r/cambodia

We all know we are currently in quite a tough situation, and now, with the price of fossil fuel rising, it has gotten worse. I keep seeing good growth rate on the GDP, but to be frank, I believe it's just total & complete bullshit. Sure, maybe it's because the rich gets richer, but the lower and middle class are not improving whatsoever, the debt keeps growing. Do I suggest communism? Absolutely not, after all, it's survival of the strongest, but just maybe, we can help each other.

Corruptions plays a pivotal role in this. The root of Cambodia, ever after since we have gotten away from the Khmer Rouge era, many old Cambodians have stick to stability over improvements, which has allowed corruption to build it's root deep into the foundation of Khmer, and also allowed many politicians to use "អរគុណសន្តិភាព" as an excuse. The Cambodian People's Party also has some dirty deeds.

Recently, the US has actively pressured the National Bank of Cambodia to crack down on many Chinese-operated banks such as Huione, and Prince Holding. Let's talk about Prince Holding first because it was more recent than the crackdown on Huione. The US Department of Justice indicted Chen Zhi for wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering. It's important to know that Chen Zhi is a close friend and business partner of Hun Sen, and in a surprised move, Hun Sen has shipped him back to where he came from. I'd say this is just him sacrificing one of his pigs to save himself.

And before that comes the crackdown of Huione. Same thing, US threaten to cut NBC from SWIFT after labelling Huione as a primary place for money laundering, and then NBC folded. But guess what? One of Hun Sen's relative, Hun To, is a central figure connected to Huione. He is the cousin of the current Prime Minister Hun Manet.

Lets check deeper into the CPP. Sure, Hun Manet is still the new Prime Minister, but his father and former prime minister Hun Sen still holds the real power behind. Their whole family is deeply connected to the government. Hun Sen, president of senate. Hun Manet, prime minister. Hun Many, deputy prime minister and minister of civil service. Hun Manith, head of military intelligence. Neat Savoeun (in law, married to Hun Sen's niece), deputy prime minister. They allowed many powerful families to hand the power to their sons. It's all just monarchy with extra steps pretending to be democracy. There's also no such thing as free speech, they will just flag everything as incitement.

Let's move on to Kem Sokha and Sam Rainsy, former leader of the Cambodian National Rescue Party. They are the only one to ever threaten the CPP's power by winning nearly half the vote in 2013. Boom shakalaka in a few months special forces are on the streets with live ammunition. In 2015, Sam Rainsy was hit with a shit load of lawsuits which led him to fled to France. After the CPP won the election in 2018, they raided Kem Sokha's house and two months later proceed to dissolve the NCRP. The only strategy the CPP has to win the election is just to eliminate the competitor.

The only few options we have today is I'd say Meach Sovannara (NGP), whom is a former CNRP official, and Sun Chanty (NPP), which is basically just a newer version of CNRP.

Don't even get me started on the rich taking from the pour. The oknha has most of the wealth in Cambodia. One of the issue is the rich are actively taking land from the poor. Take someone I know as a prime example, he is actively being refused the hard-title papers because they claimed that he bought the lands from a so-called thief, even though the land was bought way before covid even became a thing.

The way the current government works is just having a blind eye on illegal companies and projects. It's a ticking time b0mb, sooner or later, the US will fully cut off SWIFT and Cambodia will be deep in shambles.

Is it viable to rent tuk tuk to explore Cambodia by self drive - how many days would you take to do a loop ? Looking to hire for a group who have driven in other countries

probably the most annoying thing on my trip so far. me and my friend enjoying our walk to our destination, or simply walking out of a building, whatever and there are tuktuks that just follow you and yell at you if you want a ride (just happened to me as i type this). no matter how much i say no or ignore them, they won’t stop following us. do people actually say yes and hop on? i can’t imagine this is a successful strategy. why would people go this way and not via app so you have a guaranteed price?

edit cus some people saying they havent experienced it often so i’ll add some more things that have happened. some guy was going on the other side of the road and honked asked if we needed tuktuk. we kept walking and he did a u turn to follow us the rest of our walk. was only 3 min but feels forever with someone following you the whole time. today we were checking out the bat trees in siem reap and tuktuks would wait on the road and just yell out if we needed some ride while they had literally just seen us arrive and take pics and then grab a seat. when we left a driver tried to meet us at an intersection. mind you this whole time we barely made eye contact. in phnom penh it was way worse than siem reap but still happens every time we step outside

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kinda goes hand in hand with people non stop selling you stuff on the streets, markets, or stores. there have been so many times where im interested in buying something but the moment they start selling it to me i just walk away😭😭 ik its a SEA thing and im not tryna say this is a bad thing (cambodia is great love my time here) but gaddang i feel like in their position id know westerners dont like being sold things and would just let us be😭😭

I have this business vision in mind and I would like to know other people (preferably Khmer) opinions. So far, I spent 3 months in Cambodia and more I know the country the more I’m impressed. Not just by cultural heritage, beautiful nature and rich history, but mostly by its people. They work hard and with dedication to build better future for themselves and their kids. And if I’m going to make this country my new home I feel I should contribute as well. Not just by spending money and being nice and polite guest, but by actually building something here.

I would like to start an electronics engineering company in Cambodia. Research, development and manufacturing of hi-end cutting edge products like aerospace flight control systems, components for scientific instruments, satellite components and sensors for industrial use. Contract work for foreign customers in Europe and US. I have the experience and know-how both in engineering and business to pull this off. I even have some potential clients already.

My goal (or a dream) is to create high paying job opportunities for local talents, so they can gain experience and skills necessary to build their own spin-off companies and ultimately recreate (at least to some extend) Shockley effect that led to creation of the Silicon Valley in the 1960s.

I realize there are huge obstacles in the way. Almost non-existing ecosystem of component suppliers and contractors to delegate tasks like ultra precision machining, high tariffs for imported components and equipment, political shenanigans, me being a foreigner, a female in male-centric industry and speaking only few Khmer phrases, just to name a few. They are many countries with better conditions to do this than Cambodia. But I truly believe in this country and its people and I’m ready to work hard in order to turn this into reality. Do I have a chance?

I want to travel to Cambodia for 5 days on 29 May and return on 2 June. I am a Bangladeshi national. I have all the documents well in place, got the required cash usd. After all the documents have been checked as valid, is it possible to be denied a visa? We are a family of four. All are Bangladeshi. And we are frequent travellers.

What extra do we need if we are denied a visa? Also, my e visa is still pending.

My friend is an expat teacher who was working at an International School in Cambodia.

The school failed to pay staff salaries for March 2026 on time. Staff were later informed that:

• 30% would be paid on April 10
• Remaining 70% would be paid on April 30

On April 10, the school paid her and other staff members the 30% as promised.

However, on April 30, all other staff reportedly received the remaining 70% except her. She was also removed from staff communication groups.

Later, the school emailed her stating that she had been terminated effective April 1.

The problem is:

• She continued working after April 1
• She participated in the school’s Khmer New Year celebration activities on April 10
• There is evidence showing she was still actively working during that period

Even if employment was terminated, salary for work already completed in March should still legally be paid.

Later, the school owner allegedly invited her to “negotiate.” During the meeting, they reportedly offered to rehire her under a new probationary contract if she returned to work on May 6, with a promise that her March salary would be paid at the end of the day.

She declined this offer.

After refusing, she was allegedly threatened that they would make sure she could not work elsewhere in Cambodia and would be “blacklisted.”

We have screenshots, emails, and evidence documenting these events.

At this point, we are considering:

• Filing a formal labour complaint
• Contacting relevant authorities
• Raising awareness publicly so other foreign teachers are cautious

Has anyone else experienced similar issues with schools in Cambodia?
Any advice regarding Cambodian labour law or legal steps would be appreciated.

Note: Evidence has been preserved and can be provided to authorities

TLDR: An expat teacher at an international school in Cambodia says the school withheld her March salary while paying everyone else, then later claimed she had been fired retroactively despite evidence she was still working. After refusing a new probation contract, she was allegedly threatened with being blacklisted from working in Cambodia.

Hello everyone,
I’m traveling from India to Cambodia next month for a 5-day trip with my parents and sister.

I’m a bit skeptical about the e-Visa. I started the application on the official gov.kh site, but I’m worried about the "Bank Statement / Proof of Funds" part. My parents don’t have strong bank statements, and I’m the one sponsoring the trip

1. Can I just show my bank statement for the whole family, or does everyone absolutely need their own?

2. Is it safer to just do Visa on Arrival at the airport?

3. How much physical USD cash should I carry for 4 people? Some travel agency sites say $1,000+ total, which seems very high for a short 5-day trip. Is it okay to show a banking app balance instead of physical cash if an officer asks?

Would appreciate hearing from any travelers who recently did VOA with their parents or as a family group. Thanks.

Seen Khmer guys do all kinds of work in flip flops — carry 50kg backpack up mountains, welding, digging trenches, building skyscrapers — and I am starting to think that Western safety standards are too hung up on close-toed shoes.

Like, realistically, where are flip flops probably fine, and where are they possibly a serious safety hazard?

Can someone verify/disprove if this is a thing? My gf says that in cambodia whenever you enter a shop of any type, you have to buy something or else it's seen as disrespectful and a waste of the staff member's time to just walk away. Im Vietnamese American and we do this all the time when we went shopping in VN especially if they won't haggle or just dont care for anything we see. Especially big thing here in America haha. So im just curious if this is a rule in Cambodian shopping culture?

I’m not sure if this was discussed or not. But I’m going to be retiring in Cambodia in the next 2 years. Currently I’m 27 years old and I’ll be 30 when I move. I do want to start a family. And I wanted to know what will be a good school to send my future kid/kids to I’ll be making 1,500 a month for my retirement.