Cambodia Mortuary Storage Cost: Hospital Fees and Cold Storage
Cambodia Mortuary Storage Cost: Hospital Fees and Cold Storage
Mortuary storage fees in Cambodia compound daily and can drain thousands of dollars from an estate before the family even begins the settlement process. Refrigerated facilities are scarce, the pricing is aggressive, and every day of delay adds to the bill.
What the Major Hospitals Charge
| Facility | Location | Daily Fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calmette Hospital | Phnom Penh | $40/day | Standard public mortuary facility |
| Royal Angkor International Hospital | Siem Reap | $150/day after $500 initial deposit | Private facility with strict upfront payment |
Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh is the more common option for foreign nationals. At $40 per day, a two-week delay while waiting for embassy paperwork or family to arrive from overseas adds $560 to the total costs — on top of the $2,000–$15,000 for cremation or repatriation.
Royal Angkor Hospital in Siem Reap is significantly more expensive. The $500 deposit is required before storage begins, and the $150 daily rate means that the same two-week period costs $2,600. Deaths occurring in Siem Reap, Battambang, or other provincial areas outside Phnom Penh generally face higher storage costs because facilities are fewer and operate at private-facility pricing.
Why Delays Accumulate
Storage fees become a problem because multiple administrative processes run in sequence, not in parallel:
- Securing the initial death record (hospital certificate or police report) — 1–3 days
- Embassy notification and consular file opening — 1–5 days
- Waiting for next of kin to arrive from overseas — 3–14 days
- Obtaining cremation permits from the Ministry of Health — 1–3 days
- Arranging funeral director logistics — 1–2 days
If the death occurs under suspicious circumstances requiring police investigation, add additional days before the body is even released.
How to Minimize Storage Costs
The most effective approach is engaging a funeral director immediately. Cambodia's three international-standard funeral providers — Evergreen Funeral Services, John Allison Monkhouse, and Yim Undertaker — all maintain their own cold storage facilities and can transfer the body from the hospital, stopping the hospital's daily charges.
The funeral director can also begin cremation permits and repatriation paperwork simultaneously while the family coordinates travel, rather than waiting for family arrival before starting any administrative steps.
For families managing the situation from overseas, granting a local contact or the funeral director authority to act on your behalf (before the death, via power of attorney, or after, through embassy coordination) prevents the kind of multi-week storage charges that quietly consume estate funds.
The Cambodia Expat Death Guide includes a detailed cost reference for every stage of the process, plus a timeline showing which steps can run in parallel to reduce total days in storage.
Get Your Free Death in Cambodia — Expat Emergency Checklist
Download the Death in Cambodia — Expat Emergency Checklist — a printable guide with checklists, scripts, and action plans you can start using today.