Hun Manet Says Cambodia's October Online Gambling Shutdown Is Permanent

The prime minister told workers in the sector to find other jobs, said most of them are foreigners, and ruled out reopening online gambling or issuing new licences. Casinos that keep running online operations after the deadline face revocation, on top of a licence review that has already closed dozens.

• Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Wednesday 16 September that the shutdown of online gambling at Cambodia's casinos from October "is not a temporary measure" and that the government "would not reopen online gambling or issue new licences", the Khmer Times reported
• He said online gambling and scams were linked to national security, the economy and Cambodia's reputation, that some operations were concealed behind computer systems and networks, and that "we cannot control that. It is very dangerous"
• Most workers in the sector are foreigners and it provides limited benefit to the labour market, he said, urging Cambodians dependent on it to seek other work and promising that legitimate businesses serving it would not be punished
• Interior Minister Sar Sokha announced on 5 September that online operations at all casinos would be suspended from October; casinos that do not comply face licence revocation and legal action
• It follows Hun Manet's order last week to cut the number of casinos from more than 100, after a year of inspections in which authorities say dozens of licences were revoked or suspended over scam links

The Suspension Has Become a Ban, in the Prime Minister's Own Words

Cambodia's shutdown of online gambling at its licensed casinos, announced for October as a suspension, is permanent, Prime Minister Hun Manet has said. Speaking on Wednesday at the inauguration of a cancer hospital, he said the closure "is not a temporary measure" and that the government would neither reopen online gambling nor issue new licences, according to the Khmer Times. Trade reports on Monday, including iGaming Future, carried the confirmation that the shutdown begins in early October.

The prime minister tied the decision to the campaign against technology-based fraud. Online gambling and scams were linked to national security, the economy and the country's reputation, he said, because technology-based activity could be used to commit fraud and move high-risk funds. Some operations were concealed behind computer systems and online networks that the state could not police. "We cannot control that. It is very dangerous," he said, warning that illegal activity could affect Cambodia's standing on international financial monitoring lists and cost citizens the benefits that depend on it.

He also addressed the people who work in the sector. Most are foreigners, he said, and the industry provides limited benefit to Cambodia's labour market; Cambodians dependent on it should seek work in other sectors, healthcare among them, that can create jobs through private investment. Legitimate businesses serving the sector, from goods suppliers to car rental, "would not be punished because of the shutdown". He said he took responsibility for enforcement and would protect officers carrying it out, but instructed them to follow procedure and avoid mistreating the public.

The measure was announced on 5 September by Interior Minister Sar Sokha, who said online gambling operations at all casinos nationwide would be suspended from October as part of efforts to prevent technology-based fraud and control funds of unclear origin. Casinos that fail to comply face licence revocation and other legal action. Last week Hun Manet ordered a review of licensing standards to reduce the number of casinos gradually from more than 100, saying some had been licensed as very small operations and contributed little. Authorities say they inspected 195 licensed casinos over the past year and revoked or suspended dozens of licences over links to cyber-fraud, and that the wider crackdown has dismantled 86 major scam centres and detained nearly 30,000 suspects of 39 nationalities, figures the government has cited and which have not been independently verified.

The United Nations has warned since 2023 about scam compounds operating inside casinos and other premises in Cambodia, with reports of trafficking and forced labour, and the country joined a 46-nation anti-scam alliance this month.

Cambodia Banned Online Gambling in 2019 and Is Now Banning It Again

Hun Sen's government outlawed online gambling from the start of 2020, the exodus from Sihanoukville followed, and the compounds that replaced the casinos' online floors became the scam centres the UN has been reporting on since. What has been suspended this month is the online activity that continued from inside licensed casinos, which the 2019 ban did not reach, and the prime minister's insistence that this closure is permanent is an acknowledgement that the last one was not treated that way. The difference in 2026 is the enforcement machinery behind it: 195 inspections, dozens of revocations and a licence-renewal framework being drafted, rather than a decree and a deadline.

The Foreign-Worker Line Is the Political Cover for the Economic Cost

The prime minister's statement that most of the sector's workers are foreigners is doing specific work: it tells a domestic audience that the jobs being lost are not theirs, and it tells the region that the people being removed are the same population the scam-centre crackdown targets. It may also be broadly true. What it leaves out is the revenue: online operations have been part of what sustained the casino economies of border towns such as Bavet and Poipet, and no replacement has been named beyond healthcare. Reducing "more than 100" casinos and stripping the online layer from the survivors is a policy to shrink an industry, stated as such.

The Test Is Whether the Deadline Holds for the Large Licensees

The casinos the prime minister has described as the problem are the small ones, licensed from a single shophouse. October will show whether the ban reaches the properties with political connections and cross-border customers, and whether the Commercial Gambling Management Commission publishes the renewal criteria it began drafting on 4 September before it applies them. A permanent ban that is enforced selectively is the outcome the 2019 precedent suggests; the prime minister has said the words that make a selective outcome harder to defend.

Cambodia has said the online floor closes for good on a date in early October. The industry that grew in the last ban's gaps will be watching who is still open on the second.