Cambodian rocket gambling is one of the world's most bizarre gambling schemes. But for the poor locals who live below the launch zone, it's also life-threatening.
The gamblers' site was a large clearing on top of the thickly-forested Dangrek Mountains in northern Cambodia, just a five-minute drive from the Thai border.
The rockets have become a part of everyday life in the villages by the mountains of Cambodia's rural Anlong Veng district. You can spot them pretty much everywhere: lying in someone's yard, leaning on trees, even being used to build a fence.
At stake are vast sums of money and the spectacle is undeniably captivating. But, amazingly, the gamblers don't seem to give a damn about what happens to the rockets after they're fired off. And, apparently, neither does the Cambodian government.
The projectiles aren't high school science fair material—they're dozens of feet long and powered by a giant blue PVC pipe packed with potassium nitrate and charcoal.
Chuon Ny's tiny wooden home near the village of Srah Chhouk has been under constant aerial assault for the past few months, as evidenced by the four massive spent rockets lying around her property.
But illegal gambling rings hijacked the festival for profit, setting up massive arenas where the rockets are launched on and off season with no oversight.
A Thai rocket builder said authorities were paid 100,000 baht (Rp 38.6 million) every day the gambling went on.
"It's setting fire to people's homes and property, and never having to say you're sorry."
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