Cambodia’s 2020 Online Gambling Ban Hits Hard

The dawn of 2020 was greeted by most with a sense of joyful anticipation. Sadly, this was not the reality of Cambodia’s gambling sector. August 2019 had seen Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a statement that online and arcade gambling in the Kingdom would be banned with existing licenced lapsing with no hope of renewal and that there would be widespread inspections of the gambling sector as a whole.

In defence of his decision, Sen claimed that online gambling companies were threatening players who had accrued gambling debts playing rigged games, however, sources on the ground have cited immense pressure from the Chinese government as the real reason for the decision.

 Cambodia Suffers Immediate Job Losses

The call to ban online and arcade gambling has seen many online operators pull their services and operations from the region, even those who actually have licences to offer gambling services in the Kingdom.

The region boasted over 160 licenced casinos, that number now sits at approximately 136 and is expected to drop below 95 by the end of January 2020. Deputy director-general of the Finance Ministry’s financial industry department said:

“Some casinos that did not run online gambling still closed because the number of customers declined. They invested a lot but now get less income. They cannot support the huge number of workers who worked for them. Like it or not, this is because of the influence of the ban on online gambling.”

He went to confirm that a further 80% of those remaining licenced casinos can expect to be shut down during 2020.

With job losses already over 7700 locally, another slew of licenced casinos expected to shut down and tourists and investors being scared off by the heavy-handed police investigation into the gambling sector things are going to get much worse in Cambodia before they get better.

 Kingdom Coffers Under Pressure

Whatever the rationale behind the call to ban online casino and arcade gambling the financial realities could severely hobble critical departments within the Cambodian government due to loss of funding.

It is estimated that online casino revenues amount to $20 million per annum, which represents nearly 25% of the regions total gambling income.

However, with the knock-on effect of reduced tourism income, casino closures in the land-based sector and the resultant job losses, the actual financial impact on the Cambodian financial reserves is immeasurable. Not to mention the additional strain on the economy due to people defaulting on bank loans, the increased demand for government aid and other unforeseen costs.

This decision by Prime Minister Hun Sen could make Brexit look like a walk in the park by comparison, as it risks the well being of the very people the government is tasked with protecting, and for a weak, unproven premise.