Taxis, tuk-tuks and ride apps in Cambodia

PassApp is the Cambodian-built app and the one many locals use, dispatching metered tuk-tuks, rickshaws, cars and SUVs with the fare estimated up front and a receipt emailed after. Grab is the regional app most visitors already have, covering cars and motos as well as tuk-tuks, and it more often supports paying by card in the app rather than cash to the driver.

Either removes the part of a Cambodian tuk-tuk ride that visitors dislike most: working out what a fair price is, in a language you do not speak, before you can leave. Coverage is strongest in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, and you will want mobile data for it, so sort an eSIM or local SIM early. Away from the cities, the app cars thin out and a driver arranged through your guesthouse is the normal route.

Tuk-tuks waiting outside hotels, temples and markets do not run on meters, so the fare is whatever you agree. Agree it before you get in, for the whole trip, including waiting time if you are asking the driver to hold. A price settled on the pavement is a price; a price left open until you arrive is a negotiation you will lose.

For a full day around the Angkor temples, hiring a tuk-tuk driver for the day is the standard arrangement, and it is worth agreeing the route as well as the price, since the small and grand circuits are different amounts of driving. A good driver you can rebook for a second day is the most useful thing you will find in Siem Reap.

Fares are low and paid in US dollars, so a hundred-dollar note from an ATM is no help at all: keep ones and fives in your pocket. Riel is handy for rounding. A dollar or two on top is a normal thank you, and a driver who waited around for you all day deserves more.

Arriving at Phnom Penh or Siem Reap, use the official taxi desk in the terminal or the marked app pickup area, rather than the first offer you get walking out. Because ride apps need data, having your eSIM working before you land is what makes this easy. This guide is written for US travelers departing the US. For the wider picture, see cash or card in Cambodia, tipping in Cambodia, and the Cambodia money guide.

Common questions

Quick answers.

More on Cambodia

The little money things nobody warns you about.

• Do I need cash in Cambodia, or can I use cards?Cash, mostly, and here is the unusual part: the everyday cash is the US dollar. That makes Cambodia one of the simplest countries anywhere for an American to handle, with one condition about the state of your banknotes.
• Tipping in CambodiaNothing here is obligatory, and a small tip goes a long way. Because you are already spending US dollars, tipping is simpler than almost anywhere: a dollar or two, handed over, in the currency you are carrying.
• Common money scams in Cambodia, and what they cost youCambodia is safe for the great majority of visitors and almost none of this is dramatic. Because the country runs on US dollars, its money traps are unusually simple: a fake note in your change, a fee somebody padded, a ticket sold by the wrong person. They cost a few dollars at a time, and a handful of habits defuse nearly all of them. Here is each one, what it costs, and how to sidestep it.
• Do US citizens need a visa for Cambodia?Yes, and Cambodia breaks the usual rule. Almost everywhere, applying online in advance is the cheaper route. Here it is the dearer one, and the cheaper route wants clean cash and a photo. Here is what each actually costs, and the official place to get it.
• Staying connected in Cambodia.Cambodian mobile data is among the cheapest in the world. A few dollars buys more gigabytes than most travelers use in a month, which makes the decision here easy and makes our commission argument weak.
• What does getting sick in Cambodia cost?The everyday side is manageable: Phnom Penh and Siem Reap have clinics used to foreign patients, and you walk in and pay. The part worth planning for is that Cambodia stabilises serious cases rather than treating them, so the real bill is the flight to Bangkok.