As Cambodia's online infrastructure gets more sophisticated, students are
turning to cafes in greater numbers for work, play or simply keeping in touch
with friends and family
Business is roaring for internet cafes in Phnom Penh as students flock to
research school papers, chat with friends and explore the growing online
resources available in Cambodia.
Sem Samnang, owner of Lucky Sky internet cafe, said he gets as many as 40 or 50
regular users each day.
"I can earn up to 150,000 riels (US$37.50) or 200,000 riels every day," he
said, adding that most of his customers are students. He charges 2,000 riels
per hour of usage.
"Students come here to study, or they talk online with friends and download
music," Sem Samnang said.
Bak Phaly, who studies information technology at Norton University in Phnom
Penh, calls the internet a "world library" that provides vital resources for
students who sometimes cannot get the study materials they need from professors.
"The internet is very important because it has millions of documents," Bak
Phaly said. "I spend more time now at internet cafes to get what I need for my
studies."
What Bak Phaly needs, however, is not always school related. "I like to use the
internet to talk with my friends or download new songs," he said.
________________________________
OUR ACCESS TO THE INTERNET ALLOWS US TO HAVE OUR OWN PERSONAL LIBRARY.
________________________________
Internet cafes and roadside shops in Phnom Penh do a brisk trade in mobile
phone and music downloads, while Justice X Wars II (JXII), an online
role-playing game introduced in early 2008, provides users with a broader range
of Khmer-language entertainment opportunities.
Unrestricted learning
Bak Phaly said the internet gives him the freedom to learn about anything he
wants. "If I want to visit Malaysia, I can type it into a search engine and
learn all I need to know," he said.
Kong Samrach, a student in the Royal University of Phnom Penh's computer
science department, also saw the internet as a "personal library" that
frequently took the place of missing school materials.
"We can find what we need and improve our knowledge."
He added that he keeps up with friends living in the United States and has
looked into the availability of e-learning courses that would allow him to
study online at universities in the US and in Europe.
"There are schools that offer internet courses and training certificates, as
long as I can afford the tuition," Kong Samrach said.
Improved connectivity
So Khun, the minister of posts and telecommunications, said Phnom Penh has
nearly 11,000 internet-capable computers in cafes throughout Cambodia.
"Most of the internet cafes are in Phnom Penh," So Khun told the Post by phone
on Thursday.
"In the provinces, there are fewer users because of problems with the
availability of steady electricity."
He said Cambodia's internet connection speeds are gaining ground on those of
neighbouring countries, but the number of users still lags far behind. "Less
than one percent of the population regularly uses the internet," he said.
That number is likely to rise as Cambodia's online infrastructure expands.
Cambodia currently has six registered internet service providers, according to
the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, with an additional 31 scheduled
for approval through early 2009.
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