Cambodia eSIM

Phnom Penh and Siem Reap both have new airports a long way out of town: Techo opened in September 2025 and Siem Reap–Angkor in October 2023, so your first ride is a long one, booked on your phone. And if you're heading on overland, a Cambodia plan stops at the border: the crossings to Thailand are suspended, while Bavet to Vietnam is open.

What a week of data costs in Cambodia

Prices for 7 days of data, checked on 3 November 2026. Cambodia isn't in any UK, US or Australian "roam like at home" zone, so home carriers charge by the day you use the phone there, per phone.

For a family of four on Verizon, that's $336 for one week. The Smart SIM is the cheapest data, but each person queues at the booth with a passport, and it takes the place of your home SIM in a single-SIM phone.

Landing at Techo (KTI) or Siem Reap–Angkor (SAI)

Phnom Penh's airport has moved. Techo International Airport (KTI) opened on 9 September 2025 and replaced the old Phnom Penh International Airport as the city's main hub. In Siem Reap, the Siem Reap–Angkor International Airport (SAI) opened on 16 October 2023, about 50 km east of the town. Sihanoukville (KOS) takes international flights too. Switch the kimsim line on as the plane taxis to the gate, so you can message your hotel and book a ride while you queue at immigration.

In order: turn on Data Roaming for the kimsim line only, go through immigration, collect your bags and clear customs. Smart sells its Traveller SIM at a booth in every international airport, and SAI lists SIM card and mobile services in the terminal. With your eSIM already working, you can walk past them.

From Techo: the airport is about 20 km south of the city centre. Taxis cost about 10 to 20 US dollars depending on where you're going, and Grab, WowNow and PassApp all pick up there. An airport express bus run by the Phnom Penh City Bus Authority runs daily from 5.30 am to 11.30 pm. From Siem Reap–Angkor: ground transport is by minibus. At 50 km out, a hotel transfer arranged ahead is the simplest option, so save the driver's number before you fly.

Networks and coverage

Cambodia's three big networks are Metfone, Cellcard and Smart. Metfone is the brand of Viettel Cambodia, part of Vietnam's Viettel group, and launched in 2009. Cellcard is the brand of CamGSM, fully Cambodian-owned since 2009. Smart, formerly Smart Mobile, is owned by the Axiata group. Your phone shows the Cambodian operator's name, not kimsim.

Coverage is generally good in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and the main towns. The UK Foreign Office warns that many of the islands and remote areas are not well covered. Near the Thai and Vietnamese borders, your phone can also pick up a network from across the border. The networks your plan uses are listed above.

Region by region

• Siem Reap and the Angkor temples: fine in town and generally usable around the main temples. Further-out sites can be patchier, so buy your temple pass on the official Angkor Enterprise site and save it before you set off.
• Phnom Penh: dense and well covered on the street, with the riverfront, markets and museums all in reach of a tuk-tuk app.
• Kampot and Kep: usable in the towns. Expect weaker signal on Bokor Mountain and on river and crab-market trips.
• Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem: signal comes and goes away from the main beaches and piers. Download ferry tickets and offline maps in Sihanoukville first.
• Battambang: a calm town that's generally fine. Countryside trips to the hills and villages can drop out.
• Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri: remote north-eastern provinces with long gaps between towns. Plan to be offline for stretches on jungle treks and waterfall trips.
• The Mekong towns (Kratie, Stung Treng): fine in town, patchy out on the river.

This is general guidance, not a coverage map. If your plan offers more than one network and one is weak where you're staying, switch network by hand.

Borders, buses and boats

To Thailand: the UK Foreign Office says land crossings between Cambodia and Thailand remain suspended, after heavy fighting in 2025 and a ceasefire signed on 27 December. It advises against all but essential travel within 20 km of the Thai border. For now, fly between the two, and check before you book a bus.

To Vietnam: the main crossing is Bavet, opposite Moc Bai in Vietnam's Tay Ninh province. Your Cambodia plan stops working once you're across, so for a trip that carries on, the Southeast Asia plan covers both sides.

To the islands: the UK Foreign Office says tourist boats sometimes sail despite weather warnings between Sihanoukville and the nearby islands, and that medical help on the islands is limited. Check the weather and the boat before you board.

Long bus rides between Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Battambang and the coast cross long stretches of countryside, so download films, tickets and hotel details first.

Apps worth having

• Grab books cars, taxis, tuk-tuks and remorques at upfront fixed fares, and rents cars with drivers in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. PassApp is the Phnom Penh-based rival for cabs, tuk-tuks and rickshaws. Set both up at home: sign-up can send a text code to your usual number. The Foreign Office suggests tuk-tuks with metal grilles at the back and sides, to guard against bag snatching.
• Bakong Tourists is the National Bank of Cambodia's wallet for visitors: register with an email, top up at the airport or hotel, and scan KHQR codes to pay.
• Cash: US dollars are used alongside the riel, and the Bakong Tourists app changes between the two. The Foreign Office warns that fake dollar bills are sometimes given as change, so check your notes.
• WhatsApp for hotels, drivers and tour guides. Log in before you leave, and keep your WhatsApp number working abroad.
• Google Maps: download offline areas for Siem Reap, the coast and any trip to the north-east.

SIM and phone rules

Every Cambodian SIM needs ID. A law from February 2023 requires SIMs to be registered in a national database. In May 2024 the regulator, the TRC, ordered operators and vendors to stop selling or activating SIMs without checked ID, and to cut off numbers without it. Smart's registration takes your original passport (no photocopies) and a face scan.

A travel eSIM skips it. A kimsim eSIM is a foreign line roaming as a visitor, with no Cambodian number, so there's nothing to register and no booth. Your phone must be unlocked either way. Check your phone works with eSIM.

Common mistakes

• Leaving Data Roaming on for your home line. Cambodia is outside the cheap roaming zones, so this is where daily charges start. Roaming goes on for the kimsim line only. Why roaming goes on for the kimsim line only
• Starting the plan on a stop-over. Flying in via Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City or Singapore? Keep the kimsim line off until you land in Cambodia. If your plan started early
• Losing data near a border. In border towns the phone can grab a Thai or Vietnamese network that a Cambodia plan doesn't use. Pick Metfone or Cellcard by hand. How to choose a network manually
• Taking a Cambodia plan into Vietnam or Laos. It stops at the border. How regional plans work
• No way to call for help. Cambodia's emergency numbers are 117 for police, 118 for fire and 119 for an ambulance. A data-only eSIM can't dial them, so use your home line or any local phone.

More on Cambodia

• How much data do I need for a week abroad?
• Does WhatsApp work with a travel eSIM? Keep your number
• Unlimited eSIM data: what "unlimited" really means

How we put this page together

We checked the airports' own sites, operators' pages, carriers' roaming price pages, the UK Foreign Office and the other sources noted above on 3 November 2026, and we'll keep them up to date. We haven't measured speeds or coverage in Cambodia ourselves, so coverage notes are general guidance, not a map. kimsim sells the eSIMs on this page.