Category Archives: Commentary
Street Fighting Techniques in Cambodia
I have only witnessed a handful of street fighting incidents or violence in my decade here in Cambodia. A couple were simply mentally unstable people going off, like one night near Psah Kandal where a guy was swinging around a…
Burger Samdech
The august editor of this e-zine cornered me in a small, local watering hole the other evening, “Playboy” he bellowed from behind the safety of an American lass who was attempting to convince the DJ that Italian Disco was the…
Corruption, Landgrabbing and Me
Like so many guys, within a few days of arriving in Phnom Penh for the first time in my life, I met a lovely girl. We had a few polite conversations at arms’ length and within a week she told…
Gawping at Death in Cambodia
I saw my first corpse at the age of about five. One of the local teens, who I knew to hang out with, and who I remember sometimes making a bit of a ruckus with his friends at night, was…
Phnom Penh Pet Peeves
Many people arrive on these shores and feel instantly enamored by the place, and as they settle in are often ‘rosy-eyed’ and forgiving towards any unfamiliar customs or behavior they encounter. It is only far later, when everything becomes commonplace…
7 Reasons Why I Should Probably Marry a Cambodian Woman
I’ve had a lot on my mind the last few months. What has been troubling me the most is the realization that later this year I’ll be turning 40. This impending entry into middle age naturally makes a man start…
From Cambodia to the London Riots in a Day
I’ve been asked to write a little reflection on my first impression on returning ‘home’ to England after being settled for seven years in Cambodia. Had it been any other time and any other place, this might have been some…
The King and Us
The King has always held a special place in Cambodian’s hearts, and by this I don’t mean one particular king, but the idea in general. This is despite the job historically being a dangerous occupation, with all sorts of jealous…
Water Festival Memories
On the Saturday afternoon of Water Festival a couple of years back, once it was cool enough to emerge into the late afternoon sun and well after the day’s competitive paddle up and down the city’s waterway had concluded, I’d…
Another Cup of Coffee for the Phnom Penh Road
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I rarely get more than five hours sleep in a stretch so I need exactly three large cups of coffee to get me going in the morning. By coffee I mean the black stuff, not a coffee-milk, or a macadamia-carmel…