The Gecko is outraged. He hears that German doctors at the Field Hospital spend

their spare time filing used syringes with detergent and taking pot shots at innocent

geckos on walls and ceilings. The death toll is reportedly enormous.

Hey, get with the program boys. We know you are bored but killing geckos is not the

answer. These infantile acts of geckocide are not only just that but read your tropical

medicine books-geckos kill bad guys themselves, like mosquitos carrying dengue fever.

Aim for the mosquitos, would you please?

In the last year many UNTAC battalions have spent a lot of energy trying to do something

good for Cambodia, like taking out mines wherever they were found.

Could someone please explain why the U.N. is now giving back mines to the Cambodian

military? Eight hundred turned in last year were recently "presented" to

the "new" Cambodian army as stipulated by the "Peace" Accords.

Is the Gecko the only one in town who thinks there is something amiss here? How about

a few letters to the editor? Better yet, how about 40,000 mine victims knocking on

Akashi's door with a demand for some answers?

Speaking of mines, it's a good thing the Thais are helping out. They're training

Khmers how to use dogs to sniff out the little nasties up in Battambang. One slight

wrinkle though. The dogs only respond to commands in Thai.

This just in from the Thai border. Prices for weapons have plummeted due to an oversupply.

M-16s with grenade launchers are going for a low, low $32 a piece. Used AKs are a

steal for only $18. And grenades or anti-personnel mines are only 10 baht each.

Some foreign airline techies were in town recently. They came to try and figure out

why three separate, local, "official" sources were giving different map

coordinates for Pochentong international airport. Don't worry. There was only a difference

of 20 kilometers between the figures provided.

Another update from the Field Hospital. Recently, two Vietnamese entered the compound

and stole a motorcycle. As they were making their getaway they crashed into an UNTAC

vehicle coming the other way.

The Vietnamese were cared for by the Germans but they managed to escape-on crutches.

The Gecko was told that a firm called SPR contracted by the World Food Program has

been adding a little twist to its contract to deliver rice to Cambodia from Thailand.

They drop off the rice in Battambang or wherever, then head back across the border,

dash up to an illegal checkpoint north of Aran and pick up sacks of black market,

WFP-donated rice to re-sell in Thailand.

If the WFP is concerned about this, the Gecko was told that UNTAC has photographs

to prove it.

For those who think that with all the embargoes the Khmer Rouge must be suffering

economically, think again. A recent report from Yea Ath- the "model" resettlement

village run by UNHCR-has it that offers of stolen jeeps have been scoffed at by Pol

Pot's boys. The say they have four-wheel drives coming out their ears, but might

be in the market for one of UNTAC's Wolves.