The Beautiful South

As supply catches up with demand in Phnom Penh, the city of Sihanoukville and its surrounding islands are emerging as Cambodia’s biggest property story.

- Duncan Forgan

Marooned in the azure waters of the Gulf of Thailand, Koh Krabey is paradise in miniature. Just 30 acres wide, it reaches a maximum height of 42 metres above sea level and its coast is indented by white sand beaches. Its miniscule dimensions, however, bely its significance as a symbol of what is arguably Cambodia’s biggest real estate shift: the emergence of its south coast as a major real estate force to rival Phnom Penh.

In 2017 privileged visitors will have the pleasure of visiting Koh Krabey when the sumptuous new Six Senses Koh Krabey Resort opens. If they don’t like the look of the pool villas at the Six Senses, of course, they could island-hop their attention to nearby Koh Russey where the five-star Alila Hotel is poised to come online this year, joining the existing Alila Villas, the ambitious project’s residential component.

The two new properties, along with Song Saa, Cambodia’s first luxury residential island development, represent three of the most exciting resorts in the region. What’s even more enticing for investors eyeing fresh opportunities in the country is the fact that they are all aligned within a tight radius of Sihanoukville, Cambodia’s fast developing southern hub.

Until recently it would have been easy to characterise Cambodia as something of a one-man outfit in terms of luxury real estate. For years, Phnom Penh, the country’s charismatic capital and its commercial and financial centre, has hogged the limelight on the high-end property scene like an imposing team captain.

Now, however, the nation’s main player is being offered support by Sihanoukville – an attractive, but previously unpredictable, quantity with undoubted star qualities.

“We’ve seen a shift away from Phnom Penh to the rapidly developing area of Sihanoukville and we foresee this trend continuing,” says Ross Wheble, country manager of Knight Frank Cambodia.