Despite a spate of high-profile shootings and the reinstallment of weapons checkpoints on Phnom Penh’s streets, some residents say they are not particularly nervous about security during the upcoming holidays—because security has always been poor.
Nonetheless, Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, gave his assurances Wednesday that Phnom Penh law enforcement will be more vigilant than usual during the coming weeks.
Particularly during the Water Festival—from Nov 7 to Nov 9—when the provinces appear to empty into the city, all police will be on the streets, patrolling longer hours than usual and trying to prevent traffic jams, he said.
However, there will not be an around-the-clock police presence, Khieu Sopheak said, adding that police patrol hours will not be made public.
Some residents said they weren’t impressed by law enforcement efforts to date.
“There is no comfort. Our government is weak,” one Phsar Thmei gold dealer, who asked not to be named, said Wednesday.
“It is just busy fighting for power. It is not thinking about the security of the people.”
Several RCAF soldiers sat in front of the shop. They said their commander, the shop’s owner, had deployed them to protect his gold.
Armed men robbed several gold shops last month. One heist resulted in the shooting death of an off-duty policeman moonlighting as a security guard.
“Lots of people think like me. Not only gold sellers, but shop owners in general,” the gold dealer said. “It has nothing to do with the big holidays, but people in general are living in fear because security is not reliable.”
A man standing behind the counter joined in, dismissing the weapons checkpoints around town.
“It’s just an excuse for the government to show they care for the people, but we never have safety,” he said.
“This happened in 1993, and the weapons are still on the street,” he added.
A pharmacist who operates just off Sisowath Boulevard said, “Security is normal, but it is not sufficient.”
She said she goes straight home in the evening, avoiding the trouble on the streets.
“I don’t want to comment about the outside security,” she said.
Several women selling clothes on Sisowath Boulevard said they did not follow the news and were unaware of the recent shootings.
“Crime never happened before during the holidays,” one said. “Business is normal.”
Regardless, she added, “We feel afraid. We don’t trust the authorities.”
Tep Sary, 40, also runs a riverfront business, selling noodles and sugar cane juice at her sidewalk cafe.
“There are never shootouts here. Only stabbings by glue sniffers,” she said.
She said gangs of drug addicts chase each other up and down the riverfront almost every day.
“When they run away, and it’s finished, the police arrive,” she said.
She said her business will stay open through the holidays, despite the Water Festival pedestrian crush, but recent unrest has caused her to cut back her hours.
“We are concerned about the security. My shop usually closes at midnight, but now I close at about 10 pm,” she said.
