Most visitors to Cambodia follow a familiar script. They see a temple, take the photo, eat a good meal, and move on to the next stop. Nothing wrong with that. But a lot gets missed along the way.
The farmer who knows exactly when the rice will be ready. The grandmother who still cooks over a clay stove. The village a few kilometres off the main road, where life runs to the rhythm of the seasons rather than the tour bus timetable.
Roteh Tours wants to take you there. Not as a spectator, but as a guest.
It began with a conversation
There was no business plan at the start. No website, no tour package, no marketing budget. Just two people talking.
Hem Chansopheak and Thach Rithea met and quickly realised they were thinking about the same thing. Both felt that tourism in Cambodia could do more. It could bring travellers closer to the communities, farms, food and everyday life that make the country what it is.
They didn’t rush it. For more than a year, the two of them kept coming back to the idea. They argued over it, pulled it apart and rebuilt it. What would it actually mean for a village to benefit from a visit? How do you make sure a traveller leaves having learned something real? Where does tourism help, and where does it get in the way?
Slowly, those conversations turned into something with a name. Roteh Tours.
Testing the idea
A good idea still has to survive contact with reality. Before building any experiences, the founders wanted to stress-test what they had.
In 2025, they joined Impact Hub’s Forest Ecopreneur incubation programme. It turned out to be a turning point. Working alongside mentors and other entrepreneurs, they had to think hard about the money side as well as the mission. Could a tourism business protect the environment, support communities and still pay its own way?
The programme helped them answer that. By the end, Roteh Tours had moved from a plan on paper to a proper business concept. It also confirmed something they already suspected: tourism doesn’t have to be built around destinations alone. It can be built around relationships, learning and local people taking part.
Two founders, two strengths
Hem Chansopheak is the Founder and Chief Community Impact Officer. His job is the human side of the business. He builds the relationships with villages and local partners, and makes sure the people hosting travellers stay at the centre of every decision.
Thach Rithea is the CEO and Co-Founder. He trained in agricultural science and has a long-standing interest in nature and sustainable development. He looks after growth: shaping the experiences, building partnerships, and connecting farm-based and community tourism with the wider travel market.
Different roles, same purpose. As they put it, meaningful tourism has to be built together, with communities, producers, hosts, travellers and partners all at the table.
Why farming sits at the heart of it
Ask the founders why agriculture, and the answer is simple. Farming is one of the deepest links between people and place in Cambodia. It shapes what families eat, how they work, what the land looks like and which traditions get passed down.
“Food does not begin on a restaurant plate,” is how they frame it. It begins with soil, water, seeds, seasons and the people who work the land.
So a day with Roteh Tours might mean meeting a local producer and hearing which crops are in season. You might wander through a family’s home garden, help with a traditional food activity, then sit down to a meal cooked from that morning’s harvest. Cycling through rice country or learning a traditional skill could also be on the list. So could a long, unhurried conversation with someone who has lived in the same village all their life.
Right now, much of the work is focused on Kampong Thom. The team is building experiences around the communities near Sambor Prei Kuk, the ancient temple site, and the farmland and culture that surround it.
The founders are careful to say what agritourism is not. It isn’t about turning farms into theme parks. It is about opening a respectful window onto real rural life, and letting local knowledge become part of the trip.
Listening first
For Roteh Tours, community isn’t an add-on. It’s the foundation.
That changes how they work. Instead of arriving in a village with a ready-made product, they start by listening. Who wants to be involved? What knowledge are people happy to share? What would tourism actually bring them? And how do you keep the experience true to the place?
They are also honest about limits. Not every part of village life should become something tourists pay to watch. Part of the job, they say, is drawing respectful lines, so that what is offered feels comfortable, culturally appropriate and fair to the people hosting it.
Their vision sums it up neatly: a Cambodia where farms and villages become sustainable tourism destinations. Their slogan is shorter still. Travel With Impact.
Building it with others
Roteh Tours knows it can’t do this alone, and doesn’t want to. The founders are actively looking for partners who see agrotourism as more than a transaction.
That list is wide. Farmers and producers, homestays, hotels and restaurants. Travel agencies and tour operators. Schools and universities, NGOs, social enterprises, and any business working ethically in tourism, agriculture, culture or sustainability.
Their idea of partnership goes beyond sending customers back and forth. It’s about combining what each side does best. A community has the knowledge and the place. A producer has the product and the story. A hotel or travel company has the guests. Roteh Tours brings those pieces together and puts the finished experience in front of the right travellers.
Where it goes from here
The company is still young, and the founders are relaxed about that. Growing is part of the story.
Their goal isn’t simply more tour packages. They want a network of experiences across Cambodia, where travellers discover the country through its people, farms, food and landscapes. That means more local hosts, more producers, stronger community programmes and new partners who share the same values.
Whatever shape it takes, they want to stay close to the reason they started.
It began with two people sharing an idea. Now they are building it with villages and partners across the country. For Hem Chansopheak and Thach Rithea, travel was never just about the destination. It’s about who you meet, what you learn, and what stays with you long after the trip ends.
Get in touch with Roteh Tours
Whether you want to book a trip, bring a group to the villages, or explore a partnership, the team is happy to talk.
- Website: rotehtours.com
- Email: go.rotehtours@gmail.com
- Phone / WhatsApp: +855 92 238 678
- Facebook: facebook.com/rotehtours
- Telegram: t.me/rotehtours
- Office: Phnom Penh, open Monday to Saturday, 8:00am to 6:00pm
