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Cambodia
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LettersCambodia should investigate those who enabled scam networks

Readers discuss how Cambodia can regain international credibility, and vigilance against fraudulent loans and transactions

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A Thai soldier stands guard in a compound that the Thai military says was used for scam operations, in the town of O’Smach, along Cambodia’s northern border with Thailand, on April 7. Photo: Reuters
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Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet’s commitments to international partners last month exposed the limits of the claim that the country is serious about dismantling the cyber-scam industry that has flourished within its borders.
Hun Manet spoke of stronger enforcement and closer cooperation with international partners. Yet his response to a question about US sanctions against Cambodian People’s Party senators Ly Yong Phat and Kok An told a different story. By dismissing the sanctions as legal matters to be contested, he sought to separate the allegations from the political system that elevated and protected the individuals.
That distinction is difficult to sustain. Online scam compounds that have trafficked tens of thousands of people into forced labour, generated billions of dollars in illicit proceeds and occupied major commercial developments did not emerge through isolated acts of corruption. They depended on political protection, patronage and regulatory failure. By the time Hun Manet became prime minister in 2023, investigative journalists, civil society organisations and the United Nations had been documenting links between scam compounds and politically connected business interests for some time.

This is why the existing international sanctions against Ly Yong Phat and Kok An matter. They move the discussion beyond the arrest of low-level operators and towards the question of elite accountability. Allegations involving senior members of the ruling party should trigger credible, independent investigations by the Cambodian authorities and not be treated as private legal disputes.

Phnom Penh’s recent crackdown on scam compounds is a welcome step, but raids alone cannot resolve a problem whose foundations are political as well as criminal. Closing sites while avoiding scrutiny of those alleged to have facilitated them risks reinforcing perceptions of selective justice rather than restoring confidence in the rule of law.

If Hun Manet wants Cambodia to regain international credibility, he must demonstrate that the law applies equally to everyone, regardless of wealth, political influence or official position. Cooperation with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other international partners, including China, is important, but ultimately Hun Manet will be judged not by the number of compounds his administration closes, but by whether he is prepared to investigate powerful figures when credible allegations arise. That would send the clearest possible signal that no one is beyond the reach of the law.

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