Cambodians make a killing as Japanese gals play the field
May 24, 2002
Cambodians make a killing as Japanese gals play the field
Lasses from the Land of the Rising Sun are apparently flocking to the calls of "Khmer, Baby." But the big question is, Japanese girls go there to anchor what? Some say it's merely to Cambode their time away. But a hint to the real answer can probably be drawn from neighboring Thailand's capital, Bangkok.
Shukan Shincho (5/30) says that the number of Japanese women heading to Cambodia has skyrocketed in the five years since the end of the Southeast Asian nation's civil war.
"We only issued 10,000 visitor visas in 1998, but that had grown to 20,000 the year after that and to 43,706 last year. Visitors have grown fourfold in four years. And 70 percent of the visitors are women," a source from the Japanese Embassy in Phnom Phen tells Shukan Shincho. "Nearly all of them head for Siem Reap, which has all the relics, like Angkor Wat."
"Cambodian guys really go after Japanese girls aggressively," a Cambodian-based Japanese tour operator tells Shukan Shincho. "All the bike taxi drivers near the Siem Reap port where the high speed ferry from Phnom Phen arrives sit around and exchange dirty Khmer jokes about Japanese pussy and all want to get Japanese women customers. Unlike Western women, Japanese women don't express their feelings so strongly and if you really try hard to pick them up, they'll end up having sex with you. And they'll give the guys a bit of money to play around with. They're absolutely vital for these guys making only about 100 dollars a month."
Japanese men have long been known for traipsing around for trollops throughout Southeast Asia, but the antics of their female counterparts show they give up little ground. Some say they harvest the local talent so well, it's simply a matter of sitting around for a matter of moments before you see 'em reap.
"I can only think that many of the Japanese women coming on vacation to Cambodia are after sex. The Cambodians are laughing on the other side of their faces at the stupid Japanese women paying men for sex. The Japanese women don't realize they're being made fools of," a long-term Japanese resident of Cambodia tells Shukan Shincho. "They're dragging Japan's name through the dirt."
Japanese women have long been known to haunt such resort areas as Thailand's Phuket and Bali in search of young bucks who'll buck for bucks.
"Japanese women become friendly with bike taxi drivers they can hire daily for about five dollars, then soon start living with them in guest houses, or in the drivers' own homes," the long-termer says. "I reckon there must be about 40 Japanese women who keep extending their visas so they can live in Siem Reap."
Yukari Yamamoto is one such woman.
"I used to be the boss of an Internet cafe in Kyoto," the 28-year-old who has been living in a guesthouse since May last year tells Shukan Shincho. "It just happened that I fell for a Cambodian guy and ended up here. I found work as a tour guide here. I earn about 500 dollars a month. I don't know how much longer I can last in the job, but the pace of life here is slow and it's a good living."
Osaka-native Miki Tanaka tells a similar tale.
"My boyfriend and I met in April last year. He makes about 50 dollars a month and I have a restaurant job that pays 80 dollars a month. We often fight about money, but Cambodians are pretty dopey, so it's usually not worth arguing," she says. "As long as you don't try to live the same lifestyle you'd have in Japan, you can manage to get by. But we struggle to get by financially, so I don't know how much longer my savings are going to last."
Others, like Miki Sugiura, have found themselves in Cambodia for the long run after falling pregnant to their Cambodian lovers. But still more Japanese women in the Southeast Asian kingdom have stayed under far stranger circumstances.
"We had a Japanese woman raped here last month," the embassy source tells Shukan Shincho. "It seems the girl flirted with a Cambodian guy who thought she was serious. "The guy realized he'd gone too far, so shaved his head in penance and begged her forgiveness. She not only forgave him, she was so impressed that she started dating him."
May 24, 2002
