According to the Khmer Times article above, there are only 30,000 "foreign nationals" living in Sihanoukville, but this latest report from Fresh News gives the "Chinese" population in Sihanoukville as 78,000.

13 September 2018
Gen. Sok Phal said that in 2017 there were only about 100,000 Chinese in Cambodia, not counting diplomats, tourists and civil society organizations, but more than 210,000 people have now applied for visa extensions.

According to Major General Sok Phal of the 210,000 Chinese people, more than 78,000 are in Sihanoukville, but only around 20,000 of them have valid work permits.
http://www.freshnewsasia.com/index.php/ ... 55-27.html

September 14, 2018
Tougher action needed against criminal foreigners, official says

A senior Interior Ministry official has urged police to take tough action against Chinese nationals committing crimes in the Kingdom.

Speaking during a meeting with police officials yesterday, General Sok Phal, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Interior, said that immigration police had to crack down on illegal activities committed by Chinese nationals in Preah Sihanouk province.

“All immigration police must pay attention to criminal Chinese in Preah Sihanouk. We also have to protect those not committing crimes,” he said.

Gen Phal said that last year there were 100,000 Chinese businesspeople in Cambodia, which ballooned to 210,000 this year.

“At the end of this year’s semester, Chinese have increased to about 210,000 based on statistics of them coming to have their visas extended and about 78,000 Chinese nationals are living in Preah Sihanouk province,” he said.

“We can deport them through three gates,” Gen Phal added, referring to Phnom Penh International Airport, Siem Reap International Airport and Sihanoukville International airport.

On Wednesday, Interior Minister Sar Kheng assigned four main units under the ministry to set up a support team to restore security in Preah Sihanouk, plagued by a spike in crime following an influx of Chinese nationals.

The four units include the General Department of Administration, the National Police, General Department of Immigration, and legal experts. The team is tasked with providing additional support to provincial authorities in suppressing crimes.

General Kirth Chantharith, newly-appointed director-general of the General Department of Immigration, said that immigration law is being enforced strictly.

“The government has a policy to attract tourists and investors to generate the national income and provide jobs to the people. So our duty, especially immigration issue we will make great efforts to control it according to the laws,” Gen Chantharith said.

The General Department of Immigration said that it has deported 6,000 foreign nationals from 26 different countries so far this year. Some of the foreign nationals were illegally residing in Cambodia and others had committed crimes.

Since 2014, Cambodia has deported about 15,000 foreign nationals from 91 different countries.
Since 2011 until October last year, 1,133 Chinese nationals have been deported to China for offences related to cybercrime alone.

Gen Phal said that the General Immigration Department has revoked 80 percent of improper documents held by Vietnamese.

“We have revoked 79.88 percent of irregular documents, including passports,” Gen Phal said, noting that foreigners holding improper documents were mostly Vietnamese.

San Chey, executive director of Affiliation Network for Social Accountability, said that any foreigners who committed crimes had to be arrested, deported and prevented from returning to Cambodia.

“I think it is not too late to do it. The government has to ensure that Chinese committing illegal activities have to be arrested and prosecuted according to laws and be deported to their country by not allowing them to return to Cambodia,” Mr Chey said.

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50533289/t ... cial-says/

I think Sihanoukville isn't a good place for tourists anymore. Full of chinese and it's kind of annoying, so many casino and hotel belongs to chinese, it's hard to find boutique hotels run by khmer or someone other than chinese. Just not feel like a tourist place now.

Prefer to go Koh Rong for now

offroadscholar wrote: ↑Fri Sep 14, 2018 12:03 pm “We can deport them through three gates,” Gen Phal added, referring to Phnom Penh International Airport, Siem Reap International Airport and Sihanoukville International airport.

They could also deport them through the fourth gate. The one that leads to Hell.

210,000 visa extension, 290 x 210,000 = 60,900,000, that put something into perspective

bolueeleh wrote: ↑Fri Sep 14, 2018 5:43 pm 210,000 visa extension, 290 x 210,000 = 60,900,000, that put something into perspective

You forgot to add on the costs of work permits.