Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has banned the construction of new casinos in the southern coastal towns of Kep and Kampot. The ban does not apply to Bokor mountain in Kampot province, where a casino industry already exists.
Manet’s order is designed “To diversify investments into hotels/hospitality, tourism, manufacturing, industry, agriculture, trade and special economic zones.”
The president’s order also said the ban was designed with religious and cultural preservation, as well as the safety and protection of popular tourist destinations in mind.
Casinos in Cambodia: Foreigners Only
According to the Cambodian Commercial Gaming Control Committee (CGMC), there are currently 184 licensed gambling establishments in Cambodia, of which 100 are located along the coast and 48 are in provinces bordering Thailand. The remainder operate along the border with Vietnam.
Phnom Penh has one casino, NagaWorld, which opened in May 1995 as a temporary facility on a barge on the Mekong River before moving to its current facility on land in 2003. Its operator, NagaCorp, holds the exclusive rights to casinos within 200 kilometers (124 miles) of the capital until 2045.
All casinos in Cambodia are open to foreigners only. Gambling has been illegal for locals since 1996. In 2020, Cambodia enacted Article 19 of the Commercial Gambling Control Law, banning gambling establishments in certain locations for cultural or religious reasons.
However, Article 20 of the same law states that casinos cCasinos built in some locations before the law came into effect are exempt. In 2023, Cambodia’s state revenue from casinos exceeded 81.84 billion kwacha (€18.4 million / GBP15.5 million / US$20 million).
Change of fortune
Yong Kim Eng of the People’s Development and Peace Center said Cambodia’s casinos should be limited to three already crowded markets, including Sihanoukville on the Gulf of Thailand, which is home to dozens of Chinese-run casinos.
The border town of Bavet is used by Vietnamese patrons who only gamble in domestic casinos, while Poipet on the Thai border is used by gamblers from Thailand, but Thailand may be able to win back domestic players if it goes ahead with its plans to legalize casino resorts.
Chorto Bunthan, a researcher at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said: Phnom Penh Post Balancing the good and bad of casinos can be a difficult task.
“Casinos are not only a source of revenue for the state, but also for investors and employees,” he said. “By law, Cambodian citizens are not allowed in casinos. But the question is whether this can be controlled. If it is well controlled, it will not affect the people, but if it is not well controlled, it could have negative consequences.”