Cambodia is experiencing a full-on casino boom, with at least 13 new gaming licenses issued since the beginning of the year for a total of 163.
Though only 51 casinos are actually operational, “that’s still a lot for a country of 16 million,” according to Sophal Ear, professor of diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College in Los Angeles, who has written extensively on Cambodia. Ear recently said that the number of licenses issued in Cambodia exceeds that of Las Vegas or even Macau, the world’s No. 1 gaming destination.
“It’s easy money, and the truth is no one’s talking about the reason for so many casinos,” Ear said. “Could it be money laundering? Why not focus more on quality and have a vision for what it is you want as a country instead of only seeing dollar signs whenever someone shows up willing to pay for a casino license?
“When it comes to casinos, their view of the world seems to be that more is better,” he continued. “As long as money is coming into their pockets, they will say yes.”
Right now, the only investment required to register a casino in Sihanoukville is an annual fee of US$40,000—hence the proliferation of smaller players flooding the market. Chinese companies are especially motivated to register online casinos in Cambodia, as online gaming in China is illegal. The Khmer Times reported that the government expects to reap $70 million in revenues from the industry in 2019, up from $46 million last year.
Ninety-one of the licenses are associated with the coastal city of Sihanoukville, but according to the Macau News Agency, analyst Ben Lee of iGamiX believes the number of casinos—most of them online—will continue to rise until new regulations kick in. Then the inventory may be cut in half.
“We expect about 50 percent of them to drop off once the government brings in their gaming regulations which requires a capital investment of US$50 million (MOP404 million) over five years,” Lee said in May, adding that this will take place “tentatively” in September of this year.
Judy Ledgerwood, an anthropologist and dean at Northern Illinois University who has studied Cambodia, said the target market for the Sihanoukville casinos are “Chinese. There has been an explosion in the numbers of Chinese tourists coming to this coastal city and the key attraction is the casinos.” That’s borne out by the numbers—2 million Chinese visited the country last year, according to the Phnom Penh Post, though the numbers do not reflect how many of those came to gamble.
According to the Cambodia Daily, the level of Chinese investment in Sihanoukville has created backlash among the locals who say casinos are the cause of growing violence, soaring property prices and widespread pollution. In March, officials ordered the closure of the Jin Ding Hotel and Casino following complaints that the resort was flushing raw sewage into the sea.
But Preah Sihanouk provincial spokesman Or Saroeun said casinos have had a positive impact. “Cambodian people are benefiting from the business directly as they can supply food, vegetables, meat and fish to meet the increasing demand from gamblers and investors.
“People will also indirectly benefit from the growing casino business through economic development resulting from increased government tax revenue,” he said.
San Chey, of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability said the social ills far outweigh any perceived benefits. “I’m afraid that casino businesses will serve as a channel for money laundering and human trafficking, or become a source of social problems,” he told the Post. “The gambling business is not all good for us. The increasing number of casinos should be a worrying trend for the country. I don’t believe yet that the tax revenue from the casino businesses has been contributing to a solution of the issue.”
