Background:
The Vietnamization of Kampuchea: A New Model of Colonialism
The Unequal Exchange
It is within this new institutional framework that the Vietnamese are asserting their hold over the economy and future of Kampuchea. Fisheries, rubber and rice are the three main sectors affected by what should be termed theUnequal Exchange between Vietnam and Kampuchea.
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Most days, Thy said, about 100 reinforced motorbikes cross in Andong Meas and Taveng districts carrying about half a cubic metre of timber, which costs $100 in Cambodia and sells for up to $500 in Vietnam.
Motorbikes
loaded with illegal luxury timber wait to cross the border from
Ratanakkiri province into Vietnam yesterday. Photo supplied
Luxury timber goes to Vietnam en masse
While crowds gathered in Phnom Penh to watch Cambodia’s
Independence Day parade, a different sort of procession drew the
attention of villagers in Ratanakkiri province yesterday, with hundreds
of motorbikes flooding across border checkpoints loaded with luxury
timber.
The spectacle, which on a smaller scale can be witnessed almost every day, according to provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, Chhay Thy, proceeded uninhibited across four Vietnamese border crossings in Ratanakkiri.
“A hauling by this many motorbikes has never taken place before; there were about 200 motorbikes today,” Thy said. “It looked like a parade; especially given it was Independence Day.”
Most days, Thy said, about 100 reinforced motorbikes cross in Andong Meas and Taveng districts carrying about half a cubic metre of timber, which costs $100 in Cambodia and sells for up to $500 in Vietnam.
Calling government anti-smuggling efforts “ineffective”, Thy said the drivers were mostly from local ethnic groups and predominantly transported thnong timber, which a 23-year-old villager, who declined to be named, said was logged locally and shipped across the border without interference thanks to corruption.
“They pay the money to border police,” he said. “[It costs] $2.50 or more per motorbike.”
Andong Meas district police chief Sovann Thin denied such large-scale smuggling was occurring. Thin said only two or three motorbikes snuck across the border each day.
He added that he would investigate Thy’s claims.
The spectacle, which on a smaller scale can be witnessed almost every day, according to provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, Chhay Thy, proceeded uninhibited across four Vietnamese border crossings in Ratanakkiri.
“A hauling by this many motorbikes has never taken place before; there were about 200 motorbikes today,” Thy said. “It looked like a parade; especially given it was Independence Day.”
Most days, Thy said, about 100 reinforced motorbikes cross in Andong Meas and Taveng districts carrying about half a cubic metre of timber, which costs $100 in Cambodia and sells for up to $500 in Vietnam.
Calling government anti-smuggling efforts “ineffective”, Thy said the drivers were mostly from local ethnic groups and predominantly transported thnong timber, which a 23-year-old villager, who declined to be named, said was logged locally and shipped across the border without interference thanks to corruption.
“They pay the money to border police,” he said. “[It costs] $2.50 or more per motorbike.”
Andong Meas district police chief Sovann Thin denied such large-scale smuggling was occurring. Thin said only two or three motorbikes snuck across the border each day.
He added that he would investigate Thy’s claims.
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