Cambodia eSIM for Angkor, Phnom Penh, and the islands

Cambodia is tuk-tuks hailed in an app, a temple pass bought online, and a bus to the coast booked the night before, and none of it works from a phone that's still hunting for a network. The best eSIM for Cambodia is the one added at home, on Wi-Fi, so the ride from the airport and the sunrise slot at Angkor Wat are sorted before you reach the visa desk.

Below: how a Cambodia plan works, how to set it up before you fly, what to expect at Angkor, in Phnom Penh, and on the islands, and which plan fits when Thailand, Vietnam, or Laos is on the same trip.

Asian trips tend to be multi-stop, and most travel eSIMs want a fresh profile at every airport. KnowRoaming doesn't. You add the KnowRoaming eSIM, called KR.One, to your phone once, then add a plan per trip: one country for a single-city break, the Asia plan when the route runs through several, and next year's trip on the same eSIM. Nothing to scan again, nothing to delete when you get home.

The plan's days start when you turn it on and connect in Cambodia, not at checkout. Buy it weeks ahead, add it at home, and a delayed flight costs you nothing. The full rule is in what plan validity means and when it starts.

Choose a fixed plan for a set amount of data at the lowest overall price, or an unlimited plan when you'd rather not count. Unlimited plans give you 5 GB a day at full speed, then a slower speed until the allowance resets the next day. If a fixed plan runs low, top up in the app and the extra data lands on the same eSIM.

See it in two minutes: Meet KR.One, iPhone setup with KR.One, or Samsung setup with KR.One.

Do this at home on Wi-Fi. It takes about a minute.

Before you leave

1. Get the KnowRoaming app (available on iOS and Android) and choose your Cambodia plan.
2. Tap Add. First time on this phone? The app adds KR.One and your Cambodia plan together. Already have KR.One? Only the plan is added, with nothing to scan.
3. Leave data roaming off on the KnowRoaming line until you land, and turn it off on your home line too so it doesn't run up charges in the background. Steps are in turning off roaming on your home line.

When you land

1. Turn the plan on in the app, then turn data roaming on for the KnowRoaming line. That setting lives in your phone, so the app can't flip it for you.
2. Give the phone a minute to find the network. If nothing happens, turn airplane mode on for 30 seconds and off again.

Prefer a QR code? The checkout page and your confirmation email both carry one; scan it from your phone's settings. Every tap, by device, is in adding your eSIM on iPhone, adding your eSIM on Android, and adding your eSIM on Samsung, or watch the iPhone QR walkthrough or the Samsung QR walkthrough. Still no signal after landing? Work through the no-signal checklist.

Phnom Penh's airport is 30 to 45 minutes from the riverside; Siem Reap's new airport is about 40 km from town, a transfer of about 45 minutes. Grab and PassApp are the ride apps, and they book tuk-tuks as well as cars, over the plan's data with the number you already have. Most visitors buy a visa on arrival or an e-visa in advance; keep the confirmation saved offline.

US dollars circulate alongside the riel and small change comes back in riel; cards work in hotels, the bigger restaurants, and Siem Reap's Pub Street, and cash covers the markets, the tuk-tuks, and the countryside. ATMs are easy to find in the cities.

The Angkor pass is sold at the ticket center and online, in one-, three-, and seven-day versions, and the online version saves the queue. Sunrise at Angkor Wat, the faces of Bayon, and the roots of Ta Prohm are the classic day; Banteay Srei and the Roluos group are the second. The Grand Circuit is a tuk-tuk day, arranged the evening before in the app.

Metfone's 4G covers the main temple park well enough for maps and photos; the outlying temples and the Kulen mountain drop out. Download the park map before you set off.

Kampot's river and pepper farms and Kep's crab market are a comfortable few hours south of Phnom Penh by bus, booked online. Koh Rong and Koh Rong Sanloem, reached by fast ferry from Sihanoukville, are the islands, with beach bungalows, evening plankton, and a signal that depends on which bay you're in; the ferry towns have 4G, the far beaches don't.

Battambang, a few hours west of Siem Reap, is the slower town, with its French shophouses, the bamboo railway, and the bat caves at dusk; Phnom Penh's riverside, the Royal Palace, and the Toul Tom Poung market fill a capital day. Both have 4G, and both are where the next bus is booked.

Cambodia sits between three neighbors that most itineraries also visit, by land at Poipet, Bavet, and the Laos crossing in the north, or by air. All three, and Cambodia, are on the Asia plan, 28 countries on one plan, switching networks by itself at the border. A Cambodia-only plan stops at the border, so for a Southeast Asia loop the Asia plan is the better buy from the start. Read do I need a new plan for every country? for the detail.

May to October is the wet season, with afternoon downpours that flood streets for an hour and then drain; the temples are greener and quieter. Khmer New Year in April and the Water Festival in November, with boat races on the Tonlé Sap in Phnom Penh, are the two national holidays that fill transport and hotels; the Tonlé Sap's floating villages are a boat trip from Siem Reap with signal along the shore and little beyond.

The country closes for a few days around each holiday, and transport is booked out the week before; check the calendar against your dates before you fix the flights.

Your plan connects to Metfone on 4G LTE. There is no 5G on this plan. Coverage is strong in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Battambang, and Kampot, holds along the main highways, and reaches most of the Angkor park. Your phone picks the network automatically once the plan is on; there is nothing to choose by hand.

On the islands, the Cardamom mountains, and the outlying temples, expect gaps on any network. Save what you need in town.

Most phones sold since 2019 support eSIM, including iPhone XS and later and most Android flagships from the same window. Check yours before you add a plan; it takes a few seconds. On iPhone, go to Settings, General, About and look for an EID or Available SIM. On Android, go to Settings, Network & Internet, SIMs and look for an option to add an eSIM. On Samsung, dial *#06# and look for an EID.

Your phone also needs to be carrier-unlocked. If you're not sure, carrier-locked vs unlocked: how to tell shows you where to look.

Adding a Cambodia plan doesn't touch your regular SIM. Calls and texts on your usual number keep working exactly as before. The new plan handles data while you're there, and most phones run both at once without you doing anything else. Bank codes and two-factor texts still arrive on your home number, as long as that line stays switched on.

For Asia the alternatives are a home-carrier roaming pass that resets at every border, an airport SIM counter at each arrival, or hotel Wi-Fi that stops at the lobby. A Cambodia plan added at home beats all three: one price agreed before you fly, live the second you land, and one plan across every stop on the route.

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