Cambodia’s beach tourism clean-up comes at a high price for locals
TOURISM is an ever growing sector in Kingdom of Cambodia, which welcomes more and more foreign arrivals each season, reaching more than $4.5 million last year. The top number one tourist attraction is the ancient temple complex of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. But in recent years more tourists have been flowing to Cambodia’s coast. The Kingdom’s beaches are a new and attractive alternative to the more developed and much busier tourism hotspots on the coast of neighboring Thailand.
In the provincial Cambodian coastal town of Sihanoukville, hundreds of thousands of holidaygoers visit every year to enjoy nearby beaches. In recent years the private sector has taken advantage of that. Locals and foreign entrepreneurs alike have been fast developing businesses on Sihanoukville’s beaches – resorts with bungalows, restaurants, and bars with sunbeds.
This beach development has also brought more tourists to the coast. Otres beach, just 5 kilometres outside of Sihanoukville, is a great example of that. In the last 5 years the number of tourist businesses on Otres I and II has more than tripled, if not quadrupled, generating not only more revenue, but also income and jobs for the locals.
However, this growth could soon be history. A recent government decree has ordered all beaches to be vacated this month. Legally, beaches are public in Cambodia and no development or buildings are allowed on the beachside. Bungalows, restaurants with kitchens and even sunbeds are to be vacated or bulldozed as ordered by local authorities. Hundreds of tourist businesses will therefore have to move away from the beach or close. How is this possible? Many are asking in shock in Sihanoukville, where the atmosphere is tense ever since the mid-February decree.
The original deadline for all beaches in Sihanoukville to be cleared was March 13. However, the Governer had been on a trip to China, so authorities will start clearing O’Chheuteal and Ariston beaches this week. As for the recuperation of lost investment and damages from the government decree, only a few local Cambodian families on O’Chheuteal beach, who have been on their land for more than 15 years, were paid. Most accepted the US$3,500 dollars compensation. The rest of the businesses on all other beaches will receive no money from the government.
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