Connexion
Sweating and farting bodies are comforted and reassured by metallic extensions. Admiring a car or watch, we imagine ourselves to be just as clean and immortal.
with gratitude to Linh Dinh at Postcards from the End.
In 2018, a Vietnamese in Phnom Penh told me about a miraculous rescue. After being knocked over by a car, he was thrashed by its driver until another Vietnamese showed up. His savior didn’t just speak fluent Khmer but was a Cambodian general! From 1979 onward, Vietnam embedded Viet officers into the army of its client state, the People’s Republic of Kampuchea. Some of these crypto Viets must still be around.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia: (L): Vietnam Cambodia Friendship Monument, 3/4/18 ; (R): Covid vaccinated Hun Sen wearing a 2.7 million dollar Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime watch in 2021
Hun Sen’s military has plenty of room for suspect officers. With 125,000 soldiers, Cambodia has well over 3,000 generals. With 2.86 million grunts, the US has just 900. Granting titles and salaries to clowns is Hun Sen’s way of buying loyalty. Others can pay him to dress up like a generalissimo.
Kristie Noem would fit right into Phnom Penh high society. Seconds after arrival, she could be anointed as goddess, empress or legendary chauteuse, for a negligible fee in American dollars.
With so many phony Pattons, Cambodia has no air force to speak of, and no air defense system. That’s why it’s being knocked around by Thailand. One real general, 67-year-old Luong Samneang, has already been killed, with another rumored dead.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia: 73-year-old Hun Sen keeping abreast of something, 7/27/25
Seventy-two-year-old Hun Sen, meanwhile, has released photos of himself looking through a magnifying glass at a military map, or maybe it’s just the menu of Le Langka, where an Australian Black Angus ribeye steak, truffled purée and salad can be had for just $34, barely a penny, so to speak, to this tycoon.
Though his official salary is just 2,500 piddly bucks a month, Hun Sen can afford a 2.7 million dollar Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime watch, which he obscenely flaunted on his naked arm, after being Covid “vaccinated” in 2021. This modest dude has also been caught with a Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Grand Complication Phoenix, an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Grand Complication 26582CE, a Richard Mille RM57-05 Tourbillon Eagle and a Richard Mille RM57-03 Tourbillon Sapphire Dragon, etc. His wife, too, ain’t walking around with no $9.99 IBSO piece of shit.
Sweating and farting bodies are comforted and reassured by metallic extensions. Admiring a car or watch, we imagine ourselves to be just as clean and immortal.
Promoting every busboy to general and shopping for watches, Hun Sen has neglected basic duties of state. Crisscrossing Cambodia, I couldn’t help but notice all its bridges were built by China, Japan or Vietnam. Once Southeast Asia’s greatest builders, Cambodians have become its worst. With his nation’s economy steadily improving, Hun Sen must have felt he’d done enough, however. On each visit to Phnom Penh, I saw new highrises, shops and restaurants, including super elegant ones. Costing 1.5 billion bucks, the Chinese constructed Techo Airport would have been opened had this war with Thailand not erupted. It will make DC’s Dulles look like some bloated Greyhound Station. Though there’s abject poverty even in the capital, it’s easy enough to ignore, just like they do in LA, San Francisco, Chicago and New York.
In a faraway land, there’s another leader who’s as superficial and vain. As his subjects work two or three jobs to pay off student loan, car loan and credit card debts, while clipping coupons late into the night to save pennies on eggs, onions and reconstituted chicken hot dogs, he’s fussing over golden cherubs, eagles, medallions, mirrors and even TV remote controls. He spent an entire morning gushing over two steel poles that must be stiffer and longer than any in human history. Erect, he admires their erection in full view of all chesty chicks strolling by, and cute little girls, too, with their made-in-China dolls. He’s never neglected such angels.
Despite its recent genocide and current misrule, Cambodia will outlast that distant empire, for they still know who they are, and they haven’t lost their souls. If you’re fine with your leader screwing pubescent girls or funding blatant Satanists who enjoy shooting teen boys in the testicles, you’re beyond fucked. So numb yet angry, you can only feel half alive with serial sadism.
Two funerals: (L): General Duong Samneang in Phnom Penh, 7/28/25 ; (R): The Golden Age, 8/01/2025
The US has gained much from this Southeast Asian conflict. Don’t rule out the possibility it may have prodded both sides. Chilling, it can now gloat over a Chinese ally humiliated, China appearing weak and the economies of Southeast Asia disrupted, with billions of dollars already lost. Southeast Asia is a bigger trading partner with China than the European Union. Just as in Europe, the US must block or sabotage all relationships that threatens to leave it out in the cold.
Having ruled for 38 years, Hun Sen is certainly a dictator, but whatever his flaws and miscalculations, he’s never served hidden masters to wreck his country. Further, he and his family have properly maintained their public personae. They’re dignified, even regal. Trump, on the other hand, is a social engineering monster. His belligerent crassness, arrested development, shameless mendacity and joyful sadism have set the tone for his mess of a nation.
As regressive and inverted Americans emulate Trump, the rest of the world is simply appalled. They see videos of masked thugs manhandling not just illegal immigrants, but citizens and even members of congress, with each arrest excessively brutal. ICE goons mirror the Donald, except Trump would have a hard time tackling a Rosie O’Donnell standee. Only his slimy tongue is half virile.
As for China, it can use Cambodia’s setback to increase Phnom Penh’s reliance on Beijing. You will need more Chinese weapons and troops, permanently installed, to prevent future disasters. The US having won this skirmish is the perfect pretext to move Chinese soldiers into Southeast Asia. Like Putin, Xi knows he’s already at war with the USA. Visiting Darwin on 7/27/25, UK Defense Secretary John Healey said his nation was ready to fight alongside Australia to defend Taiwan! That’s like me saying I’m ready to join the Armenian Army to fight Azerbaijan!
At 61 years old, I’m also qualified to defend Zelensky’s bank account. Most magnanimously, that pantless clown is now allowing creaking, limping old skulls like me to dive headfirst into his meat grinder.
About Linh Dinh (@linhdinh):
‘Before being canceled, I was an anthologized poet and fairly prolific author, with my last book Postcards from the End of America. Now, I write about our increasingly sick world for a tiny audience on SubStack. Drifting overly much, I’m in Cambodia.’
AHH: Please support this wonderful writer on his Substack! Thanks
… Hun Sen must be disappointed, at least, at the Middle Kingdom’s relative silence through all this, but who knows what Xi Jinping is up to. Sun Tzu’s ghost must be giving Xi an endless stream of great advices.
with gratitude to Linh Dinh at Postcards from the End.
Consider this astounding statement, “She is not only misleading the public but deceiving herself—trapped in the very illusion she has fabricated. Her actions go beyond misinformation; they represent a deliberate attempt to construct a false reality to obscure her side’s misconduct and evade accountability […] The international community must not allow such ‘verbal illusions’ to obscure the truth.”
I have only replaced her name with “she.” Otherwise, it’s an exact quote, so who is this she? Anyone with a correct answer will receive four Melania meme coins (worth 88 cents), a made-in-China “MAKE AMERICANS GREAT AGAIN” hat, complete with the official emblem of the Chinese Communist Party, a Depend “Long Lasting Dryness” diaper with an exact likeness of President Trump strategically placed over what’s left of your disabled schlong (in honor of the Donald), plus your name entered into a most exclusive drawing for a possible tête-à-tête with JD Vance at the Dairy Queen of his choice. Only one quarter pounder cheese Grillburger, please, and no Coke Zero refill.
With all these clues, undoubtedly you’re screaming she must be Karoline fuckin’ Leavitt! Or at least Baghdad Bob in a thrift store dress and blonde wig! Sadly, those above prizes won’t be yours. You must pay for your own Melania meme coins. She, drumroll please, is Lieutenant General Maly Socheata, a spokesperson for Cambodia. Just ten hours after their ceasefire, Thailand accused Cambodia of breaking it, while Socheata insisted everything was fine. No one was shooting at anybody.
Somebody is lying. Since even truthful statements leave out key details, nothing ever said paints the full picture, but still, many people don’t even try to be honest, even if it’s just at the dinner table while talking to their children, or in bed while bullshitting with their habitually deceived spouse.
Thep Nimit, Thailand, 3/24/18
Knowing all this, even flawed accounts are telling and, often enough, even entertaining, if only in a macabre manner. This morning, Sơn, my buddy at Coffee Seven, told me another fascinating story about his time in Cambodia.
Drafted at age 18 to fight the Khmer Rouge, Sơn was never told explicitly he was headed to Cambodia, so he, along with all the other soldiers, didn’t know they would soon experience ungodly fear, privation and horror until they were packed onto over 100 American leftover trucks. With roads so bad, it took them three days just to reach the border.
“We were so young. Most of us hadn’t even dared to touch a girl’s hand.”
With 40 soldiers on each truck, this convoy had over 4,000 fresh recruits, all unarmed. As southerners, most had relatives in the just defeated South Vietnamese Army. Hanoi couldn’t risk giving assault rifles and hand grenades to boys whose dads were in reeducation camps. Among them were also ethnic Khmers. They’re all over the Mekong Delta. It’s their land not long ago.
Knowing they might not see their families again, these boys wrote letters which they tossed at passersby and street vendors, in the hope these strangers would send them to their folks. Many of these desperate missives landed in ditches or mud.
Inside Cambodia, their panic increased. Suddenly, there were no more Vietnamese signs or faces that were definitely Vietnamese. The proliferation of palmyra palms made the landscape itself alien. With each mile, home thus normality became more unreachable, so many tried to jump off. Knowing this, drivers were instructed to step on the gas. Dangling from the backs of trucks, boys waited until there appeared a softer patch.
“But how could they walk home?” I asked.
“They were scared.”
“Seeing someone trying to escape, the other soldiers didn’t do anything?”
“No, we loved each other more than brothers.”
After one truck hit a mine, the next one, traveling too fast, hit that crater, so both tumbled down the ravine. Just like that, 80 soldiers were gone.
Sơn, “They were scattered all over. Looking down, we couldn’t even recognize their faces. There was nothing to do. We drove on.”
Sơn himself crawled over a mine soon after. Released from the hospital, he was given guard duty, a relatively soft job. It was still terrifying. The Khmer Rouge were seemingly just beyond sight, and he was surrounded by Cambodians.
“We had a curfew at 7. After that, anything that moved could be shot. Mostly, we just shot cows and water buffaloes. It was completely dark. Some soldiers on guard climbed onto trees just to be safe.”
Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on 7/28/25: (L): woman selling cold soymilk for 38 cents a bottle, 7/28/25 ; (R): “RUSSIAN DONUTS”
A while back, an elderly ditz said this when complaining about war refugees flooding into Europe, “When there’s a war, the men should stay and fight, and women should stay to help them.” Whenever there’s a war, cushy lady, people flee in terror, and you would too, with your panties worn backward and at least dewy. Just ask your silver spooned Trump with his chimeric bone spur.
Checking the Bangkok Post just now, I see that Thailand is still accusing Cambodia of violating their ceasefire. Sitting in sunny Vung Tau next to an avocado smoothie, I can’t even speculate what’s going on, but consider these facts.
From mid to late May, China and Cambodia conducted its 7th Golden Dragon joint military exercise. This involved not just ground but air and naval troops. This cooperation between their militaries must have given Hun Sen the confidence to mess with Thailand.
The first Cambodian casino on the Thai border was opened in 1999. Since then, dozens have sprung up, with the ones in Poi Pet luring thousands of Thais daily. In this miniature Las Vegas, they could lose their savings or become enslaved in scam centers. Such a naked hub of criminality had to enrich Hun Sen himself. Why else would he tolerate it?
Similar crime centers exist across Thailand’s border with Myanmar. Embroiled in civil war, it’s even more lawless than Cambodia. This January, a well-known Chinese actor, Wang Xing, was lured to Thailand for filming, only to be kidnapped then taken to Myanmar. Frightened by this, millions of Chinese tourists stopped coming to the Land of Smiles. Finally, Thailand had to act. Its war against Cambodia, then, is an attack on Hun Sen himself, for he has allowed so many Thais to be robbed, kidnapped and enslaved, right on Thailand’s border.
Vung Tau, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: (L): 7/29/25 ; (R): lunch chez moi, 7/28/25
Though the US couldn’t care less about Thais, Cambodians or whoever, it was delighted to see Thailand zap a Chinese ally. Don’t think for one second Bangkok has failed to get a green light from Washington.
Having just performed his martial dance with China, Hun Sen must be disappointed, at least, at the Middle Kingdom’s relative silence through all this, but who knows what Xi Jinping is up to. Sun Tzu’s ghost must be giving Xi an endless stream of great advices.
Here’s another twist: Hun Sen’s son, Hun Manet, studied at West Point! If Cambodia must pivot from China to the USA, Hun Manet seems ideal, but that’s assuming daddy and son will survive.
As for casinos as crime hubs, it should be obvious to any non retard over 12 years old. Promising you instant riches, casinos rob you blind while keeping you somewhat entertained with garish settings, cartoon figures, color lights, jingling noises, flashes of titties and booze. Casino owners, then, are expert at manipulating infantile fools.
As legalized criminals, they hobnob with all types of crooks, including pimps. Gaudy whores swarm tacky casino. In the USA, the construction industry also teems with Mafiosi types.
As a tireless purveyor of wars, coups, assassinations and weapons of mass destruction, the US government has been labeled the world’s largest criminal gang. It’s only fitting, then, that it’s fronted by a seasoned casino hustler, construction magnate, sexual trafficker, child rapist and mother of all carnival barkers. Everything Trump hawks must be the biggest and best in history, but only to fools who don’t know any.
About Linh Dinh (@linhdinh):
‘Before being canceled, I was an anthologized poet and fairly prolific author, with my last book Postcards from the End of America. Now, I write about our increasingly sick world for a tiny audience on SubStack. Drifting overly much, I’m in Cambodia.’
AHH: Please support this wonderful writer on his Substack! Thanks
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