On 9th July 2009, a villager from nearby Obak Rote Commune was hit by a big truck. Our community ambulance rushed him to a hospital in Phnom Penh but he died on the way.
The case was handled by the local authorities, and the company owner of this truck agreed to pay $500 to the villager’s family as compensation for his death. $500! You may be shocked to know how cheap a life is valued in Cambodia, particularly in the countryside. Most of the time, powerless villagers have no choice but to compromise over the death of a family member with a few hundred dollars. If the deceased was the breadwinner, the household will inevitably fall into extreme poverty. In the case of this accident, we put our weight during the negotiation process and, somehow the company agreed to pay this amount of money. But we heard that the company owner commented that even $100 would have been enough. This is one of the sad facts in Cambodia.
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