Sep
13
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Preah Vihear Province Holds a Meeting on Disaster Management
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Preah Vihear Provincial Committee for Disaster Management holds a meeting on Sept. 11 to review the current flood situation and impacts in Preah Vihear province under the presidency of H.E. Nhim Vanda, First Vice President of the National Committee for Disaster Management of Cambodia.
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Sep
13
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Bangkok Airways to start flying to Vientiane
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The carrier has been operating a daily flight to the UNESCO World Heritage town of Luang Prabang since 2001. It also started a flight to Pakse during 2007 and halted it due to poor traffic.
The new service will depart Bangkok at 0815 and arrive in Vientiane at 0930. The return flight will depart at 1010 and arrive in Bangkok at 1125.
Reservations are now available with the lowest fare under its Web Saver category priced at Bt7,615 all inclusive and its business Blue Ribbon Class fare priced at Bt19,825.
Three carriers are now operating flights to the capital city, Vientiane — Thai Airways International, Lao Airlines (double daily each) and the new Lao private carrier, Lao Central Airlines (daily).
There are no low-cost airlines serving the route mainly because of a reluctance of the Lao government to allow budget airlines access to routes that are profitable for its national airline.
Lao Central sells the cheapest fare at Bt2,400 for a roundtrip fare for the first 20 seats, but this will end 30 September. After the promotion the lowest fare will be Bt4,800 until the end of October. The regular fares start from Bt6,045.
THAI’s 52nd Anniversary promotion ending 30 September quotes Bt8,055 for an economy class fare and Bt14,180, for business class. After the promotional period, the economy fares will start from Bt10,880 for economy class and Bt15,855 for business class.
Laos’ national carrier, Lao Airlines sells at around Bt8,200.
In addition, Bangkok Airways is running a ‘Fly Mid-Week, Receive Double Points’ campaign for frequent flyers who travel to Chiang Mai and Phuket on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during September and November.
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Sep
13
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Citizen Seng
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I looked up from my barbecue to watch the waves crashing on the reef. A mini-bus drew up and slowed down. The driver tooted his horn and the passengers waved and shouted a greeting. It was not for me however. "Cola Chanta!!" they shouted. The object of their attention smiled and waved back from her barbecue stall, next to the roundabout at Korotogo on the Coral Coast. "See you later friend!" she responded.
Chanta Seng owns and operates her barbecue stall, working with other women from Korotogo. The stall is very popular, both with locals in Korotogo and Sigatoka as well as those who are regular on the Suva/Lautoka route and find her roadside cafe, across the road from the beach a wonderful spot to enjoy a lunch time barbecue or hotdog or an evening plate of palau. For Chanta, Korotogo is home. It is a far cry from how her life began.
Chanta was born in a refugee camp in Thailand to Cambodian parents who had fled the violent and oppressive regime of Pol Pot, made famous in the film, "The Killing Fields".
The family had lost everything - their land, home, possessions under the regime.
Her family returned to Cambodia in 1992 when the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was established to ensure implementation of the Agreements on the Comprehensive Political Settlement of the Cambodia Conflict, signed in Paris on 23 October 1991. The mandate included aspects relating to human rights, the organization and conduct of elections, military arrangements, civil administration, maintenance of law and order, repatriation and resettlement of refugees and displaced persons and rehabilitation of Cambodian infrastructure.
Interestingly, a number of Fijians served in UNTAC. For Chanta and many Cambodians, their nation was born in 1992.
As a result of living the first 11 years of her life as a refugee, Chanta was illiterate, even in her own language of Khmer. The family, having lost everything under the regime settled in Pursat, a rural area where most people survive on subsistence crops and live in poverty. She did not even have access to education as culture dictated that the males of the family receive priority in education, even if they are younger than their sisters. Little Chanta began her new life in Cambodia selling fruit on the street or in the market, to earn money for her family.
It is not only a difficult life for women and girls in Cambodia, it is also very dangerous. Trafficking or slavery of women and girls is rife in Cambodia. Cambodia is a source, transit, and destination country for human trafficking.
The traffickers are reportedly organized crime syndicates, parents, relatives, friends, intimate partners, and neighbours.
Cambodia has a problem of sex tourism involving children. Some children are sold by their own parents. Others are lured by what they think are legitimate job offers like waitressing, but then are forced into prostitution. Children are often held captive, beaten, and starved to force them into prostitution. (Read more at http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/cambodia.htm)
You can imagine how difficult it must have been for this young woman who knew nothing of the world, let alone Fiji, to travel thousands of kilometres to this island nation. In Fiji she is one of only 4 Cambodians living in the country.
Sitting at Chanta and her husband's house in Korotogo, I hear laughter coming out of the kitchen where my wife and Chanta are catching up.
I remember that when my wife and I met Chanta in 2003 she was incredibly shy. When we would visit her and her husband she would hide in the room because she was embarrassed at not being able to speak English. Now she expresses herself freely and passionately.
Chanta is now a Fijian. She is proud of not only her blue passport but of her voter registration card. For her Korotogo is home. She goes to all the events in the koro, drinks yaqona with the women and on weekends her barbecue stall is a local hangout.
Earlier this year, when she left to visit her sick sister in Cambodia, the women of the village sat her down and told her that Korotogo was her home and that she was one of them. Back at the barbecue stall, one of Chanta's friends, Bulou, says something to her in Nadroga dialect and then tells me, "she's going to speak Nadro soon; and Hindi too." Chanta and another friend Sila both laugh loudly. The night Drue Slatter won the Hibiscus crown, the women gathered at the home of one adopted daughter of Korotogo to celebrate the victory of another.
Chanta's story echoes that of many who have struggled and overcome obstacles. Her story resonates with that of the Girmitiyas and others who found in Fiji not only a new life but a new culture of deep understanding, acceptance and love for the other.
In a globalised world, many of our Fijian brothers and sisters struggle to find acceptance and a sense of belonging in the countries in which they settle. Here in Fiji, despite all our differences and difficulties - there is still openness, and an acceptance of the other. Yet it goes beyond mere acceptance.
Perhaps it is because deep down we realise that we are all just people trying to live life - to love, to work, to find happiness and make a home for ourselves and our children and be part of a community. That is at the heart of all our actions. That perhaps is the core of our common humanity. "Simplicity, Serenity, Spontaneity."
Rev. James Bhagwan is an ordained minister of the Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma, currently a Masters of Theology student in Seoul, South Korea.
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Fixture cancellation angers touring team
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13/09/2012 10:14:36
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Raffles Hotel Le Royal Phnom Penh
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13/09/2012 10:12:00
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Human remains found at Cambodian pagoda
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13/09/2012 10:05:33
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Coffee colonialism in Laos
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13/09/2012 10:01:34
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Cambodia conducts child protection and training for tourism professionals
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13/09/2012 09:52:22
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Photographic exhibition on Vietnam opens in France
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13/09/2012 09:49:53
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Luxury Travel Ltd, Vietnam First Luxury Tour Operator and DMC, To Launch
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13/09/2012 09:41:26
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Vietnam-Japan Meeting 2012 to take place in Tokyo, Fukuoka
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13/09/2012 09:39:09
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UNESCO ‘Memory of the World’ title for Buddhist Woodblocks
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13/09/2012 09:37:20
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