A crowd of journalists descended on Bavet this afternoon for a firsthand look at what is left of the former Golden Silver River casino. In total, 79 Cambodian and foreign reporters from 39 news outlets visited the site in Svay Rieng province, taking their cameras inside a location once notorious for online fraud operations.
Bavet is a bustling border town where the air is usually thick with motorbike exhaust and the smoke from roadside food stalls. For a long time, this building sat right in the middle of all that daily street life.
The story behind the property is a familiar one in these parts: the building belongs to a Chinese landlord named Hong Xingju, who subleased it to a group of Vietnamese nationals. Once inside, the tenants set up a full-scale cyber-scam hub. That came to an end on April 7, when Cambodian police raided the compound and completely dismantled the operation.
Today's tour gave the media delegation an unfiltered view of the interior. Crackdowns on these compounds have been a main topic of conversation across town lately, endlessly discussed over coffee and tea at local street stalls. Putting the former Golden Silver River under the spotlight leaves little doubt about what really went on behind those walls.
