20220726 Sihanoukville main

Sihanoukville has lost much of its luster as a tourist destination since the development bubble burst, with 1,155 unfinished buildings littering the city. (Photo by Vann Soben)

Stuck in Sihanoukville: Projects grind to halt in Cambodia resort town

Rampant development turns seaside jewel into mess of unfinished casinos and condos

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia -- Last month, a handful of Chinese developers sat around a desk on the fifth floor of a beachside hotel in Sihanoukville, the Cambodian coastal city they once saw as a promised land.

Over tea and cigarettes, they described how their dreams of seaside success had turned into a nightmare of costly stalled projects and drawn-out legal disputes with landlords.

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