But as the tiny island
city-state dumps sand on its shores, expanding its territory already by
one-fifth, there are increasing claims that Singapore is illegally
buying up soil through corrupt channels in Cambodia.

The latest to push these claims
is the Associated Press, which reports that foreign vessels were spotted
dredging up Cambodian sand for apparent export. The dredging, largely
banned in 2009 for eating up Cambodian territory, appears to persist.

An AP reporter tracked or
spotted vessels registered in Hong Kong, Vietnam and China dredging in
Cambodia. Locals in one coastal province "joked about going to Singapore
and planting a Cambodian flag there," according to the report.

A U.K.-based watchdog group, Global Witness, has done the most to expose this practice.

But despite the government's
ban, the group said vessels are still scooping up Cambodian soil and
selling it abroad with zero benefit to Cambodian citizens.

Rising sea levels throughout the
Southeast Asian tropics will likely increase the future demand for
sandy soil, dumped along coastlines to reclaim territory.

Thailand is the latest to
propose such a project: a controversial and futuristic "new city" near
Bangkok built atop marshy muck now under the Gulf of Thailand.