1 hour ago, macaroni21 said:

@vinapu Wait... let me be sure I understand this: you carried your "lost" wallet in your trousers all the way to Thailand and Cambodia without knowing it? Only to discover it after returning home?

No. Trousers with wallet were hanging in my closed all that time. For trip I used different , lightweight , trousers I only use when I travel.

1 hour ago, jason1975 said:

I know 4 of your 5 favourites but I have never offed them before.

your loss , my gain ☺️

On 11/3/2026 at 10:39 AM, vinapu said:

I went to Kendal market to exchange money – every trip to Cambodia I try to use more riels and less dollars and for good reason. They are quite picky when comes to quality of banknotes  and in fact I brough home back two 20$  and two 1 $ bills nobody wanted because some minor  tears , some  taped over. Riel banknotes don’t meet such scrutiny even remotely, are easy to get change  from. For good start I got 400 000 riels ( 100 $ ) in 5000’s and 20000’s and I had funds to go to my favorite bar  - Space hair conveniently located just beside my hotel.

I learned very quickly they are definitely very picky about USD. It must be in absolute pristine condition. If not perfect, their bank will not accept it or deduct from the value if they try to deposit into an account. I had read about this before my trip, so made sure that most of my bills were brand new. I am getting more accustomed to using the Riel now. The thing I dislike more than anything is using the ATM at ACLEDA. I cannot speak about other banks, but since I opened an account at ACLEDA I will use their ATM's occasionally. If you request USD, they only provide $50 notes...always brand new. This is fine except many of the small businesses we frequent are unable to make change for the larger bills...in USD or Riel. That was really frustrating until I opened the bank account. Now, if they cannot accept the $50 notes I can just open the bank app on my phone and pay using the QR code. Quick and easy.

Regarding USD and Riels, that's what I've been saying since the beginning of this year. There's no need to bring any USD when travelling to Cambodia; it's more hassle than it's worth. Just bring credit/debit cards and if you're travelling from Thailand, whatever baht you have (they will exchange baht at money changers).

I can't recall if @jimmie50 explained what's needed to open a local bank account in Cambodia (one has to have residency status, like the rules in Thailand?) but for the occasional short-tripper to Cambodia is this not practical. Just withdraw Riels from ATMs.

I'm surprised too that @vinapu seemed to be fretting about spending his last Riel before he leaves Cambodia. This may be important for someone who has no plans to return in the near future, but for someone like him who is likely to return by 2032 at the latest, what does it matter if you have unspent 400,000 or 600,000 Riels at the end of a trip? That's 100 USD/150 USD. Just keep the Riels till the next trip. It's not that big a sum of money to leave unused even if for whatever reason one is unable to make a new trip to Cambodia -- not when compared to the total spend for a trip across the Pacific.

11 hours ago, jimmie50 said:

.... I opened an account at ACLEDA I will use their ATM's occasionally. If you request USD, they only provide $50 notes...always brand new. This is fine except many of the small businesses we frequent are unable to make change for the larger bills...in USD or Riel.

good to know ,

way I deal with change issues in Cambodia is what you quoted from me - I exchange 50 $ or 100$ for riels and ask them to give me money in blend of 5000 and 20000 notes

10 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

There's no need to bring any USD when travelling to Cambodia; it's more hassle than it's worth. Just bring credit/debit cards...... Just withdraw Riels from ATMs.

...........

I'm surprised too that @vinapu seemed to be fretting about spending his last Riel before he leaves Cambodia.

We must to sign a protocol of disagreement on first part. ALL IN CAPITAL LETTERS and underlined.

Not saying you are wrong, just hope somebody will think things over before taking this advice. It may depend heavily on what country one is from or kind of bank account one has. Or perhaps both .

reasons:

-Paying by debit and credit cards may be of very limited use , specially outside of Phnom Penh and may be Siem Reap. Or may trigger up to 10% surcharge ( case of Japanese restaurant I went with 2 boys with in PP, of course I paid cash )

-Using card to withdraw cash may trigger fee on Cambodian side (not sure, but for sure in Thailand , 250 baht if I recall ) and definitely on my domestic side (5$). Do it 5 times and 5 becomes 25 $ . ChristianPFC reported to have boys for 1/2 of that sum.

-If one forgets to report to bank that is travelling or bank messes it up (happened to me, not in SE Asia ) relying on cards may bring surprise of card being blocked.

-taking cash from credit card , either at branch or ATM , will be treated as cash advance with high interest rates and possibly foreign conversion or similar charges

...............

it must be my poor way of writing which created " fretting " impression. My intention was to boast how well I prepared by budget that at end of stay I left with no leftover money.

Of course I wouldn't worry if I had riels left over , not only because I could spend them next time but also I could give / pay with them , depending on amount , to Cambodian guys in Bangkok or Pattaya. As I exchange 50 or 100 $ at the time it wouldn't be much left in any case

Not to mention leftover riels can be deposited in Red Cross box in the airport

On 11/8/2026 at 1:32 PM, macaroni21 said:

I can't recall if @jimmie50 explained what's needed to open a local bank account in Cambodia (one has to have residency status, like the rules in Thailand?) but for the occasional short-tripper to Cambodia is this not practical. Just withdraw Riels from ATMs.

That is correct, you need residency status. They seem to be somewhat lax in this regard, though. Since I have the retirement visa, I was able to use the address of the Airbnb to fulfill the residency requirement even though it is only a temporary housing situation. The bank wasn't too concerned about that. If they had said they could not use the Airbnb address, we were planning to use the address for Cam's parents to open the account and Cam would confirm I live with the family. lol.

If I use the ATM to withdraw money from my US bank account, ACLEDA charges $5 per transaction. But, if I transfer money from my US account to my Cambodian account, there is no fee and I can withdraw money from ACLEDA as a customer and no fee.