Cambodia

A new train line connecting Laos and China helped attract tourists to the Southeast Asian country in 2023. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Travel & Leisure

Visitors to ASEAN hit 100m in 2023, 70% of pre-COVID level

Chinese-financed infrastructure drawing tourists to Laos, Cambodia

15 April 2024
One of the unfinished 'ghost buildings' in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.  (Photo by Hiroki Endo)
Property

Chinese exodus leaves Cambodia boomtown with 500 'ghost buildings'

Sihanoukville saddled with unfinished projects due to casino clampdown and COVID

14 April 2024
Muay Thai was adopted as a basic training program in Cobra Gold, one of the biggest multilateral military exercises in Southeast Asia, held in Thailand from late February. (Royal Thai Armed Forces)
International relations

Thailand taking the offensive over the origin of Muay Thai

Cambodia claims itself as the birthplace of the martial art

7 April 2024
Even after stepping down as prime minister in 2023, Hun Sen has remained a highly influential figure in Cambodian politics. (Photo by Yuji Nitta)
Politics

Cambodia ex-PM Hun Sen set to return to diplomatic stage

Longtime leader elected Senate president as family tightens grip on power

4 April 2024
A Chinese warship at Ream Naval Base on March 20: The base is about 70 km from the mouth of the planned canal. (Photo obtained by Nikkei)
Defense

Chinese warships spotted again at Cambodia naval base

Upgraded Ream facilities scrutinized by West wary of China's maritime expansion

1 April 2024
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet's new government has denied connections to a detained tycoon. (Photo by Hiroki Endo)
Crime

Cambodia moves to 'drain the swamp' with arrest of tycoons

Accused swindler Leng Channa is third 'lord' to face legal action in recent months

27 March 2024
A ship transports containers down the Mekong River. Recently installed Cambodian PM Hun Manet said the $1.7 billion China-backed canal project would allow his country to "breathe through our own nose," diverting its goods for export directly to its own coast rather than via the Vietnam-controlled Mekong Delta. (Photo by Jack Brook)
Asia Insight

Cambodia to divert Mekong trade via China-built canal, vexing Vietnam

Planned Phnom Penh-coast link raises alarms amid regional influence tussle

12 March 2024
The Bongkot gas field in the Gulf of Thailand. (PTTEP)
Energy

Thailand and Cambodia revisit natural gas ambitions in disputed waters

Decades after first agreement, neighbors weigh joint development for energy security

27 February 2024
Former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen drops a ballot paper into a voting box for Senate elections on Feb. 25.
Cambodia's new leadership

Cambodia election sweep cements Hun Sen family's grip on power

Strongman's ruling party hit by claims of ballot buying and voter intimidation

26 February 2024
Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport opened last November as a gateway to Cambodia's top tourist destination, the Angkor Wat temple complex.
Transportation

Cambodia's airport dreams stall as Chinese money dries up

Residents say they've been pushed off land to make way for big-ticket projects

23 February 2024
The Indonesian Air Force's aerobatics display team takes to the skies during the Singapore Airshow in 2022.
Your Week in Asia

Singapore Airshow, Japan-Ukraine conference, Cambodia Senate election

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

18 February 2024
Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, right, and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet hold a signing ceremony at Government House in Bangkok on Feb. 7. (Photo by Hiroki Endo) 
International relations

Thailand and Cambodia agree to talks on disputed, energy-rich waters

PMs Srettha and Manet eye special border economic zones amid rights concerns

7 February 2024
Teav Vannol, the Candlelight Party's leader, spoke to Nikkei Asia in Tokyo on Feb. 5. (Photo by Takumi Kobayashi)
Cambodia's new leadership

Cambodian democracy weaker under Hun Manet, says opposition

Candlelight Party's Teav Vannol accuses PM of tightening political controls

5 February 2024
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin
Your Week in Asia

Cambodian PM in Thailand, Taylor Swift visits Asia, Pakistan election

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

4 February 2024
The money laundering trials of two Taiwanese men has links to Southeast Asian cyberscam rings, authorities say. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters)
Crime

Taiwan money laundering trials spotlight Asian cyberscam sector

'Major' cases track flow of money from casinos, online gaming operations

3 February 2024
French President Emmanuel Macron, right, winks as he welcomes Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Jan. 18.
International relations

Cambodia's Hun Manet given wary welcome by West despite rights record

Hitting out at repression risks pushing country into 'China's orbit,' analysts say

26 January 2024
The Angkor Wat temple complex is a world-famous tourist site in Cambodia -- not Thailand, as one TikToker in Vietnam recently implied. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Technology

Vietnam fines TikToker $300 for saying Angkor Wat is in Thailand

Online influencer accused of distorting Cambodia's culture for clickbait

4 January 2024
Chinese tourists visit Bangkok's Wat Phra Kaew temple in August. People from the country made up the world's biggest outbound travel market before the COVID pandemic, with 155 million trips in 2019. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Travel & Leisure

In charts: How Asia's tourism recovery is held back by stay-home Chinese

World's biggest foreign travel market hurt by weak economy, safety concerns

21 December 2023
Gov. Chea Serey says Cambodia's central bank is expanding the Bakong's cross-border payment network. (Photo by Shigeru Seno)
Technology

Cambodia chalks up 10m Bakong digital currency accounts

Central bank focuses on internationalizing its blockchain-based payment system

19 December 2023
Chinese online scam suspects are escorted by Chinese police officers before being deported from Cambodia in 2017.
Crime

Global law enforcement targets Southeast Asian cyberscam gangs

U.K. launches first sanctions against suspects involved in online fraud schemes

13 December 2023
People using their smartphones in a Phnom Penh park. Cambodia follows other Southeast Asian nations that have rolled out data protection laws.
Politics

Cambodia's draft data protection law fans fears of government abuse

Leaked legislation says personal data could be exposed in the 'national interest'

8 December 2023
Henry Kissinger and Vietnam's Le Duc Tho speak to the press in a Paris suburb on June 13, 1973, the year they were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize -- which Tho declined.
Obituaries

Kissinger cast a long and uneven shadow in Southeast Asia

Controversial bringer of war and peace left mixed messages in the region

1 December 2023
Laborers work at a brick factory on the outskirts of Phnom Penh in 2018. Rights groups say debt bondage remains pervasive in the industry. 
Property

Spotlight on debt bondage as Cambodia's property sector slows

Human rights group says brick factories hold indebted families indefinitely

20 November 2023
Cambodia's 12th Century Angkor Wat temple complex is a major tourism draw for the poor Southeast Asian nation. 
Politics

Cambodia's Angkor Wat at center of forced-evictions row

Thousands booted from their homes at World Heritage Site, rights groups say

20 November 2023
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet speaks during the opening ceremony for the Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport on Nov. 16. (Photo by Yuji Nitta)
Transportation

China-funded airport opens in Cambodia with more projects to come

Belt and Road highways, ports and railways also planned, raising local concerns

17 November 2023