Thousands of angry villagers just outside Phnom Penh are delaying the completion of the final 13km stretch of tarmac on the long-awaited Trans-Asia Highway linking Singapore and Hong Kong.
The villagers are demanding vastly improved compensation packages and are refusing to budge from their modest homes that line a potholed strip of bitumen that leads to the capital along Route 1 from Bavet on the eastern Vietnamese border to the Cambodian capital.
The highway stretches 142km westwards to Kien Svay, but remains just short of its final destination: the Monivong Bridge that crosses the Bassac River on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.
The villagers' demands have caused long delays in finishing the project, which has been hailed as key to regional economic growth.
The 140,000km network of roads through Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam into China have the potential to open cross-border trade to unprecedented levels. Authorities hope this will benefit millions living in poor rural communities along the route.
However, 72-year-old grandmother Kim Lorn could not care less. Cambodian authorities have offered her a paltry US$200 to walk away from her home and business of 26 years.