That's funny, satire in Cambodia?
By Richard S Ehrlich

PHNOM PENH - Devastated by the late Pol Pot and still crippled by poverty, Cambodia seems an unlikely place for a hip Englishman to publish a scathing satirical magazine skewering Cambodian officials, US and other diplomats, foreign backpackers, local con artists and killers.

"You can do satire in English, because unless you are a native English speaker, it is difficult to understand," said publisher Adam Parker, grinning during an interview inside the office of Bayon Pearnik magazine, which first appeared in 1996.

In Bayon Pearnik, America's involvement in Cambodia is laced with criticism about the US bombardment from 1969 to 1975 when then-president Richard M Nixon and his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, tried to obliterate suspected communist Vietnamese infiltrators along Cambodia's eastern border, and liquidate Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge guerrillas. While mocking the US State Department's newest effort to educate Cambodians about landmines, for example, Bayon Pearnik magazine concludes: "The assholes who created the whole mess in the first place are going to try and fix Southeast Asia again!"

The US war in Iraq is also frequently blasted. "New Iraq administration to be chosen democratically", a Bayon Pearnik headline announces. The story describes an insane Fox TV game show - "Appointed by America" - in which US General Tommy Franks and Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi compete against a sexy blond American waitress and other contestants to rule Iraq.

Cambodia is a favorite destination for backpackers and others who are surprised to find a seemingly lax atmosphere when it comes to using illegal drugs, including marijuana and heroin. Bayon Pearnik magazine, however, reports that the US and British embassies have issued new travel warnings to their citizens who visit Cambodia. "The guidelines encourage travelers to 'inject only sensible doses of smack' and to 'always remove the Do Not Disturb sign to prevent undue decomposition in event of overdose'," it reveals.

In a more serious tone, the magazine does warn about "Westerners dying from overdoses here" and adds, "So, if you are one of the idiots who mainlines, be warned that some of the substances you are addicted to can be far purer or impurer - it swings both ways - than those back home."

How can Bayon Pearnik survive for seven years in an economically tough market where foreign investors often lose money and other publications are fighting for a small pool of advertisers?

Bayon Pearnik, a monthly, boasts it is "Cambodia's original free tourism and information magazine". It is avidly read by English-speaking tourists, residents and others not only for its scalding satire, outrageous opinions and ridiculous rants, but also for its main body of text, which includes up-to-date travel info and street-smart advice to anyone visiting the Angkor Wat temple complex, Phnom Penh or other urban and rural locations.

Backpackers also write in about bone-jarring bus rides to various tourist sites and give blunt details about ripoffs as well as paradise destinations. Dr Gavin Scott, a British gynecologist, pens a monthly column offering graphic medical advice about sexually transmitted diseases, tropical parasites, SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and other dangers.

There are also lots of tips about visas, emergency facilities and long-distance telephone charges, plus schedules for buses, trains, airplanes and boats. Similar to other tourist publications, the magazine also lists a slew of hotels, bars and restaurants in the capital, Phnom Penh, and other cities, along with rates, descriptions, addresses, phone numbers and maps.

Perhaps most surprising to people shocked by its satire, Bayon Pearnik is packed with quality, mainstream advertisements, which keep the publication afloat. Luxury hotels, airlines, bars, expensive apartment complexes, excellent restaurants, travel agents, insurance agents, financial services and other establishments run ads in each issue, anxious to reach Bayon Pearnik's diverse readers.

"The magazine is purely financed by advertising," said Parker. "And all the back issues are free on our website."

Ads are not cheap. Bayon Pearnik is A4 size, 29 by 21 centimeters, in color and black-and-white. A full-page color advertisement inside the magazine costs about US$450. Small ads start at around $10.

Circulation is currently at about 5,000 copies a month, "but it can go up or down according to the tourist season. One time we did 7,000," Parker said. "In the tourist season, the magazine reaches a readership four to five times the print run, or about 20,000-25,000 readers, and the website is getting 20,000 hits a month."

Any apparent contradictions between the late Pol Pot's "killing fields" regime that left more than a million people dead during his 1975-79 reign and today's Cambodia, where a hilarious, loud-mouthed, tourist-friendly publication can thrive, simply show that time has moved on, Parker said.

"The magazine is not aimed at Khmers. What happened here [during Pol Pot's rule] was terrible. The people here are trying to get over it and get on with their lives. We are trying to do a lighter read for Westerners. We aim at both expats and tourists."

Phnom Penh is a down-at-heels town but hosts an amazingly diverse foreign community engaged in creative commercial enterprises, artistic works, aid projects and intellectual research spanning Cambodia's politics, culture and religions. Many people who enjoy the magazine have personally helped Phnom Penh evolve its own cool, casual society of Westerners who live or travel here.

"For example, there is a variety of food you can eat around town, with restaurants such as Turkish, Greek, Thai, Malay, Singaporean, American, Mexican and others. The city is so small, no place is more than five minutes away," the publisher said.

"There are a hell of a lot of bars here, must be at least 80 bars catering to Westerners. The expats here are pretty decent people with a slightly broader outlook on life, and sense of adventure, than most people," he added.

"It can be more interesting than the West, because prices are cheap. You can drink until dawn, if that's what you want. Life is more free and easy here for Westerners. There is a saying here: 'Your worst enemy is yourself, because you have to set your own limits,'" Parker said.

The magazine also blasts Cambodian politicians but uses slang, so only people reading between the lines can figure things out. "A clear winner was Strongman Whiskey with about 60 percent of the barstools available," means Prime Minister Hun Sen won 60 percent of parliament's seats during a national election in July. "Royal Vodka lost some of its favor," refers to Prince Norodom Ranariddh's election losses. "The Media Whore Party was in full swing ... to keep their American spin doctors happy," is a dig at media-hungry opposition candidate Sam Rainsy and the support he enjoyed from the Washington-based International Republican Institute.

Some of the magazine's writers are "from the United Nations, embassies' staff and professional people here in the business community, but if they were found out that they wrote an article, they would get fired. So we use pseudonyms," Parker said.

The Cambodia Daily newspaper - a rival that publishes local news alongside articles from the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Associated Press and elsewhere - is consistently jeered in the magazine as "The Cambodia Dreary". In a mock version of the paper's front page, the Associated Press appears warped into "Disassociated Press" and reports, for example, about "the ruling Bush junta" manipulating Iraq.

A news photo of devastated children crying in agony is captioned: "Children cry out in joy, safe in the knowledge that their eight relatives will now be able to sleep soundly in their graves as a result of the coalition victory. Their dead family was liberated by a laser-guided, uranium-coated bunker buster which hit their house and the TV station."

Elsewhere, the mock front page announces: "The Cambodia Dreary is this month proud to launch the new weekend edition, which is to be dispensed free throughout Phnom Penh as pictured above." The accompanying photo shows a roll of toilet paper in a dispenser.

Bayon Pearnik magazine isn't vicious to everyone. When about 40 doctors, nurses and others recently arrived in Cambodia from the United States, Canada, England, China, the Philippines and Vietnam to repair cleft lips and cleft palates in a generous "Operation Smile" mission, the magazine reported it with respect and appreciation.

"But political bullshit deserves to have the hell ripped out of it, because they are always lying to the general public," Parker said, flashing another mischievous grin. "Often, the only way to print the truth is through sarcasm and irony."

(Copyright 2003 Richard S Ehrlich.)