a w a r e n e s s

Before I elaborate on my ventures in Cambodia (not Bolivia!), I just want to say that life at Rangsit has not been negatively influenced by the current political situation in Thailand. Briefly, what’s going on here is that Anti-government protesters have said they will not cease power over the towers and disruption of the airports until the current prime minister, and accused “puppet” of Thaksin, Mr. Somchai resigns, which he has refused to do. The image to the right is one that I took at the Election Watch in Bangkok at the beginning of this month; it shows Somchai and the U.S. Ambassador of Thailand, Eric G. John. The anti-government People’s League for Democracy (PAD) have taken over both Suvarnabhumi international airport and a smaller international airport called Don Mueang airport, which is just 15 minutes away from Rangsit University. A state of emergency has been declared at both sites. The protesters have remained defiant, claiming they were prepared to “fight to the death” (according to an article off BBC). Thailand has been in political turmoil since former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a military coup in 2006. The PAD is comprised of royalists, businessmen and the urban middle class who believe that the government is corrupt and hostile to the monarchy. Luckily, Rangsit is far enough from all of this for me to feel like I’m cozy in a safe little bubble.

But otherwise, this has affected people beyond Thailand; thousands of passengers are stranded in Bangkok, including hundreds of Thai Muslims trying to travel to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj pilgrimage. Plus, some of my friends and a few faculty members went to Burma a week ago for student recruitment and they were supposed to return on Saturday. A couple of my other friends vacationed to Indonesia and they were stuck there for a few more days passed their planned departure. It is so unfortunate that this is happening the way it is, without any consideration of what these protests are actually doing for the country overall; people are not going to want to come here anymore and I think everyone needs to experience the wonders of Thailand! Further discussed in the article, the airport closure will cost the country around $4 billion in lost business and cause serious damage to its reputation as a tourist destination, something which will take the country years to recover from, especially during a time like this, where the economy of the world is already in shambles…

Cambodia:

Last weekend, a small group of us went to Cambodia on a whim. We took a bus from Bangkok, four and a half hours to the border. We spent USD$35 for the Cambodian visa which decorated yet another page of our passports. Then, we made a very wise decision to rent a private taxi to take us to Siem Reap. The second we rolled over the border, casinos and a mountainous road clouted us right in the faces! First of all, gambling is sturdily illegal in Thailand and there are warnings everywhere the second you land in the airport prohibiting the act of public gaming of such. Secondly, the roads…infamous for its jaggedness, proved to be a trek. It would’ve taken 6 hours to get to our destination in a public bus but it took half the time in a taxi! There were times during the ride where I felt like the tires were sure to explode, and miraculously, all four of them survived until the end. Supposedly, there’s a conspiracy theory that an unnamed airline is paying the Cambodian government to stall any sort of maintenance of these roads, while clearly failing to consider the citizens of the country and the plethora of people who cross the border every single day.

We stayed in a gorgeous place called Golden Temple Villa that lived up fabulously to its name. Our bedrooms were decorated, proving that an orange and purple color scheme can be attractive; it was also amazingly clean and welcoming. The name Siem Reap means the ‘Defeat of Siam’ which is today’s Thailand; it refers to a centuries-old bloodbath between the two countries. In 1975 (painfully recent), Siem Reap’s population, along with many of the cities’ and towns’ in Cambodia, were evacuated by the communist Khmer Rouge, the communist ruling political party, and driven into the countryside. However, since Pol Pot’s (the leader of the Khmer Rouge) death in 1998, relative stability and a rejuvenated tourist industry have been significant steps in a tentative but progressive journey forward to recovery. With the advent of war, Siem Reap entered a long slumber from which it only began to awake in the mid-1990s. But today, Siem Reap is undoubtedly Cambodia’s fastest growing city and serves as a small charming gateway town to the world famous heritage of the Angkor temples. Thanks to those attractions, Siem Reap has transformed itself into a major tourist hub; it is a vibrant town with modern hotels and architectures. Despite international influences, Siem Reap and its people have conserved much of the town’s image, culture and traditions. That’s why I loved it so much. Despite the masses of sightseers flooding the temples like Angkor Wat and the “tomb raider” temple (consequently named after being featured in the movie with Angelina Jolie), I could still feel a purity lingering strongly in the air.

The first day, we embarked on a tour of the three main Angkor temples in Siem Reap. Angkor is a name conventionally applied to the region of Cambodia, yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site (that’s three visited since I’ve been in South East Asia!), serving as the seat of the Khmer empire that flourished from approximately the ninth century to the fifteenth century A.D. (The word “Angkor” is derived from the Sanskrit “nagara,” meaning “city”). We visited Angkor Wat which is said to be the world’s largest single religious monument. It was beautiful and I felt like I was in some sort of peaceful palace because my friends and I went when it was a bit quieter, during sunrise. We also visited the many faces of Angkor Thom, which was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. Our last temple of the day was the “Tomb Raider” temple. Unlike Angkor Wat, the lack of maintenance and the tree roots are what transformed the temple into mostly rubble. Tree trunks sit dominantly atop the cracked walls of this sanctuary, draping the boulders like a solid curtain with its powerful roots.

Pub Street was where we splurged our night times. Since it was lined with diverse restaurants and bars and a close-by night market, it was always filled with people. We even ran to a couple of people we met in Vietnam randomly and a few in our program who came to Cambodia for the weekend independently. During dinner, we watched Apsara dancers demonstrate various segments of the Ramayana. Apsara, the classical Cambodian ballet, is a stunningly graceful, 2000 year–old blend of sinuous hand gestures and graceful body movements. All the dancers were absolutely beautiful in their colorful and detailed costumes. In the photo to the left, I am surrounded by elegant and graceful Apsara-dancer carvings that decorate the many pillars of Angkor Thom.

The following days we went to the Landmine Museum, run by a man called Aki Ra, who is currently in the process of demining landmines which he probably planted years previously. He is a former Khmer Rouge conscripted child soldier who from 1993 to 2007, removed landmines by hand in Cambodia. He employs very unusual demining techniques, usually working only with a knife and a sharp stick. Today, he and his wife Hourt have brought home nearly 20 children who have lived through landmine accidents or are orphaned. They provide these children with an education, resources for succes, and a family atmosphere.

The three nations with the largest landmine problem today are Afghanistan, Angola, and Cambodia; the Cambodian conflict may be the first war in history in which mines claimed more victims, both combatant and civilian, than any other weapon. Serious. Landmines are known as hidden killers, weapons of mass destruction in slow motion, or the perfect soldier which never sleeps or misses. They have killed or maimed more people than have been killed by nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons combined. Unlike other weapons, most mines are designed to maim because a soldier without a limb is more of a burn in the budget of the enemy than a dead soldier. A mine has no target, it recognizes no cease-fire and every hour, three people in Cambodia become victims of landmines. One landmine costs as little as USD$1-$3 to plant but up to USD$500,000 to demine! It’s terribly sad that so many countries (37), including India and the United States (thanks Bush!) have not signed the Ottawa Treaty which bans all anti-personal landmines, and they continue to be produced there. Sad story.

The final day in Siem Reap, we paid a visit to the War Museum, which housed a remarkable collection of equipment and arsenal, from tanks of all sizes, to guns, and of course, landmines of every variation. Our guide was a victim of many kinds of tragedies, all sparked by the war. He lost a leg to one of the five landmines he had encountered in his life, he’s blinded in one eye, he has pieces of metal beneath his skin which in turn give him seizures every so often; the worst part is that people believe he has epilepsy, something which banishes him from heaven and causes society to ostracize him and limit the work he is given. He shared with us the scars and grievance for himself and his country. Leaving a bit sullen, we went on to clamber through a lush jungle temple called Beng Mealea, which hosted a few tourists since it’s about an hour off the main trail. As we made our way through the wreckage (also due to the power of the trees), we admired what was left under the drape of roots and leaves of carved-in-stone scenes from Hindu mythology. The temple maintained an awe-inspiring beauty despite the in ruins; I can’t begin to imagine how it must’ve looked when it was in its prime so many years ago.

Outside the temple was a modest school called the Cambodia Children Rural Development Organization: Training school for the poor, homeless, and orphaned. Today, it’s simply two straw huts covering a few tables donated from Australia, a white board, and a few learning children, most under the age of 10. We spent a bit of time there; hearing about the future aspirations of this NGO that is surviving to help these kids make a living for themselves in the future. Cambodia is poor, there’s nothing newsbreaking about that. The government doesn’t support those who have been victimized by war, landmines, death, etc. and there isn’t enough sustenance for education, especially for the underprivileged. I enjoyed spending time at the school because for once, I didn’t feel futile when exposed to such destitution. Donating notebooks and pens, rice, etc. would make at least a spark of a difference. Although it would be difficult to use a squatter toilet in the midst of the jungle, I could imagine myself helping out as a teacher at a school like that nevertheless, which really needs all the help it could get, even if it’s just for a couple of months. But you know what, despite it all; the historical horror, dim present, and striving future, there is still laughter and a sense of adventure in the air, ambition and ardor in their minds, and most inspiringly, peace in their smiles.

Peace