The Impact of Covid 19 On The gaming industry of Cambodia

In March 2020, the Cambodian government made it clear that COVID-19 would not be a chance. Tourist visas have been stopped. Land borders were closed so that people couldn’t get out. Because of travel restrictions and curfews, places with fun nightlife and world-famous archaeological sites were empty.

Due to this level of scrutiny, Cambodia was a COVID-19 success story for almost a year. A “watertight” method called “quarantine on arrival” was used to stop 86 percent of the coronavirus cases brought into the country as of January of this year, and no one died.

A group of outbreaks happened in casinos like Bizzo Cassino and hotels in February, just a few months before the complete vaccine sale. In just three months, infected people went from a few hundred to tens of thousands.

The inside story

The biggest epidemic, known as “the February 20 Incident,” seems to have been caused by the extortion of wealthy customers across borders.

The investigation found that 32 people got sick after going to the N8 nightclub in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. Four Chinese people who tested positive for HIV when they arrived in Cambodia were caught by a surveillance camera bribing their way out of quarantine so they could meet for “pre-arranged trysts,” as the government-backed Khmer Times put it.

The Ministry of Health has found several related places, most expensive, serviced apartments, hotels, massage parlors, private foreign schools, and KTVs, which are karaoke clubs that are often used as brothels. No one knows how many places the women went to after getting away.

The Khmer Times said that the four women got into and out of the country on a private jet, but Phnom Penh airport did not have any records of private jets coming or going.

Cambodia has harsh punishments and prison terms of up to 20 years for people who break quarantine rules. It is unclear why the country’s government decided to hide the identities of these women and let them leave the country without any trouble while fining the security guard who took the bribe. In an email, Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said that the guard was a “scapegoat.”

However, investigations showed that human trafficking was linked to several COVID-19 cases before the outbreak. He said that border agents have been jailed for helping women sneak across the border illegally and that stricter border rules have been put in place “in response to human trafficking cases that arose during the spread of COVID-19.”

During raids on unlicensed nightclubs in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville in May and July, more than 100 Chinese and Vietnamese people were arrested for drug trafficking and other crimes. Because of this, some nightclubs have stayed open by pretending to be restaurants.

Through the breakouts, shocking links have been found between human trafficking, corruption, and Cambodia’s growing casino business.

Conclusion

Megacasinos can be found in Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, and Koh Kong, among other places in Cambodia. About 150 of these places are along with the Thai and Vietnamese borders. Most people who go to these casinos are from Thailand, China, and Vietnam, where the government bans gambling. Many casinos on the border operate in a legal gray area because they are located between official border checkpoints. This means that people from both countries can go there without crossing into the other.