The recent garment workers demonstration caught Reuters by surprise when their

cameraman got doused by a water cannon. He lost his phone in the drenching, went

back to his office and dialed his number to see who might have picked up the mobile.

A guy answered and said "Yeah, sure I got it. You can have it back for $300."

Negotiations proceeded and the price got down to $200, but then Reuters called the

mobile company to have international call access cut off and the guy with the hot

phone got ticked off. The deal stalled. Reuters cogitated and asked the guy how they

could contact him after they mulled over the situation. The guy said: No problem.

You can reach me at Rainsy's office. I work for KNP.

 

A groundswell of enthusiasm has encouraged and surprised marathon organisers,

especially with news of the establishment of the Tony Kevin Fan Club. The TKFC's

president, who requested anonymity, said their membership was "in the many hundreds,

mate!" He also said Kevin's fans would post themselves along the marathon route

with banners which read "Tony, you can do it. Halfway is not good enough."

A bit of a snafu last month at the Japanese embassy's celebration in honor of the

Emperor's birthday. The elegant party was only mildly interupted when the string

quartet there to entertain the gaggle of VIPs started playing the theme song for

the movie "The Bridge on the River Kwai".

Shades of Alec Guiness marching into the prisoner of war camp in Kanchanaburi

caught a few people by surprise, but not for long as the musicians mysteriously cut

short their performance halfway through the rendition and moved on to a more "politically

correct" melody.

A troupe of male cross-dressers from Malaysia has been making the rounds of clubs

in town - the Manhattan, B-Boss, the Base - and those who've seen their act say its

stunning.

Watch out for "friends" proffering the latest high to make the rounds in

Phnom Penh. The stuff is called Ketamine and it fits in the "Horse tranquilizer"

category of depressants. Take to much and you may end up dead.