How Cambodia’s Visa Cost Compares to Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos for Americans

The Thailand land border changes the math entirely

There is one factor that no price table captures, and it matters more than any $25 difference: the Thailand–Cambodia land borders have been closed since June 2025, and all seven crossings remain shut. For decades the classic budget move was to fly cheaply into Bangkok and cross overland into Cambodia by bus, dodging a pricier direct flight. That route no longer exists.

In practical terms, you can no longer use Thailand’s free entry as a back door into Cambodia. If your plan was Bangkok in, overland to Siem Reap, you now need to fly between the two countries, and you still need your Cambodia eVisa sorted before you board — boarding can be denied without it. The land border closure quietly turns Thailand’s "free" advantage into a Cambodia flight you have to buy. Our guide on whether the Cambodia–Thailand land border is open for Americans covers exactly what is and is not possible right now.

This reframes the whole comparison. Thailand being free is only an advantage for a Thailand trip. The moment Cambodia is on the itinerary, you are flying into Cambodia and paying the $80 eVisa regardless of how cheap Thailand’s entry was. So the real comparison for a Cambodia-bound American is not "Cambodia vs Thailand" — it is "what does the Cambodia leg cost," full stop, because the overland workaround is gone.

The full math for a multi-country Indochina loop

Most Americans who ask this question are not choosing one country — they are planning a loop. The classic Indochina circuit pairs Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, sometimes with a Thailand connection. So the useful number is not any single visa, it is the visa total for the whole trip, with each country as its own line item.

A three-country Vietnam + Cambodia + Laos loop costs roughly $25–50 for the Vietnam eVisa, $80 for the Cambodia Tourist eVisa, and about $50 for Laos — call it $155 to $180 in visa fees, before the separate $5 Cambodia e-Arrival Card. Add a Thailand connection and that leg is free on entry, though you will likely pay for an extra flight now that the land borders are shut. None of these is a budget-buster on a multi-week trip; the visa total is a rounding error next to flights and hotels.

The takeaway: as a share of a real Indochina budget, visa fees are tiny — a few hundred dollars across multiple countries, against thousands in flights, lodging, and food. The right move is to pick each country’s visa on convenience and reliability, not to chase a $25 saving on one leg. If you want to see exactly where the Cambodia visa sits inside a full trip budget, our Cambodia trip budget guide for Americans maps the visa against everything else you will spend.

So is Cambodia overpriced? The honest verdict

On the sticker, Cambodia’s $80 is the highest single-entry eVisa of the four. On value, the gap closes fast. Vietnam saves you about $55 but hands you a fussier process and no free retry. Laos comes in modestly below Cambodia once you sort it online — close enough that the difference will not reroute a trip. Thailand is free but cannot get you into Cambodia overland anymore. So Cambodia is more expensive — by an amount small enough that it should never decide whether you visit.

What the $80 actually delivers is predictability: a fixed all-in price with nothing added at checkout, a 3-business-day approval, a printable PDF in your inbox, free resubmission if Immigration flags a correction, and US-timezone support. On a trip where one bounced application can cost you a flight, that certainty is worth real money. If you are weighing the eVisa against sorting your Cambodia visa at the airport, our guide on whether the Cambodia eVisa is cheaper than visa on arrival for Americans runs that specific comparison.

For a US citizen, the practical advice is simple: book each country’s visa on its own merits, sort the Cambodia eVisa online before you fly so you are never relying on an airport counter, and treat the $5 e-Arrival Card as a separate must-do. If you are still deciding between applying online and waiting to sort it at the gate, our breakdown of the Cambodia eVisa versus visa on arrival for Americans lays out both paths. If you only need the headline Cambodia number, our Cambodia Tourist eVisa price guide for US citizens covers the $80 figure and exactly what it includes.

Next steps and related reading for Americans: apply for your Cambodia eVisa when you are ready to lodge, browse our directory of country visa guides to price the other legs of your trip, skim the FAQ on Cambodia visa cost for quick answers, and use our glossary of Cambodia visa terms to decode any acronym in this guide.