Cambodia’s Elites Swallow Up Phnom Penh’s Lakes, Leaving the Poor Marooned

Satellite photo of Boeung Tamok that shows the encroachment of recent construction projects.
Maps Data: Google, ©2021 CNES / Airbus, Maxar Technologies

“On the edges of Boeung Tamok, Phnom Penh’s largest lake, 25-year-old Kong Khun sheltered from the late June heat in a bamboo hut. Despite clear skies, Khun wasn’t out on the water fishing with his family. There is little point, he said.

An almost endless convoy of trucks carrying sand, rocks and soil paraded around what remains of the lake as part of a land reclamation project that Khun said has decimated the fish population and his income.

“The lakes around this city are almost gone,” Khun said. “This is the last great lake of Phnom Penh, and when it goes, the city will be flooded up to the waist and poor people will have to work in construction or factories, that’s all that’ll be left.””

In this article from Mongabay, Gerald Flynn and Vutha Srey paint a haunting portrait of destruction and displacement, detailing how wealthy Cambodian politicians, landowners, and developers have been grabbing up and filling in local lakes in the capital Phnom Penh for investment and real estate.

This poses not only the environmental threat of flooding and food chain disruption, but also harms local residents and workers, especially those in the fishing industry. As the lake’s boundaries shift and shrink, it is ordinary working-class Cambodians who pay the price, being both the first to be forced to repeatedly move and the first to face the oncoming flood catastrophe.