In June 2019, a building collapse in Sihanoukville, on Cambodia’s southern coast, killed 28 local workers. It was a tragedy that shone a light on the scale and speed of change in the once sleepy beachside town. Sihanoukville is in the messy mid-stages of one of the most all-consuming processes of tourism development ever seen in the region. Cranes fill the sky, construction dust fills the air. Chinese mass tourism, especially gambling tourism, is the focus.

As I wandered Sihanoukville’s deserted Otres Beach recently, I remembered writing just five years ago that this was the most appealing stretch of a mediocre selection of beaches in the area. The beaches weren’t the problem. It was what was around the beaches. But Otres Beach was slightly less overwhelmed by backpacker and other tourism excess than other nearby beach spots.

Five years later, almost everything that was on Otres back then has been demolished. The same applies to most of the places I remember from visits to Sihanoukville over the past 20 years. Sihanoukville has experienced one of the fastest tourism development binges ever seen in South East Asia. And it continues.

One of the fastest mass tourism development binges Asia has seen

Sihanoukville's reputation for showcasing the worst of tourism goes back a long way. The problems have never been about the natural appeal of the area. The setting is beautiful and the beaches are too. It’s what tourists and the tourism industry have done to the place - like so many other places around the world.

Sadly for Sihanoukville, things have gone from bad to worse.

If you visited this city, formerly known as Kampong Som, in the late 90s, you would have found a mostly mellow town with a large amount of sleaze left over from the UNTAC United Nations military presence in Cambodia in the early 90s. There were still ruined villas lining the beach road, reminders of the city’s popularity as an escape for wealthy Cambodians before the Khmer Rouge genocide ravaged the country in the 1970s.

By 2010, the sleaze was overwhelmed by a backpacker party scene drawn to all night binges, 50 cent beers and other excesses that flourished in the absence of the restraints young backpackers were accustomed to at home.

Now, the backpackers have mostly gone. They’ve moved their attention elsewhere, including the islands off Sihanoukville - Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem - where the party rolls on.

The latest phase in Sihanouville’s tourism evolution has followed the arrival of Chinese casino developers. They’ve landed with such force that there is little space left for anything else - including decades-old local businesses and other tourism market segments.

Anyone coming back to Sihanoukville after a few years will likely struggle to find the hotels, restaurants and the bars of earlier visits.

Media reports after the tragic June construction accident said there are now more than 80 casinos in Sihanoukville - most Chinese owned. During my brief visit, I saw a staggering number of cranes and construction sites. Progress on construction sites looked uneven - reflecting a rumoured slowdown.

Word around town is that the recent ban on online gambling operations has caused a big fall in the number of Chinese nationals living in the city and a downturn in economic activity.

Sihanoukville - old businesses trying to survive in a new tourism economy

Sihanoukville and Cambodia tourism

The decision to tie Sihanoukville’s future to casino tourism has had a wider impact on tourism in Cambodia too.

Tour operators I spoke with working in Cambodia's heritage tourism segment, told me the bad international press that has accompanied Sihanoukville’s casino tourism development has hurt Cambodia as a destination in other market segments.

It makes sense that Angkor Wat, one of the world’s greatest cultural icons, might not be a good brand fit with low-quality gambling tourism.

Other industry professionals mentioned that by tying Sihanoukville’s future to one core market (Chinese gamblers), the country had lost an opportunity to build a diverse beach tourism profile - an important offering for any destination.

The beaches of the south coast promised to provide an add-on for high-end tourists to Angkor. Those ambitions have been dampened by Sihanoukville’s development decisions.

High-end resorts like the newly opened Six Senses Krabey Island and the Song Saa private island, will be hoping to distance themselves from the reputation of their gateway city.

Operators and locals also complained that many Chinese mass market operators in Sihanoukville run a closed shop, privileging other Chinese businesses and products at the expense of local businesses, reducing benefit to the local economy.

Sihanoukville’s story is still unfolding. It’s safe to say that it will be off the radar for people seeking a quiet beach escape for a while.

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