About 15,000 people are being urged to return home after they flocked to a mountain retreat in Cambodia's remote west, near the famed temples of Angkor Wat, to escape a catastrophic global flood predicted by the leader of a local political party.
Khem Veasna, president of the League for Democracy Party (LDP) told his followers on Aug. 26 in a Facebook post that the entire world was bracing for ‘the most catastrophic flood’ and only his farm, on higher ground south of Phnom Kulen, would be spared from the tragedy.
One source close to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) told UCAN that “Noah’s Ark type rumors” were also circulating among Cambodian workers in South Korea where “many of them” were trying to board flights home before the calamity erupts.
“I would like to call on the workers who are staying and working in South Korea not to indulge in the superstitious propaganda of an individual,” Heng Suor, spokesman of the Ministry of Labour, told the government-friendly Khmer Times.
Quitting jobs and returning home abruptly will affect the reputation of Cambodian workers, who have always been respected and loved by Korean employers, the ministry warned.
Old videos of floods in the Kulen area have also circulated on YouTube to justify the predictions, frustrating local authorities who are trying in vain to refute the predictions.
Khim Finan, a district governor in Siem Reap province, visited the farm over the weekend and asked Khem Veasna to order the gathering to disband but he refused.
He said he would do that on Aug 30, assuming the catastrophic floods failed to materialize.
“When someone says something on social media, people should carefully think whether it makes sense or not. It is incredible to see this many numbers of people choosing to believe a lie like this,” Deputy Governor of Siem Reap, Ly Somreth, told Khmer Times.
He said Khem Veasna had caused panic among a large number of people who were shutting down their businesses and leaving their homes with family and children, putting their livelihoods at risk and interrupting their children’s education.
The LDP is a small political outfit but according to the Voice of Democracy “it is known for its ardent supporters and its leader’s unorthodox, at-times harsh rhetoric.”
It boycotted the June commune elections following a disagreement with the National Election Committee.
Cambodia, and much of Asia, has experienced heavy floods in recent weeks as the seasonal monsoons take hold, which fishermen and farmers hope will end a drought now in its fourth year.
Many Cambodians are deeply superstitious. Others, however, were making money out of Khem Veasna’s predictions.
Hang Chakra, a 37-year-old taxi driver, said he was transporting residents from Samlot district in nearby Battambang province to the farm, earning about $200 a day since people began arriving last week.