Tipping in Cambodia

Cambodia has no strict tipping custom, and nothing bad happens if you leave nothing. It is also a place where a small amount is worth real money to the person receiving it, which is why tipping has become normal on the tourist trail. At a street stall or local eatery, rounding up or leaving your riel change is plenty.

At a sit-down restaurant, 5 to 10 percent is a generous tip where nothing has been added for you. Some hotels and nicer restaurants add a service charge of around 10 percent, and a 10 percent VAT may be shown separately, so read the bill before deciding what to add.

For a tuk-tuk driver, a dollar or two on top of the fare is a normal thank you, and a driver who waits for you at temples all day deserves considerably more. For housekeeping, a few dollars a day left at the end of your stay is well received, and for a guide at Angkor or on a day tour, more again, scaled to how long you had them.

Spa and massage staff are usually tipped a few dollars, and porters a dollar a bag. None of it is a rule, and all of it is noticed.

Tip in US dollars, since that is the working currency, and keep the notes clean and small. A torn or heavily worn bill is as awkward for the person you hand it to as it would be at a market stall, so it is not much of a gift. Riel is fine for rounding up a small bill.

Hand the tip over directly rather than leaving it on the table, which is both the local habit and the surest way for it to reach the person who earned it. This guide is written for US travelers departing the US. For the wider picture, see cash or card in Cambodia, taxis and ride-hailing 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.
• Taxis, tuk-tuks and ride apps in CambodiaThe tuk-tuk is how you get around here, and the apps have taken the negotiation out of it. Install one before you land and the fare stops being something you argue about on a hot street corner.
• 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.