Welcome to CAMBODIA

Street crime is prevalent in urban areas. Armed robbery and other crime (including sexual offenses) have occurred during daylight hours (even in hotel rooms) in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville, and in Siem Reap after dark. Foreigners have been robbed, some at gunpoint, and seriously injured. Travelers should not resist armed robbery; any perceived resistance may be met with physical violence, including lethal force. Bag theft has also increased in these areas, including during daylight hours, and Westerners appear to be the main targets. Pickpockets and bag snatchers often target those using local transport. Thieves on motorcycles frequently grab bags and other valuables from tourists riding on the back of motorcycles taxis. Local police rarely investigate reports of crime against tourists and travelers should not expect to recover stolen items.

There are high levels of firearm ownership in Cambodia and guns are sometimes used to resolve disputes. Military weapons and explosives remain readily available to criminals despite efforts by authorities to collect and destroy such weapons. Foreign tourists have been threatened, including with handguns, for perceived slights to local patrons in popular Phnom Penh nightclubs and elsewhere. There are reports of Western deaths resulting from illicit drug use in Cambodia.

Banditry continues in some rural areas - particularly at night in areas between Snoul, Kratie, and Stung Treng in the northeastern provinces. Foreigners have been targeted by ill-disciplined police or military personnel.

Attacks against ship in the South China Sea and surrounding seas have occurred.

There have been a small number of grenade/bomb attacks, although most have been linked to business or personal disputes. There is no evidence to suggest that Western interests have been the targets of these attacks. However, there is a danger that foreigners might get caught up in any further attacks.

(Excerpted from US State Department's Cambodia Country Report)

Great.........