Back in March this year, Cambodia became the first country in South East Asia to remove all pre-departure and on-arrival testing requirements for fully vaccinated international travellers, in an attempt to boost visitor arrivals.
This meant no more expensive PCR test within 72 hours of your departing flight to the country, nor any requirement to undergo a free rapid antigen test on arrival, provided you could show that you had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and held travel insurance with a minimum medical coverage of US$50,000.
At the time, this made Cambodia by far the simplest of Singapore’s Vaccinated Travel Lanes, but since then many countries in the region (including Singapore itself) have significantly relaxed their entry requirements and processes.
Vaccination is no longer required
Since 11th July 2022, Cambodia has removed its requirement for visitors to be fully vaccinated in order to travel to the country quarantine-free.
Fully vaccinated travellers can enter as normal (pre-COVID), by showing proof of a primary vaccination course completed at least 14 days prior to arrival. A booster dose is not required.
Unvaccinated travellers must take a rapid antigen test (ART) on arrival at a cost of US$5, and are free to continue their travels throughout Cambodia after returning a negative result.
If the on-arrival test result is positive and you have no symptoms or mild symptoms, you will be able to isolate at home or in any other accommodation. If you have severe symptoms you’ll need to isolate at a designated state COVID-19 treatment centre.
You’ll have to cover any treatment and accommodation costs yourself in either case.
For clarity, those who are fully vaccinated do not need to complete any pre-departure or on-arrival COVID-19 testing to travel to Cambodia.
Cambodia’s accepted vaccines for test-free travel are:
- Abdala
- AstraZeneca (SK Bioscience)
- AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria)
- CanSinoBIO (Convidecia)
- Clover (SCB-2019)
- Covaxin
- Covishield
- Covovax
- Curevac
- EpiVacCorona
- IMBCAMS
- Janssen
- Moderna (Spikevax)
- Nuvaxovid (Novavax)
- Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty)
- Sanofi-GSK
- Sinopharm (BIBP)
- Sinovac
- Soberana 01 / 02 / Plus
- Sputnik Light / Sputnik V
Children aged 17 and under can follow the rules for fully vaccinated travellers to enter Cambodia (no testing or quarantine), regardless of their vaccination status.
Insurance is no longer required
As part of recent changes, Cambodia has also removed its requirement for travellers to hold a health insurance policy with a minimum medical coverage of US$50,000 (this Forte Insurance policy was recommended, but any policy with sufficient cover was accepted).
The removal of mandatory insurance applies regardless of whether you are fully vaccinated or not, however COVID-19 medical insurance is still “strongly encouraged”.
Other requirements
- ASEAN nationals, including Singapore Citizens, do not need a visa to enter Cambodia for stays of up to 30 days.
- Those with any non-ASEAN nationalities, for example Australian, British and U.S. Citizens, will need to apply for an e-Visa (T category) prior to travelling, or obtain a visa on arrival, at a cost of US$36.
- All passports will need to be valid for a minimum period of six months from your date of entry to Cambodia, whether you are entering visa-free or not.
- An onward or return travel ticket and proof of sufficient funds may be required to visit Cambodia.
Singapore – Cambodia flights
There are currently 34 weekly flights between Singapore and Cambodia:
- Jetstar offers 6 x weekly flights to and from Phnom Penh (Airbus A320)
- Singapore Airlines offers 21 x weekly flights to and from Phnom Penh (Airbus A350 Medium Haul and Boeing 737-8 MAX)
- Singapore Airlines offers 7 x weekly flights to and from Siem Reap (Boeing 737-8 MAX)
Regional requirements
As testing requirements to visit countries in the Asia-Pacific region were generally relaxed in the first few months of 2022, so too the requirement to be fully vaccinated has started to be dropped.
There is now no requirement for tourist visitors to be fully vaccinated or complete any COVID-19 tests in order to make quarantine-free trips to:
Additionally, unvaccinated travellers can make quarantine-free trips to the following countries, with a negative pre-departure test:
- India
- Laos
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- South Korea (on-arrival test also applies)
- Thailand
Summary
Travel to Cambodia is now a completely pre-COVID experience for fully vaccinated travellers, and only requires a US$5 ART test on arrival if you’re not fully vaccinated, making it one of the simplest travel options in the region.
One in three tourist arrivals in Cambodia prior to COVID-19 were Chinese nationals, and with strict ongoing border requirements leading to most of those travellers staying at home, this could be a great year to visit sites like Angkor Wat (Siem Reap) and beat the crowds.
Like testing before it, COVID-19 vaccination is being dropped as a prerequisite for travel to many countries in the region, like Vietnam, Australia, Thailand and the Maldives.
Let’s see how long Singapore holds out with its VTF process, before inevitably relenting on vaccination too.
(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)
If your rapid test at the border is positive and you have no symptoms, you say you can isolate yourself “at home or in any other accommodation.” But will the regular hotel that you booked let you stay there? Is an entry made in your passport that you tested positive?
Elsewhere I have read that you have to isolate at one of Cambodia’s approved quarantine hotels, which cost minimum $150 per day, until you test negative on the very inaccurate tests that are rife with false positives. Are you sure of this information? I do appreciate the info you are providing.
Also, how long would you have to isolate?