I used to go there 10 year ago… it was so much people that you can’t walk through or found a place to sit but now it’s destroyed and no many people. From paradise to ghost towns. The reason from this is Cambodia government keep on borrowing Chinese money to much and they have nothing to pay it back, so they sell this place to the Chinese.
Snookyville is a sad shell of its former self! We used to travel there from Thailand every year. They sold out to thr Chinese conglomerates. The place used to thrive and was an exciting place. Ruined now and will take a miracle to come back.
yes absolutely , they should stay poor and underdeveloped, any sort of development is bad because it improves the quality of their lives long term, which is bad for us broke backpackers looking to do budgeted travelling. THEY NEED TO STAY POOR
What a great video Luke. Sihanoulville is such a beautiful destination with great potential, sad seeing it go to waste. Even more sad seeing locals of the nation struggling like that. The Cambodian family sleeping in the construction site is heartbreaking. Thanks for sharing this experience with us. Keep up the great work Luke.
As a content creator, your adventures are fueled by an open mind! Every new place brings fresh inspiration - hidden beauty, unique stories, and the fascinating people you meet along the way.
Visited Sihanoukville just recently and I thought the place was fine. Down south is Otris Beach, the Bar of Lights and Visit Ream national park which are beautiful places to visit.
It’s because Sihanouk Ville is experiencing an upgrade of quality of tourists. The low budget western backpackers can no longer afford the increased costs in Sihanouk Ville related to accommodation, food, sex, etc. In the meantime, Chinese tourists don’t travel as much as they did before the pandemic. So it seems quite empty now. But sooner or later, the tourism sector of Sihanouk Ville will recover with a new batch of different tourists other than the western backpackers.
It doesn't seem empty, it IS. SHV had its soul sold out from under it. It was designed for gangs to funnel money out, never to touch Cambodian hands. If this is an upgrade you should stay away from city planning and development.
Personally I find that comment absolutely rubbish. Visit Sihanoukville and talk to some of the locals and people that have the mom and pop shops. People much preferred the days when it was a backpacker destination and they had those customers . If you care to look at the unfinished buildings and empty properties you should realise that it Will take billions of investment that Cambodia does not have.
You don't dare to fight your government even if it has done wrong. Unlike Thailand, where the people who pay taxes have more power than the government.
The statement expresses concern that content creators might exploit Cambodia for views or money. It highlights the struggles Cambodians have faced and their ongoing efforts to rebuild their economy. The writer questions the ethics of content that might damage Cambodia's image.
I wonder where did you get all information because your video is full of wrong facts: - Local people are not fleeing. The population has raised from 60k in 2012 to 200k in 2023. 80% of the population are locals. - Sihanoukville has been the most visited destination in 2022 and 2023. So there's lot of tourists, especially weekends and public holidays. Mostly locals though. Actually there is more people visiting the city than ever before. Before it barely hit 500k visitors per year, now it's been 5 million each year for 2 years row. Only backpackers are not visiting the place anymore, but for local economy this is actually better. Backpackers leaves $20 per visit when now days visitors leaves closer $100. - Beaches are not man made. They are natural beaches. - Local employment is all high. 2015 there was 50k local people working in town. Now it's 120k. - Casinos employ mostly locals. Management level has foreign workers though. - Chinese came and left. Most of the construction now days is by locals and other nationalities. It's funny at 6:14 time you are infant of construction site... which is American Marriott hotel construction site. Just last week French Novotel opened their 4 star hotel there. So it's not just the Chinese now. - Bag/phone snatching is not happening practically at all in Sihanoukville. Contrary in Phnom Penh is a big problem. Petty crime rate like that is very low and it's actually much lower than it has ever been. Back in 2015 or so you had to double lock scooter. Now, many times I don't lock at all when going beach to swim etc. I have been living here for 15 years so I have seen it all.
Thank you for the information. I’m just going from what the locals told me and from what I could see. Plus with some research I did online. Weird I was there on the weekend aswell but was clear and I saw about 2 tourists my whole trip
While I agree with your basic argument that the "facts" are wrong and the timeline is 5 years out of date, I also disagree with a lot of your comments.1/ From 2016/17 on until about 2019 when the online gambling licences were revoked the locals DID flee. When a $40 a month room went up to $300, they had no choice. However rents are much more affordable now and they are coming back. 2/ The beaches ARE to a large degree now manmade. Occheuteal and Otres were around 10 mts wide, now they are 30 or 40 mts wide. Not even going to argue with the casino's employing mostly locals, thats just wrong. 4/ At 6.14, the decrepit shack shown in the background is what used to be "Above Us Only Sky" Its deck was over the water! I know, I managed it and "The Cove", "Tranquility" and "Chivas Shack" at various stages from 2012 - 2018 when my wife and I moved to Kampot ( as the vast majority of westerners did) to escape the chinese building site. Lastly, "AUOS"" was the 3rd last on Serendipity. The headland between the last "Cloud 9"and Sokha beach was know as "Thieves Point", so don't try to tell me bag snatchings and out and out muggings didn't happen. They did, daily. I lived there fulltime from 2012 - 2018 and managed a lot of the business on Serendipity ( there were only 7 and that was probably his biggest mistake -walk to the pier and turn left is Occheuteal, turn right, was Serendipity!). And have lived in Kampot since. I know A lot of the locals and a lot of the barangs that lived there and still ( admittedly very few) live there. Dave X
@@davidmealey3008 1) Yes that locals flee. But still the fact is that the population has skyrocketed in last 10 years. Last census was done just 2022. 2) Occheteul is wider because the old restaurants huts demolished and moved 20 meters further from seashore. But yes, they do bring fresh white sand to Occheteul now day to make it look better. Otres is not manmade and you can see it you go there. 3) Real casinos employ mostly locals. Just go and see. Scam places are different matter. Few of my extended family members works in casinos so I know how many people work there and what nationalities. 4) Yes I know it is where Above Us Only sky used to be. The point was that the guy on video is talking all is just Chinese money. When reality is not. I just pointed out, that is Marriott construction project and French Novotel hotel just opened month ago here too. 5) Yes true bag snatching, scooter theft used to be BIG problem in Sihanoukville. Now not anymore because people have well paid jobs now. 10 years you had to double lock scooter when you went on beach and you needed to keep eye on it too. Now, no need to do that anymore. Also haven't head any bag/phone snatching happening for years anymore. In Phnom Penh I hear it happening all the time. Especially around public holidays. In Kampot break ins in homes is also VERY frequent. In Sihanoukville very rarely happens.
All the folks saying he's wrong would be funny if this topic wasn't so sad . The feeling of sadness was repeated to me over and over and over by local business people - those that are still open . The shells of buildings loom over what once many saw as a paradise . Such a warm and kind people in such a formerly beautiful setting . THEY told me the tale he is telling And I saw it for myself . It is a depressing feeling in the air that you can not capture on video . And , I heard no one say they were happy the western tourists were gone . They miss them , the large numbers of them , and the Money they spent that made their businesses thrive . Portraying all those tourists as broke is just propaganda . I wish the people of Sihanoukville could just tear down all those monstrous skeletons and rod themselves of the horror that has decimated them like a cloud of locusts - then gone .
Just back from 1 month in Cambodia and 2 nights in Sihanoukville. When i asked hotel direction to downtown, they said chinatown? Beach is great, but restaurants and food is much higher then rest of Cambodia. 99% of tourist i met used Sihanoukville as only gateway to Islands or rest of Cambodia/Thailand. Over two days i saw under 12 tourist. Downtown you feelsm you are in China vs Cambodia. There are still lots of Cambodian people employed due to tourism here, but certainly not to the extent if it was built by multinationals.
Hey mate, been a while. Remember we met in that ladyboy bar in Bangkok? You told me to check out your channel. I'm thinking to go to Cambodia if you want to meet again, how's the ladyboy scene there?
And you don't realise it has majorly, negatively, effected the entire tourism industry in Cambodia? The 3rd largest employment sector in the country after garment making and construction You have NFI
@@lukematthew_don’t worry about those people. as a Cambodian who love Cambodia I support you .but those few people really hate it when you hit the points what they don’t want you to let it out to the world to know
