A New Low

On Saturday Shanti and I were running some errands around Central Market and Sorya Shopping Center, Cambodia's premier mall (though it's not exactly a mall by western standards). As we were leaving, we were approached by a slim, middle-aged western man. He wore pants and an old t-shirt and had short, red hair and dirty teeth. After confirming that we spoke English, he told us that he was Australian and that his bag - including all of his money and credit cards, but not his passport - had been stolen by a tuk-tuk driver at Russian Market. Shanti and I listened intently as he told us that the Australian Embassy was closed and that he needed just a few dollars to make a phone call to Australia to have some money wired to him. It was a compelling story, so when Shanti started to open her purse to give him $1, I grabbed her arm and shook my head no. I was told the same story by the same man perhaps three months ago near the Royal Palace. When I told him that he tried a similar tale on me a few months back, he looked stunned and quickly walked off. I related the story to another friend who confirmed that he too was approached by the same man with the same story within the last several weeks.

The man's presence in Cambodia is troubling, if not angering, for a number of reasons. The first time I saw him, I assumed he was traveling through Cambodia, not staying a long period of time. His reappearance confirms that his ploy is working well enough that he has chosen to stay and it is safe to assume he comes with a host of problems - I wouldn't be surprised if his desire for more funds from tourists and ex-pats is fueled by a drug problem or involvement in the thriving sex tourism industry in Cambodia. Most aggravating, however, is the mere presence of a clearly successful western beggar in Cambodia (when so many Cambodians are more deserving). The icing on the cake is that he places blame on a Cambodian - the tuk-tuk driver that supposedly ripped him off - as his reason for asking for money. The believability of his story (Shanti has had her bag stolen) is as frightening - surely if I was in his supposed position, I would want help - as it is unfair to the people of Cambodia. They deserve better than to have their name tarnished or the few tourist dollars that make it to a beggar's pocket pilfered by such a man.