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French colonial archives allow us to follow the career of a Teochew Chinese businessman and understand how he gained the support of a family of Cambodian civil servants at the provincial level. Through a client-patron bond, the alliance between these two allowed them to take control of the most profitable businesses in Kampong Thom province. Tea Meng Ly, a grain merchant from South China, settled in Cambodia at the beginning of the 20th century. He then diversified his activities, growing to include transportation and fisheries at the beginning of the 1930s. Despite the Great Depression, Tea Meng Ly became very wealthy and his partners, the noble Seang family, rose to the top of the Cambodian social hierarchy.