Cambodia’s Hun Sen Has a Secret Plan (sic!)

Headquarters of Hun Xen's border defense post on Bavet, near the Vietnamese border. The post is used mostly as a casino den.

Expert roundtable discussing border defense strategy. The table is also used for gambling when needed.

Hun Sen: The MASTERMIND behind the casino-border post headquarters strategy (Reuters)

Stupid Heng Soy laughing his head off at Samdach's "brilliant" idea

August 10, 2012
By James Hookway
The Wall Street Journal

Cambodia’s leader Hun Sen says he has a “secret strategy” to prevent his Southeast Asian nation from being dominated by its much larger neighbors: casinos.

In a five-hour, 20 minute address to Cambodia’s parliament Thursday, Prime Minister Hun Sen explained that his plans to turn this country of 15 million people into a global gaming hub is in fact part of a longer-term strategy to prevent neighbors such as Vietnam and Thailand from encroaching on Cambodian turf.

Border disputes are a recurring problem in the region, with Thai and Cambodian troops occasionally locking horns in Cambodia’s east. A contentious border demarcation process with Vietnam is still under way, and Mr. Hun Sen’s opponents have accused him of giving away territory to regional rivals, especially Vietnam, in the past. But on Thursday he took them to task.

“I don’t like casinos, but the biggest goal for giving permission to build casinos is to protect the border,” Mr. Hun Sen, 61 years old, told lawmakers in a marathon address, which was estimated by aides to be his longest yet. The predominantly Buddhist country now has more than 25 casinos, with more gaming tables on the way. “One can remove border markers, but one can’t remove five-storey hotels. Don’t be stupid.”

Casinos are 'secret strategy' to protect Cambodia (sic!): [Idiotic] PM

August 9, 2012

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday said allowing the construction of a spate of border casinos was part of a "secret strategy" to protect the country's territory from its neighbours.

"I don't like casinos, but the biggest goal for giving permission to build casinos is to protect the border," he told parliament during a five-hour speech addressing border demarcation issues with Vietnam.

"One can remove border markers, but one can't remove five-storey hotels. Don't be stupid," Hun Sen said, in response to opposition criticism that the gambling dens were harmful to the country.

[Viet] Students abducted to Cambodia for ransom [-Could the culprits be Vietnamese also?]

Mr. Dang, N’s father, reports the kidnapping to police (Photo: Cong An Nhan Dan Online)

Thu, August 2, 2012
Tuoitrenews

Police in Binh Phuoc Province are investigating a case in which two students reported that they had been kidnapped by a man to Cambodia for a US$8,000 ransom.

After V.V.N and N.V.L, who are both 16 years old and grade 10 students at a local school, were released to Vietnam on July 29, their fathers reported the case to police on July 31.

The victims’ families live in Tan Phu Town, Dong Phu District.

According to their reports, on July 26, when they were going out, N and L met a man, their acquaintance who is about 30 years old, in the town.

The man lured the students to visit Cambodia to gamble, but the students refused, saying they had no money. The man then said they “could gamble there without needing to have money.”

Place Your Bets

Casinos are flourishing across Southeast Asia and big investors are keen to build more.

23/07/2012

By Steve Finch

Bangkok Post

POIPET: Circling Bangkok’s Lumpini Park looking for passengers, the double-decker bus operated by Cherd Chai Tour company is one of dozens that leave the centre of Thailand’s capital for the Cambodian border every morning.

Casinos are illegal in Thailand but every day hundreds of gamblers make the three-hour journey by express bus to Aranyaprathet on the Thai side of the border to gamble legally at casinos in Poipet, just across the frontier in Cambodia.

Crown Casino, like many others in Poipet, has since June 2010 reimbursed bus fares for Thais who make the trip and offers 100 baht in bonus chips for every customer that cashes in 4,000 baht.

It’s a similar scenario on the other side of Cambodia on the border with Vietnam at Bavet. In the first five months of this year, Cambodia recorded a 32% rise in land crossings by Thai and Vietnamese visitors to just under 720,000, many of them thought to be day-tripping gamblers.

Thousands of Vietnamese gamble in Cambodia daily

Mon, April 16, 2012
Tuoi Tre (Hanoi)

About 3,600 Vietnamese people go to Cambodia to gamble every day, and on Saturdays the figure increases to 5,000, a survey by the Ministry of Public Security’s General Department of Crime Prevention and Control shows.

The survey results were released at the conference held Friday by the ministry to review its units’ performance in combating prostitution and gambling in 2011.

The General Department said it had conducted the survey at 40 casinos and 23 cockfighting fields in Cambodia and ten Vietnamese localities that border Cambodia.

According to the Criminal Police Department, these casinos and cockfighting fields are organized professionally through a close management system including boards of directors, managers, accountants, foreign exchange clerks, cashiers, poker dealers, guides, and security guards.

Gamblers tied up in black credit

In front of Vimarn casino, near the Xa Xia border gate in Kien Giang Province, there was always a staff member sitting by the table with a sign “Pawnbroker – every VND1,000,000 borrowed, VND10,000/day interest” (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Wed, February 8, 2012
Tuoi Tre (Hanoi)

In addition to offering loans at an unbelievably high rates, and accepting pledges, some bosses even allow gamblers to offer their lives as collateral at a price of thousands of US dollars.

Along with the busy casinos springing up on the Cambodian side of Cambodia at the border, on the Vietnamese side are hosts of hot loan providers and pawnbrokers, dragging gamblers into a vicious cycle from which there is no exit.

“10 days to pay or your collateral gone”

Phan, a middleman, has brokered deals for pawn shops and hot loan providers for over five years.

In Chau Doc Town of An Giang Province, “there are numerous covert and sign-less pawn shops, where many people go because of their high valuation of goods and reasonable interest rates of about 21percent a month. The majority of customers are people who are about to go gambling or have just lost a great deal over the border”.

In the run-up to the Lunar New Year, gamblers flocked to Go market casino in Cambodia’s Ta Keo Province which boosted the pawnbroker business.

Interest rates were as high as they could be. A great deal of people from many places such as An Giang, Kien Giang, Can Tho offered their motorbikes as collateral.

Cambodian Casinos Take Tough Stance on Cheaters and Deadbeats

Jan 9, 2012
Written by: Derek Sebastian
Blackjack Champ

Cambodia casinos have taken a tough stance on dead beat players who fail to repay loans or gangs of cheaters who plagues the casinos throughout the world.

According to casino gambling news, Ms. Vo Thi Biet of got the shock of her life after finding a chopped of finger after signing for an express delivery parcel at her home in Vietnam.

What nearly made the elderly lady give up the ghost was that the finger belonged to her 23 year old son – who went with friends on a gambling trip to neighboring Cambodia a few days earlier. The package contained a note urging the mother to pay US $3,500 that her son borrowed and lost at a Cambodia casino and attempted to sneak out of the country without first covering his debt.

”They said my son’s friends left him as collateral with the loan shark and that my son escaped and was punished. His friends left him and never returned and there is no one but me to repay for his baccarat and blackjack card games loses at a Cambodia casino,” explained the distraught mother.

First they invaded Cambodia, then they occupied Cambodia for more than one decade ... now only the "dong" currency is used instead of the Khmer "riel"

ក្រុងបាវិត ចាយលុយដុង (វៀតណាម) ជំនួសលុយរៀល (ខ្មែរ)

Wednesday, 04 January 2012
ដោយៈ គុជ វិភាគ
DAP-New

នេះហើយឬរបបឈ្នះ​ឈ្នះ​ ៧ មករា?

Synopsis: All of Bavet city (formerly known as Bavet commune) which is located in Svay Rieng province, payment of merchandises etc... is done using the Vietnamese "dong" currency rather than the Khmer riel even though this city is located on Cambodian territories and even if the Cambodian riel has higher value than the Vietnamese dong. The following report is filed by DAP-news a mouthpiece of the ruling CPP regime which was installed in power by the Vietnamese army. This is the situation in Cambodia nowadays under this puppet regime led by Hun Xen!

ស្វាយរៀង៖ ក្រុងបាវិត (ពីមុនជាឃុំបាវិត) ទាំងមូលដែលស្ថិតនៅ ក្នុងទឹកដីខេត្តស្វាយរៀងនោះ ការចាយវាយ ឬទិញទំនិញអ្វីមួយ គេទូទាត់ជាលុយដុង ជំនួសលុយរៀលខ្មែរ បើទោះបីជាក្រុងមួយនេះ ស្ថិតនៅលើទឹកដីខ្មែរ និងលុយខ្មែរយើង មានតំលៃថ្លៃជាងលុយដុង របស់វៀតណាមយ៉ាងណាក៏ដោយ។

ក្នុងការចុះយកព័ត៌មាននៅក្រុងបាវិត ក្រុមអ្នកយកព័ត៌មានមួយក្រុម មានការភ្ញាក់ផ្អើលយ៉ាងខ្លាំង ទៅនឹងការទូទាត់ជាលុយដុង ជំនួសឲ្យលុយរៀលខ្មែរ នៅពេលដែលពួកគេជិះម៉ូតូឌុប ទៅផ្សារក្រុងបាវិត និងទិញឥវ៉ាន់នៅក្នុងផ្សារនេះ ក្រុមអ្នករត់ម៉ូតូឌុប និងអ្នកលក់ឥវ៉ាន់ គេបានទូទាត់ជាលុយដុងវៀតណាម ដោយពួកអ្នកលក់ដូរទាំងនោះ ទាមទាឲ្យអ្នកទិញទំនិញទៅដូរលុយរៀលខ្មែរ យកលុយដុងមកឲ្យគេ។ បើតាមអ្នករត់ម៉ូតូឌុបម្នាក់ ដែលមិនហ៊ានប្រាប់ឈ្មោះ បានប្រាប់ឲ្យដឹងថា វាជាទម្លាប់ទៅហើយសម្រាប់អ្នកក្រុងបាវិត ដែលចាយលុយដុងជំនួសលុយរៀលរបស់ខ្មែរយើងនោះ ព្រោះក្រុងបាវិតនេះ មានទីតាំងខ្លះសម្បូរជនជាតិវៀតណាមរស់នៅ និងសម្បូរទៅដោយជនជាតិវៀតណាម ដែលចូលមកលេងនៅក្នុងកាស៊ីណូទាំង ១១នៅក្នុងក្រុងនេះ។

Cambodian casino releases Vietnamese girl it kept as ransom

Nguyen Thi Dao (L) says her granddaughter Nguyen Thi Thuy Kieu is being detained in a Cambodian casino for ransom to cover her father's gambling debt.

12/29/2011
Thanh Nien News

A 13-year-old girl, who had been detained in a Cambodian casino as ransom for her father’s gambling debts for more than a month, was released on December 26, the Sai Gon Tiep Thi newspaper reported.

Nguyen Thi Thuy Kieu of Ho Chi Minh City’s Cu Chi District was released after successful negotiation between her family and the casino.

She is in stable condition and has returned to school, the family said.

Kieu was kidnapped and taken to the Bay Tang Casino on November 18.

Viet mafia cut fingers and ears off indebted Viet gamblers: Bavet is turned into a Viet mafia jungle

(Photo: Tu Nguyen)

Vietnamese teen loses finger after failing to pay gambling debt in Cambodia


12/30/2011
Thanh Niew News

Police in the Mekong Delta province of Long An are investigating a case where a young man allegedly had his finger cut off by gangsters and sent to his family to demand ransom after he lost money gambling in Cambodia.

The VnExpress newswire reported that on Friday, Vo Thi Biet of Tan Hung District reported to the police that her son Nguyen Huu Tinh had left for Cambodia to gamble two months ago.

Tinh, 18, borrowed VND40 million from gangsters but lost it gambling at the Las Vegas casino in Bavet, Svay Rieng Province.

After Tinh returned to Vietnam, he hid in another house to avoid being found by Viet, an employee of the casino, who came to his house to collect the money owed.

Indebted gambler loses finger to Cambodian casino [-He's lucky to lose only one finger to the Viet mafia thugs!!!]

For illustration only (Photo: Internet)

Fri, December 30, 2011
Tuoi Tre News

18-year-old Nguyen Huu Tinh, from Tan Hung District, Long An Province, reported to police yesterday that a casino in Cambodia had captured him and then cut off one of his fingers after he lost US$3,000 there and his relative in Vietnam failed to repay as quickly as required by the casino.

He said the casino, named “Ba Quach” (“Mrs. Quach”), sent his finger to his mother on December 14 to urge her to pay his debt soon.

Vo Thi Biet, Tinh’s mother, told the police that on that day, a young man came to her house and handed her a black bag and four letters from Tinh, and asked her to quickly bring VND73 million (US$3,500) to Cambodia to pay off her son’s debt.

13-year-old [Vietnamese girl] detained in Cambodian casino for ransom for father’s debt

Nguyen Thi Dao (L) says her granddaughter Nguyen Thi Thuy Kieu is being detained in a Cambodian casino for ransom to cover her father's gambling debt.

12/24/2011
Thanh Nien News

Vietnamese police are investigating the case of a 13-year-old girl who is allegedly being detained for ransom to cover her father’s gambling debts in Cambodia, Phap Luat newspaper reported.

According to police, Nguyen Thi Thuy Kieu of Ho Chi Minh City’s Cu Chi District was allegedly kidnapped and taken to a Cambodian casino on November 18.

Tran Thi Dao, Kieu’s grandmother, reported to police that her son, Nguyen Van Lam, was a serious gambling addict. After Lam and his wife separated, Kieu went to live with her grandmother.

On November 18, Kieu did not return home after school as usual. Dao and Dinh Thi Hoa, Kieu’s mother, searched for her everywhere to no avail.

That night, Dao received a phone call from an unidentified number, a man claiming that Kieu and Lam were being held captive in the Bay Tang Casino where Lam lost VND100 million (US$4,750) gambling.

Vietnamese gambler supposedly dead at Cambodian casino in suspected suicide

The wife and children of Do Thanh Cong, a 34-year-old man from Long An Province, who is thought to have committed suicide by jumping out of a window at a Cambodian casino.

8/16/2011
Thanh Nien Daily (Hanoi)

“Vietnamese loan sharks in Cambodian casinos may be involved.”

Vietnamese border guards are investigating a case in which a Vietnamese gambler is suspected of killing himself by jumping out of a window at a Cambodian casino where he was were kept by his lenders , Lao Dong newspaper reported.

Colonel Le Duc Hanh, deputy chief of Long An Province Border Guard Department, told Lao Dong that a man told border guards he had witnessed the death of the Vietnamese gambler in Casino Las Vegas in Bavet - an international border gate belonging to Svay Rieng province, Cambodia.

The man, who introduced himself as a gambler who had just escaped from the casino, had many bruises on his body, Hanh said.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the man said he came to the casino on August 2 and lost all of his money there.

He mortgaged his own life for US$1,000 to gamble but he lost once again.

Viet Peal See Viet Peal ... by using Cambodia's Svay Rieng province as their base

Police rescue 2 gamblers from Cambodia loan shark

05/08/2011
VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre

Vietnamese police yesterday, Aug 4, rescued two people from a loan shark who had held them in Cambodia after they failed to repay her.

With the assistance of the Cambodian police, they also arrested the loan shark, Pham Thi Kim Oanh, 37, a Vietnamese national from southern Tay Ninh Province, who was working for a casino in Bavet in Cambodia’s border province of Svay Rieng.

One of the two rescued people, Tran Thi Dieu, 49, of Ho Chi Minh City, lost VND12 million (US$584) gambling. She then borrowed $2,000 from Oanh at an exorbitant interest rate and lost it gambling too.

The other, Nguyen Van Chien, 51, of Dong Nai Province, also borrowed $2,000 from Oanh after losing VND5 million gambling.

Vietnamese gamblers rescued from kidnappers in Cambodia

Truong Toan, one of the two gamblers detained in Cambodia, with his chopped finger.

7/21/2011
By Hoai Nam
Thanh Nien News

Vietnamese police on Tuesday rescued a 19-year-old youth who had one of his fingers chopped off and sent to his parents in order to threaten them to repay money he lost gambling in Cambodia.

Nguyen Minh Tan, 19, was found in a locked apartment, along with Han Loi, a Cambodian man who was in charge of guarding gambling losers, in Bavet Commune, Svay Rieng Province.

Vietnamese police arrested Han Loi and confiscated a knife and chopping board believed to be used to cut off the fingers of gamblers to be sent to their families for demanding ransom.

Vietnamese gamble in Cambodian casinos, causing bankruptcy, evil [... not as much as the EVIL that Vietnam brings to Cambodia!]

The file photo shows Vietnamese gamblers at a casino in neighboring Cambodia.

Friday ,Jun 24,2011
Saigon Giai Phong (Vietcong Communist Party)

Relevant agencies from the southern province of Kien Giang have reported that around 600 Vietnamese people go to Cambodia every day to gamble via the Ha Tien international border gate of the province.

The agencies claimed that most usually go to casinos and cock-fight grounds near Prey Chark border gate in Kampot Province in Cambodia. Most of the 500 or so are residents of Kien Giang.

The situation has become alarming as 40 gamblers have gone bankrupt or sold their property to cover gambling losses. Some have even committed suicide because they were so deep in debt after gambling all assets of their families.

Many gamblers have turned back to Vietnam, to commit robbery after betting away all their money in Cambodia.

[Viet] Ladies and [Bavet] gambling tragedies

28/02/2011

VietNamNet Bridge – Thousands of Vietnamese women have become familiar clients of casinos along the Vietnam-Cambodia border.

There are 14 casinos in Cambodia, which are located very near from the Vietnam-Cambodia border. Up to half of them (Winn, Le Macao, Chateau, Las Vegas Sun or Titan King) are built in Bavet in Svay Rieng province to mainly serve Vietnamese gamblers. Vietnamese gamblers, including thousands of women, often pass the Moc Bai border gate in the southern province of Tay Ninh to Bavet.

VietNamNet’s reporters visited casino Winn at 10 am on a Saturday. This casino is known recently for ruthless assaults against indebted gamblers.

According to the casino’s rules, visitors are not allowed to bring cell phones, cameras, sound recorders, etc. into the casino. These items must be locked in the casino’s safety boxes. Casino staffs in black trousers and white shirts always smile with customers.

Bavet casinos: One down ... more to come

All bets are off at VIP casino

Wednesday, 01 December 2010
Soeun Say
The Phnom Penh Post

I have also got unofficial reports that other casinos will declare bankruptcy soon. The situation is not better

A NOTHER casino in the border town of Bavet has closed, sparking protest from 300 dissatisfied employees, as top officials warned there were more bankruptcies to come.

Chief of Casino Management at the Ministry of Economy and Finance Chrun Theravath confirmed yesterday that he had been informed of the closure of VIP Casino in Bavet City, Svay Rieng province.

“We know the casino is bankrupt, but we will go down to check [for details],” he said.

“I have also got unofficial reports that other casinos will declare bankruptcy soon. At this time, the economic situation is not better and it has resulted in a drop in customers,” he added.

Gambling in Cambodia is restricted to holders of foreign passports.

News of the closure follows protests from employees at the site.

On Monday, more than 300 workers gathered outside VIP to complain about missed salary payments.

Yesterday, Svay Rieng provincial Police Chief Prach Rim said the situation had simmered down.

“[The company] agreed to pay salaries back to the workers.

So now, the situation is quiet,” he said.

The police chief observed that the town – where up to 14 casinos operate – had seen a drop in custom since the economic crisis.

“It is hard to operate in the casino business. They must to have enough of funds, good management and services. If not, it will [result in] bankruptcy,” he said.

VIP is not the first to close its doors. In September, Bavet’s Winn Casino closed its doors, leaving an estimated 300 workers jobless.

Prach Rim added that local authorities welcomed VIP’s closure, as it would cut down on security concerns, but said he hoped that new management would reopen the site. He added it had seen three different owners since its opening.

Kim Heang, director of Khmer Real Estate Co, also said that the casino had seen many owners and had “many shareholders”. He has been charged with selling Winn Casino, along with two more in Bavet worth between US$3 million to $15 million each.

The Post could not contact VIP Casino officials for comment yesterday.

The bankrupt casino is believed to be Vietnamese-owned.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, revenue derived from Cambodia’s 27 casinos decreased between 7 to 8 percent to approximately $17.5 million in 2009, when compared to 2008 revenues.

Despite Bavet’s experience, casino owners in other parts of the country are launching new ventures.

The owners of a half-built $3.5 million Try Pheap Mittapheap casino in Ratanakkiri province opened a temporary gambling centre in order to "test the market" last week.

The operation is located along the border with Vietnam. However, media reports have suggested that as yet the venue is only operating as a cock-fighting arena in the northern province.

Cambodia: Another casino bankruptcy

1 December 2010
Casino City Times

CAMBODIA -- VIP casino has gone bankrupt in the border town of Bavet and closed, Phnom Penh Post reported.

The Cambodian Ministry for Economy and Finance warned that more bankruptcies and casino closures could follow, the report said.

Only foreign passport holders are permitted to gamble in Cambodia, Phnom Penh Post noted.

300 employees have lost their jobs as a result of this closure, the report said.

The dragon's gambling den

Gambling markets don’t come bigger

Macau is only the start: all Asia is coming out to play

Jul 8th 2010
The Economist

In Bavet, Cambodia, south-east of Phnom Penh, the $100m Titan King Casino opened in February this year. It joins a number of other Cambodian casinos near the country’s borders with Vietnam and Thailand.

LIKE its sister property in Las Vegas but twice as large, the Venetian Macao is built for MICE—meetings, incentives, conventions (or conferences) and exhibitions. It has 3,000 hotel suites, a 15,000-seat arena that has hosted concerts by Lady Gaga and the Police, expensive shops and restaurants and a warren of immense gaming rooms. Next door is the Plaza Macao, featuring yet more gaming, shops and spas, as well as a Four Seasons hotel and the grand residential Plaza Mansions.

Mr Adelson, the owner of the complex, rejects the traditional “hub and spokes” casino-hotel design that forces guests to pass through the gaming floor to do anything outside their hotel room, just in case they feel a sudden urge to chuck some money into a slot machine. His Plaza Macao has a separate entrance to the Mansions and Four Seasons, a long way from the gaming floor. This is for the benefit of Chinese government officials, who may not be photographed in a gambling environment.

Macau is the world’s biggest gambling market, and until 2001 it was entirely controlled by one company, Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau (STDM), headed by Stanley Ho. Mr Ho’s garish pair of casinos, the flagship Casino Lisboa and the newer Grand Lisboa, remain the most prominent gambling establishment in central Macau, but he now faces stiff competition from a pair of seasoned Las Vegas companies, Wynn Resorts and Sands China, a subsidiary of Las Vegas Sands, as well as China’s Galaxy Entertainment Group.

The contrast between Mr Ho’s flagships illustrates the way that Macau’s gambling market has evolved. Casino Lisboa is small, tightly packed, loud and smoky. Nearly all of the gaming floor is taken up by tables offering Macau’s two most popular games: baccarat—in which punters bet on the turn of a card—and sic bo, in which they bet on the value of three rolled dice. Both involve about as much skill as betting on coin flips. The Grand Lisboa, by contrast, has craps and blackjack tables, a poker room, a sports book, a number of restaurants ranging from the upmarket to an excellent noodle shop, and hundreds of slot machines. However, on a recent visit the sportsbook stood empty and unattended; a single poker table was occupied; blackjack action was scant; four employees stood around a craps table enticing passers-by to try their luck. By contrast baccarat and sic bo were going at full tilt. Old gambling habits die hard.

The competition from Messrs Adelson and Wynn ended Mr Ho’s monopoly (though his company still accounts for about one-third of the territory’s gambling market) and boosted Macau’s overall revenue. Last year the island’s 30-odd casinos generated income of around $15 billion. According to GBGC, a consultancy that specialises in the gambling industry, its overall gambling revenue in that year rose by nearly 10%, whereas North America’s fell by 7% and Europe’s by 12%. And Macau is going from strength to strength: in the first quarter of 2010 its gambling revenues were 57% up on a year earlier.

Mainlanders’ playground

The Chinese are known as passionate gamblers, and Macau is where they come to play. Steve Jacobs, the head of Sands China, reckons that four-fifths of his visitors hail from the mainland and the rest mainly from other Asian countries, notably Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam and India. Most of the Venetian Macao’s revenue comes from wealthy guests, many of whom are on junkets organised by businesses in China that market them to visitors, plan the travel and extend credit to gamblers. The casinos provide the gaming and generally split the proceeds with the junket operators.

Chinese visiting rights, however, are tightly controlled by the government. Mainlanders need a visa to go to Macau, and the authorities are apt to change the frequency and duration of permitted visits on a whim. Last year, after a number of embarrassing stories about government officials using public funds to bet in Macau, mainlanders were limited to one visit every three months. Even so, Mr Jacobs said that visa restrictions are “one of the things I think least about”: the Chinese government is clearly happy maintaining Macau as a source of steady gambling revenue, close to but politically separate from the mainland. And with a population of over 1 billion, mainland China has enough people to keep the visitors coming despite the restrictions.

In fact, Macau draws so many punters that casinos are literally rising from the sea: the Venetian and the Plaza anchor a development known as the Cotai Strip, built on a five-kilometre piece of reclaimed land that links the two Macanese islands of Coloane and Taipa. The “Cotai” part of the new plot’s name comes from the first syllables of the two islands; the Strip part of it is clearly meant to evoke Las Vegas. Galaxy opened the Grand Waldo, the first resort there, in 2006; the Venetian and Plaza followed soon after and will be joined by two more Sands developments. There will also be new hotels from Raffles, Conrad, Hilton, Sheraton, Swissotel and St Regis.

Busting out all over

The Cotai Strip may be the most high-profile gambling development in Asia, but there are plenty of others. In the past few months Singapore has seen the opening of two large integrated resorts, Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands, which cost about $10 billion. The Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) has launched a hotel-and-casino complex on a large chunk of reclaimed land in Manila Bay. According to PAGCOR, its partners in the venture—Australia’s Bloomsbury Investments, Malaysia’s Genting Group and Aruze, a Japanese company known mainly for its pachinko and slot machines—each stand ready to invest $2 billion-3 billion in the venture.

In 2008 the government of Vietnam granted Asian Coast Development, a Canadian company, the right to construct five integrated resorts on 169 hectares of beachfront land near Ho Chi Minh City. The first of them, the MGM Grand Ho Tram, is scheduled to open in 2013. In Bavet, Cambodia, south-east of Phnom Penh, the $100m Titan King Casino opened in February this year. It joins a number of other Cambodian casinos near the country’s borders with Vietnam and Thailand. In Japan the only legal forms of gambling at the moment are pachinko, the lottery and horseracing, but that could soon change. Mr Jacobs predicts that if the Japanese market were to open up, it would be five to ten times the size of Macau’s.

Yet many Asian governments, for all their eagerness to get their hands on more tax revenue, still remain ambivalent about gambling. Singapore charges its own citizens S$100 ($72) to enter its casinos but foreigners pay nothing. Only one of South Korea’s 14 casinos is open to the locals. Egyptian and North Korean casinos too will happily take foreigners’ money yet bar their own citizens. China rations mainlanders’ access to Macau. On the Chinese mainland the only legal form of gambling is a thriving lottery.