PARADISE LOST? CHINA ALTERS CAMBODIA’S COASTAL VIBE

The Cambodian coastline isn’t long — just 275 miles (150 as the crow flies) along the Gulf of Thailand — but it displays unexpected diversity.

The seaboard extends from the twisted mangrove marshes of Koh Kong, a back door into Thailand, southeast to the relaxed retreat of Kep, a former royal seaside oasis with a famous crab market sprawling over rocks and sand. Lofty headlands frame deep bays with remote white-sand beaches. Verdant jungles dominate several national parks, home to varied wildlife and peaks that rise nearly to 6,000 feet. A French colonial flavor persists in riverside Kampot, making it a popular haven for expatriates.

Offshore are five dozen islands, most of them visible from the mainland. Many are tiny, just large enough for stand-alone resorts or private estates. Other isles are larger, notably Koh Rong: its 30 square miles of forested hills, sandy shores, and small villages are popular among foreign backpackers.

At the heart of the Cambodian coast is Sihanoukville, which has grown to become the nation’s largest city outside of metropolitan Phnom Penh and the primary hub for coastal tourism. It is named for Norodom Sihanouk, the colorful figure who dominated the nation’s world view from the 1950s through the 1980s and who is widely regarded as the founding father of modern Cambodia.

 

Urban Explosion

Twenty years ago, before its deep-water port was fully developed, Sihanoukville was a sleepy beach town of fewer than 90,000 residents. Then the Chinese made landfall, with an eye on Cambodia as a key component in their Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a strategy instituted in 2013 to develop the infrastructure of about 150 countries around the world.

Backed by a federal government that encouraged massive foreign investment, the urban population of Sihanoukville more than doubled between 2013 and 2019, as the Chinese invested about US$1 billion annually in Cambodia. In Sihanoukville, scores of casinos to rival Macau suddenly appeared — more than 60 casino-hotels and well over 100 smaller gambling venues. They don’t offer the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas or Macau, the world’s richest gambling cities, but in terms of pure numbers, they are a counterpart.

That signaled an immense boost for tourism from within Asia. An estimated 120,000 Chinese visitors flocked to Sihanoukville in 2018. Mandarin characters increasingly replaced Khmer and English on street signs. Most of the money went back to China, spent as it was in Chinese-owned hotels, casinos, and restaurants. By 2019, the numbers of resident Chinese workers, developers and investors had risen to nearly 80,000, or about 90 percent of Sihanoukville’s expat population.

When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, most Chinese fled for their homeland, leaving scores of unfinished high-rise construction projects. Although Chinese have now begun to return in increasing numbers, the abandoned buildings remain, giving the city a surreal, ghostlike veneer. From the forested hills that rise above downtown Sihanoukville, one can see the skeletons of more than 350 tall buildings left to decay, even as ground is broken for new structures. Official government figures say there are just over 1,000 high-rise buildings in Sihanoukville. Of the 600-plus finished towers, 200 are reported by Cambodian bureaucrats as unoccupied. The owners remain overseas, so little or no progress is being made. The cost to complete the work has been estimated at US$1.1 billion.

A New Chinatown

Today, Cambodian residents speak of a new “Chinatown” emerging just north of Sen Chey Street in the Otres Beach subdivision. Residential towers soar 28 floors and higher around the stunning new Golden Sun Sky Casino and Hotel in the shadow of vacant older structures. A variety of smaller businesses — restaurants, convenience stores, liquor shops, studio casinos — occupy the ground floors. Most complexes discourage outsiders, such as China Town Building 10, where security guards monitor gated portals.

Neighborhood signs are almost exclusively written in Chinese characters, except for casinos, which, outside their entrances, post notices in English and Khmer — declaring that Cambodians are not permitted to enter and that photos are not allowed. Invisible lines are indelibly drawn between cultures. East of Ekareach Street, which transects the landmark Two Lions roundabout (built in 1996), mid-size casinos, massage establishments, and restaurants abound, including the swanky Shoo Loong Kan restaurant. Here, at midday, hostesses in bright red cheongsam await a sparse clientele: The garden establishment is beautiful, but its lazy-susan tables are unoccupied.

Online shopping has produced a sharp decline in pedestrian traffic. Some boutiques, jewelers and gift shops are within the larger casinos, their clientele overwhelmingly of the overseas Chinese package-tour variety, mainly from Singapore and Malaysia. Even at the major hotel-casinos, such as the Holiday Palace, live shows (in Chinese only) are offered only on special occasions. Beyond the gambling joints, the most popular gathering places for local Chinese are the beaches, where groups of co-workers, predominantly men, gather at plastic tables to smoke and eat the fresh seafood and barbecue offerings of street vendors.

West of the Two Lions, on streets that slope downhill toward Victory Pier and Sihanoukville City Hall, restaurants offer a more diverse selection: Khmer, Indian, hamburgers, pizza. One popular Cambodian restaurant in this neighborhood is Romdoul, a seafood hot-pot buffet that stays open into the early-morning hours. Nearby are numerous budget lodging options, and even the pubs are Western tourist-friendly.

It would be hard to say how Chinese capital has changed Khmer business and society, as the clash of cultures is still evolving. Financial strength lies with the Chinese; the positions they offer Khmers are typically in labor and security, at a lower pay grade than expatriate Chinese receive.

Critics decry the provincial government for supporting the wealthy interlopers. With many new real-estate and resort projects underway — including the Bay of Lights, a US$16 billion residential showcase that promises 330,000 jobs by 2050, and the technologically advanced “new city” of Ahnakot in adjacent Koh Kong province — rumors abound that billionaire businessmen are greasing the palms of Cambodian government leaders in exchange for building permits. The new Dara Sokor International Airport in Koh Kong is expected to handle seven million passengers a year when it opens later in 2025. In addition, the government has favored Chinese companies with a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to promote streamlined market conditions, a safe political environment, and cheap labor.

Belt and Road

The Belt and Road Initiative supports infrastructure projects extending well beyond the urban area, including power plants and offshore oil operations. Sihanouk International Airport has direct flights to China, Vietnam and Malaysia. Phnom Penh’s huge new Techo-Takhmao International Airport, scheduled for completion in July 2025, is only a two-hour drive from Sihanoukville via Cambodia’s first expressway, a US$2 billion, 120-mile toll road that opened in 2023. As large trucks are barred from using the road, the drive from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, once six hours, has been sliced to three. A modern railway from Phnom Penh to Vientiane, Laos, with connections north to China, is planned.

The Ream Naval Base, just east of Sihanoukville, has benefited from Chinese aid. While warships have docked at Ream for extended visits in recent months, Prime Minister Hun Manet continues to deny dependence upon the East Asian giant to the North. Sihanoukville’s international port and oil terminal are also undergoing expansion. Cambodia did not have a deep-water port until this harbor on Kampong Som Bay opened in 1960: French colonists had used Saigon for international trade and Mekong River ports, including Phnom Penh, only for regional distribution. Cambodian marine trade beyond its borders required passage through Vietnam.

Now, the days of Vietnamese influence on Cambodian trade are coming to an end. China has offered its response by going halves with the Cambodian government on the new Funan-Techo Canal. The US$1.7 billion project links the Mekong to the sea via its Bassac River tributary without crossing into Vietnam. The 110-mile canal will enter the Gulf of Thailand in Kep province. When engineers broke ground on the canal in early August 2024, PM Manet declared a national holiday. Although Chinese construction contracts still have not been issued, the canal is scheduled for completion in late 2028 after four years of construction.

Not unexpectedly, Vietnam has expressed consternation over the potential environmental impact to the lower Mekong. Cambodia argues the canal will allow it to become less dependent upon Vietnam ports. “It will become a lifeline for our nation and people and will eventually improve our economic growth and distribution,” said Manet. He added that the canal will reduce transportation costs, expand agricultural development, create new port jobs, and encourage urban development … at Sihanoukville.

Some economists warn that the BRI could be a debt trap, that Cambodia must guard against the woes that befell Sri Lanka and Pakistan after those South Asian nations embraced Chinese aid. But others applaud the benefits to Cambodia’s economy. “All those projects are supporting economic growth to be competitive and attract foreign investment,” said Kim Long of the Asian Vision Institute.

Beaches and More

Why do people come to Sihanoukville if not for the modern hotels and casinos? Traditionally, the beaches have been the lure, including Serendipity Beach, near the main pier, and Ochheuteal Beach, with its string of late-night venues. Independence Beach has some popular seafood eateries. Many Westerners prefer Otres Beach, a bastion of low-cost guest houses far from the casinos: The atmospheric Om Home, in a garden setting, has a devoted clientele, while the nearby Eden Bar is a favorite watering hole for local expats.

On a hilltop a mile from downtown Wat Leu (Upper Temple) is a colorful Buddhist pagoda with fanciful décor and jungle views across Sihanoukville and distant islands. Phsar Leu (Upper Market) is the oldest, largest and most central public market. A 70-foot-tall copper monument, erected facing Ream Beach in 2022, depicts the royal couple Preah Thong and Neang Neak, legendary founders of ancient Funan, a Mon-Khmer kingdom that thrived from the 1st to 6th centuries. Designed in Cambodia, the statue was (of course) smelted in China.

Ream National Park was established in 1993 to protect endangered marine and jungle wildlife, along with more than 150 native bird species. Spreading over 81 square miles, 11 miles from downtown Sihanoukville, the park’s ecosystems include rivers, beaches, coral reefs, mangrove forests and islands.

 

Island Life

Urban beaches attract mainly locals. Foreign travelers prefer the nearby islands. The destination of choice for most is  Koh Rong where budget travelers can find everything from backpackers’ hostels to intimate hotels. Most are located in or near the main village of Koh Tuch, fewer than 45 minutes by speedboat from Sihanoukville’s city pier.

Water sports, including snorkeling and SCUBA diving, jet skiing, and ocean fishing, are the pursuits of choice, along with hikes to waterfalls and viewpoints. Uncrowded and mostly paved roads, traveled by tuk-tuks and rented motorbikes, lead to out-of-the-way bungalows on private white-sand beaches, such as Sok San and to quiet fishing villages like Prek Svay.

The luxurious Royal Sands resort project, at the south end of immaculate Sok San beach, is the first of several in the works. On Koh Rong Sanloem island, three miles south and slightly smaller than Koh Rong, forests have already been diminished to make room for new resorts along Saracen Beach. Tiny islets such as Song Saa and Koh Krabey are home to exclusive, high-end spa resorts.

“We can already see it changing rapidly,” said Vicente Martinez. the expatriate owner of a small tour business on Koh Rong. “I think this will be a very different place in maybe only three years.”

 

Kampot and Kep

The coastline south and east of Sihanoukville is still mostly undisturbed by Chinese investment. Three miles from the sea on a shallow riverine estuary, Kampot is memorable for the evocative and somewhat dilapidated architecture of a bygone era when French colonials mingled with Chinese merchants. The town of 40,000 boasts several bungalow-style lodgings and European-oriented restaurants, making it popular among expats from Phnom Penh. Establishments like Auberge du Soleil and Moustache et Nico offer such classic Gallic fare as beef bourguignon or duck rillette, to enjoy with a hearty merlot or velvety pinot noir.

Kampot is located between several national parks. Preah Monivong Bokor, a UNESCO-recognized expanse, was a popular French hill station a century ago. The buildings were abandoned long ago, but there is new resort and villa development here. The jungle that occupies most of the upland terrain is home to varied wildlife, including bears, leopards, and primates. The much smaller Kep National Park offers hiking, mountain biking, and caving in a forested karst landscape.

Kampot pepper is famous around the world, and several plantations in the 16 miles between Kampot and Kep offer tours and showrooms. The green peppercorns are perhaps best enjoyed with freshly steamed blue crab from the seaside market.

Belgian entrepreneur Jef Moons bought three neglected seaside villas in 2003 and refurbished them to create a small resort called Knai Bang Chatt or “rainbow around the sun.” After the pandemic, Moons rebuilt under the Kep West banner with an expanded focus on beachfront dining and recreation. The Old Sailing Club restaurant is home to the Royal Cambodian Yacht Club, a water-sports hub, and the Discovery Centre, a staging point for local excursions by land and sea.

Moons foresees a future direct sea connection between Kep and Vietnam’s resort island of Phu Quoc, 29 miles across the Gulf of Thailand. “It will come,” Moons asserted. “The whole coast will be well connected with boats, from Kep to Kampot to Sihanoukville and Kampong Som, then on to Koh Kong. Phu Quoc has six million tourists a year, and 20 percent are international. Can you imagine how much tourism can come to Kep?”

Pig Butchering

Back in Sihanoukville, most modern development has been undertaken without consideration for the native Khmer population. Chinese companies tend to do business with other Chinese companies and hire workers directly from China. Chinese travel agencies take tourists to stay at Chinese hotels and eat at Chinese restaurants. Dialogues are almost exclusively in Chinese.

The “Chinafication” of Sihanoukville has stirred resentment. Many landless Cambodians, pushed out of job opportunities, now live in ever-growing slum neighborhoods on the urban fringe. This geo-economic division was formalized in August 2024, when Sihanoukville was subdivided, its Chinese-dominated precinct now to be known as Kampong Som, ironically the city’s original Khmer name.

Poverty and corruption beget crime, and the cavalier attitude of Cambodian government officials concerning the steady influx of Chinese workers and visitors has led to an increase in vice and other criminal activities. Police raids on bars, hotels, and casinos have exposed sex-trafficking and prostitution rings, as well as trade in illegal drugs and elephant ivory from endangered wildlife. Chinese nationals are overwhelmingly the perpetrators, by a 2 to 1 margin over all other foreigners and locals combined.

Large cybercrime compounds are reported to be legion in Sihanoukville. They also persist (in lesser numbers) in the capital city of Phnom Penh; in the border towns of Bavet, next to Vietnam, and Poipet, near Thailand; in booming Koh Kong, and in a couple of provincial outposts. As reported by Wired and it magazine, there are similar complexes in Laos and Myanmar, and The Wall Street Journal recently described a huge scam operation in the Philippines.

Although they may hide behind “front” businesses, including real estate and technology, these compounds thrive on human trafficking and forced labor — as operations centers for online gambling, cyber currency trade, identity theft, telecom fraud, child pornography and the theft of intellectual property. This is known to Chinese as shazhupan, or “pig butchering game.” Scammers typically gain a victim’s trust, romantic or otherwise, before suggesting a cryptocurrency investment that leads to a financial loss.

 

‘Oh, We All Know’

“We have a pretty good view into what’s going on there,” Cindy Dyer, the US Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, told me last year. “Individuals are fraudulently forced into labor. They were offered something that was a really good opportunity, but it wasn’t what was promised. Once they are on the compounds, the traffickers use force and coercion, so they are not able to leave. They are threatened with harm and may be tortured, subjected to electrical shock, or sold for sex.”

When Dyer challenged Cambodian government officials in November 2023, her reception more often than not was greeted with denial and/or deflection.

Dyer‘s visit followed a report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights estimating that at least 100,000 people in Cambodia have been victimized — although the government reported just 259 human trafficking cases in the first 10 months of 2023. The ambassador’s questions about possible government corruption and complicity “didn’t get much of a response. Some people simply changed the subject or talked about other things.”

“High-level government officials may be in the front,” Dyer warned. “We know that some of the transnational organized criminal organizations first developed in the People’s Republic of China.”

None of this is news to expatriate residents of Cambodia. “Oh, we all know where the scam centers are,” said the Canadian owner of one Sihanoukville lodging property, asking to remain anonymous.

A Khmer tuk-tuk driver shrugged when questioned about their locations. “They are the nameless white buildings you see in all the Chinatowns,” he replied, explaining that they were abandoned before they could be occupied. “They may seem to be empty from the outside. But many people stay there,” he said.

Foreign tourists rarely see this side of Sihanoukville. Their attention is drawn away by the blue waters and white-sand beaches, by the mangrove marshes and jungle-cloaked hills, by the seaside bungalows and crab markets and small-town colonial relics of the not-so-distant past. Even though the Chinese gambling outpost itself lacks appeal for many travelers, it is a worthwhile hub for exploring a coastal region of unique character and beauty.

 

John Gottberg Anderson covers Southeast Asia for the East-West News Service. He previously has written about Vietnamese Buddhism, Cambodia’s Tonle Sap and Vietnam’s Tet Holiday.