Recent Sihanoukville info and guide

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j57
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Re: Recent Sihanoukville info and guide

Post by j57 »

just go see for yourself...
I had my lease broken and was forced to move.
I have seen all I want to see there and I will never go back....
Psar Leu....for sure....go in there about noon and enjoy yourself...
about 100 casinos now.
go to otres 2 and check it out... you will find people who speak english.
Like I said, I see no reason to ever go back.
that said, go to koh rong saloem and koh rong and enjoy your self...
fuck chinaville is my motto.
I was warned by a guy who was moving 15 months ago the chinese would buy my building.
I had a year lease.
the same guy warned me again 6 months later when I travelled to Kep and saw him.
He was right. I got the boot in late January.
Check out how the chinese and Khmer fight it out for turf....
be careful
rogerrabbit
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Re: Recent Sihanoukville info and guide

Post by rogerrabbit »

frank lee bent wrote: Thu Oct 25, 2018 11:55 pm
Actually more people goes there now days then before
not according to this recent article
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambod ... 40456.html
note the official source
Decline in tourism

Meanwhile, an Oct. 10 report by Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism has pointed to a sharp decline in the numbers of tourists visiting Sihanoukville during the final days of the country’s annual Pchum Ben Festival, blaming the fall-off on poor infrastructure in the area.

Security concerns focusing on the growing Chinese presence in the traditionally popular tourist destination are more likely to blame, though, Network for Social Accountability President San Chey said.

“Chinese have even been involved in shooting sprees,” San Chey said, speaking to RFA.

In September, outgoing Chinese ambassador to Cambodia Xiong Bo acknowledged the climbing rates of crime among Chinese living in Cambodia—including drug and sex trafficking and online or telephone scams—and thanked Cambodian authorities for helping to crack down, according to a Sept. 28 report in the Khmer Times.
A surge in Chinese investment and in the numbers of migrant workers in Cambodia’s port city of Sihanoukville has left local beaches polluted and Cambodian residents struggling to meet higher prices as the cost of living rises, Cambodian sources say.

Speaking to RFA’s Khmer Service on Wednesday, Muong Sony—a youth leader in the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association—said following a recent visit that conditions in the city have declined dramatically over the last year.

“The situation in this area has now changed a lot,” he said.

“I visited four beaches and saw pollution and poor sanitation everywhere. There were no garbage containers on hand, and plastic bags were everywhere, along with a flow of foul-smelling sewage.”

Trash now piles up not only on the beaches, but on the city streets as well, he said.

The presence in the city of over 100,000 Chinese nationals, many of them workers brought in from China as Chinese firms set up casinos or operate power plants and offshore oil platforms in the area, has only made matters worse, Muong Sony said.

“I was told by several local residents that most of the Chinese coming to the area are not educated,” he said.

“Many of them were formerly convicted of crimes and were freed from prisons in China, or have bad backgrounds of other kinds. So they just throw trash anywhere they want, and some have even caused security problems in the area too.”

Prices climb higher

Traffic police now try mainly to stop Chinese nationals who break the traffic laws, because they will get more money from the Chinese than from Cambodians, Muong Son said.

“And many Chinese have bought local shops and run them on their own, making the prices of products rise too high for local people to pay,” he said, adding that many of the city’s new Chinese residents take jobs from Cambodians.

“My impression is that China wants to control the city and make it their own economic zone,” he said. “They are building skyscrapers in order to turn the city into a Chinese town in Cambodia.”

Also speaking to RFA, fellow Association member Soeun Piseth voiced his own concern over the influx of Chinese nationals and businesses into the city.

“The Chinese are causing a lot of trouble for Cambodians in the area. They are completely destroying the environment in this coastal city,” he said.

As the world’s second-largest economic power, China sees Cambodia as a source of benefit only for itself, Souen Pisoth said.

“I urge local authorities to enforce the city’s laws and regulations and to better manage the Chinese presence here,” he said.
Sharp decline during Pchum Ben Festival compared to previous years. And there is obvious reason as most guesthouses where locals usually went are gone. Overall the visits are higher than ever. Lot of malaysians, chinese and the usual western tourist still go there. Interesting part is that 2016 shabby guesthouses were asking $60-100 per night during Pchum Ben Festival. This year one could have stayed in new 4 star hotel for less than that.
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frank lee bent
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Re: Recent Sihanoukville info and guide

Post by frank lee bent »

not according to the ministry of tourism as cited above.
perhaps you can back up your assertions with a citation.
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Clemen
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Re: Recent Sihanoukville info and guide

Post by Clemen »

I was there during Pchum Ben, there were a lot fewer Cambodians than usual. After the holiday I traveled to a few different areas in other parts of the country, I met three different people in three different places who all said the same thing without me bringing anything up. In a nutshell " it is dirty, expensive, and we (meaning Cambodians) don't run it anymore, it isn't our city". When I asked the last time any of them had been there was, the most recent visitor was more than a year ago. These were all people met in local coffee shops.
As to westerners coming here, they don't, not in the numbers they previously did, and the ones who do are staying for a shorter time. To claim otherwise is absolute nonsense, do I have published reports to back that up, nope, I know what I see and who I talk to though.
up to you...
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newkidontheblock
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Re: Recent Sihanoukville info and guide

Post by newkidontheblock »

j57 wrote:Check out how the chinese and Khmer fight it out for turf....
Would be either bong thoms or okhnas.

Khmer bong thoms vs mainland Chinese. Chinese win. Looking at the news articles, they seem to be better organized and better armed. They don’t bother with bag snatches, just extortion, kidnapping, and armed robbery. They either carry lots or heavy weapons or expensive firearms.

Okhnas? Bought off. Probably living in Phnom Penh by now. Or the bigger okhnas have forced the smaller ones to move.

The locals? Since when during the long and storied history of Cambodia has the welfare of the average citizen been the focus of the powers that be?
rogerrabbit
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Re: Recent Sihanoukville info and guide

Post by rogerrabbit »

frank lee bent wrote: Fri Oct 26, 2018 2:12 am not according to the ministry of tourism as cited above.
perhaps you can back up your assertions with a citation.
Maybe I'm missing something but in your own quote Ministry of Tourism is talking about Pchum Ben visitor numbers only. Not overall visitor numbers in 2018. Even Sihanouk Airport arrivals numbers have over doubled in Jan-June 2018 compared to same time in 2017. Where all those people have went?

Image

When I have more time, I can look the tourism stats for Sihanoukville too.
rogerrabbit
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Re: Recent Sihanoukville info and guide

Post by rogerrabbit »

rogerrabbit wrote: Fri Oct 26, 2018 7:43 pm
frank lee bent wrote: Fri Oct 26, 2018 2:12 am not according to the ministry of tourism as cited above.
perhaps you can back up your assertions with a citation.
Maybe I'm missing something but in your own quote Ministry of Tourism is talking about Pchum Ben visitor numbers only. Not overall visitor numbers in 2018. Even Sihanouk Airport arrivals numbers have over doubled in Jan-June 2018 compared to same time in 2017. Where all those people have went?

Image

When I have more time, I can look the tourism stats for Sihanoukville too.
And here are the stats for Sihanoukville. Tourist arrivals up by 10% in first half of 2018 compared to same time in 2017.

Image
james1234
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Re: Recent Sihanoukville info and guide

Post by james1234 »

I was in chinville this month. Came by minibus and left by plane. Did stay there but want to koh rong saloun.

What a dreadful place is shv now! Dirty and not inviting at all.
Davies asking ridiculous prices. 40$ for ride to airport. In SR I have taxi 4 hours for that.
Koh rong saloun was beautiful!
willyhilly
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Re: Recent Sihanoukville info and guide

Post by willyhilly »

It’s a shame that Khmers have lost Sihanoukville. They loved going there on holidays, camping out at the far end of Occateul or staying in cheap guest houses. Where will they go now for a beach holiday?
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Re: Recent Sihanoukville info and guide

Post by Gardiguy »

willyhilly wrote:It’s a shame that Khmers have lost Sihanoukville. They loved going there on holidays, camping out at the far end of Occateul or staying in cheap guest houses. Where will they go now for a beach holiday?
Kep and Kampot for now. Both were crazy busy during pchum ben, unlike last year from what I remember.
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