Cambodia raked in $63 million in taxes from casinos in 2024 - a growth of 85 percent. However, experts say the nation is paying the price with online scamming and human trafficking associated with it
Cambodia saw its tax revenue from casinos grow by 85 percent tax revenue amid a rise in online scams, human trafficking and child sexual exploitation headed by unknown masterminds. An economic analyst and labour rights organisations are now urging the government to evaluate the negative consequences of casinos on the economy, and security and image of the kingdom.
Cambodia gained $63.1 million from tax revenue of casinos and game of chance operators in 2024, which marks an 85 percent increase compared to 2023, according to the Commercial Gambling Management Commission of Cambodia (CGMC) on January 8, 2025.
“Based on the figures, we can assess that the overall tax revenue from the commercial gambling sector was quite good last year,” the CGMC said.
Total of 88 Gambling Licenses Issued in 2022
Lacking of Gambling Law Enforcement
Chey Tech, a socio-economic analyst, told Kiripost that having casinos in the country is not necessarily negative for society. However, he urged the government to strengthen gambling management law enforcement regarding the location of casinos, specifically ensuring Cambodian citizens do not gamble at casinos.
“Strict enforcement of the law, including collecting tax revenue from casinos in transparency, is a great thing to gain more profit into the national budget, hence to boost the economy as well as attract more tourists,” the social-economic analyst stated.
Despite the rise in tax revenue from casinos after Covid-19 ended, he noticed some casinos have broken the law, such as building a casino in the middle of the city next to religious buildings and government ministries, with Cambodians gambling.
“This creates a bad image for Cambodia, like Naga World casino is next to the gate of the Buddhist Institute and there is criticism from other content creators from abroad who share it on the internet, which damages Cambodia’s reputation,” he said.
“Moreover, casinos are also built next to important institutions like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, especially the National Assembly, which is the place to establish the law and is not far from the casino. This is contradictory from what has been mentioned in the law of the Kingdom,” he added.
Article 19 in the Law on the Management of Commercial Gambling states that prohibited areas for casinos to build are geographical locations that are near the cultural, religious, or other necessary places.
“Commercial gambling establishments licensed before the entry into force of this law and located in restricted areas shall be considered as a favourable case,” states Article 21 of the law.
“Cambodian law strongly prohibits Cambodian citizens from gambling at casinos, but in reality there are many Cambodians who gamble and are in debt. Some of them are also tycoons, hierarchy people and artists who have fallen into debt and even commit suicide,” Tech emphasised.
In Article 68, Cambodian citizens in general, including the armed forces, public officials and citizens who receive mandates by election, are strictly prohibited gambling in casinos or commercial gambling establishments.
Licenses Issued for 47 Casinos and Seven Lotteries
Cambodia benefits or loses from the rise of casinos
Vorn Pov, President of the Independent Association of Informal Economics, reminded the government that besides collecting tax from casinos, it should evaluate the negative consequences of gambling as he believes the casino businesses are not sustainable in a longer run for Cambodia economic growth.
“In some provinces which are tourist sites, when casinos are booming we can see the number of tourists in those provinces shrinking remarkably. I think there are not many benefits from casinos because it cannot guarantee the sustainability of the whole Cambodian economy,” Pov noted.
The more casinos and gambling activities, the more insecurity there is in the society, he added. Even though Cambodia can collect more tax revenue from those casinos, it is most likely the country has to carry the burden of social instability and bad consequences, including online scams and gambling, and kidnapping, including human trafficking, that have planted Cambodia negatively on the international map.
The Online Scam Operations and Trafficking Into Forced Criminality in Southeast Asia: Recommendations for a Human Rights Response report from the United Nation Human Rights estimates that at least 100,000 victims have been forced into online scams that operate in Cambodia.
“In Cambodia as of July 2023, online scam centres are or were reportedly operating in Phnom Penh, Kandal, Pursat, Koh Kong, Bavet, Preah Sihanouk, Oddar Meanchey, Svay Rieng, including within the Dara Sakor SEZ and Henge Thmorda SEZ,” the same report cited.
The number of casinos in Cambodia keeps growing, notably from 57 casinos in 2014 to 150 casinos in 2019. Within five years it increased by 163 percent. Only 87 casinos were approved by the CGMC in 2024.
Illegal Activities Behind Casinos, Unknown Masterminds
“Cambodia has a lot of casinos, especially casinos that are embedded with online gambling. Kidnapping also takes place at casinos and many other illegal activities are there, which has a huge negative impact on Cambodia,” Pov said.
“Good tourists will not come to visit us because those casinos are operating online scamming and even human trafficking. I think many casinos are not beneficial for Cambodia.”
In addition, Cambodia should not be co-dependent on casinos too much for economic growth due to the negative burdens caused by the hidden illegal activities behind it.
Khun Tharo, Programme Manager at the Centre of Alliance of Labour and Human Rights (CENTRAL), said collecting tax revenue from casinos is not a bad thing as there are many countries that also gain the benefits from it, as long as it is operating according to the law.
“Online scamming negatively impacts Cambodia's image and honour, especially for investors’ trust to invest in Cambodia, and it impacts other sectors such as tourism and the economy,” he said.
Tharo urged authorities to find the masterminds that lead the online scams and human trafficking in Cambodia and punish them by the law.
Insider Monkey revealed that in 2024, Cambodia became the second largest gambling centre among 20 Asian countries to allow legal gambling in the country, which has more casinos than Macau, Vietnam and South Korea. The Philippines has the most casinos, followed by Cambodia.
Source: Kiripost