MACHETE MUTILATION MAYHEM

A barang businessman in the Wat Damnak area is disturbed by the ferocity of two machete attacks that occurred on his patch, and upset that no one seems to be bothered doing anything about it.

Insider’s intrepid Khmer reporter Thik Kaliyann is on the case, and reports that on October 2, a young man was found on the side of road, near Wat Damnak pagoda, with blood seeping onto the bitumen from the back of his head.

He was the victim of a serious machete attack in the dark section of road that runs between Wat Damnak Rd towards the river.  He was struck in the head with the machete.

Several weeks ago, a 17-year-old male was riding a bike to his home when he was attacked from behind by at least four youths at the end of Wat Bo Rd, adjacent to Wat Damnak. He was hit with a machete across the shoulder, narrowly missing his neck. A 30 centimetre slash through to the bone required many stitches. Witnesses complained that police attended the October 2 attack, but made no arrests.

Sala Kamroeuk commune police chief, Pich Samoul, said he sent officers to the scene, and police also visited the victim in hospital. But he said that action couldn’t be taken because police did not receive a complaint letter from the victim.

He said he didn’t know about the case of the 17-year-old student, and added that one of the major reasons prompting youths to fight is “rancour.”

“Many students have a girlfriend and when other guys love her as well, they start to fight to get that girl.”

He also said some of the problems are down to gangsters who are “always creating and provoking turmoil in society.”

He said police are patrolling at night to arrest gangsters “so they can be re-educated.”

HOSPITALITY SCHOOLS CELEBRATE

Celebrations for the tenth anniversary of Siem Reap’s much-heralded Paul Dubrule hospitality school kick off on Sunday evening with a poolside cocktail party at Sofitel. 

Present will be the illustrious Monsieur Paul Dubrule, the founder of the school. Dubrule is also the co-founder of the Accor hotel group which of course owns Sofitel.

The hotel’s general manager Fabrice Ducry will of course also be in attendance,  and he will officiate by welcoming the “courageous racers” who cycled from Bangkok to Siem reap, covering the 400 km distance in three days.

The riders set off from Bangkok today and will arrive at the hotel on Sunday, hopefully in time for the cocktail party.

The bike ride was organised to commemorate the 12,000-kilometre odyssey accomplished on a bicycle 10 years ago by the founder, Monsieur Paul Dubrule, for the opening of the school back in 2002 – the school’s founder undertook a marathon bike ride from France to Siem Reap to attend the opening.

Over the decade, about 1,200 students have received career training at the school.

Meanwhile, the ‘other’ major hospitality training  school in town, Sala Bai, is also set to celebrate its tenth anniversary on November 7 –  that school says that over the decade it has trained 1,000 students.