One Belt, One Road Disaster! 500 Ghost Towns in Cambodia, Billions Invested Lost

A Chinese blogger In Sihanoukville, Cambodia couldn't help but sigh: "It's all unfinished buildings, failures before they even begin. The tall ones over there are all unfinished buildings."
You wouldn't believe it without seeing it. Chinese investors spent billions in Cambodia, but all the properties lie abandoned. It's reported that there are over 1,000 unfinished buildings in Sihanoukville alone. Do they have no intention of completing them? This is the seaside in Sihanoukville, and the scenery here is still quite nice. However, in contrast, the abandoned buildings on the other side are quite bleak.
#chinaobserver
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[@robhappe2705]

Everywhere where Chinese go it becomes a mess!

[@manuelr1405]

yes in the Phillipines too we had an idiot Duterte former Pres. brought all those headaches there.

[@MSDGroup-ez6zk]

LOL better than Boeing or that American's bridge. LOL American products are low quality products and expensive with ugly customer service.

[@nambawanmetonot]

Yeah. They’re like Blacks.

[@leapdrive]

And those countries who cooperate with China - Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia experience the overnight decline of property value and turn them into ghost cities.

[@seanpetaia]

Nothing nice coming out from that dame country 🙄

[@janicehuff1183]

A belt to strangle your economy and a road to nowhere. I hope Cambodia gets out of this situation and African countries take note.

[@mnewm21]

The problem is the leaders of government in these quasi democracies seem corrupt. They aren't working for the people but for themselves and are targeted very specifically by Chinese interests for this very reason.

[@imperialkhmer6146]

😂😂😂😂. This is a golden comment

[@billotto602]

Too late. 😪😪😪

[@CP-zi3eg]

In Cambodia China made a copy and paste of its bad habits as usual...but Cambodia people didn't realize it

[@PM2024-]

Gambling, prostitution, scam centers, exotic animal trade, etc

[@khongbietsao4846]

Cambodia don't lean nothing from 1979 when china help the ponpot to kill 1.7 mil Combodia ppl man it sad............

[@ryanreedgibson]

It's sad. I feel bad for Cambodians. Eff the CCP.

[@simplyrogue]

oh they were part of it. who are u kidding? HUn SEn gets his cut

[@justinwolf7490]

Also there are a lot of “rage bait” Facebook Chinese and Russian propaganda pages labeled as “satire” popping up and the people running them are almost always in Vietnam and Cambodia. They are trying to interfere in our elections again. Report these pages if you see them

[@Rattler808]

commenters often say china brings business...but they never tell you its bad business. 😂

[@seanpetaia]

Ohhh gosh! Just like that building in NYC where they just left a building completely abandoned.

[@Tiaimo]

Chinese can make profit from any countries except Cambodia. Even Chinese were scam by cambodian. 🤣🤣🤣

[@celiakynoch6937]

Beware .

[@powershift2024]

Also every now and again a worldwide virus too. 😮

[@MSDGroup-ez6zk]

LOL better than Boeing or that American's bridge. LOL American products are low quality products and expensive with ugly customer service.

[@billmunch9623]

I live in Cambodia and there's a huge unfinished Chinese development down the street from me. First, the CCP banned online gambling, then the pandemic and real estate bubble burst. These investments are dead and not to be revived.

[@martynbush]

I spent a few days in Sihanoukville around 2007 before the Chinese took over. It was really pleasant. I haven't been back since, as I'm told it's now a huge Chinese casino ghetto.

[@shinodamasaru7945]

It's just ruins.

[@karahmihan2766]

​@@shinodamasaru7945ruins to be paid to.

[@wuhaninstituteofvirology]

(wouldn't recognize it today if went back)

[@johnsomn2148]

Hey countries in AFRICA PLEASE PAY ATTENTION 😢

[@bobby5678-ck2tc]

They won't as they love to blame all of there problems on white people and North Americans while they are being colonized by China and Russia they will continue to blame us lol they really do not learn anything it's easy to blame others yet hundreds of millions of them will try to invade our lands in the coming decades barbarians always love to go to places that are built and then cause chaos that's how all empires end up dying by allowing immigration.

[@NYJGreatness]

It’s already too late.

[@MSDGroup-ez6zk]

LOL better than Boeing or that American's bridge. LOL American products are low quality products and expensive with ugly customer service.

[@heartlessangel1460]

They won't....

[@noniboo1521]

The Chinese are building places in Africa and not allowing any Africans into them. You can't allow discrimination back into their country.

[@ICallItAsItIs]

Countries that allow china to build in there countries definitely have not heard about Tofu Dreg construction. It's suicide letting someone to do that who is not known for craftsmanship and quality.

[@megman2465]

It's not the construction that is the problem (the builders for these structures would most likely come from the locals and not Chinese construction companies), it's the funding for these buildings that have dried out, once the investors pulled out.The investors lost money and left, and the locals are the ones left to witness these gravestones of failed promises of prosperity.

[@ryanseet8314]

Never mind that, now you left holding the bill as well

[@NYJGreatness]

@@megman2465: I don’t think those countries use their own builders. China usually uses its own builders.

[@MSDGroup-ez6zk]

LOL better than Boeing or that American's bridge. LOL American products are low quality products and expensive with ugly customer service.

[@bchompoo]

I felt grateful to our negotiation team who did the One Belt talk with China a decade ago when Chinese government wanted to build the high speed train through my country to reach down south of South East Asia. They denied a loan from China and demanded full rights on the land (in our country), which meant only local people can own the land and do business along the train line. I think the team was very clever in dealing with Chinese. Now looking at what Chinese businessmen did with Cambodia, Malaysia and many country, I feel really sorry for them.

[@Holystar12]

I remember the report that Chinese use Sihanokville as a underworld casinos, criminals, human trafficking, drug and gun dealers, and cash goes like a cycle back to mainland China. Cambodia got nothing but debts and lost their ports to China (Cambodia gov has the highest corruption too, no suprising).

[@milesinnz]

still is and not just their ports.. airports and now the new canal that is proposed...

[@MSDGroup-ez6zk]

LOL better than Boeing or that American's bridge. LOL American products are low quality products and expensive with ugly customer service.

[@boonsuanteck4684]

sad

[@thanhthuyang9697]

​@@milesinnz..Hi & ❤❤ fr Việt Nam!!..That Exactly. Hunsen & his boy not good

[@nguyenhieu1687]

That is absolutely right! Most of the buildings built by the Chinese in Cambodia are places to detain citizens of many countries who were tricked into being sold to Cambodia and forced into slavery. Their main job is online fraud. In 2023, Vietnam will lose 16 billion USD due to online fraud. China's Special Economic Zone in Cambodia and Laos is the capital of Chinese gangsters.

[@senator1295]

dictators; are never wrong; never wrong; never wrong

[@Jeff-ej4wp]

Xi is a moron.

[@omahanprabla3058]

You're weong, they're always correct, always true.

[@jordie4423]

Chinese citizens are changing their currency for dollars, it seems they do not trust the Chinese government to be able to keep the country and the economy afloat. Since there is no other party to fix the mess, and more and more centralization of power and the economy, I don’t see a soft landing either. All the critics of the disastrous policies of the CCP are “wrong”, correction has to occur via the direction the market and people will force the CCP in

[@Jeff-ej4wp]

@@omahanprabla3058 Especially dictator Xi is always wrong because Xi is an idiot.

[@stevenphillips3466]

Chinese Dictators are never Wong

[@CultureoftheWorld]

Excellent episode Real journalism That mainstream media will never get

[@qtdcanada]

China's gift to Cambodia in the 1970's was the Khmer Rouge who killed up to 2 million people (~ 20-25%) of the country's population between April 1975 (when they won power) and March 1979 when they were defeated by Vietnamese forces. History repeats itself as China has given Cambodia a new gift of wrecked economy from manipulated real estate sector. Very sad & tragic!

[@danieleverywhere132]

i am surprised officially cambodian economy is still growing i guess chinese investors brought enough of money to last for a while

[@quendi9381]

Cambodia's economy grows mainly thanks to exports to Vietnam. Now, Cambodia wants to export to other countries, destroy the lower Mekong River and return to harm Vietnam like the Khmer Rouge. Let's see how far these perpetually ungrateful people can go.

[@BabaoneBabaone-dp6fs]

Cambodia was the most bombed country of human history .. by who ?? Not China

[@nataliev.149]

North Vietnamese communist was also contributing to the KR issue, they’re illegal base in Cambodia caused the American bombings in the first place. Cambodia and America were not at war, but America was bombing Viet Congs who were at war with. China and Vietnam and the US has much of a role so let’s not blame everything on China just because they are now a competitor to the west. Laos is the most bomb country.

[@Savchenkov1]

@@BabaoneBabaone-dp6fs State facts, not hot air coming out your ass !

[@truesouth4784]

The Bait and Rob Initiative has destroyed Sihanoukville. It was once paradise found but is now paradise lost. I remember visiting years ago and it reminded me of Bali from 20 years ago. Now it looks like the Gaza Strip.

[@smdramli]

free palestine!

[@neonboy99]

This was no part of the One Belt and One Road Initiative. Sihanoukville was built with dirty money from online scammers and rich Chinese who wanted to move money out of China. All this ended when Cambodia deported 300,000 Chinese back in 2019 and banned all online gambling n scams.

[@wuhaninstituteofvirology]

(shady gambling scams /chinese gangs operating in cambodia aside, i think it is part of BRI for the port @ sihanoukville

[@owenb8636]

China's biggest export is half-constructed skyscrapers

[@brotherowl]

Actually it is corruption.

[@nguyenhieu1687]

Social evils and gangsters.

[@MaximusDC406]

They overbuilt there hoping to lure mainly Chinese tourists and gamblers, nothing for the local Cambodians . Now that Chinese don’t have much money to travel & gamble , it’s a ghost town and nothing for the local to survive, a failed city at international scale for both governments.

[@simplyrogue]

this isnt a tourist country. nothing to see here

[@MSDGroup-ez6zk]

LOL better than Boeing or that American's bridge. LOL American products are low quality products and expensive with ugly customer service.

[@avernvrey7422]

That wasn't it. Cambodia outlawed gambling. With the casinos gone the Chinese had no reason to visit there.

[@MSDGroup-ez6zk]

@@avernvrey7422 yeah the same reason not to use any Boeing.

[@Firepowered]

​@@MSDGroup-ez6zktf does that have to do with anything.

[@homerj806]

China's newest export. Tofu dreg buildings. One of these projects is in LA. The property have been abandoned since 2019 and is now filled with graffiti because the CHINESE owner have stopped paying for security. The city is now paying millions for security for this PRIVATE PROPERTY. The CHINESE owner have refused to return the city's calls. The city may have started to lien this project.

[@luongo7886]

My goodness! These Chinese turn everything into sh*t! Please give me the name of this trashy 🗑️ project in Los Angeles?

[@luongo7886]

My goodness! These Chinese turn everything into sh*t! Please give me the name of this trashy 🗑️ project in Los Angeles?

[@Hieuroic]

LA should just take it if the owner isn't paying for it anymore

[@MeiinUK]

It's weird that nobody is investigating this...

[@powershift2024]

Chinese real estate builders have been bankrupt for over a decade. If only more people would buy their bonds 😂

[@joseph1150]

Smooth brain thinking: Go to a place where the wages are low and build premium real estate that nobody asked for.

[@mnewm21]

its not premium though, you look at the buildings closely and you can see the level of quality is not there. It's all about the look, the fit and finish is often very poor, and can't be maintained as the skills required aren't available locally. If they were locals would take on finishing some of the abandoned towers themselves.

[@joseph1150]

@@mnewm21 Yeah, everything China makes is about looking good while being cheap as possible about it. They have high rises in the middle of major cities where they sell the apartments for 100x + times the annual salaries of the people buying them that are made from improperly mixed concrete. Plaster over foam and newspaper for the facades. You can literally poke your fingers into major support columns. And the locals would have to go through a process of taking the land, which is potentially politically dangerous for a country like Cambodia.

[@imperialkhmer6146]

​@@joseph1150I was going to buy a condo in Sihanoukeville but the price for a tiny studio room was about 53k. There is nothing special about it. I talked down to 20k but they said no. Asked why the price was so high? They said demand was high and location 😂😂. Walked out

[@joseph1150]

@@imperialkhmer6146 Their entire marketing plan is FOMO.

[@bchompoo]

If only Chinese would lessen their greed and be fair to their counterparts. It seems the karma wheel is turning towards them now.

[@brotherowl]

They cannot, Pink. It is in their DNA.

[@Darkstar-se6wc]

Now who do they remind me of … 🤔

[@nsalleh9493]

Yes and if only the Europeans in the past did the same, then the third-world countries would still have abundant resources nowadays. All of their wealth was stolen and brought back to Europe during the colonial era. Period.

[@cornelisachtenzestig5533]

We were in Sihanoukville last month on our way to the islands. What a sad dump, this city. The buildings that were finished didn't show any action. The facades of some buildings that were finished were already falling apart. These facades looked like a film set. Sad city but the Cambodian people were really, heart-warming, friendly. Sihanoukville shouldn't put you off to visit Cambodia. The place you show at 12.18 is an excellent, well run guest house in Shihanoukville. This is where western travellers stay before they take the ferry to the islands.

[@DiscoDrew]

Sihanoukville was a sleepy fishing town until 2015. I remember the Government evicting Cambodians out of their wooden shacks along Otres Beach in 2017. Then 200 Casinos arrived.

[@trusfratedbunny2215]

But scammers in cambodia scams overseas ppl from other developing countries using these ghost town buildings as their khopcha, Some thousands of indian skilled IT workers r kidnapped & kept there, forcing them to scam their own fellow indians in india, they were trapped by give false offer of gud pay jobs & live by those scammer agents of cambodia, so some thousand of indians specially from southern indian states came in their bluff

[@geneappeal]

I was there in 2013. It was a rough and tumble kind of place with an authentic character. It was Cambodia. Otres beach was a wonderful place to chill and hang out with the locals. It reminded me of Phuket in 1980. There were no casinos. Why are the Chinese so addicted to casinos? Sihanoukville is full of them now and plagued by all the social ills that are part and parcel. At one time I considered retiring there. It's not a place to live anymore.

[@quendi9381]

@@geneappeal They are all big brother, papa China. (Casino boss)

[@geneappeal]

@@quendi9381 I thought casinos were a popular way to get money out of the country?

[@Nitreous]

I have lived in Cambodia for 15 years. The buildings were abandoned after changes to overseas gambling laws. They were hoping to turn Sihanoukville into the next Macau....

[@geneappeal]

What a tragedy that would have been. One Macau is enough. There's also the fact that real estate development in China was a giant Ponzi scheme. Just like housing developments in China they were building casinos for the sake of it. New buildings meant new money to pay off the last bunch of investors. Real estate was one of the few places ordinary Chinese could invest their savings and it became a visible mark of how high on the social ladder you had climbed. It didn't matter if there was no demand. Anyway I hope the locals will find some way to turn this around. Maybe these undeveloped hotels can be turned into cheap condos for Western retirees.

[@imperialkhmer6146]

Now they want to change the model and turn it into a IT city like Shenzhen 😂😂

[@gareth449]

It`s nothing new , 15 years ago Sihanoukville used to be a really nice little town with a lot of European Tourists , then the Chinese came and tried to make it into a Gambling city for Chinese tourists , which ruined it , the Europeans stopped coming , now see what they have from it

[@PM2024-]

was there in 2007. I’m sure I wouldn’t recognize it today

[@MeiinUK]

It means, when the Europeans came.. they dropped their own currencies into these poor countries to uplift their GDP and allow their participation in global finances. When the Chinese came... They basically took those foreign money and dropping Chinese cheap yuan.. to keep their own banks from collapsing.... And bankrupting. That is what is going on... When the foreign money was created.... You didn't have the proper educated people to fight off these Chinese sharks.. and they are using cheap shots from Chinese state owned ways to influence global finances.. landing you guys in worst hot water...

[@danieleverywhere132]

@@PM2024- there is nothing to recognize,i would say there is not single building on Oucheutel beach standing you saw in 2007 but now with Chinese almost gone tourists will slowly return because there are so many hotels rooms will surely be cheap it is surreal place

[@MSDGroup-ez6zk]

LOL better than Boeing or that American's bridge. LOL American products are low quality products and expensive with ugly customer service.

[@boonsuanteck4684]

in 2017, i warned my local colleagues in Sihanouk they sold its paradise to greed! And, it worst today, in ruins.😢

[@brimleyhillmassive]

Congratulations to Sihanoukville residents for finally removing the offenders.

[@lukecat3825]

Chinese building projects are as high quality as Russias military equipment.

[@jakleo337]

At least 50 year old ruzzian tanks can still be made to work.

[@lukecat3825]

@@jakleo337 Thai is more than you can say for the plumbing in a Chinese building.

[@MSDGroup-ez6zk]

LOL better than Boeing or that American's bridge. LOL American products are low quality products and expensive with ugly customer service.

[@1228valera]

You can't compare this two things, if Russian military gear was that bad it would've resulted in a total loss in Ukraine pretty soon and US wouldn't even have to pointlessly spend tens of billions every few months

[@barrybrodin7085]

Russian bot eh😆

[@Savchenkov1]

I was there last month and I can say the Chinese have made a real mess of this once lovely city. From where I stayed I counted four abandoned high rise buildings just rusting away. The Chinese are set on building hotels, casinos and girly entertainment all for themselves, nothing good has come out of all this failed construction for the Khmer people. Have some self pride and independance Cambodia, you don't need this infestation.

[@pp-bf2ec]

That is not true at all. City population has tripled in last 10 years, mostly locals. Average salary has went from $150 to $300. Unemployed rate is at all time low.

[@tedzehnder961]

China exports all kinds of things including COVID and Corruption.

[@rodolphegilles]

Covid research financed by the USA (Dr Fauci)

[@user-df5zq9up3t]

Countries should refuse to make payments to china until the project is completed. Any person realise that this speed of consvtruction is bad in the long run

[@ManuManu-ih7yx]

they built a 13km metro line for Vietnam in... 13 years, with the price doubled compared to what they announced

[@brolymeng7946]

When I was a kid I remember when Sihanoukville was such a beautiful small beach city with only few tall buildings and very clean. But now the Chinese have been ruinning the small city with there unfinish buildings and Casinos and I hope the government are doing something to restore the once beautiful small city.

[@johnbutterfield1727]

I was in Cambodia 20 years ago and was in Sihanoukville for a few days. It was a quiet small town with a beautiful quiet beach with a few beach bars on. So sad how it has changed not for the better 😢

[@popcorn6931]

enjoy chinese greatness with free ghost cities. Now you can understand how great china's building capacity is. my problem becomes your problem.

[@naebodyknows7016]

I visited S/Ville many times in the early 2000s, I was working in Phnom penh as an English teacher. The city was targeted by the Russian Mafia as a place to launder money, some of the Russians bought citizenship and then bought off national and local politicians, one of the Russians even bought themselves a high rank in the Army. For a couple of years it was not uncommon to read about them fighting and even killing each other after they had business disagreements. Now it is the Chinese gangsters that rule the city, and doing the same as the Russians just on a much larger scale ,, and the people ruling Cambodia just keep getting paid.

[@kevinthailand2567]

Chinese have ruined Sihanoukville. The local Khmer can't afford to live in their own country! Sihanoukville was a lovey quiet beach town but it's a ghost town awash in corruption and Chinese. So sad for Cambodia.

[@mmmoroi]

Blowing trumpet is one thing, managing to complete something through constant painstaking effort is quite another.

[@leunam3434]

In San Francisco, California, Oceanwide Center of China has a $1.6 billion hole in the ground unfinished project.

[@avernvrey7422]

The casinos were outlawed, and shortly after the Chinese vanished...

[@wuhaninstituteofvirology]

(it's not outlawed @ poipet, cambodia - right on the border with thailand - that's seedy casino central

[@nguyenhieu1687]

@@wuhaninstituteofvirology Cambodia always builds casinos close to the borders of neighboring countries, which is an evil thing. Cambodian casinos have existed for a long time near the Vietnamese border and are increasing day by day.

[@Laser593]

They do not care about feasibility study. It is all about greed. Same things happen in China. Same things happen to Cambodia. It is all about money and not about sustainability in the long run.

[@bchompoo]

Totally agree. Pure greed.

[@theethicsofliberty4642]

The Chinese Real-estate Bubble was gigantic ... extending to other nations ... but many refused to recognize the clear signs ... !!!

[@AG-en5y]

I dunno man. If you look at Cali, Seattle Washington, Vancouver and Toronto you would be surprised

[@powershift2024]

The real estate bubble will continue to accelerate for close to a decade leaving Xi missing or close to half of their population missing. The deflationary effects are just beginning, and they are getting much, much worse.😮

[@peteryu4991]

Not only overseas in Cambodia- Ghost Town- Another popular Ghost Town is in Malaysia- situated in Johor stare

[@wuhaninstituteofvirology]

johor bahru? (singapore border city)

[@nantakumaran9789]

Ali ,-Baba Business

[@tenzinchoegyal4067]

Tell Africa countes good luck with China

[@NYJGreatness]

It’s too late for that.

[@MSDGroup-ez6zk]

LOL better than Boeing or that American's bridge. LOL American products are low quality products and expensive with ugly customer service.

[@chimukab5433]

Kinda to late for that

[@Jack-It-UP]

Great reporting, thanks.

[@htee7426]

Now Cambodia plans to allow China to build a major canal….

[@boonsuanteck4684]

more debts...... coming to Cambodia

[@wichpasgangate854]

And they gonna be Province of China. Too many Debts more than 90%

[@LiveLeveLeviL]

“China exports collaterized infrastructure debt, which they will control after intentional economic defaults plague debtor nations. It’s a brilliant 200+ year strategy… with a terrible 20 year outlook..”

[@wuhaninstituteofvirology]

must've learned it from the IMF (& every european colonial, not to mention american, empire, previously

[@rhuonaChanel]

I blame them local town governments for not controlling or implementing regulations to all this constructions and investments

[@DevlinTay]

LOL like the giant ghost Forest City in Malaysia

[@DeLaCruzer11]

Chinese investment equals chinese co!onisation!

[@CultureoftheWorld]

Informative

[@pauljackson1975]

The Narator KILLED IT, I'm so glad you're not AI reading!

[@eugenebrown306]

Sold out. Open the door to land grabs.

[@gregmoore66]

This was actually good

[@wheezysqueezebox7651]

Gambling! That's the ticket! And giant skyscrapers!

[@simplyrogue]

blame Hun Sen and his cronies

[@boonsuanteck4684]

greedy politicians they are!

[@thelanguagespace608]

👍👍

[@EugenioMagay-fc7gm]

Those Buildings are Perfect description of their Ruling Class " HOLLOW "

[@seabedsand]

These buildings are not forced to be repaired, think about why Cambodia is short of funds, and the Federal Reserve is printing money again to harvest the economy of small countries

[@WTHH2]

Case of over investment and overbuilt. Will take at least a decade to recover

[@postscript5549]

The most interesting point to me was the huge gap between America's and China's international debt holdings. Very surprising.

[@mickfitz76]

In Thailand its no different. Phuket so many unfinished condos

[@jasmines.6325]

Cuz they said fuck it

[@khomlay3491]

OMG Cannot believe it China Observer covered this part of the world Amap

[@julianng9997]

One belt one road all dead end

[@wesgraham2262]

Since those Chinese investors and developers abandoned all of their casino-building projects and left dozens of buildings unfinished, Sihanoukville has become a lost cause. And I wanted to retire there but now it’s a broken shell of its former self. 😢

[@1439315]

Concrete columns do NOT cost a billion dollars. Try again on the numbers.

[@eduardochavacano]

Every country has a right to progress. Sihanoukville has one of the best beaches in Asia.

[@dxer22000]

now its become "tighten your belt & road initiative" 😂

[@queenbee4637]

My friend's wife is the sales agent in Cambodia. She sold apartments to family and friends and said it is good investment. Recently I saw her post a 50% discount apartment with views of the beach. If ppl bought from her few years ago they would have lost money in their investment.

[@wuhaninstituteofvirology]

(yea, but now's a good time to ''buy the dip''

[@queenbee4637]

@@wuhaninstituteofvirology yeah, when u thought u bought the dip then there's more dip and then the dippity dip haha

[@imperialkhmer6146]

Those sales agents only want commissions that's all. They don't care about you. 😂

[@HansZarkovPhD]

Hard to believe there is empty waterfront property anywhere.

[@F3arlessWarriorMindset]

It’s not really a total disaster. Cambodian strongman Hun Sen has secured the financial future for himself and his family members for generations to come. At least one man is delighted about the One Belt One Road project 😂

[@Savchenkov1]

A dictator and former member of the Khmer rouge. Has kept Cambodia on the poverty line whilst collecting a personal fortune through corruption. selling of forests, national parks and whole cities

[@davidshanahan5134]

Buildings unfinished, debts soaring, locals suffering but China now owns the place and has influence. Job done as intended, total success for China.

[@MeiinUK]

Yep. And yet their local media doesn't report it this way ?... Cos they are not educated to. Or they don't want to admit it ?...

[@powershift2024]

There won't be a "China" left as the economy continues to disintegrate faster and faster by the day. They better enjoy their "victory" quick.

[@patrickt49]

Influence is only as good as there is money. I have never heard of anyone stay in good standing once they start becoming delinquents.

[@powershift2024]

China bankrupt.

[@MSDGroup-ez6zk]

LOL better than Boeing or that American's bridge. LOL American products are low quality products and expensive with ugly customer service.

[@douglaszhang7955]

Why is it a disaster? Those empty buildings are art! Real life art! The workers were paid and their bosses made a boat load of money and nobody got crushed by the buildings because no one lives in them! What’s the big deal here?

[@keangwooichoo6138]

Similarly forest city in malaysia.

[@reamtevada7685]

Nothing always being perfect. Sihanuville is getting better now.

[@sounhournim1643]

The government have initiated a joint investment incentive to push for investment to complete this building. hopefully they at least complete this project.

[@geowatcher888]

If you decided to retire to Sihanoukville, why ever would you want to be on the 30th floor of a high rise? High rise buildings are frightfully expensive to construct and maintain, and only make sense if land values are extremely high. This should be obvious. Even parts of the US where median salaries are upwards of $100k and house prices beyond $800/sqft don't have high rises and it's not only due to preference and zoning - they just don't make financial sense.

[@Guds777]

Cambodian government should put in law that if a contractor or an investment firm does not finish a building/project in x time the government can legally take ownership of the property and finish it without recompensation...

[@milesinnz]

the government is involved in trying to clean up this mess.. what do you suggest the government do ?

[@MeiinUK]

​@@milesinnz: Take over the bank that is being borrowed from the loan... Move them into Cambodian soil. I mean.. that is how things are done in Europe. An eye for an eye... Or didn't people think that is possible?

[@milesinnz]

@@MeiinUK so how do you propose Cambodia takes over Chinese Banks.. Cambodia is amoung the 40 most poor countries in the World.. you don't have a clue what you are talking about.. clueless...

[@MSDGroup-ez6zk]

LOL better than Boeing or that American's bridge. LOL American products are low quality products and expensive with ugly customer service.

[@mr.freeze3889]

The country should promote Sihanoukville as filming location for Post-apocalypse movies it is perfect. 😊

[@matrixcowpaul2194]

CCP One Belt road is actually ONE DEATH ROAD...😅

[@mukamuka0]

Wow they are literally export ghost city

[@lindakep3968]

Better Chinese here,than American's.

[@ronnelacido1711]

China exported their ghost cities to Cambodia. Hopefully, those buildings are not tofu dregs as well.

[@Mickenos85]

Can Cambodia take possession of these unfinished buildings and take over ownership due to the property being abandoned. And offer it for sale to others who agree to complete construction to an agreed standard, within a agreed timescale that allows ownership to pass to the new owner, on completion as per agreament ?

[@Theravada-rq7ob]

I saw many abandoned construction sites in Siam reap.

[@TUBESPECIFIC1]

$5000 to $8000 a month rent on an apartment is crazy expensive like NYC. I could have never imagined that could exist outside the US except for executive pads in Hong Kong and other world cities. They really screwed up in Cambodia, but can do that for it's a sell out dictatorship of Hun Sen. I wonder if the cost of living is way up in Phnom Phen and Siem Reap? It was still $20 a night aircon rooms 10 years ago.

[@vibewater1722]

Those sure would make good battlegrounds huh.

[@lazerlabmusic9625]

I wonder what will happen with all the half build buildings in Sihanoukvile.

[@user-qf2yl7we7k]

Who decides to develop regardless of the real needs of home country shall be the party responsible for the failure. Foreign company could not fully know the local needs and sentiments.

[@BuzzSargent]

The amount of research taken to make this show is extensive. The problem with the Belt & Road mess is connecting all the CCP dots to show just how horrible this has been for poor nations. This is Chinese Colonialism of any nation it gets into the debt scheme. Some projects can be saved. Others like in Cambodia will have to be demolished without any payback.

[@roymichaeldeanable]

Poor Governance

[@VireakYuth]

It’s not true! The city IS NOT a ghost town! I just went there. The city has a good restaurant and high quality food!

[@makedredd299]

“Belt & Road Initiative” means tightening your belt around your trousers. 👖 - Emperor Mao

[@mm-yt8sf]

was the building spree the fault of poor planning/market research? or was it just "build it to build it and take the money as investment and it will snowball into a fortune to fund starting even more buildings before we finish what we started until...it all collapses"? i guess there was an optimistic "build it and they will come" but "build only half of it and no one will come" 😕 oh...a booming gambling economy + online gambling ban + pandemic is probably difficult to survive. though a half build building will get zero rent instead of low rent

[@allenkrust4410]

Let ask who benefits from such investment, Cambodia or China?

[@rogerfilerable]

One Belt, One Road and All Wrecks.

[@melvinvillafuerte1784]

I've watched also have in Malaysia a Ghost Town China Project

[@MrTynanDraper]

It doesn't matter...China seems to have infinite funds

[@melvindevilleres6332]

Hope these buildings are not partly financed by Cambodian Banks and Cambodian Govt...

[@SoYappy]

Usually not many Cambodian involved, most $$ were laundered from China through illicit activities, eg. Internet scams, drugs etc…with corrupted officials took the cuts.

[@gsomethingsomething2658]

_"500 Ghost Towns in Cambodia"_ Cambodia isn't big enough to have 500 ghost towns.

[@bhubestakesoponsatien1143]

In TH , prefer to hire Laos and Burmese , hard working and good manners

[@DEEYANASE]

Holiday in Cambodia ♬ 😊

[@anonymousdevildog1406]

My nation sends BILLIONS to a Country to support WAR w/ NO return but dead bodies. Imagine if the US just sent 1.5B and invested into a nation like this... imagine the influence and jobs .

[@Cryosxify]

looks like pacifica from cyberpunk

[@audreylin3466]

Too bad about the B&R. It could have worked had they supported the local economy instead of bringing in their own and exploiting their host.

[@johnmac8100]

There isn't 500 cities/towns in Cambodia... what a load of crap.