Young women with white-powdered faces and tight-fitting jeans flit around the karaoke parlors and guesthouses by night, and peek out of the innocuous-looking buildings by day. But the presence of an estimated young women believed to be prostitutes is provoking concern from officials and residents in this former Khmer Rouge stronghold, where the smallest of transgressions was once met with harsh punishment.
Prostitution, like corruption, was a social sin that was once non-existent, say former Khmer Rouge here. Many here blame the flow of prostitutes into Pailin as part of Khmer Rouge communism opening up to a free market.
Residents say the prostitution feeds off those who have benefited most from the free market and lax law enforcement.
Officials and residents agree that the proliferation of sex workers is destroying the fabric of Pailin society. Police and residents say that many of the women come from Phnom Penh and Battambang after hearing about the opportunities. The flow of young women looking for work began in late , but has steadily increased until now, residents and police report. The flow of prostitutes to Pailin coincides with a general stream of people coming here for the relatively neutral political atmosphere or the promise of getting rich from the gem trade.
Bou Sarin, a deputy police chief here, last Friday estimated that as many as 40, people now live in the mountainous and forested area, perhaps double the number who lived here two years ago.
