The Phnom Penh Post

The general manager of the soon-to-be-opened Park Hyatt hotel in Siem Reap, Franz Mascarenhas, won’t be on hand to see the fruits of his labour on the hotel’s opening day.  He has accepted an opportunity to return to New Zealand to work with the Langham Hospitality Group as managing director of the Langham Auckland hotel.

The European Union Film Festival 2013 kicks off in Siem Reap at the Baray Andet theatre in the Siem Reap Cultural Centre from May 20 to May 29.

A local newspaper, reporting on Tuesday on the installment of Major General Khim Bun Song as the new provincial governor of Siem Reap, quoted “independent political analyst” Lao Mong Hay as saying that the appointment of a career soldier to the post was unusual.

Thai-based Khiri Travel has kicked off a minor flap with a press release about creating a “Cambodia immersion trip for millionaires.”

With the Khmer New Year nigh, acts of charitable kindness have been breaking out all over town.

Political activist Bob Geldof gobbed off too soon last month by pouring scorn on Earth Hour’s claims that it has become a global initiative. He told a Sydney audience that nobody outside of Australia is aware of it.

A team from Australian cultural heritage specialist firm Godden Mackay Logan is conducting “integrated temple management training” for staff of the Angkor World Heritage Site.

There’s been some joy in the Ban the Buses department, with Siem Reap and Apsara Authority officials introducing a temporary ban on buses carrying more than 24 people into the Angkor Wat area.

The high-profile Phnom Penh café-cum-cupcake-boutique, Bloom, will open a Siem Reap outlet later this year – but not under that name.

Another biblical-based youth-oriented European church is preparing to open shop in Siem Reap or, to adopt the jargon of the Zurich-based International Christian Fellowship, to involve Siem Reap in its “church planting movement.”