Scambodia?

Did you know that only 35% of the admission fee you pay to enter the Angkor Archaeological Park goes to conserve the ruins? That’s US$7 out of every US$20.

This is according to a documentary by Eric Campbell, a respected journalist from Australia.

- Scambodia – Cambodia on YouTube

I can’t comment on the validity of the report as I don’t have the facts.

However, isn’t it amazing that the head of a corporation can’t provide one of the most important financial fact of a business and must rely on his staff to provide that piece of information at a later time? In many properly setup and managed corporations around the world, the head of a company would have been relieved of his/her job for not being on top of crucial financial indicators, such as the income. Looks like he didn’t get the project based on his exemplary management skills or his ability to remember financial figures. I’m sure he has other talents to allow him to manage the several luxurious hotels in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, the hot-air balloon ride in Angkor, and of course, the entire Angkor Archaeological Park concessionaire. Well, I don’t understand.

With an additional international departure tax of US$25 a person on top of the airport tax tagged to the airfare (paid in cash upon departure), the US$20 daily admission fee of the park, and the estimated 2 million foreign visitors in 2008, the business should be good for the ticketing concessionaire and the Cambodian government. Don’t forget that most visitors opt for the 3-day pass for US$40.

Does the government gets a share of the US$12 admission fee of the museum in Siem Reap too? In my opinion, the airport tax, park admission fee, and museum admission fee are high for any tourists visiting a developing country.

Judging from the cost of living and standard of living in Cambodia, the operation costs for the airport and park can’t be very substantial. A quick informal survey shows that the staff are paid between US$40 and US$70 a month. All these should result in the concessionaire and the government getting a very, very healthy profit.

Yet, the unpaved roads in town, the lack of clean drinking water for the villages, the many homeless adults and kids all over town and temples, and the lack of many other basic necessities and infrastructure are just as mysterious as the ruins that bring in the US$. I don’t understand, I just don’t understand.

I don’t understand how Siem Reap, with one of the most famous and attractive product to lure visitors from all over the world, can end up being the 2nd poorest town in Cambodia as indicated in various reports.

Where does the remaining 65% go?