The Cambodian honorific oknha is a notorious title. Even Prime Minister Hun Sen in 2021 said he wanted a government group to review the bestowing of the coveted title and to ensure that the right people received it.
Oknha are given the title after they make a donation of $500,000 to the government and pledge public service. The title is held by prominent and influential businesspersons in the country — as well as their families — and are linked to state patronage and apparent legal impunity.
Cambodia’s tycoons with the title have routinely been in the news, in many cases for the wrong reasons. A student television presenter accused an oknha in 2021 of attempted rape; another oknha was charged with corruption in 2020 in a land dispute with 200 people; and the honorific was given in 2014 to a businesswoman who engaged in alleged fraud to take the land of ethnic Jarai minority members.
Influential oknha — who are close to the government or the first family — have faced accusations of human rights violations and have been at the receiving end of the government’s largesse, but have rarely faced any repercussions whether for mass evictions in Phnom Penh, drug busts or forced labor.
Despite some reservations around the title, the Gazetteer has found no apparent slowdown in handing out the honorific.
According to the Gazetteer, 33 new oknha were minted from June 16 to August 27 last year, or the dates for which the Kamnotra team has so far input data into the database. As we continue to index more volumes of the Royal Gazette, expect this list to get longer.
Even in this small time frame, around three new formally distinguished tycoons were designated every week. The documents in the Gazetteer show that it is the well-connected and elite who are front of the line for the title.
Businessman Sok Kong — who has recently been accused of allowing forced labor at compounds he owns — now has four more oknha in the family home. Three of his children — two daughters and a son — and a son-in-law can now join the family patriarch in the elite group of businesspersons.
Mong Chanthon and Mong Chanthol are the sons of popular oknha Mong Reththy. They were given oknha titles in August 2022. The two are directors in the family’s parent company, Mong Reththy Group, and are directors in M’s Pig ACMC, an agricultural business revolving around animal husbandry.
Another addition to the young oknha list is Ly Phounrath, the son of sugar baron Ly Yong Phat. In one of his first acts as an oknha, Phounrath donated $100,000 for the construction of a school building in Phnom Penh.
Phounrath is a director in nine companies linked to Ly Yong Phat’s family and is also the son of the first president of the Cambodia Oknha Association. The association was launched recently with Ly Yong Phat as its president and Prime Minister Hun Sen serving as its honorary head. The association is part of attempts to ensure oknha are kept in line, with Hun Sen announcing it will be the only official grouping of tycoons.
The Gazetteer will continue to track the flow of new oknha, especially if a transition in power brings in a new crop of elites and tycoons to the fore. So far, the team has indexed 26 books from 2022 and will continue adding books as they come in.
| Date | Details |
|---|---|
| 27/08/2022 | Oknha title given to Seng Visal (សេង វិសាល). |
| 27/08/2022 | Oknha title given to Mong Chanthon (ម៉ុង ចាន់ថន) and Mong Chanthol (ម៉ុង ចាន់ថុល). |
| 19/08/2022 | Oknha title given to Chhin Song (ឈិន សុង). |
| 19/08/2022 | Oknha title given to Cheng Sanghak (ចេង សង្ហាក់). |
| 25/08/2022 | Oknha title given to Kong Sang (គង់ សាង). |
| 19/08/2022 | Oknha title given to Im Sophannarith (អ៊ឹម សុផាន់ណារិទ្ធ). |
| 02/08/2022 | Oknha title given to Sok Yak (សុខ យាក). |
| 02/08/2022 | Oknha title given to Sok Chanthou (សុខ ចន្ធូ). |
| 02/08/2022 | Oknha title given to Sok Chanthy (សុខ ចន្ធី). |
| 02/08/2022 | Oknha title given to Nang Sopheat (ណាំង សុភាត). |
| 02/08/2022 | Oknha title given to Say Sopheak (សាយ សុភ័ត្រា). |
| 09/08/2022 | Neak Oknha title given to Cheb Limkheang (ចាប លីមឃាង). |
| 02/08/2022 | Oknha title given to Mrs. Sok Chantha (សុខ ចន្ថា). |
| 23/07/2022 | Oknha title given to Yim Tasrong (យឹម តាស្រង់). [Note: Tasrong is a song writer and businessman] |
| 26/07/2022 | Oknha title given to In Kuot (អ៊ីន កួត) and Ly Phounrath (លី ភូនរ៉ាត់). [Note: Ly Phounrath is the son of tycoon Ly Yong Phat] |
| 26/07/2022 | Oknha title given to Phou Soviden (ភូ សូវីដែន). |
| 27/07/2022 | Oknha title given to Vinh Cheang (វិញ ជាង). |
| 22/07/2022 | Oknha title given to Sun Bunheng (ស៊ុន ប៊ុនហេង) and So Sophanny (សូ សូផាន់នី). |
| 23/07/2022 | Oknha title given to Duch Both Nita (ឌុច បុត្រនិតា). |
| 15/07/2022 | Oknha title given to Prak Socheata (ប្រាក់ សុជាតា). |
| 15/07/2022 | Oknha title given to Kim Chamroeun (គីម ចំរើន). |
| 15/07/2022 | Oknha title given to Kim Pov (គីម ពៅ). |
| 15/07/2022 | Oknha title given to Kim Leng (គីម ឡេង). |
| 15/07/2022 | Oknha title given to Ly Hong (លី ហុង). |
| 30/06/2022 | Oknha title given to Cheam Lido (ជាម លីដូ). |
| 30/06/2022 | Oknha title given to Yin Veng An (យិន វែងអាន). |
| 20/06/2022 | Oknha title given to Loem Snaekomnith (លឹម ស្នេហ៍គំនិត). |
| 20/06/2022 | Oknha title given to Aon Sothea (អ៊ន់ សុធា). |
| 16/06/2022 | Oknha title given to Khieu Rinheang (ខៀវ រិនហ៊ាង). |
| 16/06/2022 | Oknha title given to Hei Veasna (ហ៊ីង វាសនា). |
To see more recently released government decisions, explore our Royal Gazette index.