Last night, newly arrived Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin took to Facebook to share that Cambodia is planning to suspend all online gambling operations nationwide starting in October. The move is a decisive crackdown aimed at preventing and tackling cyber scams and suspicious capital flows.
The ambassador made it clear in his post that he strongly supports the measure, adding that China stands ready to further step up law enforcement cooperation between the two countries to wipe out online scams together. If the tuk-tuk drivers on the street heard the news, they'd probably say that line of business is finally finished in Phnom Penh.
Down in the local rental rooms and coffee stalls, community talk is all about whether law enforcement can finally clean up public safety. Through the hot exhaust fumes and night shifts, people passing by those brightly lit scam compounds are finally starting to feel a shift in the wind. Local media are watching closely to see what steps come next.
