Pros and Cons of cambodia over thailand?

[DingDongLing]

Please input old wisdom members.

 

Longer visa, nicer people, not anti-falang gov?  

 

Cheaper cleaner?

 

Massages?

[AlexRich]

Hospitals not up to western standards

People pissing in the street

Hygiene not that great (food poisoning)

Infrastructure not as good

Malls not that brilliant (Phnom Penh Japanese mall pretty good though)

 

... interesting place to visit, I'm not sure that I'd want to stay there.

[Sandman77]

Cheaper and tuk tuk more convertible like in thailand people also friendly there and very patient espassaly the drivers !


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[DingDongLing]

3 minutes ago, AlexRich said:

Hospitals not up to western standards

People pissing in the street

Hygiene not that great (food poisoning)

Infrastructure not as good

Malls not that brilliant (Phnom Penh Japanese mall pretty good though)

 

... interesting place to visit, I'm not sure that I'd want to stay there.

More info on the malls pls and what foods should I avoid?  *due to not washing hands I suppose?

[madmen]

Arm pit of SEA full of farang junkies , lawless no police anywhere and in your face relentless beggars..AVOID!!

[losworld]

8 minutes ago, madmen said:

Arm pit of SEA full of farang junkies , lawless no police anywhere and in your face relentless beggars..AVOID!!

sure doesn't sound like siam reap and angkor wat to me but i guess you have a different definition of a world heritage site....

[SteveK]

Very "different" levels of:

 

- poverty and begging

- English proficiency

- food quality (still haven't met a farang who loves fish amok)

- corruption

- perceived safety

- visa hassles

- chances of stepping on a mine

 

Just a bit too third-world for me, but you never know what's going to happen with Thailand's visa policies in the medium to long-term. The draught beer in Cambodia seems to be very good quality, and astounding value.

 

 

[DingDongLing]

15 minutes ago, losworld said:

sure doesn't sound like siam reap and angkor wat to me but i guess you have a different definition of a world heritage site....

Where was he talking about?

 

What are your experiences?

[DingDongLing]

2 minutes ago, SteveK said:

Very "different" levels of:

 

- poverty and begging

- English proficiency

- food quality (still haven't met a farang who loves fish amok)

- corruption

- perceived safety

- visa hassles

- chances of stepping on a mine

 

Just a bit too third-world for me, but you never know what's going to happen with Thailand's visa policies in the medium to long-term.

 

 

more or less?

better nightlife?

Wifi?

water?

[SteveK]

2 minutes ago, DingDongLing said:

more or less?

better nightlife?

Wifi?

water?

In my experience, nightlife in Cambodia is not amazing (but is interesting nonetheless), WiFi is nowhere near as accessible or speedy, and yes, they do have water.

[AlexRich]

1 hour ago, DingDongLing said:

More info on the malls pls and what foods should I avoid?  *due to not washing hands I suppose?

Costa Coffee shop in PP mall, and many decent restaurants. The mall was modern and western standard, with a cinema, sports shops and a decent supermarket. Right in the heart of the city.

[DingDongLing]

1 hour ago, SteveK said:

In my experience, nightlife in Cambodia is not amazing (but is interesting nonetheless), WiFi is nowhere near as accessible or speedy, and yes, they do have water.

^{Wifi is pretty complicated to use around establishments in thailand.  So by this standard, cambodia is much worse?   Hotels/bars/malls/food/cafes have them?}  

[madmen]

1 hour ago, AlexRich said:

Costa Coffee shop in PP mall, and many decent restaurants. The mall was modern and western standard, with a cinema, sports shops and a decent supermarket. Right in the heart of the city.

wow a mall 

[BritManToo]

3 hours ago, DingDongLing said:

^{Wifi is pretty complicated to use around establishments in thailand.  So by this standard, cambodia is much worse?   Hotels/bars/malls/food/cafes have them?}  

In Cambodia almost every bar/restaurant/hotel I've sat in has wifi, although I always buy a data SIM, $2 my visit last month. 

Beer 50c-75c a glass, cocktails $1-$1.50, lady drinks $3-$4, nightlife was amazing, condos $150 and up.

Plenty of expat alcoholics to drink yourself to oblivion with every night.

It's a great place I really enjoyed it, two of my friends already moved to PP, although I prefer the ambience of Siem Reap.

 

Bit of a power crises at the moment, don't expect electricity in the morning.

[BritManToo]

5 hours ago, SteveK said:

Very "different" levels of:

 

- poverty and begging

- English proficiency

- food quality (still haven't met a farang who loves fish amok)

- corruption

- perceived safety

- visa hassles

- chances of stepping on a mine

 

Just a bit too third-world for me, but you never know what's going to happen with Thailand's visa policies in the medium to long-term. The draught beer in Cambodia seems to be very good quality, and astounding value.

 

 

Phnom Penh

Begging, about the same as the bars in Chiang Mai, usual tat and flower sellers.

English speaking, probably better than Thailand.

Food quality, I had a nice Indian curry most nights $4-$5, but western food was widely available for $1 and up.

Corruption, didn't encounter any from officials, the cross border bus drive scammed me for $2.

Perceived safety, m/c passenger tried to snatch my phone, don't stand at the roadside using your phone.

visa hassles, none, if you're over 55, drop off $300 at your nearest agent, collect your 1 year multi entry VISA later in the week.

chances of stepping on a mine, very nice river walk/jogging track in the center of PP, didn't step on any mines.

 

Jogging track/river walk viewed from my hotel room, about 5Km long, smooth surface, no obstructions, no beggars.

[Peterw42]

Are there still restrictions on a Cambodian girl marrying a foreigner ?

[Kwasaki]

9 hours ago, DingDongLing said:

Please input old wisdom members.

Pros and Cons of Cambodia over thailand?

Not been there but it would be my first call with plan 'B' should it happen for going in and out of Thailand.

After reading about Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, I've still to find out about living in Laos or Myanmar.

[spidermike007]

Far worse infrastructure. Far worse security situation, as the place can be dangerous. In PP, one has to be careful to avoid many areas. Especially at night. Not really the case in Thailand. Quite a bit poorer than Thailand. Obviously, there is an upside and a downside to that reality. Driving is as hazardous if not more so, than Thailand, if that is possible. At least in the cities. Limited access to good beaches, and places like Sihanoukville are dangerous, and not very nice. One limitation, is that there do not seem to be as many places to explore as there are in Thailand, in my opinion. Also, the Chinese are buying everything in sight. So, the place is not far from becoming a Chinese colony. As bad as the Thai army is, the Cambodian government is even worse. Hun Sen is a serial killing, thieving, land grabbing despot fool. You piss off the wrong people in Cambodia, and you die. 

 

Positives? Many speak better english than in Thailand. Khmer is an infinitely more beautiful language to listen to, than Thai. Also, it is not a tonal language, so it is infinitely easier to learn, than Thai, which is ridiculously difficult for many of us. Because of the lack of tones, it is easier for the local people to understand what you are trying to say, when you speak it poorly. The exact opposite of Thailand. The place is slightly more Westernized, so less of a distant planet feel to the place, than Thailand. More access to Western food and many Western products. Way better beer than in Thailand, but that is true with nearly any country in the world. Cheaper too. According to some of my friends, it is a far better place for a single man, looking for a relationship. Cambodian women tend to be less cunning than Thai women, and the bar is not quite as high, in terms of expectations. Many friends have told me they prefer Khmer women over Thai women. And of course, amazing archaeological sights such as Siam Reap. 

[AlexRich]

8 hours ago, madmen said:

wow a mall 

GFY

 

 

 

[Proboscis]

18 hours ago, AlexRich said:

Hospitals not up to western standards

People pissing in the street

Hygiene not that great (food poisoning)

Infrastructure not as good

Malls not that brilliant (Phnom Penh Japanese mall pretty good though)

 

... interesting place to visit, I'm not sure that I'd want to stay there.

I have been in hospitals in Phnom Penh where the care and speciality was up to Western standards. They saved the life of someone I knew with severe head injuries who should have died.

 

While the roads are not up to Thai standard, you are less likely to be killed on them than in Thailand (over 6,000 people killed so far on Thai roads this year). Phnom Penh has yet to adopt any proper public transport system and traffic is getting bad, almost as bad as Bangkok. There are fewer options in Cambodia for places to live as opposed to Thailand. And outside Phnom Penh, if you want to live in a luxury house you had better build it yourself. But I can see it having attraction for a certain kind of person. Probably not for everyone - if it were, all the foreigners would have left Thailand by now.

[yellowboat]

11 hours ago, madmen said:

Arm pit of SEA full of farang junkies , lawless no police anywhere and in your face relentless beggars..AVOID!!

Same could have been said for Thailand not so long ago.  Lived there for two years, did not see one Farang junkie.

 

If you are a sensitive, timid person, Cambodia is not for you.  If you like glitzy, soulless shopping malls, it is not for you.   If you are of poor health, it is probably not for you.

 

If you still want to work, or if you need a hassle free retirement visa, Cambodia is far easier.  Phenom Penh is not a lovely place, but it gets better every year.   Sihounookville was once nice, but it is being turned into Macau.   Siem Reap is quite okay.  I have a 90 year old friend there.  The Khmers look after him as do his farang neighbors.  He is happy.   Many who have left SihounookVille have moved to Kampot.   You do have to exercise more caution in Cambodia than Thailand, but all things have trade offs.  Vietnam bears looking into as well.    

[Saltire]

I lived in Siem Reap for 5 years before moving to Thailand 3 years ago. I passed a lot of people going the other way! I loved Cambodia and had a great time there. I had a studio to myself with everything brand new, cable TV, big TV, fully furnished, laundry and garbage all in $250 a month. Electricity was as unreliable as here, mostly bought in from Thailand so no surprises there but much more expensive. My bill was usually about $120, whereas here for 2 houses the largest bill I've had came today at 1500 Baht. Lots of air con this month its bleeding hot in Kanchanaburi.

 

I loved Siem Reap for many reasons. It is a compact city and I never owned a car, motorbike or bicycle. I walked everywhere, or coming home late and/or inebriated, would call one of 10 trusted tuk tuk drivers who also took me to and from my various jobs 4 times a day. Each trip around $2. Phones are cheap I had a pay as you go card for $10 would last at least a month. Wifi is everywhere. There is not much you can't buy at one of the bigger supermarkets. Makro opened there just recently. 

 

Someone posted about the hygiene, i'd agree its is not as clean as Thailand, especially the food. I rarely ate Khmer food its very bland imo. However I can honestly say I have swapped daily diarrhoea lasting the entire 5 years, for constipation, it's wonderful to have a regular poo again. 

 

Warning: 50 cent beers actually taste good and it is way too easy to have to many too often. Water is $1. Nightlife is ok, there are  handful of 24 hour bars which can get interesting in the wee hours. There are certainly a few crusty expats in town, and few of them are certainly wired to the moon! 

 

Would I go back to Cambodia if I get squeezed out? In a heartbeat. It has always been my plan B, I have been to Vietnam and Laos and nothing grabbed me enough to want to see more.

[bender92]

12 hours ago, madmen said:

Arm pit of SEA full of farang junkies , lawless no police anywhere and in your face relentless beggars..AVOID!!

I think you've never been to Cambodia. I go often and I've never seen a junkie, beggars sit on the side of the road.

[madmen]

7 minutes ago, bender92 said:

I think you've never been to Cambodia. I go often and I've never seen a junkie, beggars sit on the side of the road.

Cambodian beggars! and relentless hassle by the tuk tuk guys. You sure you been there?

[Kerryd]

Quite frankly - if Cambodia was so great there wouldn't be hardly any expats left in Thailand.
If Cambodia was so great, Thais would be flooding into there to find jobs instead of the other way around.

If Cambodia was so great, you'd all be reading "KhmerVisa.com" instead of "ThaiVisa.com". (Note - there actually is a "KhmerVisa.com" web address - but it just leads to a page saying that a website is coming soon.)

Rural Cambodia is quite similar to rural Isaan (no surprise as they were all "one" people not that long ago). One big difference I noticed is that when someone is having a wedding in Cambodia - they crank up some gawdawful music as high as they can and blast it all day long !  Other than that, the houses look the same (complete with garbage scattered everywhere), roads about the same, people seem to be about the same. 

Politically, they are a step below Thailand (sometimes way below that) and it seems political violence is almost mandatory when election time comes around.

Infrastructure-wise (Roads, rail, power, internet, etc) is also a step down.

Corruption, if anything, is higher though.

As is the price of a lot of everyday things. People we talked to said that the only thing cheaper in Cambodia than Thailand was rice. Everything else was more expensive because almost all of it had to be imported.

If you are young(ish) and healthy (more or less), it's probably not too bad. If you are older and wanting to stay around for a few more years, you probably want to stay in Thailand.
If you are broke and don't care about anything anymore - you can probably do that cheaper in Cambodia, especially as you wouldn't have to worry about things like healthcare and having to prove a certain level of finances.

I've thought about spending more time there, mainly due to the vast number of ancient Khmer temples scattered around the country. However, I think I'm better off in the long run with just making the occasional visit.
(Purely by coincidence, I was rooting through the closet this morning looking for a pair of pants and found the souvenir shirt I bought at Angkor Wat a couple years ago and have never worn.)

The biggest thing with deciding to live anywhere is what your tolerance level is. Many of you don't live in your home countries for a variety of reasons (which made living there "intolerable") and have moved here, despite having to give up certain things you may have taken for granted "back home".

 

You have to decide for yourself if the positives outweigh the negatives and if you can live with the "downside" of wherever you want to be. Be it poorer healthcare, corrupt police/politicians, 2 tiered pricing, excessive financial requirements, etc.

If you aren't happy with where you are, then you have to decide if going somewhere is would be worth it in the long run. Remember - a 1-2 week holiday somewhere is not even close to being the same as actually living there (a mistake a lot of people make after one trip to Thailand). However, if you make the trip with the intention of finding out what it would be like to live there, then it would be worthwhile. 

But you'd actually have to check things out. Like the cost of renting/buying (and/or the laws concerning land ownership, condos, etc). How much is electricity, water, gasoline, groceries, car/scooter insurance, internet (etc, etc).

You know, the kinds of things that you don't bother with when you are just spending a week or 2 in a hotel room, eating at restaurants and spending all night in the bars.

And what happens when those people decide to move here ? Inevitably they whine about almost everything because almost nothing is "like it is back home". Which they would have known if they'd actually did a little research first before making the decision to move.

I'm kind of surprised that ThaiVisa doesn't have a "Cambodian" forum, though surely there must be something similar out there already ?
From the way so many people claim (again) that everyone will be deserting Thailand and moving somewhere else, they may want to set up a forum to try and keep their membership numbers up ! (Though of course most people will not actually move elsewhere just like all those Americans who claimed they would move out of the country if Trump won the election, and then crawled under their rocks and hide afterwards.)

 

[PatOngo]

13 hours ago, madmen said:

Arm pit of SEA full of farang junkies , lawless no police anywhere and in your face relentless beggars..AVOID!!

Looking forward to going back there, have never encountered any problems on any of my previous visits over a 20 year period. Never saw 1 junkie, though I don't move in those circles, never saw any lawlessness or never needed a cop. Fascinating history.

[Ozman52]

4 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Not been there but it would be my first call with plan 'B' should it happen for going in and out of Thailand.

After reading about Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, I've still to find out about living in Laos or Myanmar.

Myanmar not receptive to retirement. 1 month TV or business visa with proof of business involvement are only options.

[madmen]

7 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Looking forward to going back there, have never encountered any problems on any of my previous visits over a 20 year period. Never saw 1 junkie, though I don't move in those circles, never saw any lawlessness or never needed a cop. Fascinating history.

Its a well know fact that westerners travel to Cambodia because of its drug culture due to its lawlessness where they can score crack, smack and coke. There are bars and one is called the red fox that roll joints and sell them to westerners who smoke them in the bar , they also can get you any other drugs including heroin.

 

You are in serious denial

[BritManToo]

40 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

Quite frankly - if Cambodia was so great there wouldn't be hardly any expats left in Thailand.
If Cambodia was so great, Thais would be flooding into there to find jobs instead of the other way around.

Economic migration.

Those with money to spend move to cheaper, less developed countries, to spend their money.

Those with no money, move to countries with higher wages, and send money back to their homelands.

 

Quite frankly, I'm amazed you can't see the difference.

[BritManToo]

4 minutes ago, madmen said:

Its a well know fact that westerners travel to Cambodia because of its drug culture due to its lawlessness where they can score crack, smack and coke. There are bars and one is called the red fox that roll joints and sell them to westerners who smoke them in the bar , they also can get you any other drugs including heroin.

 

You are in serious denial

You forgot Happy Pizza, and cannabis is openly on sale and smoked in Siem Reap ($10 for a packet).

Didn't see any meth, but I assume it's as easily available as it is in Thailand (which is everywhere).

Not really interested in the fake 'war on drugs', if you want it, take it IMHO.