Khmer Drinks

Drink in Cambodia

The tap water supply in Phnom Penh has undergone significant changes following a "water revolutionary" in the government, Ek Sonn Chan. Consequently in Phnom Penh you can drink the tap water without problem, although it is highly chlorinated and you may not like the taste. 

Outside of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap tap water should be assumed not to be potable. Khmer brand water in blue plastic bottles sell for 1000 riels or less, although prices are often marked up for tourists to 50 cents or a dollar.

Soft Drinks

Iced coffee is ubiquitous in Cambodia. It is made Vietnamese style, freshly brewed and mixed with sweetened condensed milk. Walk past a local eatery any time of the day and you are bound to see at least a table of locals drinking them. One glass costs between 1500-2000riel. Iced tea made with lemon and sugar is also refreshing and ubiquitous.

Fresh coconut can be found everywhere, you could say it is ubiquitous, and is healthy and sanitary if drunk straight from the fruit.

Beer and Wine

In general, Khmers are not what could be described as casual drinkers: the main objective is to get hammered as quickly as possible. Know your limits if invited to join in!

The two most popular domestic Cambodian beers are Anchor — pronounced "an-CHOR" with a ch sound! — and Angkor. Beer Lao and Tiger are popular beers with foreigners. A plethora of other beers include ABC Stout, which is dark and not so bad, in addition to the standard Heineken and Carlsberg. Cheaper beers include Crownand Leo, whilst Kingdom Beer aims for the premium market with a pilsener and a dark lager. In Phnom Penh some of the foreigner oriented bars have also added harder to find import beers to their menu; the Green Vespa and Garage Bar both now carry a wide selection of English beers.

Recently Cambodia can produce Grape Wine with export standard, called Prasat Phnom Banon Grape Wine, the first ever wine locally produced in Cambodia in which breeds of grape are imported from various conuntries such as, USA, Australia and French. 

Khmer’s Red Wine is made from grape fruits and is a new product in Cambodia. Cambodia’s grape wine

was recognized by OVOP National Committee as a product of One Village One Product.

Khmer Food

Cambodia food is closely related to the cuisines of neighboring Thailand and Laos and, to a lesser extent, Vietnam, but there are some distinct local dishes. The overall consensus is that Khmer cooking is like Thai without spicy. Curries, stir tried vegetable, rice, noodles and soups are staples of the Khmer diet.

Coastal towns such as Sihanoukville in the southwest are famous for their seafood, cooked in many styles, including Japanese and European. Common ingredients in Khmer cuisine are similar to those found in other Southeast Asian culinary traditions – rice and sticky rice, fish sauce, palm sugar, lime, garlic, chilies, coconut milk, lemon grass, galangal, kaffir lime and shallots.

Cambodia is well known in the region for its Prahok, a strong, fermented fish paste used in a variety of traditional dishes. Fresh serve bottled drinking water and tap water should never be drunk. Similarly, salad and fruit served at these establishments are safe. All Tours are based on full board arrangements. For full-day excursions, picnic lunch can be provided if no adequate restaurants are available.

Traditional Khmer Food

1. Samlor Machu Trey (Sweet and sour soup with fish)

This dish is popular in many households in Cambodia as it’s not only easy to make but it also has a lovely

taste. Its ingredients include fish, garlic, lemongrass, celery, tamarind juice, bean sprouts, pineapple and seasoning with sugar, fish sauce, and salt.

Many people also add some fresh green herbs and hot chili pepper on top before serving.

2. Samlor Kakor

it is one of Cambodian national dishes. It uses an incredible range of ingredients to achieve its complex range of flavors, including the famous prahok or fermented fish cheese, which is unique to Khmer cuisine.

EVENTS & FESTIVAL AND HOLIDAY

	January 01	-	International New Year Day
	January 07	-	Victory Day Over Genocidal
	February 14	-	Meak Bochea Day
	March 08	-	International Women’s Day
	April 14, 15, 16	-	Khmer New Year Day (Choul Chhnam Khmer)
	May 01	-	International Labor Day
	May 13	-	Visakh Bochea Day
	May 13, 14, 15	-	Royal Birthday of the King Sihamoni
	May 17	-	Royal Ploughing Day
	June 01	-	International Children Day
	June 18	-	Royal Birthday of the King Mother Monineath Sihanouk
	Sep 22, 23, 24	-	Pchum Ben Day
	September 24	-	Constitutional and King’s Coronation Day
	October 15	-	Commemoration Day of King Norodom Sihanouk
	October 23	-	Paris Peace Agreement Day
	October 29	-	Royal Coronation of the King
	Nov 05, 06, 07	-	Water Festival and Moon Festival and Boat Racing
	November 09	-	Independence Day
	December 10	-	International Human Rights Day

Sam Veasna Center For Wildlife Conservation (SVC)

Who they are ?

Sam Veasna Center for Wildlife Conservation (SVC) is a registered Cambodian non-profit, non-

governmental organization. The aim of SVC is to serve as a focal point for conservation initiatives in northwestern Cambodia.

The Center was established in 2003 in memory of Sam Veasna, a pioneering Cambodian conservationist whose work led to the rediscovery and protection of the highly endangered bird, the Bengal Florican. He also discovered the presence of Sarus Crane in extensive wet grassland site in the province of Banteay Meanchey.

SVC started focusing on ecotourism in 2006, organising bird watching trips to the WCS conservation project sites across Cambodia. Their customers are bird watchers and those interested in the environment and culture, who come to Cambodia to see the unique diversity of wildlife and Angkorian culture in Cambodia. SVC have been proactive during the last 3 years, promoting their itineraries to the international tourists they take on their trips.

What they do?

SVC works to aid local communities in 3 ways:
1) The local communities earn an income from providing accommodation, food and local guiding services to

the visitors they bring.
2) A conservation contribution is made by each visitor and used by the elected village committee for livelihood development projects, which benefit the whole village.
3) Any profits that they make are handed back to help with the costs of the protection programs at the sites SVC visit.

We hope to fulfill our ambitions through raising awareness of Cambodia's rich wildlife heritage and facilitating activities that promote wildlife conservation. In conjunction with our program to train English-speaking Cambodian birding guides, we are promoting Cambodia as a destination for birding/conservation tourism.

In addition, through our Conservation Contribution fund, SVC is committed to fulfilling the objectives of ecotourism: long-term environmental, socio-cultural and economic sustainability. 

SVC specializes in arranging birding tours to remote areas of Cambodia to see rare birds. We are also working with Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), relevant government agencies and local villages.

The objective is for families in remote villages make their income through ecotourism, eventually replacing traditional livelihoods of hunting wildlife, habitat conversion and rice growing, all of which threatened the existence of the birds.

What they offer?

SVC currently visit 8 Wildlife Conservation Society project sites across Cambodia. They are chosen for their rich biodiversity, and in particular for their bird life, which includes 6 critically endangered species. They organise itineraries focusing on the birds but also visiting the spectacular Angkorian temples en route. Most of their sites are in remote and unspoilt corners of Cambodia which gives visitors the chance to not only experience the wildlife, but also the local rural culture that many travellers miss when they come to Cambodia.

• Tours lasting from one day to two weeks can be arranged through SVC. 

• The options range from a 4-day, 3-night stay at Tmatboey, an isolated village located in Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary in the Northern Plains of Cambodia and home to the critically endangered Ibis species, to an overnight stay at the Florican Grassland Sites, which harbor the largest known population of Bengal Florican in Cambodia and possibly the world.

• How about a 3-day, 2-night stay at Chhep Vulture ‘Restaurant' where vultures are fed?' The remote site with basic accommodation facilities boasts three resident species including the Critically Endangered White-rumped Vulture Gyps bengalensis. The use of veterinary drug diclofenac has reduced the vulture population by more than 97% in South Asia. The only remaining breeding populations outside of South Asia are in Cambodia and Myanmar.

• Sam Veasna Center is centrally located in Siem Reap, at #0552, Group 12, Wat Bo (100 meters past Angkor Village Hotel). Tours can be booked at our office, via email or through our website. A calendar of booked trips can be found on our website.

Phnom Ta Mao Zoo

Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre is home to a huge variety of animals, but unfortunately many species

Phnom Tamao Zoo

are endangered due to the illegal wildlife trade and loss of habitat. The largest animal park in Cambodia, Phnom Tamao was established in 1995 to provide a safe haven for 1,200 rescued animals and 102 species including Asian elephants, tigers, gibbons, macaques, leopards, and many others who are now cared for by the Cambodian Forestry Administration and a non-profit organization called Wildlife Alliance. Over 50,000 live wild animals have been rescued by the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team. Those that are healthy and suited for return to the wild are released into appropriate habitat in protected forest and other areas. The others receive a home at Phnom Tamao for as long as needed.

Phnom Tamao can be accessible as a day trip from Phnom Penh via National Road No 2 and takes about an hour and a half by car.

The largest animal park in Cambodia, Phnom Tamao was established in 1995 to provide a save haven for rescued animals, including elephants, tigers, gibbons, macaques, leopards, crocodiles, and many others who are now cared for by the Cambodian Forestry Administration and a non-profit organization called Wildlife Alliance. Since 2001, over 50,000 live animals have been rescued, most of them by the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team, an authority created by Wildlife Alliance and the Forestry Administration. Healthy animals are immediately released into a safe habitat, and animals needing rehabilitation or special care are brought to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center for as long as needed.

Over 200,000 people visit Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center every year. It is a great attraction for both local people and tourists, easily visited as a day trip from Phnom Penh.

If you didn’t know that Asiatic Black bears are primarily nocturnal, or that the Sun bear’s unusually long

Black bear

tongue comes in handy for slurping up termites, then a trip to the new Bear Discovery Centre might be for you. The recently opened centre was funded in part by the Australian Government and Free the Bears Fund, an Australian NGO working on bear preservation in South East Asia. ‘The hope is to inspire Cambodians to learn more about bears in the wild for future generations’, said Matt Hunt, FTB South East Asia program manager. The centre complements an existing bear sanctuary at Phnom Tamao currently home to 88 bears rescused from the illegal wildlife trade, which is largely driven by overseas bile farms in Vietnam and China.

Policy review for beach areas

In a bid to increase tourist arrivals and investment along Cambodia’s coastline, the Ministry of Tourism is considering relaxing regulations for foreign visitors.

Visa requirements and rules governing property ownership in Cambodia’s beach areas are being reviewed, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said yesterday.

“To attract more tourists, the options are whether to reduce the cost of tourist visas or provide visas for free to tourists who enter Cambodia through Sihanoukville’s port or its international airport,” he said.

Sihanoukville’s deep-sea port, along with an $18-million Kampot ferry terminal expected to be completed in 2019, will serve as the main entry points for tourists entering via waterways.

Khon said plans were under way to add a restaurant, a customs office, and a shopping mall to Sihanoukville’s port.

“More than 30 cruise ships holding around 1,800 foreign tourists each, arrived to Cambodia through Sihanoukville [last year], but we do not have a proper terminal to welcome them yet.”

The minister said the plan would consider the possibility of allowing tourists to purchase holiday homes in Cambodia.

“Now we are studying this regulation and we want to bring it to another level where foreigners can buy and own the house as their second home within our hypothetical tourism area,” he said, adding that the policy would first need government approval. Khon did not say when the new proposal would be ready for review.

Ho Vandy, co-chair of the Government-Private Sector Working Group, said he welcomed the visa-fee reduction initiative to attract more visitors, and supported improving tourism infrastructure to better integrate with the region.

Vandy said, however, that a monitoring group was needed to check on the new development projects in Cambodia’s coastal areas.

“There have been incentives for developers in the past. More than 20 islands have been given to investors to develop, but only six of those development projects are running,” he said.

Cambodia Considers sea shore incentive

PHNOM PENH, 12 December 2014: Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism may relax regulations for foreign visitors to boost tourist arrivals and encourage investment particularly along Cambodia’s coastline. The Phnom Penh Post quoted Tourism Minister Thong as saying that visa requirements and rules governing property ownership at Cambodia’s beach areas are under review. …

“To attract more tourists, the options include reducing tourist visas fees, or providing visa-free stays for tourists, who enter Cambodia through Sihanoukville’s sea port, or its international airport.”
Sihanoukville’s deep-sea port serves as the main entry point for cruises passengers. A USD18-million ferry terminal at Kampot should be completed in 2019.
inside no 1The minister said plans were under way to add a restaurant, a customs office and a shopping mall to Sihanoukville’s port to make it more convenient for passengers disembarking from ships. A visa-free stay would make it easier for cruises to organise shore trips.
“More than 30 cruise ships carrying a maximum of 1,800 foreign tourists each, visited Cambodia through Sihanoukville last year, but we do not have a proper terminal to welcome them yet.”
To step ashore passengers need a visa-on-arrival that adds to the cost of the shore sighting trips offered by tour operators working with the cruise lines.
The review of regulations will also look at the possibility of allowing tourists to purchase holiday homes in Cambodia, he said.
“Now we are studying this regulation and we want to bring it to another level where foreigners can buy and own property as their second home within a yet-to -be designated tourism enclave. However, the policy would first need government approval to change land regulations.”
The Government-Private Sector Working Group co-chair, Ho Vandy, advised that a monitoring group was needed to check new development projects in Cambodia’s coastal areas.
“There have been incentives for developers in the past. More than 20 islands have been given to investors to develop, but only six of those development projects are actually up and running,” he said.
The recommendation to give tourists visa-free entry at Sihanoukville, is based on similar incentives introduced by Vietnam to boost travel to Phu Quoc Island.
Effective in March this year, visitors to Phu Quoc can stay visa-free for 30 days, differentiating it from all other destinations in Vietnam.
Phu Quoc Airport, which opened for its first domestic flights last December, is located just 50 km from Sihanoukville.
Cambodia’s tourism is mainly heritage related, linked to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, while its beach resorts play a very marginal role.