As Prime Minister Hun Manet trades accusations with the Thai military over who fired first in their border clash, he has said Cambodia will defend itself, while the government still says it is pursuing a peaceful settlement under the framework agreed through US-backed peace mediation. Phnom Penh has not appeared to seek help from international legal bodies on the border dispute. Officials have instead insisted to the public that Cambodia has not lost even a meter of territory.

Meanwhile, Cambodia's reputation abroad has taken a heavy hit as a pariah state, largely because of compounds running online fraud and scam operations across the country.

Government officials keep denying the reality of the problem. In July, FBI Director Kash Patel raised scams with Hun Manet and called them a top US priority. He urged Cambodia to prosecute the bosses behind these operations and to share information about officials who are complicit. American estimates put the amount stolen from US citizens by scams at more than $18 billion in 2025 alone.

A high-profile conference and a staged tour

In late September, Cambodia hosted a conference on its anti-scam campaign, bringing together representatives from 20 countries, including the United States and China, along with international organizations. The stated goal was to share experiences and information and to cooperate on wiping out these crimes.

According to Channel News Asia, on September 22 Cambodian authorities took foreign guests through buildings where scams were run. They displayed rooms, equipment used by criminals and a range of evidence, including counterfeit US $100 bills.

Analysts who track the issue see these displays as theater, put on for domestic and international audiences.

What the tours leave out

Lindsey Kennedy, an expert on organized crime networks, told reporters that while officials walk visitors through scam sites and present figures on arrests, detentions, seized equipment and cash, and the transfer of victims, they do not question the workers at each site. Nor do they trace the counterfeit dollars in any detail. In her view, Cambodian authorities lack the will to gather the evidence needed to stop these groups from relocating abroad or to dismantle their networks.

Details inside some of the compounds add to the picture. Staff rooms have slogans on the walls, including a Chinese proverb urging workers to give everything they have and to get rich in a single night. Some rooms have been set up as studios dressed up as police stations, complete with pictures of the Singapore lion, apparently meant to intimidate the workers.