Cambodia 20260316

Mekong Memo Cambodia Weekly: Business, politics, finance, trade & legal news.

Mar 16, 2026

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Headlines:

New Scam Law, Same Old Networks

One-Third of the Pumps Run Dry

Thailand's Scam Safari

Five Requests, No Replies

10,000 Ghost Students and a $4 Million Bill

Two Years for a Facebook Post

Five Guardians of Truth Unite

Five Million Tonnes by River

Runway to Ratanakiri

Grab Pads Drivers' Wallets as Fuel Pinch Bites

Rising Sun Shops Local

Who Wore It First?

New Scam Law, Same Old Networks

The Cabinet approved the country's first dedicated anti-online scam law Friday, setting prison terms of five to 20 years for ringleaders, with life sentences possible if someone ends up dead. The bill, now heading to a rubber-stamp parliament, arrives roughly eight months into a crackdown that has seen more than 200,000 people flee the country since July. Information Minister Neth Pheaktra says the law proves Cambodia isn't a "safe haven for criminals," though past enforcement efforts left financial and protection networks intact and operations quickly reconstituted. The law also holds property owners and recruiters accountable, which is a big change. Authorities arrested a former advisor to Prime Minister Hun Manet, alleged kingpin Chen Zhi in January. Hun Manet claimed ignorance both he networks, and of his advisor’s illicit activities.

One-Third of the Pumps Run Dry

Close to 2,000 of the country's 6,300 petrol stations shut their doors on Wednesday, leaving drivers scrambling and Commerce Minister Cham Nimul promising investigations into whether operators are hoarding fuel so they will be able to profit from expected price hikes. Offenders will get fines or license revocations. According to the Bangkok Post, the closures follow Thailand's fuel export ban, put in place against the backdrop of the broader breakdown in relations between the two countries. Thailand sent 2.2 billion liters of fuel to Cambodia in 2024. Nimul said the government would coordinate with the private sector to import from Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia if needed, though he didn't specify timelines or volumes. Price stability measures are in the works.

Thailand's Scam Safari

Thai forces led reporters through O'Smach on Thursday, touring the Cambodian border area they've held since December. The military showed what it found after shelling casino complexes, including offices filled with scam call scripts, fake police backdrops for video calls, stacks of target phone numbers, and dormitories hastily abandoned by an estimated 20,000 workers. Thailand says it struck the casinos because Cambodian troops were using them as firing positions, then discovered the scam operations inside. Phnom Penh isn't buying it. Information Minister Neth Pheaktra called the tour a "dangerous misuse of law enforcement narratives" to justify Thailand's "de facto annexation" of territory it still occupies two months after the truce.

Five Requests, No Replies

Phnom Penh says it sent five formal requests to Thailand's Joint Boundary Commission since the December 27 ceasefire, asking for joint survey teams to measure disputed border sections, but Thailand hasn't responded to any of them. Government spokesman Pen Bona rejected Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow's claim that Prime Minister Hun Manet had postponed talks until after Khmer New Year, saying Hun Manet never announced or posted any such thing. The Thai side previously asked to delay meetings twice, claiming it was necessary because of parliamentary elections and the formation of a new government. Thailand's newly elected parliament convened March 14, so that excuse should be expired by now.

10,000 Ghost Students and a $4 Million Bill

Three luxury vehicles, large farmland plots, and at least two houses valued around $200,000 each near Siem Reap, all purchased on an official salary of about 2 million riel a month (about $500). That's what staff at the Techo Sen Regional Polytechnic Institute in Battambang say director Chhim Thoeun has accumulated since the government's C1 vocational training program launched. The institute reported enrolling 10,125 students between October 2023 and late 2025, qualifying it for 17 billion riel ($4.19 million) in ministry funding at 1.7 million riel per student. Staff say the real enrollment was closer to 20 classes with five to ten students each, with dropout names kept on the books and attendance lists inflated. His family reportedly runs no other businesses. Staff are calling for his removal.

Two Years for a Facebook Post

Social activist Thou Vakhim got a two-year prison sentence Tuesday for incitement to commit a felony. His crime was making Facebook posts about human rights violations and calling for the release of jailed environmentalists and a youth leader. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court also fined him four million riel. Vakhim, a former monk who left Wat Than pagoda after being told to drop his activism, was detained last September. His lawyer plans to appeal next week, arguing the posts were protected speech about border disputes with Thailand and criticism of government leaders. Licadho now counts 97 people behind bars for the crimes of activism and expression.

Five Guardians of Truth Unite

The Information Ministry has trotted out phase two of its "Zero Fake News" campaign on March 12, inviting counterparts from Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, and China to join a regional anti-disinformation push under the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation framework. The same minister who championed the scam law (Story 1) and rejected Thailand's border tour (Story 3), Neth Pheaktra, said the project would work to fight fake news across borders, promote verified content from professional media organizations, and improve media literacy education throughout the Mekong Subregion. It may be worth noting that the five participating governments together sit near the bottom of Reporters Without Borders' press freedom index. The campaign builds on a domestic "Say No to Fake News" effort started in 2025 and will roll out across Phnom Penh and all 24 provinces, with the stated goal of eliminating false information from social media platforms.

Read more: Nation Thailand (cooperation scope), VietnamPlus

Five Million Tonnes by River

Hun Manet issued sub-decrees Saturday setting up multipurpose ports in Kampong Chhnang and Kampot to shift cargo off roads and onto inland waterways. The Kampong Chhnang facility on the Tonle Sap River will handle 2 million tonnes yearly, and Kampot will have capacity for 3 million tonnes. The changes are in line with the 2023-2033 transport master plan, which has been looking into river and rail links to cut logistics costs for manufacturers clustered near Phnom Penh. Kampong Chhnang sits about 90 kilometers north of the capital along a waterway that already connects to Vietnam's Mekong delta network. Kampot's southern location gives exporters another option besides the congested truck routes to Sihanoukville.

Runway to Ratanakiri

Seven or eight hours by road from Phnom Penh, that's what Governor Nhem Sam Oeun calls Ratanakiri Province's biggest problem. The proposed fix is going to be an airport on 1,905 hectares in Lumphat District, 580 kilometers from the capital. The feasibility study, environmental impact assessment, and flight-technique study are done, and Sam Oeun hopes to finish construction during his second term. The site sits where Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, and Stung Treng provinces meet, so it should be able to function as a hub for the whole northeast. The province is preparing to open four new border crossings with Laos and Vietnam, including one in Veun Sai district that will connect with Laos' Attapeu province and another in the "dragon tail" area near Vietnam's border post 6.

Read more: Cambodianess (airport specs), Khmer Times

Grab Pads Drivers' Wallets as Fuel Pinch Bites

Grab started paying ride-hailing drivers a temporary per-trip subsidy on March 10, while tweaking platform fees and dynamic pricing to help them absorb rising LPG and gasoline costs. Fuel is one of the biggest daily expenses for the motorbike, car, and tuk-tuk drivers who make up Grab's network, and even modest price swings can chew through earnings. Kang Sovannarot, Grab's country head for Cambodia and Myanmar, said increases at the pump hit are hitting take-home pay directly. It's a band-aid, though, of course - the pump closures from Thailand's export ban (Story 2) remain unresolved.

Rising Sun Shops Local

Trade with Japan was up to $506 million in January and February, up ~12% from the same period last year. Exports rose a respectable 8.9% to $328 million, but Japanese imports jumped 17.8% to $178 million. That's Japanese companies buying more from their own Cambodian factories, garments and electronics rolling out of special economic zones under RCEP tariff cuts.

Who Wore It First?

The Culture Ministry says that it has traced the Sbai garment back to its own Funan period (1st to 6th centuries) after Thai social media erupted over an ASEAN video showing both countries' performers wearing the traditional wrap. The ministry called for calm and warned against using cultural heritage for political gain, while also calling on ASEAN states to promote "accurate historical understanding." The dispute flared up after the Philippines, this year's ASEAN chair, dressed both nations' performers in it.

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