PHNOM PENH: It is a chaotic and dusty artery that links Cambodia to Vietnam through the frontier town of Bavet.Dozens of workers pack into the backs of trucks, shipped to and from factories and building sites. Children play beside guarded compounds, rubbish burns near golden casino entrances and luxury vehicles pass stark worker dormitories.There is one thing that stands out among it all: the flood of advertising for online gambling, everywhere despite it being illegal in Cambodia.The lures of multiple cyber casino brands and Chinese sports betting companies loom over the highway. Security guards shelter from the sun under umbrellas adorned with poker chips and women in bikinis.
They are the signposts to the shady world of vice that has been incubated here for years.To something larger and hidden, often beyond and above the casino floors, and in the apartment complexes and business parks.To the human trafficking, the violence and torture, the illegal gambling and the sophisticated scamming operations targeting people all around the world.“It’s wild. It’s unbelievable. This is a mafia playground,” said Nathan Southern, the operations director of Eyewitness Project, an organisation investigating crime, conflicts and corruption in the region, as he drives through the border traffic, past the seafood restaurants and boxes of Chinese beer.
