The trailblazing female Cambodian tuk tuk group driving change in a male-dominated industry

It’s about 7pm, and night-time has already fallen in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and Ms Kim is sitting in the back bench seat of her own tuk tuk, talking to me via video call on her phone, after a long day of working.

In 2013, she became one of Cambodia’s first few female tuk tuk drivers, among the country’s tens of thousands of male tuk tuk drivers. Motorbikes pull these motorised two-wheeled carriages with two bench seats – also known as auto rickshaws or “remorque” in Khmer – and fill the country’s streets, an easy and cheap way to traverse its busy traffic.

However, you’ll barely see any women driving them, that is, unless you go to Siem Reap. Known as the gateway to Angkor Wat – Cambodia’s Unesco-status complex of Hindu-Buddhist temples on the well-trodden backpacker path – there are plenty of tourists to drive around. That’s why Ms Kim started Tuk Tuk Lady here, Cambodia’s first non-profit organisation for female tuk tuk drivers.

It’s now a 50-strong group of women driving tuk tuks around the area’s historical sites and taking people to and from restaurants and hotels. The drivers are also easily recognisable thanks to their uniforms of bright blue T-shirts.

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Ms Kim says the community was created to “empower women and give them more confidence and independence, and to break stereotypes” in a very male-dominated society and industry. It also gives them access to the country’s growing tourism industry. Among them, there are single mothers, like herself, as well as widows, people with disabilities and young people who don’t have work. It gives people who are often disadvantaged the chance to work and contribute.

Tuk Tuk Lady started in 2021, but the idea for it has been brewing since 2013 when Ms Kim got her licence, and getting to where she is now certainly hasn’t come without its obstacles. Previously, she had been a street vendor, selling fish and vegetables on roadside markets. But it became a necessity to find other work, as her youngest son has problems with his sight and hearing, and both she and her ex-husband suffered bouts of illness followed by divorce. Worse yet, to pay for treatment, she was forced to sell her tuk tuk. To buy another, which cost $2,200 (£1,700), she had to borrow the money.

In 2013, there weren’t any women driving tuk tuks in Phnom Penh. When Ms Kim finally got her licence and went to pick it up, even the people issuing it were surprised that she was a woman and the owner of a tuk tuk. There also weren’t many tourists and so she had to rely on the business of locals, which also came with its problems. “Once I had my licence and started driving on the road, I quickly realised that no one knew I was a tuk tuk driver! There were no passengers waiting for me because the idea of a female tuk tuk driver was still new.”

She also says she was “looked down on, especially by local people” who didn’t think she could do the job. She would also often “be confused for the customer of the tuk tuk, rather than the driver”. Even after showing potential customers her licence, they still didn’t believe her, and so she struggled for work.

It was when she moved from the capital to Siem Reap in 2015 that the tables turned. “I met a lot of tourists who encouraged me, gave me advice, taught me English and made me feel confident and proud of myself,” she says.

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This newfound confidence pushed her to create Tuk Tuk Lady, and when other women saw what she was doing, many wanted to join the community she’d created. For Ms Kim, encouraging other women to believe that whatever men can do, women can do too, is the best part of her community.

Though she says despite having plenty of support from international tourists, disappointedly, “still, local people don’t really support us, we want them to use our service too”. They’re also in competition with Indian rickshaws – they’re much smaller and usually have green and yellow or black and yellow cabs, but aren’t as good for sightseeing as they’re more enclosed. “Local people prefer to use the rickshaw, as they’re cheaper, it’s one of the challenges for us,” she says. They’re also mostly booked on ride-hailing apps, which limit the price on the distance, making them cheaper.

Helping with her success, Ms Kim says social media has been key: “I’m recommended on TripAdvisor, so I get pre-bookings through this and I also get tourists who want to book me immediately too via WhatsApp.” She’s also on other social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, where she promotes her business and is also recommended by the G Adventures tour operator, which connects her drivers to travellers. Her main customers are usually families, as they’ve heard about Ms Kim’s family and want to support her and “they know I will look after them properly”.

When I ask how her day has been, she says she’s happy she’s been able to help people today. When she’s not driving tourists, she also uses her tuk tuk to deliver books to young children, as well as food to older people, and she is almost brought to tears when she tells me how important this is to her. Her commitment to supporting and improving the lives of her community runs deep.

Ms Kim’s tuk tuk community provides far more than simply a service to tourists. Not only is it a way for travellers to connect to local people in Siem Reap and to financially support them, but it’s also giving women independence and confidence to be part of something much bigger – they're on the road to equality.

Ms Kim can be pre-booked through her website tuktuklady.com, or is often found parked in front of the Shinta Mani Shack Boutique Resort hotel in Siem Reap

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