To the Editors,
Oh boy. Kent starts off his blather admitting the only place to keep valuables while traveling is in your front pants pocket (“A $350 problem,” Voices, March 15, 2007). I too keep my pocket money in that pocket when I go around Phnom Penh. My passport, credit cards, travelers checks, important phone numbers, extra cash and the like, however, are always sealed in a manila envelope and kept in the lock box in the office.
One concern I have is that an assumption is made right at the end of the second paragraph that a staff member must have done it. Yes! The poor Cambodian, only making $20 a month while working sixty hours a week, must have nicked the money. He’s got the motive.
The American bombings of Cambodia starting in 1969 were indeed a catalyst which aided the Khmer Rouge in taking over Cambodia, but they weren’t the only cause. The ousting of their beloved King by Lon Nol, the corruption of his government and Lon Nol’s alignment with the U.S. all allowed the Khmer Rouge to gain numbers and power.
That said, I don’t think the majority of the Khmer view us [Americans] with any contempt or malice. On the contrary, I think they view us as potential income in a country with only three large parts to the economy; tourism, the garment industry and foreign aid.
Ryan Bareither
Seattle, Was.
