Gambling Trips From Cambodia

Where Cambodians can legally gamble abroad: the short answer

Gambling inside Cambodia is for foreigners only. The Law on the Management of Integrated Resorts and Commercial Gambling bans all Cambodian people, including members of the armed forces, public servants and elected officials, from entering casinos or commercial game facilities to gamble⁶. Foreigners, by contrast, can walk into a licensed Cambodian casino and play simply by showing a passport, and visitors can join live poker games and bingo at venues around the country⁷. If you hold a Cambodian passport, though, the casinos in Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Poipet and Bavet are off limits to you, and playing online from home sits in a gray zone where the activity is prohibited but prosecutions of individual players are rare⁷.

That leaves the surrounding countries. Within a short flight of Phnom Penh you have four realistic destinations:

Each of these is covered in detail below, along with what to sort out before you travel.

Vietnam: Corona Resort & Casino Phu Quoc

The most practical legal casino trip for a Cambodian is to Vietnam's Phu Quoc island. Corona Resort & Casino sits in the Bai Dai area of the Phu Quoc special zone, and it is the venue Vietnamese authorities picked for a pilot program allowing Vietnamese citizens to gamble alongside foreigners¹. That matters for mixed groups: a Cambodian visitor and a Vietnamese friend can play at the same tables.

For foreign customers, the practical entry rules are simple. You must be 18 or older with full civil capacity, and you present a valid original passport at registration, including your visa and entry and exit stamps¹. The casino entry fee is waived for foreign customers, so you walk in with just your passport¹. The dress code asks for business formal or smart casual. Sleeveless tops, swimwear and sleepwear are strictly prohibited, clothing with offensive phrases or graphics will keep you out, and you must wear shoes on the casino floor¹.

Vietnamese citizens face a different setup. They pay an entry fee, and under a draft decree being considered in 2025 the fee would rise to VND 2,500,000 per 24 continuous hours, about USD 100 and 2.5 times the current level, or VND 50,000,000 for a monthly pass, about USD 2,000³. The idea behind the higher fee is to make it easier to verify that players meet the financial eligibility requirements for locals¹³. Foreigners are unaffected by any of this.

If you need to reach the resort before traveling, the helpline is (+84) 297 222 8888 and the email is mkt.management@casinocorona.vn¹.

South Korea: 17 casinos, most for foreigners only

South Korea runs 17 licensed casinos, and 16 of them are legally reserved exclusively for foreign passport holders and expatriates². Only foreign passport holders may enter those 16 venues, and the foreigner-only casinos are 19 and over¹¹. The industry is built around inbound tourism: the casinos compete for foreign high and low-end players because the law bars locals, and the sector has done well recently as Chinese tourists returned¹⁵.

The venues range from city casinos to full integrated resorts. PARADISE CITY near Incheon, operated by Sega Sammy and Paradise, is a casino exclusively for foreigners, attached to a hotel and entertainment complex¹⁷. Foreign visitors can also play poker: international tournament series run in the country, though the events are held inside the foreigner-only casinos¹⁸.

For a Cambodian passport holder, South Korea is straightforward in one sense: your passport gets you into any of the 16 foreigner-only casinos, and the foreigner-only casinos are 19 and over¹⁹. The catch is the trip itself, since Seoul is a longer and more expensive flight from Phnom Penh than Phu Quoc or Macau.

South Korea: what citizens can and cannot do

If you are a Cambodian citizen this section matters less, but it explains why the country's casinos look the way they do, and it matters if you travel with Korean friends or colleagues.

Korean residents are not permitted to enter licensed casinos, with one exception: Kangwon Land, the casino in Gangwon Province that locals may use¹⁹. Korean nationals are otherwise permitted to gamble only in limited circumstances, typically small wagers for entertainment at a handful of government-approved venues such as the horse racing track in Seoul and Kangwon Land¹². Koreans are not allowed into the casinos where poker tournaments are held¹⁸.

Online gambling is prohibited in South Korea, and the state offers no licensing process for online casinos¹⁹. Gambling is illegal for Korean citizens under the Criminal Act, and Korean law treats gambling as a crime for Korean nationals even when they travel abroad²¹. All betting outside the state-run Sports tonto, which has a legal limit of 100,000 won (about $75) per person, is illegal, and winnings from gambling count as illegal earnings under Korean law even if the site is based overseas²². Korean authorities have also raised concerns about illegal overseas gambling by their citizens and called for a unified task force to combat it¹².

None of this applies to you as a foreign visitor. You gamble legally at the foreigner-only casinos with your passport.

Macau: the only legal casino destination in China

Macau is the only location in China offering legalized casino gaming, and the only place in the country where casino gambling is legal²³. That status has made it the largest casino market in the world, and it is a direct flight or a short connection from Phnom Penh.

The minimum age to enter a casino in Macau is 21, and it applies to both local residents and tourists. Underage entrants are penalized, and so are casinos that admit them, so expect ID checks at the door³. The age was raised from 18 to 21 under rules announced by the Macau government²⁵.

Beyond the casinos, Macau's public gambling options have shrunk. Horse racing was abolished in April 2024, and all public gambling other than casinos has disappeared, so the casino resorts are the whole show²⁶.

One point worth knowing before you plan a Macau trip: China does not treat Macau as an overseas market, but Chinese authorities have warned citizens against gambling trips to overseas casinos, and those warnings have been aimed at Chinese nationals rather than foreign visitors²⁴. As a Cambodian citizen you enter Macau under Macau's own immigration rules, typically with a visa or entry permit arranged before travel.

Malaysia: one casino at Genting Highlands

Malaysia has exactly one licensed casino: Resorts World Genting, in the Genting Highlands about an hour from Kuala Lumpur⁴. It operates under a specific license and is the only legal casino in the country²⁸. The resort is part of the Genting Malaysia group, which also runs Resorts World Casino New York City, Resorts World Bimini in the Bahamas, over 40 casinos in the United Kingdom, and other Malaysian properties including Resorts World Kijal and Resorts World Langkawi²⁹.

The entry rules are unusual for the region. The casino allows non-Muslim Malaysians and international visitors, reflecting the country's religious makeup, since most Malaysians are Muslim⁴. For a Cambodian visitor with a passport, entry is straightforward.

Genting Highlands has long drawn cross-border gamblers from around the region, much as Poipet draws Thais who cross the border at weekends to gamble in Cambodia's border casinos, alongside visitors from China, South Korea and Malaysia³¹. The resort sits in the highlands outside Kuala Lumpur, and the same group behind it, Genting Malaysia, also runs Resorts World Kijal and Resorts World Langkawi in Malaysia, plus properties in New York, the Bahamas and over 40 casinos in the United Kingdom³⁰.

Malaysia: the online gambling position

If you were thinking of Malaysia as an online gambling base, the picture is different from the land-based one. Online gambling is banned in Malaysia under an old 1953 gambling ban, and Malaysia does not issue its own domestic online casino licenses³². Operators serving Malaysian players must hold a license from an international gaming authority³³.

In practice, there are no records of individual players being prosecuted for gambling online in Malaysia³². There is also no law that bans people from gambling on the Internet as such, and most foreign online casinos serving Malaysians come from Malta, Britain and Curaçao⁵. The practical risk for a player is low, but the activity is not licensed or protected locally, so disputes with an operator have no Malaysian regulator to appeal to.

Thailand: what the Entertainment Complex Bill would allow

Thailand currently has no legal casinos, which is why so many Thais cross into Poipet and other Cambodian border towns to gamble³¹. That may change. On January 13, 2025, the Thai Cabinet approved the Entertainment Complex Bill, paving the way for gambling to be legalized as soon as the middle of that year³⁴.

The bill would allow both foreigners and Thai citizens to play in the casinos³⁵. The key terms for locals are steep: a minimum 5,000 baht casino entrance fee for Thai citizens, around $142, while foreigners enter for free³⁴. The bill sets the minimum gambling age at 20, and people under 20 would not be permitted³⁴. Some reporting has put the proposed Thai entry fee as high as $215, with free admission for foreign visitors³⁶.

Analysts have suggested a Thai casino industry could put the country behind only Las Vegas and Macau globally, and some argue Thailand could become the main gambling hub in Southeast Asia³⁴. For Cambodia's own casino industry, this is watched nervously: Cambodian casinos have been put on notice as Thailand finalizes the new law, since Thai cross-border players are a core customer base for border venues like Poipet³⁵. For a Cambodian traveler, a legal Thai casino an hour's drive or short flight from Phnom Penh would be the most convenient option of all, but until the bill passes and venues open, Thailand is not a gambling destination.

Before you go

A few practical points apply to any of these trips.

Documents. Your Cambodian passport is your ticket into every venue listed above, and at Corona Phu Quoc the passport with visa and entry stamps is the documented requirement at registration¹. Keep it on you at the casino, not in the hotel safe, because ID checks happen at the door in Macau and at foreigner-only casinos in Korea.

Money. Each destination uses its own currency, so plan accordingly:

• Vietnamese dong at Phu Quoc
• Korean won
• Macau patacas (though Hong Kong dollars are widely accepted)
• Malaysian ringgit
• Thai baht

Online gambling companies serving the region typically take local bank transfers, international payment gateways and e-wallets, and the same payment channels are useful for booking travel³⁵. Bring a card as backup, since casino cages in all four countries exchange cash.

Dress and age. Corona Phu Quoc asks for business formal or smart casual and bans swimwear and sleeveless tops¹. Macau requires you to be 21, Korea's foreigner-only casinos are 19 and over, and the Thai bill would set the age at 20³. If you are under 21, Phu Quoc at 18 and Korea at 19 are your workable options.

Getting there. Phu Quoc is the shortest trip, reachable by flight from Phnom Penh or overland through the Ha Tien border crossing, which is also how visitors reach the Ha Tien Vegas Entertainment Resort on the Vietnamese side. Macau and Kuala Lumpur (for Genting) are direct or one-stop flights from Phnom Penh. Seoul requires a longer flight but offers the largest number of foreigner-welcome casinos in one country.

The home rule still applies. The ban on Cambodian citizens gambling covers casinos and commercial game facilities in Cambodia⁶. Traveling abroad to gamble in a licensed venue in Vietnam, Korea, Macau or Malaysia is a different matter, and those countries admit you as a foreign visitor under their own rules. What you cannot do is gamble at home, and the online options from Cambodia are unlicensed and unregulated⁷.