I was down in Daun Penh the other night and came across the damnedest thing. This was down at the far south end of Kandal market on street 13. As I rounded the corner I saw a pack of children – had to be at least a dozen – running wild in the street. They were all whooping & yelling at the top of their lungs and laughing. Except it didn’t sound like children’s laughter, more like barking. If I had to guess their ages I would say they ranged between eight and 13.

A pack mentality seem to be at play and I picked out one older girl, say about 12 or 13, as the Alpha. She started running up the street and jumped onto the back of a Tuk Tuk. The others swarmed after her. The driver stopped, jumped out and started yelling and pulling them off. After that he got back in and tried to race away but they were quicker than him and we’re soon hanging off the back again. Again he yelled and began threatening them. He had customers inside and they looked bewildered, frightened.

After he sped away they latched onto another Tuk Tuk and the same scenario repeated itself. by this time they’d made it up as far as the middle of the market. Now they spotted a Tuk Tuk sitting empty at the side of the street and they all jumped inside & packed into it like a clown car. Strangely enough the driver stayed calm and spoke with them. I guess he must’ve made the decision to drive them where they wanted to go because he drove them north on the street and out of sight.

Glue sniffer’s. That’s the first thing that came to mind. They looked decidedly feral. I’m just guessing. I don’t really know. I do know it was one of the damndest depressing things I’ve seen in quite some time.

Further up the street I ducked into Smile Mart to pick up some expat style food. After a minute or so the pack of kids came pouring through the door, running wild through the isles, lifting all kinds of snacks & goods. The goddamn useless guard at the door had opened the door for them. The people behind the counter started scolding him and he commenced chasing them through the aisles. Real keystone cops stuff. With much effort he eventually flushed them out of the store.

As I exited I saw them again across the street, yelling and seeming to have a fanatical good time. They hopped on the back of another Tuk Tuk and hanging off the back, headed north towards Phsar Cha.

I hope to God I never see anything like that ever again. They were dressed in clothes no clean but not dirty either, not rags – normal looking clothes – and didn’t appear to be living on the street. “Goddamnit what the hell was that?“ I asked the Khmer girl standing next to me. She looked as grim as Me and just shrugged her shoulders.

Lord give me strength.

I saw a gang of kids like this outside ABA bank in SHV. They were crazy and fearless and most of them had a bag of glue. Their eyes were empty, like a zombie movie. This was some years ago and I still remember it quite clearly.
Like a gang of monkeys on meth.
A local organization was trying to bring the kids in for care, but then the hard case kids would attract their friends back on to the streets, or that's what someone told me at the time.

Not surprised at all to read this

My 1st visit to Cambodia in Jan 2014, started with 3 nights at a riverside hotel in PP, called something like the Cozyna hotel (spelt something like that), directly opposite the exercise equipment area. A balcony room 4 or 5 floors up.

During the daytime for the full 2 days I was there, I saw a pack of about a dozen kids up to perhaps 11 or 12 years old, scavenging food from the rubbish bins, and using the gardeners hose pipes & taps to drink from & wash with, whilst often approaching & hassling tourists passing by. No idea if they were there after dark

The thing I remember most about the hotel however was upon my arrival late afternoon after a flight from Bangkok, was entering the room, putting my bag down, going to the balcony to have a look out over the riverside, and then hearing a noise, going to & opening the bathroom door, where a male member of hotel staff was sitting on my toilet having a shit.

Quite unpleasant really, especially as I did need the toilet upon arrival, after then taxi took 60mins from the airport