It seems that Star Bar in Siem Reap has been closed for a few days and rumour is that it has been closed for good. Anyone have any information? I didn't know the place too well, but I've been to some decent gigs there before, seemed decent.

The owner was advertising it for sale on FB the past couple weeks, maybe its sold and new owners have closed to refurbishment, or maybe it didn't sell and the owner couldn't afford to keep it open so decided to pop smoke

https://ips-cambodia.com/listing-detail ... ZYYoALi3Es

It's such a lovely venue.

Wow , news to me , I live in siem reap , and altho my bar hopping days are behind me I have been there a few times
and never got kicked out . Maybe they or the group they advertise on blocked me ?
But all of my accounts ? I have more than. a few
I haven’t heard about the sale or anything about the place really lately so who knows
.. except the annual jump out of a 3rd floor room into the swimming pool for new year
I saw that ad . Maybe I was blocked for some unknown reason

Oh well , in another 100 years we’ll never know the difference ..


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Yep, closed down permanently last week. The owners have other projects in the works but have decided to move on from Star Bar.

Yes closed for good and together with Khema the first of many. Absolut disaster of an high season and total ignorance to the issue by the (local) government will mean a lot more places will close in the next few months, meaning even less to do for tourist in town, even less reason for them to stick around after seeing the temples and an acceleration of the issue...

KunKhmerSR wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 7:02 pm Yes closed for good and together with Khema the first of many. Absolut disaster of an high season and total ignorance to the issue by the (local) government will mean a lot more places will close in the next few months, meaning even less to do for tourist in town, even less reason for them to stick around after seeing the temples and an acceleration of the issue...

I am not trying to be argumentative, but what is the culpability of the local government? Please expand, I am interested.

If people aren't as interested in the temples as the Khmers would like to believe, and Siem Reap has little to offer beyond eating and drinking, what can a bunch of pen pushers in uniforms do about it?

Doc67 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 11, 2024 10:34 am

KunKhmerSR wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 7:02 pm Yes closed for good and together with Khema the first of many. Absolut disaster of an high season and total ignorance to the issue by the (local) government will mean a lot more places will close in the next few months, meaning even less to do for tourist in town, even less reason for them to stick around after seeing the temples and an acceleration of the issue...

I am not trying to be argumentative, but what is the culpability of the local government? Please expand, I am interested.

If people aren't as interested in the temples as the Khmers would like to believe, and Siem Reap has little to offer beyond eating and drinking, what can a bunch of pen pushers in uniforms do about it?

Well first and foremost is the issue of the new airport. Now I'm not saying that the airport is the only/main reason for the lack of tourist but at this point it's pretty obvious it plays a factor (just go check the google reviews of the new airport. Apart from the fact that such a project should've never been opened just a month before high season aside there should've at least been established transport/shuttle routes available before opening and not the free for all market we had at the start that lead to many potential tourist reading about transport cost upwards of $30. And I'm not even going to try and understand this current clusterfuck regarding the toll fees for the new road...

Then we have Kulen mountain where tourist are excepted to pay $20 to see an average waterfall and a pagoda, for comparison the much more impressive Kuang Si waterfall in Luang Prabang, Laos which is around 60m high and surrounded by beautiful pools charges around $1.5 entry.

And then there is of course the Angkor Wat ticket price these days. Including the tuktuk you're looking at around $60 for a day around the temples. Factor in $30 for the visa, min. $10 to get into town etc and it's a $100 for one day to see the temples, not including flights, accommodation, food etc. Considering this is pretty much the only thing to do for tourist in siem reap it's easy to see why many decide to skip it....

And yes I know the local government doesn't set the ticket or visa fees but it is not like they have no say in the matter