On 10 Sept 08 the Cambodian Sokha Hotel Group broke ground on a 500 room five star resort on Sihanoukville’s Ochheuteal beach. No date has yet been given for its completion, and it is rumoured the development will also include an 18 hole international standard links golf course. The Sokha Hotel has previously come in for criticism from its current Sihanoukville Sokha Beach hotel for ‘privatising’ the beach, a claim which it denies. For the new development, despite being awarded a government concession granting the hotel rights over the beach, a hotel spokesperson states that Ochheuteal beach will remain open to the public.