The scandal-stricken Chai Hour II Hotel reopened for business Saturday after it was temporarily closed following a Dec 26 shooting in front of the premises, Deputy Tuol Kok district Governor Seng Ratana said Sunday.
The hotel, which has been accused by the Ministry of Interior’s Anti-Trafficking Department of operating a large-scale human trafficking operation, was closed Dec 30 after a man opened fire on a car parked outside, Seng Ratana said.
“The hotel reopened [Saturday] night after the owner accepted his mistake” and took responsibility for the customer’s behavior, Seng Ratana said. “If the hotel disrespects the rule of Phnom Penh Municipality again, the Municipality will not permit it to do business.”
Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuktema had ordered the hotel closed while district police investigated the shooting and gave permission to district authorities for the hotel to reopen, Seng Ratana said.
Kep Chuktema’s phone was turned off Sunday.
Pao Ly, who owns the hotel, did not answer repeated phone calls seeking comment Sunday.
Police are still looking for the gunman and three men who were with him at the scene, Municipal Police Chief Heng Pov said on Sunday.
“We must find them,” Heng Pov said.
The government-licensed hotel was raided by anti-trafficking police in conjunction with a court official and the anti-trafficking NGO Afesip on Dec 7, after a department investigation found that virgins were allegedly being trafficked and sold there.
Following the raid, 83 women and girls were taken from the hotel to a women’s shelter run by Afesip but were removed from the shelter Dec 8 after its gate was attacked by about 30 people.
The US State Department on Dec 10 called on the government to take immediate action to locate and rescue the women and girls and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
No one is in custody for the hotel’s alleged involvement in human trafficking or for participating in the raid on Afesip.
Hotel management says the women and girls are now back at work.