Cambodia is requiring all visitors to pay a $3,000 deposit to cover possible coronavirus costs

Angkor Wat.
(Image credit: TANG CHHIN SOTHY/AFP via Getty Images)

If you're thinking about traveling to Cambodia anytime soon, you should probably be aware of the country's recent announcement that all visitors — in light of the coronavirus pandemic — are required to pay a $3,000 deposit upon arrival at the airport.

Cambodian officials have said the mandatory deposit is refundable after fees are deducted for COVID-19 tests or quarantine and medical costs. Every visitor will have to at least pay for transportation to a testing center, the test itself, a one-night stay in a hotel while waiting for a result, and three meals during the mini-quarantine, which comes out to a more manageable $165. But if one passenger on a plane tests positive, every other person on the aircraft must quarantine for 14 days and take a second test, bringing the total up to $1,276, and the number nearly triples, vaulting past the original deposit, for anyone who tests positive. Finally, should a visitor die from the coronavirus while in the country, $1,500 will reportedly be taken out of the deposit for cremation purposes.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.