The Blue Pumpkin didn't Survive COVID

The Blue Pumpkin was a Siem Reap original. It was there before the rise of tour buses ferrying people from massive hotels to temples to shopping and more. It was there when the economy sank in 2008. It was there after the politics got extra spicy. Through it all The Blue Pumpkin thrived. Locations expanded from the original site. Branded merchandise appeared in stores. It was a fixture. Like McDonalds to the United States.

Today a new restaurant claims the space. The bookstore is still next to it, standing as a shell of its former glory. Instead of boldly selling local news, stationary, and books it now features the same tourist fodder as everywhere else. The sidewalk is new. The road paved. But something more is missing from the place.

Where are the buses? Haven't seen a single one. Not one. This is supposed to be the start of high season. It should be a rising tide of bustling, cosmopolitan energy. Construction is stronger than expected. Remodeling of stores is a key activity now.

Our hotel is eerily quiet. There were no other guests having breakfast. Somehow the staff are still cheerful. Almost 100 rooms out of 100 stand empty. There is no TV service likely as a cost saving measure even if they claim it is just not working.

This year the immediate Building Cambodia goal was assessment of a post-COVID Cambodia. The closure of The Blue Pumpkin combined with an idle hotel run by healthy and eager people encapsulate the situation. Cambodia was not hit hard directly by COVID. Instead Cambodia was economically pounded by the lack of tourism from Asian countries. People are surviving, not thriving. The government took advantage of cheap labor during the downturn to do big road and capital improvements. Business people with resources who can make renovations are doing it now with the hope of future rebound.

Regular Cambodians are hanging on. Waiting for the tide to return. In the meantime they have to watch as familiar institutions like The Blue Pumpkin fade.