PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA – A prominent Cambodian columnist sharply criticized US financial daily The Wall Street Journal over its use of the disparaging label “Scambodia” for the country.
Wordplay sparks outrage
Geopolitical analyst Roth Santepheap used the Khmer Times to deliver a pointed response to the US newspaper. He called on the globally known financial daily to stop using the term “Scambodia” without delay.
The word combined the English term “scam” with the country name Cambodia. For Santepheap, this was not journalism but outright mockery.
Attack on national dignity
The analyst stressed that Cambodia was a sovereign state recognized around the world. Distorting its name in this way was, in his view, an unprofessional act that placed the entire country under a negative stereotype.
A media outlet with such global influence should, he argued, assume responsibility for its language. The deliberate denigration of an entire people was, he said, unacceptable.
Global problem, local scapegoat
Santepheap acknowledged that online crime was a serious problem. However, he emphasized that these were transnational networks involving many countries.
Portraying Cambodia alone as the center of such schemes was, he argued, incorrect. The perpetrators came from all over the world and operated across borders.
Government efforts overlooked
The analyst accused critics of ignoring the efforts of the Cambodian government. In recent months, he said, hundreds of hideouts used by scam gangs had been dismantled.
Thousands of foreign nationals had already been arrested or deported. According to Santepheap, laws against these criminal groups had been significantly tightened.
Accusation of double standards
The label “Scambodia” harmed not only the country’s image but also its economy, the columnist argued. Millions of uninvolved citizens were being punished by the stigma, he warned.
He raised a provocative question about unequal treatment in international media.
“Would the Journal use the same kind of wordplay for Western countries?”
said Santepheap, columnist, pointing out that similar crime problems existed elsewhere but coverage was different.
Demands to the newsroom
In his article, Santepheap underlined that criticism and scrutiny by the media were necessary, but ridicule was not. He therefore demanded the immediate removal of the term “Scambodia” from all articles.
He also called on the newspaper to correct what he described as misleading facts and to return to objective reporting. The dignity of a country, he argued, should not be sacrificed for clicks.