Cambodia

We arrived in Cambodia by boat, up the Mekong river where people live and work, floating or on stilts. Phnom Penh appears in the distance, strangely fresh as you get close, until you realise that the Kymer Rouge destroyed so much as international money is trying to get the country 'fit for tourism'. 'Fit' means expensive looking, chic and swish, palaces for the privileged next to the shanties of the poor. How do you measure ambition and progress? 'I can now afford a pair of shoes' a guide admitted. Becoming a guide is high-status, an important goal.

How do you come to terms with a country where the legitimate government murders three million or so citizens without trial? Even the killing fields themselves are tourist destinations. The Kymer Rouge ruled 1975, filling the void of the American departure, to 1979, when the Vietnamese army threw them out for killing villagers in Mekong delta villages they coveted. Cham Muslims were also targeted for genocide. This was an extreme nationalism - you became a traitor simply by disagreeing with the ruling party and breaking rules, such as not to cry out when being flogged with wire or 'electrified'. A school called "The 7th January 1979 School" celebrates day of liberation. To buy arms the KR made their population, themselves starving, produce rice for China in return for weapons and landmines - unfortunately made of plastic so difficult now to find and defuse. The main victims were educated people such as teachers and doctors, as potential threats of opposition, so there is now a black hole in education and professional skills. How also do you come to terms with the fact that the KR, after their merciless cruelty was well known, were apparently funded by Britain and the USA in the 1980s for their guerrilla opposition to the Vietnamese at a time when Reagan was haranguing the United Nations for the Vietnamese to withdraw?

It is a country of ghosts - that is reminders of past brutalities and the loss of valuable people and their skills. One young man could not marry because he had a family to support since his father's death. Trauma is not far beneath the surface. Tourists are viewed as part of the solution and luxury hotels are stringing up which make heavy use of resources - gardens being watered, swimming pools, unlimited water in the rooms when outside there is shortage; clean sheets every night, towels twice a day. There is a power relationship between the tourist, the customer, and those servicing them. Bad feedback, even an unthoughtful comment, could be a factor in whether that person's family eats or not. I will long remember the look of terror in a young maid's eyes when earrings went missing and she thought she might be accused - quickly remedied with the hotel, but a sign of life at the edge.

Cambodia needs tourism, but responsible and thoughtful tourism which respects the local people, however lowly the tourist assumes them to be. All are grafting to feed a family. Most are gracious about reverses, but smiles and the absence of insults go a long way. Cambodia also needs to become diversified. People dream of careers in IT, though not having easy access to a computer. There are, as in Laos and Vietnam, craft skills in the villages that need markets. Too much of too similar goods are offered at local markets. Fairtrade arrangements to import goods to affluent countries would go a long way to better the health and education of families. The tourist does not have sufficient suitcase space to make much of a difference.

For information on projects to alleviate poverty and develop education, see www.concertcambodia.org. ConCERT means Connecting Communities, Environment & Responsible Tourism.