OVERSEAS PIONEERS IN SIEM REAP

We plan to present to you stories of restaurant entrepreneurs, vets, humanitarian workers, among others. Here is our third player in this Siem Reap development drama:
 

Pets 'n' Vet - The interesting years in Cambodia of animal health care giver Isabell Stich and biologist Kai-Olaf Krueger

Any pet owner in Siem Reap knows Isabell Stich and Kai-Olaf Krueger, and most of us have been more than once grateful to have them around as they are always ready to assist a suffering animal or to help outwith good advice. Ms. Stich even makes house calls, as in our case when our shy alley cat could not be convinced to get nto a cage in order to be carried to the clinic. Their Pets 'n' Vet store, established less than 2 years ago, is located in a friendly, quiet street close to the center of town and it is a treasure-trove for pet lovers as it offers over 1000 items for any need or desire. First, when you enter the neat store, the small animals catch your attention; they happily swim and scuffle and hop around in their water tanks or cages; then there is a great variety of pet food, toys for pets, grooming utensils, and, last but not least, the latest fashion items for dogs and cats. It is quite difficult to get all these supplies for the store and Isabell and Kai have to go to Thailand to buy them and then have them shipped to Siem Reap.
Above the store, Isabell has her one-room veterinary clinic as
well as the Beauty Salon for dogs and cats. She was and still is the only animal health care giver in town.

Generally, Kai tells us, most cats and dogs belong to somebody in Cambodia although the Cambodian owners rarely take good care of them. Food is a case in point: most pets are fed a lot of rice and some fish--if they do not live on garbage
alone--, and neither fare is very healthy for them. Thus, both cats and dogs have short lives, between 2 to 5 years. As some Cambodians have become more affluent, to own a dog has become something of a status symbol.
Two types of dogs are popular: the fluffy little lap dog or the large watch dog. Yet, a dog is considered to be little more than "a moving thing" and pet owners are often ignorant of the needs, alimentary and emotional, of their animals.
An example of how misinformed some pet owners are is the man who proudly bought a Saint Bernard dog which is very rare here for a good reason: his fur is far too thick for the hot local climate. Indeed, the poor animal died after a very short stay in Siem Reap. Another example is the custom to tap dogs quite forcefully on their head as a sign of affection. Dogs don't really like that! They feel they are being scolded!

Isabell Stich and Kai-Olaf Krueger, a biologist, came to Seam Reap around August 2001. After working at the zoo in Hannover, Germany, for some time, they were ready for something more adventurous and unconventional. When they
were offered the job to open a new Wild Life Rescue Center near Siem Reap, they thought this would be just the place where they could make a difference. Siem Reap seemed almost untouched at the time
of their arrival with only one paved road, very few restaurants and a very irregular supply of some of the food
items that they used to buy easily in any German supermarket. Milk, for instance! They usually went to "the blue pumpkin" for breakfast which was a very small establishment then. The Shadow of Angkor, The Red Piano, Kampuccino, and the Soup Dragon were the other restaurants then in existence.
 
Isabell and Kai found a site for ACC (Angkor Centre for Conservation) at the base of the mountain Kbal Spean, 40 km north of Siem Reap and gradually, they built up the Wild Life Rescue Center which today has between 15 and 25 volunteers. The Center aims at protecting and conserving native Cambodian wildlife;
it is a home for endangered species; and it provides education and training for communities, visitors and officials.
There is very little sense of environmental care in Cambodia. Farmers burn down whole forests to gain a few acres of land, often with catastrophicresults as the fires burn out of control. The progress to educate people is slow and Kai thinks that it will take 1 to 3 generations to bring about change. There are really only two ways to make people abandon their bad habits that are so detrimental to the environment: strict enforcement by the authorities or to make people see the benefit of environmental care.

Isabell and Kai, unfortunately, have returned to their native Germany. All of us pet owners wish them all the best and hope that they will remember how much good they did to our pets and towards the education of the Cambodian people and the preservation of Cambodian wildlife.

March 2009
 

Editor's apology: Right after we took photos of these two people, our computer malfunctioned, and we had to have its C driver reformatted. As a result, we cannot show you any photos of these kind people.

Geert Caboor, the owner of The Red Piano,
has the steely eyes of a determined business
man and the soft chin of a sensitive artist. This unique combination surely
contributed to making his restaurant such an enduring success. The Red Piano IS Geert Caboor who has been controlling every aspect of his enterprise, from the crisp and efficient service and the versatile menu to the tasteful decorations and the original, glowing red walls. "I wanted my place to feel comfortable," he says, "and I tried to create a casual, clean, yet warm atmosphere." Indeed, one feels
immediately at home in The Red Piano. The many corners and niches, the different
types of furniture, and the lightning convey a sense of space and adventure. One never feels alone, even on the rare occasion when one actually is the only customer.

At the beginning, in 2000, Geert Caboor acted
both as the manager and the only employee of The Red Piano. There were more rats in the unpaved streets surrounding the restaurant than tourists looking for a drink. Geert Caboor opened his restaurant in September, blissfully unaware that this is the "lowest" month in the Siem Reap tourist season. So he had exactly 2 regulars sitting nightly at his bar.
It was a struggle then and Geert Caboor gave himself 3 years to make a name for himself. It hardly took that long. Tourism in Siem Reap developed; the streets were eventually paved (in 2007), street lights were put up; other restaurants in that area began to open, and the Old Market area became "a must" for tourists to visit after a day of temple hopping. The Red Piano had an extra strike of good luck when part of the movie "Tomb Raider" was shot in Siem Reap and the crew discovered The Red Piano as the ideal place to relax. They also trusted Geert Caboor because he was European and would serve them clean and hygienic food so that no one of the team would get sick.

One evening the star of the movie, Angelina Jolie, arrived and asked for a special drink which later became the popular "Tomb Raider" cocktail. Today, the photo taken on the occasion of the Tomb Raider farewell party hangs prominently on one of the red walls and numerous Angelina Jolie or "Tomb Raider" fans visit it
religiously.

Even after the "Tomb Raider" crew decamped, the restaurant was packed during the "high season," and Geert Caboor renovated the second floor and changed the former guest house into restaurant space so that he can now seat 165 guests. The staff loves to work at The Red Piano, as they are treated well and trusted to do a good job. Today, the kitchen alone employs 12 people, including 4 chefs. All employees are so well trained that Geert Caboor can spend several weeks in his native Belgium and The Red Piano jingles on
as harmoniously as ever.