Bangkok: For years, wealthy and well-connected prisoners in Cambodian jails have been able to buy drugs, alcohol and other items requested in their single-person "VIP" cells, according to human rights campaigners.

Now Cambodia's government has comeup with a novel way to ease chronic over-crowding in 18 prisons accommodating more than 18,000 prisoners across the country.

A prison in Kampot, Cambodia. Credit:Filo/Commons

The underworld's upper-crust will be officially able to buy their way out of the jails and into the luxury of a privately run facility.

Interior Minister Sar Kheng describes the facility as a "hotel or detention centre" providing better accommodation and facilities for inmates who could afford to pay. The plan will generate income for the state, he said.