So what is the cheapest beer in Cambodia? Cambodia is a cheap place to buy beer to begin with, but what’s cheaper than cheap? Free, of course! Well, it’s not entirely free, but all you have to do to get it is drink beer, so we consider that a victory. Especially seeing as if you’re lucky, you may even get paid to drink it!
How do I get free beer in Cambodia?
Several beer companies here run what’s referred to as a “ring pull promotion” which means every time you open a promotional can of beer in Cambodia, you have a chance of winning. Prizes can range from free beers and small amounts of money to motorbikes, cars and jackpot cash sums! These promotional giveaways used to be on both bottles and cans, but are currently running only on cans. (This is frequently subject to change, so we’ll update the article if the bottles come back).
Which beer companies currently participate in ring pull promotions?
The list can vary from time to time, but at the moment the companies which are currently confirmed to have a chance of winning are as follows;
- Cambodia Beer
- Anchor Beer
- Hanuman Beer
- Ganzberg Beer
- Krud Beer
- Mattrid Beer (The new kid on the block!)
- ABC Beer Extra Stout
- Red Bull (Yes, we know it’s not beer, but they run the promotion too!)
All of the promotions work in the same way. When you open the can of beer with the ring pull, check the underside of the metal and it will tell you whether or not you’ve won! The style of the print will depend on the manufacturer, and if you’ve not won anything it will usually simply say ‘Thank you’ or something similar, like an image of a thumbs up, that wishes you better luck next time. This writing is often in English and Khmer but again that depends on the brand.
Below is an image with an example of what a winner looks like on a Ganzberg beer can. This particular ring pull has won 1 free can of Ganzberg Beer (pretty self explanatory!). If you’re struggling to read what the ring pull says, and your favourite translation app isn’t doing you any favours, check with a local before you throw it away!
What can I win?
Prizes vary between the different beer manufacturers, with the most common prize being free cans of beer of course. There are also small cash prizes, such as $1, $5, $12.50 etc which come up relatively frequently, which could actually make the cheapest beer in Cambodia actually profitable for you! These escalate up to the higher cash prizes which can vary from $50 to $20,000 depending on the company! Though the odds of you getting one of these prizes are naturally very low.
Then you move on up to the bigger prizes like motorbikes and cars! For motorbikes, to win the prize you’ll usually need to collect multiple winning ring pulls, as it often comes in three parts, and you’ll need to collect all 3 parts to win (Moto part 1, Moto part 2, Moto part 3). Again, this can vary so if you see a little picture of a motorbike on your ring pull, make sure to check with your local friends! If you think you’ve won a vehicle, or large cash prize, make sure you keep the whole can along with the ring pull.
What are the odds of winning?
This is an interesting question and a hot topic of debate among expats and locals regarding which company has the highest win rate and what that win rate is. None of the companies provide actual figures on your chances so all we have to go on is personal experiences. In recent years, perhaps due to a larger amount of competition among the beer companies, win rates are generally pretty good, with many people reporting win rates as high as 50%. Not bad when you can buy a case of beer and get 12 beers back; Especially seeing as those additional 12 beers will also come with chances to win more!
Cash prizes are of course less common, though Cambodia beer in particular seems to be dishing out a lot of $1, $2 and $5 winners recently. I’m hesitant to say this and risk the wrath of people who disagree, but I’ve found Cambodia beer and Ganzberg beer to have the highest rates of wins recently. There is also the hot topic of “Do the beer companies increase win rates around Cambodian holidays?” And whilst many people will stand by this theory, this has never actually been confirmed and would be difficult to judge considering some stores may have cases of beer sat around in their stock rooms for a long time.
How do I redeem my winners?
To redeem winners where the prize is beer cans, you can take your winning ring pull to one of the thousands of retailers across Cambodia. In general, bars and restaurants will not accept these ring pulls as payment (understandably!) so your best bet is one of the many mom and pop shops that you’ll find dotted along every street in Cambodia. Supermarkets will also usually not accept the ring pulls. There is usually a commission charged when you exchange at stores as they will do the heavy lifting for you, and this commission will generally be somewhere between 500 and 1000 khmer riel per winning can (between 12.5 and 25 cents).
Most of these shops will exchange for other products too, so if you’ve won a can of Ganzberg beer, they may be willing to exchange it for a Cambodia beer or can of Red Bull etc. If you’ve also got some cash winners, you can use these to offset the cost of the commission at many shops. Technically you can take the winning ring pulls directly to the wholesaler and exchange without commission, but people have reported hit and miss luck with this, not to mention it’s a lot of hassle to save a small commission on something you won!
The shops will sometimes take a smaller commission if you exchange your winners by the case (24 cans) at a time.
If you’ve won cash, the process is similar, in which you just take it to a small shop or distributor that sells those cans. For cans or cash amounts under around $12.50 you’ll just need the ring pull, but if you’ve won yourself a big prize (for example, you were lucky enough to win $1000) you need to make sure you keep the actual can itself, as these are exchanged directly through the beer company and they’ll need to verify the ring pull together with the can. With small amount of cash, the shops will take a commission and usually give you around 90 cents on the dollar for the cash value.
If you’re one of those lucky folks who have won a large prize (large amounts of cash or a motorbike) you’ll usually be invited to a ceremony to receive your prize on stage, where you might be presented with a comically large cheque, or a giant cardboard cutout of a motorcycle so that everyone can see how generous that particular beer company is! These ceremonies are held frequently and often tied in with live music performances, comedians and even funfairs.
Do I have a certain amount of time to claim my prize?
For some of the beer companies they will print a date directly on the ring pull of when it has to be claimed by, though the date is usually fairly far into the future (and usually 31st December of the current year or the next).
So what are you waiting for? Get out there and drink some beers, it’s good for your wallet and your afternoon! The cheapest beer in Cambodia might also come with a free Rolex if you’re lucky, as this is one of the prizes currently available with ABC Beer. (Terms and conditions of winning this prize can be found by CLICKING HERE).
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