Phnom Penh Guide for Digital Nomads

What is Phnom Penh like for digital nomads?

Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia, where the Tonlé Sap river meets the Mekong, and about 2 million people live there.

It was once called the Pearl of Asia for its French-era boulevards, and today new towers rise between the pagodas, markets and villas.

For digital nomads, it's a cheap, social capital with a big expat community, good food and US dollars accepted almost everywhere.

Most nomads live in BKK1 or near the Russian Market, and get around by tuk-tuk or ride app.

These are three views of one sunset over the city from my stay, on March 4, 2026:

And here are Phnom Penh's numbers at a glance:

What other digital nomads say about Phnom Penh

I read the digital nomad guides that rank for Phnom Penh and the threads where nomads, and people who live there, answer questions.

Here's what they like:

• The cost – rent, food and getting around cost little, and US dollars work almost everywhere.
• The expat community – people from everywhere, quick to welcome newcomers and keen on nights out.
• English – it's widely spoken in shops, cafés and services.
• The food – Khmer dishes, French bakeries and restaurants from across Asia.
• The rooftops – bars and pools above the city, with sunsets over the rivers.

And here's what they complain about:

• The heat – hot all year, and close to unbearable in March and April.
• Snatch theft – phones and bags snatched from passing motorbikes, especially at night.
• Traffic and sidewalks – walking is hard, with busy roads and sidewalks used for parking.
• The seedy side – some parts of the riverside nightlife cater to sex tourists.

The most common advice is to live in BKK1 rather than on the tourist riverside, and keep your phone out of sight on the street.

Best neighborhoods in Phnom Penh for digital nomads

Most nomads stay in BKK1 or the areas around it:

• BKK1 – the expat heart of the city, with cafés, restaurants, gyms and coworking spaces, and the highest rents of the four.
• Tonle Bassac – the riverside area south of the Royal Palace, with newer towers and the big malls.
• Daun Penh – the old center and riverside, with the Royal Palace, markets and the tourist strip.
• Toul Kork – a more local, residential area in the northwest, and the cheapest of the four.

Locals also suggest the streets around the Russian Market, south of BKK1, for cafés, character and lower rents.

Here's what a furnished month cost on Airbnb when I checked:

That's Airbnb's search for a whole home for November 2026, for one guest.

It covers 18 to 24 listings in each area, read on October 1, 2026, with each price the total for the month in dollars.

Neighboring areas share some listings, as Airbnb's map for each area reaches into the next.

Where I stayed in Phnom Penh

I stayed at the Fairfield by Marriott, which has the best rooftop I found in the city.

Its infinity pool sits high above Phnom Penh, and I swam there most evenings as the sun went down over the skyline.

The gym is full of Technogym machines, and breakfast comes with a view across the city.

Here's the rooftop pool, breakfast and the gym from my stay, in January 2026:

And this is me running into the pool one morning:

Cost of living in Phnom Penh for digital nomads

A digital nomad spends about $1,150 a month in Phnom Penh, with a furnished place to stay.

Here's how that breaks down for one person:

The rent is the cheapest quarter of the 71 different Airbnb listings I checked across the four areas.

The rest is what a one-person US household spends, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2024 survey, at Cambodia's prices from the World Bank.

Coworking, insurance and flights come on top, and electricity for air conditioning can add a lot in the hot months.

Where digital nomads work in Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh has a few coworking spaces and hundreds of air-conditioned cafés.

My coworking finder lists five coworking spaces, including Factory Phnom Penh, Impact Hub Phnom Penh and The Desk.

My free Wi-Fi finder has 230 spots, from cafés like Brown Coffee and Bloom Cafe to rooftop bars.

Home internet is slow in M-Lab's tests, so ask your host for a speed test, and keep a local SIM with data as a backup.

See them all on a map, with hours, photos and directions, in the coworking space finder and the free Wi-Fi spots finder.

Phnom Penh's digital nomad community

Phnom Penh has a big, mixed expat community of entrepreneurs, teachers, NGO workers and long-term residents.

Nomads say it's easy to meet people at coworking spaces, rooftop bars and the many expat groups and events.

Internet in Phnom Penh

In M-Lab's open speed tests within 25 km of Phnom Penh, half came in above 17 Mbps download and 12 Mbps upload, and the fastest quarter of lines above 40 Mbps.

That's 79,164 download tests from September 2025 to September 2026.

The typical figure counts every line, cheap and mobile ones too; a fiber line in a good apartment or coworking space is closer to the fastest quarter.

Test yours when you get there with my internet speed test.

Is Phnom Penh safe for digital nomads?

I felt very safe in Phnom Penh.

The US State Department rates Cambodia Level 2 in its advisory of September 15, 2026, the same level it gives France, Germany and the UK.

Levels 1 and 2 are both everyday travel, and the US only asks you to reconsider a trip at Level 3.

It names crime, unrest and unexploded ordnance as the reasons for the country.

For Phnom Penh, it names crime as the reason for caution.

Its Do Not Travel area is the border with Thailand, because of unrest, far from Phnom Penh.

Nomads who've lived there say the biggest everyday risk is snatch theft, so keep your phone and bag away from the road side, especially in tuk-tuks at night.

I find that as long as you don't do anything stupid, you'll be safe in most places, but you should take precautions anywhere.

Read the full advisory before you book, as it changes.

Getting around Phnom Penh

Most people get around Phnom Penh by tuk-tuk or app:

• Ride apps – Grab and PassApp for cheap tuk-tuk and car rides, with the fare agreed up front.
• Tuk-tuks – everywhere, but agree on the price before you get in if you hail one.
• Motorbikes – rented by the month, but the traffic is chaotic and you need a license.
• Walking – hard in the heat, and many sidewalks are used for parking.
• The airport – Techo International Airport (KTI), which replaced the old airport in 2025, is south of the city, about an hour from the center in traffic.

Things to do in Phnom Penh

Here are the things people who live in Phnom Penh show visitors first:

• The Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda – the king's palace by the river, with its golden roofs.
• The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Choeung Ek – the former prison and killing fields of the Khmer Rouge, a hard but important visit.
• The Russian Market – the covered market for food, crafts and everything else.
• The Central Market – the Art Deco dome in the old center.
• The riverside – the promenade along the Tonlé Sap, and sunset cruises on the Mekong.
• The National Museum – the red building next to the palace, with Khmer art and sculpture.

Day trips from Phnom Penh

The best-known escape is Kampot, the river town in the south, and there's more within a few hours.

Kampot and Kep

Kampot is a quiet riverside town about 3 hours south of Phnom Penh, known for its pepper farms and the Bokor mountain above it.

Go for a weekend, and add Kep, the seaside town next to it, famous for its crab market.

More day trips

Each of these makes a good change from the city:

• Koh Dach – the silk island in the Mekong, a short trip from the city by tuk-tuk and ferry.
• Oudong – the old royal capital, with stupas on a hill, about an hour north.
• Phnom Tamao – a wildlife rescue center south of the city.
• Siem Reap and Angkor Wat – the temples of Angkor, best as a weekend trip by plane or bus.

Weather in Phnom Penh by month

The warmest month is March, at about 99°F (37°C) in the afternoon, and the coolest is October, at about 86°F (30°C).

The most rain falls in June.

From NASA POWER's monthly climate averages for the point (a grid about 50 km across, so a coastal or mountain city can read a little off).

Visas for digital nomads in Cambodia

Cambodia has no digital nomad visa, but it's easy to stay for months.

Here are the main options:

• Tourist visa – 30 days, from the official e-visa site or on arrival.
• Ordinary visa – also 30 days at first, but it can be extended in Cambodia for longer stays, which is what most long-term foreigners use.

Rules for extensions change, so check with an agent or the immigration department before you plan a long stay.

Compare Cambodia with every other country in my digital nomad visa finder.

Visas, taxes and residency in Cambodia

Before you plan a long stay, check what your passport allows and what staying does to your taxes:

• Can you stay? – see where your passport goes without a visa on the visa-free countries map, and whether Cambodia has a visa for remote workers in the digital nomad visa finder
• Tax – compare Cambodia's income tax with other countries in tax rates by country
• Foreign income – Cambodia taxes its tax residents on their income from anywhere; see the rule and its exceptions on the territorial tax map

Each tool reads the official rules, so the answer is for your own passport and income.

Time zone and working hours in Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh is on Indochina Time, UTC+7, all year, the same as Bangkok.

That's six hours ahead of London in the northern summer and seven in winter, so your afternoon is Europe's morning.

US hours are harder: New York is 11 or 12 hours behind, so calls land early in the morning or late at night.

See how many working hours you'd share with your team in my time zone overlap calculator.

Air quality in Phnom Penh

By an estimate, the air in Phnom Penh carries about 24 µg/m³ of fine particles (PM2.5) over a year, 4.8 times the WHO's guideline of 5 µg/m³.

The cleanest month is August, at about 15 µg/m³, and the haziest is February.

In February it climbs to about 37 µg/m³, so plan around it if you're sensitive to smoke or haze.

No open air quality station is within 25 km of Phnom Penh, so these are estimates from Copernicus's CAMS air model for the surrounding area (an 80 km grid, 2023 to 2025, CC BY 4.0), adjusted to what stations measure elsewhere.

Take them as a guide: the model can be well off in big cities, and a measured figure replaces it once a station opens.

Money in Phnom Penh

A card with no foreign fee and an account that holds several currencies make a stay much cheaper:

• Accounts – the best bank accounts for digital nomads, by where you live
• Cards – what a card costs you abroad in the card fees abroad calculator
• Sending money – the cheapest way to move money there in the money transfer comparison

The finders show only accounts and cards you can open from where you live.

Final thoughts on Phnom Penh for digital nomads

Phnom Penh gives digital nomads a cheap, lively capital with a big expat community, good food and rooftop sunsets.

Watch the basics, though.

Pick a building with good internet and air conditioning, keep your phone out of sight on the street, and skip March and April if you can.

Keep reading:

• Coworking spaces in Phnom Penh – the five spaces on a map, with hours and photos
• Free Wi-Fi spots in Phnom Penh – 230 cafés and spots to work from
• Digital nomad visa finder – Cambodia's rules next to every other country's

If you'd like a beach city in the region instead, read my Da Nang guide for digital nomads next.