I think this little province in Cambodia deserves it's own thread because the culture and elements there are distinctively Burmese or Tai/Shan and it's really alienated by the rest of Cambodia. The people there speak mostly Thai, Shan,Chinese, Khmer, and Lao! It's actually an Autonomous Region used to be controlled by the ethnic Shan/Tai people and it still is. Pailin is just another Wild West town of Cambodia and like the gold-rush days of California, people seem to be everywhere in the hills sifting through mud puddles and scratching at the dirt, looking to strike it rich to find rubies, sapphires! Like I said! Foreigners can easily get rich here!


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_f6Hvv4Cn4dk/TIiG-23j-NI/AAAAAAAAAM4/ZowPQRBurxc/s1600/phnom-koy-resort.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_f6Hvv4Cn4dk/TIiG30IbHZI/AAAAAAAAAMw/bfDTZjHQqN0/s1600/pailin1.jpg

Burmese Pagoda
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_f6Hvv4Cn4dk/TIiHR4yQPEI/AAAAAAAAANA/vE2qr8KUSSY/s1600/phnom_yat.jpg

Waterfall

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_f6Hvv4Cn4dk/TIiHZ0rhGdI/AAAAAAAAANI/fVf4umUahOQ/s1600/waterfall.jpg

Burmese style pagoda

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cFxons-Sk20/S5yk9T4wAkI/AAAAAAAAACc/w54A1uPtdfY/s1600/untitled1.bmp

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cFxons-Sk20/S5uQ0lfIxLI/AAAAAAAAAAc/lvs5Kyh1yuI/s1600/untitled2.bmp

http://www.chanbokeo.com/imgbig/taprum_441743767.jpg

^^:cheers::cheers::cheers:

Pailin is very close to Thailand .. this place has potential to become another Poipet :)

Pailin is very close to Thailand .. this place has potential to become another Poipet :)


^^I never even heard of Poipet! Pailin is a true Gem of Cambodia! It's culture is predominately Burmese:) :cheers::cheers::cheers:

^^I never even heard of Poipet!

that because you're not Cambodian!!!

that because you're not Cambodian!!!

^^No shit! That's why i ask! :lol::lol:

Pailin is not an autonomous region ! it's under the control of Royal Government of Cambodia. Well, That's what the Prime Minister said.:)

Pailin is not an autonomous region ! it's under the control of Royal Government of Cambodia. Well, That's what the Prime Minister said.:)

^^It's a region within a province!

beautiful pailin girls dance! :cheers::lol:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3598/3452328500_89d50201cf.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/35187499@N07/3452328500/) robam_neary_chea_chour2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/35187499@N07/3452328500/) by engsamnang (http://www.flickr.com/people/35187499@N07/), on Flickr

Pailin Women


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3308/3656673962_eb108e7aa4.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/35187499@N07/3656673962/) My grandma in 1960s (http://www.flickr.com/photos/35187499@N07/3656673962/) by engsamnang (http://www.flickr.com/people/35187499@N07/), on Flickr

pailin peacock dance

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4011/4658534049_fac3ae96b1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/seereeves/4658534049/) Apsara Dance (http://www.flickr.com/photos/seereeves/4658534049/) by See Reeves (http://www.flickr.com/people/seereeves/), on Flickr

It's actually an Autonomous Region used to be controlled by the ethnic Shan/Tai people and it still is.

Pailin is not controlled by ethnic Shan/Tai people, it's administered by former Khmer Rouge who defected to the government in 1996.
For example, Y Chhien, a former Khmer Rouge commander, is the province's governor. Ieng Sary's son, Ieng Vuth, is the first deputy governor of Pailin. (Ieng Sary was one of the top leaders under Pol Pot, he is currently on trial.)
Mey Meakk is a deputy governor in Pailin province and was formerly a secretary to Pol Pot.
Another deputy is Kuoet Sothea, a key aide of Pol Pot.

The province is run just like any other province and it is no longer accurate to say it is autonomous.

Pailin is just another Wild West town of Cambodia and like the gold-rush days of California, people seem to be everywhere in the hills sifting through mud puddles and scratching at the dirt, looking to strike it rich to find rubies, sapphires! Like I said! Foreigners can easily get rich here!

I'm afraid those days are long gone, most of the area has been mined-out for years and small-scale miners can barely scratch out a living there now. In the early 1990s Thai companies came in with high pressure hose equipment and washed out most of the precious stones, now Rattanakiri is where most Sapphires are found.