The wave of Chinese gamblers causes tension in Sihanoukville

So many China gamblers and Casino in Sihanoukville

The wave of gamblers from China is causing widespread public outcry in Cambodia's Sihanoukville province.

Casinos such as Oriental Pearl and New Macau appear along the streets of Sihanoukville, the seaports and tourist towns in southern Cambodia.

The city with a population of less than 100,000 will soon have 30 casinos - 10 casinos, of which just started construction in 2017.

Since Cambodians are banned from playing cards, these complexes are only for Chinese tourists and therefore employ Chinese workers. This led to the anger of local residents in the context of scarce domestic employment.

The estimated number of Chinese arriving in Sihanoukville in 2017 is 120,000, double the previous year.

The casino boom in Sihanoukville is the most visible consequence of the pro-Chinese policy of the Hun Sen government.

The problem of Southeast Asia

The influx of Chinese tourists to Cambodia has pushed property prices up here, high rise buildings but also brought many problems.

"The Chinese do not go outside during the day, they come out the night," the Financial Times quoted Sok Song, a Cambodian hotelier and vice president of the Sihanouk Chamber of Commerce.

"At night, they sometimes drink and fight," he said, stressing that the presence of the Chinese "is more positive than negative."

Ma Lin, who runs a beach front cafe, says she can hardly find a job with Chinese shopkeepers because she does not know Chinese. The Ma Lin coffee shop will be hired by Chinese investors later this month.

Not just Cambodia, the "shadow" of China has become a part of the development of many Southeast Asian countries. China is Thailand's largest source of tourists, while Beijing is investing financially in infrastructure projects in Myanmar and the Philippines.

Therefore, Cambodia or the Philippines and many of its Southeast Asian neighbors are faced with the same problem: how to balance the good and bad consequences of investments from China. China's investment projects are generally welcomed because of the large scale and less accompanying conditions. On the contrary, they are also criticized because construction and jobs often flow into Chinese hands.

April 05, 2018