TheSiemReaper

I've been living in Phnom Penh for the last three months and can compare it to Bangkok. PP is cheaper in every way except food. Western food that is. If you can eat Khmer then you're golden. But it just can't compare with Thai food. I've been learning to eat it via a KGF who is a good cook. But it's been a long, slow adjustment. It's an acquired taste.

A trip to a Lucky's or Bayon supermarket for western goods can send you into sticker shock real quick.

ImageUploadedByThaivisa Connect1458063147.928389.jpg

It really depends what you buy. Marmite in Cambodia was half the price that it is in Thailand, for example. Cheese is way cheaper (though often not as good) in Cambodia than Thailand. And so on... my week's shopping in Cambodia including cigarettes was about $100 in Angkor Market, Lucky Market, Pencil or Bayon. In Thailand it's about $100 without the cigarettes. Either way - it's really not the end of the world.

Agree that Khmer food isn't Thai food and that Khmer food is, in general, the worst in Indochina too (though I find it a close run thing with Laos).

Sopheak Na in Siem Reap will arrange an extension and is the preferred agent of Western expats. I have to be honest... having moved from Cambodia to Thailand recently and then returned briefly to Cambodia - I'm not sure what possessed me to live here for years. Siem Reap is an economic slump, PP may have property prices going through the roof but it's still rough as anything, Sihanoukville remains the ugliest beach resort in Asia and Battambang is way too sleepy to spend a long time in. I think if I was going to quit Thailand now; I'd head to Malaysia or at a push the Philippines.

People retreat from the world for all sorts of reasons and loneliness can affect everyone - even when you have regular company etc.

Reasons for suicide are complex and cannot be dissected by observers from the comfort of a forum.

Certainly, I'm not sure all suicide is a "tragedy" and that some people won't just be happy to have their pain, mental and/or physical, come to an end.

There is a massive hypocrisy in this debate. Millions who don't want to die - do so everyday, thanks to war, disease, etc. many of these deaths are 100% preventable but are not prevented because not doing so secures our own way of life. More particularly it promotes the lifestyles of the 1%. The majority of people take no action at all to try and resolve this imbalance (not even so much as a poxy letter to their elected representatives) but all feel somehow qualified to comment on the tragedy of someone who resolves to seek their own end.

I don't know this woman's circumstances. I suspect nobody really did. I just hope that her decision was the right one for her as it is one that is impossible to undo. May she rest in peace and without condemnation and ignorance from others.

Thailand is not 3rd world. It is a middle income nation or 2nd world nation (though that is a bit of a shoddy way to classify countries anyway). Only people with little comprehension of economics would classify Thailand as 3rd world. If you want to see 3rd world visit the provinces of Cambodia. You won't find free air-con fitting (or any air-con), rapid TV delivery, etc. there.

re

A friend of mine just told me what 'Digital Nomad' means--unemployed with a phone.

and they are a ###### pain in the arse

camp in maya mall used to be fairly quiet in the week but i was in there last week and the place was full of 20 to 30 ish numb nut digital nomads

talking on their phones

one fella started to get quite loud to whoever he was talking to and one of the staff told him to quieten it down while pointing at the door

or they would call security !

ive been a regular there since it opend but it wouldnt surprise me if they

put up a sign saying no more ferang in here !

dave2

Just to note - there are two classes of digital nomad. Those who pollute every possible space whilst being inconsiderate and earning nothing and those who stay deep in the background, work from home and earn (and spend) a small fortune. The latter feel like an endangered species because the former have too much time on their hands and will tell the world about their business...

I don't really want a Kindle as I want epub and pdf too.... and no adverts. Was looking at the Kobo Aura H2O...

I don't think you'll be happy reading pdf's on either. For me, the only thing that works 'almost' satisfactorily for them is the full size iPad. Otherwise, there is just waaay too much scrolling around the page to deal with them. Once you enlarge the average pdf to a readable scale, even the large iPad requires moving all over the page to follow the text.

Given the end of Barnes and Nobel's e-book venture... I can't think of a single sane reason to buy anything other than a Kindle. If you want to read epub or pdf you just use Caliber to convert them to mobi format. Caliber is free.

Would you give your reasons for saying this? I've spent several months with a Kindle, and gave it away in favor of the Kobo Glo. I didn't like the fact that 1/3 of its usable size was taken up by a keyboard. I wanted a full 'book-size' screen of text. I used that for a year or two before moving on to an iPad mini. I'd never consider a Kindle again. Why do you favor it?

There is almost zero disagreement that the Kindle (particularly the Paperwhite and Voyage) is the superlative e-reader. There is no keyboard (and hasn't been for two generations of Kindle). It is the most usable and useful device in its class.

I have no hard on for Amazon and wouldn't touch a Kindle Fire if you paid me but they do e-readers better than anyone.

Given the end of Barnes and Nobel's e-book venture... I can't think of a single sane reason to buy anything other than a Kindle. If you want to read epub or pdf you just use Caliber to convert them to mobi format. Caliber is free.

So the OP is just doing research for his blog using ThaiVisa (and us!) so he can write blog articles that trick the his blog readers (probably digital nomad wannabes) into thinking he actually knows something about Chiang Mai so they'll continue to read his blog and click thru his Google ads or whatever so he can earn money while never leaving his mother's basement or something?

Sadly, CM's Digital Nomad community is comprised of 90-95% abject morons who do nothing but blogging (badly) and drop shipping. Neither of these things will ever make them money but it's an essential part of their identity as the "cool people" who travel the world to live like peasants in hot places. The cornerstone piece is "50 things to do for $0 in Chiang Mai" (they can't do it elsewhere they can't afford to go anywhere else) combined with "Live LIKE A BOSS on $300 a month in Chiang Mai" as apparently their bosses back home lived in toilets and drove broken down motos whilst consuming food from their neighbour's garbage.

The current e-readers are pretty much similar in the 'reading' part. Most come with back-lighting if desired, or, you can turn it off. Most have built-in dictionaries with touch-the-word connectivity. Most can access the Internet for immediate downloads. Kindle's real advantage is the huge number of books available. Push a button, get a new book, and read. Some complain that the ease of this system causes them to 'over-buy' and blow their book budgets too quickly. All of them have the ability to 'side-load' book from your computer that you've gotten from various on-line sites. None are really 'better' than the others. They just have different 'features' that some like and others don't need. I've gone through Sony Readers, Kobo readers, Nook readers, and Kindles. Now I prefer using a mini-iPad. It's heavier than the others but does what I want.

I know you can order from Amazon on it but do they deliver to it every time automatically with out having to go through a process?

Amazon won't sell Kindle direct to Thailand. Best to go via Ebay with a seller who has sold several thousand brand new ones to Thailand.

Will now be buying another from ebay as I just had mine ripped out of my hands by a thief in Cambodia... wish I'd stayed at home to be honest. :-(

I bought my Kindle on Ebay using their global shipping program (which ensures that taxes are not a surprise). It was brand new, boxed and works a treat. It took about 10 days to arrive.

Many years ago, I can remember when the UK used to have shops opening everywhere. Nobody got rich from shop keeping but it was a nice way to put a roof over your head, build a small but loyal group of customers and generally provide goods (at a fairly costly markup) in an enjoyable and interesting way. Then the supermarkets came along, started selling everything and price competing everybody else out of the market. Service took a secondary consideration to price. Today... things are slowly swinging back into balance with many people willing to pay a premium for service and community and the price conscious flocking to new low-budget supermarket chains. That's how it should be.

Local shopkeepers here won't be broke. Rents are pretty cheap on most shop units (outside of malls and certain high-volume traffic spots). There are usually rooms above where the owner (and family) can live. They don't need to do a roaring trade to survive. In the future, they will probably all be gutted by greedy corporations but that future isn't here today - most malls here offer dreadful value for money compared to the street side shop keeper and people aren't rich enough (in general) to pay a premium for bright lights with equally abysmal service. Lots of small businesses suggests rapid economic activity. Money comes in. Money goes out again. It's the sign of a healthy local economy.

The Chiang Mai Expats group is the most tedious group I've ever had the misfortune to join on Facebook. With two moderators that seem to believe they are Thailand's facebook police and their dull insistence on pointing out how impossible it is to earn a living in Northern Thailand. Never join a group where the mod has a hyphenated surname...

Other than that FolkGuitar has pretty much nailed it. The unmoderated Chiang Mai Digital Nomads groups is pretty good too but the larger Digital Nomads groups is basically an advertising forum for a certain "Pick Up Artist"'s scammy drop shipping courses.

So, for the OP: Laos Airlines would not sell you a ticket to fly out of Bangkok to Laos because of your overstay in Thailand? Can you provide some detail about how that conversation actually went? 'Seems strange. Were they afraid you'd arrive in Laos somehow having avoided clearing the overstay passing out thru Thai Immigration, causing you to be refused entry in Laos and having to be returned to Bangkok at their expense? Flying out to a neighboring country for the purpose of clearing an overstay has to be one of the most commonly given pieces of advice here on TVF. Or are we misinterpreting what you said about being refused boarding?

Laos airlines and indeed Lao Immigration couldn't give two hoots as to whether people clear their overstay in Thailand or not. Laos isn't Thailand and it doesn't enforce its border integrity or visa regime for it.

I don't think it would be possible to dodge Thai immigration on the way out of Thailand and still end up at a legitimate entry point for Laos but if you did... Laos immigration are under no obligations to get you to pass through Thai immigration before granting entry.

Talk about the price you just paid for eggs at a local market. They'll talk about everyday prices for hours!

Most common words in the thai language? "loi" and "baht"

This pretty much. 99% of people I've met across Asia only really want to talk about money in some form or another - salaries, prices, gambling, etc. if the conversation isn't about money, there's next to no interest in having it. The 1% of exceptions, on the other hand, are genuinely fascinating.

Re-routing, using a VPN for example, through Europe should minimise issues for anyone experiencing them in the first place. I haven't noticed much myself to be honest.

I'm sorry but what? Re-routing can only be done by the international cable network. The first leg of which is damaged. You can't avoid speed issues by re-routing via a VPN at all. (Trust me I've worked in telecoms most of my life).

Having said that... my connections are delivering faster data at the moment than they ever have before. I think they may finally have installed working 4G in my area...

Lol. I went to my bank today to change Baht from my account into USD... no problem, no passport required, until I asked them to take the money from the account. They made me go outside and fetch it from an ATM... impossible to do electronically apparently. So, I'm not surprised they won't let you send big bucks overseas from someone else's accounts.

I have to say though that banking here, by and large, is absolutely 100% better than it ever was back home.

They can't extradite him. He has a Cambodian passport, so he is a Cambodian citizen. That means Cambodia is stuck with the nasty ****er. I suspect that sooner or later he'll find that life is much shorter in Cambodia than it is elsewhere in the world. When that happens, I foresee nothing in the way of a police investigation to determine how he died of a self-inflicted heart attack...

Immigration cannot fine you for working without a work permit. Only Ministry of Labor can do that. It is not a violation of immigration law, it is a violation of Labor Law.

Technically. But technically and reality rarely meet in corrupt 3rd world dictatorships like Cambodia and in this case they don't.

Immigration are fining people. They are issuing receipts for those fines. They are also enforcing "you must have a work permit whether or not you are working".

Given this, the reality is the one to deal with rather than the technical.

Btw immigration has nothing to do with WPs and WP requirements. That is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Labor. Article 261 of the Cambodian Labour Law states "all foreign workers must posess a valid work permit". Note "foreing workers". Not all foreigners. And no mention anywhere in this law of visa beyond "must have entered the Kingdom legally" and "must posess a valid residency permit" which I take to mean visa i.e. you must have the visa to get a WP but not the reverse. Again, entirely different branches of government involved..

Actually a residency permit is NOT a visa. Never has been. The number of residency permits issued by the Kingdom of Cambodia? To date, none. The ministry responsible for issuing them says the process is too complicated for them to understand. So even with a visa and work permit - you're not technically legal in Cambodia. Wait for enough barang idiots with too much time on their hands to go and start demanding those (which is what they did with work permits and why the whole stupid mess began to be enforced) and they'll come sooner or later.

Well I would start by asking for their IDs to ascertain who they actually are.

Then I would stand my ground saying I am not required to have a WP as I am not working. More or less same thing I do with the "official" at Poipet who try to tell me I need to get a medical certificate.

Maybe take our my phone and say I will call my friend who is an Imm Officer.

In my experience when they see you know it is a scam and understand the law they back down pretty quick and move on to greener pastures.

Also maybe insist on going to the Imm Office to discuss it there. They won't want to do that.

The four officials who arrived on my doorstep were immigration and one of them very senior at that. They were only too keen to take me to immigration and start processing fines etc.

Unfortunately, the wording of the prakas regarding work permits is incredibly loose and it can be interpreted as "anyone who lives in Cambodia needs a work permit". There has been an ongoing war of words regarding this between immigration officials in Cambodia. Standing your ground would be a complete waste of time. Down in Sihanoukville the fines (and official fines at that) have been huge and they've backdate the requirements for a work permit to the very first visa in their passports. The best advice on this front is simple - get a work permit and save yourself the hassle.

Work permits are being enforced for those working.

There is no legal requirement to have a WP if you are not working.

TV members report - recently - getting the one year extension without one with no problem.

Getting a visa extension isn't the issue, Sheryl. Door-to-door enforcement by immigration is. I used to argue that you don't need one... then immigration turned up on my doorstep and demanded one about a month before I moved to Chiang Mai. They wanted to fine me and for me to pay for the work permit (including arrears) and my "I don't work" (which is true) landed on deaf ears.

In the end we settled on a $50 bribe as I was leaving the country (and wouldn't give them the original of my passport - just a photocopy - so they couldn't take it). Work permits have become necessary whether you work or not in Cambodia. They are easy to obtain now - from a travel agent just like the business visa (which almost nobody qualifies for properly either).

No flights out of Battambang. You'd be better off doing your Vietnam visa through a travel agent in Siem Reap - yes, it costs extra but not as much as wasting a day travelling to Battambang and back. Though Battambang is genuinely lovely - worth seeing and won't take more than a day or two to see.

But yes, you'd need to return to Siem Reap or head to Bangkok to fly to Vietnam after visiting Battambang.