Sihanoukville. It is possible to find a lot information about Sihanoukville in our time. From tourist guides to investment opportunities. The city is evidently growing and many people are moving. It is expected that the newest Cambodian city will be one of the biggest in a near future and there are a lot reasons to think so.
When the Don Bosco Technical School was opened in 1997, Sihanoukville was a small and deserted town around the only deep international sea port of Cambodia. The school was built in the middle of a wood one mile at the east of Leu Market. The place is known as Oupram village and it is now among the big urban plans of development for the future Sihanoukville.
Foreigners were rare by then. Beaches were astonishing natural, the islands kept virgin jungles and the Sihanoukville inhabitants were all fisherman who were rather the former builders of the sea port.
The newest Cambodian city
Sihanoukville is the newest Cambodian city. Actually, it was not intended as a city, but as a sea port under the entrepreneurship of then Prince Norodom Sihanouk who was looking to open Cambodia to international trade after the independence from France. The well cared National Road 4 that links the port with Phnom Penh, was supported by France and United States and it is today one of the main Cambodian routes of the national economy.
Ports attract foreign sailors and sailors do recommend places, especially if those places have stunning beaches, green hills and numberless islands. The troublesome era between 1970 and 1997 would keep Sihanoukville out of development. More as a military strategic point for the long Indochina wars, it was a hidden paradise to be rediscovered by the international community after 1999.
Khmer Rouge was active as far as 2000 and foreigners were rather afraid to spent a night in the port. But the Cambodian opening to international markets would rely, of course, in its only deep sea port.
The city is just halfway between the Thai and Vietnamese costs. It makes the place a real international spot. The project to build a Thai - Cambodian - Vietnamese road along the cost would put Sihanoukville not just in the sea rout of the Gulf of Thailand, but also at the middle of an international halfway between thriving metropolis like Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City.
The expected Sihanoukville Airport is also a key for its coming development. Waiting for the signature of commercial agreements, the city will serve as an air international gate for the Kingdom.
Tourist development It is possible to recommend Sihanoukville as an ecological tourism spot. Although it is a duty to ask international tourism to center in the protection of the Bahia ecosystems. There is little care for the fate of nature in what is a fragile ecosystem of beaches, sea corals, woods' islands, hills and the natural parks.
Urban planning seems to be indiscriminate, with a hurry to build huge hotel networks everywhere without a previous ecological impact research. A very poor waste processing and the lack of recycle mentality of the inhabitants generate daily garbage in popular beaches and markets, while the landfill is a shame.
Tourist can find a big range of hotel offerings: from backpackers' hostels and guesthouses to five stars hotels. Tours to the islands are compulsory. Visit to the Ream National Park is a duty. Enjoying a good number of beaches is obvious. Knowing the beautiful pagodas is a great recommendation (Leu. Kraom and Otres pagodas are the best.)
Out of this, Sihanoukville stills far from the cultural life of bigger cities. In Siem Reap or Phnom Penh you can find opera, dramas, shows, ibraries, enjoy movies and get a more dynamic cultural life. But it is not possible to find in Sihanoukville yet. If you like to enjoy beaches for days and have time to write your memoirs, Sihanoukville will offer a good time for you.
Social evils Then we have the social evils to describe as well. Surely you have google Sihanoukville and find some interesting titles like these ones: child abuse, drugs, beggars, delinquency, street children, pedophiles.
Yes, that is also a reality and we should talk about it. In this sense, we promote what we call responsible tourism. There are several organizations trying to put all those things in order in Sihanoukville. Some of them have been successful and others not too much.
We should focus in the most vulnerable groups: children, youth and women. Very often, they become victims of an illegal system of exploitation in many sense.
We are not agree to portrait Sihanoukville as a haven for pedophiles like some particular and respectable organizations do. We prefer to show the successes in fighting such evils through education and prevention. However, you should be aware of some facts in Sihanoukville:
1. The problem of child abuse, child labor and women abuse is real. Those who want to deny it for the good of tourist promotion of the city, can do so, but tourists will find it by themselves and the bad effect will be worst.
2. There are several organizations, NGOs and officials, working in prevention and punishing infractions. Those who think that Cambodian officials are corrupt, that nobody care for children and blame authorities, do not get the full information. Corruption is everywhere in the world and everywhere in the world you can find honest people. The Sihanoukville prison counts with some foreign inmates who thought that they could do whatever in Sihanoukville with children and women. They are paying the consequences of their misconceptions.
3. There is a bad effect of portraying foreign visitors as suspect pedophiles by the action of some organizations that work in protecting the children. Protection to children is noble. But it is also noble to protect the good name of people. The consequence is that some Cambodian families, without education and looking for money, put traps to foreigners - and this is also very real with some adult victims already. You can be accused of pedophile and the tribunals can put you in preventive prison. Therefore, be careful in dealing with minors in Sihanoukville. Do not trust in kindness and do not touch children, even if you do not have any bad intention.
4. We are addressing this article to good and safe tourists who want to come to enjoy Sihanoukville. However, if you are not a safe tourist and intend to visit the city to abuse children, we have the duty to warn you: you can be prosecuted by Cambodian authorities; there are organizationsfollowing you; in US, Canada, Australia, Japan and the European Union you can be prosecuted. For your information, the age of consent in Cambodia is 16 years old, but it is considered child abuse until 18 years old.
5.Do not give money to beggars. You will find handicap people with children asking for money. They are using their children to do so. They live from the money you give them, but they do not come out of poverty that way. Their children are forbidden to join school. Giving money to them, is keeping them on the beaches forever. Give that money to those organizations that work to improve the life of Cambodians in Sihanoukville.
6. Some foreigners feel pity of the children and try to give them some support. Be aware that most of the children of the beaches are already supported and they can create stories to amaze you and get funds from you. If you want to support a child, a family or whatever, look for organizations like Don Bosco.
Visit Don Bosco Technical School One idea to show that there is something on the way for the benefit of poor Cambodians in Sihanoukville, is visiting social works like the Don Bosco Technical School. Just call (0979675042) and come to see the workshops and know our history. Help us with donations and say to the world that organizations like Don Bosco are helping the Cambodian children and youth to build a good future for their country.
The following are programs that you can support while visiting Sihanoukville:
1. The Don Bosco Children Fund: It is a program to sponsor unprivileged children to guarantee they attend school and have food. Don Bosco supports in Cambodia more than 45 thousand children through this program. Sponsors can support a child just with 30 American dollars per month. Come to know the program in our office at Oupram Street.
2. Support students of the Technical School: The school has 500 students from rural areas and poor communities. They follow a two years technical training. They need logging, food, academic tools and uniform. Helping a boy or girl to continue their studies will be a great help for our mission.
3. Donate academic tools: We have the sections of electricity, automotive, mechanic, welding, secretarial, audiovisual and web development. Do you have a second hand camera? Are you a mechanist and want to give to the school a tool for the studies of our boys? Do you want to give to some students notebooks? Do you have technical books? Our students will need them and thank you.
Useful links about Sihanoukville and Cambodia 1. We recommend the Sihanoukville Advertiser, a periodical bulletin about the city port. It has maps, locations, directories and recommendations. It is a free publication you can get in hotels, agencies and markets.
2. The blog I See Cambodia: cambodia1.wordpress.com:
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About Sihanoukville
Sihanoukville. It is possible to find a lot information about Sihanoukville in our time. From tourist guides to investment opportunities. The city is evidently growing and many people are moving. It is expected that the newest Cambodian city will be one of the biggest in a near future and there are a lot reasons to think so.
