Cambodia Hosts First-Ever Regional Games in History

Chhay Sophal2 May, 2025

16 minutes read

Asia Journalist Association (AJA), founded in 2004, is an international journalist association that operates under the motto of “One Line of Truth through Sweat and Blood” with the goal of fair reporting, protecting freedom of the press, and developing journalism. To commemorate its 20^th anniversary, AJA is sharing special feature articles that look back on the association’s 20-year history and key events within the last 20 years in AJA member countries. THE AsiaN, an outlet based on the AJA network, is reporting 10 special articles marking the 20^th anniversary of the founding of AJA every Tuesday and Friday starting April 15, 2025. – Editor’s note

Contributors for AJA Southeast Asia : Norila Daud (Malaysia), Sophal Chhay (Cambodia), Abdul Manan (Indonesia), Elitha Evinora (Indonesia)

Dr. Chhay Sophal, AJA President, is the Senior Advisor of Cambodia News Online and the Founder and Senior Advisor of the Club of Cambodian Journalists, which has 650 members from 154 news organizations across the country.

PHNOM PENH: Since 2004, six years after getting complete peace on 28 December 1998, Cambodia has moved forward and in 2024, the country joined the World Trade Organization, the golden opportunity to integrate itself into the international community.

Since then, it has rushed to develop the nation by improving more infrastructures and other fields, including legal frameworks.

Because of its own efforts and with some support from developing countries and partners, including South Korea, Cambodia’s economy has started booming year by year and getting more attraction from foreign investors.

According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Cambodia’s economy grew at 5.8% in 2024 and 6.0% in 2025, as a result of further rebound in tourism and strong manufacturing prospects.

During the past 20 years, Cambodia has had three main events recognized by the region and world:

NEW KING AND NEW PRIME MINISTER

King Father Norodom Sihanouk abdicated in 2004 and his son Prince Norodom Sihamoni has been the King since then. The late King Father Norodom Sihanouk reigned in 1941 and he abdicated to his father in 1955 and became the Kingdom’s Head of State.

In 1970, he was ousted from power by a military coup and the country fell into civil war with millions of people dying from murder, torture, overwork, starvation and diseases.

With support from the United Nations, Cambodia had a Paris Peace Accord in 1991 and held the general election for the first time in 1993. After the UN-sponsored elections, he became the King again until his abdication. King Father Norodom Sihanouk was well known as he had struggled hard to gain independence from the French.

Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni, left, waves from a vehicle to his government civil servants, accompanied by Prime Minister Hun Manet, right, during the country’s 70th Independence Day, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. (Photo : AP/Yonhap)

Then, the Cambodian people have a new Prime Minister after Samdech Techo Hun Sen resigned in 2023 and his son, His Excellency General Hun Maneth, was elected to be the country’s 37th Prime Minister.

Samdech Techo Hun Sen is now the Senate President and the President of the Ruling Cambodian People’s Party.

Before becoming Prime Minister, Hun Manet joined the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces while studying in the Military Academy at West Point in the United States in 1995. He then obtained his Master of Arts in Economics from New York University before getting a PhD in economics from the University of Bristol, United Kingdom.

Manet is the eldest son of Samdech Techo Hun Sen, and he took office through internal elections within the Cambodian People’s Party ahead of the national election on July 23, 2023.

He is the first Cambodian Prime Minister who has military expertise through advanced studies at West Point Military Academy in the United States and a PhD in economics.

He assumed the position of Prime Minister in the digital era, especially Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is a fierce competition with both local and global challengers while the world is facing with economic crisis due to the impact of COVID-19, the Ukraine-Russia war involving NATO and the United States, and the geopolitical competition of the powerful.

As the youngest Prime Minister among the leaders of the other 10 ASEAN member countries, Hun Manet, despite saying that “the job of Prime Minister is equivalent to the weight of 10 large airplanes on me,” is determined to consolidate old achievements and to accomplish new ones in terms of conservation and development for the nation and the people.

In order to avoid it happening again in the country and elsewhere around the world, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia widely known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal and backed by the United Nations, prosecuted the top leaders of the Democratic Kampuchea or the Khmer Rouge whose regime caused the death of some 2 million people of murder, starving and disease between 1975 and 1979. The court was established to bring all surviving high-ranking Khmer Rouge leaders to justice for the crimes committed under their regime between 1975 and 1979. The court was closed in late 2022 after confirming the conviction against Khieu Samphan, the former Kher Rouge Head of State.

US MS Westerdam cruise ship and COVID-19 in Cambodia

Everybody knows about COVID-19, the global deadly disease that happened in the early 2020 until early 2023 and about 7,010,681 people, including 3,056 Cambodians have died since the outbreak.

One thing that made Cambodia the focus of the world for COVID-19 is that it is “A Small Country with a Big Heart”.

In February 2020, the MS Westerdam Cruise Ship from America with 1,455 passengers and 802 crew aboard, cruising around Asia, spent almost two weeks at sea. The ship was heading to Japan, after leaving Hong Kong, but was refused the permission to dock.

Following that some countries in the region namely Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, including Hong Kong and Taiwan also refused the permission to dock due to the fear of COVID-19.

The people on the ship were 650 Americans, 270 Canadians, 130 British, 100 Dutch, 50 Germans and several others Australians and Chinese while most of the crew were Indonesians and Filipinos.

The ship had been in quarantine since arriving off the Japanese coast a week after the virus was detected with a former passenger who got off the ship in January in Hong Kong.

Some of the tourists were allowed to tour in the city of Phnom Penh, including Angkor Temples in Siem Reap province and everything was shouldered by the Royal Government of Cambodia.

The vessel finally received authorization from the Royal Government of Cambodia to dock at Sihanoukville port on 13 February 2020.

Samdech Techo Hun Sen, the then Prime Minister, welcomed the international passengers on Valentine’s Day 14 February and greeted them personally with flowers and traditional Khmer scarves. This special welcome promptly attracted the global media that described the Kingdom as “a small country with a big heart”.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the decision placed the international spotlight squarely on how Cambodia would respond to this challenging situation.

“Cambodia’s response to the MS Westerdam crisis demonstrates that a country with fewer resources can contribute to global health security. It can take a humanitarian approach in a public health crisis and deliver a measured, coordinated response despite the uncertainty and complex challenges,” WHO said in its report.

With the global disaster of COVID-19 in the early 2020 and the war between Russia and Ukraine starting in early 2020 as well as the recent crisis in the Middle East, Cambodia, like other nations around the world, thrived hard to recover from the economic nightmare.

On December 28, 2024, the ship with about 2,000 tourists returned to Cambodia and docked at the same place in Sihanoukville Autonomous Port where they could visit the coastal city.

This photo taken on May 17, 2023 shows the closing ceremony of the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Photo : Xinhua/Yonhap)

HOLDING FIRST-EVER REGIONAL GAMES IN HISTORY

Since the first South East Asian Games (SEA GAMES), the original South East Asian Peninsular Games (SEAP Games), were held in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1959, and the first ASEAN Para Games in 2001 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia while Cambodia had the opportunity for the first time in its history to host the two regional sport events in 2023.

Having failed to host these events in the past, and despite the fact that this is the obligation for ASEAN member states to host them, Samdech Techo Hun Sen, the then Prime Minister, asked ASEAN partners to understand his nation because it needs funds first to build infrastructure and accelerate socio-economic development such as bridges, roads, canals, schools and hospitals to reduce poverty before hosting these events.

After building confidence with detailed preparation and enough funds in peaceful conditions, Cambodia held the regional sports competitions.

With Morodok Techo National Stadium, an international sports stadium that cost more than 100 million dollars, equipped with the latest Chinese technology, and has a luxurious appearance in Asia and the world, Cambodia hosted the sports successfully.

Under the slogan “Sports in Peace, Peace for All, All for Peace”, the Kingdom kicked off the 32nd SEA Games on May 5 and the 12th ASEAN Para Games on June 3, 2023.

The sport competitions were taken in Phnom Penh capital, the coastal provinces – Preah Sihanouk, Kep, and Kampot and Siem Reap province which was truly unforgettable, as Cambodia showed the world that although it is a small nation, it is “a small country with a big heart.”

Moreover, Cambodia broke the fee record for foreign athletes, coaches and sports delegates as it provided free accommodations, food and transportation, including free tickets for sport supporters and spectators. The government also arranged for them to visit the Angkor area for free. These points were often mentioned by Samdech Techo.

“Money can be spent, but reputation cannot be spent. The reputation that Cambodia has created by hosting the SEA Games and ASEAN Para Games in 2023 will be left to our children for hundreds of years to come,” Samdech Techo Hun Sen said.

It is undeniable that the 32nd SEA Games and the 12th ASEAN Para Games in 2023 in Cambodia clearly reflected that Cambodia has done its best not only for the image and prestige of Cambodia, but as a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) of 10 countries and East Timor (Timor-Leste). It brought the potential of the nation of the association with a population of over 600 million to the international stage.

For Cambodia itself, the 32nd SEA Games and the 12th ASEAN Para Games, which are historical events, have changed the face of Cambodia even more, showing national pride and solidarity among the people, especially the youth, who love the nation and foreign friends.

Drawing from this, they can continue to preserve this great heritage and strive to preserve the smiles and love, solidarity and national unity by working together to promote the beautiful national culture and traditions of their ancestors and continue to spread abroad the values of Cambodian nationalism more widely.

(To be continued)