frank lee bent wrote: ↑Wed Aug 29, 2018 2:38 am the west failed to take up the opportunities for ongoing infrastructure investment.
how many rice mills are NOT Chinese owned?

as some apparatchik observed a few weeks ago- they gave us 15 years to invest, and all they got was backpackers and marijuana.

the USA cannot even maintain their own crumbling infrastructure ( viz; water in Flint Michigan ) much less create a belt-road system.
lets face it, we pissed away our natural advantage over decades.

many expats; though not all,chose Cambodia as a place where it was easy to exploit the locals with a neo colonial agenda.

now it is the turn of the PRC who will be far more ruthless and rapacious than the worst of the westerners.

frank lee bent wrote: ↑Wed Aug 29, 2018 2:52 am you must not have many young Khmer friends on FB.
resentment is already high and many are quite vocal about their dislike of the developments happening now.
SV is seeing a wholesale economic displacement of locals by PRC newcomers- even the small market stalls.
add to that the exodus by Khmer businesses formerly in the tourist industry and I think there will be an inevitable push back.
maybe they will block FB as in the PRC and block or just shut down web based media if they get too lippy.

democracy is vastly over rated anyway.
QED

I seem to have misplaced my neo colonial handbook someplace over the last few decades

frank lee bent wrote: ↑Wed Aug 29, 2018 8:57 am

I seem to have misplaced my neo colonial handbook someplace over the last few decades

certainly not singling you out with my comments or any poster here
what i reference is a personal attitude by individuals rather than a coherent geopolitical move

ie; the west collectively regarded the region as an intractable place like Laos until PRC got traction

Felgerkarb wrote: ↑Wed Aug 29, 2018 7:25 pm The US never got over the war in Vietnam, and many policy makers are VN war vets...or were. Thus the more or less hands off here for decades.

But really all it takes is money. ANY power wants in here, just outspend the Chinese and like any good 136 bargirl, you have her loyalty until someone offers more.

The Japanese ambassador is set to sign a new aid package today pledging about $140 million worth of support for various projects, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Funding will go to four projects: flood protection and drainage in Phnom Penh, the renovation of the Battambang Provincial Referral Hospital, the development of National Road 5 and the expansion of the water supply system in Kampong Thom.

Japan agreed to provide $384,817 in financial assistance to local organisations for projects in Phnom Penh, Kandal, Kampong Chhnang and Koh Kong.

....But Sophal Ear, associate professor of diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College at Los Angeles, says Japan’s long game approach aims chiefly to compete with China. “Being in the good graces of Cambodia allows Japan to believe that not all is lost with respect to Phnom Penh,” he said.

Japan is not the only country concerned about Cambodia’s close ties to China, currently its largest benefactor and seemingly political beau ideal.

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Wed Aug 29, 2018 9:04 pm didn't japan fund the entire waterfront, water project?

Felge.. wrote:But really all it takes is money. ANY power wants in here, just outspend the Chinese and like any good 136 bargirl, you have her loyalty until someone offers more.