At 26, Ambre lives on a secluded beach on Koh Rong, where she helps manage a bungalow resort. Originally from Brittany, France, she discovered Cambodia as a teenager and never stopped wanting to return. Ten years later, after studying in Phnom Penh, she chose to settle on the island. Her journey tells the story of an attachment to the country that grew through the people she met, until Cambodia became the place she calls home.
Ambre is a 26-year-old French woman living on Lonely Beach, at the end of a bumpy, sometimes barely passable road that winds through the vegetation before suddenly opening onto a palm-lined path.
Upon arrival, the scenery stands in striking contrast to the rough journey: a stretch of white sand where the water takes on a stunning turquoise clarity, along with all the logistical challenges that such isolation entails. Ambre's story is the natural continuation of a journey that began elsewhere, long before reaching this remote beach.
This Cambodian story is unique, yet it will undoubtedly resonate with many who have chosen Cambodia as their adopted home. It is the story of a French woman who settled here to write a new chapter of her life. She tells us how she made her first encounter with Cambodia happen around ten years ago, and why the idea of returning to live here gradually became a natural choice.
Having lived in Cambodia for three and a half years, Ambre is among those for whom the country has become more than a place to stay: it has become home. Far from her native Brittany and her loved ones, she has immersed herself in a new culture, shaped by customs and social codes different from those she grew up with. Exploring her story raises a fundamental question: what makes us feel at home? And more specifically, what is it about Cambodia that has inspired so many foreigners to settle here?
Cambodia, an obsession that began at 15
Some people are stubborn, sometimes driven by motivations they cannot fully explain themselves. They charge ahead, determined to turn their ideas and ambitions into reality. Ambre is one of them. Cambodia became something of an obsession for her at a very young age. It was not chance that brought Cambodia into her life.
It was her persistence, intuition and determination that eventually led her here, to Lonely Beach on the island of Koh Rong, where she now runs a bungalow business. Ambre developed a strong interest in Cambodia during her teenage years. Having had the opportunity to travel across several continents, she began to feel a particular affection for the country before ever setting foot in it.
She first visited Cambodia at the age of 15, and unusually for someone so young, the trip happened entirely because of her own initiative. While travelling in Thailand with her parents, she befriended Cambodian employees at the hotel where they were staying on Koh Kood. Their stories awakened in her a deep desire to discover their country. And so, her attachment to Cambodia began on the beaches of a Thai island.
For an entire year, Ambre became fixated on Cambodia and did everything she could to convince her parents to visit during their next holiday. Her determination turned into a full-scale promotional campaign at home. She stuck Post-it notes everywhere around the house and repeatedly urged her parents to spend their next holiday in Cambodia. Eventually, they gave in and made the trip.
One might imagine that a dream nurtured for so long would end in disappointment, that after thinking about the country so much, reality might fail to live up to her expectations. But quite the opposite happened. Ambre fell in love with everything about Cambodia: the food, the landscapes, the Cambodian people. Absolutely everything appealed to her. Once she finally visited, the country exceeded even her highest expectations. So much so that leaving became difficult.
Back in France, Cambodia never truly left her. Ambre remained deeply affected by her experiences and the people she had met. She even began teaching herself Khmer using the Assimil language-learning method.
Ten years later, Ambre still speaks enthusiastically about her first steps in Cambodia and what made this particular country so special to her. To her, it felt more authentic, more accessible and closer to its people. Two years after her first visit, she decided to return as soon as possible. At 17, she simply told her parents: "Either you let me go now and I'll come back, or I'll leave on my own at 18 and I won't come back."
Faced with this ultimatum, her parents agreed, and she returned to spend several weeks with the people she had met during her first stay. Eventually, she had to return to France to complete her baccalaureate and begin university. But deep down, Cambodia never really left her mind.
A university rejection that failed to stop her
Then, one day, came the turning point. While repeating a year of her undergraduate degree, Ambre discovered a Franco-Cambodian dual master's programme in Euro-Asian Business Law. For her, it represented an opportunity to experience life in Cambodia while earning a master's degree that would also be recognised in France. She carefully prepared her application, but the response came as a bitter disappointment: she was rejected. Yet the rejection did not stop Ambre, who remained convinced that moving to Cambodia was the right decision.
She went anyway, secured a short-term position with an NGO and decided to apply for the master's programme again, this time from Cambodia. During this period, she began discovering the country through everyday life. Before routines could develop, there was the challenge of adapting. Phnom Penh was a bustling city, constantly moving, everywhere and all the time. At first, even going out alone into the streets or visiting the market felt challenging.
She began questioning the real reasons behind her move and whether she had made the right choice. After all, discovering a country as a visitor and actually living there are two very different experiences. Then, gradually, everything began to fall into place. Her Khmer improved through her work with the NGO. The question of the master's programme resurfaced. By emphasising that she was already living in Cambodia and demonstrating her genuine interest in the country to the university, her persistence eventually paid off. Ambre's life in Cambodia had officially begun.
From Phnom Penh to the beaches of Koh Rong
The months passed, and Ambre's enthusiasm continued to grow. For her, returning to France was simply not an option. When the time came to complete her final internship, she deliberately sought a remote position with potential employment opportunities. Working remotely mattered because city life was beginning to wear her down. She often thought about moving to the countryside, escaping the urban rhythm of Phnom Penh, where she could no longer imagine her future.
She wanted to leave behind an environment that felt a little too artificial and reconnect with the countryside she had known growing up. Ambre also found love in Cambodia, and her partner was based on the islands. The decision to join him during her internship therefore came naturally. After two years in the capital, she was delighted to move to the island and discover a completely different pace of life.
By relocating to Koh Rong, Ambre was seeking more than a change of scenery. She wanted to put down roots. Tired of the constant coming and going of expatriates in Phnom Penh, she turned towards a different way of living in Cambodia, one that felt more stable, more grounded and more closely connected to local communities.
Finding her place on Koh Rong
On the island, time seems to move differently. Ambre discovered a daily life shaped by Khmer customs and a more direct, simpler form of hospitality. Already comfortable speaking Khmer, she quickly integrated into the community and found her place among the residents of the neighbouring village, who welcomed her naturally.
This closeness nurtured a sense of belonging that she had previously only begun to experience. When the project started in early 2024, the land was still untouched. Little by little, everything took shape: the ground was prepared, a well was dug, and eventually the bungalows began to rise from the sand.
Within just a few months, Lily's Bungalows came to life. Ambre joined the project just as it was getting underway, in the middle of the rainy season. The timing was deliberate, allowing her to complete her internship before the high season began. She immersed herself in the hospitality industry, welcoming tourists who were often unfamiliar with Cambodian customs and ways of life. The contrast was striking, and at times she found it difficult to deal daily with people who were only passing through.
Beyond Koh Rong, Phnom Penh, her master's degree or her job, what truly anchors Ambre in Cambodia are the relationships she has built. Above all, she treasures the moments shared with Cambodian people: visits to the village, weddings, karaoke evenings and those simple moments of everyday social life. It is through this daily warmth and these spontaneous exchanges that Ambre has found her place and, ultimately, come to feel completely at home.
Cambodian Stories, founded by Pauline Reina and Léa Sannier, is an initiative dedicated to the human stories that shape Cambodia. Through personal encounters and testimonies, it seeks to give a voice to those whose journeys, experiences and commitments offer a different perspective on the country. By placing people at the heart of its storytelling, Cambodian Stories invites readers to look beyond preconceived ideas and discover the diversity of individual experiences that make up Cambodian society.
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