Long read:
March 4, 2020
Aftermath of Chinese Exodus from Sihanoukville
Ben Sokhean
Sihanoukville – Over the past few years with the influx of Chinese nationals and Cambodians working in Sihanoukville, landlords have been laughing all the way to the bank through rentals. Locals who visit the city regularly complained about high rentals for hotels, guesthouses and even food. Some said during special events, public holidays or on weekends they found it difficult to find accommodation.

Sitting along the O’chhoeuteal Beach with his friends’ Cambodian tourist Oug Noy, 25, says since a mass departure of the Chinese from the city, prices of food and accommodation have now halved.

He says he noted the huge change since he last visited Sihanoukville a year ago.

“Previously, when my family came to visit, we found it hard to find accommodation. Everywhere was fully booked mainly by Chinese nationals,” Mr Noy adds. “We even found it hard to find a good Khmer restaurant because most had been rented out to the Chinese. Now most are empty and we don’t spend time having to scout for rooms and restaurants like before”.

The ban on online gambling and the outbreak of COVID-19 globally are turning away hundreds of thousands of Chinese nationals, leaving a trail of landlords going bankrupt and unemployment due to businesses ceasing operations.

“Since early this year, almost 80 per cent of Chinese nationals living and working in Sihanoukville have left,” says a local landlord who is a civil servant. “They are leaving because of the various issues created by social and economic impact.”

Prime Minister HE on August 18 issued a directive banning all online and arcade gambling in the Kingdom in a bid to safeguard security and public order. He stated some licenced online gambling operations rigged their games and threatened those not able to repay gambling debts.

Since the ban and closure of 73 casinos who ran arcade gambling came into effect in early January, General Department of Immigration reports more than 200,000 Chinese nationals left the Kingdom with the majority from Sihanoukville.

According to the provincial Labour department, they recorded only about 2,000 Chinese nationals with work permits still living in the province amid the closure of dozens of casinos in the city, leaving nearly 10,000 local workers jobless.
Full article: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50697816/a ... anoukville

Incidentally:
49 rescued after hotel collapse in east China
08/03/20 09:23
FUZHOU, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Forty-nine people have been rescued as of 8:20 a.m. Sunday after a hotel building collapsed in east China's Fujian Province Saturday evening, local authorities said.

The Xinjia Hotel collapsed around 7:15 p.m. in Licheng District of the city of Quanzhou. The hotel opened in 2018 and had 80 rooms.

According to a preliminary report, about 70 people were trapped.The Ministry of Emergency Management has sent a work team to Quanzhou to help with rescue and investigate the cause of accident.
http://en.freshnewsasia.com/index.php/e ... 24-03.html

A bit more on the collapse of a hotel in China that was being used to house corona virus patients.


https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-u ... 12f83e6f5a


Deefer

Latest Update.

Remember the good old days when tourists and backpacker came to Sihanoukville for the beach, bars and boomboom. Now they come for what ? To see road construction and empty hi-rise buildings under construction ?

The Chinese seem to leave a wake of destruction in their path wherever they go.

March 31, 2020 / 6:37 AM / Updated 31 minutes ago
In scrappy Cambodian casino town, Chinese plan future beyond coronavirus
Clare Baldwin

6 Min Read

The Chinese-funded gambling enclave of Sihanoukville has suffered a double blow. Travel restrictions imposed in recent weeks to slow the global coronavirus pandemic have deepened the effects of a ban last year on lucrative online gambling.

But Kang is betting on a future beyond the pandemic, banking on the return of money from China to finish transforming the scrappy frontier town into a gleaming metropolis.

In a sign of his confidence, Kang’s casino has installed gold urinals.

“This city is just starting, there is a lot of potential,” says Kang, 60. “I love it. Sihanoukville gives you a feeling of freedom and no control.”

For Kang and others, the city is like the China of several decades ago - with all of the promise and none of the competition. The current idle is only a blip.

“China is huge, there will always be people interested in Sihanoukville,” says Yin Hongsi, a 30-year-old from Chengdu who hires workers for one of the casinos. “You don’t need to worry if the Chinese will come back.”
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-healt ... KKBN21H3JY

"In a sign of his confidence, Kang’s casino has installed gold urinals."

Honey ! Let's pack, we go back !

Wow gold urinals that run into the sewer system that flows into the Sea ...
The chinese way!

j57 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 31, 2020 8:52 am Wow gold urinals that run into the sewer system that flows into the Sea ...
The chinese way!

Pure gold piss has no odour.

I believe the chinese have one or 2 abandoned megacities they built and noone wanted to live in. Add snooky to the list of abandoned projects. it was all about money laundering and theopportunities are becoming less each day. Like the locusts they are they will move on to the next available banana republic