NGOs Fucking up the program:

Sharky Bar:
Setting up a meeting Wednesday at Sharky Bar seemed like a good bet since it's $1 spirits night. Some people insist that the FCC or the Elephant Bar are the only real places to get things done. I spit in their quiche.

5 drinks in me and we got down to it. Good meeting. I even managed to take legible notes, and when it was over - there was plenty of eye-candy to groove on.... All in all, a good festive atmosphere....Thanksgiving a day early.

Sometimes we talk business:

"I saw a crowded market, and said, ME TOO!!"

• As a new full color ad supported magazine gets ready to hit town, people in the biz question the wisdom of spending a ton of cash in a limited market with relatively high printing costs. The 144 page intro issue is generous but how long can you keep that up? Start at 144 pages and you'll need to stay there or readers will think your going down the tubes. In the end, how much is there to write about living here? (I tell you everything you need to know anyway) More importantly - can they sell that many high-priced ads? Do they have the pockets to employ the writers and photogs to keep it worth reading?? This ain't Saigon (pop. 14 million with a large VN middle class and more expats with more money) but....I wish them all the best.
• Heard the last person to try this kind of thing may have lost as much as $50K on the project, and we all know The Cambodian Scene is mostly shit, and last time I looked, they wanted $3 for a copy. (!!!??)

Why is it such a hassle to get a decent magazine or paper going here?

NGOs Fucking up the program:

• Why is the publishing industry shit here? Blame NGO money for stunting the free-market in the publishing industry here. The Cambodia Daily gets all sorts of funding from supporters who do it for charity. Full page Kikoman soy sauce ads?? $98+ 1/4 page ads?? Staff that's paid fuck all...I'd like to see their books...NGO my ass. Rumor: The full color printing press they received as a donation from Japan has never been used on the paper. Maybe they've been pimping it out to printing houses?? How's a for-profit business going to compete with that?
  
• Phnom Penh Post just got handed some cash to keep them in business. Since the articles are basically shit and the ad sales a joke....it makes sense that their main business strategy involves bending over and begging for aid cash....oh, and putting on airs- as if they were the New York Times of Cambodia.
  

I'm not Larry Kudlow but:
Corruption and NGO interference in free market growth will keep this country light years behind it's neighbors to the east and west and it's a real fucking shame. When charity gets in the way of people trying to make an honest buck and develop an industry that is fundamental to democracy and economic growth, it just ain't right.