TIME TO BOYCOTT THAI GOODS

What happened recently on the street of Bangkok on the issue of Preah Vihear, combined with recent killing of Khmers, including a child near the border, not to mention the daily mistreatments of our people who do hard works in Thailand, many are still in Thai jailed as I wrote this, it is time that Cambodia reflects seriously on the two countries relationship and what to do about it. We demand an answer from the Thai authority to why they continue to shoot our civilians? And what exactly Thai gov't plans to do with those military criminals? Will they pay for their crimes?

Our three famillies have planned to visit Thailand together this winter 2008. Now we scrapped that plan completely in preference of a cruiship to Mediterrean Sea. My brother-in-law did spend more than a week visiting Thailand last January, a few days at the Phi Phi island which costs plenty of cash. That money could have better spent somewhere else considered the way Thais have been treating our people inside and near the border areas. I am now declaring a total boycott on all Thai products. It will be a while before I spent another dollar on Thai merchandise. I urge you to join me on this until there is a change in Thai attitude. It is regrettable that we are two races, two nations, almost identical in cultural values, devoted and practiced buddhism, similar profile, skin color and traditions somehow have to go through this difficult experiment. Buy any product from anywhere, but not Thai. Please..........................NO THAI PRODUCTS.

Cambodians in Cambodia and abroad who have long contributed to the economic prosperity in Thailand for years and years, through visits and trasition flights, buying all sorts of generic products ranging from toothpast, soaps, clothings, and rice etc.., must now take a pause to send Thai gov't a clear message. It's a two way street.

If you are planning to flight to Cambodia, please do our country a favour by not flighting with Thai Airlines, you can flight directly into the country from Taiwan, China, Singapor or Malaysia. Whatever it takes not to spent a single dollar in Bangkok Airport.

By taking a total boycott on Thai merchandise, remember that, we are creating Thai employment to keep their factories going. It creates jobs which then allowed them to flood our country's market with their products. Our market is hugh and we can definitely make impact on Thailand economy and employment there. Let's take a stand and let send Thai extremists a message.

This action is drastic, but believe me it will hurt Thai economy pretty badly should they loose our market share. They have dumped all their cheap products into our country for such a long period of time and now we have more choices to choose from. Maybe there will be some Thai people looking for works in Cambodia in the future instead of us doing that on the north border and get mistreated so badly. If they respect us then we more than obliged to do the same in return, until then, it can't continue to go Thai way. We have Cambodian way also of doing things.

It is about time that Cambodian government takes aggressive steps to help encourage local Cambodian entrepreneurs build factory plants inside Cambodia instead of relaying heavily products from neigbour countries. It created jobs there, not in Cambodia. It is time to creat jobs in Cambodia and ship products out instead of let foreigners flooding their products in. It has been long overdue.

I am taking a stand and I urge Mr. Chea Mony, Mr. Rong Chhon, Union Leaders, Cambodian politicians, and all of us inside Cambodia and overseas to avoid buying any Thai products, until we received an acceptable answer and/or apology from Thailand. On top of that we want the government of Thailand to change its educational policy that have long been somewhat hostiled toward our people to a much more receptive which reflect the modern co-existing societies in what we called MUTUAL RESPECT AND UNDERSTANDING between the existing two peoples, Khmer and Thai.

Let send the Thai government a clear signal and put them on notice. They have a choice to set a policy in place to treat and respect our people better. You can do it by flooding thai embassy with this article and your own message.