BY YUSUKE MURAYAMA
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
BAVET, Cambodia--Just 90 minutes by car from Ho Chi Minh City, traffic backs up along the road to this dusty town on the Cambodian border. People queue for up to an hour in the stifling heat, waiting for the visas required of visitors of all nationalities to enter the country.
But in Cambodia, rules are made to be bent.
Suddenly, a minivan swings around the waiting vehicles and pulls up at an empty counter. The driver hands over a bundle of passports, and in under a minute, the van is on its way again.
The side of the minivan is emblazoned with the logo of a local casino.
In remote outposts along Cambodia's borders with Thailand and Vietnam, dozens of casinos have sprung up, luring travelers from neighboring countries whose own governments forbid gambling. The poverty-stricken country, which is still reeling after decades of civil war, has become the casino capital of Indochina.
Along with the casinos, the border towns are becoming havens for drugs, smuggling and prostitution, turning places such as Bavet and Poipet, on the Thai border, into boomtowns.
Local authorities are ready to ingratiate themselves with the people who made it all happen. Waiving visas for guests of the casinos is just one of the privileges granted to the money-spinning operations.
"This is a kind of special service for our guests," said Sam Lam, 33, chief executive officer of the Kings Crown Casino.
"We are in a good relationship with the Cambodian government, so the customers don't have to worry."
Ordinary travelers must submit the proper documents and pay $20 (about 2,400 yen) for a temporary visa to Cambodia. But those traveling on the casinos' buses can simply leave their passports at immigration and enter the country without paying a fee or having their luggage inspected.
Although they are expected to stay at the casino, there is nothing stopping the visitors from traveling around the country.
When they return to Vietnam, their passports are returned without visa stamps.
The number of people being permitted to enter Cambodia in this way has soared, from 3,500 a month in 2003 to 12,000 for the month of January this year.
"It had been done (this way) since long before I took my post," said Soth Kimchan, 46, the director of the immigration control office at Bavet. "All I can do is just follow suit."
Four casinos have been built in Bavet in the last several years, and three more are scheduled to open before the end of 2006. Kings Crown is operated by a Vietnamese company with Australian backing. Chinese, Indonesian and other companies operate the other three.
Most of the casino guests are Vietnamese, who are forbidden to gamble in their own country.
Advertisements for Kings Crown carried in magazines lure customers with the slogan, "Please spend dreamy nights at our casino on the border." Plans are afoot to make Bavet dreamier still, with the construction of night clubs and shopping malls.
"Now we can offer everything that Vietnam cannot, such as casinos, brothels and strip clubs," said an investor in the Kings Crown.
Cambodia is not the only country cashing in on its neighbors' gambling habits. In China, where gambling is also forbidden, the mainland is ringed by casinos targeting the country's nouveaux riches. Vietnam, Myanmar (Burma), North Korea and Russia all operate casinos catering to visiting Chinese gamblers.
According to research by the China Center for Lottery Studies at Peking University, Chinese gamblers on the mainland China squander the equivalent of at least 9 trillion yen a year in casinos in surrounding areas.
Thai researchers estimate that Thais blow 150 billion yen, while the Singaporean government estimates 108 billion yen of its citizens' money ends up in foreign casinos.
"Even if the Singaporean government prohibits gambling in its country, its people are only exploited by other countries," said Singapore's elder statesman, Lee Kuan Yew, an avowed hater of gambling. Lee made the remark to explain Singapore's decision to lift a ban on casinos last year.
The growth of the border casinos has soured relations between neighboring countries.
In China, a string of scandals in recent years have put the border casinos in the spotlight. In December 2004, high-ranking officials of Jilin province in northeastern China were exposed for blowing a fortune in public money in a North Korean casino.
Beijing responded by tightening restrictions on travel to border areas where the casinos are located. It also launched a nationwide anti-gambling campaign. As a result, several casinos in North Korea and Myanmar were forced to close.
In Thailand, too, the casinos on its border with Cambodia are becoming a thorn in its side. Bangkok and Phnom Penh have clashed repeatedly over the locations of the casinos and the treatment of Thai gamblers arrested there.
Periodically, Thai authorities tighten border controls, temporarily preventing people from visiting the casinos. But sooner or later the restrictions are lifted, the customers return to the gaming tables, and business gets back to normal. (IHT/Asahi: May 31,2006)
But in Cambodia, rules are made to be bent.
Suddenly, a minivan swings around the waiting vehicles and pulls up at an empty counter. The driver hands over a bundle of passports, and in under a minute, the van is on its way again.
The side of the minivan is emblazoned with the logo of a local casino.
In remote outposts along Cambodia's borders with Thailand and Vietnam, dozens of casinos have sprung up, luring travelers from neighboring countries whose own governments forbid gambling. The poverty-stricken country, which is still reeling after decades of civil war, has become the casino capital of Indochina.
Along with the casinos, the border towns are becoming havens for drugs, smuggling and prostitution, turning places such as Bavet and Poipet, on the Thai border, into boomtowns.
Local authorities are ready to ingratiate themselves with the people who made it all happen. Waiving visas for guests of the casinos is just one of the privileges granted to the money-spinning operations.
"This is a kind of special service for our guests," said Sam Lam, 33, chief executive officer of the Kings Crown Casino.
"We are in a good relationship with the Cambodian government, so the customers don't have to worry."
Ordinary travelers must submit the proper documents and pay $20 (about 2,400 yen) for a temporary visa to Cambodia. But those traveling on the casinos' buses can simply leave their passports at immigration and enter the country without paying a fee or having their luggage inspected.
Although they are expected to stay at the casino, there is nothing stopping the visitors from traveling around the country.
When they return to Vietnam, their passports are returned without visa stamps.
The number of people being permitted to enter Cambodia in this way has soared, from 3,500 a month in 2003 to 12,000 for the month of January this year.
"It had been done (this way) since long before I took my post," said Soth Kimchan, 46, the director of the immigration control office at Bavet. "All I can do is just follow suit."
Four casinos have been built in Bavet in the last several years, and three more are scheduled to open before the end of 2006. Kings Crown is operated by a Vietnamese company with Australian backing. Chinese, Indonesian and other companies operate the other three.
Most of the casino guests are Vietnamese, who are forbidden to gamble in their own country.
Advertisements for Kings Crown carried in magazines lure customers with the slogan, "Please spend dreamy nights at our casino on the border." Plans are afoot to make Bavet dreamier still, with the construction of night clubs and shopping malls.
"Now we can offer everything that Vietnam cannot, such as casinos, brothels and strip clubs," said an investor in the Kings Crown.
Cambodia is not the only country cashing in on its neighbors' gambling habits. In China, where gambling is also forbidden, the mainland is ringed by casinos targeting the country's nouveaux riches. Vietnam, Myanmar (Burma), North Korea and Russia all operate casinos catering to visiting Chinese gamblers.
According to research by the China Center for Lottery Studies at Peking University, Chinese gamblers on the mainland China squander the equivalent of at least 9 trillion yen a year in casinos in surrounding areas.
Thai researchers estimate that Thais blow 150 billion yen, while the Singaporean government estimates 108 billion yen of its citizens' money ends up in foreign casinos.
"Even if the Singaporean government prohibits gambling in its country, its people are only exploited by other countries," said Singapore's elder statesman, Lee Kuan Yew, an avowed hater of gambling. Lee made the remark to explain Singapore's decision to lift a ban on casinos last year.
The growth of the border casinos has soured relations between neighboring countries.
In China, a string of scandals in recent years have put the border casinos in the spotlight. In December 2004, high-ranking officials of Jilin province in northeastern China were exposed for blowing a fortune in public money in a North Korean casino.
Beijing responded by tightening restrictions on travel to border areas where the casinos are located. It also launched a nationwide anti-gambling campaign. As a result, several casinos in North Korea and Myanmar were forced to close.
In Thailand, too, the casinos on its border with Cambodia are becoming a thorn in its side. Bangkok and Phnom Penh have clashed repeatedly over the locations of the casinos and the treatment of Thai gamblers arrested there.
Periodically, Thai authorities tighten border controls, temporarily preventing people from visiting the casinos. But sooner or later the restrictions are lifted, the customers return to the gaming tables, and business gets back to normal. (IHT/Asahi: May 31,2006)
1 comment:
Give us a break! the Casino at Thai border is own by Thai companies (Thai Goverment personel) and Hun Sen family and croonies. Also at the Viet Namese border are own by Viet Name company (Viet gorvement behide it to exploid it own citizen) and Hok Landy, Hun Xen's chief of Royal national police!
Cambodian received not thing, look inside those casinos, more than majority (99%) of the dealers are foreigner!
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