Returning to Cambodia in 2026: What's Changed Since Your Last Aussie Trip

A different country to the one you remember

The six big changes since your last Cambodia trip

Phnom Penh's old PNH terminal — the one you flew into in 2019 with the open-air walk to immigration — was retired in September 2025. The replacement is Techo International Airport, code KTI, about 30 km south-east of the city in Kandal province. It is a full-size modern terminal with multiple runways, jet bridges, automated e-gates, and a 40–60 minute transfer into town depending on traffic. Siem Reap's old REP airport (7 km from the temples) was retired even earlier, in October 2023, in favour of SAI — Siem Reap-Angkor International — about 40 km east of town near Sotr Nikum. Your taxi fare from the airport will roughly double versus what you paid in 2019. Both new airport codes are covered in detail in our Cambodia airports guide for Australians.

If your old Cambodia trip included a Bangkok-Siem Reap overland leg via Poipet, or a Trat-Koh Kong run to the coast, that route is gone. All seven Thailand–Cambodia land crossings have been closed since June 2025, and the Thai Navy publicly denied a reopening in April 2026. No bus, no taxi, no shared van will get you across. Aussies routing through Bangkok now have to fly the Bangkok–Phnom Penh or Bangkok–Siem Reap leg. The full status, with the latest as of this month, sits in our 2026 Thailand–Cambodia border update.

The visa itself: same product, new context

What is new: the document list still asks for an intended address in Cambodia, but the field is now matched against your e-Arrival declaration on arrival. If you put one hotel on your eVisa and a different one on your e-Arrival, the immigration desk will pull you aside and ask why. The cleanest workflow is to apply for the eVisa on our application page, hold the approval PDF, and use the same accommodation when you file the e-Arrival inside the 7-day window before your flight. The application walk-through for first-time and returning Aussies is in our how-to-apply guide.

The e-Arrival Card — what didn't exist on your last trip

The visa and the e-Arrival are two separate products. One does not cover the other. The eVisa lets the airline board you in Australia; the e-Arrival lets Cambodian Immigration clear you at the kiosk. Our e-Arrival form guide walks through every one of the 14 fields, with the date-format and accommodation-match traps called out.

What it means for your 2026 itinerary

Pulling the changes together

If you have not been to Cambodia since 2019, the short version is: book to KTI or SAI (the old PNH and REP codes are dead), fly direct (the Thai land border is closed), apply for a fresh Cambodia eVisa at $80 USD (~$122 AUD), and file the e-Arrival Card within the 7 days before your flight. If you plan to stay longer than 30 days, apply for the Business eVisa at $90 USD (~$137 AUD) instead, because the Tourist eVisa no longer extends. The 2026 cost guide for Australians breaks down the all-in pricing, and the Smartraveller advisory is worth a five-minute read before you book.

If you are unsure which eVisa fits your trip, the Tourist-vs-Business decision is in our Cambodia Tourist Visa for Australians guide and the Cambodia Business Visa for Australians guide. The country pillar — fees, edge cases, dual citizens, PR holders — is on the Australia page.

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.