How to Visit Diamond Island

Some of Diamond Islands Wonders

I’ve been meaning to write about Diamond Island. It’s a odd Cambodian development projects I’ve felt sporadically compelled to follow because it’s so utterly bizarre to me. It's bizarre because you wouldn't see this in the West, and because the money and motivations behind it feel mysterious and possibly questionable.

China is somewhat famous for its planned cities; entire cities built from scratch on a grid designed to be hyper-modern but end up mostly uninhabited. There same desire for modern planned cities has pervaded the Cambodian elite and provided the seed for Diamond Island. The project is funded by the Cambodian elite with Chinese money.

Diamond Island is built into the Mekong River. It began on silt and is continually being expanded into the river though land reclamation. When I arrived in Cambodia three years, there were large conference halls used for weddings (labeled A-F), and some benches along the four-lane roads. There was a park of Greek-like statues, and some Korean-like fast-food joints. Less than three weeks after I arrived, there was a stampede on a bridge to the island. That bridge was later torn down (to displace the bad spirits) and two new bridges were built to provide more access to the island.

Since then, Diamond Island has expanded. There is a theater, several expo halls, a driving range, a gym, a water park, a “city hall” and two small children's amusement parks. There are significant housing plans; high-end housing for the 3% with subdivision names such as “Elite Town.” Some homes are styled after turn-of-the-century Paris complete with bell towers. More plans are in process; skyscrapers clearly modeled off Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands.

On evenings and weekends, the youth of Phnom Penh come to Diamond Island in full force to drive the wide streets on their motos. This is how you should visit Diamond Island, driving around on a moto in order to be seen while your hair blows in the muggy air. Many of the roads are lined with trees and park benches. These benches are the only place that I know of in Phnom Penh where young couples come to engage in some G-rated physical contact. Families set up picnics on the concrete or in the parking lots and hang out (there’s not much grass in this very Asian development project).

Diamond Island stands out to me because the services available on this premise are completely random; a driving range? Secondly, there is little “Cambodian” about it. The architecture is European or simply concrete blocks. There are no beautiful things based on old things. Also, the money comes from China and it's built by Chinese companies. 

From what I can understand, many Cambodians see this space as a sign of a shiny impending modernity. Even while they will never live in such housing in their lifetimes, even while 80% of the population is rural and poor, Diamond Island is considered beautiful and new. For now, such opulence signals a possible better future.

Will this be a success? If you build it, will they come? Will I return in 10 years to skyscrapers and women in authentic Prada? Or will one bad flood on the Mekong wash this entire project out to sea? Who knows. I wonder if anyone knows.