–>Cambodia Cost of Living
–>Phnom Penh Cambodia Livability Factors
–>Phnom Penh Cambodia Walking Tour
–>Phnom Penh Cambodia Nightlife
–>Phnom Penh Cambodia Best Cheap Food and Life
–>Phnom Penh Facts and History
–>Phnom Penh Cambodia Best Area to Stay, Cheapest Flights
Best Retire Cheap in Paradise Locations in the World
This post describes how people have started their Cambodia retirement low cost of living in Phnom Penh. Phnom Penh has a low cost of living, but it would not be my top pick for retiring in Cambodia. Of the cities I toured in Cambodia, Phnom Penh would probably be my least favorite. Let me explain.
I have been touring around SE Asia for a year now: Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and now Cambodia. Last year, I was in Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Portugal. I write retire-cheap reports as I travel the world, over 55 reports so far. People use my reports to live an international life for less money than it costs to stay home.
According to the US Government, millions of Americans rely on their social security check alone for 90% of their retirement income. The average social security check is around $1400 per month. That doesn’t buy you much of a life in many parts of the USA. Have you considered living internationally for your golden years?
My retirement income will be higher than that. But I still started asking myself if international retirement might be more interesting, more fun, and cheaper? My answer is yes, yes, yes. Do you have an answer yet?
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Okay, now let me tell you about Phnom Penh Cambodia.
Phnom Penh Cost of Living
Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia. Like most capital cities in the world, the sky is the limit for what you could pay in rents per month. But foreign retirees looking for cheap living pay in the range of around $200 per month to $1000 per month depending on size, amenities, neighborhood, and available budget.
Since I like to cook, I would need a kitchen, a living room, and one bedroom. That would be about $300 per month with an average of around $100 per month for utilities, since I like to run AC especially when I sleep at night. So my apartment would be around $400, or $14 per night. Example costs for food carts, neighborhood restaurants, and tourist restaurants are shown below.
The table shows just rent, food, and local transportation for a temporary visitor verifying retirement feasibility. It is shown as a range from a cheap backpacker type to someone like me who wants a kitchen.
|
Expense |
Cost |
Low |
Medium |
High |
| Apartment/month rate |
$20.00 |
0 |
14 |
30 |
| Moderate Hotel |
$18.00 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
| Hostel/per day |
$6.00 |
30 |
3 |
0 |
| High-End Restaurant |
$10.00 |
1 |
4 |
8 |
| Neighborhood Restaurant |
$3.50 |
30 |
44 |
48 |
| Food Cart |
$2.00 |
30 |
12 |
4 |
| Subway/Train/Metro |
$0.00 |
20 |
26 |
8 |
| Bus |
$0.00 |
20 |
10 |
0 |
| Grab |
$2.00 |
6 |
10 |
20 |
|
Total |
Per Month |
$387.00 |
$762.00 |
$896.00 |
|
Total |
Per Day |
$12.90 |
$25.40 |
$29.87 |
The table includes rent, 2 meals per day, and local transportation. For a full understanding of what it would cost you to live here, visit Numbeo for Phnom Penh and add any items you spend money on, like beer, or whatever. But you would still need to do a site visit before deciding if you could live here.
Never move anywhere until you have visited first personally to verify the living costs for your lifestyle and needs. I am not guaranteeing these prices. These are just my notes and estimates from the time of my visit and this post. Your costs will likely be drastically different depending on your lifestyle and needs and do not account for inflation.
Here is a free report explaining, “How The Cost of Living Table Works.”
Phnom Penh Livability Factors
You should consider your own personal livability factors before deciding if Cambodia retirement low cost of living is for you. Here are my livability factors.
Walkability: High. Although the city is quite spread out, many neighborhoods have everything you would need on a weekly basis within walking distance. If you need to buy something across to, you can get a Grab.com taxi for a dollar or two.
Internet: Medium. We didn’t have any trouble with the Internet at all in Phnom Penh. This was the third city we investigated in Cambodia. The information we shared for the first two cities is the same here. I recommend that you buy a 4G CellCard for $1 and add 20GB of data for $2 USD to your Android. That worked great as a hotspot for us when too many people jumped on the router or we were too far from the router. This was the key to working all over Cambodia when we were sharing routers and needed to control our bandwidth conditions. If you lived here you would have your own router in your apartment and there would be no issues.
Food: Medium. The food in restaurants seemed expensive compared to other parts of Cambodia or Vietnam. But like other parts of SE Asia, you can reduce the sting of prices once you get to know the best cheap food that only a local would learn over time. Once you figure that out, your average restaurant meal will drop down to the range of $2 to $3.50, still high comparatively speaking.
Weather: High. Average highs (days) range seasonally from a low of 87F/31C in December to a high of 96F/35C in April. Average lows (nights) range seasonally from a low of 71F/22C in January to a high of 78F/26C in May. The rainy season is June through October when at least some rain falls in 17 or more days of the month, heavily in September and October (250mm, 10 inches per month).
Things to Do: Low. For a capital city, Phnom Penh lacks diversity in terms of things to do. That is partially why I keep pushing you to other cities in Cambodia. I normally prefer larger cities because of the cultural nuances they provide, but there doesn’t seem to be a large improvement in cultural activities in Phnom Penh. So the bargain of living in a large crowded city for cultural activities is not here. You will find the basics in Phnom Penh though: Yoga, martial arts, meditation groups, ex-pat meetups, massage, gyms, nightlife (some), restaurant exploration, shopping, spas, boat cruises, book stores, and coffee shops. There is also some live entertainment, but it is a treat rather than a regular item on the menu.
Expats: High. There are three Phnom Penh (PP) ex-pat web page groups on Facebook. They are fairly active so they would likely be a great resource both for (1) deciding whether or not you want to visit PP for retirement feasibility, and (2) developing a portion of your new society once you arrive. Facebook 1. Facebook 2. Facebook 3. Of course, to maximize your experience you will want to develop friendships with locals also, possibly even primarily if you are like me.
Medical: There are two major hospitals in Phnom Penh (Royal Rattanak, Sen Sok International). I have not been to either so I really can’t speak to the quality of health care there. Both Bangkok and Ho Chi Min are short flights away if you need a specialist, not in Phnom Penh. I have been to these international hospitals in Bangkok and Vietnam and I would rate both of those hospitals as High.
Visa Requirements: For your exploratory visit to Cambodia, you can obtain a visa upon arrival at the international airports in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. If you use the eVisa program, it can only be used for entry through these two airports. If you intend to arrive through one of the land border crossings (like we did from Vietnam), the eVisa will not be accepted. At the land border crossings, you will need to fill out the forms again. In either case, bring the passport photo with you to immigration. There are 10 countries that must get a Visa in advance. The tourist Visa is $30 and the 30 day period can be extended for an additional 30 days for $50. If you are planning on staying longer than 60 days, then get an ordinary Visa from the start. If you are 55 or older and no longer working, I suggest getting a retirement Visa (ER Visa) for 6 or 12 months. The 6 or 12 month ER Visa is multi-entry. I haven’t obtained the ER Visa myself yet, but I was told the requirements are minimal compared to other countries in SE Asia. There are also student Visas, Employment Visas, and Business Visas.
Real Estate: This is not professional advice. But I would not buy real estate in Cambodia. If someone recommends that you buy in Cambodia, they probably have a conflict of interest with you. Just lease month to month. The rents are cheap and you can just hand the keys back to the landlord when you leave. If you want to own real estate, buy in a more economically safe country (i.e. USA) and live off the rents in a cheap country like Cambodia. Hire a property manager to manage your real estate at home.
Banking: This is not professional advice. Leave your money in your home country bank and take money out as needed at ATMs. When you are in a foreign country, it is much easier to get into a mess than to get out of one. If you want to store money outside your home country, don’t put it in developing country banks. Put it somewhere safe, like Switzerland.
Pollution: Like most of SE Asia, you will see litter here and there in many parts of Phnom Penh. I don’t recommend swimming in the rivers around Phnom Penh. The air pollution is ranged from moderate to unhealthy while we were there, link provided. Not unusual for large cities in SE Asia.
Phnom Penh Overall Desirability Score: Low. In Cambodia, I prefer Kampot, Battambang, and Siem Reap. Subscribe so you will receive my report on the top 20 cheap places in the world to retire cheap for 2020. That will be about within 4 weeks.
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Phnom Penh Cambodia Things to Do (Walking Tour)
Watch the above video of the 6 things you must see while in Phnom Penh Cambodia. If the above video looks fun, click ==>this link<== or the below Google Map and start walking.
Wat Phnom: This is the oldest structure in Phnom Penh. It was built by Lady Penh in 1373 after she found a Koki tree floating down the Tonle Sap river. It contained 4 bronze statues of Buddha and a stone statue of Vishnu inside the trunk. She built this temple to contain the relics.
National Museum: The museum houses the world’s largest collection of Khmer art including sculpture, bronzes, ceramics from prehistoric times. It was inaugurated in 1920.
Royal Palace: This complex has served as the residence of the King of Cambodia since it was built in 1860 except during the chaos caused by the Khmer Rouge. The seat of power for the Khmer Empire sat in Angkor in 802 AD until Angkor fell in the 15th century to Siam. While at the Royal Palace, make sure to see the Silver Pagoda located on the south side of the Royal Palace, which was completed in the 19th century.
Independence Monument: This monument celebrates Cambodia’s freedom from the French colonial period.
Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum: This is where the Khmer Rouge interrogated and murdered their fellow Cambodians 4o years ago when an extreme version of communism took over Cambodia. Make sure to use the audio provided for free as you walk around this museum.
Phnom Penh Night Market: Great shopping, local food and people watching.
Phnom Penh Cambodia Nightlife
Watch the above video of a Nightlife walking tour of Phnom Penh Cambodia. If the above video looks fun, click ==>this link<== or the below Google Map and start walking.
Riverfront Walk: Start with a walk along the riverfront. There are palm trees lining a riverfront park that you can stroll through in the evening.
Night Market: At the northern end of the riverfront walk is where you will find the night market. You can do some shopping there and get some cheap local foods to eat. You will see straw mats on the ground in front of the food carts where you can sit and eat.
People Watching: Walk through the small neighborhood full of bars just a few blocks south of the night market. But don’t get involved in prostitution. It is illegal, dangerous, and ruins the family culture of the beautiful people of Cambodia. People find authentic love here without commoditizing people.
Phnom Penh Cambodia Best Cheap Food and Life
We only stayed about 4 days in Phnom Penh because we do not intend to recommend it as a retire cheap in paradise location. So I didn’t find as many restaurants that we loved as usual.
Vegan 1 (Surn Yi Vegetarian): Best cheap meal in Phnom Penh. We both really loved the food and it was cheap.
Food Cart 1 (Apple Nails): This food cart is on the sidewalk on the corner across the street from Apple Nails. $1.75 Noodles dish Qiang Hui loved.
Fake Shrimp (Evergreen VEGETARIAN (Phsar Chas))
Morning Noodles (Cell phone store):
Amok (Kabbas Restaurant): Draft beers $0.50 USD, plus vegetarian version of a famous Cambodian dish called Amok.
Too Expensive (Mok Mony): Only eat here if you are afraid of spices and don’t mind paying $6 per entree to try a Vegan version of Khmer cuisine in a very clean western style restaurant.
The cost of food should play a large role for you in deciding whether you are ready for Cambodia retirement low cost of living in Phnom Penh or would prefer another city in Cambodia or the world.
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Phnom Penh Facts and History
Here are some interesting facts about Phnom Penh Cambodia.
In the 8th and 9th centuries, the Khmer Empire (Cambodia) had gained dominance in the southern part of SE Asia when Angor was the capital.
In 1372, a wealthy widow named Lady Penh, found a Koki tree floating down the Tonle Sap river. There were 4 bronze statues of Buddha inside the floating tree trunk along with a stone statue of Vishnu.
Lady Penh ordered the villagers to build a temple using the Koki wood to hold the Buddhas and the Vishnu statue. Today that temple is known as Wat Phnom Daun Penh or Wat Penh. This was while the capital of Cambodia was still in Angkor near Siem Reap.
But over the centuries the Khmer slowly lost dominance until Angkor fell in 1497.
The dark ages of Cambodia began when Angkor fell in the 15th century and continued until the French colonization in 1863. There is a 200 year period where there is no internal historical records about the administration of Cambodia. Not even the King’s name was known or carved in stone during the dark ages. The external sources for Cambodia’s history during the dark ages are not considered reliable.
Phnom Penh has been the largest population, the capital city, and the cultural center of Cambodia since the French colonization of Cambodia in 1865.
Thai and Vietnamese intrusions dominated much of the 17th century when Cambodia lost much of its landmass, access to the seas, and international trade independence.
Eventually, King Ang Duong agreed to France’s offers of protection in 1863, so that Cambodia would not fall under complete control of the Thai and Vietnamese. During the Vietnam War (with the USA), Phnom Penh was a base for the Viet Cong (North Vietnam).
When Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge in 1975, the two million occupants of Phnom Penh endured a death march out of the city into rural areas. All residents including the wealthy, if not executed before, were forced to do labor on farms to be reprogrammed as “new people.”
Pol Pot’s forces (Khmer Rouge) killed many people thought to be lazy, educated, or political enemies. Many also starved to death so rice could be sold to China to pay for the bullets to continue the war.
When the Vietnamese drove the Khmer Rouge out of Phnom Penh in 1979, many people returned to the city.
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Best Area to Stay in Phnom Penh
Here are a few suggestions:
Hostel: Great location and ratings.
Where we stayed: This is a great area for first-time visitors. The next one is a great area if you decide to stay longer.
Step Above: Great price and neighborhood.
Airbnb: This one is asking for more. But if we returned for a month, we would want a kitchen. At the time of this writing, we would make offers in this neighborhood for $18 per night here for a 30-day rental. If you are new to Airbnb use this code http://www.airbnb.com/c/dbell50 at checkout to get a big discount. Stay in an Airbnb to verify whether or not you are ready for Cambodia retirement low cost of living!
Cheapest Flights to Phnom Penh
We almost always get our cheapest flights on this Skyscanner. They have a web crawler that is constantly looking for the cheapest prices all over the world.
However, we took the bus from Kampot Cambodia to Phnom Penh Cambodia. The bus ticket of $10 per person included our luggage. We purchased our bus ticket from Kampot to Phnom Penh here at Giant Ibis in Kampot. It cost $10, took 4.5 hours, and included luggage.
We are on a one year tour of SE Asia trying to find our favorite place to retire for cheap. To learn how to tour the world at 80% savings, check out our affordable world-touring resources.
Final Thoughts
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This is Dan of Vagabond Buddha. Thank you for your interest in our Cambodia retirement low cost of living. The world is your home. What time will you be home for dinner?