The action at Koh Kong’s most recent international boxing event was nothing compared to the fury sparked when TV5 viewers realized they could not read the advertisements.
The outcry over the exclusive use of Thai language in the advertisements at the event has sparked a new rule requiring all ads to contain a Khmer translation, Koh Kong province’s Deputy Governor Pich Han said.
Admitting that the provincial authority made a “mistake” in allowing Thai advertisers to exclude Khmer, Pich Han said advertisers at all future events will now be required to use Cambodia’s native language, as well.
“This is a [learning] experience,” Rich Han said. “We will not allow such a thing to happen again.”
The news did little to quell the rage of some viewers of the boxing event, however.
“It is disgraceful to the Cambodian government when the government’s high-ranking officials who presided over the [event] do not care about this,” said Phnom Penh resident Um Tha.
The boxing event, which was broadcast Dec 29, was organized to encourage tourism in Cambodia and to raise money to build schools for poor children, Pich Han said.
