Cambodia-Thailand

CAMBODIA-THAILAND/TIESCambodia rejects new Thai protest
Cambodian government officials have denied claims by Thailand that Cambodian troops have massed on the Thai border near Preah Vihear temple, the Cambodia Daily newspaper reported Saturday. "Cambodia strongly denies that there has been any deployment of army and police in the area though there may be security guards protecting Preah Vihear temple and tourists," Foreign Affairs Ministry Secretary of State Ouch Borith said at a news conference here on Friday. At the same press conference, Var Kim Hong, Cambodia's senior government advisor on border issues, said the Preah Vihear border had been in place since the colonial era. Thai English-language dailies - the Nation and the Bangkok Post – had reported Friday that Cambodian Ambassador Ung Sean had been summoned to the Thai Foreign Ministry and told that the supposed troop build up violated a 2000 agreement not to modify a 4.6-square-kilometer disputed zone near the temple. "This time we summoned the Cambodian ambassador to protest against them sending in troops and police and clearing landmines in the overlapping area in Thailand's Si Sa Ket province," the Thai Foreign Ministry's treaties and legal affairs department chief Virachai Plasai was quoted as saying in the Bangkok Post. Thailand's protest to the ambassador is the latest flare-up in long-standing dispute over the temple and surrounding territory, which has intensified since Cambodia sought to have the temple listed as a UN World Heritage Site last year, the Cambodia Daily said.
THAILAND-CAMBODIA : TiesThais revive talks with CambodiaTalks between Thailand and Cambodia on the joint development of petroleum resources are likely to resume early next year after a decade-long delay, according to Krairit Nilkuha, the director-general of the Mineral Fuels Department. The two governments have long been at odds over exploration and development in overlapping offshore territories. A deal appeared imminent in 1997 but plans were scrapped because of the Asian economic crisis. Mr Krairit said the timing was right to promote petroleum exploration and production in the area, given the soaring costs of imported oil and volatility in world prices. At issue are nine exploration areas, designated as Blocks 5 to 13, in the overlapping claims area. Thai officials believe they could contain abundant gas and oil reserves since some blocks are located close to highly productive fields operated by Chevron and PTT Exploration and Production Plc. Any agreement between Thailand and Cambodia is likely to be modelled on the Thailand-Malaysia Joint Development Area (JDA), in which each country holds 50%. Thailand is represented by PTT Plc and the Malaysian partner is the state energy company Petronas. Amerada Hess and Petronas Carigali, the joint operators of the JDA, recently informed the Mineral Fuels Department that field A18 would be ready to start pumping natural gas in February, at a rate of 390 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd).
PTTEP has also confirmed additional supplies of 330 mmcfd from its Arthit field in the Gulf of Thailand off Songkhla, which would be available starting in February. Mr Krairit said the new output would ensure natural gas supply to serve the high demand of the industrial and electricity sectors at a time when other sources remain uncertain. The country wants to import more liquefied natural gas (LNG) to feed power plants by 2011 but has been unable to secure deals with potential suppliers from the Middle East.Meanwhile, the government has attracted bids for exploration licences in 28 of the 65 blocks that have been on offer since earlier this year. Of the 28 blocks, 20 are onshore and the rest offshore. Authorities expect around three billion baht in capital investment to be made in exploration between 2008 and 2010. Mr Krairit said new bids could also be called for at least 40 petroleum fields that previously had been deemed not commercially viable. Improved exploration technology, combined with the prospect of high oil prices, are seen as making previously marginal fields more attractive to investors.
Courtesy Bangkokpost

Southeast Asia Thai-Cambodian industrial zone planned Cambodia and Thailand have reached a preliminary agreement to establish an industrial zone on their common border to promote trade and investment between the two countries. Labor-intensive industries and the textile, fishery and jewelry industries will be targeted for location in the zone. Supachai Panichpak, the Thai Minister of Commerce and World Trade Organization Director General designate, said after a recent seminar in Bangkok that the proposed zone would not only help stimulate trade between the nations, it would also reduce Cambodia's large trade deficit with Thailand. Supachai said the move followed consultations with his opposite number in Cambodia, Jom Prasit. "We agreed on the idea to set up an industrial zone on the border to attract investment, especially for Thai labor-intensive industries, and industries that use raw materials imported from Cambodia. "Thailand will get the advantage of being able to use cheap labor and materials, while Cambodia will gain from increases in employment levels," Supachai said. A source at the Ministry of Commerce said the project would most likely be similar to one that has been set up in Mae Sot, Tak province, on the border with Myanmar. Industries in this special area receive some privileges, such as exemption on income tax and import duties. A survey conducted by the Thai National Economic and Social Development Board suggests that Poipet, just inside the Cambodian border opposite the thriving Thai market town of Aranyaprathet, would be a suitable location. Its infrastructure, the survey found, was sound, with well-developed roads and adequate water, electricity and communication links. It also has easy access to the major Thai deepsea port at Laem Chabang. The Thai Chamber of Commerce has thrown its support behind the project as it would allow Thai manufacturers to compete with countries such as Vietnam and China, which have a low-cost labor force. Vichian Techapaiboon, president of the chamber, said in view of the support from private firms, working groups from the two countries should meet as soon as possible to discuss details and draw up feasibility studies. Thailand has traditionally relied on illegal workers, especially those form Myanmar, to work in its low-skill industries. However, following the economic crisis of the past few years, Thailand has clamped down on the estimated one million illegal foreign workers in the country.
THAILAND-CAMBODIA: Joint venture investment plans for proposed $2,000,000,000 to $3,000,000,000...
Publication: WWP-Report on Engineering Construct & Plant Operations in the Developing World Date: Saturday, June 1 2002
PROJECT OVERVIEW:
US-based CONOCO INC. has already established a significant presence in the Thai retail market where it manages 130 fuel stations. In addition, the company also operates a joint venture refinery in Melaka. This unit produces clean fuels such as premium diesel that meet stringent California specifications for global markets.
As things currently stand, the company with undisclosed partners are now said to be considering an investment of $2,000,000,000 to $3,000,000,000 in order to develop a Thai-Cambodian overlapping offshore oil and gas。
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Thai-Cambodian goal to double trade and investment [and also double trade between Cambodia and VN]

BANGKOK, Nov 21 (TNA) - Thailand and Cambodia have set a common target to increase their level of bilateral trade and investment to US$2 billion within three years, from US$1 billion at present, according to top officials of both countries.Speaking after a meeting on investment cooperation between the two countries, Chutima Bunyapraphasara, Director-General of Thailand's Trade Negotiations Department, said both countries agreed to cooperate in doubling their bilateral trade and investment value in the next three years. Currently, she said, Cambodia enjoys political stability, continued economic growth, and an appropriate currency exchange rate.The Cambodian delegation comprising top officials and executives in both the public and private sectors visited Bangkok, giving Thai investors information on investment, including establishment of a special economic zone.Chutima conceded that Thai investors had been reluctant to invest in Cambodia (in part, because of the legacy of anti-Thai riots in Cambodia in early 2003, when some US$50 million of damage was done). But given recent cooperation, she believed, Thailand's investment in the Cambodian economy, particularly in the textile, tourism and fishery industries, investment will continue to increase.Cambodian Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh said Cambodia had recently enjoyed more political stability than in the past several years and continued economic growth is anticipated.In 2005, the country's economy expanded at least 13.4 per cent. It is expected the economy this year would grow no less than 5 per cent despite the global economic slowdown.He said Cambodia had in recent years enjoyed economic growth based on international investment from the country's political stability and impoved adherence to international rules and procedures.The minister said Cambodia had encouraged foreign investors to invest in the country by offering tax incentives such as an exemption of import tariffs.Such an approach had attracted investors from around the world.But, Thailand, which is its neighbour, had a very low portion of investment in Cambodia while South Korea and Japan are top investors. So, he viewed, Thailand had more opportunities to invest in Cambodia.

Thai-Cambodian Economic Ties to Suffer Severely from Riots
The anti-Thai riots and destruction in Cambodia over the past few days would put 40 billion baht (952.4 million US dollars) a year in trade and investment and a tourist market worth 2 billion baht (47.6 milliondollars) between the two countries in jeopardy, the Nation newspaper said Friday. Quoting a forecast of the Thai Farmers Research Centre (TFRC), the report said that the Cambodian crisis could undermine the economic ties between the two neighbors. Last year, trade along their common border was worth 18.7 billion baht (445.2 million dollars), up 18.7 percent from the year before, with Thailand posting a surplus of 17.76 billion baht(422.8 million dollars). Around 400 Thai investors have done business in Cambodia. Thai investment in Cambodia will also be affected, the researchhouse added. With a policy of turning a battlefield into a trade market, Thai investors were keen to develop hotels, restaurants, banks, tourism and telecommunications in Cambodia. Prior to the Asian financial crisis of 1997, Thai investors put around 500 million baht (11.9 million dollars) into the country. Investors were recently looking at joint ventures with Cambodians for casinos near the border areas. But now, those who have investments in Cambodia may hesitate to expand their investments and may revise their business plan for the country. In the field of tourism, the Phnom Penh riots had cut the flow of Thai tourists to Cambodia and could lead many international travelers to think twice before going there, the TFRC said. In 2001, more than 50,000 Thai visitors went to Cambodia by air,and the figure could be significantly higher if those travelling by land were included, the report said.
People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/
Current Issues in Thailand Thai-Cambodian Crisis: Impacts on Trade, Investment and Tourism
(30/01/2003)
Recent political chaos in Cambodia has now escalated, bruising diplomatic ties between Thailand and Cambodia severely. This tense international political conflict should be resolved by Thai and Cambodian authorities as soon as possible. The Thai Farmers Research Center (TFRC) has assessed the impacts arising from the Cambodian riots that may possibly have on the Thai economy in three main areas - trade, investment and tourism - as follows: Thai-Cambodian Trade The Cambodian riots have directly and immediately affected the Thai-Cambodian Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting scheduled on January 30, 2002 aimed at bolstering bilateral trade volume and value. Now, however, the meeting has been postponed indefinitely. The unexpected and tragic events have so far damaged the environment of Thai-Cambodian trade which is worth around Bt40 billion annually. The chaotic incident is expected to deal a severe blow to Thai-Cambodian trade in the following aspects: Thai-Cambodian Trade Disrupted Trade between the two countries in the early part of this year is poised to come to a halt given that the conflict may temporarily put off trade between the two countries as Thai and Cambodian businessmen may opt to adopt a wait and see attitude before the situation in Cambodia returns to normalcy. Major Thai exports to Cambodia include finished oil, sugar, motorcycles and parts, beverages, cement and so on. At the same time, Thailand’s main import items from Cambodia include other metals waste and scrap, raw hide and leather, timbers, sawn wood and products, etc. Thai-Cambodian Border Closure…Takes a Toll on Border Trade The reduced level of diplomatic relations between the two kingdoms has inevitably caused the frontier trade between Thailand and Cambodia to come to a halt after the Cambodian authorities ordered the main border check points to be closed. It is a pity as the total border trade (exports plus imports) between Thailand and Cambodia grew by as much as 18.8 percent in 2002. In fact, the border trade between the two countries over the past year was very active, and was poised to flourish even more this year. In 2002, Thai-Cambodian border trade (exports plus imports) totaled Bt18.71 billion, up by 18.8 percent. No conflicts were recorded at the Thai-Cambodian trade border zone over the last year. In 2002, Thailand’s exports to Cambodian were worth Bt18.23 billion, up by 18.7 percent from the same period last year, while Thailand’s imports from the country amounted to Bt479.12 million, rising by 24.7 percent, year-on-year. As a result, Thailand enjoyed a trade surplus with Cambodia of Bt17.75 billion, representing an increase of 18.5 percent from the previous year. The major Thai products exported across the border to Cambodia in 2002 were agro-industrial products, motor cars, motor vehicles and parts, beverages, daily utensils, electrical equipment and parts, etc. The main products that Thailand imported from Cambodia were leather and bovine leather products, steel and products, wood, sawn wood and products, non-electric machinery and parts, fishery products and livestock, etc. Thailand reduces trade assistance to Cambodia Trade assistance that Thailand has given to Cambodia since 1999 until now within the framework of economic cooperation between the two countries, including assistance in setting up domestic trade system, trade registration system, etc. may stall due to the chaos in Cambodia. Impact on investment between Thailand and Cambodia
The former policy of the Thai government in “Turning Battlefields into trade markets” is also the engine stimulating more investment of Thailand in Cambodia. The major sectors that Thai investors are interested in are hotels, restaurants, banks, tourism, telecommunication, etc. On average, Thai entrepreneurs invested in Cambodia around Bt500 million per year before the Asian economic crisis in 1997. However, after the Baht crisis, Thai investment overseas was substantially reduced, including that in Cambodia, particularly the business of banks and finance companies that gradually closed down their affiliates there. The remaining Thai banking affiliates at the moment are Krung Thai Bank and Cambodia Commercial Bank (affiliate of Siam Commercial Bank). The protest in Cambodia has caused widespread chaos resulting in severe damage to Thai business in Cambodia. This grave situation has seriously and totally deteriorated the investment environment, especially the one of Thailand. Impact on Tourism: Thailand loses a market of more than Bt2 billion The chaos in Cambodian heavily impacted on the relations between Thailand and Cambodia in term of tourism. Thailand stands to lose Cambodian tourist market that has dramatically increased over the past 5 years, with a growth rate of 35.4% per year and created revenue to Thai tourism amounting to more than Bt 1billion per year. In 2001, around 80,000 Cambodian tourists traveled to Thailand, which increased by 45% from 2000 and generated revenue in tourism around ofBt 1.5 billion in 2001, an increase of 52% from 2000. If the situation had remained normal, it was expected that, in 2003, more than 100,000 Cambodian tourists would be coming to Thailand, generating revenue of more than Bt2 billion. The Cambodian tours market was booming and creating revenue for many tour companies, including the hotel business of Thai entrepreneurs in Cambodia, and all of these are affected from by these tragic developments as Thai tourists and investors hurriedly travel back to Thailand for fear of danger to their lives.
November 21, 2006
Cambodia's Minister of Commerce welcomes Thai businesses to invest in Cambodia
Thais News
Cambodia’s Senior Minister and Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, Mr. Jom Prasit, indicated that the national tax privileges and the readiness of the national economic and political situation will attract Thai investors to invest in Cambodia.During Thailand-Cambodia conference on investment cooperation today, Mr. Jom revealed that Cambodia is ready to open up its arm if Thai businessmen are interested in expanding their businesses in its Poipet Special Economic Zones. Poipet of Cambodia is near Thailand’s border and this will facilitate the transportation between the two countries. In addition, Cambodia's telecommunication is ready for the economic growth of the areas. He said that Thai investors will be allowed to rent the land at a very low rate.Mr. Jom informed that Cambodia’s economic and political situation has grown steadily. As a WTO member and a key player in the textile industry, he believes that Cambodia's position will help place confidence on Thai investors.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EB04Ae03.html

Southeast Asia

Thai-Cambodia crisis shows old hurts By Chayanit Poonyarat and Johanna Son BANGKOK - Last week's dust-up between Thailand and Cambodia has underscored how a volatile brew made up of simmering resentment of Thailand's role as the heavyweight in the region, combined with a dose of miscommunication, can change bilateral ties from cordial to downright hostile literally overnight. In less than a week, Thailand and Cambodia went from being neighboring countries to nations as far apart as they can be, after ties plummeted to their worst in recent decades. After anti-Thai riots peaked last Wednesday, sparked by supposed remarks by a Thai actress implying that Cambodia had stolen the historic Angkor Wat from Thailand, Bangkok stopped all economic deals with Phnom Penh, halted flights, downgraded its embassy, sealed its borders, and evacuated more than 1,000 nationals. Angry protests were also held at the Cambodian Embassy here, prompting the King to call for calm, after reports that mobs had torched the Thai Embassy and gone after Thai businesses and nationals in Cambodia. By Friday, relative calm had returned to Phnom Penh amid tight security. The Thai government welcomed Cambodian's offer of compensation - damage was estimated at US$23 million - and the arrests of nearly 150 people involved in the riots. One Cambodian was reported to have died in the riots. Phnom Penh issued an apology and broadcast its "most profound regret", which Thailand welcomed. But Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra also said, "The two governments are very close but the incident is very unacceptable." The anger and violence left many shaken, exploding as it did so suddenly and over remarks that the actress, Suwanna Kongying, denies saying - and which the Cambodian paper that first reported them said it did not verify before publishing. In hindsight, the actress's remarks were but the match that ignited old issues, coming as they did amid recent border spats. What has been dormant underneath Thai-Cambodian ties is "misunderstanding and bias", said historian Charnvit Kasetsiri of the Five Area Studies Project under the Thailand Research Fund. To many, the riots underscored the resentment against Thailand - its economic and cultural domination - by smaller, poorer neighbors such as Cambodia and Laos. "We have had many things to offer to Cambodia ... economic[ally] and cultur[ally]. The problem is that we have never asked how the Cambodians think and feel about that," Kraisak Choonhawan, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said at a discussion on Friday. "There is enormous investment of Thais in Cambodia but nobody has ever raised the question of how much the local[s] get from this," said Charnvit. Indeed, Thai-owned businesses from hotels and restaurants and firms such as Shinawatra telecommunications - owned by no less than Thaksin - bore the brunt of Cambodians' rage. Those economic ties are now in jeopardy. In the 1980s, bilateral ties were supposed to become better after Bangkok said it was time to turn the battlefields of Indochina into a marketplace. Today, "as a more developed nation, we enjoy an advantage in pursuing business interests in Cambodia, Laos and Burma. But we have done this so aggressively and so successfully that we appear guilty of economic colonization," said the Bangkok Post in its editorial on Friday. "Cultural dominance has accompanied this economic infiltration so that Lao and Cambodian youths almost exclusively listen to Thai music, watch Thai movies and seek to emulate the singers and actors they see on Thai television programs," it added. "This makes it easy for Cambodian politicians and the media to exploit a natural resentment. It is ironic that these same tactics by our own political leaders - stirring nationalism and anti-foreign sentiment (in our case 'the West') - should return to taunt us," the Post argued. In many ways, some say, it is like a love-hate relationship between Thailand and its neighbors. Despite resentment by Laos and Cambodia, Thai culture - products, songs, television shows, pop idols - are the craze among young people there. Suwanna herself was among the most popular Thai actresses in Cambodia. Kraisak said, "It might not be too difficult to imagine how it would feel like to wake up having to listen to Thai music and watch Thai television programs every day." For example, "young Cambodians had once displayed Suwanna's photos in their homes, in place of their parents or the Cambodian King and Queen", said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, adding that after her remarks people were now destroying her photos. Old historical hurts and wars have not helped any. But there have been good times too - Thailand sheltered anti-Phnom Penh forces during the Khmer Rouge's rule and took in hundreds of thousands of refugees in the 1970s. Cambodia had suspended diplomatic ties before over insults by Thai military strongmen. The two countries squabbled over the Preah Vihear temple that Cambodia won in the World Court in 1962. Likewise, Charnvit said, "In the historical textbooks, we learn about [Thai] King Naresuan killing the king of Cambodia as revenge back in 1593. The memory easily pops up in many Thais' minds when talk about relation between the two. "How can we deal with our neighbors peacefully and respectfully and still hold on to such perceptions?" he asked, adding that a recent study has proved that this historical record is mistaken. Some Thai analysts, along with local media, believe that domestic Cambodian politics - general elections are due in July - are a factor in the riots, after Hun Sen condemned Suvanan's supposed remarks and added even more to widespread anger. But Charnvit says it is time to look beyond the actress's remarks, Hun Sen's adding fuel to the fire and his supposed use of the nationalism card with a view to the polls, to see what has made bilateral ties so volatile beneath the surface. He added: "We cannot go on without fixing the misunderstanding and bias in our minds. We should keep in mind that history reminds us that some mistakes cannot be repeated." (Inter Press Service)

Gambling tourism destroys Cambodia’s social fabric

Dear colleagues and friends,

Gambling kingpins in the frontier town Poipet can see their business fortunes restored now that the Thai-Cambodia border is open again. But for many Thai workers and Cambodians here, their lives will still be mired in poverty. On 5 March 2003, the Cambodian government had closed two major border passes with Thailand in retaliation against Bangkok barring Thais from crossing in Cambodia, following anti-Thai rioting in Phnom Penh in January.

KHAN SOPHIROM, of the Khmer-language newspaper ‘Koh Santepheap’ in Phnom Penh, investigated the impacts of border casinos and related tourism along the Thai-Cambodian border. We are presenting here a slightly shortened version of his report ‘Las Vegas in Cambodia’, which is a chapter in the new book ‘Invisible Borders – Reportage from Our Mekong’, published by the International Press Service (IPS) Asia-Pacific with support from the Rockefeller Foundation-Southeast Asia (Bangkok 2003). For more information on the IPS project ‘Our Mekong’ and other interesting stories from across the region, please visit the IPS news site http://www.ipsnews.net/mekong/index.shtml.

Yours truly,
Anita Pleumarom
Tourism Investigation & Monitoring Team


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GAMBLING TOURISM DESTROYS CAMBODIA’S SOCIAL FABRIC

By Khan Sophirom

POIPET, a town in Cambodia’s northwestern O’Chreuv district by the border with Thailand, looks like the closest place to paradise in this country, but walking just 100 metres outside the casino zone leads one back into rural, poor Cambodia.

The roads and lawns around the seven luxury hotel-and-casino resorts in Poipet (an eigth is under construction) are well-manicured and street sweepers brush trash into neat piles all day long, while trucks spray water to keep the dust down. This water supply, by the way, does not go beyond the strip of casinos.

“Slippery and muddy roads are always there when it rains, and then they become dirt roads when it is dry and hot,” shrugs Lo Chan, a 36-year-old motorbike driver here.

Heaps of uncollected garbage lie along the roadside and local Cambodians eking out a living in the numerous shanties all over Poipet complain of a severe lack of clean drinking water. But the façade of modernity and comfort is enough to keep high-rolling gamblers coming – after all, 99 percent of the visitors here rarely venture outside the casino area.

On Saturdays and Sundays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., hundreds of Thai tourists – who make up most of the foreign visitors here – pass the international border gate between eastern Thailand and western Cambodia and are transported to the casinos in air-conditioned mini-buses.

More than 1,000 Thais cross the border every day, according to police officers in Sakaeo, whose Aranyaprathet district lies just across Poipet. For these high-rollers, who might gamble away in a single night an equivalent of a Cambodian worker’s lifetime earnings, every imaginable sensual pleasure can be found in Poipet’s casino enclave.

High-stakes clients, who have at least one million baht (US$23,800) to burn, are treated like royalty with offers of free accommodation in the best hotel rooms attached to the casinos.

Casinos are banned in Thailand, and Poipet is easily accessible by a three-hour drive from Bangkok. Crossing the border for an all-day, all-night or all-week gambling session is not much of a problem. Cambodian immigration authorities issue either 10-hour entry permits for Thais without a passport or week-long border passes for all passport holders with a valid Cambodian visa.

And to make things easier, all of Poipet’s casinos also accept Thai baht.

The tax revenues from the casinos are big business for the Cambodian government, which in 2001 expected to collect 16 billion riel (about US$4 million). But this comes at a price. Prostitution, rampant drug-use and robberies are rife in the town.

While the casinos employ Cambodians – O’Chreuv district police records indicate that about 75 percent of the more than 4,000 casino employees are Cambodians -, the locals are barred from gambling. It is good that Cambodians are not allowed to play, but the question is, what good do the casinos really bring to the locals, asks Chea Vannath, president of the Social Development Centre.

Chan Tha is a 23-year-old sex worker who came to Poipet about six years ago, like many other Cambodians drawn by the prospect of a bustling town, tourists and travelers – and making a quick buck.

She was 16 or 17 then, her marriage had just ended and she needed money to feed her family in Svay Rieng. She says she has one to three clients – Cambodians – in a day, sometimes none, but can no longer live on the money she makes here. “After a week, when I get my salary from the brothel owner, I will go to O’smach.”

O’smach is another border area, one of four places in Cambodia that is home to casinos. In O’smach, a friend has told her, the money from sex work is better.

Then, there is the sex work inside the casinos, although non-government workers say they are hampered in their efforts to ascertain the number of prostitutes there because locals are banned from the gambling floor and out of fear of the mafia, who many say operate in the casinos.

“We don’t believe there are no sex workers in the casinos. It’s just that we are not clear whether they are Cambodians or foreigners, because we can’t enter the casinos,” said a worker with the Cambodian Women’s Crisis Centre.

But former NGO worker Sao Chhoeurth was more forthcoming on the connection between mafia gamblers in the casinos and human trafficking. “These guys are usually high-rollers and if they see a beautiful Cambodian woman, who usually is the croupier or someone working in the bar, they’ll approach the manager saying they want to have sex with her.”

Sao Chhoeurth went on. “The manager will obviously say yes because these gamblers spend huge sums of money. They then sleep with the woman who gets paid 2,500 baht (US$59,52) by each gambler.”

“That’s not the end of it,” added Sao Chhoeurth. “They try to entice her to move to Bangkok with lucrative job offers and a glamorous lifestyle. Of course, wanting a better life, she agrees, but only to find herself cheated and enslaved.”

Poipet homemaker Vong Chan Theoun said one of her casino friends was lured to Thailand under similar promises of a high-paying job and a luxurious life. “She left two years ago and we haven’t heard from her since then,” said Chan Theoun.

Many Cambodians in Poipet are reluctant to be named for fear of reprisals from the mafia in the casinos.

In January 2002, media reported a series of bomb blasts in the casino strip and insiders said they were targeted at a prominent Thai politician and his family who were at the Princess Hotel and Casino Resort. An influential gambling tycoon hid him and his family and later sent him back to Thailand under the protection of body guards.

As Chan Tha’s case shows, the rise of casinos has also caused a population boom in the frontier town. According to Poipet’s new commune clerk San Seang Hou,, appointed by the Ministry of Interior, the town’s population has increased to about 30,000 families from the 1998 National Census estimate of 9,244 families.

According to O’Chreuv district records, Poipet is now Cambodia’s largest commune with over 100,000 people. (The common councils were the creation of the French colonialists in 1908, helping to serve as administrative units to control the Cambodians and to raise taxes.)

But a medical aide in a district hospital in O’Chreuv said many Cambodians came to Poipet with false expectations. “Many hope to find jobs in the casinos, but end up being trafficked to neighbouring Thailand as illegal workers on construction sites or sex workers in brothels,” said the medical aide who did not want to be named. “A large number of Poipet’s current inhabitants are landless farmers who have come from communes in other provinces to escape unemployment and misery.”

He added: “Lots of children, too, have made their way here and they are either street beggars asking money from the huge number of foreigners going to the casinos or car park attendants demanding payment from the gamblers in order for their cars not to be stolen.”

“Most of these children have very poor education and don’t have the support of family members. Glue-sniffing and amphetamine use are rampant to drown the hunger, loneliness and lack of family love,” said the medical aide.

Poipet, during the Cambodian war, was a transit point for Cambodian refugees and a smuggling route for Thai traders operating in the Rong Kloeu market, located on the Thai side of the border facing Poipet.

Soon after the war in 1992, when Cambodia was administered by the United Nations, Poipet was opened as a border crossing on Route 5 on the way to Phnom Penh. In late 1998, Poipet was accorded the status of an international border gate between Cambodia and Thailand to facilitate overland trade and tourism between the two countries.

In that year, too, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen embarked on a plan to promote foreign investment in the country by seeking overseas capital in casinos along the Thai-Cambodian border. Ironically, Hun Sen also closed all casinos operating in the vicinity of Phnom Penh and ordered them to be relocated at least 200 kilometres from the capital, saying these establishments were leading to increased crime and were involved in a spate of kidnapping of wealthy businessmen for ransom.

But one casino – the Naga Resort – run by the controversial Malaysian company Ariston, managed to stay put in the Cambodian capital after winning its battle against the government in a Phnom Penh court. In 1994, the government signed an agreement with Ariston permitting the company to run the only casino operation in Cambodia. However, other gambling permits were later handed out, so Ariston chose to settle for an agreement that made it the only casino operator within 200 km of Phnom Penh.

Poipet’s first casino, the Holiday Palace began operating in early 1999 and the Golden Crown Casino Hotel and Resort, with poker, baccarat, roulette and blackjack tables and slot machines, soon followed suit.

Within a span of two years, five other casinos sprang up – Grand Diamond Resort, Tropicana Resort and Hotel, Casino Star Vegas Resort, Holiday Poipet Resort and Princess Hotel and Casino – boasting luxury rooms, nightclubs, karaoke lounges, shopping centers and massage parlours.

Meantime, Thai authorities are becoming increasingly worried about the huge sums of money spent by their citizens in casinos in neighbouring countries. A study by the Bangkok-based Chulalongkorn University last year put that amount at between 71 and 84 billion bath (US$1.7 to 2 billion) a year.

The study added that gambling among Thais – who are only allowed to wage their bets, back home, on horse-racing and the government-run lottery – had become widespread and caused many people, especially those from the lower income levels, financial problems. It also said that the money channeled through different forms of gambling amounted to almost 40 percent of the local economy.

The district officer of Aranyaprathet, Seree Suasang Thong, said casinos are not good for Thais because many people lose their money and property, and gambling has destroyed many families.

Likewise, one villager in Balilay in Poipet mused, no one really gets rich by gambling. “If today you win, you have a good chance tomorrow. But tomorrow, you will lose more than you won yesterday, so nobody can win forever.”

While Poipet’s commune clerk San Seang Hou argues that the casinos provide jobs for Cambodians, opposition politicians and activists, however, question the government’s rationale for resorting to transnational gambling to spur economic growth – and voice their many worries about the high social cost of this policy.

“The present engine of growth are gambling, logging, drug trafficking, prostitution and cheap labour industries. This type of growth is not sound,” said former finance minister Sam Rainsy in a letter to a 2001 donors’ conference in Tokyo.

The social and environmental costs that are associated with this type of growth will translate into heavy economic costs in the coming years, resulting in the rise in criminality, natural disasters (flood and drought) resulting in crop destruction and food shortage, increasing drug addiction, the spread of AIDS and the destruction of the nation’s social fabric,” wrote Sam Rainsy, founder of a political party that bears his name.

In the local government elections in February 2002, the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) won control of Poipet, and Sok Savann is now the leader of the commune council.

Sok Savann feels he is banging his head against the wall in trying to get information from the casinos – vital ones, like the amount of taxes they pay the government and the actual names on the gambling permits. “The casinos feel they are untouchable and local authorities just turn a blind eye. They feel we have no right to talk to them, despite being elected by the people,” he said.

“Whenever we want to meet the manager to discuss details like the amount of taxes they pay or how they receive their licences, we will be told that he’s either busy or not in the office,” added the SRP commune council chief. But Sok Savann issued a stern warning. “If they keep turning us away, we will consider putting a referendum to the people on whether there should be a moratorium on gambling.”

Chean Vannath, the activist, argued that the casinos have sullied Cambodia’s reputation. “Casinos just breed crime and all kinds of bad elements are there under one roof. Why not get rid of all of them and look at other alternatives instead?” she asked.

“Cambodians are hardworking and honest and our country can be self-reliant through different means. It doesn’t have to be gambling and this country wasn’t built for gamblers,” she said.