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The amazing Story. Some say, if you really let the Chinese logger companies do a solid Job, you would not see a single tree in Cambodia anymore within 6 month. Hard to believe, but it is fact. Some NGOs try to fight against illegal logging in Cambodia, but corruption is that incredible what makes it hard to prevent it. Behind it all is of course the prime Minister which uses parts of his army to force logging. No one really cares in the world anyway. The jungles in Cambodia with be gone.
As an example, the 2 biggest national parks are called Botum Sakor in the Kep Region and Kirirom naitonal park in the Ratanakiri Region Close to the Vietnam border.
In 2007 when you have been as a backpacker riding a minishuttle down to Phnom Penh, you were maybe astonished, those Minivans made a stopover in the middle of nowhere and picked up some logs. Those days tourists maybe not really understood about the whole Thing.
But an Explanation is quite easy. The most valueable Wood in Cambodia is called Rosewood, which is traded in China by 25000 Dollars a cubic meter. And theny you can make the math yourself about, how Wood is Walking over Vietnam to China, as in those regions People still make 30-50 Dollars income a month.
You got that many companies in logginb Business set up in Cambodia what makes it hard to understand about who is the who. But the big Boys behind logging is APP, called Asia Pulp & Paper. A Chinese Indonesian Company, what means the Billion Dollar guy behind is Chinese and got his Connections in China but his Company APP is based in Indonesia. There are other Malaysian companies in this business, of course.
Finally in Europe they sell then Teakwood and whatever and call it FSC certified and whatever, but it is all bull shit, as yes...some parts of forests are FSC Wood, but it is always the way, they of course take some additional amounts of Wood from nearby forests which are not FSC and you can not really control the whole thing.
The only Thing you can do if you not like this Story. Do not buy ANY fucking Tropical Woods. But as Long everyone is just himself the closest and just tinking about himself and his nice furniture in Europe and USA, this Story will never end.
You once should go to Thailand. You barely will see any tree. Then you run to Vietnam and from all those Vietnam war movies you expect some jungles there. But Forget about. Thailand has no Wood anymore, almost no single tree. This is why then Thailand in 2006 around donated in Cambodia a road from Koh Kong, connecting this City to the rest of the Nation. Those days in Thailand every Bungalow builder has ordered his Wood from Cambodias logs from the Botum Sakor national park road. Thailand donated this road, but took the Wood...and of course the Wood was more valueable than the road, the Thais are not that stupid and never have been famous for being big donators as you know.
Another Story is Botum Sakor national park, where the Company behind is as well APP, Asia Pulp and Paper. The are logging actually 1000 square Kilometer national park forests down. one part they are building a 4 lane road and a Casino City next to Koh Sdach Smuggler Island, another part will be then Palm oil Business which will replace the logged Wood. Nothing of this rainforest finally will exist anymore, no single tree, or maybe they let one stand for history books.
In the Bokor national Park Region, it was Sok Kong. The richest man in Cambodia. He built first a road up to the Bokor mountain and made a Casino City on top. It started with Thansur Casino Hotel. And of course they will now log this whole forest down. The land around Bokor national park was as well sold to smart Investors in Palm oil Business. All their land is right at the Bokor National park from where they are logging the whole national park down.
Basicly this is the Story, and you can do the math yourself and make yourself a bit smart about with following those couple foreign NGOs represented in Cambodia. They try to prevent the whole Thing, but have no Chance against companies in Billion Dollar Business and the corrup Billionaire Hun Sen.
So did you really believe in the FSC certified Wood Story with Wood from Vietname or China, then you run once to Cambodia and watch those ancient jungles. The furnitures then are produced in Vietname and China.
Any activist trying to do something against it, is of course murdered or disappearing in any ways. Most famous Khmer activist was Chut Wutty. He was shot by the logger companies in 2012 which was the year when big style Casino builders and Loggers started their acitivity.
Now it is up to you. You still buy Tropical wooden furniture from China or Vietnam, this Story will never end until the last tree is gone. Those trees will go anyway, as 1 Billion Chinese people with 300 Million Chinese middleclass People in the meantime would never care about such things. So i ask you, why should you care about as a European Person, as the Americans of course would not care about it as well.
You have maybe been following the Story how many jungles in Indonesia now have been burnt down by palmoil companies in 2015 with the big fires getting out of control then.
We got in Europe the policy to replace at least 10% of our fuels with palmoil generated fuels. And this is what you see in Asia anywhere. Palm oil plantations replacing everything and removing ancient jungles, it is not any different in Cambodia of course with those corrupt guys on top, the big Chinese Palm oil companies and finally our western mega companies behind it all playing.
The baron of logging, as well a Casino magnate beside of Sok Kong, is called Try Pheap.
