Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A woman poisons her husband with battery acid—“Another scene of violence and cruelty. We
are in full decadence, alas!”
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Many of Sihanouk's criticisms appeared under the pseudonym Ruom Rith, a supposed
childhood friend who began “corresponding” with the king in the mid-1990s from his
home in the Pyrenees in southern France. Rith, who was around the same age as Si-
hanouk and “shared” his distinctive writing style and Sangkum nostalgia, rarely pulled
his punches. His letters denounced government corruption and ventriloquized Sihanouk's
well-known views on issues like poverty, political violence, and the “super-rich mafias”
Sen would call him out in public speeches. “Who is Ruom Rith?” he asked in 2003, after
a particularly scathing series of messages. “How does he know how to write such smart
well who Rith was, of course, but never directly accused Sihanouk of responsibility for
the letters. Neither would Sihanouk admit it. He responded by politely apologizing for his
“friend's” excesses.
At times, the jousting between Hun Sen and Sihanouk took on an almost playful tone.
The two men clearly respected each other. Sihanouk admired Hun Sen's political ability,
while Hun Sen recognized the symbolic power of the monarchy and flattered Sihanouk
by imitating many of his political tactics, from his theatrical rural excursions to the crafty
manipulation of political foes. Chhang Song, who served under Sihanouk in the 1960s
and later became a senator under Hun Sen, said the latter grew “more and more” like Si-
hanouk as time went by, and Sihanouk frequently described Hun Sen as his “true political
son.” One former Asian diplomat recalled Sihanouk saying, “I wish Hun Sen was my son.
Ranariddh is my Kim Jong-il.”
On certain issues, however, the two men clashed. In 2002 they sparred publicly over
the issue of the royal succession. According to the Constitution, there was no heir ap-
parent to the Cambodian throne. When a king died or abdicated, his successor was to be
selected from among members of the three royal blood lines by a nine-member Throne
Council, a body that included the prime minister, the presidents of the National Assembly
and Senate and their four deputies, and the leaders of the two Buddhist sects. But the law
regulating the council's activities had never been passed, and Sihanouk, dogged by ill-
health, worried that if he died suddenly the CPP might manipulate the process to put a
“puppet king” in his place.
In 2002 Sihanouk called for the government to pass a law regulating the procedures
for succession. Hun Sen refused, and Sihanouk again threatened to abdicate. When one
member of the royal family suggested that the next king be elected by popular referen-
dum, Hun Sen warned royalist politicians not to “wander too far” lest they “stumble into
