Cost of living in Phnom Penh for Nomads
With Thailand becoming slightly over saturated with watering foreigners, Cambodia is increasingly becoming another popular option. What though is the cost of loving in Phnom Penh, the capital city?
Well much like anything this depends greatly on you. Backpackers for example can live on almost pennies by staying in dorms and eating street food. In the interests of this piece though we will concentrate on those living on a decent wage as a digital nomad.
Cambodian work visa vs Thai Digital Nomad visa
While much has been made of the Thai digital nomad visa, in fact Cambodia has been offering a far superior product via its work visas for much longer.
What makes it so much better has been summed up in this article, but I will cover the basics. Essentially by purchasing a one year work visa in Cambodia you not only have the freedom to work, but also do your own digital nomad thing. And unlike in Thailand there have not yet at least been foreigners being chased for what they earn out of the country.
That it is cheaper and lasts for a year are but mere bonuses. Overall it is just quite nice to not just have rights here, but be treated like a human.
Rent in Phnom Penh
One of the best deal we get as nomads in Phnom Penh is with regards to housing. Stuff here is cheap with room shares and low listing housing being as little as $50-100. In reality though the least you want to be spending is $200-300 which gets you a decent 1-2 bedroom place in town.
Electricity and water are also extremely cheap with one able to survive on $50 a month all in without being all that frugal.
Raise this amount to the 400-800 mark and you start entering the serviced apartment range. This will see you getting a place with anise shared pool and a a good gym. Take this budget a little out of town and things start to get even better. Other cities such as Siem Reap tend to be even cheaper. Sihanoukville is the outlier here being on the more expensive side due to the Chinese and casino influences.
Buying an apartment, which you can do as a foreigner is a whole other article, but generally speaking you can get for around 35k on the low end, with a little more getting you on the swimming pool and gym bandwidth.
General cost of living in Phnom Penh
Like any major city the cost of living in Phnom Penh will depend greatly on you and your discipline. It is easy to go out to0 rooftop bars and sink $15 dollars a drink, but you certainly don’t have to.
For example on Street 172 there are decent pubs serving up beer for $1, while decent western meals can be gotten for $4-5. If you can survive on street food or home cooking you can spend even less. Therefore if you mix western food with some local market bargains then you can easily survive on $200 a month, double that if you want a few nights out a month.
What is the digital nomad scene in Cambodia?
Cambodia is not Thailand which means there are less digital nomads here, but also less people acting pretentious at every working space. There is though very much a scene with work spaces galore and the overall cost being akin to being in a cafe, with $10 an hour getting you a private meeting room.
Internet is decent overall and fairly fast, while data is pretty much unlimited for $15. Again measure your expectations here and do not expect LA.
Surviving cost of living in Phnom Penh
While there is no minimum wage for foreigners in Phnom Penh there are some good metrics to go by. Locals working in restaurants and the like generally get around $300 a month, while expats in the same job get $500. This is very much not a living wage unless you can be really frugal.
Once you change this to $1000 though its easy to survive in the city. Raise this to $1500 and you will live well. From $2000 though you can live well and save money, with anything north of this either spiking your standard of living, or adding to your savings.
And that is the overall skinny of cost of living in Phnom Penh and how you can survive as a digital nomad here.
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Author: Gareth Johnson
Gareth Johnson is the founder of Young Pioneer Tours and has visited over 180+ countries. His passion is opening obscure destinations to tourism and sharing his experience of street food.
