Thousands lose jobs, casinos shut as Cambodia bans online gambling

[geovalin]

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - More than 7,000 Cambodians have lost their jobs and dozens of casinos have been shuttered since a ban on online gambling in August, with more losses expected when the government begins inspections this week, officials said on Tuesday.

 

The southern coastal city of Sihanoukville has emerged as a center for gambling and many of the dozens of Chinese-run casinos that have sprung up there have online gambling operations.

 

Prime Minister Hun Sen said this week that he would make the online gambling ban permanent after first announcing a halt in August, saying that the industry had been used by foreign criminals to extort money.

 

Officials will begin inspecting all casinos nationwide beginning Jan. 1 to make sure they have shut down their online operations, Ros Phearun, deputy director-general of the Finance Ministry’s financial industry department, told Reuters.

 

Ros Phearun said that government revenue would be hard-hit, since online gambling had contributed about a quarter of an estimated $80 million per year in total taxes from casinos.

 

Since the August announcement, an unspecified number of casinos had already ceased operations, with 136 left nationwide by December, he said.

 

That number is expected to go down to 94 casinos by the end of January, said Ros Phearun.

“When the online gambling was banned, they went back to their country, then there is a decline of casinos,” Ros Phearun said, adding that Sihanoukville has been hit hard by the ban, with the number of casinos cut by half from more than 70 to 36 remaining.

 

Yov Khemara, director of the Sihanoukville labor department, said on Tuesday that more than 7,700 locals had been left unemployed after the ban.

 

“Before, they worked in factories and when there was better salary in casinos, they came to work in casinos,” Yov Khemara said.

He said many of those workers were now going back to factories.

 

Editing by Kay Johnson and Christian Schmollinger

 

--  REUTERS

 

[AussieBob18]

Good - ban them all I say.  Big problem in society these days - idiots gambling away their money so easily on the web.  It used to be more difficult - too easy now. 

[bartender100]

12 minutes ago, AussieBob18 said:

Good - ban them all I say.  Big problem in society these days - idiots gambling away their money so easily on the web.  It used to be more difficult - too easy now. 

Your right, online slots are very addictive, need much more controls, limits on spending, ban the use of credit card deposits, i am speaking from experience

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Good news and good riddance. Maybe the crime wave perpetrated by the Chinese -- extortion, kidnapping, theft, loan sharking, beatings and murder, plus suicides  -- will rapidly decline.

 

And maybe, just maybe, Sihanoukville will return to being the beach resort and expat haven it was meant to be. Selfish, I know, but let the healing begin.

[RichardColeman]

Gambling is not a problem. Irresponsible  gamblers are the problem. I collect toys myself and buy what I can afford. Some drink beer. Some eat at fancy restaurants. Some indulge in shall we say pleasures of the flesh, IF gambling is your thing, and you want to use your spare money on it then I cannot see the issue with gambling responsibly. 

 

 

 

 

[AussieBob18]

6 hours ago, bartender100 said:

Your right, online slots are very addictive, need much more controls, limits on spending, ban the use of credit card deposits, i am speaking from experience

Me too - Brother lost a lot of money and a house

 

[AussieBob18]

3 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Gambling is not a problem. Irresponsible  gamblers are the problem. I collect toys myself and buy what I can afford. Some drink beer. Some eat at fancy restaurants. Some indulge in shall we say pleasures of the flesh, IF gambling is your thing, and you want to use your spare money on it then I cannot see the issue with gambling responsibly. 

 

4WDs/Trucks are not a problem. Irresponsible drivers are the problem.

Sorry to re-quote you Richard as most things you say are right, but not this time.

Laws exist because some people will do things that rest of us will not - especially on the roads.

Some prople cannot control their gambling habit, so we need to restrict their behaviours - because it is bad for all of us in the long run.  I dont think ban it - but far more controls are needed 

[Lacessit]

I once did some consulting work for Aristocrat, a poker machine manufacturer. An engineer there explained to me the machines were set to a return of 15%, and any machine that did not return its retail cost ( about $30,000 at the time ) within the first 3 months would be junked as under-performing.

If that's what one gets with something one can see and feel, what do you think the online casinos are doing?

 

[from the home of CC]

Never been so just wondering do they let Cambodians into the casinos to gamble? I remember in Singapore they controlled who they let gamble. If, they controlled this there then were most of these casinos were just the fronts for the online? In that case it seems the Chinese were targeting the impoverished Cambodians that couldn't (if that is the case) enter the casino. What ever the reason, Cambodia has the right to decide what is best for its people and since it existed prior to casinos I'm positive it'll survive without these few thousand jobs. All and all, very predatory behavior from the folks who have killed tens of thousands in North American with the peddling of fentanyl, I guess I'm not really surprised..

[oldhippy]

How does a ban on ONLINE gambling make thousands of jobs disappear?

[Seth1a2a]

............dozens of casinos have been shuttered
.....
“Before, they worked in factories and when there was better salary in casinos, they came to work in casinos,” Yov Khemara said.
He said many of those workers were now going back to factories.

Sample:
Casino - Career Oppotunity 博彩事业机会 Public Group ...
https://www.facebook.com › groups
Translate this page...
‎Xin Wan Xiang‎ to SihanoukVille Job Posting · November 18 .... I'm looking for FEMALE online dealers to work here in SIHANOUKVILLE, CAMBODIA. 1.

Also Staff, Maintenance workers , etc...

Edited January 1, 2020 by Seth1a2a

[phycokiller]

4 hours ago, from the home of CC said:

What ever the reason, Cambodia has the right to decide what is best for its people 

Cambodia doesnt have a say, its controlled by a dictator

[ChrisY1]

 "used by foreign criminals to extort money."

This whole town is a money washing facility ......for the "elite" (read grubs) of Cambodia, Thailand and China

It should be carpet bombed!

[steven100]

13 hours ago, oldhippy said:

How does a ban on ONLINE gambling make thousands of jobs disappear?

Because many are employed by the company running the IT casino platform, also they closed and are closing all of the regular casinos that hundreds if not thousands where Cambodians work.

I imagine Arunyapatet casino's will close also.

[stropper]

17 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Gambling is not a problem. Irresponsible  gamblers are the problem. I collect toys myself and buy what I can afford. Some drink beer. Some eat at fancy restaurants. Some indulge in shall we say pleasures of the flesh, IF gambling is your thing, and you want to use your spare money on it then I cannot see the issue with gambling responsibly. 

 

 

 

 

and what casio or bookie do you work for, absolute <deleted>. GAMBLING IS A DISEASE just as bad as smokes, get a brain  and look at the damage GAMBLING is doing to society every where

[Mac98]

26 minutes ago, stropper said:

and what casio or bookie do you work for, absolute <deleted>. GAMBLING IS A DISEASE just as bad as smokes, get a brain  and look at the damage GAMBLING is doing to society every where

Wrong. All the retirees who look forward to their weekly church bingo. The thousands who attend the horse races on a sunny afternoon. The workers in mind-numbing jobs who have the fun of filling out a football card for a dollar and giving some meaning to those televised matches they otherwise wouldn't care about. Big gambling? You mean like marriage? Which job to take? Which degree to pursue? Like visiting any foreign country without health insurance? You mean like joining the military? Or becoming a firefighter? Or playing any sport? Some people drive too fast. You don't ban driving. Some people eat too much. You don't ban eating. Too many people, like you, just can't wait to stamp out someone else's fun. Power trip, I guess. 

[Burma Bill]

Quote:-

"used by foreign criminals to extort money"

Yes, the CHINESE!!

[madmen]

18 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Gambling is not a problem. Irresponsible  gamblers are the problem. I collect toys myself and buy what I can afford. Some drink beer. Some eat at fancy restaurants. Some indulge in shall we say pleasures of the flesh, IF gambling is your thing, and you want to use your spare money on it then I cannot see the issue with gambling responsibly. 

 

 

 

 

Not that simple. Clearly we are not talking about all gamblers, that should have been obvioiuse to you . Not every one that drinks is an alcohlic either however those with addictive tendencies suffer terribley as do there familys

[steven100]

26 minutes ago, Mac98 said:

Wrong. All the retirees who look forward to their weekly church bingo. The thousands who attend the horse races on a sunny afternoon. The workers in mind-numbing jobs who have the fun of filling out a football card for a dollar and giving some meaning to those televised matches they otherwise wouldn't care about. Big gambling? You mean like marriage? Which job to take? Which degree to pursue? Like visiting any foreign country without health insurance? You mean like joining the military? Or becoming a firefighter? Or playing any sport? Some people drive too fast. You don't ban driving. Some people eat too much. You don't ban eating. Too many people, like you, just can't wait to stamp out someone else's fun. Power trip, I guess. 

correct   !   just because someone cannot be responsible enough to control their own urges it means that others who can have to suffer. If I want to gamble then that's my right and responsibility.

Why is it that we have to control & spoon feed anyone and anything that the do-gooders don't agree with.

Lets ban drinking between 8am to 6pm as it's unhealthy, or lets stop people betting on race horses, or let's stop folks playing cards for cash in their own home .....   geeze !

[Dumbastheycome]

17 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Gambling is not a problem. Irresponsible  gamblers are the problem. I collect toys myself and buy what I can afford. Some drink beer. Some eat at fancy restaurants. Some indulge in shall we say pleasures of the flesh, IF gambling is your thing, and you want to use your spare money on it then I cannot see the issue with gambling responsibly. 

 

 

 

 

I absolutely disagree ! Given that the majority of people  particularly in Asia who spend an unaffordable percentage of income gambling do so with degrees of desperate belief they will win.It is more obsessive than addictive unlike  your "passion" for toys or people who can spend excessive amounts on restaurants. Those  with "spare money" usually lack the desperation of the poorer sector and probably do  gamble "responsibly".

Yet I sense there is an unspoken reason Hun Sen has moved to shut down "online" gambling albeit via licensed Casinos.

Casinos are notorious as laundries for hard cash. Not so easy to hide electronic transactions the profits of which although generate unavoidable tax deductions are also not invisible, not easy to be skimmed, and can be moved out of Cambodia intact.

That 7000 people lose jobs because  Casino's are no longer permitted online operations may indicate that the base cash operation was simply a necessary licensed front for minimal profit due to proliferation and so many Chinese operators are now closing the doors and  departing?

 

 

 

[neeray]

I would think that the online operators will just open up in another country. The net is EVERYWHERE.

[mr PPG]

19 hours ago, Kaoboi Bebobp said:

And maybe, just maybe, Sihanoukville will return to being the beach resort and expat haven it was meant to be. Selfish, I know, but let the healing begin.

never comeback to beach resort, very soon it’s be chinise gambling mecca, westerns not welcoming, now new  buildings and shops only in chinise writing.....now it’s  horrible massive building site, many billions pumping there and gambling can’t stop now...... Nowadays Sihanoukville highly avoidable place for general visitors demanded to see real Cambodia.

[geronimo]

15 hours ago, oldhippy said:

How does a ban on ONLINE gambling make thousands of jobs disappear?

Online dealers?

 

[Mick501]

Doesn't $80 million in tax revenue per year seem exceedingly minuscule?  Are they only getting less than 1% of the total take?

[DaveBKK]

16 hours ago, oldhippy said:

How does a ban on ONLINE gambling make thousands of jobs disappear?

How it typically works with the Chinese online casinos: they have a live dealer (typically attractive female) on video feed.  It’s quite something to see behind the scenes....literally a warehouse sized room with just rows and rows of dealers on camera. 

[DaveBKK]

Cambodia banning = just a reason to ask for higher under the table “fees” from “enforcement” officials.  ???? 

[maprao]

What about the online gambling joints in Poi Pet?

[gamesgplayemail]

 

On 1/1/2020 at 9:20 AM, geovalin said:

Prime Minister Hun Sen said this week that he would make the online gambling ban permanent after first announcing a halt in August, saying that the industry had been used by foreign criminals to extort money.

 

and we ca be sur that he perfectly knows what is a criminal as he is the first of them !

 

 

 

[gamesgplayemail]

3 hours ago, steven100 said:

correct   !   just because someone cannot be responsible enough to control their own urges it means that others who can have to suffer. If I want to gamble then that's my right and responsibility.

Why is it that we have to control & spoon feed anyone and anything that the do-gooders don't agree with.

Lets ban drinking between 8am to 6pm as it's unhealthy, or lets stop people betting on race horses, or let's stop folks playing cards for cash in their own home .....   geeze !

 

Just as drugs ! let people do them if they want !

 

 

[steven100]

23 minutes ago, gamesgplayemail said:

 

Just as drugs ! let people do them if they want !

 

 

nothing to do with it as everyone knows that drugs are a no no ... and make people crazy,  certainly not the same as a drinker who can handle beer without going mad as drug addicts do. I hope your not a drug user.