Only The Dead

[Phnom Penh, 1/11/26]

Though I had become comfortable enough at Moon Guesthouse, I checked out yesterday. Near Central Market, I paused at Le Hotel, also known as Le Grand Palais Hotel. Grandly colonial, it looked expensive, but this was distressed Phnom Penh, with many fewer tourists. Though I had stayed at super cheap Washington Guesthouse, just a block away, I walked into Le Hotel. My first surprise was finding a Brit at the reception desk. My second was hearing it’s only $15 a night, so $10 less than at Moon. My new room is also nicer.

When I handed the Brit my passport, he blurted, “An American!”

“Almost.”

“I know what you mean.” He laughed.

“I feel better just being around here. I was by the river. It was like staying in a whorehouse! I didn’t need to see a prostitute every two seconds!”

To advertise themselves, prostitutes must dress differently or mark their bodies, but nowadays, even suburban teen girls are tatted up and boasting thighs and cleavage. Also inked, nerdy teen boys snarl, jive and strut like ghetto dwellers. Only fussy reactionaries notice how the whore and gangsta looks have become mainstream across the West, especially in the USA, where it originated.