conditioned four-star
hotels, traveling in air-conditioned sedans and seeing the country in the care of polished
tour guides. Cambodia's beauty can be breathtaking: Angkor gives many visitors a taste for
the mystical. At the same time, tourists are often moved by this splendor in contrast to the
country's tragic modern history and poverty.
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