Every morning, 12-year-old Soksan Set faces a journey most children his age never have to think about. Outside his home, there is no road, only water. Soksan lives in Prek Toal, a floating community on Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia's largest freshwater lakewhere boats are the main means of transport.
A Grade 4 student at the local primary school, he travels several kilometers on water to attend class and sometimes helps younger children along the way. But increasingly, the biggest obstacle between Soksan and his classroom is not distance. His family, like many others in the commune, depends on fishing for their livelihood.
When fuel prices rise, they are forced to make difficult choices. "When gasoline prices go up, we don't have enough money to take our children to school regularly," said Soksan's father, 41-year-old Set Soeum. "We don't catch enough fish, and we need around three liters of gasoline a day to travel long distances for fishing.
Because of this, Soksan often has to miss school." For families living on the water, rising fuel costs can quickly become a barrier to education. Cambodia relies heavily on imported fuel, leaving households exposed to global price shocks and regional supply disruptions. The 2026 Iran war has driven up energy costs, making transport to remote communities more expensive.
Around Tonle Sap, this has hit students and their families. Gasoline prices rose 45% and diesel prices more than 70% in March, the largest single-month increase since 2008, according to the World Bank. Gasoline currently costs 5,700 riel ($1.41) per liter, up 26.7% from 4,500 riel ($1.11) a year ago, according to Global Petrol Prices.
Although Cambodia does not depend directly on the Strait of Hormuz for most of its fuel imports, it is exposed to higher global oil prices and supply disruptions affecting regional suppliers. Cambodia imports all of its petroleum products and has no domestic refining capacity. For Soksan's family, the pressure is felt both on the fishing boat and the school boat.
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