Young Cambodian entrepreneur launches Phnom Penh’s first female motor-scooter tour agency
In Cambodia’s capital, motorbike taxis are everywhere – but it’s extremely rare to see women drivers transporting tourists. Those who do are judged harshly. Katya Cengel meets the young entrepreneur trying to change that. When they show up at a Phnom Penh hotel in their tight red T-shirts and skinny jeans, people tend to get the wrong idea about Renou Chea and her fellow Moto Girl Tour guides. “They think we’re not ‘good girls’,” says Renou, a slight 26-year-old with long dark hair. “They think we’re ‘bad girls’.” It is an important distinction to make in Cambodia, where women who associate with foreigners are often assumed to be “bad girls” – or women who work in the sex trade.
