Why is there no McDonalds in Cambodia?

Why is there no McDonalds in Cambodia? The quite simple and honest reason is that the people controlling other franchisees in Cambodia have not allowed them in, although you will hear a multitude of other opinions on the matter.

With the amount of foreigners in Cambodia you would have assumed that having McDonalds here would have been a slam dunk, but alas it has never happened. Yes there are McDonalds rip-offs, but the real MCCoy has sadly evaded us, all the while as other “lesser” franchises have been allowed to flourish.

What other franchises are in Cambodia?

Number 1 here is of course KFC, which is also the biggest in the world. Then there is Burger King (more on that later), but also random things like Carls Jnr and Habit Burger – the later two really raising the question why no McDonald’s in Cambodia?

And the franchises do not stop there, although there are a few other international ones of merit. I will though give 5 Star an article at some point.

Can you get McDonalds in Cambodia?

So, while there is no McDonalds in Cambodia for a while you could get it delivered, yes that is right delivered from Thailand. I tried this back in the day and while it had mixed results was at least an experience.

And of course there have been numerous knockoff’s, This has included The Vine, formerly of Street 172, as well as Burgershack – officially the second best burger in Kampot. Although it barely makes the top 5 in Phnom Penh.

So, why is there no McDonalds in Cambodia?

The Khmer Times, who I have previously written for have insisted that the reason there is no McDonalds is because the “Khmer love fresh food”. This is absolute shit, because KFC and Burger King do great here. So, what is the reason then?

Essentially and much like in places like the Cayman Islands Burger King got here first and they do not want McDonalds to enter the fray because it would be bad for business. This is why also rans like Carls Junior are allowed a pass on this one.

When will McDonald’s come to Cambodia?

If you are to believe the forums on the matter well it is going to be any time soon, but the reality is that no one knowns. McDonald’s of course want to enter the market, but it will need political will if this is to happen.

Yet as we have seen with 7-Eleven and even Hooters, everything gets to Cambodia in the end….