Cambodia’s casinos run out of luck
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Casino operators in Cambodia have said they expect significant losses for 2008, and are planning across-the-board cost cuts for the year ahead, the Phnom Penh Post reported.
The global economic crisis, the falling Thai baht, as well as the closure of Bangkok’s airports have combined to hit Cambodia’s casinos, which rely heavily on cross-border customers from Thailand.
At the Kings Crown Casino and Hotel - which has properties on both the Thai and Vietnamese borders – the number of visitors has dropped sharply, leading to losses of US$620,000 in the last quarter of 2008, the company reportedly said. It is now halving the working days of its 2,000 employees from 30 to 15 days a months.
“We are not earning enough income to spend on staffing, water and electricity. When people earn less money, they gamble less,” company owner Phu Kok An told the Phnom Penh Post.
He said that the number of gamblers fell sharply but that the business would remain open.
Chea Peng Chheang, Secretary of State at Cambodia’s Ministry of Finance, is calculating the casino industry’s total revenue for 2008, which he reported as saying would be completed this week. Without revealing figures Chheang said he expected revenues to be lower than the US$10 million generated in 2007.
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