Chinese bettors have made the border town of Poipet the second most popular gaming destination in Cambodia, after the coastal city of Sihanoukville.
According to a report in the Bangkok Post, an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 Chinese are now living in the city, either working in the construction or gaming industries or visiting on a short-term basis to gamble. The report indicates that Poipet could become even busier now that, after 46 years, Thailand and Cambodia have officially restored cross-border rail service.
In addition to Chinese bettors, Poipet Mayor Keat Hul told the Kyodo News that up to 3,000 Thai residents cross the border each day to gamble at casinos in the city (there are now a total of 22, up from nine in 2016). Most of them enter at points “conveniently situated” between the Thai and Cambodian passport centers, so they don’t need to go through Cambodian immigration, the News reported.
The city’s casinos currently employ about 10,000 Cambodians and more than 1,200 foreigners, mostly Thais and Chinese, according to government records. In five years, the population has swelled from 80,000 to about 120,000 people and is expected to continue growing, according to Poipet Administrative Director Nhem Pheung.
Casinos in the country are open only to foreigners, and with the exception of NagaWorld in Phnom Penh may not open within 200 kilometers (125 miles) of the capital city. Cambodia boosted its number of casino licenses by 53 percent in 2018: a total of 150, up from 98 in 2017. Most of the licenses were granted for operations in Sihanoukville, which now has 88 licenses, reported Asia Gaming Brief. The coastal community, a key part of China’s Belt and Road initiative, has become a magnet for Chinese investment, including casinos. The boom has brought some 70,000 Chinese residents to Sihanoukville, among a total of 200,000.
According to a July 2018 report in the Guardian newspaper, China invested $5.3 billion in the country between 2013 and 2017—more money than the Cambodian government did. And more than 1.27 million Chinese tourists visited the country in the first eight months last year, a 72 percent increase over the same period in 2017.
In fact, of $1.3 billion invested in Sihanoukville between 2017 and 2018, $1.1 billion came from China. Chinese casino operators are attracted by what the Guardian called “nonexistent gambling regulation and lax money-laundering laws.” Gambling remains illegal for Cambodian locals.
Ros Phearun, deputy director general of the ministry’s financial industry office, said authorities collected $56 million from the casino industry for full-year 2018. NagaWorld accounted for 40 percent of those revenues, followed by casinos in Poipet with 22 percent.
Phearun said the tax revenues from casinos are expected to increase to $70 million this year. “We are actively drafting a law to govern casino and gambling businesses, and when it is finalized and ready to be activated, we hope revenue from the sector will be bigger,” Phearun recently told reporters.
He told the News that the country’s casinos employ about 40,000 Cambodians. The gaming sector in Cambodia continues to expand, with the government handing out more than 50 licenses in 2018 alone. Casino operators must pay an annual US$40,000 license fee.
