sold to wildlife traders. In 2000, wildlife traders from Thailand were reported to come to Koh Kong town each month to purchase wildlife products. Some trophies are also reported to be sold to Trat Province in Thailand.
In 2005, Cambodia’s infamous tiger hunter, YorNgun was finally captured in Koh Kong town. He was eventually charged with having killed and sold at least 19 tigers, 40leopards, 30 elephants, 500 gaur, banteng and sambar, 40 Malayan sun bears and three Asiatic bears. Ngun who was 57 at the time of his arrest, is reported to have been trapping and snaring animals in the Cambodian jungle since 1970s. The organisation Wildlife Alliance (known at the time as WildAid) had Ngun on their "top wanted hunters list" since 2001 due to his reputation as a "notorious tiger hunter." Authorities captured him once in 2004, but he was released after signing an agreement to stop poaching. At the time of his arrest in Koh Kong, he was carrying animal parts, including 25 bear jaws and 82 bear nails. In August 2005, he was sentenced at the Koh Kong provincial court to seven years in prison.
Koh Kong township and the area nearby was also the centre of widespread illegal logging of broad leaf deciduous forests in the Cardamoms. According to environmental agencies, the government logging ban in 2001, has slowed but not prevented the logging trade.
Koh Kong has long had a reputation as a “Wild West” frontier town. Until recently, access to the town from Cambodia was mostly by sea or air due to the poor road conditions. In this relative isolation, illegal logging, wild animal smuggling, banditry, gambling, prostitution and a soaring rate of HIV AIDS infection have given Koh Kong its frontier town reputation. However, with the building of the Thai-Cambodian bridge across the river and the upgrading of the road to the national highway, industry and investment has increased and the town is becoming a modest tourist destination
