I need serious info on living in Cambodia or vietnam

[PatchinExPat]

I came to Thailand 6 yrs ago from the usa after my

of 40 yrs died from Alzheimer's .

I met a Thai lady of good moral character we got married.

Bought the house and the whole  yards.

Take care of the family.

Thailand makes it harder and harder to live here

I don't want to return to the USA, but my stay

in Thailand  returns less to me for all I try to do.

I want to start over with less of a load.

 

Straight up I am a simple guy, with simple needs,

a roof over my head , air-conditioning , and soft 

bed.

 

I am in fair health, that is in decline,

expect I have just a few more years 

before I need to take that plunge 

from a high place.

That is ok with me, I just somewhere to

stay in the mean time and maybe have 

a few good days with out all the pressure

of wondering if tomorrow I will need to 

pick and leave with a weeks notice.

 

Any serious info on the neighboring countries to 

Thailand would be appreciated.

I about 3500 US Dollars a month to live on of 

which about 350 goes to a heart med for 

atrial fibrillation. The rest usually to an ungreatful

family.

Edited June 2, 2020 by PatchinExPat
misspelling

[BritManToo]

Cambodia,

Enter on an 'Ordinary VISA'  $35 (not a tourist VISA $30).

Extend at an agency for 1 year, costs around $300, just fill in a form, no need to ever visit immigration.

Siem Reap is very nice, but hot as hell in the summer.

Phnom Penh is where most of my pals ended up, nice promenade by the river.

Loads of expats hanging out at the 'Pickled Parrot' of an evening.

[PatchinExPat]

48 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Cambodia,

Enter on an 'Ordinary VISA'  $35 (not a tourist VISA $30).

Extend at an agency for 1 year, costs around $300, just fill in a form, no need to ever visit immigration.

Siem Reap is very nice, but hot as hell in the summer.

Phnom Penh is where most of my pals ended up, nice promenade by the river.

Loads of expats hanging out at the 'Pickled Parrot' of an evening.

Hey thanks , maybe we can talk further some time in the future. Sounds good.

[DrJack54]

OP, so your leaving the Mrs and moving on I assume?

First up living in Thailand with both retirement and married options is not difficult.

Think your jumping at shadows. 

Everyone will suggest different countries.

Cambodia I don't care for at all. 

I go to Vietnam every month. Great joint.

Don't like the beaches however easy and cheapish to live. (more pricy than Cambodia)

Laos is bit of a love or hate joint.

[sanuk711]

8 hours ago, PatchinExPat said:

Thailand makes it harder and harder to live here

Are you not over reacting a little. Is Thailand making it harder to live---or your wife's relations?   You don't seem to be in a great frame of mind--talking about jumping off of a high place etc....If you wish to leave the wife, then with your medical problems somewhere else in Thailand is maybe a better option for you. Or look at the Philippines--there are a lot of Americans there.

 

Cambodia definitely has some ++ medical care isn't one of them.

 

Go take a holiday for a month----you may come back with a different outlook.

[SteveK]

Money's clearly not an issue, so why not take a nice, slow trip around the neighbouring countries and see how you feel afterwards?

Edited June 2, 2020 by SteveK

[BritManToo]

8 minutes ago, sanuk711 said:

Go take a holiday for a month----you may come back with a different outlook.

Hard to do at the moment.

[sanuk711]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Hard to do at the moment.

So is upping sticks and moving.....................

[garygooner]

Consider the Philippines. Take a trip there first and see for yourself. Get as much info first before you take the plunge. Vietnam & Cambodia other options of course. 

[bkk6060]

Cambodia is a 3rd world dump for those with low funds that are OK with a downgraded living standard.

Vietnam is getting better, but still not even close to Thailand.

Your income is decent and Thailand is affordable it the best place of the three for overall lifestyle.

[madmen]

9 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Extend at an agency for 1 year, costs around $300, just fill in a form, no need to ever visit immigration.

That's 10000 baht. Just had a mate pay an agent here 14000 baht for a retirement extension  and that's without any funds in the bank. For the extra 4k why would you take on the drama and expense of moving to a new country ?

 

Op you wont like càmbodia to live and the expats there are deadbeats mostly who failed at living anywhere else.

Edited June 2, 2020 by madmen

[Destiny1990]

Danang in top 5 of best beaches in the world ! Easy visas..

[torturedsole]

5 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

Danang in top 5 of best beaches in the world ! Easy visas..

That's all it is, a beach.  

[Trillian]

Keep an eye on inflation in Vietnam, currently running around 4% but in previous years has been very high, cost of living could get pricey.

[Pattaya46]

1 hour ago, Destiny1990 said:

Danang in top 5 of best beaches in the world ! Easy visas..

Easy visa? Only for 30-days periods for tourists and retirees ! 

Have to renew visa every 30 days 

Thailand give you 1 year for retirement, mariage,...

Edited June 2, 2020 by Pattaya46

[sanuk711]

If you come from USA..which I am assuming the OP does, there are many other options nearer his home than Asia. I had a marriage bust up in Kiwi In the 70s & spent most of a year wandering around the pacific island Samoa/Cook/ Tonga etc.......... "Polynesians"..Nice people --nice girls......just get a little on the heavy side  as the age......

[HarrySeaman]

I have no experience with Vietnam so I won't comment on living there.

 

Apparently you have no experience in Cambodia so it is not a place I would recommend for you. 

 

There are some definite pluses to Cambodia over Thailand such as a lower cost for living, lower cost for medications, lower cost for alcohol.  If you are a punter then Phnom Pen is the place to be for selection, just expect to pay almost as much there as you do in Thailand.

 

With a heart problem you are basically limited to living in Phnom Penh where there is the only decent hospital in the country. That hospital is a branch of Bangkok's Bumrungrad hospital, and it has Western hospital prices like Bumrungrad. 

 

Siam Reap is not too bad and Battambang is very nice if you like the quite life.  There are other places where it used to be good live if you were in good health but places like Sihanoukville and even Kampot are no longer good choices because of the Chinese invasion.  Just look YouTube to see what has happened to Sihanoukville and its lovely beaches over the last few years, and Kampot is next on the list. 

 

My advice is simple, divorce then move to Pattaya where there are lots of expats, which can mean lots of friends.  Much cleaner air than Chiang Mai or Bangkok, Western quality medical care and hospitals, lots of good Thai and Western food, shopping malls for whatever you need, and if you are interested bar girls or boys are widely available, or will be once the COVID-19 crisis is over, or you can pick and  choose girls for home visits from social media sites like Thaifriendly.  A second choice would be the Hua Hin area.

[wombat]

On 6/2/2020 at 6:49 PM, BritManToo said:

Hard to do at the moment.

 

On 6/2/2020 at 6:51 PM, sanuk711 said:

So is upping sticks and moving.....................

 

[lee b]

On 6/3/2020 at 3:12 AM, Destiny1990 said:

Danang in top 5 of best beaches in the world ! Easy visas..

Agree, lived there a while after Saigon and Nha Trang, the beach was amazing and always quiet, unlike NT.

[drbeach]

On 6/2/2020 at 7:16 PM, madmen said:

That's 10000 baht. Just had a mate pay an agent here 14000 baht for a retirement extension  and that's without any funds in the bank. For the extra 4k why would you take on the drama and expense of moving to a new country ?

 

Op you wont like càmbodia to live and the expats there are deadbeats mostly who failed at living anywhere else.

I agree.

 

BTW the 1-year Cambodian extension is currently ONLY available to retirees and working expats. All the deadbeats get 6-months only and then have to do a visa run.

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, lee b said:

Agree, lived there a while after Saigon and Nha Trang, the beach was amazing and always quiet, unlike NT.

Da Nang beach is really nice, but it's too dull to live there.

1 week holiday is about it.

Photo taken while I was there last year.

[drbeach]

6 minutes ago, lee b said:

Agree, lived there a while after Saigon and Nha Trang, the beach was amazing and always quiet, unlike NT.

Danang has a very long beach, much longer than Nha Trang. Unfortunately, it gets pretty dirty during the rainy season and especially after a typhoon.

 

Danang is also rather cool for a tropical city - winters remind me more of Sydney than SE Asia, with 20 degree Celcius (68 degree F) maximums and cloudy, dreary, drizzly weather for 2-3 months.

[drbeach]

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Da Nang beach is really nice, but it's too dull to live there.

1 week holiday is about it.

Photo taken while I was there last year.

I agree - it's nice for about 8 months of the year but between December (sometimes November) and February, the weather is terrible and the beach can be full of trash, as I experienced on my last visit in December 2018.

[Kerryd]

Should move this to the Cambodia forum.


I took a short trip to Cambodia with the g/f a couple years ago. Everyone thought she was "khmer" and even tried talking to her in Khmer. No surprise, her family lives near the border so not that long ago they probably were "khmer".

Anyways, while in Cambodia we spoke to some locals (taxi drivers, people at the hotel, vendors) about living there. From the sounds of it, the only thing that was as cheap as Thailand was rice.
It seems almost everything else is imported and more expensive than buying the same thing in Thailand.

Also keep in mind that the political situation in Cambodia tends to be a bit more "unstable", as often is their relationship with Thailand.

In most places, you may find that things like water, electrical, cable (TV) and internet won't be as good as Thailand.

And you'll just absolutely love it when there's a wedding ! Apparently it's tradition to play music as loud as possible all - day - long on the day of the wedding. And I mean L O U D !

Shouldn't be a problem in the bigger, urban areas though.

As with anywhere, there are trade offs. What you are willing to give up, or put up with, compared to the benefits of wherever you choose to be.

For an American, Belize and Costa Rica may be attractive alternatives, as well as Panama. I've heard a couple of Central American countries are considered as viable destinations for retirees, with the advantage of being much closer to home (if that makes any difference).

The Philippines should also be considered, especially as English is fairly commonly spoken, they had a large US presence there for decades and are predominately Catholic (if religion matters to you).
Lots of "quiet" places and some big cities as well. My understanding is that the food isn't as spicy as Thailand either.

Personally, I'd stay away from Vietnam just based on their communist government (and their usually hostile relationship with China). Same reason I don't look at Laos as a possible alternative (full time) destination.

[drbeach]

51 minutes ago, HarrySeaman said:

I have no experience with Vietnam so I won't comment on living there.

 

Apparently you have no experience in Cambodia so it is not a place I would recommend for you. 

 

There are some definite pluses to Cambodia over Thailand such as a lower cost for living, lower cost for medications, lower cost for alcohol.  If you are a punter then Phnom Pen is the place to be for selection, just expect to pay almost as much there as you do in Thailand.

 

With a heart problem you are basically limited to living in Phnom Penh where there is the only decent hospital in the country. That hospital is a branch of Bangkok's Bumrungrad hospital, and it has Western hospital prices like Bumrungrad. 

 

Siam Reap is not too bad and Battambang is very nice if you like the quite life.  There are other places where it used to be good live if you were in good health but places like Sihanoukville and even Kampot are no longer good choices because of the Chinese invasion.  Just look YouTube to see what has happened to Sihanoukville and its lovely beaches over the last few years, and Kampot is next on the list. 

 

My advice is simple, divorce then move to Pattaya where there are lots of expats, which can mean lots of friends.  Much cleaner air than Chiang Mai or Bangkok, Western quality medical care and hospitals, lots of good Thai and Western food, shopping malls for whatever you need, and if you are interested bar girls or boys are widely available, or will be once the COVID-19 crisis is over, or you can pick and  choose girls for home visits from social media sites like Thaifriendly.  A second choice would be the Hua Hin area.

I didn't know the Chinese were already moving into Kampot. As for Sihanoukville, you're right, it's finished.

 

I was also going to suggest Koh Kong, but that place probably won't remain off the radar too long either, especially since a major Chinese investment is currently taking shape along the Koh Kong coastline inside a national park. I recall seeing a very strange sight back in 2017 on my last trip there - a Chinese convenience store, with Chinese signs, but no English, Thai or Khmer, right next to the border crossing where the casino is located. This is probably a sign of things to come.

 

I second remaining in Thailand, or considering Malaysia, Vietnam or even the Philippines.

[dddave]

On 6/2/2020 at 6:52 PM, garygooner said:

Consider the Philippines. Take a trip there first and see for yourself. Get as much info first before you take the plunge. Vietnam & Cambodia other options of course. 

Top Quality medical care in the Philippines on a level available in Thailand is almost non-existent,  especially in the provinces.   Even mediocre private medical care and especially prescription meds much more expensive than Thailand.   If you are in declining health, the Philippines is not for you.

Edited June 5, 2020 by dddave

[leggo]

On 6/3/2020 at 3:18 AM, torturedsole said:

That's all it is, a beach.  

as an ex surfer at 75 who has seen a few beaches in my time Da Nang has a long bit pretty dull and dirty beach and i wouldn't put it n the top 100! however Vietnam where i have lived for the last five years is def cheaper than Thailand , the people are lovely and there's a lot of choices where to live and the visa situation is much easier  than Thailand ( where isnt ?)

 

[CaptainCarrot]

12 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

The Philippines should also be considered, especially as English is fairly commonly spoken, they had a large US presence there for decades and are predominately Catholic (if religion matters to you).
Lots of "quiet" places and some big cities as well. My understanding is that the food isn't as spicy as Thailand either.
 

For me their food is the worst aspect of the country. Bland and sugary. They have their own version of MacDonalds but more sugar. I once lived near a mall with 26 restaurants, all of which were fast-food joints I wouldn't consider going in. 

[EricTh]

@PatchinExPat

 

So what made you change your mind since you said you met a Thai lady of good moral? 

Edited June 5, 2020 by EricTh

[727Sky]

Something to consider. Many always think the grass is Greener on the other side; but once they get there they finally find out it is just grass too.

Edited June 5, 2020 by 727Sky