A Personal Note: My Continuing Connection to Khmer People

Khmer is the ethnic term for "Cambodian" persons. Cambodia is 95% pure Khmer ethnicity--which, along with Buddhism, means it's an extraordinarily peaceful, yet joyful place.

Hey, I hope you don’t mind that I post something personal. This is a blog afterall and we’re human. Yeah, you can gather my opinions about current events and trends, but you wouldn’t really know me, Doug, the human, nor the state of my heart or my humanity. So, I’m unashamed to post something that tells you a little of how I’m feeling and what’s on my mind in a personal sense.

Last year, I spent 8 months in SE Asia, starting in Vietnam in April 2024 and then Cambodia from May to Dec. '24. I posted several "travel posts"on Vietnam here: Nha Trang Vietnam: A Great Surprise, Hanoi’s Old Quarter and Da Lat: Vietnam’s High Plateau City. And I did a ‘24 post on Cambodia with Pictures From Siem Reap.

I visited Cambodia for the first time in 2023—this after visiting Thailand frequently since 1997. I did a couple of good posts then; with lots of pictures: Travel Log #3B: Cambodia and Phnom Penh. And as you know, Siem Reap is the location of the Anchor Wat temple complex which I also posted about in 2023: Travel Log #3A: Trip to Cambodia and Siem Reap. Have a look—there’s a lot of pictures and some descriptions and history.

During my stay in Cambodia last year, among other new local friends, I became friends with 3 brothers who grew up in an orphanage in Siem Reap. All three are adults now and two of the three have a family with children. I've been to their homes many times and I've hosted them as well.

I visited their orphanage several times too, which is considerably smaller in size now (fewer kids) than years prior and I've gotten to know the kids and young adults that continue to stay there. I’ve given some money to the mother (and need to send again now that I’m in the US).

I even had a pool party for all the kids at my apartment in Siem Reap late in the summer 2024. I got some pizza, some cold watermelons, fruit juices, ice and other snacks. In the pic below, notice the life-saving vests which I bought ahead of time—they were used by kids that may never have been in a pool. Anyway, it turned out well:

Now, I'm financially helping a young man, an orphan named Yuthy, who is 24 years old and who is in Law School in Siem Reap. He's only has one year left before graduating and is still living at the orphanage with the entire group of both young kids and young adults. Not only do I help him with some money, but I told him that I want to attend his graduation.

My friend, and future attorney, Yuthy in the middle flanked by his football buddies

You have to be aware that Cambodia is a very poor country with limited opportunities and little money. Cambodia is much poorer than the US and even Thailand. But the purity of spirit, the honesty/integrity of these people is like nothing that I’ve ever seen (but somewhat similar to Thailand). They are so humble and yet tend to be happy despite widespread financial poverty. But Cambodia is like one big family and there’s always a nice comraderie and a strong sense of brotherhood and sisterhood there. I get called “brother” frequently which always brings a smile to my face. I say the same thing in return. It’s pretty wonderful.

I want to be a significant person in these people's lives. I had intended to live in Cambodia full time and may do so at some point. I’d like to ‘adopt’ Yuthy, but he’s already an adult! Still I’d like to be someone that he can count on as he starts his life—as a friend and an adult figure. We stay in touch on Whatsapp for now.

I thought of Yuthy when I watched the YouTube video below about a US family adopting a foreign kid. The Columbian kid in the video below even looks very much like Cambodian kids.

I plan to return to Cambodia in ‘25, this time via a visit to Japan first. Then I’ll stay for an extended time in Cambodia again. I may do some traveling in the region. I have another young friend from Nepal whose never seen “blue water,” ie., the ocean, so I’d like to take him to visit the islands in Thailand or in Bali. Either way, it’ll be good fun! I know he’s looking forward to it. Nepal is very impoverished too. All of these countries basically shutdown for 2 years during the Covid hysteria. It’s created a humanitarian crisis as all of the people in SE have few financial reserves. Thailand, Nepal, Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam over-reacted to the Covid hype/scam and the misery continues even now. It’s such a pity.

My plan was to stay in SE Asia and eventually sell my apartment to avoid the US, it’s police state, war, it’s corruption, it’s bizarre “culture” that appeared set to worsen. And as you may know, I was very pessimistic that Trump could win in 2024. I assumed that cheating would prevail again. I had planned to sell my condo and live SE Asia as a nomad. I still may.

But Trump did win and my Siem Reap lease finished on Dec 15th, I decided to come back to Texas for 4 months or so. Yes, I’m very happy with the promising start of our major course correction thanks to Trump 2.0 and his ‘dream team.’ It’s possible that Trump is leading a new American revolution that’s also “catching fire” across the globe. Once again, America is a beacon of hope for many people. I’m particularly happy that Trump doesn’t want wars. So I’ll probably spend time here in the US and in Asia. I'll keep my one-bedroom Condo here in Texas for now. Japan and S. Korea are in my crosshairs for a visit, but Cambodia will be my destination to build a life there.