Cambodian Male Beauty Pageant Goes Viral for Quality of Participants
Popular Cambodian beauty pageant Miss and Mister Majestic has been getting a lot of attention after photos of its “ordinary-looking” participants went viral on social media. The winner of Mister Majestic 2025 will represent Cambodia in the Mister Universe international beauty pageant, but the contest has created a lot of buzz online due to the […]
Cambodian Woman Believes Her Dead Husband Reincarnated as 5-Month-Old Calf
Khim Hang, a 74-year-old woman from Cambodia’s Kratie province, recently made news headlines around the world, after it was reported that she shares her home with a 5-month-old calf, which she believes is a reincarnation of her dead husband. Khim was devastated by the sudden death of her husband, Tol Khut, a year ago, but she is […]
The Country Where People Actually Like Receiving Injections and IV Drips
Cambodia is known for its rich culture and history, natural beauty, exquisite temples like the Angkor Wat, the Vietnam war, the Khmer Rouge, land mines, and more. But not many people are aware of the nation’s quirks and eccentricities – like this one particular obsession that locals have with needles. While most people in other parts […]
Canadian Scientist Uses Small Iron Fish to Save Lives in Cambodia
When Canadian scientist Christopher Charles discovered six years ago how badly Cambodians were suffering from anemia, he decided to try and solve the problem. Unfortunately, tried-and-tested methods such as iron supplements and iron-rich diets didn’t work because they weren’t affordable. So he came up with the novel idea of using a small iron fish as a […]
Former Khmer Rouge Child Soldier Has Spent the Last Two Decades Cleaning Cambodia of Mines, Alone and without Protection
Modern Cambodian hero Aki Ra has made it his life’s mission to rid his nation of land mines. The one-man army spends most of his day chopping vegetation in fields and delicately prodding the areas that set off his metal detector. More often than not, he uncovers hockey-puck sized antipersonnel land mines, and destroys them […]
Cambodia’s Miracle-Performing Baby Draws Thousands of Sick Pilgrims
Kong Keng, a 2-year-old kid from Khnor village in Cambodia, is being hailed as a miracle baby with special healing powers. Thousands of people are traveling from as far as Laos and Vietnam, believing that even a glimpse of Kong will help cure them of their ailments. He appears to be the last ray of […]
Cambodia’s Rickety Bamboo Trains
Although Cambodia has a fine network of railway tracks dating back to the French colonial days, there are hardly any trains running these days. Real trains, that is. The locals get by perfectly well with their own indigenous invention – bamboo trains. The Cambodian railway system never really recovered from the horrors of war and […]
Ting Mong – Cambodia’s Creepy Scarecrows
If you ask me, common scarecrows are creepy enough, but the Cambodian Ting Mong carry real firearms and instead of birds they scare off evil spirits. Scarecrows usually belong in the fields, protecting villagers’ crops, but in some Cambodian villages you’ll see them in front of houses, by the gate, or on garden paths, and […]
Python Wedding Held in Cambodian Village
Over 1,000 people gathered in the Cambodian village of Sit Bow, to witness the wedding of two pythons, believed to bring prosperity and good fortune to the settlement. Early 2008, I wrote a post about a Cambodian boy who had an unusually friendly relationship with a full grown python. Villagers believed he was the son […]