Cambodia: Public Holidays in 2023

Will you be in Cambodia for a particular holiday? I would really like to be in Cambodia for the Cambodian New Year. The Cambodian New Year is considered one of the most important celebrations. Every year an angel comes to earth to protect the Khmer people. All of Cambodia is on its feet at this time, solemnly welcoming the arrival of the angel. So Cambodians can rejoice that their Khmer New Year even got an extra day. Because:

6 days less since 2020

While there were 28 official public holidays in Cambodia in 2019, the number has shrunk to 21 in 2020. The reason is competitiveness with neighbouring countries. Investors had complained about the comparatively high number of public holidays. The reduction is intended to make the country more attractive for investors from home and abroad.

In 2022 Independence day (Nov 09) will overlap with the three day water festival period (Nov 07, 08 and 09), reducing the total public holiday number to 20 days for year 2022 instead of 21 days for year 2021.

A LOT OF HOLIDAYS?
One might think that 21 Cambodian public holidays give the Khmer people an exorbitant leisure advantage. In my homecountry Germany, there are only 10. But things appear to be deceptive. The weekend with 2 days off that we are used to does not exist in Cambodia. As a rule, Khmer people work 6 days a week. So there is only one “day off”. With an 8-hour day, this adds up to quite a number of hours per week ;-)

List of Cambodian public holidays 2023

Here is the overview of all dates of the Cambodian holidays 2023. You can get more information about the celebrations here in the blog via the links.

Datum	Ereignis	Infos
Jan 01	New Year Day	Although not many Cambodians celebrate the Gregorian New Year, 1 January is an official holiday in Cambodia.
Jan 07	Victory over Genocide Day	On this day in 1979, the Vietnamese liberated Cambodia from the terror of the Khmer Rouge.
Jan 31 – Feb 06	Chinese New Year	Although not an official holiday in Cambodia, Cambodians eagerly join in the celebrations. Especially in larger cities. Information on the festival can be found at Cambodia Images.
Feb 05	Meak Bochea	Celebrations commemorating the day when 1,250 monks spontaneously gathered to hear the preaching of Buddha more than 2,500 years ago ( moving holiday). Abolished as an official holiday in 2020, but still celebrated by Khmer people.
Mar 08	International Women’s Day	Cambodia is one of 26 countries in the world where March 8 is an official holiday.
Apr 14, 15, 16	Khmer New Year Day	Three-day celebration to mark the beginning of the New Year in the Buddhist Lunar Calendar.
May 01	International Labor Day	Official commemoration day of the labour movement.
May 04	Visak Bochea Day	Birthday of Buddha ( moving holiday).
May 08	Bonn Chroat Preah Nongkoal	This is a day with the royal ploughing ceremony to prepare the farmers for the beginning of the rainy season so that they can start to cultivate their fields (moving holiday).
May 14	King Norodom Sihamoni’s Birthday	King Samdech Preah Bâromneath Norodom Sihamoni was born on 14 May 1953. Until 2019, the celebrations lasted 3 days. Since 2020, it is only a one-day holiday.
May 20	National Day of Remembrance	To commemorate the mass killings during the Cambodian genocide that began on 20 May 1976. No longer a public holiday since 2020.
Jun 01	International Children’s Day	Until 2019, International Children’s Day was also an official holiday in Cambodia.
June 18	Queen  Norodom Monineath’s Birthday	Norodom Monineath Sihanouk – the mother of the reigning king – was born on June 18, 1936.
Sep 24	Constitutional Day	The Constitution, issued on 29 April 1993, comprises 14 chapters and 139 articles.
Oct 13, 14, 15	Pchum Ben	Buddhist festival in memory of the deceased relatives ( moving holiday).
Oct 15	Commemoration Day of King’s Father, Norodom Sihanouk	König Preah Bat Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk Varman (* 31. Oktober 1922; † 15. Oktober )
Oct 23	Treaty of Paris	Commemorates an agreement signed in Paris in 1991 to end the Cambodian civil war. No longer an official holiday since 2020.
Oct 29	King’s Coronation Day, Norodom Sihamoni	Coronation of Norodom Sihamoni took place on 29 October 2004.
Nov 09	Independence Day	Independence from France was declared on 9 November 1953.
Nov 26, 27, 28	Bon Om Touk – Water Festival	Three-day festival at the end of the rainy season – at this time the Tonle Sap changes its direction of flow ( moving holiday).
Dec 12	International Human Rights Day	Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948 by the United Nations. Cambodia has been one of 193 member states of the United Nations since 1955. No longer an official holiday since 2020.

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