Central Market, Phnom Penh

Inside Phnom Penh Central Market (29 September, 2002)


The Central Market of Phnom Penh is a huge market at the heart of the Cambodian capital. It is also known locally as Psar Thmay or Psah Thmei. The market is housed in a colonial-style building in the heart of the Cambodian capital. Its Khmer name Psar Thmay translates as "new market", although it is more commonly referred in English as Central Market.

The Psar Thmay was built in 1937 during the French colonial period, in Art Deco style, and is painted bright ochre. It consists of four wings dominated by a central dome. Within the four wings and around the compound outside are on sale almost anything you can think of, including electronic equipment, clothing, watches, bags, suitcases, dried and fresh foodstuff, jewellery, clothes from cheap t-shirts to krama (Khmer scarves), pseudo-antique, books including photocopied travel guides and lots of souvenirs.

Aerial view of the Central Market in Phnom Penh, with repainting in progress

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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