Day 1- Observations & Economics
The most disturbing thing I saw today was hundreds of people waiting in line outside of the Children's Hospital. There seemed to be an entire micro-economy that had developed around the sidewalk waiting area: water & juice stands, street food vendors, etc. The irony was that the garbage strewn shoulder of the road was right next to the impeccably kept gated grounds of Le Méridien Angkor, an outpost of the luxury hotel brand Parker Méridien.
After reading my Lonely Planet Guidebook (LP) and before coming to Cambodia I tried to mentally prepare myself for the poverty. It helped; I am glad I was as prepared as I could be. I even purchased 50 kid-friendly notebooks to give to child beggars (most NGOs recommend NOT giving them money because it creates dependence and encourages other parents/children to enter the child begging industry).
In spite of all my preparations, I was deeply affected by the conditions I encountered.
According to the IMF, in 2008 Cambodia's Nominal GDP per capita was USD $742/year (150th out of the 178 ranked). To compare, their relatively prosperous neighbors Thailand and Vietnam are ranked 95th (@4,099/year) and 135th ($1,047/year) respectively.
In contrast, the USA is ranked 17th ($47,025/year) our neighbor to the south, Mexico, is ranked 57th ($10,747/year). And my current hometown, South Korea, is ranked 38th ($19,638/year).
That means that the average Cambodian makes ~1/5th that of the average Thai person, and 1.5% (~1/65th) that of the average American. Obviously the cost of living is lower.
According to Wikipedia: "Using a Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) basis is arguably more useful when comparing differences in living standards on the whole between nations because PPP takes into account the relative cost of living and the inflation rates of different countries, rather than just a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) comparison."
According to the IMF, Cambodia's Purchasing Power Parity is $1,955/year (143 out of 178). In contrast, using this equation Thailand is adjusted to 84th with a PPP of $8,380. In 2008, the World GDP was $10,539 and the USA's ranking is 6th at the same dollar amount $47,025.
There are a lot of factors that play into Cambodia's economic woes. One major one, which I encountered, was corruption. According to Wikipedia: "In 2006, Transparency International's rating of corrupt countries rated Cambodia as 151st of 163 countries of their Corruption Perceptions Index. The 2007 edition of the same list placed Cambodia at 162nd out of 179 countries." (The higher the number the more corrupt a government is determined to be).
"According to this same list, Cambodia is the 3rd most corrupt nation in the South-East Asia area, behind Laos, at 168th, and Myanmar, at joint 179th. The BBC reports that corruption is rampant in the Cambodian political arena with international aid from the U.S. and other countries being illegally transferred into private accounts. Corruption has also added to the wide income disparity within the population."
It was amazing how many Lexuses my travel companions and I saw. It became a running joke whenever we had to pay an extortionary fee--we would say, "This is today's contribution to the Lexus fund!"
After reading my Lonely Planet Guidebook (LP) and before coming to Cambodia I tried to mentally prepare myself for the poverty. It helped; I am glad I was as prepared as I could be. I even purchased 50 kid-friendly notebooks to give to child beggars (most NGOs recommend NOT giving them money because it creates dependence and encourages other parents/children to enter the child begging industry).
In spite of all my preparations, I was deeply affected by the conditions I encountered.
According to the IMF, in 2008 Cambodia's Nominal GDP per capita was USD $742/year (150th out of the 178 ranked). To compare, their relatively prosperous neighbors Thailand and Vietnam are ranked 95th (@4,099/year) and 135th ($1,047/year) respectively.
In contrast, the USA is ranked 17th ($47,025/year) our neighbor to the south, Mexico, is ranked 57th ($10,747/year). And my current hometown, South Korea, is ranked 38th ($19,638/year).
That means that the average Cambodian makes ~1/5th that of the average Thai person, and 1.5% (~1/65th) that of the average American. Obviously the cost of living is lower.
According to Wikipedia: "Using a Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) basis is arguably more useful when comparing differences in living standards on the whole between nations because PPP takes into account the relative cost of living and the inflation rates of different countries, rather than just a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) comparison."
According to the IMF, Cambodia's Purchasing Power Parity is $1,955/year (143 out of 178). In contrast, using this equation Thailand is adjusted to 84th with a PPP of $8,380. In 2008, the World GDP was $10,539 and the USA's ranking is 6th at the same dollar amount $47,025.
There are a lot of factors that play into Cambodia's economic woes. One major one, which I encountered, was corruption. According to Wikipedia: "In 2006, Transparency International's rating of corrupt countries rated Cambodia as 151st of 163 countries of their Corruption Perceptions Index. The 2007 edition of the same list placed Cambodia at 162nd out of 179 countries." (The higher the number the more corrupt a government is determined to be).
"According to this same list, Cambodia is the 3rd most corrupt nation in the South-East Asia area, behind Laos, at 168th, and Myanmar, at joint 179th. The BBC reports that corruption is rampant in the Cambodian political arena with international aid from the U.S. and other countries being illegally transferred into private accounts. Corruption has also added to the wide income disparity within the population."
It was amazing how many Lexuses my travel companions and I saw. It became a running joke whenever we had to pay an extortionary fee--we would say, "This is today's contribution to the Lexus fund!"