Word: sihanouk
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...much too long, Cambodian Chief of State Norodom Sihanouk fretted over the addiction of his "petit peuple" to gambling. All his antigambling laws -and regular police crackdowns on Pnompenh's 40-odd illegal houses of chance-had no effect. Cambodians and the equally avid Chinese and Vietnamese residents in the capital continued to gamble their riels away. Profits to the illicit houses were put at about $20 million a year...
Unable to beat the houses, Sihanouk decided to go them one better. Now le tout Pnompenh is flocking to a spectacular riverside gambling complex, opened as a government monopoly in February. Inside a huge casino, thousands challenge the laws of chance in an assortment of card and dice games; in nine nearby air-conditioned chalets, the more affluent play roulette, chemin de fer and mah-jongg. Of the daily winnings of $75,000, the government skims off $40,000, while $25,000 goes to cover operating expenditures. The rest of the take is divided among 25 concessionaires, including several owners...
...along parts of the border, the two sides have reached "local accommodations"-including at least one instance of Cambodian artillery support for a beleaguered South Vietnamese outpost. Some intelligence information has also been exchanged. Indeed, Cambodian troops have been involved in small skirmishes with Communist forces. For all that, Sihanouk is not likely to permit sizable allied units to cross the border and go after Communist sanctuaries or bomb inside Cambodia. Militarily or diplomatically, he can ill afford such a turnabout against the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong, with whom he continues to maintain friendly relations as part...
...South Viet Nam would not necessarily ensure complete North Vietnamese withdrawal to the North: conceivably Hanoi's forces could simply pull back into their old sanctuaries in Cambodia and Laos, there to wait for another chance to invade after U.S. troops had withdrawn. That would be anathema to Sihanouk and Souvanna Phouma, as well as to the U.S. In effect, it would mean no settlement...
Several days earlier, a helicopter had rocketed the small Cambodian village of Prey Toul near the South Vietnamese border, killing one civilian and injuring 23 others. Prince Norodom Sihanouk's government had complained, and now the International Control Commission -composed of Canadian, Indian and Polish officials-was on the scene to investigate. The fragments they saw were clearly from U.S.-made rockets. The projectile laid out on a table for inspection was a grenade of the kind fired by American helicopters...