Siem Reap, formerly a provincial French town, was on its way to becoming Cambodia’s second capital. The world had rediscovered the spectacular ruins of the Angkor Empire, and the land-mines around the temples had been cleared. The tourists were back. Since the international airport had opened, investors, who circled like vultures above the UNESCO world heritage site, could not get hotels, restaurants, shopping centres, massage parlours, casinos and bars off the ground quick enough.
In the brand new Siem Reap International Airport, the immigration officer had photographed Maier, who was travelling under a false name on a clean French passport. Bangkok made such things possible.
Maier rented a motorbike and drove out to the temples. The town’s first traffic light had just been installed an
