3.72/5
540 reviews
Photo by allPhoto Bangkok via Unsplash

Phnom Penh

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nice

work

stay

drinking

air

cafes

phone

stayed

cities

relaxed

keeping

budget

water

briefly

kampot

awesome

food

Phnom Penh has a lively atmosphere with busy streets during the day, especially in neighborhoods like BKK1 and BKK3, which are popular among visitors. There are plenty of dining and hangout options, and internet connectivity was generally fast and reliable. Getting a SIM card with a large data allowance is affordable and convenient. The city quiets down by 9pm, offering a more relaxed vibe compared to other Southeast Asian capitals. It’s a decent place for short stays, with good coworking options like Workspace1 at Factory and cafes such as Suzy Anti-cafe suitable for remote work.

Accommodations can be a hit or miss, especially for travelers on a tight budget. Airbnb listings in the $20-25 range often came with issues like slow Wi-Fi, lack of hot water, or even unreliable water supply. Those looking for a smoother experience should consider allocating a higher budget for lodging. The city caters to a certain crowd and may not suit everyone’s expectations, especially when compared to more tourist-developed areas nearby. Nearby Kampot is a nice alternative for travelers, with good food and a budding social scene, though it has more of a backpacker party vibe.

AI-generated summary of reviews
1 year ago

Stayed in PP for around 2 months. I would say it appeals to a certain type of person. Unlike capital cities in neighboring countries, I found the vibe to be more relaxed. The city basically shuts down at 9pm. I would say if you want to visit, you should be willing to invest more in accomodations. I tried keeping my budget similar to those in Bangkok and that was my biggest mistake of my stay here. The Airbnbs I booked for around $20-25 a night had very slow wifi, no hot water or no water at all in some cases. If I had raised my budget I think I would have had a more enjoyable experience overall.

3 years ago

Only to PP briefly but I can say it's much, much busier than other cities in Cambodia. Having said that, seemed to calm down about 8/9pm so wasn't so crazy. Nice place to visit and probably much more to do than we saw briefly.

Can say that we really enjoyed Kampot too - awesome food, lots of people. Has a bit more of a Backpacker/ drinking culture than Siem Reap. It's still getting going again after COVID but seems to be coming back to life now.

4 years ago

Pretty cool city, BKK1 and BKK3 are nice areas to stay in. Check out Suzy Anti-cafe and Workspace1 in Factory for neat places to work from. It's a busy city, but lots of great places to eat and hang out. Internet was stable and fast enough overall. I got a SIM from SMART for a few bucks that had 44GB of data for the month, $5 to renew it.

Used "Ask Kim" visa agent to renew my tourist visa for 30 days, super easy to do and friendly.

5 years ago

Phnom Penh has plenty of air conditioned cafes and some co-working spaces, so it's quite possible to get work done. The river front area feels nice and spacious but other than that I didn't find it a particular pleasant city, and wouldn't stay for more a few days.

Kampot, however, 4 hours away by bus, has been one of the best places I've stayed. The atmosphere is great, it's a small town with nice architecture, hip cafes, yoga classes, and a riverfront to stroll along. It's much calmer than anywhere else I've been in Cambodia. I tended to work in open air cafes with a fan in the morning and then go to an air conditioned cafe during the afternoon heat. The only downside I found is that it could feel too relaxed if you need to get a lot of work done.

7 years ago

Best thing about Phnom Penh is its proximity to Kampot.
However, for some reason Kampot is not on Nomadlist.

7 years ago

i LOVE PP. it has a lot to offer and there are a lot of expats doing things other than drinking and imbibing weed. (yes, there are a lot of those people, too.) you do have to be willing to be a self-starter. and you do have to know where to look, and that just takes time. but the food scene is awesome. the culture and history are rich. and it's an easy access point to other locations in SE asia.

PP does have a BIG issue with pickpockets. more than anywhere else i've been in asia. just take extra precautions, and consider having a second (cheap) phone or keeping your phone somehow secured to your body when walking on the street.

7 years ago

I would urge anyone considering Phnom Penh to reconsider.

I've been jumping around South-East Asia for the past year and Phnom Penh has been by far the worst location for a remote worker I've encountered. The internet here is very unreliable. My house has a Fibre connection, but I'm dropping back to a 4G phone hotspot 5+ times per day.

This city is not geared for long-term remote workers. It's a paradise for sexpats and short term backpackers. With a few exception, the activities available here are: Drinking, smoking/eating weed, and talking shit to forigners at a bar.

YMMV.

I cannot wait to leave this place.

8 years ago

✅ Fast internet

✅ Good food

✅ Affordable to live

✅ Warm now

✅ Warm all year round

✅ Good air quality on average

✅ Many Nomads.com members have been

✅ Spacious and not crowded

✅ Very easy to make friends

✅ Safe for women

✅ LGBTQ+ friendly

✅ Not many people smoke tobacco

✅ Not a lot of alcohol abuse

❌ Low-budget accommodations often poor quality

❌ City shuts down early

❌ Freedom of speech is weak

❌ No democracy

❌ Not very safe

❌ Not much to do

❌ Very sweaty and humid now

❌ Not many Nomads.com members right now

❌ Difficult to do business

❌ Quality of education is low

❌ Hospitals are not that great

❌ Roads can be dangerous

❌ People don't speak English well

❌ Not family friendly

❌ Marijuana is illegal

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Feels (median)

3493°
hot

3595°
hot

38100°
hot

42108°
scorching

43109°
scorching

46115°
scorching

41106°
scorching

47117°
scorching

39102°
hot

38100°
hot

3391°
hot

Real (median)

3086°
very warm

3188°
hot

3290°
hot

3391°
hot

3290°
hot

3391°
hot

3188°
hot

3391°
hot

3086°
very warm

2984°
very warm

Humidity

nice
64%

nice
60%

nice
69%

sweaty
77%

sweaty
80%

sweaty
83%

sweaty
88%

sweaty
87%

sweaty
84%

sweaty
71%

Most common

☀️ Clear

☔️ Rain

☀️ Clear

Rain

dry
2mm

dry
10mm

dry
5mm

rainy
99mm

rainy
161mm

rainy
58mm

rainy
151mm

rainy
172mm

rainy
277mm

rainy
235mm

rainy
84mm

dry
30mm

Cloud

cloudy
52%

pockets
42%

pockets
38%

cloudy
71%

cloudy
81%

cloudy
82%

cloudy
88%

cloudy
86%

overcast
90%

cloudy
85%

cloudy
76%

cloudy
64%

Sun

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
10 UVI

avoid sun
9 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

avoid sun
7 UVI

avoid sun
8 UVI

Remote workers

3,600 people

3,386 people

2,625 people

2,186 people

2,400 people

1,763 people

1,691 people

1,543 people

1,800 people

2,914 people

2,600 people

Green is good. Red is bad. Values shown are the medians of all daily highs in a month based on past few years, not necessarily current numbers. Remote worker count is estimated based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members.

If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomads.com's Climate Finder

Current weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0)

Based on Phnom Penh's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:

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216pts

112pts

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57pts

55pts

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34pts

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✈️44min

$3,021 / mo

183 Mbps

Bangkok

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 40° 104° 31° 88° Has AC AQI 60 😷

✈️43min

$1,665 / mo

33 Mbps

London

United Kingdom

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 13° 55° 14° 58° AQI 16

✈️13h

$8,461 / mo

23 Mbps

Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

☀️ Feels 39° 102° 31° 88° Has AC AQI 72 😷

✈️17min

$1,441 / mo

14 Mbps

Chiang Mai

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😙 Affordable

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked good

👮 Safety good

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 34° 93° 29° 83° Has AC AQI 64 😷

✈️1h

$1,789 / mo

25 Mbps

Thailand

⭐️ OverallAll

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 🧐 Pricey

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked bad

👮 Safety bad

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 32° 90° 28° 82° Barely AC 🥵 AQI 88 😷

✈️3h

$3,451 / mo

🌇 Also went here188 people

⭐️ OverallAll

💵 Cost 😳 Extremely expensive

📡 InternetWiFi 🏎 Fast

👍 Liked mediocre

👮 Safety mediocre

Tap to open

🌥 Feels 18° 64° 18° 64° AQI 18

✈️14h

$6,192 / mo

🌇 Also went here210 people

2,400 remote workers in Phnom Penh now, of which 3+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

Values shown are estimated visits by traveling remote workers based on the total amount of trips logged by Nomads.com members. Visits to a place are only counted once per year per user, even if they visit more in that year. Visits are also normalized by overall trips added per month on the site, so if site usage goes up or down it does not affect trends. Not all digital nomads are on Nomads.com, and not all Nomads.com members log their trips. So the data is only indicative.

The chart below shows visitors by nationality normalized for population size. This means we take all trips logged on Nomads.com, check which country of origin the user is from, then divide that total visit count by the country of origin's population. If we didn't, it'd just show the big countries like US, Brazil and India always on top. Instead, this shows which nationalities worldwide proportionally visit more or less, which is more useful.

🎒 Nomad Score™	3.72/5 (Rank #93) 540 reviews
❤️ Liked by members	👍8 liked it 👎3 disliked it
👍 Quality of life score	Okay
👶 Family score	Okay
🎒 Community score	Okay
🤯 Overcrowding score	0% is nomad here
💵 Cost	😙 Affordable: $1,530 / mo
📡 Internet	😡 Slow: 17 Mbps (avg)
😝 Fun	Okay
⛅️ Temperature (now)	🥵 Too hot: 31°C87°F (feels 39°C102°F)
💦 Humidity (now)	🥵 Sweaty: 81%
💨 Air quality (now)	🌱 Good: 33 US AQI
💨 Air quality (annual)	🌱 Good: 66 US AQI
👌 Safety	Okay
👩 Safe for women	Okay
🌈 Safe for LGBTQ+	Okay
🤮 Food safety*	Okay
👮‍♀️ Lack of crime*	Good
🎓 Education level*	Low
⚡️ Power grid	Great
🌊 Resilience to climate change	Bad
💰 Income level*	Very poor: $239 / mo
🙊 English speaking*	Bad
🚶 Walkability	Okay
🚦 Traffic safety*	Bad
✈️ Airline scores*	Great
🧳 Lost luggage*	Great
🏥 Hospitals	Bad
😄 Happiness*	Bad
🍸 Nightlife	Bad
📶 Free WiFi in city	Bad
🖥 Places to work from	Great
❄️ A/C or heating	Okay
😁 Friendly to foreigners	Good
🗯 Freedom of speech*	Okay
🎅 Startup Score	Bad

🌍 Continent	Asia
🚩 Country	Cambodia
🗓️ Average trip length	6 days
📡 Internet speed (avg)	17 Mbps
⛅️ Weather (now)	☀️ 31°C 87°F + 🥵 Sweaty (81%) = feels 39°C 102°F
💨 Air quality (now)	👍 33 US AQI 🍃 OK
💨 Air quality (annual avg)	👎😷 66 US AQI
🔌 Power	230V 50Hz
🚕 Best taxi app*	Grab
🚑 Travel medical insurance	Safetywing
💸 10,000 KHR in USD	USD 2.45
🏧 Suggested ATM take out:	KHR 1,000,000 = USD 245
💳 Cashless	💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners)
💻 Best alt. coworking space	Small World Cambodia
🚰 Tap water	🚫 No, not drinkable
🦷 Fluoride added	🚫 No fluoride added
♻️ Return rate	👍12% of visitors return
📸 Visitors per year	3,016,900 visitors
📸 Tourists now	57,819 tourists
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Population	2,300,000 people
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 GDP per capita*	$2,872 / year
👫 Gender ratio (nomads)	👨 85% 👱‍♀️ 15%
⛪️ Religious government	Religious
🏠 Apartment listings	Phnom Penh Housing
✈️ Best short-haul air carrier	Vietnam Air
✈️ Best int'l air carrier	Air Asia

💵 Cost of living for nomad	$1,530 / month
💵 Cost of living for expat	$1,305 / month
💵 Cost of living for family	$2,920 / month
💵 Cost of living for local	$834 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$266 / month
🏡 Airbnb (median price)	$1,823 / month
🏠 1br studio rent in center	$641 / month
🏨 Hotel (median price)	$12 / night
🏠 Airbnb (median price)	$60 / night
🏢 Coworking hot desk	$99 / month
🍛 Dinner	$4
🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L)	$2
🍺 Beer in cafe (0.5L)	$1
☕️ Coffee in cafe	$3
👩‍🏫 International school	$10,893 / year
🚕 Taxi price (avg trip ~3km/2mi)	$3 / trip

Phnom Penh

2,400 remote workers in Phnom Penh now, of which 3+ members checked in (some members are set to private)

Members who will be here soon

Members who have been here

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