Part V: Regional & Cultural · Asia-Pacific Regional Terms

5.9 Sihanoukville (Cambodia)

Cambodia — Regional Gaming

Sihanoukville (also known as Preah Sihanouk) is a coastal city in Cambodia that experienced a massive casino building boom driven by Chinese investment, primarily targeting mainland Chinese online gamblers through offshore gaming operations. At its peak, the city had dozens of casinos and was a hub for POGO-style operations. In response to pressure from China, Cambodia banned all online gambling in 2019, leading to the departure of most Chinese operators and a collapse in Sihanoukville’s casino-driven economy. The episode serves as a cautionary tale about unregulated gaming development.

In practice

Sihanoukville’s boom and bust cycle exemplifies the risks of rapid, unregulated casino development driven by a single market segment. The city has been attempting to pivot to other forms of tourism and development since the gambling ban.

One entry from the Casino Industry Glossary — 1,157 terms written for surveillance, compliance and operations professionals rather than for players. Definitions describe industry usage; where a term carries a regulatory meaning, verify against the instrument that governs your jurisdiction.