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If you’re planning to visit Siem Reap in 2025, it’s important to be aware of some of the challenges and scams you might encounter. We’re not trying to discourage your visit! But we want to equip you with the knowledge to avoid being scammed during your trip. Being scammed really ruin an otherwise epic trip. So please take some time to read this guide. We have a lot of experience to share.
Siem Reap is a beautiful and unique destination, and many people come here to see the stunning Angkor Wat temples. However, the high levels of tourism and intense poverty in Cambodia create an environment that can be quite challenging and potentially scammy.
If you’re visiting Siem Reap, we strongly recommend spending some time researching common scams and finding ethical ways to help. We lived in Cambodia for many years and ran a charity in Siem Reap, so we have a lot of experience to share with you to prepare you for your own adventures in this area.
Find out more about Ethical Volunteering in Cambodia
Get prepared – Siem Reap – Everything you need to know before you go
How Siem Reap has changed in recent years?
Siem Reap has struggled to bounce back from the COVID travel lockdowns, and many businesses have not recovered. You’ll still see some areas with old markets that haven’t reopened and abandoned shops and restaurants that have gone out of business.
However, new businesses have opened up, and Siem Reap is beginning to recover. The town now has plenty of coffee shops, cafes, restaurants, and bars. In recent years, some of the bigger businesses in town have expanded, for example, the temple bar now has two properties, and there is an increasing number of big brands and chains operating in the area.
Scams in Siem Reap and how to avoid them:
When you read about scams in a foreign country, it can feel a little overwhelming and intimidating. Don’t worry, many people visit Siem Reap and have no problems at all. It is just important to be aware of some of the scams that are still kicking around.
1 Fake orphanages and schools
Many people visiting Cambodia aspire to help, looking for volunteering programs or orphanages to visit. Sadly, some locals have seen this as an opportunity to cash in on foreign generosity by running fake schools and orphanages to raise money. In these places, children are not really educated, and donations do not generally go towards improving the life or education of children.
Many charity organizations and NGOs working in Siem Reap now support families in villages so children can be raised and educated in their community. If you do visit a school or orphanage, we recommend asking about the children’s learning and having a look at their school books to see if they really are being educated.
Example: If you visit the Floating Village near Siem Reap, you may be shown a local school. Nearby, there is conveniently a bookshop selling educational books and stationery for kids. The school will explain that the children do not have books and stationery and encourage you to buy some to donate. Although it sounds very wholesome, don’t fall for it. The whole setup is a complete scam. After many years of tourists visiting this area, the children have been given many books and stationary, which are promptly returned to the shelves of the fake shop for the next kind tourist to come and buy as a donation.
2 The baby milk scam
Many people visit Cambodia and realize that it is not good to give money directly to beggars. Recognizing this fact, there is a more sophisticated scam that was common a few years ago in Siem Reap. There was a mother and baby who would walk around the center of Siem Reap. The mother would ask for a donation of baby milk, saying, “I don’t need money. I just need milk for my baby.” She would then direct tourists to a shop where they can buy baby milk.
Many compassionate travelers would buy milk for this mother. She would then return it to the shop and claim most of the money back. The shop and the mother would keep the money, and the poor baby would stay on the street all day while the mother cashed in. Scammers like this are generally not poor – they only stay on the street because it is lucrative for them. But remember, this keeps the baby on the street all day too. We haven’t seen this mother recently, but we want to share it to illustrate the type of scams that you can encounter in Siem Reap.
Have a look at this mother and child on a bicycle in Siem Reap. This is what real poverty looks like in Cambodia…
If you’re trying to spot real needs in Siem Reap watch out for people collecting bottles. Families like this are genuinely poor and need support.
3 Social pressure begging
The begging culture in Cambodia is very intense, and street children have learned effective ways to extract money from tourists and travelers. A common technique that we have seen used over the years is called social pressure begging. Essentially, the beggar puts huge amounts of social pressure on people, and they are compelled to give out of embarrassment or shame. For example, it is very common to see tourists enjoying a meal or a drink around Pub Street, and children will stand there and stare until the tourist feels so uncomfortable they give the child money to encourage them to move on. Unfortunately, giving to children on the street is problematic, and giving to these children only perpetuates a culture that is bad for them.
4 Overpriced products and services
If you are visiting Asia for the first time, you may find the pricing system very strange and unusual. When it comes to shopping on the markets and taking a tuk-tuk, there is no official fixed pricing system (find out more about tuk tuks in Cambodia). Locals will offer and rely on foreigners not knowing the correct reasonable price for products and services, and they will insist on higher prices, telling you that this is the normal price. It is both acceptable and necessary to barter in Cambodia if you are hoping to get a fair price, and it is important to know how much things should cost in order to barter effectively. Never pay more than you are happy with. If you can’t agree to a price, you can always walk on.
5 Trafficking & begging
Ok this is one of the saddest scams in Siem Reap. When you first visit Siem Reap, you may find the intense begging culture to be overwhelming and quite challenging. It is natural to feel compassion when you see children begging on the street. However, a child begging in Siem Reap may be a child who has been trafficked into a begging organisation. We do not recommend giving money directly to street children in Siem Reap. If you give a child money, they are likely to give it straight to an adult, and they are unlikely to benefit from your giving.
By giving to street kids, you are encouraging and enabling the begging culture and indirectly keeping children out of education. Instead, you may choose to buy something for a child in a shop. If the product is sealed, be aware that the child may return it and get the money refunded. If you want to give to children on the street, we recommend giving them hot, fresh food that cannot be returned. In our experience, they are generally allowed to eat this food, and it makes their life a little happier.
