Table of Contents
Cambodia’s Commercial Gambling Management Commission (CGMC) has reviewed a near-final draft of a new casino inspection and quality assessment framework, along with proposed changes to the oversight of special casino employee licences, during a meeting in Phnom Penh on July 1.
CGMC Secretary General Yeth Vinel chaired the session, which also included Deputy Secretary General Sen Sopheap, technical advisers and department directors, according to local media reports.
A more structured approach to inspections
The quality inspection project is intended to give the CGMC a standardised method for evaluating casino operations and confirming that licensed properties meet regulatory and operational requirements. Officials worked through the final draft of the framework at the meeting, alongside proposed adjustments to the commission’s internal working groups. The restructuring is designed to align regulatory resources with the CGMC’s current enforcement priorities as it works through an expanding caseload of compliance reviews across the country’s licensed casino sector.
Participants also discussed measures to strengthen the administration of special casino employee licences, a category covering staff who work directly on gaming floor operations. The commission has flagged licensing administration as an area requiring tighter oversight as it works to close gaps that have previously allowed non-compliant activity to continue undetected inside licensed premises.
Comes after a string of licence revocations
The review follows the CGMC’s revocation of the casino licence held by Casino Ying Huang in Preah Sihanouk province in May, after a joint enforcement operation uncovered alleged links to online scam activity. The raid resulted in the detention of 66 individuals and the seizure of nearly 1,000 computers, more than 400 mobile phones, a firearm and suspected narcotics. The commission subsequently reminded all licensed operators to comply fully with Cambodian law and warned against any involvement in online scams or other criminal activity.
The Ying Huang case followed a similar action in Poipet, where the CGMC revoked the licence of KMH Paradise Tower Casino and Hotel after investigators found operator Mai Chan Entertainment Co., Ltd. had breached CGMC Instruction No. 003/26, which sets out premises and equipment requirements for licensed casinos, in connection with alleged scam operations. The Poipet and Preah Sihanouk actions form part of a wider crackdown that has included raids on more than 250 suspected scam centres nationwide over the past year, according to government figures, with more than 241,000 individuals reported to have voluntarily left Cambodia between mid-January and April as enforcement activity intensified.
Regulator under sustained pressure
Cambodia has moved to tighten its grip on the commercial gambling sector over the past 18 months. The CGMC has established onsite regulatory offices inside licensed casinos and, in February, issued Instruction No. 003/26, requiring operators to submit detailed premises master plans and gaming equipment layouts for approval. A new law targeting online scam networks, which carries prison terms of up to life imprisonment for operators whose scams result in fatalities, took effect in April after receiving royal assent.
The pressure facing Cambodia’s regulator echoes scrutiny playing out elsewhere in the industry, from compliance penalties handed down against licensed operators in the UK to separate investigations into the conduct of other regulatory bodies. It also comes as several Asian jurisdictions work through their own casino licensing calendars, including Japan’s next integrated resort application window.
The enforcement drive has coincided with a steep decline in Cambodia’s tourism numbers, which a local tourism executive linked in part to negative publicity around scam centres and the country’s ongoing dispute with Thailand. Gambling tax revenue reached $63.1m in 2024, up 85% year-on-year, underscoring the fiscal stakes for the CGMC as it works to separate licensed operators from the scam networks that have drawn international criticism, including from Amnesty International over the renewal of casino licences linked to alleged human rights abuses.
What comes next
The CGMC has not set a timeline for finalising the quality inspection framework or confirmed when the revised working group structure will take effect. Further enforcement action against non-compliant operators looks likely as the commission continues its case-by-case review of Cambodia’s licensed casino sector, particularly properties flagged during ongoing anti-scam operations.
Source: Commercial Gambling Management Commission of Cambodia (CGMC)
