Terms and Conditions

1. Agreement to Terms

These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) constitute a legally binding agreement between you (“User”, “Visitor”, or “Merchant” / “Business Owner”) and Kampot Guide (“we”, “us”, or “our”), operating the online directory, guides, PWA, and discovery platform at kampot.guide.

By accessing or using Kampot Guide, browsing listings, submitting inquiries, using the interactive map, installing the app, using Ask Kampot, requesting an in-person verification visit, paying a verification fee, or logging into a merchant dashboard, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, you must immediately discontinue use of the platform.

2. Informational Directory and Intermediary Status

Kampot Guide is an independent tourism, hospitality, and local commerce directory serving Kampot Province, Cambodia. We provide curated listings, geo-coordinates, operating hours, editorial travel guides, trail overviews, and business profiles, plus one-tap contact channels such as WhatsApp, Telegram, call, and enquiry buttons.

• Independent venues: Listed businesses (restaurants, hotels, guesthouses, pepper farms, tour operators, and transport services) are owned and operated by independent third parties. Kampot Guide does not operate, manage, endorse, or guarantee any third-party venue or service.
• Not a booking engine: Kampot Guide is an informational directory and direct-contact tool. We are not a travel agency, merchant of record, or a party to any room booking, table reservation, rental, tour, or other transaction between visitors and listed merchants. Service quality, refunds, cancellations, and safety at a venue must be addressed directly with that business.
• Map coordinates and navigation: Map pins distinguish between verified physical doorway coordinates (“Verified doorway”) and street estimates. GPS data is for general navigational orientation. Users are responsible for exercising due care when traveling, particularly on unpaved rural roads, river routes, and Bokor Mountain ascents.

3. Accuracy Disclaimer

Kampot Guide conducts physical, door-to-door agent inspections to verify venue existence, doorway location pins, and operating hours at the time of onboarding. That visit creates a high baseline of accuracy. It does not freeze those details forever.

• Opening hours, menus, prices, and seasonal schedules are published from in-person verification and later owner updates. Operating hours follow Asia/Phnom_Penh. Businesses may alter hours without prior notice because of weather, holidays, or private events.
• Public transit schedules, including Royal Railway train times and Giant Ibis bus timetables, can change without notice.
• Visitors should confirm time-sensitive details such as opening hours, tour availability, or room rates directly with the venue using the contact buttons on the listing.

4. Ask Kampot AI

Kampot Guide provides an interactive assistant (“Ask Kampot”) to help visitors search directory content, locate cuisines, explore areas, and identify businesses.

• Suggestions from Ask Kampot are automated and for informational purposes only. They are not guaranteed travel advice, emergency, medical, legal, or official travel advisories. Confirm critical details such as operating hours or tour availability directly with the venue.
• Ask Kampot generates answers from published directory entries, verified attributes, and travel guides, on an “as is” basis.
• Signed-in accounts receive 100 free credits each week. Each AI answer uses 10 credits. Free credits reset on Monday in Kampot time and do not roll over. Quick search does not use credits. Automated scraping, abuse, or reverse-engineering of the assistant is prohibited.
• Featured and verified listings that match search parameters may be prioritized in search relevancy, as disclosed throughout the directory. Sponsored Ask Kampot cards are labelled separately from the answer.

5. PWA, Saved Places, and Device Storage

You may install Kampot Guide as a Progressive Web App from a supported browser. Installation opens the site full screen from your home screen. It is not a store app. The homepage, directory shell and saved or recently opened place pages can load from a cache on this device if you have already viewed them. Maps, live hours, Ask Kampot and other live data still need a network connection. This is not a full offline map of Kampot.

Saved places, comparison selections, and theme preference are stored in your browser's local storage on that device. If you are signed in, the saved-place list is also stored with your account so it can sync across devices. Clearing site data removes the on-device copy. See the Privacy Policy for the storage keys we use.

6. Merchant Verification Visit and Fees

Businesses located within Kampot Province may apply for inclusion. By requesting an agent verification visit, submitting the booking form at /list, paying a verification fee, or logging into a merchant dashboard, you agree to these merchant terms.

7. Prohibited Businesses and Illegal Activities

The merchant warrants that all operations, services, premises, and events comply with local, provincial, and national laws of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Kampot Guide will never list or permit establishments offering:

1. Illegal drugs, narcotics, or unlicensed controlled substances.
2. Human trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, or illegal adult services.
3. Unlicensed gambling or fraudulent financial or cryptocurrency schemes.
4. Counterfeit merchandise, smuggled goods, or unlicensed medical practices.
5. Activities that cause harm to wildlife, local heritage, or public safety.

8. Right of Refusal, Suspension, and Delisting

Kampot Guide reserves the right to decline or reject any listing application during or after the verification visit, at its sole discretion, without financial liability or refund of the verification fee.

We may immediately suspend, restrict, or permanently remove a merchant profile from the website, PWA, and map, without prior notice or financial liability, if:

• The merchant permits, facilitates, or engages in unlawful activities on or near the premises.
• The merchant posts fraudulent business data, deceptive pricing, or artificial user reviews.
• The merchant receives repeated, verified safety, harassment, or hygiene complaints.
• The merchant fails to keep operating hours, WhatsApp or Telegram contact details, or location pins reasonably up to date.

If an account is suspended or delisted for policy or legal violations, past verification fees and recurring promotional payments are non-refundable. Merchants may appeal a listing suspension under the moderation and appeals playbook.

9. Subscription Tiers and Billing

Monthly plans are collected during a scheduled field-agent visit or arranged via KHQR. Kampot Guide does not store card numbers on this website.

Fees are payable on the due date shown in the business dashboard. A grace period of 3 days applies. If a monthly fee remains unpaid after 3 days, the listing reverts to Verified. No business data, photos, or reviews are deleted on downgrade. Owners may cancel a monthly plan at any time from the dashboard without a cancellation penalty. Cancellation stops future collection; it does not refund the verification fee or time already used.

10. Merchant Content License

By providing photographs, logos, menus, promotional copy, and business information to Kampot Guide agents, or by uploading them from the merchant dashboard, you grant Kampot Guide a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to display, index, reformat, and distribute those assets on the Kampot Guide website, PWA, Ask Kampot, social media channels, and physical print door stickers. You warrant that you own or hold valid licenses for that content.

11. Business Owner Content and Conduct

By uploading photos, menus, descriptions, deals, or events, you agree that:

• You own or hold valid licenses and permissions for all submitted content, trademarks, logos, and photographs.
• You will not upload defamatory, infringing, unlawful, fraudulent, or deceptive promotional material.
• All published deals, discounts, vouchers, and happy hours must be honored in good faith for visitors presenting them during valid terms.
• Kampot Guide may remove, edit, or reject content that violates local regulations, consumer protection laws, or directory editorial standards.

12. Review Rewards

A signed-in visitor earns 10 Ask Kampot AI credits for a new eligible review, and the reviewed business earns one review point. All star ratings receive the same reward. Reviews must reflect genuine experiences; fabricated reviews, business self-reviews, staff reviews and attempts to manipulate rewards are not eligible. Earning a reward does not mean Kampot Guide has independently verified a visit.

Rewards apply only to new reviews after this program launches. Existing reviews, edits and deleted/reposted reviews do not earn additional rewards. Each signed-in account can earn once per business. Review credits do not expire and remain with the visitor if a review is removed. Removing a rewarded review removes its business point; if that point has been spent, future points first cover the shortfall without cancelling an existing subscription.

Business rewards are 50 points for 1 month of Plus, 125 points for 3 months of Plus, 350 points for 6 months of Plus. Points do not expire, stay with the business and are not transferable to another business or redeemable for cash. Redemptions activate Plus immediately or extend its future expiry by calendar months, and cannot be undone. They do not downgrade active Featured or Featured Max, replace a plan without an end date or cover the one-time verification fee. Pending requests for Featured or Featured Max remain pending. Businesses must request honest feedback, not a particular star rating.

13. Review Moderation and Appeals

Honest negative feedback is welcome. A low rating or a paid subscription is not a reason to remove criticism. We may moderate fabricated, abusive, irrelevant or privacy-infringing content and restrict participation where warranted, with recorded reasons. Visitors and businesses can report content or appeal decisions by email, including when account access is restricted. Read the moderation and appeals playbook for the rules, owner-reply etiquette, decision process and contact instructions.

14. Partner Promotions: Web Technics Bundle

Kampot Guide partners with Web Technics (web-technics.com), a web development agency in Cambodia. Qualifying clients who contract for an eligible business website through Web Technics are entitled to a complimentary Kampot Guide listing setup and twelve (12) consecutive months of the Plus business subscription tier at no additional listing cost.

Website development contracts, design agreements, hosting, and service-level commitments are entered into directly between the client and Web Technics. Kampot Guide is responsible solely for the provisioning and maintenance of the directory listing benefits as specified in the promotion.

15. Intellectual Property and Takedown Requests

The Kampot Guide name, logo, door-sticker emblems, custom user interface, database architecture, editorial guide texts, trail descriptions, original journal articles, and custom map styling are the intellectual property of Kampot Guide and are protected under applicable copyright, trademark, and unfair competition laws.

Historical and regional imagery featured in guide scenes is credited and licensed under Creative Commons (including CC BY-SA 2.0, CC BY-SA 3.0, and CC BY-SA 4.0) as noted. Map data is powered by OpenStreetMap contributors and Carto.

If content or photos hosted on Kampot Guide infringe your intellectual property rights, send a copyright notice to contact@kampot.guide with proof of ownership. We aim to review and act on valid requests within 72 hours.

16. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted under Cambodian law:

• Kampot Guide is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied.
• Kampot Guide is not a party to any contract, booking, transaction, accommodation stay, or tour service agreed between visitors and listed merchants, including tours such as Bokor Mountain or countryside cave visits.
• We shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, punitive, or consequential damages resulting from your use of the directory, reliance on listed hours, prices, or transit schedules, transactions between visitors and listed businesses, commercial disputes, service disruptions, personal injury, or property damage at listed venues, or physical injuries sustained during travel or activities.
• Our aggregate liability for any claim arising out of these Terms shall not exceed the total fees paid by you to Kampot Guide during the three (3) months preceding the event giving rise to liability.

17. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms and any disputes or claims arising out of or related to them shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom of Cambodia, including the Law on E-Commerce and the Law on Consumer Protection. Any dispute that cannot be resolved amicably shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts of Kampot Province or Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

18. Modifications and Contact Information

We may revise these Terms from time to time. The updated date at the top of this document indicates when the latest amendments were made. Continued use of the platform constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.