Winners Rejoice as Nation Assesses Cost of Festival

Nhek Sokhom, a Water Festival rower from Kompong Thorn province, was in high spirits yesterday afternoon as he picked up his first-place prize from the government?s committee for organizing public ceremonies: a small trophy and 350,000 riel, valued at about $90, which a committee official counted out in crisp, new banknotes.

?We?re really thrilled about our win but, win or lose, we are just happy to participate in our national ceremony,? he said. ?We will take the money back to show the villagers in the village, to show them that our crew worked hard to earn first place.?

?Number one!? one of his crew-mates echoed happily.

Mr Sokhom and his team may have been number one, but they shared that ranking with more than 144 other rowing teams across nine categories, including one for the most beautifully decorated boat To earn a first-place ranking, a boat had to win all of its races over the three days of the Water Festival.

As some competitors reveled in victory yesterday, others were consumed with preparations for the long trip home. Most of them had already departed by mid-morning, but Chai Lak, a pony-tailed 26-year-old, was still busy lashing four racing boats together with rope and bamboo.

?We were held up because the [river] currents are so strong that one motor would not work. So we had to buy another one,? he said.

He was part of a skeleton crew of eight men chosen by their team leader for a three-day river trek back to their home village in Kompong Thom.

?Fm happy to be chosen for the trip because it?s simple work,? said Noeun Savuth, 35. ?The ones who don?t drive the boat get to drink shots of rice wine.?

?But we do not drink until drunk, ?he added, ?because we?re on the river.?

On a more serious note, 18 of the 391 boats that raced this year sank, and one racer drowned, according to National Police Spokesman Kirth Chantharith. Police yesterday found the corpse of Ly Thea, 43, floating on the river in front of the Hotel Cam-bodiana; he had been missing since his boat capsized on Monday. There were also 38 thefts reported to municipal police and 68 traffic accidents across the country, which caused 18 deaths and 57 serious injuries, Mr Chantharith said.

In a small amusement park on the eastern bank of the Tonle Sap river yesterday, men were picking up some of the 508 tons of trash that Cintri?Phnom Penh?s primary waste-disposal contractor?has collected in trucks, pushcarts and bins over the course of the Water Festival The company took on 470 temporary employees for the occasion, Cintri Vice Chairman Seng Chamroeum said.
At midday, Bun Yoeun, 25, was in the middle of dismantling the Ferris wheel that he operates, a four-hour process. As he spoke, metal beams and bolts rained from above.

?Sometimes if s a good business and sometimes its not,? Mr Yoeun said resignedly. ?Last year was better business?we earned one million riel profit? This year, he said, he lost about 600,000 riel.

On the other side of the river, Am Vath, 58, was supervising five workers from the government ceremonies committee who were charged with rolling up the more than 200 meters of red carpet that lined the floors of the King?s riverfront pavilion. The carpets would later be carried to a small park outside the committee?s offices, where workers would spray them down, scrub them with soap powder, and sun-dry them before storing them for next year. Mr Vath estimated that the whole process would take around four days.

?We spent a month preparing this,? he said. ?We feel very sad, but if we don?t dismantle it it will affect the beauty of the Royal Palace and other tourist attractions.?

Sourced = The Cambodia Daily