Operator News
Cambodia – Land-based casinos closing in Cambodia as online crackdown kicks-in
By Phil - 6 January 2020
More than 7,000 Cambodians have lost their jobs amid reports that 34 casinos have closed in Sihanoukville alone since a ban on foreign-based online gambling came into effect at the New Year.
Cambodian officials have said they are committed to enforcing a nationwide ban on foreign-facing online operations driven by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s August decision to act against the mainly Chinese-based online gaming businesses.
Ros Phearun, Deputy Director-General of the Finance Ministry’s financial industry department, told Reuters that online gambling had contributed about a quarter of an estimated $80m per year in total taxes from casinos.
Between August and December the number of casinos in Cambodia had shrunk to 136 with that number expected to fall to 94 casinos by the end of this month. Mr. Phearun added that in Sihanoukville the number of casinos has fallen from 70 to 36.
