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: Ann Creevey, Picture by : Nathan Dexter. |
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There is chaos on the streets of Phnom Penh.
Cyclos, bicycles, cars and pedestrians criss-cross
each other on busy Sihanouk Boulevard in a blur
of motion, cut for a second by a horse and cart
jangling through its heart.
A typical day on the road in the Cambodian capital,
and Mrs Penh Thary doesn't blink an eyelid as
she looks out from her small office.
The 47-year-old has an unusual business for a
Cambodian. Especially for a Cambodian woman, for
Penh Thary runs a driving school.
"My husband was a driver. He saw traffic
in Cambodia a lot, and he saw problems,"
she says.
"I, too, saw sad things when I went out of
town. One day I saw an accident on Route 4. It
was very bad. I knew these things were happening
because no one here had learned how to drive.
That was 1980-81. I wanted to do something to
help people."
Her husband Kien Sean, 53, had learned to drive
with a driving school called Dai Thom in the Lon
Nol era(1970-75). The name means "big hand".
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Penh Thary (left) and
her first daughter and heir to her empire,
Kean Sophoan, stand next to one of their
Phnom Penh instruction vehicles
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"This was
a very good school. In 1983, I began a driving school
myself. I called it Dai Thom II in honor of this one.
We would be Cambodia's second generation," she said.
She employed her husband as her first instructor and they
bought a couple of cars.
"It was easier back then. There were a lot less cars.
Traffic was much better," she says.
"But it wasn't the same as before. Before people
respected the law. Before, you could compare this country's
drivers with any other country. Now there was no comparison.
Cambodian drivers were not very good."
Cambodian driving instructors don't have the dual controls
instructors from more developed countries have. They must
guide students with vocal instruction and the occasional
touch on the wheel.
It can be nerve-wracking. Mrs Thary leaves that to the
professionals, instead shuttling back and forth from school
to school taking care of the books and attract business.
Often traveling with her is her first daughter, Kean Sophoan,
27.
"When I retire, the school will be hers," Mrs
Thary said, ensuring there is still at least one woman
in charge of a Cambodian driving school.
The empire grew quickly from just two cars and an instructor
who doubled as her husband.
By the end of her first year of operation, she was opening
a school in Battambang.
In 1996, she opened in Siem Reap. Then Kompong Som. Soon
she had seven schools in Phnom Penh and beyond and employed
10 instructors.
"I hope that what I do earns me merit. I am very
proud of my school because the more trained drivers there
are on the roads, the more lives are saved. I set out
to help people, especially in the provinces. Sometimes
I get people learning who cannot read or write. They take
longer but we eventually get them there."
She believes her students are top quality by the time
they leave her care.
"I always read the paper and watch television. In
all the accidents I've seen, I've never seen one of our
students involved," she said.
Mrs Penh knows she is the only female running a driving
school in the Kingdom, but she doesn't think it is because
she is unusual.
"In America, I'm sure I would not be such a novelty,"
she said.
She returned from the United States late last year, amazed
with what she saw.
"There are more cars. You hardly see any motos sometimes
none for hours. People drive a lot faster over there,
but their roads are so much better and wider," she
said. "I enjoyed traveling over there."
Cambodian drivers need to learn two things to pass the
test and get a license the wheel and the law. Knowing
the law, Mrs Penh says, is what keeps drivers safe. Knowing
the wheel gets them through the Kingdom's often potholed
roads and chaotic traffic conditions.
"It will be years before we are the same as America,
but I think it will happen. One day. Maybe when my daughter
is running the school..." |
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Suite
B8, Regency Square, InterContinental Hotel, 294 Mao Tse Toung
Boulevard,
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia.
Tel: (855) 23 213 133 Fax: (855) 23 213 033
E-mail:
editor@leisurecambodia.com |
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