There are few in the expat community here who haven’t heard a thing or two about Nick Mclernan, 40, and Martin Gates, 24: Singlet Senior and Singlet Junior, Beavis and Butthead, Dumb and Dumber — half the city seems to have an opinion. For those that don’t know of this seedy morality tale of things gone awry in the Kingdom of Wonder, it focuses on the plight of two British men, McLernan and Gates, and strikes at the very heart of just what duties and responsibilities an Embassy has towards its citizens abroad.

In the case of the British Embassy in Phnom Penh: these duties are strictly limited. So strict in fact, that Mclernan now lies in Calmette Hospital, disfigured, fighting for his life, and piling up medical bills which it seems no one will pay, though I doubt the Embassy much cares. In the end, it wasn’t vagrancy, drugs or anything remotely exotic that got him. He was hit by a truck.

Meanwhile, a dead-to-the-world Gates has stepped onto the tarmac at Heathrow, presumably to read that his mate is not in fact dead, as he first thought, but on life support, at a hospital just a stone’s throw away from the Embassy where he went so many times asking for help. Surely a mindfuck too many for such a young and already fucked-up mind.

All this would have been avoided if the British Embassy had the wherewithal to make a simple discretionary loan, way back in February. Yes, February. Things look impossible now. At what point does Mclernan’s life support get turned off? The way things stand, someone, somewhere is going to have to make that call, and the British Embassy’s decision making, indirectly or otherwise, will be seen by many to have been a major factor.

The details are murky, very murky indeed. Sometime in December 2014, Mclernan inherited the not-too-untidy sum of £32,691 (close to $50,000) on the sale of a house in Bournemouth left to him by his recently deceased mother. By late February he was living destitute on the streets of Phnom Penh, with his best mate, Gates, whom he had taken away to “get a break from it all, as a treat.” They claimed to have been the victim of theft.

They were soon knocking on the Embassy’s door asking for flights and emergency travel documents home. The Embassy said no. Again and again and again. The Embassy were given more than a little hassle for this, not least of all from myself. On March 18, in the first of several emails I wrote explaining why they immediately needed to be flown home: “They currently are both hungry, look skeletal and are covered in mosquito bites, and it’s quite likely they will end up starving to death or in Cambodian prison for vagrancy. If either of these things were to happen, and frankly it is looking likely, it is a legitimate response that the British Embassy would be accused of a lack of due care to its citizens.”’

Their response was a boilerplate one, but one that many feel is more than reasonable: “What we cannot do is pay bills or give money from public funds because we are not funded to do this and it is the obligation of individuals to take responsibility for themselves. It would also be unfair for those who take out insurance to subsidise those who do not, and individuals would not normally get these bills paid if they were in the UK.”

Of course, there are two positions here and they go to the core of what divides the ‘Left’ and ‘Right’: how much should the state help it citizens, particularly the poor, needy and, in this case, the none too smart? The arguments are well worn. Most people know where they stand, won’t budge, but love to argue it anyway. Lefties believe in common pooled resources to help people when they are in desperate need, even when brought about by their own misdeeds. The Embassy, for the moment at least (for we live in austere times), seemingly employs the approach of the Right: individuals taking responsibility for themselves. Fair enough.

When I initially met Gates and Mclernan, I was eager to help and went to the Embassy with them to find out what was going on. Regardless of the financials, they were treated less than respectfully. The Embassy’s Khmer staff clearly wanted them to go away (it was their fourth visit by now). They didn’t seem to be getting any sensible advice whatsoever. They were just asked to give cash for emergency travel documents (which was strange as at a later date, I went to Embassy to pay cash for Mclernan and was not allowed in).

After what I had seen, I was keen to help them and arranged to put a small story in a newspaper, the Khmer Times. I had been warned off the paper by many, particularly by journalists who said I should have nothing to do with them and that it was widely considered a joke newspaper. I took this with a pinch of salt, as journos slag off other publications as a matter of course. But on this one, they were right. My admittedly hastily written article was changed in bizarre fashion. My lead, which had been about the shoddy Embassy treatment I had witnessed, was replaced by something about how the government was cracking down on crime. The Embassy was barely mentioned. In less than 24 hours the Khmer Times had pulled the story, offering me no explanations despite my repeatedly asking them, fueling suspicion amongst an already sceptical audience that the story was somehow hoaxed.

Nevertheless the article did the rounds on the local internet and I came in for a hammering of sorts. Some of it was mild: I had been duped and was naive. Some of it went off into wild flights of fancy and was quite entertaining – I had faked the whole story to promote a film about two dumb expats I was showing at the cinemas (an unfortunate coincidence), even that I was staging the whole thing to shoot material for a new movie.

The UK Daily Mail mentioned the stir the story had caused, so I showed them an updated draft of the story. They wanted more info. Of course they did – that’s what this story needed all along. Wary of how the Mail would portray them I declined, saying that I would try instead to crowdfund their flights home. This too went badly, some people were supportive but others called me a fraud and a scammer, even suggesting I was a sock-puppet for Gates or Mclernan. Not believing their story was something I could understand (I had reservations myself), but what caught me off guard was the sheer number of people that thought these guys were not deserving of help at all. Surely it was clear to see that it would end badly if they weren’t flown out. Even some of my friends were giving me shit. One new, but much loved friend shouted at me: “You’re a cunt. You’re a cunt. No-one gives a fuck about those two junkies. What are you trying to do? You’re nothing.”

And in many ways he was right, not many people did care (and I can be a bit of a cunt).

My biggest surprise was not that other people didn’t want to help and/or didn’t believe them, but that people were so hostile to the fact that I wanted to help at all. People seemed actively hostile to the fact I wanted to help, idiots or not. Nevertheless the furore helped a little, and Gates and Mclernan were received kindly by many people on the street who wanted to help them out.

Liberal hippy pinkos and Daily Mail lovers aside, the real meat and drink was to be had over just how Singlet Senior and Son had lost all their money. They said there was a theft at a hostel in Sihanoukville where they were staying on February 21, just a few days before they were set to leave, and they lost virtually everything they had – smartphones, $3,000 cash, a Macbook – and that on contacting his bank Mclernan’s bank up to £15,000 had been removed from his bank, through frequent withdrawals from ATMs as well as online payments. At this point Mclernan did not freeze his account, saying it would effectively deny him access to his only remaining money. In response to this the public said, and I paraphrase: bollocks, utter bollocks.

Holes were quickly found in their story. Things didn’t add up, and too many questions were left unanswered: Just how can you get defrauded for £15,000 off a debit card in the space of a few weeks? Why was there no record of the robbery? Why didn’t they go to the police? Why did they leave a $100 tab at the last place there is record of them staying? Essentially, they were seen as liars and to many at least that made them undeserving. For some it was far worse than this: they were junkies, scammers, methheads, chavs; they had been seen ‘drooling’ after leaving public toilets; they even had criminal records. Morbid humour set in, some saying they deserved to die or they should have syringes stabbed in their eyes: they got what they deserved.

And there seemed to be a fair bit of classism involved too. I couldn’t help thinking that if these were nice middle-class chaps the Embassy would have flown them home long ago, but therein lay the paradox – those guys would have had the money wired in minutes. Gates and Mclernan were having no such luck. They were relying on the kindness of strangers to stay alive.

It proved impossible to work out exactly where the money went. Did Gates and Mclernan take drugs? Certainly. Were they drug addicts? Possibly. Fuck-ups? Undoubtedly. I still think they were robbed or scammed at some level. How and for what amount, I do not know. If it was due to their own stupidity, I do not know, but I just can’t see them blowing every single last piece of coin, not to mention losing all their clothes. I think they were easy targets and got conned somehow. A lot of people think I’m naïve on this, and they have good reason to: the guys were an infuriating pair of idiots, unreliable, disorganized, ill-informed, losing and forgetting things constantly. They actually did remind of me Beavis and Butthead.

I spent a fair bit of time with Martin and Nick, helped them out where I could, took the piss out of them when thing got a bit glum, which was often. They always seemed like ok lads to me, definitely not the sharpest tools, some of the mental illnesses to which they claimed were all too evident. They wrote me a kind thank you letter when I had put them up for the night. But all-in-all, their character is irrelevant. It was clear from the outset that if they were not flown home they were going to end up in a very bad situation indeed.

The British Embassy’s own guidelines state: “A discretionary loan from public funds to help you return to the UK may only be considered in very exceptional circumstances and only if you have used up all other methods of getting funds.” This is the part where the British Embassy failed to do its job. Why were they continually refused this emergency loan? If they had been given it, they would both be back in the UK, with their passports confiscated. Why, in six weeks of constantly knocking on the Embassy’s door, were they not repatriated? Whilst the machinations of bureaucracies are slow, in “exceptional circumstances” you need to be able to be flexible enough to be able to act, show some dynamism, particularly in Cambodia: this nation of deathpats.

On these terms, the Embassy simply failed to deliver. Khmer440 told the Embassy yesterday that it would be running a story about Nick and Martin. They replied this morning: “The British Embassy can confirm that a British national has been hospitalised in Phnom Penh. We are providing consular assistance.” They then directed us to a website link of a pamphlet entitled FCO Brits Abroad 2014.

Currently, Nick is living on a life support machine and someone might well have to take the decision to turn off the machine. The situation should have never ever have got this far.

Phnom Penh police are investigating the apparent suicide of prominent expat dentist Dr Wolfgang Schmidtberg who apparently killed himself in his hospital bed this morning, after being hospitalised for colon cancer.

Dr Schmidtberg was found dead in his bed with a head wound after hospital staff at Son Sek International University Hospital heard a loud bang in his room around 5am this morning. A handgun was resting near his head.

According to a local police Dr Schmidtberg’s wife and brother-in-law have been brought in for questioning because it is understood that the deceased man asked his brother-in-law to bring the concealed weapon into the hospital this morning, subsquently chased them and hospital staff from the room and fired the shot into his temple.

Dr Schmidtberg is one of the most prominent expat dental surgeons in Cambodia and has been in the Kingdom since arriving here as an UNTAC staff member.

Obvious questions that will be raised from this incident include how it was possible for a revolver to be smuggled into a busy hospital in Phnom Penh, the legality of assisted suicide in Cambodia and the ethical considerations of local media publishing graphic death scene photographs of the deceased man’s body.

It has been a bad week for expat deaths in Phnom Penh as news reaches us of yet another death, this time of US missionary Dr David Drueding, 66, who was found dead in his room at the Heng Pich Guest House on Street 84, directly opposite Calmette Hospital. He is believed to have died from natural causes.

Dr Drueding has been working as the Executive Montessori Program Director at Phnom Penh Montessori International Day Care and Pre-School since February 2013 where he was responsible for the development of two Montessori Schools.

He was also a priest / missionary attached to the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches dedicated to ‘Bringing the Word to the Children of the Far East.’

He was a former US Marine and spent many years teaching English as a Second Language in places as diverse as Iraq, Japan, Korea, China, Malaysia and most recently Cambodia.

It has also come to light that Drueding has an extensive criminal record in the US, with various convictions for domestic violence, larceny and being drunk and disorderly. These convictions occurred after he had established his mission.

It is not immediately apparent why Drueding was staying in a small Guest House considering he lived here, but his last Facebook pages point to some recent financial problems brought about by a theft. On March 30th he posted:

“I am alive and well. I have been offline because of my computer going in for repairs here in Cambodia, and the charges to get it back kept changing higher and higher….if you are not a Cambodian the assumption is that you are a rich tourist which I am NOT, as well as being robbed by 2 men of my wallet, cash, ATM card, and IDs. It has been a stressful month, but God is good and everything will work out. The real problem is no access to $$$$ since my ATM card is taking 10 days to come by FED EXPRESS. So prayers are requested for God’s provision. I am eating on $5.00 a day so I am eating a lot of steamed white rice and little else, not the best diet to regain my strength. But I am thankful for what HE provides…HE is faithful!!!!!”

Dr Drueding seems to have been suffering from poor health recently. His body has been taken to a local pagoda.

Two days, two separate incidents of foreign men dying from excessive drinking in Phnom Penh. Late last night a 32 year old British male died after being taken to Calmette Hospital. According to police reports, Oliver Gordon Banks was staying at a guesthouse on Street 136 when he was refused admission into Pontoon nightclub for being too drunk. According to reports, Mr Banks then tried to sleep in a tuk tuk, but security guards in the area saw his condition and told the tuk tuk driver to take him to hospital.

In another incident yesterday, an unidentified foreign man around 50 was found dead at around 5.30am Sunday morning outside KFC restaurant at the corner of Street 51 and Street 310 in BKK1. Police reports say that his body smelled heavily of alcohol and people in the area report that the man in question was seen regularly in that area drinking beer at that time of day and looking intoxicated.

Today a few K440 members supported the relief efforts in Nepal by contributing money to the above group of volunteering travelers and expats helping the victims of the recent earthquake. The contribution was enough to provide a shelter and food for one family of five for three months – every cent has gone toward direct assistance.

Coverage of the devastation in Nepal has been covered at length on Khmer440, thanks to the posts of a member who is on the ground in Kathmandu. His coverage and a series of excellent photographs can be seen here:

http://www.khmer440.com/chat_forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=49045&start=60

Khmer440 poster Mr Londo posted this in the discussion today. “The group above are now focusing on small villages in outlying areas surrounding Ghorka which was close to the epicentre of the first earthquake. Today’s meeting highlighted the difficulty for some families as their houses haven’t collapsed but the integrity of the structure is of concern with large cracks throughout. This doesn’t qualify the families for assistance from the government even though they have to sleep out in the open. There are also reports of jealousies between some householders as they perceive others to be receiving bigger shelters or more food. Other’s have told of supply trucks being high jacked in more remote regions and the bandits then on selling provisions.

“Sitting in on the meeting today I was impressed with the lack of ego of individuals and the group’s measured and methodical approach with coordinating their relief efforts. As well as the ongoing support to displaced families, motorbikes are now going to be rented so as to scout for small villages that may have been missed deeper into the mountains. Unfortunately there aren’t enough experienced rough terrain riders, but two guys are to head out tomorrow, I think.”

If any other K440 readers or members would like to contribute, please contact Admin or Mr Londo on the discussion thread.

A 42 year old American man with an extensive petty criminal background has been found dead in a Phnom Penh guesthouse this morning, the latest in a series of foreigners dying in Phnom Penh.

Mallory Thomas Martin was found early this morning in room 111 at the Golden Bridge Guesthouse on Street 278, a street popular with backpackers looking for cheap accommodation. The immediate causes of Mr Martin’s death are not known, but he is thought to have died of natural causes. It is believed that he had been in Phnom Penh only a short time, following a period as an English teacher in Thailand.

Mr Martin arrived in Thailand after a series of arrests in Florida dating back over nearly fifteen years, according to Alachua Country Florida Police Records. His first recorded arrest was for burglary in 2001 with subsequent arrests for a variety of offences occurring during the next decade.

His last recorded arrest was in Polk County Florida in August 2012 for several offences including larceny, credit card fraud, theft and possession of firearms and ammunition.

It’s unclear if Mr Martin has any family. A witness who spoke with him in the area earlier this week said he was with a Cambodian woman whom he introduced as his ‘future wife’.

The Cambodia Daily has today reported that police have arrested AeroCambodia CEO, Brian Naswall, for allegedly assaulting a 12 year old girl on Koh Pich on Friday night. Mr Naswall is due to appear in court to face charges today.

The full story as reported in the CD here:

Police arrested an American man Friday night in Phnom Penh after they allegedly caught him sexually abusing a 12-year-old girl in the presence of two other underage girls, an official and an NGO said Sunday.

Pol Phiethey, director of the Interior Ministry’s anti-human trafficking department, said Sunday that police arrested Brian Naswall on Koh Pich island in Chamkar Mon district’s Tonle Bassac commune.

“I can only tell you that that guy is American and he will be sent to the court tomorrow,” Mr. Phiethey said, declining to provide further details.

Samleang Seila, country director of anti-pedophile NGO Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE), whose organization assisted police in their investigation, said commune police arrested Mr. Naswell in the act of abusing the 12-year-old.

“He was caught red-handed by the local police,” he said.

Mr. Seila said that six alleged victims had come forward so far in Phnom Penh to give statements and he expected more victims would be found as the investigation progresses.

“Police are also looking at other witnesses and victims as well as digital evidence,” he said. “They suspect he was producing pornographic material.”

According to a statement released Sunday by APLE, Mr. Naswell allegedly lured the girls to a quiet area on Koh Pich island with the promise of money before abusing the 12-year-old.

The statement also identified Mr. Naswell as the CEO of Aero Cambodia, a Phnom Penh-based aviation firm that operates throughout the country.

The young western man found dead outside All Nations Guesthouse at Victory Hill, Sihanoukville yesterday has been named as Peter Michael Riley, a 25 year old British man from St Heliers, Jersey in the UK.

The British Embassy in Phnom Penh have confirmed that a British national died in Sihanoukville and have said they are providing consular assistance to his family.

Mr Riley is believed to have died from a heart attack. He seems to have been on an extended holiday in South East Asia. In April he became an internet sensation when a video of him dancing nude at a Songkran festival in Bangkok Thailand was posted to YouTube and went viral. At that time he was arrested by Thai police and fined 100 baht before being released.

Peter’s friends and family have launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to repatriate his body because he didn’t have any travel insurance. Six hours after being launched, 153 people had collectively donated GBP3835 or over $5000. More money is expected to be raised later this week when a fundraising concert is organised at his favourite bar in St Heliers.

Timo Jokinen, the 49 year old proprietor of a well-known bar and guesthouse on Phnom Penh’s Street 172 has been found dead in a room above the bar this morning. The Daun Penh District Chief of Police, Mr Hout Chanyaran told media that the cause of death is not yet known, but he appears to have been dead for several days and local media has reported that he committed suicide due to financial concerns. A $1,300 rent payment was due on his business, and it’s reported that he failed to pay the rent last month.

Mr Jokinen was a Finnish national and ran the popular Suomi Bar on Street 172.

In a bizarre twist to the story, the police have reported that while inspecting what they have called a ‘crime scene’ they saw blood flowing from a mezzanine level room and the door was locked from the inside. Photographs from the hotel show large amounts of blood streaming down a set of stairs.

This is the third expat death this weekend. The body of UK national Stephen King in a Sihanoukville guesthouse yesterday morning. Mr King, from Scunthorpe, had evidently just started a job with K9 dog training services, when he went home complaining of food poisoning. In a separate incident, a Malaysian woman, Kin KimKeng, was found dead in her room at the Green Palace Hotel in Phnom Penh yesterday.

According to Khmer440, at least 48 expats have died in Cambodia in less than six months in 2015.

A 57 year old German man, Udo Theodore Symon, has been arrested in Phnom Penh for allegedly sexually abusing the nine year old son of his cleaner. Mr Symon is the owner of FX Animation Studios, which describes itself as Phnon Penh’s leading animation and audio dubbing facility and is used widely in Cambodia’s fledgling film and advertising industries.

Mr Symon was arrested following a complaint filed by the child victim’s mother. He was arrested at 10:30 am in the morning of the 16th of June 2015 on ‘Concrete’ Road, Ta Ngov Krom Village, Sangkat Niroth, Khan Chbar Ampov, and he has been charged with sexual contact with a minor.

According to initial police reports, the mother of the boy who was abused was employed as a cleaner for the German and she often took her son along with her when she went to clean the house. When the mother was busy at the market buying food, the German took the opportunity to persuade the boy into his bedroom by tricking him that they would play a game. Then the German made the boy perform oral sex on him. The boy told his mother, who in turn informed the police who immediately came to arrest the man. He has been taken him to the Phnom Penh Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Police Department.

It appears that Mr Symon has been in Cambodia since May 2013. According to his Linkedin profile, he was previously employed in animation studios in Germany and was the CEO of Planet Wave Studio in Saigon from 1994 to 2001. Curiously, his Linkedin profile includes no details of where he was or what he was doing from 2001 to 2013. It also appears that Mr Symon used another name – Udo Sabiniewicz – prior to arriving in Cambodia. It is not clear why, nor is it clear whether Symon or Sabiniewicz is his real name.

Mr Symon is the third expat to be arrested on child sex charges this week. Earlier today a 55 year old French man Bernard Soudeller (above) was arrested in Kandal Province for allegedly raping a 12 year boy, and yesterday a Mexican national, Bernado Pino Paez was arrested in Sihanoukville for allegedly molesting underage girls.

A young British man has been arrested for allegedly raping a female tourist – also from Britain – at the Arcadia Guesthouse in Kampot on Friday night. Nick Laycock, 25, is from Berkshire in the UK and has been in Cambodia for over a year, working most recently at the Arcadia Guesthouse where the alleged attack took place

According to police reports, the incident happened around 11pm on Friday 21 August. The 22 year old English victim was at the Arcadia Guesthouse enjoying a party with around 20 friends. She left the party briefly and was assaulted and raped on the premises by the man arrested.

According to local police chief Brigadier General Mao Chandara Makthuras she returned to the party, shaken, shocked and crying, and couldn’t talk when asked what happened by her friends. She then asked two female friends to accompany her to the hospital to get treatment.

The police received her report of sexual assault and rape and they questioned witnesses at the hospital. A hospital doctor said that the woman had injuries and bruises all over her body, a fractured wrist and was in a state of shock.

The alleged attacker was arrested at the Arcadia Guesthouse at 3pm on Saturday August 22nd and is currently being questioned about the incident.

A convicted British paedophile has been arrested at his home in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district after UK authorities asked their Cambodian counterparts to keep on eye on his activities.

Paul Prestidge, 35, from Plymouth in the UK, was convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment in 2007 for sexually abusing young boys in his care in his role as a scout master. During his trial it became clear that he regularly encouraged them to undress and that he took naked pictures of them. During the trial he was placed on UK sex offenders’ register for life.

In March 2010 Prestidge breached a sentencing agreement when he travelled to Spain and failed to return. Since then, he has been subject to an arrest warrant.

Despite this he seems to have lived undetected in Spain where he worked as a teacher. At one school there are allegations that he abused boys there by filming them naked while they showered, according to a Facebook group dedicated to monitoring such issues.

Prestidge arrived in Cambodia in 2014 and soon secured a teaching role at Hope International School. It’s not clear if his employers in Cambodia requested a criminal record check or looked into his background before employing him. According to one blog, it seems he used the name Paul Evans-Prestidge in Cambodia. He also joined the amateur theatrical group, Phnom Penh Players, where he used the alias Paul Evans.

Prestidge is currently being held by Cambodian authorities prior to being returned to England. It’s not clear what criminal charges, if any, he will face in the UK.

Death and taxes are the only things certain in life so they reckon. Well death anyway: some people never pay taxes. Where you choose to live invariably impacts on where you’re likely to die and, in some cases, how. Some expats choose to live in Southeast Asia and some die there too. Expats who choose to live in Southeast Asia can be misfits, mercenaries, missionaries or parts thereof. I mean missionary in a broader sense. Not merely proselytisers, like Mormons on bikes in Phnom Penh, but educationalists, or those who may be working in skills development or community empowerment.

But for sure it’s a region with a reputation for more than a few expats dying before their time. There can be a variety of reasons for this. Things in Southeast Asia will kill you much faster than at home, sometimes rather innocuous things.

Big Doug was a Kiwi who’d lived in Cambodia for years, right from after the civil war back in the nineties. He used to run the Rebel Guesthouse in Koh Kong City. I’ve stayed there. His business card featured Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, a fitting moniker as it’s a bit like the Wild West. He was diabetic, a big man morbidly obese. One day a young kid on a motorbike clipped Doug’s shin with his foot peg, cutting him to the bone. The kid’s family stumped up with some compensation by way of a cash payment. The cops brokered the deal for a fee, a perk of the job. Doug’s wound festered. He made regular trips to Thailand for medical care. The dressings were always clean but the tropical heat took its toll. When I revisited Cambodia I was told Doug was dead, blood poisoning. His wound had never healed.

One day I was sat next to a South African nurse on a bus to Battambang. We spoke about the curtailed longevity of many expats living in Southeast Asia. As we headed across the sunbaked plains of north western Cambodia, I think we concluded that expats make a decision subconsciously or otherwise, to trade the lifestyle here for a shorter time on the planet. The onset of morbidities perfectly treatable back home might mean a serious reduction of quality of life here, even death. But that trading a potentially shorter life in one of the most wonderful parts of the world was infinitely preferable to living longer in a country you no longer enjoy, like back home. It was a trade-off you were prepared to accept, and many do.

A mate of mine who lives in Thailand said that he agrees one hundred percent with this. He’s lived in the City of Angels for ages and reckons that living in Bangkok takes at least 10 years off of your life. He’d come across a recent post on a blog written by an expat. The post went something like this. Since the writer moved to Thailand in 2002, he’d been lucky enough to enjoy the company of a few expats, some retired, some working for coin or volunteering. But with a recent passing, he’d realised that every one of those friends were now dead. Suicide, cancer, motorbike accidents, one cause went unspecified, and diabetes. He was shocked that none of these people were older than 65 years, and several were in their 30’s. In addition, two more friends ‘went mad’ and two more were now alcoholics.

My mate, a keen observer of life in Thailand and not just of expats, told me that Thailand does have a reputation for the early deaths of foreigners. Mainly these are in motor accidents. Thinking on he said he’d known a journalist who got run over by a truck, a friend who got wiped out on his motorbike, and others who expired relatively young with various ailments. Only last month a colleague’s 11-year-old daughter fell to her death from the 20th floor of a condo.

There’s even a website rather morbidly dedicated to documenting the deaths of foreigners in Thailand. Suicides are common. Usually these are expat males caught up in some sordid financial wrangle with a local woman or more to the point, with her family. There’s a few expats been burned that way, some losing their life savings. The “lucky” ones may be able to re-enter the workforce and put some more money away before it’s too late. Some can wind up living on the streets in places like Pattaya. Others throw themselves from high rises, or drive headlong into a rubbish truck at high speed.

Many expats in places like Cambodia or Thailand adopt unhealthy lifestyles. There’s alcohol, poor diet and a lack of exercise. Often they don’t fill in their time constructively. It’s not uncommon to see sexpats and potential deadpats in bars before lunchtime, usually in the company of farm girls driven to cities by the lack of opportunities in rural areas. Of Cambodia with its long tropical nights, one long time expat, a Swiss paediatrician said, “you either become a readaholic or an alcoholic.”

There are motorbikes and drownings. You’d be amazed at the numbers of tourists and some expats who decide to jump into a pool and can’t swim. Of the former it seems a particular trait of late of Arabs and Russians. Then there are traffic fatalities. Southeast Asians die on the roads in their thousands every year, some foreigners too. Usually these are motorbikes but more usually scooters, the cheapest most accessible form of motorised transport. Drivers are reckless and if involved in an accident invariably flee the scene. This includes bus and train drivers, and even a couple of airline pilots on Koh Samui, except that they couldn’t fit out the cockpit windows.

The South African nurse mentioned earlier was in Cambodia researching her PhD on human trafficking. She told me of the wonders of East Africa. She had left years before and now worked as a charge nurse at a major Singapore hospital. She didn’t especially rate the standard of healthcare in Singapore. Places like Singapore are where those with money in places like Cambodia go to for medical treatment unobtainable at home.

There are limited pathology services in Cambodia for example. An expat doctor living in Phnom Penh told me the so-called laboratories are just fronts where the rich stash their cash. He told me of an Irishman who, against his medical advice, had a mole tested at such a place with fatal consequences. He’d been given a phoney report. By the time he got back to the doctor it was too late.

Pharmacies in Cambodia can be two-a-penny. Often they are clustered together. Self-medication is the rule. Cambodians tend to value volume, colour and variety as this is equated with efficacy. It’s the placebo effect for the impoverished. There’s no such thing as a controlled substance, which can lead to all sorts of related issues. Generally, use-by dates are irrelevant. Morphine and heroin are widely available and cheap.

Death by misadventure is a common occurrence in Cambodia. According to Khmer440, at least 95 expats have died in Cambodia in the first nine and a half months of 2015. Some are murdered. Some die as a result of overdoses. Some die in crashes that wouldn’t kill them in the west. Some commit suicide and many of the causes of death are never discovered, a result of local official incompetence and indifference. Many of the victims have perhaps burned their bridges back home and get into a tight spot with seemingly no way out, like the Finnish owner of Suomi Guesthouse on Street 172, found dead in his room with rent arrears. Others suffer horrific deaths, like the poor unidentified soul murdered and stuffed into a suitcase found floating in the river near Kep recently, his head poking out and his tattoo sliced off to render him anonymous.

Backpackers buy cheap heroin thinking it is cocaine with often fatal consequences. Bodies can go undiscovered in hotels for several days, making a grisly find for staff. They ride bikes drunk with little protection, and have no road sense in a country with little formal road sense. Bodies sometimes turn up in Tonle Sap, hands bound with wire their throats cut. One sexpat TEFLer with a reputation for not paying taxi girls was discovered dumped in a drain.

Don’t have a crash on Cambodian roads. Getting into a traffic accident anywhere is serious, but in Cambodia it’s particularly so. Get insurance and be prepared. An ambulance, if there is one, may refuse seriously injured patients for fear that death may prohibit paying the bill. Healthcare is rudimentary. The best hospitals are all in Phnom Penh, but even those are poor by international standards with low quality care and low paid staff trying to get by by inflating your bill.

Expat hospitals like SOS International exist across the region offering services at exorbitant rates no actual person can afford. One Australian I met was treated at one in Vietnam. Stricken with a condition in Nha Trang, he spent days in a public hospital room with a pregnant Vietnamese woman. He was so ill she had to help him to the toilet and he relied on her family cooking him food. In the end a Soviet-era ambulance drove him to Saigon where he woke in the SOS facility. The head doctor, a Dane, came in the next morning smoking a cigar. He asked which he wanted first, the good or the bad news. He was told the good news was they knew what was wrong with him, he had dengue fever. The bad news was the hospital charged US$1200 a night. “How many nights can you afford?” The Aussie replied “just one, this one,” So they moved him down the road to a guesthouse, where they treated him as an outpatient.

Rural Cambodia has health centres, basic primary care facilities usually located in villages. Larger provincial centres have referral hospitals, a mixed bag. It’s common in Cambodian hospitals for staff to double dip with “dual practice”, working in private facilities while still being paid to be at work at a public facility. Wages are low, facilities Spartan. Rich Cambodians go offshore, the poor make do. I’ve seen women post-caesarean lying on a bare bamboo slat frame in tropical heat. There’s no pillow or bed linen, and no food unless their family provides.

I once saw a dead man, a local, on a footpath in Phnom Penh. People gathered around and stared. I’m unsure how long he lay there before being collected to who knows where. An Irishman told me about an American who fell to his death from an apartment building. His body was in the street all morning because no one knew who he was or who to call. Eventually someone called the embassy.

A Frenchman killed himself, and his Khmer wife was understandably distraught. The Frenchman was a heroin addict and dealer. The police were closing in, and he hadn’t the money to buy them off, or to leave the country, besides there was his young family to consider. Another expat took his wife to inform the French Embassy. Security wouldn’t let her in. In the end security called her mother-in-law in France, told her bluntly here son was dead and hung-up.

As someone wrote, if you are living in Cambodia and if you’re unmarried or not in a relationship (or even if you are) it is probably best to have a friend or two – people you can rely on – to organise your affairs if required.

Choosing to live in one of the most fascinating parts of the world has many benefits, and can be rewarding for all kinds of reasons. An English writer living in Chiang Rai explained Southeast Asia to me as follow; “a paradox: what is good for the soul is bad for the bank account (usually) and vice versa.” He went on to say that it’s not easy doing both because the system is set up so that people either have too much time, and too little money, or too much money with no time to enjoy it.

But after several years living in Asia expats often find returning home an impossible option, even if they may think they want to. They’re just too used to the lifestyle in their adopted land. As John Le Carre once said ‘Nothing ever bridged the gap between the man who went, and the man who stayed behind’.

There may be no money either and western life is expensive. Your beautiful Khmer wife may not like it, and be lonely. They’ll also have to consider those links and networks left behind. Those friends and family who stayed will have “moved on”. Ultimately, they’ll be a certain disconnect. What once was will never be again.

By choosing to live out your days here you make certain choices about where you’ll finally wind up exiting. You should make sure you’re comfortable with your choice. Think it through, shoot it down to the bone.

This is a slightly updated version of an article that first appeared on www.michaelbatson.co.nz. Many thanks to the author for permission to reproduce it here.

I. INTRODUCTION

Part 1 of this article discussed rampant plagiarism in columns written by T. Mohan, the publisher and (up until last week) managing editor of the Khmer Times. This part 2 will address some rather dubious “letters to the editor” printed in the Khmer Times, many of which mimic themes in Mr. Mohan’s editorial columns — Hun Sen is good, Facebook is bad, Sam Rainsy probably murdered Buddha.

Before we get to these letters though, let’s discuss why newspapers print letters to the editor in the first place. Letters to the editor are a way for angry uncles and other readers to interact with a newspaper and make their views known to other readers. These letters are a barometer of public opinion on the issues of the day, and they measure how well a paper is engaging its readers. A newspaper that receives many letters from readers praising the paper and expressing support for its news coverage and editorial columns is probably doing a better job than a paper that receives only the occasional expletive-laden missive telling the editors how much they all suck.

II. FAKE LETTERS FROM FICTITIOUS INTELLECTUAL CAMBODIANS

On July 3, 2014, the Khmer Times printed a letter to the editor from “Concerned Cambodian.” The letter expressed concern that a certain unnamed anti-Vietnamese “demagogue” was causing disunity in the country. It was real subtle like that.

The letter invoked American historian Henry Adams, and it expressed dismay that “[p]olarised debates and comments dominate our daily conversations, with the odium being more profound on social media and cyberspace.”

“Odium” is a great word. Hey, how many Cambodians do you know who quote historians and toss around words like “demagogue” and “odium”? Probably zero. But this is actually a recurring feature of the Khmer Times’ Letters to the Editor – numerous anti-CNRP letters purportedly written by Cambodians whose vocabulary rivals that of William F. Buckley.

Alas, I’m sorry to report that this letter to the Khmer Times was a fake. These words decrying the odium of zealotry and anti-Vietnamese racism in local politics were not written by a really well-educated “Concerned Cambodian.” The words were written a day earlier by a Malaysian columnist in The Star:

The phony letter from “Concerned Cambodian” was actually one of three letters to the editor printed in the Khmer Times on July 3, 2014. The next letter was purportedly from a writer in Siem Reap expressing support for a smoking ban. It was also a plagiarized fake.

The final letter, from “Fed Up citizen, Kampot” criticized local government commune chiefs for the CPP’s poor showing in the last election. Was the citizenry of Kampot really “fed up” about their local chiefs failing to deliver for CPP in prior last election? Perhaps not. The words were also taken from a letter to the editor of The Star a few days earlier.

So we know the Khmer Times printed three plagiarized, fake letters on July 3, 2014. That must be some kind of record, right? Sadly, no. On August 28, the Khmer Times printed five letters to the editor purportedly from readers of the paper. All five were fake.

The most notable fake letter printed on August 28, 2014 was from “Khemn Ngoun, Siem Reap.”

Siem Reap does exist, let’s give Mr. Mohan credit for that. But if you google “Khemn Ngoun” (with the exact term in quotes) you will see that the only result returned is this letter to the editor. There is no other record online of the existence of anyone named “Khemn Ngoun.” That’s pretty suspicious.

Predictably, like many of the letters to the editor printed in the Khmer Times, this letter from “Khemn Ngoun” complained about anti-government protests in Cambodia. It urged government leaders to enforce the law against protesters, noting their “uncontrollable violent urges.” Khemn Ngoun also observed that “We don’t have to look far in Cambodia to see how election rhetoric has mutated into racist organizations spewing their venom uncontrolled.”

Khemn Ngoun and his thoughts on violent, uncontrolled racist protests in Cambodia are fictitious. The words were taken from a letter to the editor of a Malaysian newspaper, the Sun Daily, complaining about violence and racism in Malaysia:

The other four letters to the editor printed in the Khmer Times on August 28, 2014 were similarly fraudulent. A letter from “Concerned Cambodian” complaining about graft was taken from a letter to the Star.

The letter from “FB hater” complaining about social media (a pet peeve addressed in several of Mr. Mohan’s columns) was taken from a column in the Sun Daily.

“Touch Seila” was another effort at a Khmer fake name; the letter printed under this name was plagiarized from a letter to The Star six days earlier.

Lastly, the letter from the imaginary “Linda Teng, Singapore” was actually written to the editor of the Sun Daily earlier that month by a probably real person named Denis Hayes.

The fake letters from “Khemn Ngoun” and “Touch Seila” show that someone at the Khmer Times — probably Mr. Mohan — wasn’t very good at thinking up Khmer fake names. Other dubious Khmer letter writers included:

Sok Ponarith (July 31, 2014, questioning whether Cambodian society is doomed, in part due to Facebook)
Aun Srey Vannak (March 24, 2015, says people should stop politicking and government should get back to work)
Hout Wathana (June 16, 2015 street beggars are a traffic nuisance)
Charlie Seng Ponlok (July 16, 2015, denouncing anti-Vietnamese riots)
Tommy Sovannarothh (September 10, 2015, complaining about National Road Number 4)
Sorn Sopheary, Wisconsin (December 1, 2015, thinks Hun Sen is a great and strong leader)

You can google any of those names above, putting the exact name in quotes, and you’ll get no google results for those names ever appearing online except in the Khmer Times letters to the editor. There are no Facebook pages under those names, no twitter accounts, no other online references to anyone ever having those names.

Does that mean that all of those letters, and others, from Cambodians printed in the Khmer Times are fakes? No. But since we know that Mr. Mohan faked other letters from Cambodians by putting fake Khmer names like “Khemn Ngoun” on pro-government letters copied from Malaysian papers, it does not seem unreasonable to believe that he might entirely fabricate other letters and put weird fake Khmer names on them as well.

III. FAKE LETTERS FROM IMAGINARY EXPATS LIKE “RICHIE McDODDS”

Of course, the Khmer Times didn’t just print letters to the editor from Khmers. They also printed a bunch of letters to the editor from Westerners.

Now, there’s an art to choosing a believable Western fake name. You don’t don’t want to pick a name that’s too common, like “Thomas Jones.” That will sound fake. But you also don’t want to choose a ridiculous name like “Doctor Rosenpenis,” the name that “Fletch” famously offered when he was looking for the hospital records room.

Most of the letters to the editor of the Khmer Times from Western writers seem to fall into either the “overly common name” category or the “ridiculous name” category. The Khmer Times printed questionable letters from the following common Anglo-Saxon names:

Mike Samuels, Phnom Penh (July 31, 2014, complaining that the opposition “is determined to spill blood”)
Jason Richards, long term Cambodia resident (February 19, 2015, asking “what in blazes is going on” with work permits)
Timothy Perkins, Washington, DC (August 2, 2015, says maybe Cambodia should turn to China not the US)
Shawn Baker, Visiting Student (August 2, 2015, commends the Khmer Times’ publisher as an “old hand” who has “brought a refreshingly bright and welcome change to the Cambodia English print market.”)
Steven Peters, Phnom Penh (August 25, 2015, complaining of “the provocation of the border disputes by the opposition party politicians”)
Tom Wilkinson, long term resident of Cambodia (September 10, 2015, thinks groups should break away from CNRP)
Bill Jensen, Phnom Penh (December 6, 2015, lamenting that Sam Rainsy has deceived the EU to pressure Cambodia)

We’re pretty good at Khmer440 at tracking down expats online when their names hit the local newspapers, even if they have relatively common names. We just run a search for the expat’s name plus “cambodia” or “phnom,” and usually that will show a real expat’s online presence, like a Facebook page, a LinkedIn page, his Florida mugshots, etc.

But time after time, when I searched online for Khmer Times’ letter writers like “Bill Jensen” and “Tom Wilkinson” having any connection to Cambodia, I got no results. I also asked in the Khmer440 discussion forums if recognized the names of such Western letter writers, some of whom are identified in the Khmer Times as “long term residents” of Cambodia. No one responded that they knew any of these letter writers. This leads me to believe that many of these “expat” letter writers simply do not exist.

As for letters to the Khmer Times from Westerners with ridiculous names, consider the following:

Richie McDodds, Long Beach, former long term resident in Cambodia (September 25, 2014, addressing corruption in Cambodia)
Paul Say Cavnar (October 14, 2015, says Hun Sen “is an astute politician who knows what he has to do for Cambodians and Cambodia but at times lacks the political and the all-important personal will to make the changes direly needed to ensure Cambodia is indeed on the right path,” while Sam Rainsy “knows nothing about policies other than a plethora of demagogic ideas which are seen to be coherent policies”)
Simon Art (November 10, 2014, complaining about sky bridges and poor roads)
Richard Steven Say (November 10, 2015, discussing similarity between Cambodian and Malaysian politics)
Sean Peterson Udom (December 1, 2015, stop weapons shipments to ISIS)
Paul Richards Say (December 26, 2015, believes dual citizen Cambodians shouldn’t be allowed to vote)

The “Richie McDodds” letter addressing corruption is definitely phony; it was plagiarized from this column that appeared in The Star a day earlier.

Two weeks later, the Khmer Times printed two more letters addressing corruption in Cambodia, from “K.C. Wong” and “Tim MacPherson.” The “K.C. Wong” letter was plagiarized from this letter to the editor of The Star by “Tunkul Abdul Aziz.” “Tim MacPherson” also does not exist; that October 6, 2014 letter was plagiarized from a letter by Walter Sandosam printed in The Star three days earlier.

If you google any of the weird names listed above like “Sean Peterson Udom” and “Paul Say Cavnar” you will find no records of these names ever appearing online at any other time except in the Khmer Times’ letters to the editor.

IV. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THESE FAKE LETTERS?

The logical assumption is that Mr. Mohan is behind many or all of the fake letters to the editor printed in the Khmer Times. Numerous columns under his name were plagiarized from Malaysian newspapers, and many of the fake letters to the Khmer Times’ editor were plagiarized from the same Malaysian sources.

However, there are also dubious letters to the Khmer Times’ editor that were not plagiarized from Malaysian papers. These appear to be “original” letters written by Mohan or someone else and then attributed to Cambodians or expats with goofy names.

Some of these letters do bear similarities to Mr. Mohan’s writings. Like Mohan’s columns, the letters use a lot exclamation points, and they tend to be pro-government and anti-CNRP. Also, Mr. Mohan is Malaysian, and a disproportionate number of the questionable letters to the Khmer Times editor reference Malaysia in some way.

On February 12, 2015, the Khmer Times printed a letter from “Malaysian Muslim” and also printed a letter from “Robby Wilson” comparing tourist buses in Cambodia to tourist buses in Malaysia. A few months earlier, the Khmer Times printed an odd letter from “Ken G. Swanson, tourist, Scotland.” “Mr. Swanson” supposedly wrote to complain about uncultured Westerners posing nude at Angkor Wat. He drew a comparison with Western tourists who had once posed nude on a sacred Malaysian mountain and caused an earthquake. I didn’t even know Scots believed in that stuff.

Julia Wallace, Editor-at-Large of the Cambodia Daily, pointed out on Twitter about two weeks ago that the Khmer Times “clearly fabricate[s] many letters to the editor.” That’s why I started looking into this to begin with. It turns out that Ms. Wallace was right.

I have also been informed that some Khmer Times’ staff and those with a connection to the newsroom previously suspected that letters to the editor were faked. Is it really plausible that Khmer Times’ competitors and staff knew or suspected that many of their letters to the editors were fake, but the Khmer Times senior editors themselves — who were supposed to have received the letters — knew nothing about these fabrications?

The “letters to the editor” page of the Khmer Times invites readers to send their letters to editor@khmertimeskh.com . Almost no one uses the Cambodian postal system, so any letters to the editor would have likely come via this email address.

It is unclear who has access to that email inbox. At times Mr. Mohan would respond personally to letters to the editor. At other times, the then editor-in-chief Jim Brooke asked readers to send letters “to me” at the same email address. If multiple editors at the Khmer Times accessed that email inbox, this would mean that multiple editors knew or should have known that the paper was printing imaginary letters to the editor that it had never actually received.

Mr. Brooke once praised T. Mohan as the Khmer Times’ “tireless and imaginative” leader. I think we can agree that any person who would make the effort to fabricate so many letters from fictional Cambodians and expats is both “tireless” and “imaginative.”

V. WHY THE HELL DID THE KHMER TIMES DO THIS?

Readers want to read popular newspapers. Advertisers want to advertise in popular newspapers. Some of the plagiarized letters were fairly benign, like this fake letter advocating English proficiency for Cambodians (plagiarized from here) or this fake letter from “Concerned Parent” about drowning deaths in Cambodia (plagiarized from here).

I think the Khmer Times printed some of these letters from fake readers in Siem Reap, New York, and Wisconsin, to fill space and give the appearance that the paper was widely read in Cambodia and internationally. On the paper’s one year anniversary, Mr. Brooke cited all the feedback and comments from readers as proof of the paper’s success.

But there was something more nefarious about all this than just the journalistic equivalent of a teenage girl hanging a bunch of fake Valentine’s Day cards in her locker to get attention. The Khmer Times didn’t merely fabricate a few extra “filler” letters to the editor to make its readers and advertisers think it was popular. Many of the fake letters from both Cambodians and expats were substantive and provocative, decrying violent protesters “spewing their venom,” opposition demagogues causing “disunity,” and the evils of social media.

The Khmer Times fabricated these letters in an apparent campaign to manipulate public opinion, by deceiving its readers about what other members of the community were really saying about Cambodia’s most important political issues of the day. This scheme demonstrated a blatant disregard for journalistic ethics, which are based on telling readers the truth about what is happening around them, rather than trying to hoodwink them. The fact that Mr. Mohan actually thought his clumsy campaign of deceit would work is a profound insult to the intelligence of the Khmer Times’ readers.

As 2015 draws to a close, it is a good moment to take a step back and look at some of the highlights – and lowlights – of the last twelve months on Khmer440, and beyond. It’s been a helluva year one way or another.

January saw some new changes and much of the ‘same same’ bullshit of previous years. After a noisy departure from the website, former strongman Keeping-it-Riel karked it in December 2014, before he had a chance to join hands with everybody and sing Auld Lang Syne. A stubborn man to the end, RIP.

As with every other 12 months in a row, babies were born and lives were lost, with 2015 being the deadliest year to be a foreigner since records began. People did stupid things, with many being held to account for their actions, and grown men squabbled like schoolchildren over trivial things on the internet.

So much did, or didn’t really happen over the course of the year, it’s impossible to condense all the stories and non-stories together Instead, please enjoy a reflective look at the year in review, mostly poached from the local rags, the forum and the Khmer440 Facebook page….

2015 got off to a boom-booming start with a story about a Chinese merchant flogging highly illegal, and morally corrupting blow up sex dolls and rubber Johnsons under the counter. The public could feel safe and secure for the rest of the year knowing that these seductive latex lovelies and assorted bottom tickling apparatus was now in protective police custody. The theme was picked up later in the year, with a rather silly story on Vice, that ‘edgy’ hipster type publication, partly owned by Rupert Murdoch and Disney Corp, about an undercover dildo deal, with a mystery gay biker in Phnom Penh and a bag full of love-aids. In short, it’s illegal, which is why I keep my Black Mamba Delux in a watertight box, buried under the chicken house, like Nazi gold.

The drug story of the month featured a dual Australian-Cambodian granny, Lorn Cheng, who got busted flying back home to Oz with 252 pellets, weighing a respectable smuggling weight of 644 grams of smack in her guts. The non-English speaking immigrant had racked up $10k of gambling debts and was being threatened by a loan shark, a Sydney court interpreter said. The judge said ‘Guilty’ and sent her away to the big house for 8 years.

January’s top Barang behaving badly was Mr Vic Boyle, the proverbial berk in a Merc, who (allegedly) had six too many, got behind the wheel and smashed into a tuk-tuk, before attempting to leave the scene. It wasn’t him, it was later claimed, who was driving, as his Malaysian missus took the rap, despite photographic evidence (above) showing her squarely in the passenger seat. It quickly transpired that Vic was a wanted criminal – from Florida, naturally – just another fugitive hiding out in the Kingdom. The lady was charged by the court after pleading guilty; our Florida absconder had, apparently switched places with her to make the getaway. Both their fates remain unknown, although it’s understood he remains in his job flogging advertising space at Aeon Mall.

February was a quiet month for salacious news and gossip. Whilst every Cambodian took time out for the annual ‘pretend to be Chinese week’, the world rumbled on. The chick-orientated skin flick Fifty Shades of Grey was banned by the powers that be for the morality which must be upheld in Cambodian culture. Two chicks who may have seen that movie, Lindsey and Leslie Adams, got their baps out at Angkor Wat, thus inflaming local sensibilities and earning them a one-way bus trip to the Thai border. This was a popular trend over the year with exposed backpacking backsides causing a furor in this ultra-conservative nation, and across the border too.

Expat dirty laundry was aired on Facebook, with the editors-cum-owners of a once well-read magazine, The Advisor, having a spat over money and artistic privileges. The Advisor proper printed its last pages later in 2015, but a carbon copy, The Weekly appeared straight after, founded by an ex-founder of The Advisor, who then promptly left after one issue. All rather confusing in Hackland. That The Weekly appeared as a carbon copy The Advisor is moot, given it was taken over by the Khmer Times, but more of that later. Despite a promising start, The Weekly didn’t survive long and its last issue appeared just this week.

On Khmer440 posters whined about how hard it was to buy frozen French fries and cranberry juice; there was, it seems a national shortage bordering on crisis level. That sums up how slow February was. To solve these hardships, some folks even went as far as rediscovering the potato, and debates raged over how much potatoes (and pineapples) should cost in local markets. Amazing what some are capable of under pressure.

March had two stars of the month, whom, as the best celebrities of our time are wont to do, divided opinion and caused great debate amongst the expat community. The two opposing camps were either firmly entrenched in the view that Messrs Nick McLernan and Martin Gates, aka Singlet Senior and Singlet Junior were honest tourists, robbed of all their possessions and were forced to camp outside the evil British Embassy, with the heartless staff inside refusing to show a single ounce of humanity….or…. two loser junkie scumbags who had blown an inheritance on smack, ice and whores and were looking for a free ticket home. Both sides generally agreed that they were both not the sharpest tools in the shed as they argued back and forth between compassion and the death penalty.

So great was the debate, a great schism occurred, the likes of which has not been seen since Byzantium and Rome decided to part ways, with some posters flouncing from these pages and joining the Sihanoukville-based Khmer440 tribute site in disgust at the lack of sympathy from some 440 members.

In the end Singlet Junior managed to return safely home to the UK. Singlet Senior remains MIA, however, with unsubstantiated sightings still being reported as recently as this month, like the Lord Lucan of the internet generation. The photograph published by the Khmer Times, which was dropped almost as soon as it was published along with the original tale of woe after being called out as bullshit, is worthy of a Pulitzer. The pain, the anguish, the paint splattered vests……

April saw in the last new year of the year, which was celebrated by locals in the traditional manner of visiting the pagoda, eating chicken, drinking copious amounts of alcohol, throwing water and being involved in a fatal traffic incident. In that order.

One foreigner who wasn’t celebrating was DJ SkillZ, a 28 year old Brit, lifted in Sihanoukville for dealing out meth-amphetamine and wacky baccy. Not only was Mr Robert Skilling formally charged with distributing illegal narcotics, he was also deemed, by the expat kangaroo court, of being in possession of a very bad hair cut and girly tattoos and, for a time, a frontrunner in Khmer440’s expat arrestee catwalk competition.

Cambodia’s longest bridge was opened in April, connecting Kandal to Prey Veng provinces, and more importantly Phnom Penh with HCMC. The Neak Loueng crossing spans the Mekong for 2.2km and cost $118 million, personally begged up by His Excellency, who turned up in Japan, replete with begging bowl back in 2007. This being Cambodia, the entire country filled up their vehicles with family and went on a new year rubbernecking trip to witness this miracle of modern civil engineering. The sheer volume of vehicles and poor driving ability of the populace created mass traffic chaos and a journey time far longer than the old ferry crossing.

The merry month of May welcomed Disney pop princess Demi Lovato to Koh Pich for a Smart Telecoms sponsored music extravaganza. The concert was, by all accounts, well organized and a great time was had by all.

A controversial refugees-for-cash deal between Australia and Cambodia was firmly set in motion with both governments confirming that 3 Iranians and an ethnic Rohingya were holed up at Darwin airport ready to board a flight to Phnom Penh. With the ‘aid’ price being set at almost $40 million and each ‘fugee being given $15,000 a year to live, what could go wrong? The 4 arrived in early June and by December the Rohingya had had enough and asked to go back to the Burmese dictatorship and face the oppression rather than risk Phnom Penh traffic any longer.

A homegrown starlet came in for some unwanted attention throughout the year, with May being the first time most foreigners had heard of Sasa. The lovely Ms Sasa, crashed her lovely Porsche into some not-so-lovely Frenchies and was filmed trying to negotiate her way out of the situation. More on her later…

May 2015, expats and locals alike agreed, was hot, to quote Roosevelt E. Roosevelt it was:

“Damn hot! Real hot! Hottest things is my shorts. I could cook things in it. A little crotch pot cooking. Fool, it’s hot! I told you again! Were you born on the sun? It’s damn hot! I saw – It’s so damn hot, I saw the little guys, their orange robes burst into flames. It’s that hot! Don’t you know what I’m talking about?”

If the Singlets won the most heart breaking photo of the year competition, then the prize for the most gruesome set of shots was won in June, with the discovery of a putrefied corpse belonging to Finnish national Timo Jokinen, at his guest house on St 172. The bodily fluids running down the stairs would give David Cronenburg nightmares. The cause of death was anything from a Hell’s Angels razor slash attack to self-hanging, depending on who was talking at the time. The official verdict was ‘Errr, suicide, next!’ The building in question quickly re-opened as Sony Side Up, after the new and current proprietor expunged any malingering spirits through the power of Chanting Monk.

Paedos were in the news (again) this month, both officially and allegedly (until formal sentencing). Australian former teacher at American Pacific School, George Moussallie was handed a 5 year stretch for abusing and photographing riverside street boys. The court also required the prisoner to be deported from Cambodia afterwards, where he could face further charges in his home country.

On the 16th of June, 2 Europeans were nicked in separate incidences. The first, a French national, Bernard Soudeller, was arrested in Kandal province, accused of abusing 13 young boys from the area. Later the same day a German Udo Symon and/or Sabiniewicz, owner of a cartoon dubbing company FX Animations, and a budding sci-fi author was taken in for questioning in the capital on similar charges. Bizarrely, Udo has access to the internet from his Prey Sar prison cell and has been updating his own K440 front page story with tales of this particular miscarriage of justice.

Later in the year, on the run British paedo Paul Prestidge was arrested living in Phnom Penh and promptly deported back to the UK, where he was sentenced to eighteen months prison earlier this month. While living in Phnom Penh he worked as a teacher at Hope International using a different name, raising (as yet unanswered questions) about the vetting practices at some English schools in Cambodia.

The lovely Ms Sasa was back in the headlines in July, this time for having her face smashed in by a seriously rich property magnate, Mr Sok Bun. A video of the violent assault was leaked over the internet and later Cambodian TV. The uproar surrounding the assault, and Mr Sok’s bodyguard waiving his gun around led the victim to get to Bangkok for treatment and the perp to leg it to Singapore. Offers of money were refused and Sok Bun eventually came back to face the music. It’s believed he was transferred from prison to a hospital suite, because of the poor mite’s ‘blood pressure’. The criminal case continues.

As El Nino did its best to ensure much needed rain was nowhere to be had, a strange windstorm hit Phnom Penh, blowing over tuk-tuks, trees and shacks with powerful gusts. Later that day, local media reported, it rained.

Cambodian politics also saw a whirlwind in July, with 11 opposition handed hefty jail terms, related to a 2014 demonstration which left 6 people dead. After his loyal party comrades were done for ‘insurrection’ CNRP boss Sam Rainsy did his usual trick of remembering he had something very important to do, in France and GTFO. This came shortly after pitched battles had been reported along the Khmer-Viet border, mostly perpetrated by CNRP supporters. The issue became so tense His Excellency asked Ban Ki-Moon if he wouldn’t mind lending him some UN maps from the 1960’s to resolve the matter fair and square.

The controversial LANGO law was signed off by The King in August. The Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organisations is either a way of controlling unaccountable NGO racketeering in the country, or a suppression freedom of speech and curtailment of human rights, depending on which side of the fence one is standing, sitting or napping.

The lovely Ms Sasa, back from her hospital bed in Bangkok decided to crash her lovely Porsche again, this time into an ice truck in Battambang, and this time causing more damage than the incident with a brace of frogs, but not as much as Sok Bun did to her face.

Foreigner arrestee of the month award went to a harmless old man, picked up off the mean streets of Sihanouk(shits)ville for the crime of being a bit odd and wearing a strange hat. After a stern talking to about the morality of such improper headgear, the aging hippy was released, unharmed back onto the streets of Russian mafia wars, Australian biker gangs, armed meth-amphetamine dealers, pimps, prozzies, prostitute murderers on the lam from Thailand, and assorted other people who choose to live in Sihanoukville.

The thread of the year award seems to go to Gregory Michael Blake (PhD), who by chance had his name written on a whiteboard behind a pair of motorbike jaos. Out of the woodwork came a stream of jilted lovers, scammed victims, drug dealers, human traffickers, former school friends and a web of deceit, made even more ludicrous by the rambling posts of ‘Dr’ Blake himself. Only in Cambodia.

The rains came in September, and what should have been good news for drought hit rice farmers became bad news indeed for many in Kampot province, when the operators of a Chinese built dam decided that there was too much water behind the wall and let it go, with scant warning, washing away villages downstream. This happening in a drought ‘El Nino’ year leaves predictions for the professional management of such sites in a wet ‘La Nina’ year looking less than optimistic.

Crippled Kraut beggar man Benjamin Holst finally turned up in the Kingdom, as predicted by some, in September. The man with the industrial doner kebab for a leg has a great passion for South East Asian women, it seems, and has done a respectable backpackers circuit around the region, getting a bit of sympathy coinage along the way to spend on ladies of ill repute. Although returned to the Fatherland, he has managed to make his way back again recently, being spotted around St 51 early in December, proving he’s desperate to get his elephant leg over once more. And in a timely interjection, Benjamin’s Facebook page today (31 December) reveals that he is being held in the Immigration Detention Centre for the New Year, from where he is doing what he does best: beg for money.

October’s news brought confirmation of that any foreigner who actually reads it has ‘mental problems’, with the appointment of a favourite son Hun Manith as director of Cambodian military intelligence. “It is not…” a CPP spokesman announced on 34 year old Mr Hun bagging the gig “…cronyism, because they fit the criteria and have the knowledge.” Which basically proves the old saying “It ain’t what you know….”

The political pantomime stepped up a gear when an angry ‘mob’ beat up 2 opposition lawmakers right outside the National assembly building. The focus then turned to CNRP second-in-command, Kem Sokha, when another group turned up outside his house and pelted it with rocks. The local law enforcement decided to let it play out. A few days later, Mr Khem was ousted from his job as Assembly Vice-President, a fate soon to come to Sam Rainsy, when in November an arrest warrant was issued over a defamation case which has been a thorn in his side for many years. Although Mr Sam was away in South Korea, he vowed to return back to Cambodia immediately to save his country, before chickening out and flying back to France, where he is a citizen. And so the show goes on….

November was a better month for lady army captain Ms Ke Leng, who was promoted to the rank of major, given $30k from the coffers of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, and another $10,000 from the pocket of the PM for winning a game of French bowls, known as petanque to the garlic munchers. Another world championship winning round of throwing balls at a smaller ball will see her become a lieutenant colonel in the RCAF. This is obviously an entirely legitimate and sensible way to spend the education budget and run the armed services of a nation. Anybody who disagrees must have mental problems.

November was the month to see and be seen, when a young eagle eyed intern from a tribute website spotted K440 Admin Scobienz on not just one, but – wait for it – TWO consecutive days. The entire internet became abuzz with further sightings. Such was the excitement with his new found fame, the ruddy faced chav was forced to wear a large hat and glasses, a ruse which which promptly backfired when he was mistaken for No Joke Howard.

The ‘I saw Scobienz hashtag’ has had more hits than Gangnam Style, and commemorative t-shirts, tea towels and souvenir mugs are on sale in Russian Market. Sihanoukville residents did their best to get in on the action by staring into the bottom of empty beer mugs and, taking time from mumbling to their own fingers, staring at the dirt beneath their nails in an attempt to get a magical, Christ-like glimpse, of the much discussed Scobienz.

Arrestee of the penultimate month was the oldest meth dealer in town, 67 year old American, Michael Ryan, who had his collar felt in the vicinity of that den of iniquity, Golden Sorya Mall. In his pensioner possession, Mr Ryan was found to have: 2 bags of crystal meth amphetamine, 1 set of digital scales, along with the princely sum of $4 in cash and 1000 Riel. The silly old sod will probably languish in Prey Sar clink until his final days, unless the unsubstantiated rumours of him being a semi-major player in that game are correct, and he quietly buys his way out.

The audacious crime of the month has to be a hungry beef thief, who spotted a cow and made off with a big old rump steak, hacked off the animal when it was still alive. The robber is still at large. 1980’s advertising icon The Hamburglar has gone into hiding.

Or was it the audacious theft of several / many / dozens of articles written by Malaysian journalists, Filipino students, Jesuit priests and Kenyan PHd researchers by Khmer Times publisher T. Mohan, who picked them up, dusted them down and promptly published them as his own original work in his own publication in a stunning display of contempt for his readers? Or, perhaps, was it the farcical array of ‘letters to the editor’ which appeared in Khmer Times at the same time – many clearly also fabricated and / or plagiarized – by presumably the same gentleman? Either way, there was little chance of such skullduggery getting past Khmer440’s indefatigable gavinmac, who exposed the debacle with relish and wit, much to the delight of Phnom Penh’s chattering class who giggled feverishly on Twitter at Khmer Times’ discomfort, while all the time denying they ever read Khmer440 – everyone’s guilty secret – themselves. A Khmer Times investigation is under way. We can’t wait.

So all in all a fun year. Let’s hope 2016 brings more of the same. Happy New Year!

A convicted Dutch paedophile and former banker, Pieter Ceulen, 60, is believed to be in Siem Reap after fleeing Europe this week, just two days before an Antwerp court handed him long prison sentence for child sex crimes.

According to Belgian media sources, the Antwerp criminal court yesterday sentenced Pieter Ceulen to nineteen years in prison. The 60-year-old Dutch businessman who is believed to also hold Belgian citizenship was not in court for the sentencing, and the court ordered his immediate arrest.

Ceulen was arrested in the summer of 2012 by local police in Antwerp, after a tip from the FBI. Police found an enormous amount of child pornography on his computer.

The criminal court found it proven that children in both the Philippines and Cambodia had been sexually abused, including his own three foster daughters. He had also filmed the abuse and shared the films with other pedophiles. The man had 700 gigabytes of child pornography in his possession, a collection on which he had been working for fifteen years. In the court proceedings, Ceulen hoped for understanding because he was abused as a 12-year-old at a boarding school he attended.

Ceulen was spotted a few days ago in Brussels Airport. “He wants to evade clear to his punishment,” said the prosecutor this morning after the court had given the 19 years’ imprisonment. The court has ordered the immediate arrest of the 60-year-old man.

According to local information, Ceulen is a regular visiting to Siem Reap where he is believed to own a luxury villa and to have close connections with a local boutique hotel.

Sources say he is a well-known figure in Siem Reap, where he was reported to be in the process of building an orphanage. In Belgium he sponsored museums, and in 2001 he even donated 25,000 Euro to the Antwerp police to build a child-friendly interrogation room for sex abuse victims.

More information here.

Longtime readers of Khmer440 will surely remember the name Kenneth Drew Wilcox. Wilcox is a psychologist who had a private practice in Phnom Penh from about 2005 through 2010.

Dr. Wilcox’ online resume says that he started his private practice in Cambodia in March 2004, but that claim is absolutely untrue. In 2004, he was still living in the U.S, and he was having a rather bad time.

He started the year off with a bang, getting arrested for drunk driving in Broward County, Florida, during the early morning hours of January 1, 2004. He was also charged with “obstruction without violence” during this arrest, because he falsely told police that his name was “Russell McKinnon Wilcox.” That’s his older brother.

About two months later, Wilcox was charged with grand theft in Broward County Florida, based on a complaint from his ex-landlord. The landlord claimed that he asked Wilcox to leave his furnished apartment, under threat of eviction, for non-payment of rent. When Wilcox moved out, $3,200 worth of furniture was missing from the apartment.

That wasn’t the first time Wilcox had been charged with theft. In May 2004, Wilcox pled guilty to larceny for stealing a leather jacket from a Neiman Marcus store in Virginia back in 2003.

August 2004 saw Wilcox get arrested again in Broward County for drunk driving and eluding police, in the now infamous “piss stained pants” incident.

Wilcox was later picked up for a probation violation on November 1, 2004. He was released from the Broward County jail on December 7, 2004 and apparently fled to Cambodia sometime after that, while the felony theft and eluding charges against him were still pending. A felony warrant for his arrest was issued by a Broward County judge on February 22, 2005.

Dr. Wilcox set up a psychology practice in Phnom Penh in 2005 under the name “Wilcox Associates.” Wilcox’ psychology practice include counseling services relating to substance abuse, child protection, and domestic violence. He and his 21 year-old Cambodia boyfriend, Tek “Weslee” Lim, later opened “Thor Health Services” in 2009.

Dr. Wilcox became well known in expat social circles, and he even had a regular radio show on 97.5 Love FM. He reportedly claimed that he was an heir to the Gillette razor fortune.

The wheels came off Dr. Wilcox’ expat experience in October 2010, when it was reported on Khmer440 and later in the Cambodia Daily that he was wanted by the FBI on a federal charge of international flight from his Florida felony arrest warrants.

Around this time, a Khmer440 poster observed that Weslee had once posted on Facebook that Wilcox physically abused him by by tasing him in the neck multiple times. Weslee’s Facebook post was later deleted. Weslee, the co-owner of THOR Health Services, defended Wilcox in the local press, saying that the rumors about Wilcox’ past were untrue.

Dr. Wilcox was arrested in Cambodia in November 2010 and transported back to the U.S. to face the charges against him. He spent a few months in jail and was released in early 2011.

______________________________________________________________

Khmer440 hasn’t checked up on the good doctor Wilcox since he was released from jail about five years ago. We figured that this would be a good time to update what he and Weslee have been up to. Apparently, Weslee managed to join Wilcox in Florida, and the two married in Washington D.C. and had a very gay wedding reception at the Trump Miami Resort on April 20, 2013.

Notably, Wilcox’s personal blog spins the story of his departure from Cambodia quite differently from what we all remember. In a June 2013 blog post, Wilcox wrote, “our situation became too dangerous as our work placed us at odds with powerful leaders who did not wish to be exposed for their corruption and abuses. As the situation became unmanageable, I was forced to leave the country out of fear for my safety, leaving Wes behind in the protection of his family.”

Wilcox’s blog makes no mention that he was wanted by the FBI and arrested and deported from Cambodia to face charges in Florida for, among other things, stealing his landlord’s furniture. No, the way he tells it, he was forced to leave Cambodia because he was on an ass-kicking crusade exposing corruption and abuse by powerful leaders.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Dr. Wilcox has resumed practicing as a psychologist in the Miami area. He claims that his practice focuses on counseling for substance abuse and relationship issues. However, the Florida Board of Psychology website has a “lookup” page where members of the public can verify if someone who claims to be a psychologist actually holds a license to practice psychology in Florida. Kenneth Wilcox is not listed as a licensed psychologist in this online database. It is a crime under Florida law to hold yourself out as a psychologist if you don’t hold such a license.

Wilcox is very active in gay and LGBT causes in the Miami area and is involved with various community organizations. He and Weslee both serve on the board of advisors to the “Unity Coalition” and advocacy group for gay and LGBT Hispanics.

Bizarrely, Wilcox is identified on the Unity Coalition website as “Dr. Ken Carrington-Wilcox.” He also has a Facebook page under the name “Kenneth Carrington Wilcox,” and he blogs under the name “Dr. Ken Carrington.” But who is Carrington? Wilcox’ middle name is Drew. Has Dr. Wilcox, who reportedly claimed to be an heir to the Gillette fortune, simply adopted the last name of the oil-rich family from the long-running American TV series, Dynasty?

What is more troubling is that at about 11 p.m. on August 23, 2015, Wilcox was arrested by Miami-Dade police for allegedly attacking his husband of two and half years, Tek “Weslee” Lim. According to the police report, Weslee (identified in the police report as “Tek”) claimed that Wilcox was drinking and became jealous and tore Weslee’s shirt and scratched the left side of chest. Weslee reported that Wilcox also threw him onto the bed and tried to choke him.

Wilcox was charged with misdemeanor battery. He spent about 24 hours in jail, then he posted bail and was released. As a condition of his release he was ordered to have “no contact” with Weslee. That order was lifted nine days later. The case against Wilcox was subsequently dropped at the end of September. It is unknown if Weslee, like many vulnerable domestic violence victims, refused to cooperate with the prosecution.

Judging from recent social media photos, Wilcox and Weslee remain a couple. It also appears that, despite Wilcox’s long and continuing record of alcohol related arrests, and his recent arrest for trying to choke his husband, he continues to offering counseling services in the Miami area regarding matters relating to substance abuse and domestic violence.

Fugitive convicted paedophile Pieter Ceulen is in police custody and facing extradition to serve a 19 year prison sentence in Belgium after his lawyers negotiated a surrender today.  He was arrested by Child Protection Unit officials at Independent Monument in Phnom Penh at 12 noon local time.

Ceulen has been the subject of an extensive manhunt in Cambodia since he fled Belgium two days before being sentenced by a court in Antwerp on January 21.   He was widely believed to have fled to Cambodia where he has extensive business and property interests.  Close members of his immediate family also live in Siem Reap, although they are believed to have left Cambodia shortly at the end of January to return to Belgium.

Ceulen’s arrest comes after officials from Cambodian, Belgian and Dutch authorities cooperated to find him.  Various properties in Siem Reap have been searched in recent days, and the evidence they produced convinced the authorities he was still in the country.

The breakthrough came last night, when CPU was contacted by Ceulen’s lawyers seeking to negotiate his surrender. It is believed he came increasingly to realise that he had no opportunity to leave Cambodia and his involuntary capture was imminent.

James McCabe from the CPU said in a text message: “Arrangements [were made] over 24hrs after intense media, both print and social. Although CPU did and does not comment on forums, I would like to acknowledge K440’s input in keeping the pressure on which was part of the investigative plan.”

A young woman from Finland, Jenny Jokela, died earlier this week from head injuries following an accident on the motorbike she was riding in Sihanoukville. Miss Jokela, 22, worked at Papayago Guesthouse and had been in Cambodia for several months.

It is believed that Ms Jokela’s moto crashed into a lamppost, and that no other vehicle was involved. According to police officials who attended the scene, Ms Jokela wasn’t wearing a helmet.

This is the latest in a run of similar deaths and injuries involving expats riding bikes without helmets. A few months ago, wellknown British owner of Charley Harpers Guesthouse, Tony James, died in a similar incident.

Ms Jokela’s death is the 43rd reported expat fatality in Cambodia this year, and the 14th in Sihanoukville.

More information appears on this Khmer440 thread

1. The Foreshadowing

In late March, a new Khmer440 poster with the username “sniper_m4” started a topic in our discussion forums about “Being Followed.” Sniper_m4 expressed concern that a tuk tuk driver recently told his wife that he was being followed by Actions pour les Enfants (“APLE”), a well known pedophile-hunting, child protection NGO.

Sniper_m4 was shocked and perplexed by this news that he was being followed by an NGO that combats child sex abuse. He explained that he had been living in Cambodia for five years, after spending three years in Thailand. He worked as a teacher and was married to an educated, middle class Cambodian woman. He had almost no contact with children and led a quiet and boring life in Cambodia, aside from regular visits to a few totally respectable Street 136 hostess bars.

Sniper_m4 wrote that “There is no reason for this investigation . . . . I have nothing to hide and I want this harassment to stop.” He asked the Khmer440 online community for guidance. That’s never a good idea.

Anti-NGO crackpots and paranoid meth-heads abound amongst some segments of Cambodia’s expatriate community. Not surprisingly, sniper_m4’s request for advice on how to avoid “entrapment” by APLE prompted a few genuinely unhelpful responses from Khmer440 keyboard warriors like myself. We briefly mocked him for being a paranoid weirdo, and we pointed out that tuk tuk drivers are never reliable sources of information about anything. Then our online discourse about sniper_m4’s predicament quickly tapered off, and we all went back to discussing local news events, debating Cambodian political developments, and making dick jokes.

2. The Reported Arrest of Eric Erdmann in Phnom Penh

About a month later, things got rather interesting. On April 22, the Khmer language website “Cambodia Express News” reported that Cambodian police, with the assistance of the FBI, had arrested 44 year-old American Eric David Erdmann in Phnom Penh on U.S. charges related to pedophilia. The article included photos of Erdmann, seated in a wheelchair, being pushed out of a building next to Tokyo Barber Shop on Street 278. Erdmann was accompanied by uniformed Cambodian law enforcement personnel and by a white guy in sunglasses who looks just like an FBI agent, assuming that FBI agents in Cambodia enjoy casual Fridays.

The article about Erdmann’s arrest quickly became a hot topic in the Khmer440 discussion forums. Some of us can’t resist gossiping about Westerners who are arrested in Cambodia, especially when there is a good photo of the arrestee’s “perp walk.” Or, in Erdmann’s case, a “perp roll.”

It did not take long before a keen Khmer440 poster found the Facebook page of an Eric Erdmann living in Cambodia, as well as online records of an Eric David Erdman fleeing probation in Multnomah County, Oregon in 2010 after conviction on five felony counts of “Second Degree Encouraging Child Sex Abuse.” That statute covers crimes involving child pornography.

3. Erdmann is un-arrested and lashes out online

Shortly after the article about Erdmann’s arrest hit the Khmer440 discussion forums, another unusual thing happened. “Sniper_m4” jumped into the discussion and declared that “I am Eric Erdmann and this article is a lie.” He demanded that the discussion of his arrest on U.S. sex charges be deleted from Khmer440 or he would sue for defamation, notwithstanding that the owners of Khmer440 can barely pay their own bar tabs.

Erdmann then offered his side of the “arrest” story. He said that he was briefly detained for visa overstay by Cambodian authorities because his passport and visa recently expired. He was then released with instructions to get a new passport and renew his visa.

Erdmann explained, “The FBI was not involved in this at all. Zero, zilch.” He said that a regular U.S. embassy staffer was there simply to look out for his interests. He said that his detention had nothing to do with U.S. sex charges and that this was a “complete falsehood” fabricated by a “hack reporter.” Erdmann also mentioned that he was photographed in a wheelchair because he had broken his leg in a recent accident.

In support of his claim of innocence, Erdmann pointed out that “There are many Eric Erdmanns in America.” He explained, “I am from Wisconsin. Not Oregon. Perhaps the media got their information crossed.”

Erdmann volunteered that he had a criminal record in Wisconsin and Illinois for drunk driving, driving without a license, as well as a record for theft of gasoline from a highway gas station in Illinois. However, he denied ever being charged with any sex crime or any crime in Oregon. He flatly stated that “I have never been to Oregon” and “I am not wanted on sex charges past present or future.”

On April 23, the Cambodia Daily picked up the story. They reported that Erdmann was allegedly wanted on sex charges in Oregon and had been arrested by Khmer immigration police after being caught without a passport. Erdmann told the Cambodia Daily that he had merely overstayed his visa and that allegations of child sex crimes in the U.S. were “a bunch of fucking lies.”

Erdmann’s claims of mistaken identity or mistaken reporting appeared to have some credibility. His Facebook page shows that he really is from Wisconsin, not Oregon. A different Eric Erdmann lives in Portland, Oregon.

Moreover, online records refer to the conviction of Eric David “Erdman” on child sex crimes in Oregon, not “Erdmann.”

Perhaps what was most convincing was that Erdmann was promptly released right after his detention or arrest or whatever it was. He wasn’t in custody, crazily shouting about his innocence through jail bars. He was back at home, posting frequently on Khmer440 and playing violent video games. That’s living the dream of any fortysomething year-old expat in Cambodia.

As proof of his freedom, Erdmann even uploaded a weird hostage-looking photo of himself eating breakfast at home on the same morning that the Cambodia Daily ran its article about his arrest on supposed pedophilia charges.

The FBI and local authorities don’t normally track down American fugitive sex offenders in Cambodia and then immediately release them. Something was off here. It seemed quite possible, even likely, that Erdmann was telling the truth that his brief immigration detention was unrelated to any U.S. sex crimes. Erdmann even related that U.S. embassy personnel had apologized to him and that the embassy was telling third parties that the news of his arrest on sex charges was untrue.

Meanwhile, over the next few days, both the Khmer Times and Cambodia Daily ran articles explaining that local police had simply permitted Erdmann to receive post-arrest treatment at Calmette Hospital for his broken leg, but that Erdmann was nonetheless scheduled to be deported soon due to pedophilia-related charges in the U.S. Erdmann denied these reports. He told the Khmer Times that “I’m not wanted for sex charges” and “I don’t even know where the hell this shit came from.” Erdmann maintained that he was in Wisconsin when the other “Erdman” was arrested on sex charges in Oregon.

Erdmann similarly told the Cambodia Daily, “It would be one thing to say I am arrested for passport and visa overstay . . . But to sit there and make these accusations that I’m some freakin’ pedophile wanted on freaking sex crimes, it’s ridiculous.” Erdmann claimed he was being “lied to by multiple fronts” and that he would be returning to the U.S. voluntarily because his visa and passport expired. He called the Cambodia Daily “an unprofesional media writing a story based off of no facts.”

Over on Khmer440, Erdmann’s denials began to sound rather fishy, and the tide of opinion turned against him as more online information was discovered suggesting that Erdmann a.k.a “sniper_m4” might be the Oregon child sex offender after all.

4. Erdmann’s deportation to Florida

Erdmann left Cambodia on April 27. The Cambodia Daily, quoting local law enforcement officials, reported that Erdmann had been blacklisted and deported and would be met by U.S. authorities in Qatar and then brought back to the U.S.

Two days later, Erdmann re-appeared on Khmer440, posting again as “sniper_m4.” He reiterated that he merely overstayed his visa in Cambodia, wasn’t a sex offender, and that he had traveled freely and voluntarily from Cambodia to Florida, where he was “free as a bird” and “NOT IN FUCKING JAIL.” In a great display of online showmanship, Erdmann even uploaded a photo of himself lying in bed at his parents’ house in Florida, holding a sign that read “F.U. Cambodia Daily.”

Erdmann declared that “Everything that has come out of the Daily has been false so far” and “I started commenting in this post to debunk the news article from Cambodia Daily and I have done that.”

Finally, Erdmann challenged Khmer440’s “fuck tards who want to believe the lies” to meet him face to face when he returns to Cambodia, suggesting that he intends to dispense some sweet ass-kicking justice to anyone who suggests to his face that he is the subject of those Oregon child sex charges. After all, Erdmann is from Wisconsin and has “never been to Oregon,” or so he says.

5. The Oregon child porn prosecution

OK, enough with the foreplay. Let’s get to the salacious stuff and figure out who is telling the truth — Eric Erdmann or the “hack reporters” in Cambodia.

We’ll start with records from Multnomah County, Oregon. According to a court filing, Eric David “Erdman” landed at Portland International Airport on September 3, 2007 on a flight from Bangkok via Tokyo. He told Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) officers that he had been living in Thailand with an older woman he met online. Which is totally crazy, because the whole point of traveling to Thailand for a girlfriend is to get a much younger, hotter one. I digress.

CBP officers found a computer tower in “Erdman’s” luggage. They thought this was odd; people usually just carry laptops around. When officers asked him about the contents of the computer tower, his face turned red. When they asked him for his parents’ address and phone number, he dropped his head onto the baggage belt. The officers told him they were going to seize his computer, and he freaked out and said that he had six months of “work” stored on it.

“Erdman” was free to go, but agents took his computer to their offices in downtown Portland where they searched it the next day. They found more than eighty images of sexually explicit conduct involving children, stored in a subdirectory of a first person shooter video game called “Far Cry.”

“Erdman” was questioned again by federal agents about a week later. He was visibly shaking during that interview and admitted using the “Far Cry” files but denied knowledge of the child pornography. After that interview, he hightailed it back to Thailand.

Almost a year and a half later, on February 2, 2009, an Eric David “Erdman” was indicted by a Multnomah County, Oregon grand jury on 18 separate counts of felony Encouraging Child Sex Abuse in the First Degree, Oregon’s child pornography statute. A warrant for his arrest was issued that day.

On Christmas Day 2009, “Erdman” re-entered the United States from Thailand at Chicago O’Hare Airport. He was promptly arrested at the airport, because he was wanted on the felony charges in Oregon. He also had a 17 year-old warrant for his arrest for theft from a highway gas station in Illinois. The Illinois court correctly spelled his name “Eric D. Erdmann.”

Erdmann agreed to be extradited to Oregon to face prosecution on the child pornography charges. First he was held in the Livingston County, Illinois jail on the theft charge until January 21, 2010. Then he was transported to Multnomah County, Oregon and booked into jail there the same day.

Oregon officials recommended that Erdmann be denied bail because he was a flight risk. He was held in the Multnomah County Jail for the entire duration of the proceedings against him. Erdmann’s trial was eventually set for July 13, 2010.

On the day of trial, Erdmann pled no contest to five lesser charges of felony Encouraging Child Sex Abuse in the Second Degree. A no contest plea means that he did not contest the charges, and he agreed to be convicted and sentenced, without admitting guilt. The remaining charges were dismissed.

Erdmann was sentenced to 120 days in jail (time already served) and three years’ supervised probation. Erdmann specifically agreed to the “sex offender package” — that he would be designated a sex offender and required to register as a sex offender for life.

Erdmann was released from jail that day, and he moved into a halfway house/shelter. He was subject to Oregon’s general terms of probation for three years, like no drugs, no weapons, and don’t leave the state without permission. He also agreed to other specific probation terms, like: (1) complete a sex offender treatment program, (2) register as a sex offender, (3) stay away from schools, parks, and children, (4) don’t look at ANY pornography, (5) meet with a probation officer every Tuesday, and (6) don’t go to any bars, strip clubs, or massage parlors.

To be honest, these probation terms sound like a real drag. Instead of strictly adhering to these terms, Erdmann did the next best thing. He fled to Cambodia — a country with a reputation as a haven for Western pedophiles — and began working as a teacher and frequenting bars in the capital’s red light district.

When Erdmann’s probation officer realized that he vanished, she informed the court that he had violated his probation. Multnomah County Judge Michael McShane issued a warrant for Erdmann’s arrest on December 13, 2010 for violating probation. There has been no subsequent activity in the case. The arrest warrant remains active as of the date of this article.

Erdmann is not listed on Oregon’s online Sex Offender registry. Perhaps sex offender registration in Oregon should not be done on the fucking honor system.

6. How do we know that Eric Erdmann, the guy arrested in Cambodia, is the same guy who fled probation after conviction on child sex crimes in Oregon?

- There is a strong resemblance between photos in Erdmann/sniper_m4’s photobucket account and the online mugshot of the “Eric Erdman” convicted in Multnomah County, Oregon. Erdmann denies he’s the guy, but he sure looks like the same guy here:

- Erdmann’s primary argument of mistaken identity on the Oregon sex charges is, “I’m not from Oregon. I’m from Wisconsin.” The Oregon court records show that the guy caught in Oregon with child pornography was actually from Wisconsin and was just passing through Portland’s airport when he got caught.

- Erdmann posted on Khmer440 as “sniper_m4” that he lived in Thailand for three years before spending the last five years in Cambodia. The guy caught with child pornography in Oregon was returning to the U.S. from Thailand in 2007. He was then arrested at Chicago O’Hare Airport in 2009 after returning from Thailand again.

- Erdmann’s Facebook account, photobucket account, and “sniper_m4” posts on Khmer440 show that he is an aficionado of first person shooter video games. The nervous, red-faced dude caught with child pornography at Portland airport stored that pornography in “Far Cry” gaming files.

- Though Erdmann claims he has never been to Oregon, a user named “sniper_m4” posted on a video game discussion website called “cryengine.com” from 2008 through 2010. His profile lists his location as “Oregon, U.S.A.” He suggested that any lawyers who tried to take his PC would be “shot at.”

- The guy convicted on sex charges in Oregon was born on June 19, 1972. Erdmann volunteered on Khmer440 that he has a criminal record in Wisconsin and Illinois for drunk driving, driving without a license, and theft. Erdmann’s Facebook account says he is from Waukesha County, Wisconsin. Court records show that a local man named Eric D. Erdmann was arrested there numerous times, including for drunk driving and driving without a license. Illinois records show that an Eric D. Erdmann from Wisconsin was arrested there for misdemeanor theft in 1992. All of these records list Erdmann’s date of birth as June 19, 1972, the same date of the birth as the man convicted in Oregon.

- Wisconsin records show that the “Eric D. Erdmann” caught driving without a license there had a street address of 1940 Division St., East Troy, Wisconsin, 53120. Oregon records show that the “Eric David Erdman” caught with child porn there had a street address of 1940 Division St., East Troy, Wisconsin, 53120.

- Although the Oregon child sex charges were filed against an “Eric David Erdman,” this was just a misspelling of the last name “Erdmann.” The defendant in the Oregon case actually filled out several documents by hand where he corrected the misspelling by printing and then signing his own name “Erdmann.” Here is his signature on the 2010 Oregon plea agreement:

This looks an awful lot like “Eric D. Erdmann’s” signature on his 1998 guilty plea for drunk driving in Waukesha County, Wisconsin:

All of these documents rather conclusively show that the Eric David Erdmann a.k.a. “sniper_m4” who was recently deported from Cambodia is the very same fugitive “Eric David Erdman” who was convicted of child pornography charges in Oregon in 2010 and fled his probation after serving jail time there. Erdmann’s repeated claims on Khmer440 and to the press in Cambodia that he has “never been to Oregon” and is “not wanted on sex charges past present or future” were spectacularly untrue.

7. The Money Shot

Erdmann has a lot invested in his lies and his denials of the Oregon child sex offense charges. He told his wife and her family that the news reports were false, such that they might “go after” the journalist who wrote the article.

Erdmann might still try to claim that although he is a 43 year-old thieving, drunk driving, gasoline stealing, violent video game-loving guy named Eric David Erdmann from Wisconsin who once lived in Thailand, he’s NOT the same 43 year-old thieving, drunk driving, gasoline stealing, Thailand-living, violent video game-loving Eric David Erdmann from Wisconsin who got caught with child pornography while passing through Oregon. “Same Same But Different Guy,” Erdmann might say.

If you are a gullible, tinfoil hat wearing nutcase who might be inclined to believe Erdmann, please consider the following final nugget of evidence. The “Eric David Erdman(n)” convicted on child sex charges in Oregon listed his father as a character reference in his bail application. He said his father’s phone number was (941) 637-xxxx. A quick google search shows that this phone number is a “landline” registered to a house located at 1601 Islamorada Blvd. in Punta Gorda, Florida.

Erdmann/Sniper_m4 told us on Khmer440 that his parents live in Florida. In fact, to prove that he was not wanted and was “free as a bird” in America, Erdmann uploaded that photo of himself lying in bed in his parents’ Florida home, holding a sign reading “F.U. Cambodia Daily.”

Erdmann added:

“If I am a fugative that escaped to Cambodia running from child sex charges (according to the Cambodia Daily). Why am I laying in my parents bed and NOT IN FUCKING JAIL?I told you asshats I wasnt wanted. But noooo lets all listen to the dumb fuck daily news. I will be returning to Cambodia soon enough and that asshole reporter who wrote that hit piece better tread lightly. . . . Child sex charges lmao!”

LMAO, indeed. The “location services” on Erdmann’s phone were turned on when he took that photo. If you upload the photo to a simple web service like this one, the geo-tagging data on the photo reveals that it was taken at 1601 Islamorada Blvd. in Punta Gorda, Florida.

That’s right, in an effort to prove to Cambodia Daily assholes and Khmer440 “fuck tards” that he is not the same “Eric David Erdman(n)” who fled probation after a child sex conviction in Oregon, Erdmann uploaded a selfie lying in bed in the exact Florida house where the Oregon defendant told the court that his father could be contacted.