*by the way, I have to read and write, but I happend to see one comment about American bombed in Cambodian before communist, I happen to be there and I was running from to save life. But, beside all that, why American bombed then? Was it not because of Khmer rue (Polpot) the communist regime killing our own people? and they blow themselves up in te crowed of civilians, the theater and many other places that could kill many innocents? All the communist want is the grabbing power and live on. Also, wasn’t it that the group of Cambodian (not communist) who asked American for help. The same way that Vietnamese came in 1979, to get rid of polpot regime? I know they lost a lot of lives there. Please brother and sister look for cause and fixed if and all other symptoms will faded away. At the end I pray for Cambodian to get smarter work hard for our family individual as a group. Before blaming other see ourself first.

Smithsonian Magazine 2009
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Prescription-for-Murder.html

USA Today 2010
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2010-09-12-asia-counterfeit-drugs_N.htm

In your trip, you might open most of negative points in your way, so that you faced or found thing by all of these, I have many foreigner friends, they found different and very enjoyable to stay here even years.

Of course, every where in the world could face these issues, you mentioned that Vietnam is quite a good place and you might just walk only at the tourist areas in Vietnam where their government control well, (I agreed) but if you’re unlucky as you’re in Cambodia, you will feel very sad than this.

For me, I don’t judge this way, each piece of the world has positive and negative point. And some of tourists come to Cambodia also are not good as well. We need time, we need education done well in Cambodia, we need people to push / help government to make work done. People are innocent.

I understand where your anger comes from. I have lived in Cambodia for over five years, have been driven to the brink of insanity numerous times and have now finally decided that this is simply not a healthy place to be and that I need to relocate to a place which resonates more harmoniously with my personality, values and goals. I have done enough insane ranting and am now trying to apply a controlled analysis to the situation – for the benefit of my soul and the process of healing and moving on. I was so angry that it made me sick and now I am finally arriving at the acceptance phase.

Yes, there are very, very, very serious problems in this country – and it is only getting worse. The superficial signs of progress brought on by the general flow of capital and productivity to the Asian region are just a facade and beneath the surface many things are getting worse here. The international community keeps dishing out the free money under the guise of development aid, but the reality is that it is all just part of the process of opening up and exploiting the “emerging markets” (Cambodia being one of many such markets). The mutlinational corporations depend on revenue from these markets partly because those in the developed world are drying up. As a result of this the ethics of the situation are overlooked for the sake of achieving the ends. That is, the development aid which is being given to Cambodia should by ethical standards not be allowed. The donor countries are well aware of the obscene level of corruption here. The fact that they know this makes them guilty of corruption as well, because – let’s face it – according to the legal systems of the donor countries it is illegal to continue to fund any organization which is knowing engaged in illegal activity (ex. drug trade, human trafficking, terrorism, etc.). This is one basic reason why the aid simply needs to stop. It is an illegal allotment of funds. The other reason is, of course, that the aid money simply makes the population dependent and less motivated to provide for themselves.

I spent much time enraged at watching the obscene display of $100k Hummers and SUVs with their drivers who likely don’t have high school educations. I have spent much time enraged at the rampant materialism of the younger generation who have no sense of how destitute their country would be if the aid money stopped flowing and simply have no knowledge that their country was reduced to rubble just one generation ago and was still immersed in civil war only within the last decade. I have spent much time observing the increasing negative attitude of the general population towards foreigners, the arrogance of people are too simple and ignorant to realize how close they are to the country descending right back into civil war, the lack of prospects of the young generation as they are too naive to realize that their abominable educational system is lucky to land them a $60/month job in the service sector of the economy.

I can go on and on, but the main point is that I have realized that there is nothing that can or is being done to really change the situation and so it is time to move on.

The world has offered as much as it can to Cambodia and at some point the Cambodians are going to have to help themselves or suffer the consequences. The main problem for the past few decades is that the international aid and easy tourism income has prevented the Cambodians from suffering the consequences of their decisions and thwarted them from making their own decisions.

However, the reality is that the world economy is now entering a very negative period and all of that juicy international aid and tourism money is not guaranteed to continue flowing. What will happen then?

What will happen is that the Cambodians will be forced to take control and responsibility for their own fate and the end result will be that they will either sink or swim.

It’s time to stop feeling sorry for Cambodia and it is time for Cambodia to start learning to take responsibility for itself.

I think you’re onto something here. The script that tracks what people searched for to land on each individual page caught my attention. I loaded up WordTracker and went to do a bit of a research on how many people search for “Lazy Cambodians” and related terms.

Turns out there are 15 to 25 thousand such searches made from people in English speaking countries alone a month. I’m sure there are thousands more from Korea, Russia and other countries who search for info on Lazy Cambodians in their own languages.

I think all these searches are made by people who returned home from their trip to Cambodia and thought to themselves: “Is it me, or are Cambodians the laziest people in the world?”

So, is Cambodia the laziest nation in the world? I can’t say for sure, but it is something that thousands of people notice every day and wonder what the deal is. That, I think says it all.

There had been no truthful information about Cambodia anywhere to be found when I made my trip. With all the misleading reports purposefully leaving out the inconveniently harsh truth, there is no wonder so many foreigners fall victims to Cambodians. I take pride in offering full truth, not half truths so people who may consider paying Cambodia a visit know what to expect – in reality, not in fantasy.

Take away “income” generated by ripping off foreigners and then tell me how well the economy of oh so hard working Cambodians performs.

There is a difference between being laid back and being lazy. You can see laid back people in Laos. They are not lazy, there is activity and productivity in their lives but when all is said and done, they kick back and enjoy a relaxing rest of the day. Cambodians on the other hand are not laid back. This is not the way it is in Cambodia.

Two years after writing this post, I stand behind every single word I said. Two years later, I visited many countries, had encounters with many people and it just enforced my knowledge that spending time in Cambodia was a waste. There are so many nice people all over the world, so many positive experiences to have – I shouldn’t have wasted so much time in Cambodia where people are hostile and always look to take advantage. My trip’s been amazing since leaving Cambodia. I regret ever going to that place and will never ever make the same mistake again. What I can do is pass the experiences I had on so other people can make more educated decisions when choosing their vacation destinations.

Mark

When I was in Laos, a German couple told me that Laotians are the laziest people on the face of this earth because they don’t do like working hard at all. They even said that they would want to bring over their Cambodian friends whom they used to work with to Laos. Even though I saw a few guys on the street lying down, I didn’t call it the laziest nation in the world.

When I was in Vietnam, people told me to be careful with scams.

When I arrived in Africa, people warned me of day light theft and robbery.

Mark, your personal encounter with thieves and “the murderers’ who attempted to kill you for almost nothing really affected this one of all the articles you’ve written.

I would rather read your personal experience but your final judgement which can be proved wrong by many hard-working middle class Cambodians. You met some bastards, of course, but you haven’t met ones. Tell me why you haven’t met the ones that strongly contribute to the change in Cambodia.

You are using what we call “hyperbole” to describe the culture and general situation of Cambodia, just like “Joel Brinkley” did.

I don’t disagree with things you said in the article — but it’s just not correct to call the Cambodian culture “a culture of violence.” Because you haven’t talked to “every single Cambodian” you can find inside buildings and houses besides all the few men you saw on the streets, one can’t definitely say that the culture is such or make a generalization about a culture or a country.

You talked about the abrupt end to the awesomeness of the Angkorian era — that means you’ve learnt something about the country, for sure. I also came across in a book a part which said that compared to Vietnam, Cambodia was full of such lazy people that the French colony didn’t want to construct buildings or build school/universities. Very little was left after the French decided to bid farewell. Different from Cambodia, Vietnam worked harder and drew more attention from the French.

This country was blessed for some time but then has been totally fucked by the leadership of many kings after the Angkorian period (what we call: civic wars) which had worn out people for so long… There were stories that set Cambodians against Vietnamese — when the French called Cambodians to join classes with Vietnamese, the Cambodian parents didn’t let their children learn –> cycle of poverty and ignorance. Under the so-called French protectorate, Cambodia was in deep shit because of the good-for-nothing leader who was fed by the French all the time. Later, another atrocity swiped Cambodia’s progress. You already read the fact that the intellectuals were smashed, and the old generations you see today are only remaining soulless bodies whose innocence was taken away from them.

Felix, how are they supposed to teach their children not to shout like pigs or not to go to school when they never went to school themselves? when they were forced to give up school for hoes and paddy fields? Its found out that most of the Cambodians aged up from 40 suffer from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). Only people who have relatives that went through shit really know what shit is.

But the crimes that were committed against you, Mark, were really frustrating — I tell you, Mark, though I am a local, I never think of going near a jungle alone. I know what this country has gone through, and I know what to expect from people who never have an exposure to the city and education.

Then again, nobody with the right mind travels to Asia with expensive things hanging on to themselves. You can’t totally blame the thieves — they are everywhere around the corners in Asia. But the levels of intensity are different from one country to another, I admit.

That’s why there is what we call “Internet or guide books” which help travelers do more research about ‘dos and donts’ before coming to each country.

A traveler can’t expect Cambodia to be just like their own country — the historical and culture experiences that you and others have gone through are different.

Mark, by taking pictures of the cow and a few men on the streets and judging Cambodia by calling it ‘the laziest nation’ is again a total bunch of jokes. You are a mature man, and I reckon that you would have done much more than that to prove Cambodia is the laziest nation in the world.

As for Cambodia is one of the most dangerous nations in the world. Hyperbole, period. But I can totally understand why you said that — due to the experience you’d had in Cambodia. Like I said, you are supposed to know a few dos and don’ts when you arrive at a certain area. It’s sad but true.

I hope in 10 years, Cambodia might be under a different leadership and young bright people will change this country.