Cambodia to enforce strict travel restrictions from Tuesday, March 31, essentially making it the last country in the region to do so.
Cambodia, which effectively was shut down to the outside world by the closure of the Vietnamese, Thai, and Laos borders, has now made things “official” by imposing stringent travel restrictions.
The government of the Kingdom of Cambodia has decided to impose travel restrictions in order to reduce and contain the transmission of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), effective from midnight on March 30, 2020.
From a statement dated March 27, the government said it would suspend all visa exemption policies and issuance of tourist visas, e-visas and visas on arrival to all foreigners for a period of at least one month, taking us to April 30 at the earliest.
Any foreigner wishing to travel to Cambodia must obtain a visa from a Cambodian embassy/consulate abroad, the statement reads, adding that an individual must provide a medical certificate, issued by a competent health authority from their country no more than 72 hours prior to the date of travel, certifying that they are not tested positive for the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). Ironically said test largely doesn’t exist, and would probably prove useless anyway.
Foreigners entering the country must also provide proof of travel insurance, put to $50,0000, again ironically since Prime-Minister Hun Sen promised free medical care to all people suffering from coronavirus regardless of their nationality.
Those who do manage to get a visa, get a doctor, and arrange travel insurance will then be required to do an enforced 14 day quarantine period. So, to cut a long story short, for a month at least Cambodia is closed to the outside world.
Cambodia, as one of the last countries to close to tourism, has been a haven for those people fleeing from coronavirus lockdowns, and last week announced a change in visa extension rules for those foreigners, tourists, and ex-pats essentially locked down in the country.
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