"Workers demand outstanding dues as Siem Reap theme park shutters", 12 November 2020

Popular Siem Reap tourist attraction Cambodian Cultural Village closed its doors last weekend on account of low tourism arrivals during the COVID-19 pandemic, with former employees continuing to protest for unpaid benefits.

…, the theme park, which is owned by prominent tycoon Pung Keav Se, announced that it would close the Cambodian-theme park and museum … because the coronavirus pandemic had brought tourism to a grinding halt. Government statistics show that international tourist arrivals have dropped close to 70 percent this year and domestic tourism has picked up only recently.

A group of theme park workers have been protesting unpaid wages and benefits …, after authorities asked them to end an earlier protest ... All the 318 employees at the theme park received unpaid wages and allowances last week, but said they were still to receive their indemnity payments for 2020.

Mom Sopheak, 35, who worked at the theme park for 17 years, was part of the protests and said she had finally received her unpaid wages last week.

“I received more than $5,000 in compensation from the company …,” Sopheak said.

She added that around 70 workers, all of whom were active in the protests, had not received their indemnity payments for 2020. Sopheak added that employees who had not participated in the protests were accepting the compensation package offered by the company and not demanding outstanding benefits.

… According to employee representatives, workers’ monthly wages were reduced by up to 20 percent when the COVID-19 pandemic began taking a toll on Siem Reap’s tourism industry…