Sihanoukville is booming but it now ‘feels like a Chinese town,

Kung-fu Hillbilly · Post by **Kung-fu Hillbilly** » Thu Aug 15, 2019 2:25 pm

Cambodian labourers work on a high-rise construction site in Sihanoukville. Photo: AFP

13 Aug, 2019

A decade ago, the only foreigners in the city were Western backpackers seeking bamboo huts, US$1 meals and cheap marijuana on empty stretches of sand.

Provincial officials say Chinese nationals own 90 per cent of businesses, including more than 150 hotels, hundreds of restaurants, scores of massage parlours and karaoke clubs and four dozen casinos.

“Everything is in short supply – electricity, water, the sewage system,” she said. “Waste management is zero. Food prices have doubled. It used to be very quiet here, but in the last two years the growth has been uncontrollable.”

Every few days, trucks deposited new unskilled labourers from the countryside, some of whom appeared to be teenagers. Children sometimes came along, wandering amid the exposed rebar and loose bricks while their parents worked eight- to 10-hour shifts.

This spring, two Chinese-owned hotels defied multiple city orders to shut down after they were found to have been disgorging raw sewage onto beaches in Sihanoukville.

The government and private donors paid families of those who died in the collapse US$70,000 each. One of the youngest victims was Chon Thean, an 18-year-old from a village near Krouch, who had worked in construction in Sihanoukville and other cities since he was 14.

Full https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeas ... e-town-not

shnoukieBRO · Post by **shnoukieBRO** » Fri Aug 16, 2019 1:20 pm

Terrifying. How could this have ever been allowed to happen.?

Jerry Atrick · Post by **Jerry Atrick** » Fri Aug 16, 2019 1:25 pm

A decade ago, the only foreigners in the city were Western backpackers seeking bamboo huts, US$1 meals and cheap marijuana on empty stretches of sand.

Maybe two decades ago.

I was first there not much over a decade ago and my room was $6 (the same room was $40 early last year) , average meal was $4 and, fair enough, the grass was basically free.

But you could get free hammocks for being a customer at a beach bar, that's true.

Anthony's Weiner · Post by **Anthony's Weiner** » Fri Aug 16, 2019 1:50 pm

https://www.scmp.com/video/scmp-origina ... ese-influx

Cambodia is increasingly looking away from the West and more towards China as it seeks partners in its economic development. Nowhere is this more evident than in the southern seaside town of Sihanoukville. Once famed for its beautiful beaches, the town has been dramatically changed by massive construction projects including many hotels and casinos. Much of the change comes as a result of the growing influence of Chinese nationals, who have reshaped the town and surrounding province with their investment and very presence. While some locals have benefited from the Chinese influx, many others say they are being left behind.

South China Morning Post August 16, 2019