How viable a location is Cambodia for the digital nomad lifestyle?

The Kingdom is vaccinated, open to tourism and things are relatively normal, but is Cambodia good for digital nomads? The short and sharp answer is yes, and no, here’s the Khmer Nights guide.

What is a digital nomad and what do they need?

Quite simply a digital nomad is someone who predominately works online, meaning they can technically at least “work from anywhere”. Alas the world is not that simple, good luck being a digital nomad in North Korea for example. That means there are certain things that are extremely important, such as availability of internet, being able to receive payments and deepening on your budget cost of living.

To read about the internet in North Korea click here

Therefore Cambodia gets a lot of thumbs up, but also scores lowly in a few categories.

Is Cambodia good for digital nomads? – The Internet

Lets start with the most important part, because if you can’t get online you’re screwed. Generally speaking the internet here is mostly reliable and the big cities are well serviced by LTE and 4G. The hallowed land of 5G is yet to reach these shores though.

It should also be remembered that Cambodia is not Singapore. Internet does go down every now and again and I write this literally as my net has dropped. At worst it tends to be just for a few hours and you can hotspot from your phone if need be, but reliability can be patch at best. 

To nomad in Cambodia you will also need to be in one of the bigger cities, don’t rely on a strong connection in Koh Rong for example. Although I have known nomads there who have functioned, at least as best as possible within the constraints of island living. 

Co-working spaces for nomads in Cambodia

I’m personally not a huge fan of the co-working space, less so still the digital nomad obsession with them. Often times I find nomads use them as a way of meeting other nomads for s pissing contest, but I do understand they have their place in our universe. 

Big cities like Phnom Penh and Siem Reap have a good few official working spaces, such as the excellent Factory in the capital. There’s also a great cafe culture here meaning variety when looking for your internet jollies. Rents for actual offices here are also alarmingly cheap if business rather than socializing is your priority. 

Is Cambodia good for digital nomads – Visas

Cambodia is one of the most, oi not the most foreigner and business friendly nations in the region. It is easy to get a business visa, as well as a self-employed work permit. Of course there are fees and red-tape, but compared to say China it is a doddle.

You can read about Cambodian visas here. 

Getting business visa either requires coming in initially as a tourist, leaving and then returning, or getting an invite beforehand. Shop around when looking for a visa agent, there really are a lot of cowboys out there, as I was to learn the hard way. 

Payments and banking for digital nomads in Cambodia

This is where Cambodia definitely has very good and very bad points. Withdrawing money costs $5 a pop from foreign cards, BUT if you have a  business visa opening an account at ABA is pretty easy. You can then receive international payments via SWIFT, alas this tends to cost $20 a pop on your end just to receive it. 

You cannot open an account on a tourist visa, but there are still ways to bank, which you can read about here. You can read about how to open a bank account in Cambodia here.

There is no PayPal in Cambodia!

This was one of the things that screwed me and a fair few other digital nomads up. You can open a PayPal account in Cambodia, but you cannot withdraw money to your local bank account. Of course you can still old school it and withdraw via foreign card, but that costs money. 

There are some payment options such as Deel, but none that are that much use to the digital nomad. This is though an ever evolving thing and we can expect things to get better (hopefully). 

Paying for things digitally in Cambodia, or by card. 

Should you not manage the work permit and the local bank account it is still possible to pay for things online and there are great apps like Nham24 and Grab that can linked with your foreign card. Cambodia2U is another new app that while not yet card friendly, is a great resource that should be foreign card integrated at some point. 

Using foreign cards here is expensive as mentioned, but Visa, MaterCard and even UnionPay are available throughout the land via ATM’s. Cambodia is a bit of barren wasteland for Amex users though, unless you are in really high-end places. 

What is the cost of living in Cambodia?

Generally speaking really cheap. A decent apartment in Phnom Penh with internet and electricity included might set you back as little as $250 a month, while a serviced apartment with a pool can be gotten for as little as $400. These though are Covid prices, so again might well go up.

To read about renting an apartment in Cambodia click here. 

Eating and drinking can be as cheap or expensive as you want to make it, with there being 50 cent beers at the riverside, up to $20+ lounges and rooftop affairs. Food is similar with Cambodian street food costing just a few bucks, but there also being fine-ding establishments where one could literally drop thousands. Capitalism is alive and well in Cambodia and the well off need not go without. 

To sum up you could survive here on $500 a month at worst, but once you start hitting $1000-2000 a month then life starts to be a fir bit more comfortable. Start talking $3k+ and you are really living the dream. 

So, is Cambodia good for digital nomads?

No two nomads, much like any human are exactly the same, so of course there is no one size fits all answer here. That being said and at least in my humble opinion Cambodia has provided a great place to work remotely from.

Yes there are negatives, such as PayPal and patchy internet, but cost and quality of living more than make Cambodia an extremely viable option for nomads. 

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