waynehazle

Part of me hates to post something like this because I think it gives people a reason to say "eeeeew I am never going there!!!" however I think we are a bit more sophisticated on this board.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080827/..._cambodia_rats

The point here is to highlight the damage that inflation is doing to Cambodia. The tourist industry there is probably bigger than ever before, but I am not sure how much really get to trickle down outside of workers in Siem Reap

jcasale

It really does make you stop and think about our life versus that of the ordinary person in Cambodia. I saw such a disparity there with huge fancy houses that look like they belong in a nice suburb of Chicago right next to a small, run down shack. And yet everyone I met was so positive and upbeat. it amazies me that a country that has been through so much (and is still going through it with inflation and poverty) can be so resilient.

offwego

Hi Wayne

Nice to see you posting again.

VERY little of the tourist money gets in the hands of the people; to the contrary, unregulated development destabilizes the natural resources that rural people (80% of the population) depend on. And then there's the inflation; cost of transport, land prices skyrocketing...Siem Reap is the most heavily touristed part of the country (just under 2 million visitors in 2007) and yet Siem Reap province is the poorest province in the country.

All these reports about how Cambodia is booming make me ill. Percentages go up whether ALL the people are making more money or 10 of them, the latter certainly being the case here.

Many people who have "decent jobs" in hotels, etc in Siem Reap still don't make enough to pay for their rent, utilities, etc. I know people who work 60 hours a week on pub street and bring home $125 a month.

But I will say I've had field rats, frogs, eels, insects and all the rest, and they (rats) aren't bad. Food is food. People in the countryside eat everything that crawls, or they don't eat.

What's new here is these types of foods being sold in the cities. I hope they aren't city rats!

joe88888

I have always wondered that as well I have been to Cambodia 4 times and see it every time. The rich are very rich there. My wife is cambodian and here aunt is in cambodia right now and just sold a piece of land for $700,000.00 cash in the pocket on route 6 10 miles outside of Phnom Penh. The difference from the poor to the wealth is really sad. My wifes mother has two homes but nothing like that.

When my wife worked in a hotel in Siem Reap she took home only $110 a month. It wouldnt pay for just the food to eat so the family lives together trying to get by.

MelissaHI

This has been on the menu around Asia for a long time! The thing is, though, they don't eat "city rats" because they are dirty. Here's my intro to it:
http://urbanmixplate.honadvblogs.com...tnam-cao-lanh/

and here's a link in my blog about "rats, the other white meatquot;
http://www.snopes.com/photos/food/rats.asp

mmmm. Tate lai chicken!