Cambodia vs Thailand 2026: Which Is Easier for Australians? (Visa Friction Guide)

Why Aussies are actually asking this question in 2026

Thailand and Cambodia are the two big-name first trips into Indochina for Australian travellers, and in 2026 the visa rules between the two are genuinely lopsided. Thailand removed the 30-day cap in 2024 and pushed Australian passport-holders to a clean 60-day visa-exempt stamp — no application, no fee, no e-form, granted automatically when the immigration officer scans your passport at Bangkok, Phuket, or Chiang Mai. Cambodia did not follow. Every Australian still needs a visa to enter, and the price tag is $80 USD (~$122 AUD) all-in.

That difference matters less than it sounds for one trip — but it matters a lot when Aussies try to do both in the same holiday, which most of them do. The other 2026 wrinkle is the land border. All seven Thailand–Cambodia overland crossings (Poipet, Cham Yeam, O'Smach, Choam, Prum, Daun Lem, Phsa Prom) have been closed to tourist crossings since June 2025, and the closure has not been lifted. The classic Bangkok-to-Siem Reap overland bus is simply not available in 2026.

This guide is the friction comparison, not a destination shootout. If you want the destination-decision angle, the Cambodia visa cost guide for Australians and our Do Australians need a Cambodia visa pillar cover the eligibility detail, and the Cambodia visa processing time piece is useful if you are weighing a last-minute booking. Our Cambodia eVisa for Australian travellers pulls all the pieces — cost, documents, processing — into one place.

The visa rules side by side

Two countries, two completely different paperwork stories. Here is the honest line-by-line for Australian passport-holders in mid-2026. Both stay-lengths assume tourism — paid-work, conferences, and business meetings sit in a different category in both countries.

Thailand: clean and free, but mind the TDAC

Australia sits on Thailand's visa-exempt list and has done for decades. The 2024 upgrade pushed the stamp from 30 days to 60, so for most Aussie holidays a single passport stamp covers the whole trip with room to spare. You do not lodge anything before flying, you do not pay a visa fee, and you do not need to show a return ticket at most counters (though airlines do still ask). The Immigration officer scans your passport, asks where you are staying, and stamps you in. Total friction at the counter: roughly 90 seconds.

The one piece of pre-arrival paperwork in 2026 is the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) — a free online form Thailand introduced in May 2025 that replaces the old paper TM6. You fill it within three days of arrival, you get a QR code, and you show the QR at Immigration. It is genuinely free and takes about five minutes. Australians fill the same form regardless of arrival port.

Cambodia: $80 USD (~$122 AUD) all-in, three business days

Australian passport-holders need a Cambodia visa — no exceptions, no visa-free window, every traveller including infants. Our Tourist eVisa is $80 USD (~$122 AUD) all-in for a 30-day single-entry stamp valid for three months from issue. The Business eVisa is $90 USD (~$137 AUD) for the broader category covering meetings, paid work, conferences, sales calls, supplier visits, and longer stays. Both are processed in 3 business days. The all-in price includes passport and photo pre-checks, Aussie-timezone support, the approved PDF emailed to your inbox, and free resubmission if Immigration flags a correction. The eVisa-vs-VoA comparison covers why this beats the cash queue at Phnom Penh airport.

The pre-arrival timeline for an Aussie holiday

Here is the actual pre-flight checklist side by side, dropped into a realistic Aussie timeline — two weeks before flying, the Friday before, and arrival day. The differences are real but smaller than the visa rules suggest, because Cambodia's three-business-day window slots in comfortably as long as you are not booking the flight tomorrow.

Thailand pre-flight checklist

• Passport with 6 months validity remaining from your Thai entry date — same rule as Cambodia.
• Return or onward ticket (most airlines spot-check this at check-in in Australia; Thai Immigration rarely asks).
• Proof of accommodation for the first night (occasionally asked — a confirmed booking is enough).
• TDAC submitted within the 3-day window before arrival — free, online, takes about 5 minutes per traveller, save the QR.
• No visa fee, no application, no advance lodgement.

Cambodia pre-flight checklist

• Passport with 6 months validity from your Cambodia entry date and at least one full blank visa page.
• A digital passport-style photo (white background, 600x600 pixels minimum — phone photo is fine if framed correctly).
• Tourist eVisa lodged at least a week before flying — $80 USD (~$122 AUD) all-in, approved in 3 business days, delivered as a printable PDF by email.
• e-Arrival Card submitted in the 7-day window before arrival — 14 fields, $5 USD (~$7.50 AUD) verified through us, separate from the visa.
• Print the eVisa PDF or save it offline on your phone (KTI Wi-Fi at Immigration is unreliable).

The desktop walkthrough has the field-by-field for the eVisa form, and the e-Arrival 14-fields walkthrough covers the arrival card. For a tight booking window, the Friday application timing piece is worth reading before you lodge — Khmer public holidays can push the three-business-day clock further than Aussies expect.

The closed land border: why you cannot combine them overland in 2026

For the last twenty years the standard Indochina-loop move was Bangkok in, Siem Reap out via the Poipet land crossing. A cheap night bus from Khao San Road, a six-hour transit, a tuk-tuk to the Khmer side, the famous Poipet gauntlet, and a shared taxi to Siem Reap. That route is closed in 2026. All seven Thailand–Cambodia land borders (Poipet, Cham Yeam, O'Smach, Choam, Prum, Daun Lem, and Phsa Prom) have been closed to tourist crossings since June 2025, after a diplomatic dispute that escalated through the second half of 2025.

The Thai Navy denied a reopening in April 2026, and the Cambodian Foreign Ministry has been quiet on the question since. For Australian travellers, the practical answer is the same regardless of when the borders technically reopen: do not plan an overland combination of the two countries for a trip booked in 2026. Fly.

The good news: flights between Bangkok and Cambodia are short, cheap, and frequent. Bangkok to Siem Reap (SAI) is about 1 hour on Bangkok Airways, AirAsia, or Cambodia Airways — fares from BKK to SAI are typically $80 to $180 AUD one-way depending on the season. Bangkok to Phnom Penh (KTI) is similar. From Chiang Mai you usually connect through Bangkok. The full Thailand border closure update has the diplomatic background and the operational detail, and the Cambodia airports guide breaks down KTI, SAI, and KOS for first-time Aussies.

The honest friction comparison

Friction is the right framing — not difficulty. Cambodia is not difficult. It is more paperwork than Thailand, but the paperwork is straightforward and front-loads cleanly. Here is the honest scoring across the categories Aussies actually care about.

Pre-trip paperwork

Thailand wins clean. Zero visa application, zero visa fee, just the free 5-minute TDAC inside the 3-day window. Cambodia is a 15-minute application form, a $80 USD (~$122 AUD) payment, and a 3-business-day wait. Worth doing, not painful, but it is real work versus zero work.

Arrival-day experience

Closer than you would think. Thailand's free visa stamp queue at Suvarnabhumi (BKK) on a peak-hour 6am wave can run 45 to 90 minutes — a tired Aussie arriving from a redeye does not always experience that as easy. Cambodia's KTI Immigration is faster precisely because more travellers have arrived pre-approved on the eVisa: the e-channel queue is typically 10 to 20 minutes. The arrival-day friction gap is smaller than the pre-trip gap.

Cost over a 2-week holiday

Cambodia is more expensive on paper: $80 USD (~$122 AUD) eVisa plus $5 USD (~$7.50 AUD) e-Arrival is $85 USD (~$129 AUD) in pre-flight paperwork. Thailand is $0. Over a $4,500 to $7,500 AUD per-person holiday, that 1.5 percent gap is essentially noise — but it is real.

What you can actually do with the time

Thailand's 60-day stamp gives Aussies more room than they need for a single trip. Cambodia's 30-day Tourist stamp is single-entry — once you exit, the visa is finished. For Aussies on a 10 to 14-day Cambodia trip the 30 days is plenty; for slower long-stay travellers, Business eVisa or extensions are the route. The 12-month Cambodia extension piece covers that, and the Cambodia eVisa edge cases piece covers the unusual situations.

How a Thailand-plus-Cambodia trip actually looks in 2026

Most Aussies booking a multi-stop Southeast Asia holiday still want to see Bangkok and Angkor Wat in the same trip — and that is still doable in 2026. The shape just has to be air-only. Here is the realistic 14-night routing that works under the current rules.

• Days 1–6: Bangkok in (BKK), Chiang Mai by overnight train or 1-hour flight, return Bangkok. Thailand visa-exempt 60-day stamp covers the whole leg.
• Day 7: Fly Bangkok (BKK) to Siem Reap (SAI) — about 1 hour, $80 to $180 AUD one-way on Bangkok Airways, AirAsia, or Cambodia Airways.
• Days 7–10: Siem Reap — Angkor Wat at sunrise (allow at least 2 full days for the temples), the Old Market, Phare Circus, a day trip to Beng Mealea or Kbal Spean.
• Days 11–13: Fly or bus Siem Reap to Phnom Penh — riverside, Royal Palace, Tuol Sleng, Russian Market, a Mekong sunset cruise.
• Day 14: Fly Phnom Penh (KTI) home via Singapore or Kuala Lumpur — Cambodia 30-day single-entry stamp is fine for this.
• Total visa cost: $80 USD (~$122 AUD) Cambodia eVisa plus $5 USD (~$7.50 AUD) verified e-Arrival = $85 USD (~$129 AUD) per traveller for both countries.

If you want a deeper Cambodia leg, the 7-day itinerary for Aussies and the 14-day itinerary cover the on-the-ground shape, and the Cambodia first-trip planning checklist is the full pre-departure list for first-time Cambodia visitors.

Next steps and related reading for Australians: apply for your Cambodia eVisa when you are ready to lodge, bookmark our Cambodia visa hub for Australian citizens as the single canonical reference, skim the FAQ on Cambodia visa eligibility for quick answers, and use our glossary of Cambodia visa terms to decode any acronym in this guide; for a structured side-by-side visa vs thailand visa comparison, see the dedicated comparison page.