🇰🇭 Phnom Penh · Healthcare
Doctors, insurance and emergencies in Phnom Penh
Adequate for routine care in the capital, limited beyond it, and Bangkok is an hour away — which is what the insurance needs to cover.
The thing people get wrongSerious or complex treatment is generally done outside Cambodia, most often in Bangkok or Singapore. Medical evacuation cover is therefore not a luxury clause in a Phnom Penh policy; it is the main thing you are buying.
What is available locally
Phnom Penh has several international-standard clinics and hospitals — Royal Phnom Penh Hospital, Raffles Medical and others — with English-speaking doctors handling routine and urgent care competently. Below that tier, standards vary considerably. Outside the capital, facilities are limited, which matters if you travel within the country.
- International clinics in the capital handle routine and urgent care well.
- Specialist capability is limited compared with Bangkok or Singapore.
- Facilities outside Phnom Penh are basic; plan accordingly when travelling.
Insurance and evacuation
Buy a policy that explicitly covers medical evacuation, and read who decides when it is triggered and where you are taken. Check the inpatient limit against the real cost of treatment in Bangkok rather than in Phnom Penh, since that is where a serious case will be handled. Confirm whether the insurer direct-bills the clinics you would actually use.
- Medical evacuation cover, with the trigger and destination spelled out.
- Inpatient limits benchmarked against Bangkok or Singapore prices.
- Direct-billing arrangements with the local international clinics.
- Buy before arrival; pre-existing conditions are routinely excluded.
Everyday health
Pharmacies are plentiful and dispense widely, though quality of supply varies and it is worth using established chains. Tap water is not drunk. Dengue is present and rises in the rainy season, and mosquito precautions are worth taking seriously. Road traffic injuries are a significant risk for foreign residents, largely on motorbikes — helmets matter.
- Use established pharmacy chains rather than the cheapest counter.
- Bottled or filtered water for drinking and ice.
- Dengue rises in the rains, roughly May to October.
- Road safety is the single largest practical risk; wear a helmet.
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