Municipal authorities have shut down Her Royal Highness Hotel in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district after a third guest died recently from causes believed to be related to illicit drug use, officials said.
Police said Sunday that a 42-year-old Australian man, identified as Shabky Dar, died on June 2 at the hotel on Street 172 and in Chey Chumneas commune. Several police officials declined to name the drug the man was suspected of taking. “The last dead victim…died at his hotel room at 1:30 pm on June 2 after arriving at the hotel on June 1,” said a commune police official who declined to be named.
“We decided to shut down the hotel on June 6 for investigation,” said Daun Penh District Governor Sok Sambath. “If our anti-drug police investigate and find that the hotel was involved with drug use, we will close down the hotel forever.”
Ouk Damry, deputy president of the Cambodian Red Cross, said Sunday that the hotel was registered in his wife’s name but is in fact rented and operated by an Australian businessman whose name he could not recall. “In this case, it must be the renter’s responsibility,” said Mr Damry.
