Tipping guidelines in Cambodia?
 

For the Doakes Christmas tour of Angkor Wat (and surrounding areas) we enlisted the aid of a tour guide. He was very helpful and I'll be happy to give his informaiton to anyone who needs a great guide. Our driver for the first two days had a family situation, so he is not able to be our driver for the 3rd day. We never spoke to the driver, but he was always there waiting for us and our guide. A nice little program of him being at the opposite side of where we walked in...saving a lot of time because of no backtracking to get out. So, tonight we were faced with how much to tip our driver. We had no idea what was acceptable. I'll post my actual tip after i hear some acceptable ranges. We didn't want to give too much and pretend to be rich and didn't want to give to little because we are not rich (at least on American standards).
I'll look forward to any responses.

PS. I do plan on tipping our guide pretty heavily since he was a font of knowledge about Angkor, Cambodia and everything else here.

thanks.

An interesting question. When I was recently in Cambodia I too hired a driver and guide for two of the three days I was there. I was their only passenger and essentially had to pay for the full tour price which if there had been two people would have been half each.

I took the view that, but for me hiring them for these two days they wouldn't have gotten paid anything, therefore two days wages with no tip is better than nil wages.

My view is that tipping is just legalised extortion unless excellent service has been received. So essentially I don't tip.

Can you tell I am Australian who hasn't yet been to the USA? :p

Do you thank the bus driver for driving the bus?
 

It was just me and Mrs Doakes, so essentially a private tour. I don't know how much we shelled out for the tour, but it was worth it. The guide, the food, the entry tickets to Angkor, transportation, etc were all taken care of. Mrs D says that $20/day tip for both driver and guide (to be split how ever they want) is what she has heard. I agree with your legalized extortion though. But I have been conditioned to tip...stupid waiter job in high school!

Given that most people make just a few $100 per month, any amount should be welcomed. The guide said something about the Cambodia GDP being $400. So, that $1 that i lost to a local kid playing tic-tac-toe at a temple (he erased my 'O'...but i had to applaud his ingenuity) would be huge.

I've never been to Cambodia ... here is what's suggested by "Conde Nast Traveler" magazine

Cambodia

At Restaurants: About $1 per diner for the waiter.
At Hotels: One to two dollars per bag for the porter; service charge included for everything else at nice hotels.
Guides and Drivers: About $1 for taxis; $2 per hour for private drivers; $10–$20 per person per day for tour guides.
Dollars Accepted?: Yes; what's more, Sandy Ferguson of Asia Desk, a travel agency, discovered by chance that two-dollar bills open doors. Having gotten hold of a bundle of them in the U.S., Ferguson "almost caused a riot" in the airport when he paid that way. "Bring them to each hotel" for the porters, who consider them good luck—because of their rarity.
Note: Ferguson says be prepared for unusually effusive thanks for a tip here. "Don't get embarrassed by that," he says.

http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/...7?pageNumber=5

I'm with Hvr on this one.I have been travelling to Asia for over 30 years and tipping was never part of the culture.As more american tourists have come it is now expected and in some places quite aggressively so.
It is always pointed out to those travelling to the USA that tipping is part of the culture and must be respected.It is sad then that Americans do not respect the cultures of other countries and leave their tipping habits at home.There is a great deal of anti-american feeling in Australia and a lot has to do with the way you tip without regard to local norms.

Exactly !

However, if you feel you "must" tip do take into consideration the cost of living in Cambodia rather than what you are used to in the US. I would use the cost of a meal at a local eatery as a guide, say no more than $1-2 per day ....

I also do not believe many ordinary cambodians earn several $100 per month, except perhaps those working in the tourist industry.

YMMV, but in Cambodia, you can hire a bike and driver to take you around for an entire day for $6-8, and that includes gas.

I don't think there's any reason to worry about overtipping though. $20 might ridiculously extravagant by local standards, but it's not much for the tourist wealthy enough to fly over to Angkor for a visit. The driver may well be surprised and perhaps even think you're foolish, but he just might use the money to put his kids through school, instead of making them hawk postcards at the temples.

It's been a couple of years, but
 

when I was there the cost of a taxi for the day was US$20. This was a newer air-conditioned Toyota Camry with English speaking driver who was disappointed that I did not keep him beyond an hour past dark.

The guide that he got me also was $20 per day. One day with him was more than sufficient.

I agree that the culture is one where one does not tip. Conde Nast seemingly has never been to any place that is not the most expensive in town and has little touch with reality.

Frankly, I completely disagree with the concept of tipping when the local culture is not accepting of it. My view is that it is rude to throw comparatively large quantities of money at people who are not used to it. It raises expectations that are not culturally acceptable and leads to problems with visitors down the line.

That said asking that the guide use the money toward schooling is an excellent concept especially in Cambodia.

He is more likely to use the money to acquire the latest Nokia phone.

Drivers/Guides in Cambodia are relatively well off compared to most of their countrymen, and to suggest that their children have to skip school to make ends meet seems a bit far fatched ....

Let's continue this discussion in the Asia forum.

A tip of a few dollars per day seems reasonable if the guide was good. The fact that the tip is expected should have no bearing. In countries that it's not a custom, it's not important to tip everyone. Even in places where it's expected, you, the customer should decide if one is warranted and at what amount.

I consider tipping to be reflective of the tippers situation as much as the service recieved. On good years, I'm likely to spread it around more than on bad years. Catch me in bad times, and them's the breaks.

Or on whisky and whores. But the point is, it's a lot more money for him than it is for you, and if you give him the money for phones/whisky/whores, he has less incentive to pull his kids out of school.

English-speaking guides, sure. The motodop who hangs out all day in front of your hotel hoping to snag a $2 fare, probably not.

I was last in Siem Reap about 4 years ago and while we were driving around with our guide we made a stop at the guide's home (he was dropping off an armful of lotus seed pods that he had bought on our travels that day). It was basically a lean-to hut that he was sharing with his little brother. I did NOT regret tipping him generously.

In 2006:

The tuk-tuk driver who was waiting at our guest house every morning and drove us anywhere we wanted all day and night for the agreed rate of US$12 a day got $50 for three days.

The English speaking Camry driver who took us to Beng Melea and Bantay Srei and later Tonle Sap in one long day for the agreed rate of $50, and with whom we then arranged for a ride to the airport the next morning, got $70.

I traveled Southeast Asia solo as a "Cheap Charlie" twenty years ago, rarely if ever tipping, and never gave it a thought, but the world is flatter now. I am also better off, and less focused on how far my money goes and more focused on how pleasant the experience is for all concerned.

The most serious negotiations are mostly between my sweet wife and me as to the size of the tip, and then she has been known to run back to the driver/guide/waiter with more, even after I have patiently explained why the amount we are leaving is beyond sufficient. :)

Why is it so many people on this forum are obsessed with tipping, yet fail to realise that it can be offensive as the people they are tipping see it as being bought. Tipping is a USA thing and yet people who ask about how much to tip fail to realise that the rest of the world is not like the USA. When I pay a price for something in USA I object strongly to being expected to pay more in the form of a tip. Dont start the argument they dont get paid enough to live on so you must tip them !!! I think anyone daft enough to work for such low wages in the richest country in the world needs to really ask why they get out of bed in a morning

Rather than tipping in Asia just use a little thought and do something that really helps.
I have loans to people in Cambodia and Vietnam through Kiva-
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=home
In Laos I have sponsored a book party through Big Brother Mouse-
http://www.bigbrothermouse.com/
Hopefully this is helping the ordinary people in a more meaningful way than tipping.As has been said tipping is basically a US custom that is being spread throughout the world with little thought for local customs.