juansweetpotato wrote:

prahkeitouj wrote:

Samouth wrote:
Actually their parents were there with them, but maybe sitting somewhere you hardly notice. Do you believe that some of those kids run away from some organisations that were trying to help them?

It can be right, but I really notknow what my brain and heart can do? Do you think that if the organization can help them better will they want to run away ?

Exactly that. Too many NGO's in the business of making money. They are in fact just an extension of the street beggar scams that abound . By that I mean they are just using emotional blackmail to make a living. The kids are innocent pawns in all this, after all, they are just kids.some of them, the parents send them out to beg without even breakfast (they have money) the kids first job is to beg to eat. If I really knew what to do to help them apart from spending all my money feeding the hungry, which I have done at times before now ( could go a long way if I was Bill Gates) I really don't know what to do. How do you stop something that makes loads of cash for dodgy business men who probably have got a surplus of cash already? I guess you have to replace the need for the families to do it in the first place. The business men will always be there. Unfortunately there are more and more NGO's that are Khmer run pulling the same tricks, something they learnt of the westerners.

I don't know any NGOs and I can't say how are them? But maybe some NGOs are helpful and work better than us. I think they provides education, skills and educate morality to children. I saw some children from NGOs sell books. Once I asked a boy many questions about what the NGOs help him? After that I decided to buy two books from him and I gave him 50000 note. He didn't have any change so he didn't dare to take the money to exchange with anyone, but I let he go to change because I wanted to test him. Surprised ! He brought my money back I don't think every kids on the streets are scamers, every NGOs are bad. I think besides their parents and NGOs, they also need our help.

Username Taken wrote:

StroppyChops wrote:I call Francis, btw.

And you'd be wrong. Let's leave it at that.

Seems that way.

juansweetpotato wrote:

badboybubby wrote:

LTO wrote:A year or so ago the authorities took to rounding up all of the street people and beggar kids, especially those really little kids working selling flowers and trinkets and begging in the intersections amongst traffic. There were some still out there, but their numbers seemed to dwindle for a while. Lately they seem back in force, more than before the crackdown, maybe a lot more. Seeing them in intersections all over town now, many selling flowers or dusting/begging. Some seem to be attached to family-like groups, others seem to be in teams of children, but not sure. Anyway, looks like there are a lot more kids on the street of Phnom Penh begging of late, and I am wondering if my observation is accurate, and if so, why the increase.

always sad to hear...not sure why the increased numbers but wonder whether it's a reflection of the usual (particularly developing world) disparity in wealth between rich and poor...

Yes , this is the interesting thing, why the apparent new surge? What are the core reasons? Is it indeed the countries new economic success that's driving it? Or all the families that left Thailand eventually migrating to PP, whether through their own desperation, or the emergence of gangs exploiting them who round them up for a days work and bus them in. I suspect both. and more..

Urbanization has typically come with a large increase in homelessness.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_penny_coffin

Even in the countryside and provincial capitals, I've noticed a surge in homelessness. There's an old lady (I mean like 85-90) by the side of Road 41. I used to see her fairly often as I drove down to Kampot. She'd just be sitting there, seemingly lost. Not begging, just on the side of the road. It broke my heart every time as I'm guessing all her close relatives are gone and whoever she's staying with must just barely tolerate her. Anyways, I'd stop/turn around and give her a thousand riel or something. She turned around and thanked me but had these huge cataracts, I'm not even sure if she could see me. Once some kid driving some hogs on the back of his bike turned around after seeing me and also gave some money. It's quite rare in the countryside so even more shocking I find.

I do find there's a large surge of the street beggars (both kids and older people, as well as wheel-chair bound ones) in the city. I also feel like there's been a rise in meth users and glue sniffers.

I cant believe how dangerous riverside has becoming with the glue sniffers.

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote:Urbanization has typically come with a large increase in homelessness.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_penny_coffin

Even in the countryside and provincial capitals, I've noticed a surge in homelessness. There's an old lady (I mean like 85-90) by the side of Road 41. I used to see her fairly often as I drove down to Kampot. She'd just be sitting there, seemingly lost. Not begging, just on the side of the road. It broke my heart every time as I'm guessing all her close relatives are gone and whoever she's staying with must just barely tolerate her. Anyways, I'd stop/turn around and give her a thousand riel or something. She turned around and thanked me but had these huge cataracts, I'm not even sure if she could see me. Once some kid driving some hogs on the back of his bike turned around after seeing me and also gave some money. It's quite rare in the countryside so even more shocking I find.

I do find there's a large surge of the street beggars (both kids and older people, as well as wheel-chair bound ones) in the city. I also feel like there's been a rise in meth users and glue sniffers.

A sad thought. So perhaps we are looking at the future here in all these homeless. The price of fundamental change.

The Add Jay wrote:I cant believe how dangerous riverside has becoming with the glue sniffers.

I'm sure there will be another sweep eventually, probably just before some big international even is about to come to town, throwing the glue-sniffers and beggar kids and prostitutes and all of the 'undesirables' in a cage and shipping them back out to Prey Speu.

How the other half live ^

Corner near City Mall?

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote:Corner near City Mall?

Outside Chenla Theatre. Monitith & Mao Tse Tung traffic lights.
The grassy plot there is full in the afternoons with families of the 'underclass'.

LTO wrote:

This is on my way to work. I have seen them almost everyday.
This morning I have captured a picture of one of them.