I'm glad the article mentioned Friends...great place.

When you were there?

I was there in Nov 07...so not too long ago. I think the country is going to change a lot, and soon. Especially in the Siem Reap area, there were many 5 star resorts under construction near the Angkor Temples.

I was there in the early summer of 1996, but I try to keep one eye on news out of there.

Cambodia desperately needs some development and jobs, but it will be sad if that which made it beguiling is lost in the process.

But life, sadly, is full of tradeoffs. :(

It was made pretty clear to us by our local guides that jobs and development will come through tourism...for those able to learn English. Without that, most people are stuck making a dollar a day working in the rice fields. As I was a tourist there, I guess I can't point any fingers. I did go through a company that wins awards for "responsible tourism".

I'd just hate to go back one day and see it's become more like Egypt...where any converstation a local has with you is for the sole purpose of trying to sell you something. Maybe the worst of it will be contained in the Siem Reap area where rich tourists will fly in, stay at the 5 star resorts, see the temples, then hit a Thai beach.

I suspect your fears will eventually be realized.

OTOH, if you're a Cambodian or Egyptian, what good are tourists if you can't make money from them?

Even in this country, I was in Lunenberg, N.S. a year ago and got the feeling I was visiting a museum town that had no reason to exist other than tourism. It seemed like 90 per cent of the businesses were designed to separate tourists from money.