destination · Siem Reap

Siem Reap in 2026: Angkor ticket sales down 32 per cent, the Thai land border shut, and the temples emptier than they have been in years

Review of Siem Reap

Siem Reap exists to serve Angkor, and Angkor is having its worst year in a long time. In 2025, 955,131 international visitors bought tickets to the Angkor Archaeological Park, generating 44.71 million dollars, already down 6.7 per cent in buyers and 6.51 per cent in revenue against 2024. Then 2026 fell off a cliff: between January and June, 387,772 foreign visitors bought tickets, a 31.69 per cent decline year on year, and revenue reached 18.47 million dollars, down 29.81 per cent. Through July the figure was 28.6 million dollars, still running about 29 per cent below the previous year. The main cause is not Angkor. It is the border. Fighting between Cambodia and Thailand escalated from early December 2025, involving heavy weapons and airstrikes, with civilian deaths and large-scale evacuations across several border provinces. Land border crossings between the two countries remain closed, which severs the classic overland Bangkok to Siem Reap route that a large share of Angkor's visitors used to take, and the reputational effect has spread well beyond the actual conflict zone. Siem Reap itself is not on the front line, but travel confidence in the whole gateway has taken the hit. The practical consequence for anyone planning a trip is that you fly in, and you check your visa route carefully. E-visas are accepted at a defined list of entry points: Phnom Penh's Techo International Airport, Siem Reap Angkor International Airport, Sihanoukville International Airport, Bavet on the Vietnamese border, and Tropaeng Kreal on the Laos border. Temporary restrictions have applied to e-visa holders trying to enter Cambodia from Thailand. Do not plan an overland arrival from Thailand in 2026 without checking the current status the week you travel. Angkor tickets are straightforward and not cheap. The 2026 prices are 37 dollars for one day, 62 dollars for three days and 72 dollars for a week. Buy only from official Angkor Enterprise counters or the verified official online platform. Everything else is a scam, and ticket-adjacent scams are one of the most common ways visitors lose money here. The airport is the other thing that has changed and it catches people out. Siem Reap Angkor International Airport opened on 16 October 2023 to replace the old capacity-constrained airport, and it is a genuinely modern facility. It is also roughly 50 kilometres east of Siem Reap, which is 45 minutes to an hour into town. If your itinerary assumes the old airport's fifteen-minute hop you will miss things. Transport scams cluster on arrivals: drivers claiming a broken meter and demanding flat rates that can exceed three times the legal fare, and unofficial helpers targeting people who have just got off a long flight. The fix is boring and effective - book the hotel transfer in advance, or use Grab or PassApp, and avoid unbranded airport vehicles. Heat is the last variable and it decides whether Angkor is a pleasure or an ordeal. March and April are the hottest months, regularly hitting 38 degrees, and the heat radiating off exposed sandstone makes an afternoon temple visit genuinely unpleasant. November through February is the window: 22 to 32 degrees, rainfall below 25 millimetres a month, clear skies and good light. Whatever month you go, the temples are a morning activity. The upside of a 32 per cent collapse in ticket sales is the thing every guidebook has been promising for twenty years and could never deliver: Angkor without the crush. The largest religious monument on earth, the faces of the Bayon and the strangler figs at Ta Prohm are all currently being seen by roughly a third fewer people than two years ago. Whether that reads as a tragedy for Cambodia or an opportunity for a visitor depends entirely on where you are standing, and both are true.

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