Preliminary research findings

Part of our purpose here is to learn about life in Cambodia. Ryan and I are researching quality of life, specifically looking at how foreign direct investment and tourism have changed life over the past few years and what Cambodians expect in the near future. Early last week we spent a day interviewing in a remote village. We have spent the past few days interviewing people in Siem Reap — mostly shopkeepers and hotel receptionists.

A trend we’ve noticed among many of our interviewees has been a reluctance to talk about the future. When we ask where they expect or would like to be in five years, people typically respond with a combination of shyness and embarrassment. Frequently, they seem confounded by the question, as if it had never occurred to them. Few of the people we’ve talked to have plans for themselves or their children. Most parents we’ve talked to have been reluctant to talk about their kids’ future beyond the general goal of sending them to school, including English lessons if they can afford it.