clutchcargo wrote: ↑Wed Nov 18, 2020 6:04 pm They already have an Angkor replica theme park in Nanning, China.

Wouldn't it be cool if they built replicas of all the worlds most popular sites?

Then they could just holiday in their own fucking country and not infect the rest of the world with their boorish behavior and boiled bat rectum eating ways.

^^That's all very lovely, but where are the casinos ?

Anchor Moy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 18, 2020 6:59 pm ^^That's all very lovely, but where are the casinos ?

I've been pushing for an eco-tourism casino on the islands for years.
How come you arty-farty culture vulture types get your fine-arts casino up so quick.?

I'm sure they set it up so its ready for slots and tables. Licking their chops and waiting for gambling laws to change from "Siem Reap" to "inside Angkor"

Soyoung123 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 20, 2020 2:22 am I'm sure they set it up so its ready for slots and tables. Licking their chops and waiting for gambling laws to change from "Siem Reap" to "inside Angkor"

What, are you suggesting that they might "re-zone" a protected area ?

HE’s Land Intervention Cleared Path for Naga’s Angkor Resort
3 min read

Mech Dara
| Fri Nov 20, 2020 1:25 pm

The path for casino operator NagaCorp’s newly announced theme park near Angkor temple grounds was cleared five years ago when Prime Minister HE personally intervened to resolve a land dispute involving about 1,000 families, local authorities say.

Slakram commune, in Siem Reap city, had between 700 and 1,100 families feuding with Apsara Authority over land granted in 1995 to the authority, which oversees Angkor Archaeological Park. The long-time residents had resisted handing over their land to the authority.

But with a 2015 visit, HE ordered that a concession be carved out for residents, settling the dispute for most families. Remaining disputes have been tackled in the years since.

This week, NagaCorp, which operates Phnom Penh’s NagaWorld casinos under an exclusive license from the government, revealed its plan to create a 75-hectare “Angkor Lake of Wonder” theme park it compares to Disneyland.

The resort will feature hotels, a “China Town,” water park, indoor hi-tech theme park and ancient Angkorian-style canal system. Its first phase is expected to be complete by 2025, built in conjunction with an unnamed Chinese state-owned enterprise.

Apsara Authority director-general Sum Map said the project — which he emphasized did not allow gambling — should be a boon for the local community.
https://vodenglish.news/hun-sens-land-i ... or-resort/

Planned Theme Park Poses Risks to Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, Culture: Residents, NGOs
2020-11-23

A theme park project to be built outside of Siem Reap in Cambodia by a Hong Kong-listed casino operator poses risks to the nearby iconic Angkor Wat temple complex and the local culture, residents and civil society groups warned as the plan was unveiled.

Last week, NagaCorp, which is registered in the Cayman Islands and operates NagaWorld casinos in the capital Phnom Penh under an exclusive license from the government, revealed plans to construct a 75-hectare (185-acre) “Angkor Lake of Wonder” theme park it has compared to California’s Disneyland.

The resort—the first phase of which is expected to cost some U.S. $350 million and be completed in 2025—will include a “China Town” and water park, as well as an indoor theme park, and will be built by an as-of-yet unnamed Chinese state-owned enterprise, the company said in a press release.

According to last week’s announcement, Cambodia’s government in May granted NagaCorp a 50-year lease on land around 500 meters (one-third of a mile) south of the Angkor Wat complex, which drew some 5 million visitors annually before the coronavirus pandemic. Under the terms of the deal, NagaCorp will not pay any rent in the first seven to 10 years and around U.S. $450,000 each year after, with a five percent increase every five years.

While NagaCorp said that the “non-gambling” project will help to increase the number of visitors to Siem Reap and more generally promote tourism in Cambodia, residents and civil society groups expressed skepticism about the benefits it would bring to the local community and called for more transparency from the government.

Speaking to RFA’s Khmer Service, Pech Pisey, executive director of Transparency International Cambodia, said he fears that the value of artifacts in the 12th century Angkor complex—designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992—will depreciate if the project goes ahead.

“I am not against development, but any development should be appropriate according to the culture in the area,” he said.

“I think it is better to develop and preserve the Angkor area as a tourist site, not as an entertainment zone that could impact the culture heritage sites of our ancestry.”

​Calls by RFA seeking comment from Siem Reap governor Tith Seyha, who is the son of Defense Minister Tea Banh, and Long Kosal, spokesman for the APSARA Authority that manages the Angkor Archaeological Park, went unanswered.
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambod ... 80413.html

Gosh, the Cambodian cultural village in Siam Reap is closing. Only visited the place once however it was well worth the visit. I remember how the performers worked hard to put on a variety of enjoyable enthralling shows, hope they are able to get other jobs elsewhere.