Cambodia Casino Gamble
- Cambodia Casino Gambler
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- Cambodia's Casino Gamble
- How Many Casinos Are In Cambodia
In Cambodia, casinos are licensed to operate in order to attract foreign tourists, and locals are not permitted to gamble there. A total of 193 casinos are currently licensed to operate in the. The prohibition on gambling, which also extends to all forms of online gambling, only applies to Cambodian citizens.As of October 2015, there were 75 casinos catering to foreign tourists operating within Cambodia, providing an estimated US$29 million in revenue to the national government in the first nine months of the year and $2 billion in income for the casinos. Australia-listed Donaco International, owner of border casinos in Cambodia and Vietnam, remains immersed in legal proceedings with its biggest individual shareholder, who doubles as its top. Cambodia has come under the spotlight following the report that notable casinos in the country are apparently still operating online gambling sites. The onus is now on the local authorities to bring gambling businesses in line with current regulations.
Dec. 16, 2020, 6:49 p.m.
Cambodia is becoming one of the most popular destinations for casino gaming in Asia. Because of this, casinos in Cambodia are growing and playing a bigger part in the economy.
Every year, tens of thousands of foreigners, mostly from China, Vietnam, and Thailand, visit the 150 casinos in Cambodia. Cambodia hosts the most casinos in Southeast Asia, followed by Myanmar, Laos, and the Philippines.
Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar all have laws banning their citizens from gambling. This has allowed Cambodia, which also has anti-gaming laws on the books, to become a regional hub for betting.
The casino market is worth a whopping $51 billion in Asia. Casinos in Cambodia are responsible for a large chunk of that sum.
Indeed, gaming establishments contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to the Kingdom’s tax revenue every year. However, they have also been blamed for an array of social problems.
Casinos in Cambodia saw a huge jump in 2018
Cambodia Casino Gambler
Over the course of 2018, the government granted 52 gaming licences to casinos in Cambodia. This brought the total up to 150.
This figure represents a 53% increase from 2017 when the Kingdom only had 98 casinos. Increasing demand, especially from record numbers of Chinese tourists, has been cited as a reason for the growth.
More than 1.6 million Chinese tourists visited Cambodia in 2018, accounting for 26% of all foreign arrivals to the Kingdom.
Nearly 90 of the 150 casinos in Cambodia are located in coastal Sihanoukville. Poipet on the Thai border, and Bavet near Vietnam each host more than 10 gaming venues.
With 1,658 rooms and suites, NagaWorld in Phnom Penh is the largest casino in Cambodia. NagaWorld is a subsidiary of NagaCorp, which was given exclusive rights to operate the only casino within 200 km of Phnom Penh. That deal is valid until 2035.
Other notable casinos in Cambodia include Holiday Palace Casino & Resort, Poipet Resort Casino, Star Vegas Casino (Poipet), Lucky Ruby Border Casino, Las Vegas Sun Casino, Le Macau Casino & Hotel (Bavet), Fortuna Hotel & Casino, Queenco Hotel & Casino, Golden Sand Hotel & Casino (Sihanoukville), Dara Sakor Seashore Resort Casino (Koh Kong), and Thansur Sokha Hotel (Kampot). Scroll down to view a map we made of all the prominent casinos in Cambodia!
Is gambling legal in Cambodia?
Save for a few exceptions, gambling is illegal in Cambodia under the 1996 Law on the Suppression of Gambling. However, the ban only extends to Cambodian citizens.
Locals are allowed to buy into five privately-operated national lotteries. Up until 2009, Cambodians were allowed to use slot machines. This practice was then prohibited by the government. Gambling-related violence was cited as a cause.
Many inside Cambodia have noted that enforcement of the gambling ban is somewhat spotty. Yet, by the letter of the law, violation of the ban can lead to a fine or even jail time.
Cambodia Casino Closed
Is Cambodia the next Macau?
Supporters of Cambodia casinos often say that the increased tax revenues more than make up for any negative impacts. Some claim that gaming taxes were instrumental in the economic prosperity of both Singapore and Macau.
Or Saroeun, Preah Sihanouk provincial hall spokesperson, told the local media that more casinos in Cambodia will be good for the economy.
According to him, there will a bigger demand for products and services that vendors, businessmen, and others will just be happy to meet.
“It also means more money for the government’s coffers,” he stressed.
The annual licence fee for Cambodia casino operators is pegged at $40,000. Casinos contribute more than $50 million annually in tax revenues.
Some figures say that gambling is indirectly responsible for contributing more than $2 billion to Cambodia’s economy. The government has set a target of $56 million in revenues from casinos for 2018.
Proponents say that Cambodia casinos bring more employment opportunities and increase the value of land for sale in Cambodia.
Popular casinos in Cambodia
Nagaworld, Phnom Penh
Photo from Nikkei Asia.
Nagaworld is the only large landed casino in Phnom Penh and serves as a landmark for many residents of the city. Apart from its expansive casino floors, Nagaworld has a hotel, events centers, and a commercial area.
Galaxy Casino, Poipet
Photo from Poipet Guide.
Galaxy Casino is a relatively new hotel-casino in Krong Poipet having only opened in mid-2019. It's popular among Thai border crossers.
Star Casino, Poipet
Photo from RGB Games.
DNA Star Vegas casino is one of the oldest standing hotel-casinos in Poipet and is popular among Thai and Chinese gamblers in the city.
Social ills connected with Cambodia casinos
The mere mention of casinos often generates controversy. Countries such as Pakistan, China, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, and Ethiopia don’t have a single casino within their borders.
In countries where they are present, casinos are often heavily regulated.
Many medical bodies across the world have recognised the problem of compulsive gambling.
There have been reports of both foreigners and locals in the Kingdom who have resorted to crime because of their addiction to gambling.
Additionally, some believe that certain casinos in Cambodia are being used for money laundering. The latest Basel Anti-Money Laundering Index ranked Cambodia among the countries in the world most vulnerable to money laundering.
Chan Sey, Executive Director of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability (ANSA), said the increasing number of casinos in Cambodia should not be a reason for optimism.
“The gambling business is not good for all of us. This is a worrying trend,” he declared.
Casinos, according to him, are not always good for a country and its people. He cited money laundering, human trafficking, and social problems as the most likely negative effects arising from a growing gambling industry.
What are Sihanoukville casinos like?
Since most of Cambodia's casinos are in Sihanoukville, many are curious what it's like inside. They cater to mainly Chinese patrons. So, are there Chinese games? Do they play poker?
Here are some quick facts about Sihanoukville casinos:
- You can find slot machines for anywhere from a few cents to $5 per game.
- Slot machines are quite popular and usually only accept US currency.
- Many are starting to accept Chinese currency and most have currency exchanges onsite.
- Table games include baccarat, roulette, and blackjack.
- Most casinos have Chinese-speaking staff and service Chinese food.
- Many casinos offer free rooms for between $300 and $800 buy-ins.
Map of all major Cambodia casinos
Online casinos in Cambodia
While landed casinos definitely made visiting Cambodia more intriguing, the country's online casino industry was growing fast behind the scenes. Primary places online casino operators established their operations were in Sihanoukville, Krong Poi Pet, and Krong Bavet. The most prominent of these locations was Sihanoukville as the burgeoning port city was already home to big casinos and a host of large commercial property developments that had the capacity for modern conveniences such as large office spaces, high-bandwidth internet, and centralized airconditioning.
It was noted by international news outlets that Sihanoukville owed its fast expansion not just to landed casinos, but online casinos as well. A large portion of their workforce employed Chinese workers as a majority of these online casinos catered to online casino players in mainland China. The arrival of this large workforce was felt the most in Sihanoukville's property market as rental prices skyrocketed in a matter of months.
Cambodia banned online casinos in August 2019
In the last few years, Cambodia has been trying to reform laws governing gambling and related activities. In 2014, legislation was proposed that would overhaul the current regulations. The proposal was meant to generate more state revenue while also attracting more visitors from around the globe. This would effectively double the tax rate up to 5%.
Proponents of the measure saw their effort come to fruition when, in 2019, the Cambodian government announced that it would no longer be renewing online gambling permits for 2020. Operators who still had their licenses that year will be given till the end of their license to operate within the Kingdom. It's important to note that the decree only covered online casinos operators; landed casinos, with proper permits, were still allowed to operate.
Cambodia's Casino Gamble
The exodus of many expatriate workers, largely Chinese, was estimated to be in the hundred of thousands. The immigration office estimated that over 400,000 Chinese nationals left Cambodia by January 2020 - the time when law enforcers cracked down on illegal operations.
Gambling in Cambodia is officially illegal under the 1996 Law on Suppression of Gambling, which outlawed all unauthorized forms of gambling and provided for penalties ranging from monetary fines to short prison sentences, although the Cambodian government's General Department of Prisons does not list gambling as one of the 28 offenses punishable by imprisonment.[1]
The prohibition on gambling, which also extends to all forms of online gambling, only applies to Cambodian citizens. As of October 2015, there were 75 casinos catering to foreign tourists operating within Cambodia, providing an estimated US$29 million in revenue to the national government in the first nine months of the year and $2 billion in income for the casinos. Cambodian citizens are allowed to gamble through government sponsored gaming including five separate privately run national lotteries.[2] Cambodians were also previously permitted to play the slot machines located in the nation's casinos, however due to complaints of violence related to gambling debts and widespread problem gambling, slot machines were banned in 2009.[3]
Gambling as a popular pastime is ingrained in Southeast Asian culture in general and Cambodian culture in particular. Men who don't gamble are often viewed as not masculine.[4] Consequently, despite the laws against citizens gambling, illegal gambling is widespread in Cambodia. The police forces in Cambodia, ruled by one of the most corrupt governments in the world,[5] often look the other way as casinos freely allow locals to enter and provide private rooms for government and law enforcement officials, who oftentimes have a vested financial interest in the casinos, to conduct illegal gambling.[6] Extralegal activities are also widespread outside of the permitted casinos ranging from cockfights and card rooms to sports book (primarily regional football matches and kickboxing) and unauthorized lotteries. Most of these activities are controlled by organized crime and protected by bribes to law enforcement.[7]
A number of societal issues plague Cambodia as a result of gambling, most notably gambling addiction.
Casino industry[edit]
Gambling is illegal in all of the countries sharing borders with Cambodia. Communist governments in Vietnam and Laos ban gambling and the strict Buddhist cultures of Thailand and Myanmar also prohibit gaming.[3] Beginning in the late 1990s, Cambodia has been building a casino industry to capitalize on this, constructing casinos in border towns and popular resort areas and enticing foreign gamblers while officially prohibiting its own citizens from entering. In border towns such as Poipet, O Smach and Bavet there are 'casino strips' between border checkpoints so that foreign nationals may cross the border to gamble then return home without officially passing through the Cambodian checkpoint, thereby eliminating the need for visas. In popular tourist resort areas, such as Koh Kong and Sihanoukville, casinos are open to anybody with a foreign passport and the largest casino in the country, Phnom Penh's Naga Casino, which has exclusive gaming rights within a 200 kilometer radius of the capital, has plans to operate a charter service to fly in wealthy customers from China.[3]
Cambodia's casino industry continues to grow. In 2011 US$20 million in tax revenue was generated.[6] In 2014, 57 casinos provided an estimated $25 million in revenue to the national government,[3] while in the first nine months of 2015, 75 casinos, with ten new establishments licensed in the third quarter alone, were responsible for $29 million in government revenue and $2 billion in income for casino owners, most of which are foreign investment companies.[8]
Social issues[edit]
Cambodians often cite an old Khmer proverb lbaeng taeng vineah (Khmer: ល្បែងតែងវិនាស), 'Gambling always destroys (life)',[4] which reflects the variety of social problems revolving around gambling from which Cambodia suffers, including crime related to illegal gambling and repayment of debts, domestic disputes and, destructive gambling addiction which is a huge problem in Cambodia.[9][10] Despite the official prohibition on citizens partaking in any form of unauthorized gaming, gambling is a significant part of Cambodian culture. Gambling, usually in the form of card or dice games, is traditionally only socially acceptable during the weeks surrounding New Year celebrations. However, gambling continues year-round at every opportunity, in underground card houses, lotteries (both legal and illegal), sports book, online gaming, through unlawful entry into the casinos or even impromptu games on work breaks; there is even a game called chak teuk phliang in which Cambodians will bet, sometimes up to US$1000, on when and how much it will rain.[9][4][10]
A foreign passport is required to enter a casino in Cambodia, providing a loophole that allows the many urban Cambodians with dual citizenship to legally gamble. The rural population and those that can't produce a foreign ID must bribe the local police to gain entry to legitimate casinos. Gamblers leaving casinos or other, less formal, illicit gaming venues have reported being forced to give up to two-thirds of their daily winnings to police in order to avoid arrest when caught.[10]
There are little to no psychological services available to those addicted. Among Cambodian men, gambling, along with drinking and other such vices, is seen as a symbol conveying masculinity.[4] Cambodian society has traditionally viewed problem gambling as a social problem rather than a medical problem, consequently, very few seek treatment from medical professionals. As of 2012, the nationwide treatment program, Transcultural Psychological Organisation, reported treating patients for disorders such as depression and drug addiction but had not treated a single patient for gambling addiction.[9]
How Many Casinos Are In Cambodia
References[edit]
- ^Keo, Chenda; Broadhurst, Roderic; Bouhours, Tierry (2011). 'Inside the Cambodian Correctional System'. British Journal of Community Justice. 8 (3). Retrieved 14 October 2015.
- ^Hor, Kimsay (22 January 2015). 'Lottery firm hopes that second bet is a charm'. The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
- ^ abcd'Casinos in Cambodia: When the luck runs out'. The Economist. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
- ^ abcdSynoda, Sokhan (2015). LIFE OUTSIDE OF THE HOME INTERROGATING MEN'S UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR ROLES IN CAMBODIA. University of Wellington.
- ^Cuddy, Alice (2 June 2015). 'Rule of law rank near bottom'. The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
Cambodia has again scored dismally in an annual index released today ranking the rule of law in 102 countries, placing 99th overall and the worst in the region.
- ^ abNorodom, Princess Soma (17 August 2015). 'Gambling a losing game'. The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
- ^Ayuthya, Den (5 July 2015). 'Provincial Police Chief Orders Crackdown on Illegal Gambling in Southwest Cambodia'. Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
- ^May, Kunmakara (1 October 2015). 'Ten More Casino Licenses Granted'. Khmer Times. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
- ^ abcWill, Rachel (5 October 2012). 'Scant options for gambling addicts'. The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
- ^ abc'CAMBODIA: Gambling fuels poverty'. IRIN Humanitarian News and Analysis. 2 September 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2015.