Officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, the nation, wedged between Thailand to the west, Vietnam to the east, Laos to the north and Gulf of Thailand to the south, is a constitutional monarchy of about 15 million people. The government structure includes "Norodom Sihamoni, a monarch chosen by the Royal Throne Council, as head of state. The head of government is Hun Sen, who is currently the longest serving non-royal leader in South East Asia and has ruled Cambodia for over 25 years."
A French colony from 1863 until independence in 1953, the country has been described as a "vaguely communist free-market state with a relatively authoritarian coalition ruling over a superficial democracy."[10] Cambodia is largely agrarian but is seeing strong growth in textiles, and garments, construction and tourism, with tourism driving increased foreign investment and international trade. Lots of tourists go to see the temple at Angkor Wat:
Cambodia has had a fairly tumultuous existence the last 45 years or so. Cambodia allowed North Vietnamese and Viet Cong to use the country as a sanctuary during the Vietnam War despite the country's purported neutrality. The era was complicated in Cambodia, with an anti-communist coup and later a takeover of the country by the communist Khmer Rouge, who presided over genocide, killing roughly one-fourth of the population, apparently largely because they felt like it. The Khmer Rouge was ousted by a Vietnamese invasion that established the pro-Soviet Peoples' Republic of Kampuchea. The monarchy was restored in 1993, and things have gotten better there, although the government is widely cited as one of the most corrupt in the world. So there's that.
Well, corrupt bureaucrats or not, everybody extend a warm Eff You! welcome to our first visitor from Cambodia. Come back soon, and bring your friends for a taste of the best non-pornographic porn to be found anywhere on the internet.
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