Shopping in Siem Reap: Markets, Night Markets and What to Buy (2026)

The best part about shopping in Siem Reap is the eclectic range of local and indigenous products, and finding most of them handcrafted rather than machine-made in batches. Much of what you will carry home has the magic touch of a Khmer artisan, often one you can watch at work before you pay. Prices are low by Indian standards. A cotton krama costs US$2 to 5 (Rs 190 to Rs 475). A 100 g pouch of Kampot pepper is US$4 to 10 (Rs 380 to Rs 950).

This guide covers every market that is actually trading in November 2026 with its hours, what to buy with prices in dollars and rupees, how to bargain and pay, and what you can take back through Indian customs. Most travellers shop around their temple days, so there is a half-day route at the end that fits after a sunrise at Angkor Wat.

Jump to: At a glance | Old Market | Night markets | Fair-trade shops | Boutiques and Kandal Village | Local market | What to buy | Bargaining | Paying | India customs | Malls | Half-day route | Budget

Day markets open early and are hottest from noon to 3 pm. Go before 10 am or after 4 pm. The fixed-price shops are the answer if you hate haggling; the markets are cheaper if you don't.

Night-market status comes from siemreap.net (updated 10 October 2026); shop hours come from each shop's own site where it has one, and hours marked "about" vary by season. Rupee figures on this page use US$1 = Rs 95.

Old Market (Psar Chaa): what to buy and how to shop it

The Old Market is the one market every visitor ends up in, and for good reason. It sits a two-minute walk from Pub Street, on the west bank of the Siem Reap River, under a low tin roof. Inside, the centre is a working wet market where locals buy fish, meat, herbs and rice noodles. Around it runs the ring of stalls you came for: krama in every colour, silk scarves, wooden Buddha heads, temple-scene paintings, elephant-print trousers and stacks of "Angkor What?" T-shirts.

For spices and pepper, head to the stalls on the river side. Kampot pepper is sold loose by weight or in sealed 100 g pouches, next to palm sugar cakes, dried lemongrass and curry pastes. Ask for sealed packs if they are going in your suitcase. Senteurs d'Angkor has a shop facing the market, which is useful when you want spices with an English label and a fixed price to compare against the stalls.

Go at 8 or 9 am. The food hall is at its busiest, the vendors are fresh, and the aisles are still cool. Bargain at the souvenir stalls but not at the food stalls, where prices are already local. And ask before photographing the meat section. Most vendors don't mind, but it is their workplace, not a set.

The Old Market is also the end point of most evenings in town. For bars and shows nearby, see our guide to Siem Reap nightlife.

Siem Reap night markets in 2026, and what happened to Angkor Night Market

Two night markets are trading in November 2026: Phalla Angkor Night Market every evening and the Art Center Night Market on every night except Sunday.

The original Angkor Night Market, once the town's busiest with more than 200 bamboo huts selling silk, jewellery, paintings and recycled-material bags, has not reopened since the Covid-19 pandemic (siemreap.net, updated 10 October 2026), and its Tripadvisor listing is marked permanently closed. Hotel and booking sites still list it with hours, and some AI answers repeat them. Don't build an evening around it.

Phalla is the one to visit if you only have one evening. It is a five-minute walk from Pub Street, so it pairs easily with dinner. The Art Center Night Market is calmer and easier to browse, and walking over the river footbridge at dusk is half the point. Bargain at both. Start at about half the first price.

Fair-trade and workshop shopping

If you would rather watch something being made, and pay a fair fixed price for it, Siem Reap is the easiest place in Cambodia to do it. Fixed-price shop or bargaining market? Buy the everyday gifts at the markets and the one good piece at a workshop.

Made in Cambodia Market

Made in Cambodia is an open-air market of stalls that only sell things made in the country. It runs daily on Oum Khun Street in the French Quarter, opposite Shinta Mani Angkor, from about noon to 8 pm, and some stalls stay open to 9 pm. Look for lacquerware from Cambolac, jewellery from Ammo, bags from Rehash Trash, natural soaps and paintings. Prices are fixed, so there is no haggling. It gets better in the evening, when local performers set up and the food stalls open. Try Sombai here, the rice spirit infused with ingredients such as cinnamon, mango, anise and red pepper.

Artisans d'Angkor and the Angkor Silk Farm

Artisans d'Angkor is the place for indigenous art at its best. Khmer handicrafts, hand-woven silk, home décor and stone and wood reproductions of Angkor carvings fill its racks and display floors in the grounds of the Chantiers Écoles training school, off Stung Thmey Street. It employs hundreds of artisans, and a large share of its profits goes into training young craftspeople. A free guided tour takes you through the stone, wood, lacquer and gilding workshops before you reach the showroom. Prices are fixed and higher than the market, but so is the quality. It is the best place in town for a souvenir that will still look good in ten years.

Its Angkor Silk Farm in Puok, about 16 km west of town, shows the whole process: mulberry trees, silkworms, cocoons boiled and reeled, dyeing, then the looms. The guided tour is free and takes under an hour. A free shuttle has run from the town showroom in the morning and early afternoon; ask at the showroom the day before.

Fair Trade Village

Fair Trade Village, run with the Angkor Handicraft Association (AHA), is on Road 60 opposite Angkor Village Resort, on the way to the temples, and opens daily from 9 am to 6 pm. Its shops are rustic and traditional, and you can see the local artisans working on their craft, then buy the piece. Proceeds go to the craftsmen, their families and their community. It has also run hands-on sessions such as carving coconuts, oil painting, making bamboo handicrafts and plaiting palm leaf, which children enjoy. It is easy to add on the way back from the temples.

Senteurs d'Angkor, Sombai and Lotus Silk Farm

Senteurs d'Angkor makes spices, soaps, balms and teas from Cambodian plants. Its workshop on National Road 6 is open daily from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, and its shop faces the Old Market. Sombai's workshop in the Wat Damnak area is free to visit; you will see the bottles hand-painted and can taste before you buy. For a second silk stop, Lotus Silk Farm by Samatoa, on Road 63 towards Phnom Krom, weaves fabric from lotus stems and opens daily from 8 am to 8 pm.

Boutiques, galleries and Kandal Village

Siem Reap's design scene sits a step above the markets in price and taste. Kandal Village, centred on Hup Guan Street, is a short tuk-tuk ride from the Old Market and has a row of boutiques worth an hour: Louise Loubatières for homeware and ceramics, plus small galleries and cafés in between.

Satu is the town's best-known concept store. It stocks more than 70 Cambodian makers under one roof: Mawsim gin, Kampot pepper gift boxes, soy candles, textiles and prints. It sits on the riverside between the Royal Residence and FCC Angkor by Avani, and opens 9 am to 7 pm daily (10 am on Sundays).

Theam's House, the studio and gallery of artist Lim Muy Theam in Veal Village north of town, is known for its lacquered elephants and paintings. It opens daily from 8 am. Call ahead if your tuk-tuk driver doesn't know the way.

Jayav Art works in papier-mâché instead of the usual bamboo and wood. Paper pulp is shaped into replicas of the Angkor temples in many sizes, which suits travellers who love the architecture but lack the baggage space for a stone copy.

For silver, Garden of Desire sells contemporary jewellery made in Siem Reap. For pottery, the Khmer Ceramics Centre runs short wheel classes and sells the glazed pieces.

Where locals shop: Phsar Leu Thom Thmey

Phsar Leu is Siem Reap's biggest market and the one with the fewest tourists. It sits on National Road 6, about 3 km east of the centre on the way to Phnom Penh, and gets going at dawn. You will find fresh produce, dried fish, household goods, clothes, kitchenware and gold shops, all at local prices and with almost no English spoken. It is not a souvenir market. Go for the morning atmosphere, a bowl of noodle soup and cheaper basics such as krama, sandals and pepper. A tuk-tuk from town takes 10 to 15 minutes.

What to buy in Siem Reap (with rupee prices)

These are the things worth the suitcase space, with what travellers typically pay after a polite bargain or at the fixed price in an artisan shop.

Kampot pepper is the best-value buy in town. Black is the everyday one. Red is left to ripen and tastes sweeter. White is red pepper with the skin removed and has the most heat. All three travel well and are fine at Indian customs in personal quantities. For the country-wide list, including Phnom Penh's silver and Silk Island, see our guide to shopping in Cambodia.

How to bargain in Siem Reap

Bargain at the Old Market, Phalla, the Art Center Night Market and Phsar Leu. Don't bargain at Made in Cambodia, Artisans d'Angkor, Satu, the NGO shops or the malls, where prices are fixed. At the stalls, open at about half the first price and expect to settle somewhere between 50 and 75% of it. Keep it light and smile. "Som choh tlay?" (can you lower the price?) usually gets a laugh and a discount, and the best price often arrives as you turn to leave.

A dollar matters more to a stallholder than to you. Once you are within a dollar of your number, take the deal.

Paying: dollars, riel and cards

Siem Reap prices everything over a dollar in US dollars, and gives change under a dollar in Cambodian riel at about 4,000 riel to US$1. Indian rupees are not accepted anywhere, so carry dollars from India: clean, untorn notes, with plenty of US$1 and US$5 bills, because stalls refuse notes with tears or writing and rarely change a US$50. Cards and phone payments work at Artisans d'Angkor, Satu, the malls and most fixed-price shops, but not at market stalls. ATMs give dollars and charge foreign cards a fee of a few dollars per withdrawal, so withdraw less often.

What you can't take home, and India customs

Temple fragments and other archaeological pieces cannot legally leave Cambodia at all, and other genuine antiques and religious artefacts, such as old Buddha statues, need a permit from the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. Anything sold as "antique" at a market is either a reproduction or something you should not buy. For a stone or wood carving, ask for a receipt that names the shop and says "reproduction", and keep it in your hand baggage for the airport.

India's Baggage Rules 2026, in force since 2 February 2026, let an Indian resident arriving by air bring in goods worth up to Rs 75,000 duty-free, plus 2 litres of liquor or wine. Watch the silver. The allowance does not cover gold or silver in any form other than ornaments, so a silver box or bowl is dutiable.

Liquids over 100 ml, including Sombai, must go in checked baggage.

Shopping malls in Siem Reap

Malls are not why people come to Siem Reap, but they help on a hot afternoon or when you need a supermarket. The Heritage Walk on National Road 6, towards the airport, has a supermarket, cafés and a cinema. Lucky Mall on Sivutha Boulevard is the older central option, with a supermarket that is handy for packed pepper and coffee at fixed prices. For what is inside each mall and their hours, see our guide to shopping malls in Siem Reap.

A half-day shopping route that fits around temple days

Most travellers give Angkor two or three mornings, are back at the hotel by lunch and keep one afternoon free. This route starts after lunch on a temple day and runs into dinner, about six hours in all, with tuk-tuk hops of US$1.50 to 4 (Rs 140 to Rs 380) booked on PassApp or Grab.

1. 2:30 pm. Artisans d'Angkor. The workshops are shaded, which makes this the right stop for the hottest part of the day. Take the free tour, then decide whether the one good silk or stone piece is here.

2. 3:45 pm. Old Market. Walk over (about 10 minutes) as the heat eases. Buy pepper, palm sugar and krama, and bargain for the gifts before the stalls start packing up around 6.

3. 5:00 pm. Satu. Walk up the riverside for designer gifts and a cold drink before it closes at 7.

4. 6:00 pm. Made in Cambodia Market. A short tuk-tuk hop to Oum Khun Street, just as the performers and food stalls set up. Fixed-price crafts, lacquer and Sombai.

5. 7:30 pm. Night market. The Art Center Night Market across the footbridge (Monday to Saturday) or Phalla (any night), then dinner near Pub Street.

Coming straight from the temples in a tuk-tuk? Stop at the Fair Trade Village on Road 60 on the way back and skip step 1. Keep Kandal Village and Phsar Leu for a morning with no temple on it. The cooler months from November to February make market walking easiest; see the best time to visit Siem Reap.

Shopping budget for an Indian traveller

Even the splurge band stays inside India's Rs 75,000 duty-free allowance for one adult, as long as there is no silver tableware in it.

How we checked this page

Market status, days and hours were checked in November 2026 against siemreap.net's Siem Reap market guide (updated 10 October 2026) and the shops' own websites. Prices were compiled from artisan shops' fixed price lists, recent market reports and traveller accounts, and rupee figures use US$1 = Rs 95. India customs allowances are from the Baggage Rules 2026 published by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.

Plan Siem Reap shopping into your trip

The easiest plan is one free afternoon after a temple morning, with the Old Market, Made in Cambodia and a night market in that order. Our 3N/4D Angkor Wat Cambodia package leaves room for exactly that, and any of our Cambodia tour packages can add the Angkor Silk Farm or the Fair Trade Village as a short stop. For the rest of your days in town, see things to do in Siem Reap, or start with our Siem Reap travel guide.

Edited by TravelTriangle