Siem Reap Vendors Protest Against Removal Order

A group of vendors who have been told to vacate their positions outside Siem Reap’s Angkor Kyung Yu Night Market on Monday got into a shoving match with city officials and police who were attempting to inspect the area prior to the deadline for their removal on Wednesday.

About a dozen vendors, part of a wider protest over the city’s plan to remove several hundred vendors lining the sidewalk around the market, clashed briefly with authorities, according to a vendor representative.

Lim Samnang, who is representing the approximately 300 vendors who are opposed to leaving their current positions, claimed the sellers had been operating for several years with the permission of authorities, and also pay official fees to do so.

“We will not stop protesting unless the authorities find a better resolution for us,” Mr. Samnang said, adding that the group had submitted a petition to CPP lawmaker Sieng Nam, who represents Siem Reap, asking for his intervention.

Siem Reap City governor So Platong, who on December 9 issued a notice ordering the removal of the vendors by Wednesday, said they would still be permitted to sell goods outside the night market from 6 p.m. until midnight.

“We order them to be removed because those vendors…affect public order and cause traffic jams,” he said.

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