Tourists Must Now Pay at Least $3,000 to Enter Cambodia

Foreigners planning to travel to Cambodia must now pay at least $3,000 before entering the country for “virus prevention services.”

What you need to know: The U.S. Embassy in Cambodia announced the mandatory deposit — either by credit card or cash — on June 11 to cover the traveler’s medical expenses, which includes testing for COVID-19 and quarantine services bills.

Travelers will be required to make a minimum mandatory deposit of $165 upon entering the country, Frommers reported.
This will cover the $5 transportation fee that will take foreigners from the airport to the testing area as well as a $100 COVID-19 testing fee, a $30 fee for a one-night stay at a hotel and an extra $30 for three meals while waiting for the results.
In the event that one of the passengers test positive, everyone on the same flight will be placed under quarantine for 14 days with a fee of $84 per day and $100 for the test, which adds up to a total of $1,276.
Those who test positive must pay $225 per day of hospital bills for the entirety of the quarantine as well as the four COVID-19 tests that cost $100 each for a total of $3,550.
In the event that a traveler dies of the virus while staying in Cambodia, the government also included a cremation fee of $1,500.
In addition to the listed above, travelers are also required to show proof of travel insurance coverage of at least $50,000.

Why this is important: Some officials do not agree with Cambodia’s high price of deposit for incoming travelers.

President of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents (CATA), Chhay Sivlin, voiced the high price of the deposit could deter any potential travelers coming to the country, VOA Cambodia reported.
“The Government of Cambodia has suspended the e-visa and visa-on-arrival programs until further notice,” the embassy post said. “We understand Cambodian Embassies will only accept applications for diplomatic, official and business visas and will not issue tourist or other visas to enter Cambodia at this time.”
Sivlin added the government should also uplift the suspension on “visa-free entry, tourist visas, e-visas, and visas on arrival as visas.”
Cambodia only had three arrivals and five departures on June 11, said Khek Norinda, a communications officer at the Phnom Penh International Airport. This is low compared to last year’s 28,300 inbound and outbound for the same day.
As the time of writing, Cambodia only has three active cases of COVID-19, according to Worldometers.

Feature Image via Dennis Jarvis (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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