Background
Grand Diamond City was a large casino located close to the Cambodia–Thailand border crossing in Poipet City. It was in operation since the early 2000s but burned down in a catastrophic fire in 2022 that killed at least 28 people. Videos posted online showed the massive scale of the fire.
The casino was connected by two bridges to the sister property Poipet Resort, which sat on the opposite side of the road and also burned down in the fire. The two casinos operated under the Grand Exclusive brand. Poipet Resort has now moved to a new location (profiled here).
Soon after the fire, Voice of Democracy spoke with Cambodians who worked at the casino complex, including a cleaner who said that she worked cleaning rooms used for ‘online’ work: ‘My floor, the fifth floor, was for online, and I don’t know about it and just know that they do it on the computer and reply and talk with each other. … I don’t know how they play it. We just do our work.’ Access to the floor was restricted by electronic doors with fingerprint scanners.
Incidents
On 28 December 2022, a massive fire engulfed the casino, killing and injuring well over 100 people. The Cambodian authorities put the final death toll at 28, but there are indications that more may have died. The majority were Thai, but a Nepalese man perished jumping from a window, and other reports suggest there were Malaysian, Chinese, and Korean victims as well. Although local authorities reported no Cambodian deaths, a month after the disaster, at least three Cambodian families said their relatives remained missing, with one of them holding a funeral despite the absence of a body.
Many dozens more were injured, and the governor of neighbouring Thai province Sa Kaeo said 110 were hospitalised there following the blaze, with more than a dozen placed on life support. Media reports indicate that Thai, Cambodian, and Indonesian nationals were injured. A month after the fire, an official from Cambodia’s National Social Security Fund said the company was refusing to compensate injured Cambodian workers as their injuries were minor and they had no contract to prove they were employees.
The fire spread quickly and took so many lives due to a host of safety hazards. Various reports refer to electronic access doors locking when power was lost, a lack of sprinklers and escape routes, and no emergency protocols in place, despite fires having occurred on at least two previous occasions. The fire spread across the bridges connecting the casino to its sister property, Poipet Resort, which was also destroyed. The scene was reportedly chaotic, and those who could got to the roof, with some jumping as the flames climbed higher.
Which Actors and Companies Have Been Linked to Grand Diamond Casino?
Diamond City Private Limited Company holds the casino license for Grand Diamond City and Poipet Resort Co., Ltd. holds the casino license for Poipet Resort. The two companies are linked to a network of Thai actors, and at the centre is Vatana Asavahame, a former Thai government official who has been a fugitive from Thailand since 2008.
A former Thai deputy interior minister, Vatana was convicted in absentia and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2008 for his role in a major corruption scandal. That year, he received Cambodian citizenship, taking the name Sok Sambath. Thai national Pinyapap Sunee was also naturalised as Cambodian in the same royal decree, taking the name Mean Veasna. According to media reports, she is Vatana’s wife.
A 2015 Bangkok Post article stated: ‘The Asavahame family has long been regarded the de facto ruler of Samut Prakan [Province] with clan members and proteges monopolising public office there for decades.’ The family has been involved in a number of scandals over the years.
Vatana’s late son Poonphol Asavahame died in 2015. He was a former member of parliament and in 2004 was charged with submitting a false declaration of assets and liabilities and banned from politics for five years. In 1996 he was charged with attempted murder after shooting at someone following a traffic accident. Another son, Chonsawat Asavahame was jailed for 18 months in 2015 for electoral fraud. Chonsawat died in 2023 while serving as chief of the Samut Prakan provincial administration.
In the early 1990s, while deputy leader of the Chart Thai party, Vatana was denied a visa to the United States after the Drug Enforcement Administration discovered alleged links between him and heroin traffickers operating in Burma, Laos, and northern Thailand. In response, Vatana filed a defamation suit against the US Ambassador to Thailand and threatened legal action against President Bill Clinton.
According to current Cambodian Ministry of Commerce records, Vatana is chair of Poipet Resort Co., Ltd. and a director at Grand Diamond Holding Private Limited Company, which shares an address with Diamond City Private Limited Company. His wife Pinyapap Sunee was a director at Grand Diamond Holding at the time of the fire but has since stepped down. Another family member, Phiboon Asavahame holds executive positions at the three companies, and has also received Cambodian citizenship under the name Sok Phanharith.
Cambodian senator Ly Yong Phat holds a director position at Diamond City Private Limited Company. In 2024, Ly Yong Phat was sanctioned by the United States Treasury for his alleged involvement ‘in serious human rights abuse related to the treatment of trafficked workers subjected to forced labor in online scam centers.’
Location of Grand Diamond Casino
Grand Diamond Casino in the News
2023
25 January: Mech Dara, ‘Poipet Casino Reignites During Demolition, Still No Cambodian Bodies Identified’, Voice of Democracy. Link.
24 January: Son Monea, ‘More Misery: Owner Won’t Pay Compensation to Those Hurt in Poipet Casino Inferno’, Khmer Times. Link.
12 January: Seoung Nimol, ‘Another Body Found in Poipet Fire Site but Search Still Stopped’, Voice of Democracy. Link.
10 January: Sovann Sreypich, ‘Families of Missing Casino Workers Seek Compensation and Closure as Authorities Remain Vague Over Possible Cambodian Deaths’, CamboJA. Link.
3 January: Mech Dara and Michael Dickison, ‘Casino Cleaner Recalls Three Hours in Poipet Inferno’, Voice of Democracy. Link.
2 January: Jack Brook and Sovann Sreypich, ‘Thai Fugitive Linked to Casino Fire Received Cambodian Citizenship, Shares Business Ties with Tycoon Ly Yong Phat’, CamboJA. Link.
2 January: Mech Dara and Michael Dickison, ‘“I’m Waiting for My Wife”: Cambodian Victims of Poipet Fire Are Unaccounted for’, Voice of Democracy. Link.
2022
30 December: Jintamas Saksornchai, ‘25 Confirmed Dead at Poipet Casino as Thai Families Wait for News of Missing’, Voice of Democracy. Link.
30 December: ‘波比赌场大火事故搜救结束 目前已确认26人遇难 [The Search and Rescue of the Poipet Casino Fire Incident Has Ended and 26 People Have Been Confirmed Dead]’, Cambodia-China Times. Link.
29 December: George Wright, ‘Cambodia Casino Fire: At Least 19 Dead in Blaze on Thai Border’, BBC News. Link.
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