Oddar Meanchey: The COVID-19 epidemic has caused border crossings to close and casinos to cease operations. According to experts, if the border is fully reopened, the casino will increase the price of land in this area by three or four times.

In an interview with Property Area Asia, Thorn Virak, sales manager of an Oddar Meanchey-based real estate company, predicted in an interview that land prices would fluctuate with economic development along each border.

According to a local expert, the price of land along the Smach-Meanchey border ranges between $60 and $70 per square meter. The price per square meter is between 45 US dollars along Chob Koki's border and 3 kilometers.

Currently, there are three casinos located along the Cambodia-Thailand border in Oddar Meanchey province, at the Smach border and the Chob Koki border checkpoint.

Mr. Virak stated that Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen had pushed for the launch since 2020, but it did not work due to COVID-19. The Smach border checkpoint is currently being gradually opened, and two more border checkpoints are scheduled to open soon.

He stated that the Smach border is now open to both people and goods, and that the other two checkpoints could open as soon as next month. “It will be multiplied three to four times if all of the checkpoints in this area are fully open.”

“This checkpoint is located in a new development area, which causes the land to grow faster. In comparison to Poipet, which is already a developed border area, the price is not significantly higher,” he said.

According to Virak, the majority of customers interested in purchasing land along the Cambodian-Thai border in Oddar Meanchey are from Phnom Penh, Battambang, Siem Reap, and surrounding provinces.

“Every year, the Cambodian government focuses on the development of infrastructure along the border, which in 2018 2019 rushed to Oddar Meanchey province, with development from the Chob Koki border crossing.” Despite the fact that we are in the Covid-19 era, the odds have not changed.”