Questions regarding upcoming Cambodian trip

[jimmie50]

If you are a follower of the Gay Thailand forum, you have probably read some of my posts about an upcoming trip to Cambodia in September.  For those of you who have visited before, I have several questions: 

1. Can you recommend a car service from the airport in Siem Reap that can be reserved in advance to take you into the city?  Cam is planning to meet me in Siem Reap, but he will be on a motorbike and that just isn't practical for picking me up at the airport considering I will have two large suitcases.  Our plan is to just meet at the Airbnb (condo) instead, so I need to arrange for translation from the airport to the condo.  

2. I need to apply for the retirement visa and it has been suggested to me that rather than doing this on my own I should go through a reputable travel agency in Siem Reap.  Can anyone recommend a reputable travel agency that provides this service?   

3. Should I exchange any USD for Riel on arrival, or just carry USD?  I know it is readily accepted in Cambodia, but also would prefer to have some local currency as well.  Can you recommend a currency exchange that has decent rates?  

4. Does the airport have stalls where you can purchase e-sim and get a local number?  I always us AIS in Thailand, but not sure if they are available in Cambodia.  

Thanks!  Appreciate any and all responses!  Cam is not much help when I ask him these questions as he has no idea, either.  lol.  We are like the blind leading the blind.  

[captainmick]

1. I booked transfer in advance using Klook app - inexpensive and very smooth

3. I have never used currency exchange in Cambodia as $ is accepted everywhere and you get given smaller change back in riel.   I normally find I end up with too many riel.

4. Yes - but can’t remember which network

[ichigo]

1. Alternatively, you can book airport transfers on trip.com or if you join any Cambodia/Siem Reap travel groups on Facebook you will get many drivers offering their services if you post (or even look at other people’s posts for recommendations).

3. Just be mindful that your USD needs to be pristine and it may be difficult to receive change with larger denominations at smaller establishments.

4. Haven’t been to the new airport at Siem Reap yet but I would say with confidence that there would be numerous stalls selling sims.

[vinapu]

1. for transfer from airport to the city  you may also take novel and almost never mentioned approach - just arrive there  fully knowing that you will me met with several offers  of taxi as soon as you step out of arrival area. Try , it can be fun , for 20-25 $

If I were Cam I'd suggest he takes taxi from the city for round trip to / from airport, that way you both arrive there in style , not to mention embrace each other much sooner. Why wait ?

3. while captainmick above  is right that USD is accepted everywhere and Ichigo equally right warning  you that notes should be in very good condition , definitely no tears , pinholes and writing on them he also points at possible problem of obtaining change from bigger denomination and in poor country even 20 $ bill may be considered as such.

But USD have advantage of portability as 100 USD note will produce 40 most popular 10 000 riels notes.

My solution to that is to change money often as need arises and ask for smaller denomination. In Phnom Penh and Siem Reap is should be easy as exchange booths are well spread and aplenty where people congragate i.e markets. 

Exchange rate  is more or less fixed at 4000 riels to 1 USD and there's no need  to do much leg work in order  to find something better like 4015 or even 4034 as savings will be relatively minor. Keep in mind that airport exchanges, while offering similar rates may charge some 1 or 2% fees, novelty I noticed when there in January so don't change too much there it at all

Beauty of dual currency system is that you can pay in both currencies for the same transaction  so your 10$ dinner for two can be paid with 5$ and 20000 riels notes and nobody blinks an eye.

4. may be not that numerous but definitely there are at least few stalls selling SIM cards in Siem Reap airport as I surely obtained one in Januray, if I recall it was something like 5$ for 7 days and certainly they have longer plans   

 

Cambodia makes it easy for tourists to spent their money and is not charging a lot for the privilege in most cases

[jimmie50]

Appreciate the responses and have some updated information regarding my questions.  

1. The Airbnb will actually provide transportation to/from the airport.  Cam will be checking in one day before I arrive, so he will be able to ride to the airport with the driver, help with luggage and the e-sim, and ride together back to the condo.  Already provided my flight information to the Airbnb so we are good to go.  

2. Thanks to online Cambodia group at Facebook, two travel agents have been recommended to help with the retirement visa.  I also received some good information about visa on arrival.  Immigration will assume that all Westerners want a tourist visa without even asking.  That is their standard issue, which is good for 30 days.  It can be renewed one time for an additional 30 days.  After that, you must leave the country for a certain number of days.  When you return, you start the process all over again.  You have to specifically request the 'Ordinary Visa' if you plan to convert to a Retirement or Business visa for long term stay.  While you can do the retirement visa process yourself, I was encouraged to use the travel agents because it makes things go faster and smoother.  They have all of the contacts, know all of the loop holes, and quite often can bypass some of the required documentation as well.  Cost of the Retirement Visa for one year is $300 USD and the agents charge $30 fee.  Everyone said it is well worth the $30 to avoid any problems or issues, because even though you can apply in Siem Reap at the Immigration Office, everything gets sent to Phnom Penh.  If you do it yourself, you have to travel to Phnom Penh.  If you are missing anything, then you would need to return to Siem Reap, get whatever you were missing, then go back to Phnom Penh again and hope nothing else was wrong or missing.  Using one of the agents eliminates most of the risk.  Only concern is giving them your passport to send off to Phnom Penh.  Definitely a little nervous about that.  

Siem Reap Travel/Visa Agents: 

• LV Trust Travel and Tours WhatsApp:  +855 88 505 7263
• Cam Smile WhatsApp: +855 97 805 6805

3. I know from my experiences in Thailand that any bills you plan to exchange must be new and pristine.  However, in Thailand I always carried large bills of 50 and 100 USD to exchange.  As has been mentioned here, in Cambodia you can use USD but it is best to carry small denominations.  Cam said ones, fives and tens would be best.  Twenties might be doable some places, but he said not to bring fifties or hundreds unless I intended to go to some currency exchange place.  He also said the same as forum members...new and pristine bills.  Cam said people will also accept Thai Baht in addition to USD and Riel.  Pretty common.  He paid the driver on the Cambodian side that took him from the border to his house in Thai Baht.  No problem.  I actually have some Thai Baht left from this last trip, so will take it and try to use it up.  Not sure when I might be back in Thailand.  

4. Recommended cell phone stalls for e-sim at the airport are Metfone, Smart, or Cellcard. These three carriers handle most of the traffic in Cambodia.  Some people purchase in advance at Holafly or Simify.  Metfone is best for remote areas while Smart is the fastest.  Cost is around $6 for 60GB/month.  The condo has free WIFI, so 60GB should be more than enough for those times when we are not at the condo.  Cam used True in Bangkok and I had AIS.  True is not available in Cambodia so he uses Metfone. He said AIS is also available in Cambodia, so I may just continue with them.  Won't know for sure until I actually get there.  

[jimmie50]

Cam seems happy to be home.  I think it helped that he spent the last three months with me so that his daily schedule was more 'normal' and not centered so much around bar scene and night life.  It has made it easy for him to adjust to a more regular schedule and routine being home.  However, with a 13 hour time difference, we are still trying to figure out best times to video chat.  Today he went to his brother's house where the entire family gathered to celebrate his homecoming.  Parents, Brother, 3 sisters, spouses, 14 nieces and nephews, plus a few aunts, uncles and cousins.  He was excited because they were cooking a goose, as well as pork and seafood.  The last we chatted they were all sitting around drinking beer and doing karaoke.  His father and one brother in law in particular really enjoy singing.  They have an old, antiquated device that looks as though it came from a museum, but it works.  lol.  Next week he, his brother and his father will begin to build a temporary structure on the back of their property where his parents will stay while the new house is under construction.  They want to build the new house in the same location as the current house, so it needs to be torn down first.  But, his parents will need someplace to stay on a temporary basis.  From the way Cam describes it to me, it sounds more like a camping trip.  Not sure I would want to live like that for several months.  Anyway, they need to get the temporary housing up so they can begin moving things out of the current house and start tearing it down.  Cam wants to get as much of this done before I arrive in September.  He doesn't want to be driving back and forth every day from Battambang to his hometown.  That would be about one hour each way on motorbike.  

[vinapu]

24 minutes ago, jimmie50 said:

As has been mentioned here, in Cambodia you can use USD but it is best to carry small denominations.  Cam said ones, fives and tens would be best.  Twenties might be doable some places, but he said not to bring fifties or hundreds unless I intended to go to some currency exchange place.

you may consider what I wrote above as you don't want to carry 3 months worth of 1, 5 and 10 $ bills

On 7/6/2026 at 11:54 AM, vinapu said:

 

USD have advantage of portability as 100 USD note will produce 40 most popular 10 000 riels notes.

My solution to that is to change money often as need arises and ask for smaller denominations.

 

[bkkmfj2648]

12 hours ago, jimmie50 said:

Using one of the agents eliminates most of the risk.  Only concern is giving them your passport to send off to Phnom Penh.  Definitely a little nervous about that.  

Siem Reap Travel/Visa Agents: 

• LV Trust Travel and Tours WhatsApp:  +855 88 505 7263
• Cam Smile WhatsApp: +855 97 805 6805

Especially when one of the agents is the same as your lovely 💓

[macaroni21]

19 hours ago, jimmie50 said:

As has been mentioned here, in Cambodia you can use USD but it is best to carry small denominations.

Just because one can use US dollar bills doesn't mean one should. I had an entire trip using only riel, and trust me it was far simpler and more efficient. And the notes were newer and cleaner.

Just get a bank card that is accepted widely including in Cambodia and withdraw riel from ATMs. If you need a starting amount of riel before your first chance to withdraw from an ATM, surely Cam can lend you some.

[jimmie50]

7 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

Especially when one of the agents is the same as your lovely 💓

 

Until you made the comment, I did not even make the connection. Completely missed that, but guess since 'Cam' is a pseudonym and not his real name I did not make the connection.  I can be pretty slow to catch on sometimes.  lol.  

[jimmie50]

49 minutes ago, macaroni21 said:

Just because one can use US dollar bills doesn't mean one should. I had an entire trip using only riel, and trust me it was far simpler and more efficient.

I suspect we will mostly use Riel.  Cam will have used up all of his Baht by the time I arrive.  He has a few 'souvenir' US dollars he has collected over the years that he has saved and I am sure will not spend.  They were from customers at the bar and sort of a collector's item for him.  He has a one dollar bill and a five dollar bill.  I gave him a five and ten dollar bill to add to his collection.  For the most part, he will be using Riel so that will most likely be what I use as well once there.  I do need to make sure my bank cards will work in Cambodia, though, so that I can withdraw Riel from ATM's without any problems.  

[bkkmfj2648]

2 hours ago, jimmie50 said:

 I do need to make sure my bank cards will work in Cambodia, though, so that I can withdraw Riel from ATM's without any problems.  

I was going to suggest that you get a Wise account and Wise debit card before you depart for Cambodia - but after checking with AI it seems that this is not a good additional alternative.

In my 4 years here in Thailand - Wise has been a Godsend.   

[macaroni21]

But just next to this thread is another which reports that US-issued Wise cards don't work in Cambodia. I'm sure @jimmie50 has seen that thread. Fortunately that same thread has suggested alternatives.

[bkkmfj2648]

36 minutes ago, macaroni21 said:

I'm sure @jimmie50 has seen that thread. Fortunately that same thread has suggested alternatives.

It depends on the way you navigate in our gayguides forum.

99% of the time I use the Unread Content feature - as shown below and I rarely use the hierarchical navigation path by country / region / threads methodology. 

 

I really like this navigation approach - as it saves me time and then I only need to click from the list topics/subjects that interest me.

Hence why I did not see that there was already a Wise thread in the Cambodia channel.

Sorry

[jimmie50]

I am unfamiliar with Wise.  The first I heard of it was via this forum.  I did see the post about US issued Wise cards not working in Cambodia.  I actually went to my bank in person yesterday afternoon and they assured me that my Visa debit card would work in ATM's located in Cambodia.  They have had other customers use their cards without any issues.  I do not use my credit cards to obtain cash advances.  Fees are too outrageous for that.  The bank also said my credit cards would work, but as has been mentioned by others on the forum who have been to Cambodia before, 'cash is king' so to speak.  Major international businesses will accept credit cards, but the smaller shops and independents most likely will not.  

The bank also made another suggestion.  They said if I ran into any problems, Western Union has locations in Cambodia.  If in a bind, I could always send money to myself from my bank account via Western Union to be picked up at the local office.  Of course, that would require paying a small fee.  I have also thought about asking Cam for his bank account information.  We have had a discussion about this before.  I could use an online service such as Remitly and send money from my bank account to his bank account and then he could get it for me that way.  Again, I am sure a small fee would be involved.  

Once I am actually in Cambodia, have applied and received the retirement visa, I can open up a bank account.  Then it won't be a concern.  I can transfer money from my US bank account to my Cambodian bank account and vice versa.  I would have a debit card for both banks.  

[jimmie50]

6 hours ago, bkkmfj2648 said:

I really like this navigation approach - as it saves me time and then I only need to click from the list topics/subjects that interest me.

Thanks for pointing that feature out.  I completely missed that option.  I always go to the different forum sections I am interested in and click on the new posts that way.  This would be much easier to just click on unread content.   

[jimmie50]

I have confirmed with Cam that he uses Metfone for cell and internet service and his bank is ACLEDA.  I will most likely choose those as well to make things simpler.  

[jimmie50]

Well, the construction project is now underway.  Cam, his brother and his father started construction on the temporary housing they are building on the back of the property.  They also have a local farmer helping them, and one of his brother in laws.  Once the temporary housing is complete, his parents will stay there while the new main structure is being built.  He has been sending me photos and videos of the work so far.  He has been digging holes for support beams and a very long trench.  I am not sure what the trench is for just yet.  I try not to ask too many questions.  I am not sure what the plan is for bathroom and kitchen, although I know one of the major digging projects the last two days has been to dig a well.  They were successful with that and have water.  It remains to be seen how that actually gets into the temporary housing.  I am utterly amazed they are doing all of this by hand.  I asked if there wasn't some type of business in the area that rented construction equipment.  A small backhoe or excavator would make things much easier for them, not to mention faster, but he said such a business didn't exist.  Because of the heat, they work primarily in the mornings starting around 7am until noon, take a break in the afternoon, and start back around 4pm when it begins to get cooler until around 7pm.  Assembling the structure itself will be easier.  It is all of this preliminary stuff that is hard, physical work.  

[khaolakguy]

Jimmie you are singlehandedly making a regular visit to the Cambodia forum worthwhile. Bravo.

[jimmie50]

3 minutes ago, khaolakguy said:

Jimmie you are singlehandedly making a regular visit to the Cambodia forum worthwhile. Bravo.

Just wait until I actually have boots on the ground in September!  Naturally, I am missing Cam and cannot wait to be reunited with him, but I am also excited about exploring a new country and cannot wait to share that with forum members.  

[floridarob]

13 hours ago, jimmie50 said:

 I asked if there wasn't some type of business in the area that rented construction equipment.  A small backhoe or excavator would make things much easier for them, not to mention faste

I live in Mexico, not in a far away town, it's the Capital of the state....and generally only big projects use equipment, everything else is done like the Flintstones, lol


Have you donated $$ to the new house yet ?

[vinapu]

1 hour ago, floridarob said:

....and generally only big projects use equipment, everything else is done like the Flintstones, lol
 

it's better to keep people digging  than having them on the streets protesting they have no jobs although I agree , its very shortsighted solution

[jimmie50]

2 hours ago, floridarob said:

Have you donated $$ to the new house yet ?

No, as of now it has not been mentioned.  I am anticipating the request may come when the cost of the new house increases as construction moves along.  Prices have gone up everywhere for everything.

[floridarob]

4 hours ago, jimmie50 said:

Prices have gone up everywhere for everything.

That's an understatement,  some people forgot what a shambles Trump left the world after his 1st term, yet thought giving him a 2nd try was a smart idea.... hate and fear are strong motivators, religion has been doing it for eons.....

Go watch how they work building the house.... but don't try to change the way they do things, you'll go insane 😳

 

[jimmie50]

4 hours ago, floridarob said:

Go watch how they work building the house.... but don't try to change the way they do things, you'll go insane

I am very careful to ask questions but not make suggestions per se.  When I asked about construction equipment, I was merely inquiring if it was possible to rent something nearby.  I have never been involved in construction projects and have no skills in that regards, so keeping quiet about how they are doing things should be an easy task for me.  I would have no clue if there was a better way of doing it or not.  lol.