Siem Reapculture & etiquette

Since September 2022, foreigners who have legally resided in Cambodia for at least two years can apply to Angkor Enterprise for a special pass giving free entry to the Angkor Archaeological Park and Koh Ker. It is free, valid for a year, and applied for online at spass.angkorenterprise.gov.kh or at the Angkor Enterprise office. Without it you pay the visitor rate — USD 37 a day. Almost nobody tells new residents this exists.

The old airport six kilometres from the centre closed when Siem Reap–Angkor International opened on 16 October 2023. It is now roughly 45–50km away and a 60–90 minute drive. Budget a full half-day and around USD 30–40 for the transfer each way, and stop assuming a flight is a quick errand — plenty of residents now take the road to Phnom Penh instead.

Roughly November to February the town is full, restaurants are hiring and rents firm up. From May the wet season empties it, businesses cut hours or close, and casual work evaporates. If your income depends on visitors, plan your year around that curve — and if it doesn't, the low season is when you get the town, and the temples, to yourself.

Angkor's active religious sites require shoulders and knees covered, and it is enforced at Angkor Wat's upper level. This applies to residents on a special pass exactly as it does to visitors. Keep a light long-sleeve shirt in your bag permanently; you will need it more often than you expect.

An EB extension comes from immigration; the work permit comes from the Ministry of Labour through FWCMS and expires every 31 December. Siem Reap's hospitality employers are less practised at this than Phnom Penh's corporates, so check yourself rather than assuming your employer has filed. Since 2024 immigration checks for a valid permit before approving long EB renewals.

Siem Reap has decent private clinics and Royal Angkor International Hospital for routine care, but complex cases go to Phnom Penh, Bangkok or across the Thai border. The town's remoteness makes medical evacuation cover more valuable here than in the capital, not less. Check the policy names a provider and a destination.