Cambodia

Sand Palace Hotel

Sand Palace Casino was granted a casino license in 2022 but this licence is no longer active. It continues to operate as a hotel and rents out office space to online operators.

Published 10 Jun, 2025 | Updated 13 May, 2026

Other Names:

កាស៊ីណូ និងសណ្ឋាគារ សេន ផាលេស, 莎皇宫赌场
Location:

Poipet City, Banteay Meanchey Province
Country:

Cambodia

Background

Sand Palace Casino & Hotel received a casino licence in 2022, but this either expired or was revoked. Sand Palace is still operating, but has dropped ‘casino’ from its name, and now goes by Aurora Hotel (although it has not fully re-branded).

Sand Palace has advertised office space for rent in English, Khmer, Chinese, Thai, and Indonesian languages.

Ads for office space rental, 2024. Source: Sand Palace Casino Facebook (now offline).

It has also posted ads for office space rental that state the location has dedicated internet access (DIA) for Thailand, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, USA, Japan, and Vietnam. DIA is premium internet service that provides businesses with a private connection that is not shared with other customers, guaranteeing enhanced reliability and security.

Ads for office space rental, March 2024. Source: Sand Palace CN & Hotel Facebook (now offline).

Various Poipet property agents advertise office space for rent at Sand Palace. Photos included in the posts show that it has offices set up for online work. Some posts are in Bahasa Indonesian (a large number of Indonesian online gambling and scam operations are known to be based in Poipet). Older ads mention the existence of a casino licence and ‘100% safety’.

Image from Sand Palace rental ad, April 2024. Source: Facebook property page.

Image from Sand Palace rental ad, March 2024. Source: Facebook (now offline).

Ad for office space rental in Bahasa Indonesian. Source: Facebook property page.

Ad for office space rental. Source: Facebook property page.

Since re-branding, Sand Palace has continued to post ads for office rental. Posts state that there are 24 hour security and IT services, and images and videos show offices set up to accommodate multiple computers, with powerstrips lining the walls. The property continued to post ads for office rental even as police launched multiple raids across Poipet in early 2026 targeting online scam operations.

Other Information

Sand Palace and its executives have made various charitable donations to state institutions in Poipet City, especially during the Covid pandemic. This included donations to the city’s military police.

Sand Palace Casino staff deliver donation to Poipet Municipal Military Police Headquarters. Source: Sand Palace Facebook page (now offline).

Which Actors and Companies Have Been Linked to Sand Palace Casino?

The company S.U.G. (Cambodia) Trading Co., Ltd. was granted a temporary casino license for Sand Palace Casino & Hotel in December 2022. The casino is no longer pinned on the gambling commission’s website, suggesting the license expired or was revoked. A Sand Palace Hotel page was created on Facebook around the time it ceased being a casino. It remains active and switches between the name Sand Palace Hotel and Aurora Hotel.

S.U.G. is chaired by Cambodian national Bun Rithychay. Five other people previously held executive positions at S.U.G., four Cambodian and one Malaysian.

Former chair Chhun Chansopheak is also director at the company Four Star Plus Four Co., Ltd., which owns another casino linked to online activities called Star Gold Casino & Hotel (profiled here).

One director who stood down in September 2023 is Leng Thiden, the wife of General Bun Nam Eang, Deputy Commander of Banteay Meanchey Province military police. In 2019, General Bun Nam Eang was involved in raids targeting two locations in Poipet that were hosting illegal online gambling and led to the arrest of 50 Chinese nationals. Leng Thiden was also a director at W.E. Development Co., Ltd. until December 2019. W.E. Development holds a casino license for Diamond City Casino & Hotel (see profile here).

General Bun Nam Eang at grand opening of Sand Palace Casino. Source: Facebook.

An ex-director who stepped down in 2019, Seng Sreyleak, is currently a director at Family World Palace Co., Ltd., which holds a casino licence for LPP Sky Casino, which also hosts online operations (see profile here).

Another former director who stepped down in 2019 is Malaysian Voon Shao Chong. In December 2020, Thai police in the border province of Sa Kaeo raided an online gambling operation and seized property, including a car registered to a Malaysian national with the same name.

There is no evidence indicating that S.U.G. (Cambodia) Trading Co., Ltd. or individuals connected to the company are directly involved in online criminal activity, but there is ample evidence to indicate that space inside the property is at least being provided to those who are.