In Cambodian casino town, Chinese bet on future after coronavirus

But Kang is betting on a future beyond the pandemic, banking on the return of money from China to finish transforming the scrappy frontier town into a gleaming metropolis.

In a sign of his confidence, Kang's casino has installed gold urinals.

"This city is just starting, there is a lot of potential," says Kang, 60. "I love it. Sihanoukville gives you a feeling of freedom and no control."

For Kang and others, the city is like the China of several decades ago - with all of the promise and none of the competition. The current idle is only a blip.

"China is huge, there will always be people interested in Sihanoukville," says Yin Hongsi, a 30-year-old from Chengdu who hires workers for one of the casinos. "You don't need to worry if the Chinese will come back."

The boom town on the Cambodian coast has a deep water port and is part of China's Belt and Road initiative. In the next three years, Sihanoukville will also host both the Southeast Asian Games and a meeting of regional leaders.

The casinos have reshaped the city's landscape so frequently that locals struggle to recognize it.

The contrasts can be jarring.

Inside casinos, wads of U.S. hundred-dollar bills pile up in batches of $10,000 beside white marble ashtrays.

Outside, streets are coated in fine orange dust and pedestrians cross rivulets of sewage on scraps of plywood. It's a disconnect familiar to anyone who lives on China's margins.

"China speed", exclaims Gavin Gao, a gleeful young Chinese tech entrepreneur from Chengdu who has chosen to stick things out.

"Sihanoukville is going at China speed ... Here is China 2.0!"

Cambodians have mixed feelings about the Chinese. Their arrival brought money and jobs - and now their sudden absence is causing problems.

"People used to say 'Sihanoukville is the best'. There are lots of Chinese and lots of money,'" says Siv Tia, a 69-year-old who makes a few dollars a day selling drinks in the market. "Now they say 'everyone in Sihanoukville has a big bank loan'".

The collapse of a half-built Chinese-owned building last year, killing dozens, fuelled resentment in the town. So did the constant noise of construction, rising crime and rubbish piled in the streets.

Zhao sits in a window-lined atrium of a half a billion-dollar hotel, casino and apartment complex on the beachfront. It broke ground last August, just as the online gambling ban was announced, and has seen a sharp slowdown in sales because of the coronavirus, but is still on track to open in two years.

Zhao ticks off reasons Cambodia is appealing: it's a U.S. dollar economy, Hun Sen is close to China and is a longtime, stable autocrat.

"Our money is safe," he says.