To read Nate Thayer’s description of an embattled Angkor Chum as it was in 1995 is shocking because so much development has happened since then. With the construction of roads, bridges, schools, health centers, and an ACELEDA bank, the area around the district center is changing rapidly. While markers near Bott village indicate the presence of mines, it seems that organizations such as the HALO trust and CMAC have cleared most of the ordinance in the area. Despite the outside world’s increasing encroachment on Angkor Chum, the area remains, as it always has been, a rural farming community. This is something that is not likely to change, but whether or not the demographics of Angkor Chum will remain the same is doubtful. More and more people have left the district since the year 2000, and it is likely that this trend will continue for the foreseeable future.
There are many incentives for people to leave Angkor Chum. During the war, many people started leaving the area because of the violence and extortion suffered at the hands of both government soldiers and the Khmer Rouge. Today it is more likely that they will leave because of jobs. Events in the 1990s left Cambodia’s economy in shambles. When relations with Thailand were normalized, many people started heading across the border to the north looking for better wages. There are currently reported to be as many as 200,000 Cambodians living and working in Thailand today in fields such as construction, farming, and fishing. Despite calls from Prime Minister Hun Sen for these migrant laborers to return home, Thailand will probably continue to attract workers from Cambodia as long as there are jobs available. This is even so despite wide spread allegations of abuse and numerous stories floating around in the press about mistreatment at the hands of Thai employers.
One man named Mr. Yao, who is from Angkor Chum and worked as a construction worker abroad, reported that he could earn up to $300 per month in Thailand. This is a lot of money considering that Cambodia’s per capita income floats at around $177. It is easy to imagine that many people hear stories of how much money one can make in Thailand and resolve themselves to go and seek their fortune. Consider the example of a young man whom the author’s of Towards Understanding spoke to about the upcoming future. “Last week I met a young boy about 18 years old . I asked him ‘What do you think about your future?’ He had no idea. The only thing he was thinking about was, if possible, borrow money from his neighbor and go to work in Thailand.” A simple story like this can probably be repeated in any area across the country where jobs are scarce and the only hope of employment is to go abroad. Even Mr. Yao stated that the reason why he left Angkor Chum in the first place was because there were no jobs. Some of administrators at Angkor Chum High School claim that people who stop going to school before grade twelve are reported to be working in Thailand.
They may stop and go to Thailand in order to support their family because they are very poor. So they must stop. Sometimes I ask after students. I ask, “Why did he stop studying?” They tell me his family is very poor. And right now he is in Thailand. I always ask them.
While Pol Pot did much for the fragmentation of Cambodian society, it seems that current economic forces are doing much the same. In looking at this example, it is also impossible to ignore in the difference between the current generation and the previous. Only thirty years ago, shiftless young men like these were given guns, taught to hate their own people, and endure relentless hardship during years of conflict. Now they carry farming tools on their backs instead of rifles.
The promise of going elsewhere may seem even more appealing in the years to come. By simple observation, more and more farming equipment are appearing on the roads in the fields. With mechanized farming on the rise, the demand for manual labor will go down and more people will be unemployed. In addition to this, it is unlikely that any new professional jobs will be created given the rural and isolated nature of the district. The professional class of people who work in the bank, NGO’s, and health services are already imported from outside areas to work in this area. It is easy to see why this is so because the absence of educational institutions prevented people from this area developing into the kinds of professionals needed for those kinds of jobs. Whether or not Angkor Chum high school will one day produce candidates for professional jobs is unknown, but it is difficult to say when. For right now, at least, there are very few opportunities after school. One teacher had this to say:
After the students leave school, it is very difficult to find a job. This month, a lot of students completed the form to be a teacher. They need fifty teachers, but many more students applied than can get the job. Maybe 600 people applied. I ask them why they want to be a teacher, “because I cannot find another job!” But this is the only way for them to find a job. ACELEDA? No. NGO? No. Hospital? No. They only need three or five policemen. So they must apply to be a teacher.
For a high school student graduating today, the opportunities look bleak for professional employment in Angkor Chum and will probably leave the district when their studies are finished in order to seek their fortunes elsewhere.
How Angkor Chum will continue to develop and change remains to be seen. Given all that it has survived during the last thousand or so years, it seems likely that it will continue to endure as it always has.
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