Andy Ball

Construction worker Dieb Phearum mixes cement at a construction site on the outskirts of Phnom Penh in Kambol District.

Construction worker Ma Srieng and his wife Som Theary eat dinner on the 3rd floor of a half-built 18th-floor condominium where they live in the heart of Phnom Penh. They live onsite with their 2-year-old son and Srieng’s cousin Dieb Phearum. Like many construction workers in Phnom Penh, they migrated from the provinces seeking work.

Phnom Penh’s skyline has changed dramatically over the last decade as a result of a construction boom. Despite the fallout from the pandemic, the construction sector still attracted an investment of $10.3 billion in the first 11 months of 2021.

A family living on the site at Bassac lane. An estimated 50 workers live on-site, some with their family, in makeshift shelters made from scaffolding and wood.

Ma Srieng and his cousin Dieb Phearum play with Srieng’s son before starting work.

Srieng lays concrete on the outside of the 18-floor condominium as rubble falls from the floors above him. Like the other workers living onsite, as a sub-contractor, he has to find his own personal protection equipment (PPE) and he generally works seven days a week, only taking time off when he’s physically too tired to work.

Theary buys food at the local market with her son. As of January 2022, she was six months pregnant and unable to work on the site with her husband as a result, instead staying onsite during the day and looking after her son. An estimated 30-33 percent of construction workers in Phnom Penh are female.

Construction workers lay concrete on the 8th floor of the site at Bassac Lane.

Theary and Srieng’s 2-year-old son plays basketball with other construction workers also living on the site. Construction workers and their families spend almost all of their time on the site.

A portrait of Phearum, Ma Srieng’s cousin, at the new construction site he moved to in Phnom Penh’s Kambol district. He quit his job at the Bassac Lane site after 10 days, stating they failed to pay him on time and that the work was too “heavy.”

Construction workers (from left to right) Sun Kim Yan, Sim Ry, Dieb Phearum, Phan Sochantra and Sim Rib eat lunch on a construction site in Kambol District, Phnom Penh. All come from the provinces, all except Phearum have debts to microfinance institutions and all of them have experienced not being paid on time whilst working in the construction industry.

Phearum buys back a ring his mother gave him for $65 at a pawn shop. He pawned the ring for money to buy food after the site at Bassac Lane failed to pay him on time.

After finishing work, Sun Kim Yan, Sim Ry, Dieb Phearum, Phan Sochantra, and Sim Rib play volleyball with other construction workers at a field in Kambol district. Sim Ry says they play volleyball to build “strength and solidarity” within the team and “consider themselves as one family”. Unlike those in the city center, workers living on the outskirts of the city can find green spaces to play volleyball.

Yann Thy, Secretary General of the Building and Wood Workers Trade Union Federation (BWTUC), at his office in Phnom Penh. BWTUC is the largest and most active Union in Cambodia advocating for construction workers’ rights. Thy narrowly avoided a serious injury while working with an angle grinder whilst constructing NagaWorld 1 casino. Afterwards, he was compelled to advocate for workers’ rights and so joined the union.

A construction worker shovels concrete close to the edge of the 8th-floor of the condominium on Bassac Lane.

Srieng takes a smoke break with his son and other construction workers on the site. With no other option, his 2-year-old son spends most of his time on the site with his parents or other workers. Srieng also has a daughter from his first wife who lives with his parents in Kampong Chhnang Province, sending between $25 to $50 per month for her studies.

An underaged worker shovels gravel on the outside of the Bassac Lane construction site

A construction worker plays on his phone after work on the Bassac Lane site. Workers on the site rarely venture outside because they can’t afford it.

Theary uses the construction elevator to go and shower on the ground floor. At seven months pregnant she’s unable to comfortably use the stairs, instead opting to use the elevator intended to carry construction workers and materials up and down the condominium.

Yann Thy, secretary-general of BWTUC, shows a picture of a building collapse in Kep Province that killed 36 construction workers living onsite on January 3, 2020. Prior to that, two collapses in Sihanoukville and Siem Reap killed 28 and three workers, respectively, in 2019. Despite it being banned, large numbers of construction workers in Phnom Penh still live onsite.

Theary watches a video on a phone with their 2-year-old son before going to bed at their onsite accommodation.

Srieng and Theary spend time with their son at the park in front of Phnom Penh’s Royal Palace. They go off the site to enjoy themselves as a family about once a month, when they can afford it, normally around payday.