By James Hookway
The Wall Street Journal
August 10, 2012,
- Reuters
- Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen arrives before a meeting at the National Assembly in Phnom Penh.
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.”
Worse, Mr. Hun Sen said, his critics had forced him to reveal his
clandestine security plan. “This should be a secret strategy to protect
the nation,” Asia’s longest-serving leader barked in his televised
speech, which was mandatory viewing for civil servants, who watched
their leader speak without breaks or taking questions.
It’s unclear how firmly Mr. Hun Sen’s tongue was planted in his
cheek. His long and often rambling speeches frequently invite comparison
with other long-winded leaders, such as Fidel Castro or Venezuela’s
Hugo Chavez, and he often upbraids erring ministers on live television.
Earlier this year, he also lashed out at foreign correspondents for
daring to suggest that Cambodia might use its role as host of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year to prevent the trade
and security-bloc from taking a common stand against one of Cambodia’s
main allies, China.
“I think he was being facetious” when unveiling his secret casino
plan, said Ben Lee, an analyst with Macau-based consultancy iGamix.
It wasn’t immediately possible to reach a Cambodian government
spokesman, and Vietnamese government officials didn’t immediately
respond to requests for comment. Cheam Yeap, a member of Mr. Hun Sen’s
party in the legislature, said the casino plan “is Prime Minister Hun
Sen’s own strategy to protect the border. The prime minister is serious
with his speech.”
There has been an extraordinary surge in new casinos opening their
doors for business in Cambodia in recent years. Its government is
attempting to attract a slice of the gaming money that has made Asia a
new global center for the industry, and Cambodia’s borders are lined
with casinos catering to Thai and Vietnamese gamblers who are prohibited
from gambling in their own countries.
Opponents regularly criticize Mr. Hun Sen for promoting casinos for
visitors. Many Cambodians, who are legally barred from gambling, see the
joints as morally degrading.
Yet the industry has also created thousands of jobs in a country that
is still striving to overcome of the chaos of the 1970s, when the
former Maoist Khmer Rouge regime killed or contributed to the deaths of
an estimated 2 million people. The country’s casinos range from
hard-scrabble affairs in border outposts to palatial buildings in Phnom
Penh, such as the riverside NagaWorld resort, which is adding 220 rooms
to its existing 500.
The government says gaming generated around $20 million in tax
revenues last year, up 25% from the year before, and which is
re-invested in health care and education.
Authorities are now eyeing more casino developments in other tourist
areas, including the towns of Siem Reap and Sihanoukville as Cambodia
hopes to follow in the path of other gaming centers such as Macau, which
last year pulled in $33.5 billion in gaming revenue, more than the five
times the amount raked in in Las Vegas.
It is unclear how successful Cambodia will be in capturing a larger
slice of this market, though squeamishness over the suitability of
gaming in a predominantly Buddhist society doesn’t appear to be getting
in the way of the country’s longer-term commercial and, possibly,
national security goals.
Correction & Amplification:
An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Cambodia is a land-locked nation.
4 comments:
Sounds good in context and to dumb people, but to the educated, this is the ignorant move ever. There is world court and other methods to protect your territory.
World court wont do shit, little educated boy!
See Preah Vihear? That's just one place.
Hun Sen try to justify his unpopular casino policy. He try to justify his incompetence policy on border also. Khmers are not dumb, Mr. Hun Sen. The fact is that you signed away big chunks of Khmer territories under your treaties with Vietnam.
RESPONDING TO FIRST COMMENTATOR(A self-proclaimed Educator)
1. What is the implication of your comments?
2. What do you think of the perception of the so-called "dumb" people to Mr. Hun Sen's speeches referenced the borders?
3. Mr. Hun Sen did not read his speeches from textbook or newspapers or magazines, he gave statements that he had outlined. So, what do mean by saying "Sounds good in context"?
4. You are partially correct on the World Court to judicially render decision on disputes matter pertaining to territories claimed between countries.
Remember, there is no law of the land nor the law of the world to really protect your country than your own government, military, and your own people. The bigger the power, and who has the bigger gun wins.
5. What do you mean by saying "the ignorant move"?
Did you tried to use Ignorant as a verb or a noun?, it seem likes you tried to use as a noun, because you had "the" in front of ignorant, as a noun, this is how to spell "ignorance".
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