When the Theravada, or god of the new year, enters the heavens each year, Cambodians usually greet him with a hundred-or-so gun salute.
Shots ring out in the night sky over the capital when Khmer New Year is officially announced. The sky last year was lit up with the red lasers from tracer bullets.
But Phnom Penh police are trying to cut down on the gunfire, hoping to prevent injuries and even deaths. One person was reported killed during last year’s celebrations when hit by a bullet returning to earth.
Announcements on state television in the last few days have urged soldiers and civilians to leave their weapons indoors for this week’s Khmer New Year celebrations, which officially began today at 5:12 am.
And municipal police are threatening fines for anyone caught firing into the air.
“Anyone who is shooting guns will be arrested,” Yet Razaqu, third deputy chief of municipal police, promised Monday.
Still, with weapons as common and readily available as they are in Phnom Penh, cracking down may not be easy.
Moto-taxi driver Vorn Sokha, 32, laughed when asked whether he thought the new directive would keep people from firing weapons.
“Let’s wait and see. You will hear a lot of gunfire in the coming days—and after that, they will be unable to find who was firing,” he said. “In past years, the people who violated the ban were not fined, so the people who have guns are not afraid.”
The official Khmer New Year holiday for the year 2542 is Tuesday through Thursday. Government offices and banks will close, as will many shops and markets.
