Most people in Cambodia are there for under a week, and the itinerary is usually Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, maybe the coast. Coverage is better than first-time visitors expect, and the plan you need is smaller than you think.
Siem Reap and the temples
Siem Reap town has solid coverage. So does most of the Angkor Archaeological Park — you can load a map inside the main complex, which surprises people.
Where it drops:
- Inside the temples themselves: thick stone and no line of sight. Signal returns when you step out.
- The outlying temples — Beng Mealea, Koh Ker, Banteay Chhmar: patchy, and the roads out there have gaps.
- Preah Vihear, up on the escarpment near the Thai border: unreliable, and border areas are where networks behave least predictably.
Download the temple map and your ticket before you set off at 5 a.m. A tuk-tuk driver waiting in the dark is not the moment to discover your map will not load.
Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, the islands
- Phnom Penh: good coverage throughout.
- Battambang and Kampot: fine in town.
- Sihanoukville: covered.
- Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem: signal at the main beaches and piers, nothing in the interior or on the quieter bays. The boat across loses signal part of the way.
- The Cardamom Mountains: assume offline.
Crossing the border
Cambodia is frequently one leg of a longer trip — overland from Bangkok via Poipet, or to Ho Chi Minh City via Bavet.
Two things to know:
- A Cambodia plan stops at the border. Thailand and Vietnam are separate coverage areas. If your trip crosses, either buy each country separately or look at a Southeast Asia regional plan and check the country list on the plan page.
- At the border itself, your phone may latch onto the wrong country's network and sit there with no usable data. Toggling airplane mode once after you are clearly through usually sorts it out.
How much data
Cambodia is a low-usage destination. Guesthouse and café wifi is widespread, distances are short, and much of the day is spent walking around temples rather than on a phone.
- Ordinary sightseeing: 2 GB per day is comfortable, and many people use half that.
- Posting photos and video daily: 3 GB per day.
- Working remotely: 5 GB per day, and confirm hotspot sharing is allowed.
For a four-day trip, do not buy a large plan. Unused data is not refunded and does not carry over.
Where a local SIM is worth considering
Cambodian prepaid data is cheap, and a shop SIM can cost less than a travel eSIM. If you are staying several weeks, that is the better deal and we will not pretend otherwise.
For a short trip the calculation usually goes the other way: the eSIM means you walk out of Siem Reap or Phnom Penh airport already connected, without handling your own SIM or queuing at a counter that charges tourist prices.
No Cambodian number
A travel eSIM is data only. In practice this shows up with PassApp and Grab drivers, who call when they cannot find you, and with guesthouses that confirm bookings by phone. Use in-app chat, and give your accommodation's number where a local contact is required.
Cash is still common in Cambodia, so you are less likely than elsewhere to be caught out by a payment app demanding a local number — but if you plan to use a Cambodian wallet app, check its sign-up requirements before you fly.