UPDATE
Businesses and Resorts Ordered to Leave Koh Rong Sanloem, Some Without Compensation
17 February 2023 4:10 PM
Khuon Narim
As a final eviction deadline for embattled Koh Rong Sanloem businesses loomed Thursday, owners of hotels and restaurants who rented land there refused to leave, demanding compensation.

Hundreds of owners face eviction from the Sihanoukville island, where the government has granted two private companies the right to develop nearly the entirety of the 2,400-hectare island. While landowners received compensation for the land transfer, many owners of restaurants and hotels rent their land and have yet to be offered compensation despite making significant investment in their businesses.

Provincial authorities initially told businesses and resorts to demolish their properties in a surprise January notice, which was extended several times with February 16 as the final deadline. Officials say roughly there are roughly 200 residents on the island but claimed that the majority agreed to vacate by the deadline, and that a working group is continuing to negotiate with the holdout businesses and resorts. Officials would comment on the number of businesses impacted.

Many business owners who are renters appear to have little recourse.

A rental contract obtained by CamboJA notes that if the state needs to claim the land back, the contract can be terminated without compensation. The lack of advance notice has left business owners particularly angry.

One Cambodian man owned a resort on a plot of 55-by-100 square meter land which he rented for $2,000 per month and for which he had recently renewed his rental contract. Since 2018, he said he had invested $200,000 to build up his resort.

The authorities “forced us to demolish without compensation, they have only talked with the land owner and the land owner is able to exchange land, but for us who run businesses who have rented the land, we get no compensation at all,” he said.
In full: https://cambojanews.com/businesses-and- ... pensation/

March 23, 2023
Resort owners on Koh Rong Saloem seek resolution to plight
Three resort owners on Koh Rong Sanloem are resisting a February eviction order by the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Administration to close business.

Tobias Ziegler, owner of the Moonlight Resort located on Saracen Bay, said yesterday that four owners have left, another four are in the process of leaving and the three still remain until matters are resolved.

“Since the provincial authority’s instruction, the three resort owners haven’t received any compensation or had any negotiations with the authority. We requested a fair solution, but as yet we have received nothing” said Ziegler.

“The three remaining resorts have been the backbone of family friendly island tourism in Cambodia for years. We opened in 2015 to attract more tourists to the island, by providing higher standards, better service and a family friendly environment,” Ziegler added.

Preah Sihanouk provincial deputy governor Long Dimanche, said yesterday that “The order to the owners to move is almost complete, however, there are few resort owners who have yet to move from the island.”

The provincial authority has solved the land dispute and most of the resort owners have agreed to move, but with some owners we have to negotiate and this will be completed soon, Dimanche added.

The three-resort owners are foreign investors from America, Belgium, Germany and Poland.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501260482/ ... to-plight/

Alex wrote: ↑Wed May 10, 2023 7:09 pm This is quite bizarre, I walked past yesterday and the spray-painted buildings still haven't been demolished.

Meanwhile it looks like business as usual elsewhere - other resorts at Saracen Bay seem to be quite busy with mostly European tourists. The hot weather certainly helps selling cold beers, cocktails and ciders.

Ok, there was definitely a reason for this. (Closing down viable businesses on Koh Rong Sanloem and spray-painting them with graffiti, and then leaving them there looking like downtown Detroit.)
It might not look logical or sensible, but at some stage, this decision to destroy certain properties for no apparent reason made sense to someone, somewhere. Obviously. (And hey, if this was all just a giant fkup, then you can be sure that nobody will own up to that. So, yeah, they will find a "reason" eventually.)

@Alex Do you have recent photos the island ? I just posted about KRS on another thread - but it was nostalgia for the days when it was "pristine".
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Thank you for the update Alex, good to whats going or, or not going on

Are you on the island for long ?

I thought all the islands belonged to the Navy in the past. I know Kith Meng and his partner had big plans for the islands years ago. Last time I went to Saracen Bay in 2013 the doof doof place with the huge speakers had ruined the place. No compensation for investors obviously.
And European refusing to leave will meet with the rifle butt of the Military Police.
Who would be so naive to believe that there was any security of tenure anywhere in Cambodia.
There are 23 islands available on State leases in Qld on the Barrier Reef. Many have resorts smashed by cyclones and can never be insured.
But they do have security of tenure. Benny Woo has the lease on Double Island just off Palm Cove very near Cairns. His abandoned resort has broken all the terms of his lease since 2008 but he hasn’t been evicted yet.
Buy a lease on an island with an abandoned resort, import a hundred Cambodian tradies and staff and bobs your uncle.

A fried owns Bungalows in Saracen Bay. She was originally told to vacate. They now are saying she can remain there for 2.5 years (despite 8 years left on lease). Then it’s done

Anyone know if they had gotten a hard title before this happened? Would having a hard title prevented such an eviction?