Pros and Cons of cambodia over thailand?

[BritManToo]

48 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

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).

If you're in the big city, not much point in a scooter, as passapp (their version of Grab) will get you anywhere in town for $1. Condos $150 a street away from the river, $500 if you want on the river.

[PingRoundTheWorld]

I've been to Phnom Penh a few times and loved it each time.

 

Pros:

Everything is cheaper

Less foreigners (less competition, if you know what I mean..)

The bars are more laid back with less patrons

Food selection good and cheap

I felt safe there - didn't encounter any begging or scamming personally

Good English level in the bar area

Riverwalk is nice for a stroll or lunch

Main currency is USD which is convenient and cheap to exchange from baht

 

Cons:

Quieter and smaller, only 1 real club (Pontoon)

No real condos anywhere near the bar area

Hotels are a bit expensive for what you get

Frequent power outages - a few hours at a time but it gets annoying

Girls constantly catcall you in the bar area (not sure if that's a pro or con lol

 

Overall I could see myself spending a few months there, but not living there permanently - it's just not big enough and would get old quick.

[madmen]

3 minutes ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

I've been to Phnom Penh a few times and loved it each time.

 

Pros:

Everything is cheaper

Less foreigners (less competition, if you know what I mean..)

The bars are more laid back with less patrons

Food selection good and cheap

I felt safe there - didn't encounter any begging or scamming personally

Good English level in the bar area

Riverwalk is nice for a stroll or lunch

Main currency is USD which is convenient and cheap to exchange from baht

 

Cons:

Quieter and smaller, only 1 real club (Pontoon)

No real condos anywhere near the bar area

Hotels are a bit expensive for what you get

Frequent power outages - a few hours at a time but it gets annoying

Girls constantly catcall you in the bar area (not sure if that's a pro or con lol

 

Overall I could see myself spending a few months there, but not living there permanently - it's just not big enough and would get old quick.

There are countless child beggars in cambodia and plenty doing the restaurants on the tourist strip. How did you not notice ? Also relentless hawkers

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=child+beggars+in+cambodia&rlz=1C1CHBF_enTH839TH839&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjW97nH467iAhUM8XMBHTP1DxwQ_AUIDigB&biw=1228&bih=544

[BritManToo]

11 minutes ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

No real condos anywhere near the bar area

Hotels are a bit expensive for what you get

I agree with your post, except ..........

I found them to be everywhere, even above the bars. Not big blocks but 2-3 floors in almost every building.

Same for hotels, I splashed out a bit $30/night for the Grand Waterfront Hotel in PP, small rooms, nice rooftop pool, good enough brekky. $12 for the Garden Village Guesthouse and pool bar in Siem Reap, big rooms, great swimming pool, beer by the pool 24/7 at 50c/glass. Both places air-conned.

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, madmen said:

There are countless child beggars in cambodia and plenty doing the restaurants on the tourist strip. How did you not notice ? Also relentless hawkers

Same as ChiangMai then, I encountered maybe 1 kid and 2 tat sellers of an evening, 'NO' to the kids, 'F off' to the tat traders.

[jinners]

13 hours ago, DingDongLing said:

more or less?

better nightlife?

Wifi?

water?

- poverty and begging-- Can be a real headache in Phnom Phen

- English proficiency--Excellent in many places, better pronunciation than Thais

- food quality (still haven't met a farang who loves fish amok)--Some super food just not local

- corruption--Never had a problem but not to Thai levels from what I hear

- perceived safety--perception is reality. Never felt concerned

- visa hassles--Had a major problem once at the border. Normally no trouble though

- chances of stepping on a mine--Don't go off the normal highways.

 

I really liked it. Some great bars/clubs in the capital. Siam Reap a must do experience though I heard it is now overrun with Chinese. Siahnoukville will be sorely missed due to the same.

[JimSaints]

15 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.

So pretty much like Thailand as I read it

[Kwasaki]

53 minutes ago, Ozman52 said:

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

So is it true that some go in and out of these Thailand border countries with just 30 day tourist visas.

[Enoon]

17 minutes ago, JimSaints said:

So pretty much like Thailand as I read it

 

No, more like Isan with much better english spoken.

 

I found the people to be very well spoken, polite and helpful.

 

When I pointed out to a Thai friend that the people in Cambodia seemed generally poorer than in Thailand she replied "Yes, but they have good heart".

 

She was Lao descended so she had no axe to grind

 

 

[PatOngo]

53 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

I deny that....I don't need smack, crack or coke and I prefer to roll my own!

[Destiny1990]

Besides easier Visa procedures and availability of  Casinos and friendly locals i would have to say Thailand wins on all other issues.

Such as prices, infrastructure,  food quality and food diversity, nightlife, etc.

[BritManToo]

27 minutes ago, jinners said:

Siam Reap a must do experience though I heard it is now overrun with Chinese. Siahnoukville will be sorely missed due to the same.

Didn't see any in January,

mostly western backpackers (lots of polite Israelis in their 20s after national service) and fat American pensioners on tours. Lots of freelancers working the bars, easily spotted as they sit without drinking, or if forced buy a 50c beer and sit with it all evening.

[DingDongLing]

2 hours ago, Saltire said:

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.

Why did u move to thai from cambodia?

 

How are the massages in cambodia?  Cheaper?  better?  educated in the art of massage?

[Snow Leopard]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

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.

Its a bit like foreign aid then? Where poor people in rich countries give to rich people in poor countries. 

[sunnyboy2018]

9 hours ago, BritManToo said:

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.

limbless pitiful beggars abound.  these are not the same as vendors in Thailand.  Cambodia is like Bangladesh.  girls no fun, music EDM etc, place over run with Chinese 

[DingDongLing]

3 minutes ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

limbless pitiful beggars abound.  these are not the same as vendors in Thailand.  Cambodia is like Bangladesh.  girls no fun, music EDM etc, place over run with Chinese 

girls not fun?  Bangladesh?  U drunk?  details

[jabis]

2 hours ago, Kerryd said:

I'm kind of surprised that ThaiVisa doesn't have a "Cambodian" forum, though surely there must be something similar out there already

Something like this, aye?

https://forum.thaivisa.com/forum/184-cambodia-forum/

[BritManToo]

48 minutes ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

girls no fun, music EDM etc, place over run with Chinese 

I found loads of girls to have fun with of an evening, no Chinese in the bar area, they're all 5Km south of there.

I didn't see any.

[BritManToo]

56 minutes ago, Snow Leopard said:

Its a bit like foreign aid then? Where poor people in rich countries give to rich people in poor countries. 

One of us appears to be a bit stupid, it's probably me.

But as a rich person, I'm happy to give money to poor (but pretty) women.

[Captain 776]

Been to Cambo 6 times, never had a problem, but it can easily be the Wild West........and in a lot of cases Cambo is 30 yrs behind Thailand.

 

You can get shot in Phnom Phen in the middle of the afternoon with 100 people watching.......and no one saw anything

[malibukid]

13 hours ago, madmen said:

wow a mall 

Starbucks?

[DingDongLing]

37 minutes ago, tomster said:

I left Thailand for Cambodia after 18 years on and off in Thailand - 10 years straight from 2008.

 

I have a Thai wife and two kids, that are still in Thailand and will join me soon.

 

Currently in Phonm Peh, been here nearly two months.

 

First month it just felt alien after so long in Thailand, but now getting used to it and prefer it to Thailand.

 

I think it's important to note that there are only 3 cities where expats live, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Khampot. Sanoukville now a casino city, so off the radar.

 

Phnom Penh is booming as a city, I can't comment on Siem Reap and Khampot as not spent long enough there yet, although Siem Reap is where I will end up bringing the wife and kids to0.

 

Phnom Penh is not just the Riverside where most people stay. It's actually a very big city, much bigger than I first realised after having only stayed at the Riverside on previous trips - and it's getting bigger very fast. It's not Bangkok yet, but in 10-15 years it won't be far behind.

 

Cambodian food is not a patch on Thai food, but the Western food here is just as good as anything in Thailand. Phnom Penh is very foody, with a big French influence in the Western restaurants.

 

Wine and beer are crazy cheap. Good bottles of wine like Barefoot from California are about $10 in the supermarkets, can of Leo beer is 20 Baht. But food in general in the supermarkets in PP is a bit more expensive than in Thailand, the fresh food especially. Chicken maybe double the price per kilo, for example.

 

PP has loads of malls scattered all over the city. The top mall is Aeon Mall 2, which is comparable to the standard of Central.

 

https://www.google.co.th/maps/place/AEON+MALL+Sen+Sok+City/@11.6003017,104.8856093,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x3f4395cd35ec9617?sa=X&hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwjDmuTP7q7iAhWYAYgKHTIRCa4Q_BIwF3oECAsQCA

 

Also in the Sen Sok area you have Makro, and a new Global House store, both Thai owned and comparable with the best in Thailand.

 

There are plenty of other supermarkets dotted around, most about the standard of Foodland I would say but the meat range is not as good.

 

Opening a bank account was a joy, once I had a copy of the my retal contract and a 6 month "looking for work visa". ABA Bank are part of the The Cananda Bank Group and leave any bank in Thailand dead in the water. I signed just 4 pieces of paper when I opened the account, and their app is the best banking app I have ever used, it's a thing of wonder. You can make international payments from the app with Swift (costs $30 per transation though), no need to go into the branch. You can pay your mobile phone, electric bill and water bill all from the app, it truly is brilliant.

 

Mobile phone and internet wise I chose Metfone, despite everybody recommending Cellcard. It's costing me a whopping great $2 per week for unlimted, fast, reliable 4G (Kado plan) - so cheap it's almost embarrassing. And I just top up from the ABA app, takes seconds.

 

Accomodation though is tough in PP, it's Bangkok prices. I could do a whole post on that but you are looking at $1200 up for a decent 2 bed in a nice area. You can get pokey 1 beds from $400 in not great areas, but if you want modern and spacious then it will cost you. Not many detached villas for rent in PP, the muubaans are mostly large townhouse style. Villas exist in a few areas, Toul Kork for example, but are $2500 upwards for anything modern.

 

The people are very different to Thai's, when they smile they mean it, not the constant innane grinning the Thai's do. They have a lot more common sense, hold the door open for you if they see you coming after they have walked through it, and generally just feel more normal to be around, IMHO.

 

Safety wise a good friend of mine summed it up well for PP. It comes down to the time of day, if you are out and about at 12-6am it can get a bit dodgy, avoid those times and use a bit of common sense and it's fine. Nobody is going to beat you up for no reason, or try to rob you with a knife or a gun, from what I have seen and from what the expats tell me.

 

However, phone snatching is a real problem, if you wait by the side of the road in a lot of areas at any time of day looking at your phone (waiting for Grab for example), then people will try to grab it. Very, very common. Bag snatching also a big problem, at all times of the day in many areas.

 

Loads of expat teachers kicking around, and NGO workers.

 

Streets are dirty, they don't seem to have sorted out rubbish collection in PP yet, I guess it will happen soon enough. That is a real negative, if they sorted this one thing out it would make PP much more livable.

 

Powers cuts are are an issue, you need to stay in a place with a generator, but generators are everywhere so this wasn't anywhere near the problem that I thought it would be and is only an issue in March and April, it's fine now.

 

Driving is much, much safer, there are some nutters way more common sense applies.

 

Traffic in rush hour is pretty bad, but you don't stuck very often, it still crawls along to a degree. Tuk Tuks can cut though the jams mostly.

 

That's about it. PP is booming with all the Chinese money flooding in, it feels like Bangkok did to me when I first went there in 2000 - full of possibilities, friendly people, easy visas, cheap booze etc etc. It's very different to Thailand in some ways, in other ways it's very similar.

 

Don't miss hearing the word Farang or navigating the immigation circus, at all...

Where should one go for the first time visiting cambodia?  Riverside PP?  Any recommendations?

 

Thanks for the ABA bank and wireless info

[DingDongLing]

17 minutes ago, Captain 776 said:

Been to Cambo 6 times, never had a problem, but it can easily be the Wild West........and in a lot of cases Cambo is 30 yrs behind Thailand.

 

You can get shot in Phnom Phen in the middle of the afternoon with 100 people watching.......and no one saw anything

why u say this?  Experience story I smell

[Tony125]

My cousin lived in Siam Reap for almost 10 years, owned and operated Belmiro's Pizza restaurant in Siam Reap. Moved to Panama about 7 months ago as  he said he did not like the anti US attitude (from Gov ) there and didn't want to be there after the latest elections.  

Sihounookville is being taken over by the Chinese ,  Did a border run a few times and unlike in Thailand the kids  basically tried to rip the 20 baht notes from my hand. My wife charged them like a bull and said get away from my husband.

[malibukid]

1 hour ago, Destiny1990 said:

Besides easier Visa procedures and availability of  Casinos and friendly locals i would have to say Thailand wins on all other issues.

Such as prices, infrastructure,  food quality and food diversity, nightlife, etc.

Casinos?

[Saltire]

1 hour ago, DingDongLing said:

Why did u move to thai from cambodia?

 

How are the massages in cambodia?  Cheaper?  better?  educated in the art of massage?

I started to travel around a bit and visited Thailand many times, eventually meeting my now girlfriend there. She has the usual family commitments here so I moved to her village after building a house (which she contributed 50% towards before any cynic jumps in ???? ).

 

Massages: There are literally hundreds of massage places in Siem Reap, from the dodgy dollar for 30 minutes (whisper - private room) to some very nice upmarket ones aimed at rich tourists. I would go twice a week as I find they help a lower back problem I've had for years. Interestingly, I really miss a massage now as there are none in the village. The quality of the massage varies but i reckon the girls all went through the same training as the actual procedure varies little from one place to the other. I settled on 2 mid range ones and paid about $8 to $10 per hour. And yes there are streets where you can get more than a massage!

[connda]

57 minutes ago, Captain 776 said:

You can get shot in Phnom Phen in the middle of the afternoon with 100 people watching.......and no one saw anything

Same in most major American cities.  So no problem imho.  But then again, I'm a yank. 

[geoffbezoz]

1 hour ago, Captain 776 said:

Been to Cambo 6 times, never had a problem, but it can easily be the Wild West........and in a lot of cases Cambo is 30 yrs behind Thailand.

 

You can get shot in Phnom Phen in the middle of the afternoon with 100 people watching.......and no one saw anything

So what ? you can get shot in Bangkok with lots of people watching and nothing ever gets done (since 2010). I have not read reports of Cambodians deliberately targeting their own people  since Pol Pots regime so would suspect Cambodia is safer for the local population.

[DingDongLing]

1 hour ago, jabis said:

Something like this, aye?

https://forum.thaivisa.com/forum/184-cambodia-forum/

you guys need to start posting in here also.  Forum has little activity

[DingDongLing]

52 minutes ago, tomster said:

It just depends on what you want. If you want nightlife and hostess bars, anywhere on the riverside is the area.

 

If you want to see the monied side of life in PP, then stay in BKK1 or Toul Kork - they are night and day dfferent to the Riverside.

 

Then spend a 2-3 nights in Khampot and a week or three in Siem Reap, you'll then have a pretty good idea if Cambodia is somewhere you could live.

Is there good real massage shops everywhere like in thai?  Or where would u recommend for that. 

 

39 minutes ago, Saltire said:

I started to travel around a bit and visited Thailand many times, eventually meeting my now girlfriend there. She has the usual family commitments here so I moved to her village after building a house (which she contributed 50% towards before any cynic jumps in ???? ).

 

Massages: There are literally hundreds of massage places in Siem Reap, from the dodgy dollar for 30 minutes (whisper - private room) to some very nice upmarket ones aimed at rich tourists. I would go twice a week as I find they help a lower back problem I've had for years. Interestingly, I really miss a massage now as there are none in the village. The quality of the massage varies but i reckon the girls all went through the same training as the actual procedure varies little from one place to the other. I settled on 2 mid range ones and paid about $8 to $10 per hour. And yes there are streets where you can get more than a massage!

There is no market for massages for back pain in the village?  Over saturation in tourist spots.