extronaut
January 30th, 2018, 09:23
I've been there three times. March '13, November '14, and my most recent visit last December.
Big change. I remember back in '14, I couldn't spit without hitting a hooker or a massage boy.
This time the place was far more family oriented and austere.
Still was able to find a couple of Mr Rights to keep me company at night during my stay, but I had to hunt a little harder, and I felt a pressure to be a bit more discrete.
Most of the same girlie bars were still there, but they were practically empty.
Very few street walkers, and most of them were just desperate ladyboys like you get everywhere in SE Asia.
I quite liked it, actually. Stayed a bit longer than I had originally planned.
But I wonder if the change is because the economy had improved, and there were less people turning to sex work?
Or, more likely, had the authorities been making a concerted effort to hose down the sleaze?
Then I read recently, that 90 tourists have been arrested, and ten charged, for dirty dancing. At a private party.
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-29/group-of-foreigners-arrested-cambodia-dancing-pornographically/9371798
Is this typical of the new police culture in Siem Reap? And is it a sign of things to come?
Big change. I remember back in '14, I couldn't spit without hitting a hooker or a massage boy.
This time the place was far more family oriented and austere.
Still was able to find a couple of Mr Rights to keep me company at night during my stay, but I had to hunt a little harder, and I felt a pressure to be a bit more discrete.
Most of the same girlie bars were still there, but they were practically empty.
Very few street walkers, and most of them were just desperate ladyboys like you get everywhere in SE Asia.
I quite liked it, actually. Stayed a bit longer than I had originally planned.
But I wonder if the change is because the economy had improved, and there were less people turning to sex work?
Or, more likely, had the authorities been making a concerted effort to hose down the sleaze?
Then I read recently, that 90 tourists have been arrested, and ten charged, for dirty dancing. At a private party.
http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-29/group-of-foreigners-arrested-cambodia-dancing-pornographically/9371798
Is this typical of the new police culture in Siem Reap? And is it a sign of things to come?