LTO wrote:People actually look to forums like this to make judgements about the level of crime?

Not using a forum as a litmus paper but it is a perceived by product, maybe of forum use and I agree with BQFH, the gore level builds a stronger neuro association.

OrangeDragon wrote:

LTO wrote:People actually look to forums like this to make judgements about the level of crime?

likely. they search for crime in cambodia and the forums likely come up pretty close to the top. they see daily entries in it and get nervous... even though those are all pretty far from one another across the country their brain says "wow, lots of crime in cambodia".

I guess, at least for foreigners, if you're not actually in Cambodia, or here only for a very short time that makes a kind of touristy sense...wrong, but we're talking tourists. I would never in a million years look to the few incidents that are posted on some forum to try to get a handle on the general level of crime. That would be stupid.

That is the whole idea LTO, it is perceived levels not actual levels. It is gauging does the forum affect the reality ?

Someone like myself a 'Tourist' is using this and other on-line media, between visits to make a judgement on where I want to live and if that is within the Kingdom, where in the Kingdom.

If I wanted to make a more accurate, researched judgement, I would use many more sources such as the CIA Fact Book , although an adjustment for bias if needed here too.

This thread makes me think of how I reacted to a traffic accident last night. I was sitting in a tuktuk on my way home around midnight on one of the streets leading up to Norodom. About two or so blocks before Norodom a bike appears out of nowhere travelling in superhero speed and hits right into the side of the slowly driving SUV meters ahead of us. The bike goes kaboom and the driver flies over the car which takes off as if nothing happened. The superhero picks himself and his bike up and drags himself and his luggage to the side where he collapses, which is the last thing we see before we continue on our way.

When the motorbike struck the car and the guy went flying, my girlfriend yelled out "yes, good!", obviously referring to the other driving lunatics we've been seeing other days around the same time. I didn't move a muscle, I simply concluded "no, not good", and that was that. In retrospect I can't help but analyze my own reaction to the situation. If this was back home I would probably be jumping up and down shouting something along the lines of "CALL AN AVALANCHE". Here, I was just happy to be meters away and that nobody was seriously injured. And seeing that guy speed right into a moving car only to dive into the concrete... I don't know, it was interesting. I've seen it happen before, both fatal and not, but never so close.

Sorry for the anecdote, I don't mean to hijack anything. Just reflecting on my own personal reaction to similarities. I think that we, equally, react different to these things "here" than we do "there". The last time I saw a lynching I was sitting and enjoying Larry's pizza when a group caught a motorbike thief. Nunchucks and hatchets later, my big disappointment was that they decided to stop it and drag it to the nearby police station only meters away. I had the best seats for the show. Perhaps "getting used to it" in reality means turning off emotions and becoming a tad bit more psycho.

EdinWigan wrote:That is the whole idea LTO, it is perceived levels not actual levels. It is gauging does the forum affect the reality ?

Someone like myself a 'Tourist' is using this and other on-line media, between visits to make a judgement on where I want to live and if that is within the Kingdom, where in the Kingdom.

If I wanted to make a more accurate, researched judgement, I would use many more sources such as the CIA Fact Book , although an adjustment for bias if needed here too.

There are no accurate crime figure for Cambodia, anywhere. CIA factbook would probably rank amongst the worst. Government collected data the best. Both highly incomplete. Even worse would be to look to a forum like this and whatever random collection of reports they have as some kind of gauge. If you want to get a handle on the level of crime, look to a reputable media source such as the Daily or the Post, not to individual crime reports, but to articles on the level of crime, and even then bear in mind that they are working with incomplete and possibly manipulated government info. If you really want to know, find a couple of people who have lived here a long time (and preferably don't have some stake in the tourist industry) and just ask them. They'll probably be able to give you a fairly accurate assessment of the general level. Be satisfied that it's not perfect, there is an element of opinion, and it's the best you are going to get here.

BTW, crime is up in Phnom Penh and has been since late 2012. Sihanoukville too, but that's been going on a bit longer. I have no idea about the crime rate in Mesang district Prey Veng.

LTO wrote:BTW, crime is up in Phnom Penh and has been since late 2012. Sihanoukville too, but that's been going on a bit longer. I have no idea about the crime rate in Mesang district Prey Veng.

Wasn't 2012 the first time they started pardoning prisoners, when Norodom Sihanouk passed away, or have I just not been here long enough to remember the times before then?

My assessment at the time was that it began as part of the usual pre-election crime wave that always starts in the 6 months to a year preceding an election and usually lasts until a month or so after the formation of a government...that period when the police are told not to enforce the laws so not as to anger voters, the Lok Thoms are given similar slack for the same reason, and the powers that be are ever so slightly unsure who will hold the real power next. But after the formation of the government, levels did not go back down to the usual.

Hence this thread

Very interesting, LTO. Do you mean the national election or was it already shaking around the commune elections? If my memory doesn't fail me the commune elections were held around May/June.

Do you believe that anybody is pulling the strings on the unrest or is it possibly ordinary political dissatisfaction? There are most definitely groups of society that are unhappy about the current situation between the CPP and CNRP, do you believe these groups to be contributing to the statistics out of protest or similar? Perhaps you hit the nail on the head with: "the powers that be are ever so slightly unsure who will hold the real power next". Then again, strikes have been a rising trend since CNRP took their seats. Perhaps the garbage collectors and garment workers are still unhappy but no longer ready to protest under the Rainsy banner.

We've just seen the police chief of Phnom Penh being transferred to Sihanoukville. I haven't been following the developments with the new sheriff very closely, but it spontaneously doesn't seem like he's improved much, if anything at all. Tons of rumours circulating about how this and that will no longer be tolerated, however. We've seen DUIs on the rise, at one point somebody even reported the use of breathalyzers. From what I hear the famous snatchings at Wat Lanka are more common than ever.

the new police chief down here has publicly instructed the troops to step up enforcement against foreigners driving any motor vehicle.
they are also searching old guys for drugs. even pensioners riding in tuktuks.

personally, i think they want to run all the retirees out or make them pay some retirement visa ala thailand in due course.

incidentally, people who paid for their work permits in january still have not got the paperwork back.

many different levels of crime fo sho.

i may try addis next.