VacationSelector
The Silver Pagoda, Phnom Penh
Phnom PenhThe Silver Pagoda
The Big Buddha on the hill above Phuket, Phuket
PhuketThe Big Buddha on the hill above Phuket

Photos: Phnom Penh by Francisco Anzola, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Phuket by Mussi Katz, CC0.

Phnom Penh or Phuket?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Phnom Penh for

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Phnom Penh’s own page.

Choose Phuket for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Phuket’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Phnom Penh 6, Phuket 90: Phuket leads by 84 points.
Food & drink. Phnom Penh 62, Phuket 66: Phuket leads by 4 points.
Culture & sights. Phnom Penh 62, Phuket 35: Phnom Penh leads by 27 points.
Nightlife. Phnom Penh 58, Phuket 72: Phuket leads by 14 points.
Nature & outdoors. Phnom Penh 28, Phuket 80: Phuket leads by 52 points.
Day trips. Phnom Penh 34, Phuket 45: Phuket leads by 11 points.
Good for families. Phnom Penh 32, Phuket 65: Phuket leads by 33 points.
Getting around. Phnom Penh 35, Phuket 22: Phnom Penh leads by 13 points.
Shopping & style. Phnom Penh 46, Phuket 42: Phnom Penh leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Phnom Penh 86, Phuket 68: Phnom Penh leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Phnom Penh 32, Phuket 20: Phnom Penh leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Phnom Penh 50, Phuket 82: Phuket leads by 32 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Phnom Penh and Phuket.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Phnom Penh
44match

Wins on culture and sights and prices with your weighting.

Phuket
Best match
57match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Phnom Penh in July

33 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
168 mmrain in the month
No seasea
13 hdaylight a day

Phuket in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
287 mmrain in the month
30 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
Phnom PenhPhuket

Where the figures come from

Phuket's temperatures are measured 27 km from the centre, at Phuket Airport.

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Phnom Penh: 1991-2020 normals, Phnom-Penh / Pochentong (8 km from centre). Phuket: 1991-2020 (rainfall 1961-1990) normals, Phuket Airport (26.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhnom PenhPhuket
Official languageKhmerThai
CurrencyRiel (KHR)Baht (THB)
SocketsACG230 V, 50 HzABCF220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+7UTC+7
Emergency numberPolice 117, ambulance 119, fire 118Police 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199
Elevation11 m19 m
Main airportTecho International Airport (KTI)23 km from centre41 non-stop destinationsPhuket International Airport (HKT)27 km from centre85 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year21 days-

By the numbers

MeasurePhnom PenhPhuket
City population2,129,37177,610
People per km²3,1386,468
Museums within 10 km32
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Phnom Penh or Phuket somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Ground elevations sampled from the Mapzen terrain tiles via OpenTopoData, merging SRTM, ASTER, NED, EU-DEM and national sources. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.