On 3 June 2020, a group of young people cycling to Phnom Penh had their bicycles seized by Koh Kong police, so they have decided to walk.

Koh Kong Police Block Mother Nature Environmental Campaign
03 June 2020
Sun Narin VOA
PHNOM PENH — Eighteen environmental activists from the Mother Nature Movement were prevented from completing a bicycle campaign to highlight environmental concerns at a protected Koh Kong Krav island in Koh Kong province.

Activists from Mother Nation Movement, which was previously a registered NGO, started their bicycle campaign from Koh Kong town to Phnom Penh on Tuesday but were stopped and prevented from proceeding any further by local authorities on Wednesday, around 60 kilometers from Koh Kong town.

In a video posted on Facebook, the police can be seen snatching the bicycles from the activists and loading it onto a flatbed truck, with an unidentified official telling the group that they needed permission for the activity.

The police then took away 11 bicycles to the district police office and wanted to question the 18 campaigners and get them to sign agreements, which they refused.

“Initially, they said they wanted to check our temperature for COVID-19. But it was just an excuse,” said Rey Reaksa, an activist at Mother Nature.

“They asked for our identity card and wanted us to sign thumbprints on the paper they wrote, but we didn’t do it,” she said

Rey Reaksa said they were a small group – 11 on bicycles and seven support crew – and were unsure why they were prevented from continuing their campaign.

“We were just cycling and it didn’t affect the traffic,” she said. “I don’t know why the authorities banned this.”

Seang Hor, Koh Kong district police chief, and Samkhith Vean, chief of Koh Kong Provincial Police, could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

Sok Eysan, a spokesperson for the ruling party and a CPP senator, claimed the group had “bad intentions” with the campaign. Asked to identify a specific law they had violated, Sok Eysan said it was an attack on the government which was in charge of protecting the environment.

Mother Nature said they want to ensure that there is limited and sustainable tourism activity on Koh Kong Krav because they were concerned it could be exploited by private interests.
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/koh-kong- ... 47613.html

Doesn't sound like a specific law...

Grrr....

I should not complain too much i suppose, VOA does have a role publishing stories that were previously published by the 'Post and the 'Daily.
But when the source is an official un-unofficial organ of the US State Department this is what you get...
- A story highlighting the conflict, and the "tyrannical" RCG, not what Mother Nature is highlighting with this action.
ie MN's campaign for Koh Kong Island to be declared a national park. That is only mentioned in passing in the final sentence.

This incredible Island "the jewel in Cambodia's coastal crown" (me, quoted by the PPPost some years ago) is finally about to be carved up and sold. There has been a mega tussle about this for decades between some of the most powerful forces in the Kingdom. A national park there could easily make it one of Cambodia's most iconic attractions for tourists to Cambodia.
Restocked and properly protected it could become a wildlife haven.
You could re-release tigers and the herds of deer that they need, and they would thrive for another thousand years.

Wild beauty at it's best. Stunning, and still nearly untouched - but probably not for long.
Can Mother Nature pull off a third miracle in Koh Kong??? (after stopping the sand mining and a major dam)
Watch with interest.

I quite often go to Koh Kong Island and have been closely following the developments in the coastal area for the last eight years. Would you perhaps like to elaborate your statement regarding the imminent disposal of Koh Koh Island via PM? I would be most interested.

tathom wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 8:23 pm I quite often go to Koh Kong Island and have been closely following the developments in the coastal area for the last eight years. Would you perhaps like to elaborate your statement regarding the imminent disposal of Koh Koh Island via PM? I would be most interested.

If that is the case,,, why are you not posting your views of what is happening ?

tathom wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 8:23 pm I quite often go to Koh Kong Island and have been closely following the developments in the coastal area for the last eight years. Would you perhaps like to elaborate your statement regarding the imminent disposal of Koh Koh Island via PM? I would be most interested.

LYP Group own it now.

From following Facebook posts, it looks to me like this is basically what happened:

1) On day 1, the police tried to shut down the bike ride due to Covid fears, but when no riders tested in the temp range they were allowed to continue.
2) The next day the Ministry of Environment said that they are working on protecting the park (which they have claimed for a long while now) and that the cyclists had an evil plan (see the press release on the Ministry's Facebok page), so the police took their bikes (and tents too maybe) and tried to make them sign that they wouldn't deliver a petition to the PM bossman. They refused and kept walking to Phnom Penh.
3) Which, in turn, led to the bossman (who we can't even name or even quote directly...) saying that he just sold the island to the self-proclaimed king of Koh Kong Ly Yong Phat - one of the main players in the timber and sand theft scene, among others. So we can expect the island to be logged and some casinos to be built.

Anyway, there's some info here: https://swiftnewsdaily.com/articles/434033 and a better explanation on Mother Nature Cambodia's Facebook page, which I can't access now.

PS. The money proven to be stolen in recent years from sand exports alone is around $1 billion. The logging is far more. Hence the 3 million $ watch collection for a guy with a $1500 salary... These crooks are a primary reason this country is poor.

SternAAlbifrons wrote: ↑Thu Jun 04, 2020 1:13 pm Grrr....

I should not complain too much i suppose, VOA does have a role publishing stories that were previously published by the 'Post and the 'Daily.
But when the source is an official un-unofficial organ of the US State Department this is what you get...
- A story highlighting the conflict, and the "tyrannical" RCG, not what Mother Nature is highlighting with this action.
ie MN's campaign for Koh Kong Island to be declared a national park. That is only mentioned in passing in the final sentence.

This incredible Island "the jewel in Cambodia's coastal crown" (me, quoted by the PPPost some years ago) is finally about to be carved up and sold. There has been a mega tussle about this for decades between some of the most powerful forces in the Kingdom.

Spoiler:

sorry, but more details about this would probably get both me and all CEO banned up for life

A national park there could easily make it one of Cambodia's most iconic attractions for tourists to Cambodia.
Restocked and properly protected it could become a wildlife haven.
You could re-release tigers and the herds of deer that they need, and they would thrive for another thousand years.

Wild beauty at it's best. Stunning, and still nearly untouched - but probably not for long.
Can Mother Nature pull off a third miracle in Koh Kong??? (after stopping the sand mining and a major dam)
Watch with interest.

Yeah well said. Looks like another lost opportunity. I like the sound of a wildlife haven. It could be better than a zoo. I guess if anyone could reverse this sale, it would be Mother Nature. I would be surprised if any other NGOs to make so much as a statement on this. The bossman has been making a lot of populist decisions lately, so if enough attention is brought to this and pressure is applied then maybe he will reverse it and save the day... But there's good money involved so I wont be holding my breath...

The Save Koh Kong Island campaign :

I would be surprised if someone has not already bought,,, sorry,,, leased that Island for 99 years already. Backdated to 1990.

The machinations behind control of this island would fill three full seasons of a Netflix series.
But i can not tell even the two percent of what i know or i would have to murder you all.


(Yeee HA!! 'always wanted to say that with deadly serious sincerity)