Cambodia and the Year of UNTAC: Life and Love in Cambodia's 1993 Election

by Tom Riddle

Overview

This is the untold story of what went on behind the scenes when the UN tried to manage free elections in Cambodia in the early 90s. Told with insight, humor, and a dash of romance, Cambodia and the Year of UNTAC staggers from adventure to adventure as the UN seeks to bring hope to a country reeling from war. With deep feelings for the Cambodian people, this true-life tale - now in a new edition with additional photos and a special afterword - brings to life what it was like to be part of the team that ended Cambodia's civil war and helped bring stability to that beautiful country.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771831840
Publisher:	Guernica Editions Inc
Publication date:	01/01/2009
Series:	Essential Essays
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	136
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Tom Riddle worked in the refugee camps of Southeast Asia in the early 1980s. In 1992 he went to Cambodia to help with the UN-led election. Since then he has worked mainly in Southeast Asia as a freelance videographer.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 1

Introduction 3

Map of Cambodia 6

Map of Phnom Penh 7

1 It's All Fun and Games (March-May 1992) 9

Welcome to Cambodia: Notes from March 1992 9

Settling In and Shipping Out 17

Hello Kampong Chhnang 19

Journey to Battambang and Banteay Meanchey 25

Hotel Life and Foreign Women 30

Mission Impossible to Siem Reap and Preah Vihear 31

2 Stop Making Sense (June-July, 1992) 43

The Real Census of Cambodia 43

Why Communism Failed 45

Driving Rules and Traffic Safety in Phnom Penh 47

More on Missing Body Parts and Dining in the Capital 49

Office Life, Adultery, and the Thai Lady 53

Peace and Coconuts 57

Then One day 58

Unusually Long Fingers 60

3 Heating Up (August 1992-January 1993) 64

Big City Life 64

Getting Things Started with a Bang and a Perfect Model 69

Meeting Godzilla 73

Life During Registration 74

All This Time 76

Salt, Rice, and Video Tape 77

Becoming a Movie Star 80

The Republic of UNTAC and NGO Life 84

Falling 88

Rising 90

Going Places 93

I Spy 99

First God Created Cambodians 101

Registration Madness 103

The UN's Final Legacy 104

Landing the Space Shuttle With Count Dracula 105

New Heights 107

Purer Than Breast Milk 109

Major Thorn 111

Pictures of Cambodia and the Year of UNTAC 114

4 Into the Fire (February-late May 1993) 129

Once Upon a Time 129

Plastic Surgery 130

The War Continued With a Wife For the Night 135

A More Perfect Model and a Silly Law 139

The Meaning of Low Tech and the One Chance to Get It Right 140

Oh, Look at That 145

The Odd Bunch and Big Trouble in Siem Reap 150

Imagine a Polling Station 151

Flying by Night and Staking Out the Count 153

Down and Out in the Jungle 155

Act International 157

Sore Knees 159

Every Mother's Worst Nightmare 162

More on Death, Sex, and Scandal 166

We Were Okay 167

Soon Sex Was Going to Be Impossible 168

Romantic Good-bye 172

Night Life 173

May 16, 1993: More on the Election and Security 176

5 Let's Vote on It (End of May-July 1993) 182

Thai National Security (Monday, May 17) 182

Their Most Likely Target 183

On Your Mark, Get Set … 185

She Had Finally Died 188

A Little Army 189

Meetings with Remarkable People 191

The Queen of Persia 197

How About That? 198

It Was Our Profit 200

Keeping Score 202

The Truth and Nothing But the Truth 207

Where's the Party? 210

The Playmate of the Month and Death or Suicide 213

6 Most Likely Fat and Happy 217

Tribute to Gauguin 217

Mystical Transvestite 217

Beer, Salted Peanuts and "A Girl" 220

Fat and Happy 222

New Sheets on the Bed 224

Afterword 231

Appendix A A few names and definitions 246

Appendix B The 1900-year countdown to UNTAC 251

Sources 256

About the Author 257

Editorial Reviews

"Riddle accomplishes what no other author writing about that war torn nation has done: brought humor to an otherwise deeply depressing subject." — Thomas M. Grace (Kent State: Death and Dissent in the Long Sixties)

From the Publisher