Electricity is still not a given in Cambodia. I think now the percentage of the population with access to electricity is about 34% and where it is available, it is quite expensive.
Cambodia is now buying more electricity from Vietnam and the supply is more reliable. Previously because the grid was so weak and the price so high, air conditioning was a luxury and was never part of the original design of a building. Now it is still a luxury but more and more people feel they can afford it so external air con units are appearing in more and more places. Here fifteen of them have been added to the top floor of a residential block. Individual units are now not such a rarity but it will still be a while before architects think of central air conditioning for a building here.
A couple days ago we had a photo of a woman with a scale she carried around, weighing people for a few cents each. Not far above her on the economic scale is this woman with a stack of khramas (scarves) and other cloths that she is selling. She probably pays a deposit for the cloths in the morning (and maybe rents the bicycle along with them) and then walks all day to sell a few items. Will she make two, three, four dollars in day? How much of that can she keep?
Cambodia is trying to get its economic ranking raised from low-income country to middle-income country, and by some standards, progress is being made. But then you see people like this woman. She rents a scale and then walks the streets all day hoping to weigh people who may give her 3¢ to 5¢ for the weighing. Here she is counting her money. Will she have enough to buy food at the end of the day?
Cambodia has its tourism industry and its garment factories but a majority of the people make their living by farming and with small businesses they set up at home or on the street. Those handling the small businesses spend a lot of time sitting and watching for customers. 
