Cambodian authorities arrested 253 people and took legal action against 116 illegal gambling sites during a nationwide crackdown, the National Committee for Counter Trafficking (NCCT) said in a statement reported on October 8, 2022. The campaign was launched on Sept. 17 against what the report described as all types of illegal gambling.
The NCCT gave the figures after a meeting in Phnom Penh chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng, who is also the committee's chairman1.
"The competent authorities had inspected 9,622 suspected locations and taken legal action against 116 illegal gambling sites, arresting 253 people for prosecution," it said in a statement.
The crackdown covered lottery, cockfighting, poker and football betting, according to the report1. The statement did not break the arrests down by province, by type of gambling or by the legal provisions applied, and no breakdown of that kind has been reported.
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Suspected locations inspected | 9,622 |
| Illegal gambling sites subject to legal action | 116 |
| People arrested for prosecution | 253 |
| Crackdown launch date | Sept. 17 |
The report did not say how many of the 253 arrested remained in custody, what charges they faced, or whether any had been released. It also did not state how many of the 9,622 inspected locations were found to be operating legally. Those details have not been reported.
What it means for players
The figures show enforcement is aimed at unlicensed operations rather than at gambling as a whole, but the categories named in the campaign, lottery, cockfighting, poker and football betting, cover activities that many people in Cambodia take part in informally. Cambodia's gambling law sets out which forms are licensed and which are not, and the country guide covers the general position for residents and visitors.
For anyone using Khmer-language betting sites or online poker sites that accept players in Cambodia, the practical risk sits with whether the operator holds a license, not with the language of the site. Offshore sites raise a separate question covered in Is It Illegal to Use Offshore Gambling Sites in Asia?, and the wider regional picture is set out in Gambling Laws in Asia.
The report gives no indication that licensed casino premises were targeted, and it does not describe any change to the rules that apply to them. Visitors and expats gambling at licensed venues are in a different position from the people arrested in these raids, though the report does not say how authorities distinguished the two during inspections.
What happens next
The NCCT statement was issued after the Phnom Penh meeting chaired by Sar Kheng1. No further inspection targets, deadlines or court dates were given, and no next steps have been reported.
Sources1 sources
- 253 arrested in Cambodia’s illegal gambling crackdown, khmertimeskh.com
