TheSiemReaper

Update: I have had it confirmed by SR's most trusted (by the expat community) visa agent that the process now takes 4 working days (weekends are not working days for the count) plus 2 more days if done from Siem Reap (for your passport to get to PP and then come back) and plus 0 days in Phnom Penh. It doesn't matter how big a bribe you offer - they will not expedite this (as several expats here have already confirmed). So in total you're looking at 6-8 days from SR and 4 days in PP. Can't offer any insight into Sihanoukville or Battambang or Kampot or Kep but I would expect them to follow the same process as Siem Reap is.

I'm wondering how this nonsense will apply to those of us who live next door (in Cambodia)... many of us come to Bangkok regularly throughout the year (normally on visa exemption) for a few days to enjoy "big city" life and stock up on the things we can't get in the Reap. Will we be accused of staying in Thailand because we have a hat full of visa-exempt or tourist visa stamps in our passports?

An important consideration is the unusually high cost of electricity in Cambodia which can make it hard to turn a profit.

And of course the incredibly erratic provision of electricity in Cambodia too... outside of Phnom Penh, Battambang and Siem Reap services are pretty dire and even in those cities; blackouts for 2-4 hours are semi-regular events.

Maybe that explains why the Koh Kong industrial zone has so few tenants? I've been past there a number of times over the past few months and have not identified one new tenant in any of the shop houses next to the industrial zone that are advertised to Thai and other international investors using both English and Thai in their advertising.

I'd say that the number one deterrent to running a manufacturing business in Cambodia is the abysmal transport infrastructure. It's costly to move things around. You need to pay a lot of bribes to move freight down highways and there is a high-risk of an accident causing loss of life and/or products. It takes nearly 20 hours to drive from the Poi Pet border to the Saigon border - it should take around 6-7 hours if the roads were fit for purpose. Despite the huge amounts of "work" down the sides of this major arterial route for the country; the roads have actually deteriorated rather than improved.

Then there's the problem of sourcing raw materials. Then the problem of an appallingly uneducated population (even "graduates" have essentially just paid off their lecturers for passes). Then the problem of importing equipment (Cambodian customs are greedy for bribes and will keep your stuff for an age just for kicks - I had a developer friend who had so spend 5 days walking a mere $2k of equipment personally through customs). Then the problem of exporting your goods (those lovely customs folk again). And so on...

I love Cambodia but I don't think that if you won the lottery you could set up a successful manufacturing business here without being in with some very serious folks (okhna).

An important consideration is the unusually high cost of electricity in Cambodia which can make it hard to turn a profit.

And of course the incredibly erratic provision of electricity in Cambodia too... outside of Phnom Penh, Battambang and Siem Reap services are pretty dire and even in those cities; blackouts for 2-4 hours are semi-regular events.

So far, it makes little difference if you apply in PP or SR. No, you can't pay a little extra for fast tracking. Thai's should apply within the first 4 days of arrival on the 14 day deal.

A tourist visa conversion can be done, theoretically, to a business visa. In practice it costs more than flying out and flying back again.

PhuketRichard is wrong. In many ways, the Western import goods are much cheaper and of equal quality to those in Thailand. There's less of a selection, that's true - but I spend a shed load less in Cambodia in a month than I would to live the equivalent life in Thailand. Those who don't live here - never discover where to go to get the best deals...

it all depends on what your buying. !!!

, i lived in PP in 2008/09 and travel up there at least 2 x .year an when i go places I always look at prices in Markets and supermarkets.

wine/cigs are cheaper for sure Imported meats are more as are cheeses.

most all western good come from Thailand and /or Vietnam

No, it doesn't. I buy Cheddar Cheese at $18 a kilo (imported is only $20 a kilo); it's made in Cambodia and it's better than any of the imported gunk. I pay $8 a kilo for smoked ham (and it's incredibly good); made in Cambodia too. And so on... if you think you have to rely on imported products in Cambodia - you don't know what you're doing. Shopping around the major supermarkets here quickly teaches you that you need to visit more than one supermarket to do your shopping - price fluctuations are extreme but by and large prices are no worse than in Thailand (and often cheaper) if you do shop around.

There's cheese made in Cambodia? That's new. I know about cheese made in Vietnam, some of which I've seen sold in Cambodia, but local cheese? Hmm..interesting to say the least.

Lots of Cheese made here; artisan cheesemaker; cheddar, Gorgonzola, mozzarella, kampot pepper cream cheese, ricotta, and more! Siem Reap's about to become THE tourist center of South East Asia (thanks to Angkor Wat) - lots of cool stuff happens here if you just know where to look. I've been here 3 years and the place has changed beyond recognition to when I arrived. For the old-timers (10-20 year expats) apparently the changes are even more dramatic.

The idea that someone who lived here 5 years ago in any part of the country can talk about what it's like now with any authority is bizarre. It's too fluid a situation to have that kind of longevity.

So far, it makes little difference if you apply in PP or SR. No, you can't pay a little extra for fast tracking. Thai's should apply within the first 4 days of arrival on the 14 day deal.

A tourist visa conversion can be done, theoretically, to a business visa. In practice it costs more than flying out and flying back again.

PhuketRichard is wrong. In many ways, the Western import goods are much cheaper and of equal quality to those in Thailand. There's less of a selection, that's true - but I spend a shed load less in Cambodia in a month than I would to live the equivalent life in Thailand. Those who don't live here - never discover where to go to get the best deals...

it all depends on what your buying. !!!

, i lived in PP in 2008/09 and travel up there at least 2 x .year an when i go places I always look at prices in Markets and supermarkets.

wine/cigs are cheaper for sure Imported meats are more as are cheeses.

most all western good come from Thailand and /or Vietnam

No, it doesn't. I buy Cheddar Cheese at $18 a kilo (imported is only $20 a kilo); it's made in Cambodia and it's better than any of the imported gunk. I pay $8 a kilo for smoked ham (and it's incredibly good); made in Cambodia too. And so on... if you think you have to rely on imported products in Cambodia - you don't know what you're doing. Shopping around the major supermarkets here quickly teaches you that you need to visit more than one supermarket to do your shopping - price fluctuations are extreme but by and large prices are no worse than in Thailand (and often cheaper) if you do shop around.

Cambodia allows expats to sole-trade without licensing of any kind. Incorporation takes time and is a bit of a pain from a paperwork perspective but it's cheap and anyone can open a Ltd. company in Cambodia - no requirement for local ownership at all. (Except for some NGOs).

There is some debate over whether a business owner needs a work-permit or not but if they do; it shouldn't be too hard to get one.

Thanks again, your advice has been very useful. So opening a small factory all I would need is enough capital to open it, then I could just employ any number of locals I need and perhaps an expat or two if I want right? No need to worry about expat/local worker ratios or minimum capitalization (i.e. 2 million Baht) like in Thailand?

For a factory; you'd need to incorporate, pay the appropriate license fees and then yes, you can employ whomever you like and it's up to you how much you invest and when you invest it. This could change at some point in the future but that's how it is today. You would probably also find that you need to pay "tea money" to inspectors, etc. but that's true pretty much everywhere in Indochina and they won't be out to bankrupt you like they would in the Philippines.

There's a tea money thing going on in Kampot over work permits; which, has been made worse by hysterical foreigners demanding to pay for work permits in fear of being busted. No, you can't get an agent to do a work permit - you have to do it yourself but... it does appear to be pretty easy to do so (unlike the visa). Work permits are processed locally and not centrally. The crazy part of all this is that the law requires a residence permit prior to getting a work permit. The Cambodian government admits - it has never issued a single residence permit but it has issued quite a lot of work permits....

Yes, you only need a work permit if you're employed in Cambodia. Yes, some of the hysterical folks in Kampot decided to pay even when they didn't need one.

The are occasional crackdowns on work permits in Snooky. I know people who have been caught in Phnom Penh but there seems to be no concerted effort to do so in the capital. In Siem Reap, to my knowledge, no-one's ever been asked for one.

OK so nothing to worry about then. Also, I have only ever stayed in hotels or short term apartments (they also accept long term residents but I have never stayed more than 2 nights) in Cambodia as my trips are too short to justify long term apartment rental. There was one time I was going to stay with friends but only for like 3 nights and I wouldn't have been registered anyway, just would have stayed over. I decided not to stay at that friends house because there was no bed for me only a sofa and looked too dirty and uncomfortable, so I decided to extend my stay at the hotel I was staying at. This was in Phnom Penh. The reason I brought this up is because I read that the expats in Kampot were staying in rented apartments or houses.

In the vast majority of cases, I stay only in Phnom Penh (or earlier this year, Koh Kong) and simply try to visit clients I have done business with in the past or intend to do business with or if I'm passing through on the way to Vietnam, I may or may not get the opportunity to visit friends if my trip is too short. I simply have the 1-year multiple entry visa to avoid having to apply for new visas all the time and after a few entries apart from saving space in your passport it may actually begin to be cheaper than applying for a whole set of new visas each time you enter. If Cambodia offered visa free visits for some nationalities like Laos does where I get 15 days visa free, I wouldn't even need the visa extension in the first place and would be more than happy just coming in on those visa exempt visits. Until that happens though, I'm sticking with the 1-year extension, which has worked for me in the past (well last time I only needed 6-months but ended up with nearly 8 since that extension expired on my birthday the following year).

If one tries to get a work permit themselves but has no job, I wonder how this would be done? An agent should still be able to assist right, at least go in with you? Especially for a foreigner who can't speak or read Khmer? I certainly wouldn't go to the work permit office myself, knowing only a tiny amount of Khmer and not knowing what to do, it would be a pretty intimidating and weird experience. Someone would surely be able to assist? It seems that agents can do just about anything for you in Cambodia.

I've lived here for 3 years and no-one has so much as suggested I might need a work permit. I don't; I don't work in Cambodia at all.

From what I hear, from friends who have permits, the process is absolutely painless and requires no agent or additional support. Forms in English, process conducted in English, zero hassle. They'll take anyone's money for a work permit - the vast majority of Cambodian businesses are unincorporated so paperwork is viewed with extreme leniency.

Thanks for your comments, they have been very useful. The reason I am asking is because apart from the immigration crackdown in Thailand that is worrying me (it shouldn't affect me personally at this point, but it could in the near future depending on how officers interpret my travel history) I am contemplating possibly opening a business over in Cambodia as doing so in Thailand would be too tedious and involved. Additionally, I believe that starting a business in Cambodia should be quite easy with the investment needed not being very high. However, for the time being I will simply be heading over to Cambodia, back and forth for business and short term travel as I have done so far. Once I get to the stage of opening the business I suppose I will look into the work permit requirement. Thanks for confirming that I probably don't have to worry about it for now, especially in my situation.

Cambodia allows expats to sole-trade without licensing of any kind. Incorporation takes time and is a bit of a pain from a paperwork perspective but it's cheap and anyone can open a Ltd. company in Cambodia - no requirement for local ownership at all. (Except for some NGOs).

There is some debate over whether a business owner needs a work-permit or not but if they do; it shouldn't be too hard to get one.

There's a tea money thing going on in Kampot over work permits; which, has been made worse by hysterical foreigners demanding to pay for work permits in fear of being busted. No, you can't get an agent to do a work permit - you have to do it yourself but... it does appear to be pretty easy to do so (unlike the visa). Work permits are processed locally and not centrally. The crazy part of all this is that the law requires a residence permit prior to getting a work permit. The Cambodian government admits - it has never issued a single residence permit but it has issued quite a lot of work permits....

Yes, you only need a work permit if you're employed in Cambodia. Yes, some of the hysterical folks in Kampot decided to pay even when they didn't need one.

The are occasional crackdowns on work permits in Snooky. I know people who have been caught in Phnom Penh but there seems to be no concerted effort to do so in the capital. In Siem Reap, to my knowledge, no-one's ever been asked for one.

OK so nothing to worry about then. Also, I have only ever stayed in hotels or short term apartments (they also accept long term residents but I have never stayed more than 2 nights) in Cambodia as my trips are too short to justify long term apartment rental. There was one time I was going to stay with friends but only for like 3 nights and I wouldn't have been registered anyway, just would have stayed over. I decided not to stay at that friends house because there was no bed for me only a sofa and looked too dirty and uncomfortable, so I decided to extend my stay at the hotel I was staying at. This was in Phnom Penh. The reason I brought this up is because I read that the expats in Kampot were staying in rented apartments or houses.

In the vast majority of cases, I stay only in Phnom Penh (or earlier this year, Koh Kong) and simply try to visit clients I have done business with in the past or intend to do business with or if I'm passing through on the way to Vietnam, I may or may not get the opportunity to visit friends if my trip is too short. I simply have the 1-year multiple entry visa to avoid having to apply for new visas all the time and after a few entries apart from saving space in your passport it may actually begin to be cheaper than applying for a whole set of new visas each time you enter. If Cambodia offered visa free visits for some nationalities like Laos does where I get 15 days visa free, I wouldn't even need the visa extension in the first place and would be more than happy just coming in on those visa exempt visits. Until that happens though, I'm sticking with the 1-year extension, which has worked for me in the past (well last time I only needed 6-months but ended up with nearly 8 since that extension expired on my birthday the following year).

If one tries to get a work permit themselves but has no job, I wonder how this would be done? An agent should still be able to assist right, at least go in with you? Especially for a foreigner who can't speak or read Khmer? I certainly wouldn't go to the work permit office myself, knowing only a tiny amount of Khmer and not knowing what to do, it would be a pretty intimidating and weird experience. Someone would surely be able to assist? It seems that agents can do just about anything for you in Cambodia.

I've lived here for 3 years and no-one has so much as suggested I might need a work permit. I don't; I don't work in Cambodia at all.

From what I hear, from friends who have permits, the process is absolutely painless and requires no agent or additional support. Forms in English, process conducted in English, zero hassle. They'll take anyone's money for a work permit - the vast majority of Cambodian businesses are unincorporated so paperwork is viewed with extreme leniency.

There's a tea money thing going on in Kampot over work permits; which, has been made worse by hysterical foreigners demanding to pay for work permits in fear of being busted. No, you can't get an agent to do a work permit - you have to do it yourself but... it does appear to be pretty easy to do so (unlike the visa). Work permits are processed locally and not centrally. The crazy part of all this is that the law requires a residence permit prior to getting a work permit. The Cambodian government admits - it has never issued a single residence permit but it has issued quite a lot of work permits....

Yes, you only need a work permit if you're employed in Cambodia. Yes, some of the hysterical folks in Kampot decided to pay even when they didn't need one.

The are occasional crackdowns on work permits in Snooky. I know people who have been caught in Phnom Penh but there seems to be no concerted effort to do so in the capital. In Siem Reap, to my knowledge, no-one's ever been asked for one.

1. The ordinary visa replaced what was once a business visa. Cambodia no longer issues a visa called a "business visa". For all intents and purposes the ordinary visa is the same thing.

2. A 1 year extension (multiple-entry no exit/re-entry permits required) is $285, a 6 month extension is about $175 (also multi-entry, no permits required), 3 month and 1 month extensions are available but are single entry and they are burned on leaving Cambodia - you need to start the visa process again on re-entry.

3. It's worth noting that you may be required, depending on where you live, what you do, etc., to pay for a work-permit which costs $100 annually. Enforcement on this is hugely random and hugely variable across Cambodia. But if you get caught without one and you need one - they back date to the start of your first entry to Cambodia and fine you $50 a year in addition to the $100 a year fee.

Hope that helps.

How does one get a work permit if they're not working? Is it just a matter of paying the extra money to make the problem go away? What if you're just using the business visa for business/tourist trips to Cambodia every now and then, but never spending more than a few days in the country? Surely you wouldn't need a work permit for that and I highly doubt Cambodian immigration would start becoming like Thai immigration, asking about your work permit or something. Indeed there are still Cambodian officials who will happily stamp your passport without your presence for a few extra Baht or dollars, something which is highly illegal and impossible to do on the Thai side.

You only need a work permit - if you are working; according to the law. How you get one is a bit of a mystery and in much of Cambodia nobody ever asks to see one... It doesn't matter if you're working for a single day a year though - if you do paid work, you should have a permit. In reality, anyone can buy one - just go pay the money at the appropriate office and pass a medical. That's it. And for reference - if you think you can't get a Thai official to stamp your passport without you being there, there's one born every minute. You 100% can and there are visa agents a-plenty who do just that. You just need to be on more than a 30-day visa run to make use of such services...

So far, it makes little difference if you apply in PP or SR. No, you can't pay a little extra for fast tracking. Thai's should apply within the first 4 days of arrival on the 14 day deal.

A tourist visa conversion can be done, theoretically, to a business visa. In practice it costs more than flying out and flying back again.

PhuketRichard is wrong. In many ways, the Western import goods are much cheaper and of equal quality to those in Thailand. There's less of a selection, that's true - but I spend a shed load less in Cambodia in a month than I would to live the equivalent life in Thailand. Those who don't live here - never discover where to go to get the best deals...

As a few members have brought this topic back to life, I was wondering if the cost of living varies much in Cambodia from Thailand?

On a like-for-like basis; nearly everything is cheaper in Cambodia than in Thailand. Though finding a "like for like" product can be difficult in Cambodia which has fewer available choices than Thailand.

Beer, rent, cigs, food, etc. are cheaper.

Electricity is more expensive. So is milk.

Don't go to immigration to get an extension. You get it done through a travel agency. Travel agencies can also get your passport back to you sooner. No one fronts up to immigration themselves in Cambodia. Just contact an agent, could even be a motorcycle rental shop such as Lucky! Lucky! or something.

This bit is almost correct. You can go to the department and do the paperwork yourself; if you want to sacrifice two days of your life and make sure all the real visa paperwork is absolutely 100% correct (including invitation letters, etc.) and paying a few bribes yourself - this may save you $50 and is absolutely not worth it.

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The advice here is all OK but your wife does not need to visit immigration when she arrives (though you do). Thai nationals get a 14-day visa free access to Cambodia - this visa-free access can then be converted into a business visa at any travel agent in Cambodia. (I've done this twice with my, now-ex, Thai partner). You need a 1 month ordinary visa for $25 (plus whatever minor bribe they can extort) at immigration in Poipet. Don't let an agent on the Thai side do this for you - they'll rip you off and leave you with a tourist visa which can't be extended for more than a month (meaning a trip back to Poipet to do it all over agan).

It's worth noting that 12 month visa processing times have gone up in Cambodia - it used to take 3-4 days and it now takes more like 10 days so remember to put your passports in with a travel agent early rather than late. (There is a potential $5 a day fine if you don't hand your passports in early enough - this will be collected from your visa agent who will pass the charge on to you when you collect your passports).

Thanks for the tip on 10-day processing time. I was going to up my visa to 1 year on my next trip. But cannot stay there for 2 weeks. Back to the 6-month one then.

Nah it can be done in 2-3 days. Took 2 days earlier this year.

Thai nationals should pay for the 1-month business visa on arrival and then convert it just like every other nationality that needs a visa to get in. If they arrive on a 14-day stamp, it's probably treated like a $20 tourist visa. Not sure if a conversion can be made without going out of the country first. Better arrive and request the correct visa on arrival.

You are wrong on all counts. 1. The processing times changed this month; look at the Cambodia forums or ask anyone here - 2-3 days used to be possible, it isn't any more.

2. Thai nationals can convert the 14-day visa to a long-term business visa (as I said above - I have done this twice).

If you dont drive a motorised vehicle, rigourously campaign for enviromental issues and are happy to be abused by those who disagree with certain of your habits...you are not a hypocrite and I applaud your integrity.

If the above does not apply then I suggest you apply a mai pen rai attitude rather than continuing with the sanctimonious , puritanical tripe that many of us go to Thailand to avoid.

Incidently I am an ex smoker , think its a filthy habit , but being a hypocrital bore is a hundred times worse.

This nonsense comparing the smoking habit to the use or ownership of "motorized vehicles" is pinheaded. Smokers smoke because it's an addiction, or perhaps because they just plain wanna'. They insist on exposing other people to it (those that do that) simply because they're socially challenged. But if they do what they can to minimize the impact on others (e.g., by NOT smoking in public), then it's a simple matter of choice, and I'd have no problem with it. The use of motorized vehicles in contrast is a matter of necessity; it's not a matter of habit or addiction or preference or "just plain wanting to". If a vehicle owner does what he can to minimize impact on the environment by buying a low-emissions vehicle and keeping it tuned and otherwise up to spec, and using public transportation when practical, then he's certainly showing more consideration and public awareness than the terminally rude smoker who insists on subjecting everyone about him to his filthy, scummy habit. Indeed there's just plain no relevance between use of motor vehicles and the issue of smoking in public. It makes just as much sense to charge people who eat beans or fail to control their flatulence with hypocrisy as well! It's just a whiney, juvenile, simple-minded, boring, and very tired tactic to try & distract focus from a noxious personal habit which it's actually impossible to defend in any other way.

"Oh, well, if YOU can drive or ride in motor vehicles then I can smoke anywhere I want!" Really now. How silly can you get? And the overwhelming public majority gets it (because it's so obvious).

The non-smoking fantasy that car journeys are essential. Most people can walk to 7-11, cycle to a supermarket, and take public transport for 99.99% of other journeys - the reason they don't is that they are selfish polluters who refuse to equate the damage they do to other people with the damage that is only done, in their imaginations, by the outdoor smoker. You do know that for thousands of years humanity managed without cars right?

Why do smokers always cart out the same three arguments?

1. Name-calling/typecasting of those who dare oppose their dirty habit: e.g. Anti-smokers are akin to Nazis - telling us what we can and can't do, e.t.c.

2. Use projection - cars are just as bad, going on the tube is like smoking 10 cigarettes a day, e.t.c.

3. Tell us that old chestnut about their great gran who smoked and lived till 91, bless her.

Let's break it down to make it simple for those smokers who can't get their head around the issue:

1. Smoking is harmful - your smoke harms not just you, but those around you. Everyone should have the right to not have to breathe in the smoke of smoker. There is NO debate here - smoking in public places - that means anywhere that someone else may have to suffer your smoke - is unacceptable. To suggest you have a god given right to do what you want while harming others is slightly more 'Nazi-esque', than someone trying to rightfully fight against which is unequivocally wrong.

2. That other things harm us is not the debate here. Are those other things essential in the world we live in? In most cases yes. Is smoking essential? Obviously not.

3. 91? Great - I'm happy for you. She would've lived a bit longer if she didn't smoke though.

Smokers don't have a leg to stand on (sadly some literally don't due to the gangrene) when it comes to their rights to smoke in any public place (i.e. anywhere outside their smelly, brown-stained hovel). Thankfully they are a dying breed.

Why do non-smokers always trot out the same tired arguments?

1. There is no evidence (in the world) that suggests if I smoke outside it harms you in anyway.

2. It's mightily convenient for you to ignore the facts that much of everything else is more harmful than smoking. It makes you feel better about putting pressure on smokers rather than lobbying government for mandatory public transport and the end of wombats driving their children to school in 4 x 4's every morning. Trust me on this global warming is way more significant to most people's lives than other people's smoking.

3. How do you know? Many smokers don't get sick from smoking. In fact 3 out of 4 smokers die of non-smoking related illnesses (you see, smokers are people and people just plain aren't built to be immortal; whatever twisted fantasy the non-smoker carries in his/her head).

I think smokers are some of the most selfish inconsiderate people on the planet. They walk around blowing poison chemicals all over the place trying to make everyone sick. They then cost everyone money with all of their health problems later in life. Why should the healthy tax payers subsidize the health care of some idiot that got sick from smoking? I think anyone that smokes should have to pay for their own health care. Why should I have to pay for cancer treatment, oxygen tanks when I chose to care about myself by not smoking. Smokers also age at an fast pace they start looking really sickly at the age of 40 their skin wrinkles, they have bad breath and their teeth are stained yellow. I often see them struggling to breath from years of personal neglect. What a pitiful miserable existence a smoking addict has by consuming poison on a daily basis with no concern for his/ her health or the health of others. It's just as bad as an heroin junkie putting needles in their arms. Only this addiction kills at a much slower pace, so everyone has to suffer for a longer duration.

I pay for my own healthcare. I'm sick and tired of non-smokers who work in high-polluting industries, drive cars that spit toxins over everyone, whining about a habit which does them zero harm in an open outdoor space. That's zero harm. Heat rises, smoke is hot, it goes up - not into your lungs. Primary school physics for the win.

Yeah, the problem in Bangkok is the smoke from cigarettes, it has nothing to do with the industrial and automobile pollution - oh no, it couldn't be. I'd rather sit in a room with a hundred smokers than breathe the fumes from a million moving at 1/4 mph down Sukhumvit. Once more the no-smoking brigade provcars es that they have no sensible priorities but to stamp on people who do something they don't approve of. I have some bad news for non-smokers, 100% of you will die.

If you'd really rather sit in a room with a hundred smokers than breathe the fumes from cars (there are never a million on Sukhumvit in your immediate area) you obviously don't know anything about the content of cigarette smoke compared with modern vehicle emissions.

Yes, we all will die but some of us will die in a lot less pain and discomfort than others, which, of course, is your choice.

Keep deluding yourself; what do you think it is that non-smokers die of exactly? Same as everyone else it's cancer, heart attacks, strokes, etc. doesn't matter that you didn't smoke - liver cancer or skin cancer is just as agonizing a death as lung cancer.

The British Doctor in Phnom Penh also serves the British embassy and runs a tropical disease clinic - I'm pretty certain he's certified. The one in Siem Reap came to work for an NGO as a volunteer and has just started his own practice after completing that run. He charges higher rates for tourists, lower rates for expats and treats most Khmer for free as part of the service.

 

Most of Cambodia runs on foreign doctors; Dr. Beat Richter is perhaps the most famous (and infamous depending on your point of view) of these.

 

Cambodia is not Thailand and trying to treat the two as similar is a waste of your time and effort.

Tosh. I paid $50 to see a British (fully qualified) doctor in Phnom Penh. I pay $25 to see a fully qualified British doctor in Siem Reap. My dentistry here is about half the cost of Thailand and just as good... for minor stuff, Cambodia's fine. For major stuff - flee to Thailand as fast as your legs, car, helicopter, etc. will carry you.

 

I spend a lot of time in Thailand but I live in Siem Reap;

 

How have you dealt with, or planned for, any medical/hospitalization needs that might arise???

 

 

 

Yes, I have full health insurance including a medical evacuation package. Costs about $200 a year more than the equivalent package in Thailand because medi-vac is not needed in LoS. Touch wood, I've never had to use it.

I spend a lot of time in Thailand but I live in Siem Reap; I have no idea how anyone can find Cambodia more expensive than Thailand.
 
$550 a month = 1 bedroom hotel apartment (living room, kitchen, bathroom and large bedroom) including all utility bills (electric, cable TV and internet) and regular maid service. Hotel has a salt water swimming pool (large one) and a pool table. Never have to carry anything heavy - hotel staff do it for you.
 
Beer, cheapest in town is 35 cents a beer in an incredible setting. Marlboro - $1.10 for 20. There's an artisan cheesemaker in town, best mature cheddar in Asia - $18 a kilo (try getting cheese for that price in Thailand), bread from a bakery is around $1 a loaf. Giant sized tub of marmite - $9 (roughly the same as a small pot in Tesco in Bangkok). And so on...
 
There is less choice than Bangkok. It is hard to find large sized clothing but a run to Bangkok every now again is both cheap and easy to solve that.
 
There's no cinema and entertainment options are more limited. Health care is poor but dentists are cheaper than Thailand and very good.
 
Could you live comfortably on $1,500 for two here? I know an Australian couple who live here with 5 children (of their own) who managed comfortably on less than $1,000 a month until recently.
 
$10 a meal in a restaurant? Sure, there are restaurants that charge that much. There are restaurants that charge more too. There are plenty of others that charge $2 a meal - dozens of them.
 
Long-term visas must be the easiest and cheapest of any destination in the world. One year, multiple entry, no police registration, no regular check ins, etc. = $285
 
It takes time to get to know Siem Reap - when you arrive, it's easy to get sucked into thinking that tourist Siem Reap is all that there is - it's not true. Cambodia is incredibly cheap to live in, and incredibly easy to live in.
 
And for the record, I've never been burgled, I've never been mugged and I've never seen a group of Khmer kicking the life out of a Westerner - no matter how much of an idiot that Westerner has been.

I live on that sum in a tier-2 city in Thailand......fixed it for ya..!

And? So What? Do you live in a hotel-serviced apartment and cover all the rest of your bills etc. on that sum? I doubt it. I could live in a shack for $40 a month here if I wanted to and spend less than $3 in food if I wanted to; I don't. Living a 3rd-rate life in the 3rd-world is not really something to be proud of. I didn't come to the developing world to live like a hillbilly - that's perfectly achievable back home. I came because I wanted a really nice life which is easily affordable. I got it.