Cambodia ยท Southeast Asia
Moving to Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh quick facts
Cambodia at a glance
East Asia & Pacific
Economy
World BankReligion
% of populationCIA World Factbook / national censuses
Cost of living in Phnom Penh
Can you move to Cambodia?
Pick your passport to see whether you can enter Cambodia โ and what it takes to stay.
Entry rules come from github.com/imorte/passport-index-data, updated 17 February 2026. They change without notice โ confirm with the official immigration service before booking.
Getting set up in Cambodia
E-class visa, EB extension & work permit
Cambodia is one of the easiest countries in Asia to stay in long-term and one of the easiest to be quietly non-compliant in. You enter on a USD 35 ordinary visa, extend it indefinitely in-country under a purpose suffix, and โ separately, through a different ministry โ obtain a work permit. The visa and the permit are not the same thing, and since 2024 immigration has stopped pretending otherwise.
Read the full step-by-step guideConvert your driving licence
Cambodia is one of the few countries left where a straight exchange of a foreign licence for a local one is genuinely straightforward โ no road test, no theory exam, done in a shopping mall. The catches are the commune address letter, the translation, and the fact that the licence you get back is valid for only one year.
Read the full step-by-step guideOpen a bank account
Cambodian retail banking is far better than the country's income level suggests. ABA and ACLEDA run genuinely good apps, transfers between any two Cambodian banks are instant and free through Bakong, and the national KHQR code is accepted by millions of merchants including street stalls. Opening an account takes about an hour if you bring the right documents.
Read the full step-by-step guideHealth cover & healthcare
There are two layers here and neither is sufficient alone. NSSF gives registered employees a basic healthcare and occupational-risk entitlement at designated facilities. Private hospitals in Phnom Penh handle routine care well. But anything serious is stabilised here and flown to Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City, which is why the evacuation clause is the part of your policy that actually matters.
Read the full step-by-step guideGet a SIM card & mobile data
Cambodian mobile data is cheap, fast and โ in Phnom Penh โ genuinely good, and getting connected takes fifteen minutes with a passport. The one thing to get right on day one is that your Cambodian number is the key to your bank app, your KHQR payments and every OTP you will ever receive here, so register it properly in your own name rather than borrowing someone's.
Read the full step-by-step guideSalary tax & tax residency
Cambodia taxes employment income through a monthly withholding your employer operates, at progressive rates topping out at 20%. You become a tax resident by spending more than 182 days here, which changes both the rate you pay and the income that is in scope. There is no annual filing ritual for a straightforward employee โ which is convenient, and which also means nobody prompts you to check whether your position is right.
Read the full step-by-step guideEach guide has verified costs, timelines, required documents, and the non-obvious gotchas โ sourced from official government pages. Last verified August 2026.
Essential Khmer phrases
Reading a list isnโt learning it. Globe Quest turns these into a trainer โ hear each phrase spoken, drill them with spaced repetition, and get scored as you say them out loud.
What to know before you go
Carry riel for anything small โ dollars stopped working down there
CriticalCambodia runs on two currencies at once, but they have split by size. Anything under about ten dollars is now settled in riel: change comes back in riel whatever you pay with, ATMs mostly dispense USD 100 notes or riel, and the small US bills that used to circulate have largely gone. Keep 10,000 and 20,000 riel notes in your pocket and treat 4,000 riel to the dollar as the working rate.
The visa extension is not permission to work
CriticalAn EB extension is an immigration document. The work permit is a separate Ministry of Labour document filed through FWCMS, it runs on the calendar year, and it expires on 31 December no matter when it was issued. Since 2024 immigration has been checking for a valid permit before approving six- and twelve-month EB renewals, so the old habit of ignoring it now costs you the visa too.
Never touch anyone's head, and mind where your feet point
ImportantAs across the Theravada Buddhist world, the head is the most sacred part of the body and the feet the lowest. Don't pat children on the head, don't point your soles at people or Buddha images, and don't step over someone sitting on the floor. Remove shoes entering homes and pagodas.
Return the sampeah, and pitch it to the person
ImportantPalms together at chest height is the everyday greeting. Height signals respect: chest for peers, mouth for elders and teachers, nose or brow for monks. Let the junior person offer first. A handshake is normal in business, but the sampeah always lands well.
Snatch theft from motorbikes is the real crime risk
ImportantPhnom Penh is not violent by regional standards, but bag- and phone-snatching by motorbike riders is common, especially on riverside streets and after dark. Carry bags on the pavement side or across your body, don't walk with your phone out, and don't fight back if it happens โ people have been dragged.
Serious medicine means a flight to Bangkok
Good to knowPhnom Penh's private hospitals handle routine care competently, but complex surgery, cardiac events and major trauma are routinely evacuated to Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City. Any insurance policy you buy here should include medical evacuation with a named provider โ that clause, not the outpatient limit, is the one that matters.
Top industries & employers
Garments & Footwear
Suppliers to Nike, Adidas, H&M, Uniqlo
Cambodia's export engine and largest formal employer; factory belts ring the city's outskirts.
Banking & Microfinance
ABA Bank, ACLEDA, Wing, Canadia Bank
An unusually digital retail banking sector โ ABA's app and the national KHQR standard run daily life.
Real Estate & Construction
Overseas Cambodian Investment Corp, Chip Mong, Prince Group
The skyline has changed beyond recognition since 2015; the sector is cyclical and currently working through oversupply.
Tourism & Hospitality
Rosewood, Sofitel, Raffles Le Royal
Phnom Penh is the business and MICE end of Cambodian tourism rather than the temple end.
Development & NGOs
UN agencies, World Bank, ADB, large international NGOs
A long-established donor sector that employs a large share of the English-speaking foreign professionals here.
Agriculture & Agro-processing
Amru Rice, Mong Reththy Group
Rice, cassava, rubber and mango exports; processing and logistics are where the growth is.
Where to go in Phnom Penh
Boeung Keng Kang 1 (BKK1)
Neighborhood ยท Chamkarmon
The embassy-and-espresso district โ leafy streets, serviced apartments, international schools and most of the city's foreign residents.
Local tip: Rents inside BKK1 carry a real premium; walk five minutes into Tonle Bassac or Toul Tom Poung and the same flat costs a third less.
Royal Palace & Silver Pagoda
Landmark ยท Daun Penh
The gilded seat of the Cambodian monarchy, with a pagoda floored in five tonnes of solid silver tiles.
Local tip: Shoulders and knees covered or you will be turned away at the gate; go at opening time before the heat and the tour groups.
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
Culture ยท Boeung Keng Kang
The former S-21 prison, kept almost exactly as it was found in 1979. The most important and hardest place in the city.
Local tip: Take the audio guide, which is narrated by survivors, and don't schedule anything for afterwards. Go before Choeung Ek, not after.
Russian Market (Phsar Toul Tom Poung)
Food ยท Toul Tom Poung
A cramped, tin-roofed maze of fabric, motorbike parts and one of the best cheap food courts in Cambodia.
Local tip: The food stalls are at the northwest corner. Come before 11am โ the tin roof turns the whole market into an oven by midday.
Bassac Lane
Nightlife ยท Tonle Bassac
A single narrow lane of tiny owner-run cocktail bars that started Phnom Penh's modern drinking scene.
Local tip: Each bar seats about fifteen people, so bar-hopping is the point rather than settling in. Starts late, even by Cambodian standards.
Koh Dach (Silk Island)
Hidden gemNature ยท Mekong, north of the city
A flat, green river island of stilt houses, weaving workshops and sandbank beaches, twenty minutes from downtown by ferry.
Local tip: Take a bicycle on the vehicle ferry from Prek Leap and ride the perimeter โ it's the cheapest way to get out of the city on a Sunday.
Emergency numbers in Phnom Penh
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Side-by-side cost of living, language, climate and careers โ to help you choose.