rarky

Anyone who believed their E-visa was the same thing as the WP must be very ignorant, or listened to some very poor advice from ill informed people.

I renewed my 12 month meev ordinary visa for another 12 months just last week. I submitted it to my usual renewal agency on Mon morning, and received a phone call the next afternoon to come and pick up my passport. There is no standard processing time, but you should allow for 2-4 working days in PP, and up to a week if submitted from outside PP.

I know of a few people who have purchased property through Blue Star in Kampot, and they had only positive experiences.

Just the usual precautions ahead of todays planned rally. As per normal, should be nothing to worry about for expats and tourists, as long as you avoid any large gatherings of crowds.

Should be a good new club, and will provide an alternative to Pontoon and HOD....it was supposed to open months ago, but they have been delayed for a number of reasons. They are (or were) going to implement a dress code (no singlets/wifebeaters/vests, flip flops/thongs/jandals or jasmine/fishermans pants) so should keep the majority of bottom feeders and sexpats out, lol.

Pontoon has provided a pretty decent line-up of well known international guest DJs in the past, so will be good to see what Code can produce. The term "international DJ" is thrown around alot in Cambodia, which is usually misleading because it more often than not just means an expat/tourist who DJs in their bedroom and at friends parties! LOL

Land is also ridiculously overpriced considering it's a proper third world country.

Yes, if buying in the cities it is ridiculously expensive. Head out into the boonies and its ridiculously cheap! I recently bought an acre of land for $4000, 30 minute drive from Phnom Penh.

Interesting!

1. Did you buy this land as a non Cambodian without the restrictions of needing another Cambodian National having some stake in the land ownership?

2. If you did - Is this land also intended for a property build and hence will then need to involve a Cambodian national in (via one of the above methods) in order for the build to progress?

I bought this land with my Khmer wife, therefore I own 49% and she owns 51%. Sorry if I got your hopes up.

I quite often withdraw funds from my Australian Visa debit card, in order to avoid the international transfer fees, to deposit into my Cambodian accounts. I always use Canadia Bank, and have NEVER been charged any withdrawl fees from Canadia Bank, only foreign transaction fees which are charged by my Australian bank. Their maximum withdrawl limit is $450 USD per TRANSACTION, not per day. As I have a $1000 AUD per day withdrawl limit on my Aus card, I always make 2x $450 USD withdrawls and I have NEVER not been able to do this at the Main Canadia Branch.

Land is also ridiculously overpriced considering it's a proper third world country.

Yes, if buying in the cities it is ridiculously expensive. Head out into the boonies and its ridiculously cheap! I recently bought an acre of land for $4000, 30 minute drive from Phnom Penh.

I am wondering what tourists do about money when visiting Cambodia. I have an account with KBank and an ATM card. Would I need to change money here before traveling or use ATM (which I would think is expensive) in Cambodia? Suggestions please.

There are plenty of ATM's in the cities, check with your bank to make sure your card will work outside of Thailand.

The de-facto currency in Cambodia is $USD, best to have smaller denomination bills, you will mostly on receive KHR (Cambodian Riel) as change for anything less than $1. Exchange rate is approximately $1 USD = 4000 KHR.

There are about 4 or 5 ATMs at Pochentong Airport now, and yes there is a Canadia Bank one.

Rarky,

I've seen only 1-2 near the baggage claim. Where are the others located?

As you exit the terminal turn left and then left again past the tourist info booth and head towards Burger King and you will see 2 or 3 on your right-hand side. Continue down towards the departure terminals and just past the outdoor seating area of Pizza Company you will see another 2 or 3 on the right-hand side.

Very easy to find, its a small airport.

There are about 4 or 5 ATMs at Pochentong Airport now, and yes there is a Canadia Bank one.

Yes, its as simple as you explained, go to the closest post office is;

No. 486BC, Mao Tse Toung (St. 245),
Mao Tse Toung Blvd, Phnom Penh

or just ask a moto/tuk tuk driver and they will take you

There are not many actual Condos in Cambodia, though.

What is common area partments, or houses where upper floors are separately owned (sometimes with separate entrances, sometimes having to entrance through the downstairs neighbors place).

What they call "ptar leveang" (sort of townhouses/chinese-style shophouses) are very common and often the owners will sell one of the upper floors. Which can also allow the chance ot have a roof garden.

Mostly true, across the river in Chroy Changva there are several condominium buildings already, and many more are currently being built and planned. There are also plans and construction ongoing for new condos in PP, most notably Olympic City. Its actually getting ridiculous, more appartments, condos, houses than there are people to fill them!

Dear Rarky Being a Pakistani national im cursed with a Paki passport. What donation is required to get a cambodian passport and nationality? Id dual citizenship is not allowed id be happy to give up my Paki passport however not possible for me to reside in Cambodia at the moment Ill be 53 tomorrow and my email is <removed> Cheers

Send me $100,000 USD and I will arrange it for you.

To be honest it is not as straight-up and easy as it sounds. You're investment needs to benefit the economic future and citizens of Cambodia, the criteria is very strict and it needs to be approved and signed of by the PM and the King. And truthfully there aren't that many benefits to having Cambodian citizenship apart from being able to own land outright and travel visa free to ASEAN countries.

Just to clarify, if one were to buy a condominium above the ground floor, it wouldn't be necessary to involve Cambodian citizens?

Correct.

Rarky; ur being paranoid to the limit with this.

Not being paranoid at all, just cautious. I have friends who have been followed, harassed and had their pictures taken by certain NGO "volunteers" whilst just walking along Riverside with their children who are half Khmer/Barang. Anways, this is off topic so I will leave it at that.

A good, solid pen makes a great defensive tool, and also is not classed as a weapon. Someone carrying something like a knife, which is classed as a weapon would have a hard time defending their actions as self-defense, but a pen is an everyday item which you just happened to have on your person at the time.

Disclaimer: I'm not condoning violence in any way, shape or form.

One day I was in PP and a cab driver approached me with a young (girl?) and wanted me to simply take her. He didn't want money. He just wanted me to take care of her and feed her. I can't tell the ages of those gals and for many reasons I had to say no. What I did was offer to buy both of them a meal in a restaurant which they accepted. When we finished our meals I gave the girl (teenager?) $20 not knowing if the cabbie would take it from her.

I can't save the whole world.

I would never do this...ever! For all you know this could've been a set up and you could've ended up in Prey Saw! I won't explain, as I am sure you can figure out what I mean and I don't want to stray off-topic.

Yea, more than likely a Karaoke Bar, or restaurant with live music...but in not in the western sense as such. But don't confuse it with the brothels of Thailand.

You can pay for one of the girls to be your "date" for the evening if you wish, they top up your drinks, sing songs, look pretty on your arm, etc. No funny business is actually allowed on premise, but once you decide to leave, then you can negotiate with the girl if you want her to come with you. These places are frequented mostly by Khmer, and other Asians, although it is not unusual for westerners to be taken to K bars for business meetings.

If you had walked in alone, you probably would've been considered a lost tourist and politely denied entrance...unless you looked wealthy, lol.

Not their parents, much worse than that

There are organized gangs using children as beggars esp. at tourist spots.

Yea, that's what I meant by "Handlers". Good points though Sheryl.

The eating with your right-hand "rule" is mostly a Muslim practice. You will see most Cambodians use a fork in their r/h and use a spoon in their left to scoop food onto the fork, my wife is Khmer and she is left-handed so she eats with her l/h. Don't worry, just eat the way you normally do...you're not going to offend anyone.

Get yourself to some Krav Magra training. Don't arm yourself with anything, unless you are actually capable and commited to using the weapon.

Krav Maga, sadly, seems to be the 2013 equivalent of the Ninjitsu craze which swept the West back in the 80s. I would put the chances of finding a qualified instructor in Cambodia as roughly equal to my chances of winning Lotto - happy to hear otherwise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krav_Maga

I agree, although Krav Maga has been around for a long time it is only recently coming into the limelight for average citizen joe as the next big craze. Also, most Krav Maga that is taught these days is a "Westernised" version of the original, the only true Krav Maga is taught in the Israeli SF.

There is one qualified instructor that conducts Krav Maga training in Cambodia that I am aware of, an ex French Foreign Legionnaire at K1 Fitness & Fight Factory.

Most banks will exchange your 50's for smaller denominations, as will the currency exchange vendors (for a small fee usually). If you try and pay for a meal at a restaurant or something at a mini-mart, and they don't have change, they will normally send someone out to get change for you. Just stand your ground and say that you don't have change.

It is definitely a good idea to carry mostly small denominations and will save you a lot of time and hassles.

Good decision...never give to child beggars as it will not benefit them in any way, all the money goes to their handlers or parents, and it keeps them from attending school. Don't buy trinkets or books from the children selling them for the same reasons. Also don't give to the women who appear to be carrying an ill baby/toddler, they drug and or get them drunk in order to play the pity card. The more tourists continue to give money to these beggars, the more it will continue.

Elderly and disabled I have no problem giving them some KHR (riels), as there is no support system in place from the government as in developed countries, and many don't have families that are able to support them.

As a general rule of thumb, I tend to not give money to any beggars in the main tourist hot-spots. When children approach you begging, just say "A'tay oun" and they will generally leave you alone.

Bloody hell, are you insane! If for some reason, you did end up using a knife, taser, gun on anyone in Cambodia, even as self defense, you would find yourself locked up in Prey Saw or one of the countries other medieval prisons...YOU will be GUILTY in the eye of the law, and unlikely to be found innocent once you finally go to trial.

And why are you afraid of "insane Barangs"...are you involved in illegal activities?? Hmmm?