Wages and work in Cambodia

This quote from the Phnom Penh post is exactly what I hear from so many Cambodian workers. 12 to 15 hours a day for $50 to $100 a month. With 1 day a month off. I don’t know how they do it.
“A woman who has been employed as a domestic worker in Phnom Penh’s Toul Kork for the past three years, identifying herself only as Pheap, told the Post that her work hours are not kept track of and her day is only complete when all tasks are finished.”

“I never knew my rights as a domestic worker, because I cannot read and I am not aware of the laws associated with my job,” Pheap said. “I have to get up at 4am or 5am every day, and I work until midnight. I receive $80 per month, but sometimes I get a bonus from my boss when we have a major holiday such as New Year or Pchum Ben.”

There is a call for an 8 hour work day and $150 minimum wage per month with 2 days a week off. That would be radical here. Ironically if you have a government job, teacher, police, military and the like you don’t have to show up for very many hours a day and get lots of extended holidays. Very little pay, but you can take on other jobs. Which is why there is so much corruption here. The police are allowed to take the money for tickets and set the price, teachers charge for tests, grading the tests and cheat sheets. It is all part of the system. And somehow the economy is growing. Prostitution is high because it is one way to make some real money. Of course where there is real money there will be those that exploit others to make them work cheap and collect the profits for themselves. So the government employees control much of the brothel business. Unlike the stereotype we see in the tourist bar areas, most “massage” and “sex services” are for Khmer men and other Asians. Just take a trip to the airport on the toll road from Phnom Penh. It’s packed with Khmer men taking advantage of the cheap hostess bars and sex services and not a European face to be seen.

But I fear that very few Cambodians are benefiting from any of the businesses here. Siem Reap where the Angkor Wat is collecting hefty fees that could be put back into restoration is going to a mega corporation Sokamex which already has oil and gas and high end tourism income galour. It’s not hard to observe that there are a few Cambodians at the top driving their Hummers with body guards at the ready and most people barely making it. There is also lot of foreign money and investment in tourism and business that extracts labor, raw materials and tourist money leaves the country rather than being put back into it.

As you see when you get out of the tourist areas most people are still subsisting on farming and fishing or both.

It isn’t easy getting a “real” massage in Bangkok

bar girls and massage girls

When my wife was with me people in the area around the hotels were discrete. But she returned to Cambodia and I stayed on for more medical treatment. Since then walking around as a man it’s like I have a neon arrow over my head pointing to my wallet and genitals. I get offers for any kind of sex I can think of and some I can’t. On my way to the train station I will sometimes get offers of some kind about every 10 steps or so. I was at a cash machine and dropped a photo out of my wallet at 11 AM and a nice middle aged lady pointed it out to me and I thanked her. When I came out of the cash machine she smiled and said, “You want girl? I get you girl.” “No” I said politely. “You want boy? I get you boy.” “No I don’t want a boy.” I said laughing. “Girl do anything you want, massage, bj, one girl, two girl no problem.” “No thank you” I said, “I need to go meet my wife.” A credible excuse since it was 11 AM and I was at the subway station. Her final offer was “You want blow?” she acted out snorting coke for me in case I was slow. “Bye now” I said moving on.
There is a great golf mall here, banks, great restaurants and all around it is interlaced with massage parlors of the kind notorious for offering lousy massages and cheap sex. And they are everywhere with girls sitting out calling to you from outside on the stupe “Massaa sir?” I know not all Thailand or even Bangkok is this way and I don’t blame the Thai women. Thai women I am told, often get fired from regular legitimate jobs when they turn 30. I took a look at job ads in the papers here. They all seemed to want women between 18 and 30. It was printed right in the ad, for normal everyday jobs. We in the U.S. need to remember that it wasn’t that long ago that women couldn’t even vote in the states and employers could openly discriminate according to age. All us boomers could be out of jobs if that was still the case, at least the women.
Since I am here for medical reasons I needed an honest to goodness theraputic, relaxing massage that didn’t involve my genitals. My chiropractor suggested Health Land so I thought I would try.

Great atmosphere to really relax and enjoy a massage

It is strickly professional and amazingly huge. It has 8 stories of rooms and scores of massage techniques. I got maybe the best massage I’ve ever had. An hour and a half for 850 bht (just under $30) and worth every bht. Totally professional and well trained. The whole facility is upscale, clean and relaxing to be in with soothing music and gentle auromas. A simple but finishing touch was a flower floating in a bowl below the real massage table that I could look at when face down. While the majority of men here are obviously looking for the other kind of massage or there wouldn’t be hundreds and hundreds of them, for someone looking for relaxing, therapeutic massage I highly recommend Health Land Spa.

Health Land Spa Lobby