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Oct 19, 2026

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Interior Ministry Reviews Film of Scam Suspect

The Interior Ministry is taking another look at the intriguingly named “Cheat Mony”, a national police bodyguard that undercover reporters filmed working for alleged scam boss Deng Pibing. Deng boasted (on camera!) that Yim Leang, the deputy national police commissioner that oversaw Cheat Mony's department, is also the bodyguard's boss. Deng claimed he keeps $2 of every $10 and passes the balance on to authorities. Deputy ministry spokesperson Touch Sokhak said that the claims were nothing more than boasting. Yim Leang's brother Yim Leak, a Hun Sen adviser, is an alleged business partner of Deng. Deng departed Cambodia in late May; authorities say they don’t have any idea at all where he is.

Read more: Phnom Penh Post (ministry response), CamboJA News (inquiry), The Better (Yim family), Cambodia Daily (scam compounds)

Hun Manet Sets Garment Wage to $210

Prime Minister Hun Manet has made the call and set the 2027 garment minimum wage at $210 a month, adding $2. Unions had been looking for $250.66 after taking a survey of 422 workers in 28 factories. More than 100 unions and civil society groups backed the demand, but apparently to little avail. Sieng Rithy of the Cambodian Youth Power Union Federation said the “token” increase ignores the seven criteria used in wage talks, including an IMF inflation forecast of 3.1 percent.

Thai and Cambodian Envoys Clash at the UN

Cambodian envoy Ke Sovann told a UN refugee agency meeting that about 24,000 civilians are unable to go home because Thai forces are occupying their land. Thailand's envoy, Benjamin Sukanjanajtee, shot back by saying that the homes are on Thai soil and that the Cambodians living there had been fleeing conflict in the 1970s. He said that their presence was an encroachment and accused Cambodia of starting the fights by sprinkling landmines through the area. Ke Sovann said Thai soldiers had walked into old minefields inside Cambodia and that Thailand started the fighting by killing a Cambodian soldier. Crisis Group reports about 20,000 displaced Cambodians and says Thai troops hold small pockets of Cambodian territory in four provinces. Bangkok refuses to reconvene the joint commission that was charged with surveying and marking the border.

Read more: Cambodianess (UN exchange), International Crisis Group (border analysis)

Workers Returning From Thailand Earn Less

Nearly a million workers have come home to Cambodia from Thailand, and as a result, the Cambodia Development Resource Institute says their return could lift national output even as it leaves their families poorer. The Labor Ministry counted half a million in jobs by December 2025, but returnees are struggling with lower wages, unfamiliar work and heavy debts. Their monthly earnings have reportedly gone down by more than a third. Remittances from Thailand dropped from almost $3 billion in 2024 to nearly $2 billion in 2025, and CDRI's “middle” scenario has them falling by another three-fifths before all is said and done. Harsh math.

Sanctioned Pair's Former Resort Pays Staff Late

Workers at Peninsula Bay, a $574 million Sihanoukville resort whose former directors have been placed under US sanction, say their pay keeps arriving late. The US Treasury sanctioned Aik Paung and Sai Aung Linn for their alleged involvement in scam and money laundering operations. Corporate records show they stayed on as directors of the developer until December 2025. The project is now two years late, and completion is being claimed for 2030. Chan Vorleak, who earns $11 a day making concrete forms, said her team is regularly waiting five to 10 days for wages due, but management blames the late payments from Peninsula Bay to their subcontractor. The developer itself wasn’t named in the sanctions.

Phnom Penh Denies Giving Activists to Vietnam

The Interior Ministry is denying that Cambodian officials arrested a pair of democracy activists and handed them to Vietnam. Australian Tran Hiep and Norwegian Nguyen Duc Thuan, both of Vietnamese origin, flew into Techo International Airport from Thailand in mid-September. Vietnamese police say the two were picked up three days later at the My Quy Tay border post in Tay Ninh province. Hanoi says they were entering illegally and were members of (alleged terrorist group) Viet Tan. Immigration records show no official Cambodian departure for either man. An international network of lawyers claims that they were picked up in Cambodia and taken across the border, and they want UN and Cambodian investigations.

IMF Suggests Targeted Fuel Relief as Costs Rise

The IMF says pricier imported fuel and fertilizer are raising farm costs and weighing on agricultural output. Phnom Penh has cut fuel taxes and duties in addition to making cash transfers and cost of living payments to those harder hit. The IMF think that temporary, targeted help for vulnerable households is better than widespread fuel subsidies or price controls; they are asking Cambodian monetary authorities to tighten policy if inflation doesn’t ease.

Approved Investment Drops Below $6B

Cambodia approved just $5.92 billion in registered investment capital from January to September, down from $7.8 billion over the same time frame last year. The Council for the Development of Cambodia signed off on 382 projects (almost a third fewer than they did in 2025). The figures include new money for existing projects. China ponied up more than half the reported capital, followed by domestic investors. Industry is still the main draw, and the council says that approved projects could create as many as 217,000 jobs.

Phnom Penh Inks Pact With Türkiye

Cambodia and Turkiye have signed a military agreement in Istanbul during Prime Minister Hun Manet's visit. President Erdogan welcomed Cambodia's interest in Turkish defense products and took the opportunity to call for Camodia’s border dispute with Thailand to be settled by way of dialogue and international law. Minister Delegate Jean-Francois Tain made a point to emphasize that the pact is for training and capacity building, not the sale/ purchase of weapons.

Read more: Khmer Times (border dispute), Turkiye Today (agreement), Daily Sabah (talks), Khmer Times (training)

Hun Manet Boosts Kazakh Trade Route

Hun Manet and Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov are talking up a link between the Trans Caspian route and the China, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia corridor as a new path to European markets. Neither delegation made mention of any cargo forecasts or sources of funding. The first visit to Kazakhstan by a Cambodian prime minister also resulted in seven MOUs on digital government, trade, tourism and culture, in addition to a twin city agreement between Phnom Penh and Astana. Bilateral trade was $40.7 million through 2025.

Read more: Khmer Times (agreements), Trend (trade route), Qazinform (farm exports), Astana Times (trade)

Factory Rents Up, Luxury Condo Prices Down

The property market is bifurcating. Rents for ready built factories is up almost 4 percent QoQ to $2.90 per square meter a month, and asking prices for luxury condos is down nearly 7 percent. Rents for Grade A serviced apartments has dropped about 14 percent.

Bicycle Exports Up 23 Percent to $552M

Cambodia was able to export an impressive $552 million worth of bicycles and electric bikes from January through September, a figure that’s up almost a quarter (23 percent, to be precise) from the same period last year. The biggest buyers were the United States, Europe, Canada, and Australia in that order.

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