Poipet, a small border town between Thailand and Cambodia, has transformed into a casino outpost where the gamblers are primarily Thai and the workers Cambodian. It is a classic extraterritorial space, not quite Thai or Cambodia, but lying somewhere in a liminal legal, cultural and economic zone between two states. When we visited in August 2015, traffic across this border was busy – there were tourists who used this route to travel cheaply from Thailand to Angkor Wat in Cambodia as well as lorries full of goods, buses full of passengers and those who travelled by foot or bike. Besides the town itself where casino-hotels lay scattered across the landscape, there is a strip of corridor between the two custom checkpoints, about 200-300m in length, that is lined tightly with casinos. Those crossing the border formally can queue at the checkpoints to get their passports chopped, but anyone can walk into this corridor and enter the casinos. In this space of contrasts, one would find beggars squatting along the dusty covered walkways, cafes with internet connection, roadside stalls selling fruits and drinks, tour buses that bring in the gamblers, garish neon signs and Chinese lion statues, and streams of faces just passing through from one gate to the gate, not pausing a moment.
A casino along the Poipet strip. Lobbies of casinos are often very expressive spaces. It is where cultural signs of wealth, luxury, luck and fun all come together and take diverse forms. Here, I find the usual display of artwork, but also donation boxes for various philanthropic projects. I find the “moral” dimension of gambling fascinating, and this is another example of how the flow of money in the casino takes on a positive symbolic value. “Corporate social responsibility”, anyone?
In the same casino, the tableau becomes more elaborate. A Chinese altar to Guanyu, a God of Honor and Protection (not luck or wealth, mind you). Around the altar, an imposing statuary of the deity, large porcelain vases and, to top it all, some neon blinking lights at the backdrop. How to interpret this bizarre collection of objects? I wish I had looked more closely at the display …. but I was chased away for taking this picture. 😛
We took a bus and arrived at the Poipet Strip from the Cambodian side. This is a bridge that crosses into the Thai side.
The checkpoints – you either just walk through without any paperwork, or you walk in and get your documents stamped.
Free shuttle buses bring gamblers in and out of Poipet.
One of the larger casinos along the Poipet Strip. Unlike the others that front the road in a tight urban edge, this one is set back from the road and sits isolated surrounded by a large empty car park. Reminds me of the Las Vegas typology.
In Poipet, but outside the strip. Half-constructed towers and scaffoldings dot the skyline along with large billboards and landscaping features that seem to be deteriorating prematurely.
This one’s got it right.
Inside Star Paradise Hotel Casino, we find rows of slot machines with stickers stuck to them. Each sticker is a winner of a jackpot, some even with photographs and names.
Not exactly arriving in style, but one does get a free ride around Poipet between casinos.
The Star Paradise casino provides free hot food to its patrons. Here, you can get a bowl of freshly cooked noodle soup with a sad scattering of meat shavings. You then add in your own condiments – there is chilli, pepper, fried onions, sesame oil, some kind of sweet sauce etc. Most patrons eat standing up, solving their biological need in about 3-5 minutes. Some bring these bowls of noodles back to the gambling tables or machines. I tried one myself. It was alright, but it tasted exactly like what it is – flour with MSG and salt. Next to this free noodle counter is a proper canteen where you can buy a ticket and order food from various stores.
The free noodle station.
Arriving at Star Paradise casino hotel.
Patrons of the Star Paradise casino hotel. This group seems to belong to the Joy Luck Club.
Currency used in the casinos is Thai Baht.
