I get a pension of around $1100 USD per month.

 

Would it be possible to actually live in Siem Reap and actually save some of that money a month?  Even if I go out every now and then or indulge in a boom or two?

19 minutes ago, kingofallasians said:

I get a pension of around $1100 USD per month.

 

Would it be possible to actually live in Siem Reap and actually save some of that money a month?  Even if I go out every now and then or indulge in a boom or two?

$1100 might give you a decent existence + some nightlife, but don't think much will be left over, if any for savings.

 

Hope you have an 'oops fund', and not just living month to month.

Thailand is cheap, probably cheaper than Siem Reap, Isaan maybe cheapest

13 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Thailand is cheap, probably cheaper than Siem Reap, Isaan maybe cheapest

Where else in Thailand?

Truth in posting here.

I've never been to Siem Reap but I've watched a lot of cost of living, apartment hunting videos about the place.

You need to compare like to like places between Thailand and Cambodia.

Siem Reap is a desirable place to live there.

Perhaps it can be compared somewhat to Chiang Mai in quality of amenities for expats except for the poor health care options there.

So a better question is Siem Reap cheaper for the same level of living than Chiang Mai?

My guestimate is YES, and if you choose cheap accomodations you should be able to save some money. maybe 100 to 400 dollars a month max.

Now if you're willing to living in some bummphuck Isaan backwater, yeah you could go even cheaper.

26 minutes ago, kingofallasians said:

Where else in Thailand?

Anywhere you can live cheaply if you want, I'm sure in Pattaya many people live on 20k-30k baht, Thais definitely do

5 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Anywhere you can live cheaply if you want, I'm sure in Pattaya many people live on 20k-30k baht, Thais definitely do

 

for sure possible, but depends on your expectations/lifestyle, everyone to their own, but i'd rather be back home than have to live here an a pittance.

I lived for a year in Phnom Penh (2015) and a year in Siem Reap (2019), and now I live in Chiang Mai, and I have to say that Thailand is much cheaper than Cambodia. And incomparably more comfortable mentally.

 

Comparable quality local food in Cambodia is 1.5-2 times more expensive (foreign food costs about the same - expensive). In local eateries there are two menus - in Khmer with prices written out in words so it's incomprehensible, and in English or Chinese - with numbers. If you find street food in Cambodia for $1.50 per plate, it will look like some dried-up vomit that will make you lose your appetite for a long time just from the sight and smell of it.

 

Cooking at home? The same pork and beef at Makro Siem Reap costs 1.3 times more than at Makro Chiang Mai - I don't remember the exact prices, I compared receipts together with my Thai girlfriend. Maybe meat prices are lower at Cambodian markets, but they definitely won't sell it to you at the "Khmer" price. Unlike Thai vendors who no longer practice "farang price" - Khmers at the market openly believe that barangs are obligated to pay more, and sometimes quote completely absurd prices (what if they get lucky?). Having to bargain for literally everything is very exhausting.

 

As for accommodation, cheap apartments with old furniture and windows facing slums that cost $200-300 per month in Siem Reap can be found for $100-150 in Chiang Mai. Normal, clean, spacious housing in apartment blocks with pools and gyms, costing now around 10-15,000 baht ($300-400) per month, was hard to find in Siem Reap in 2019, while in Phnom Penh it started at $1,000.

Now in Chiang Mai I go to an ultra-modern, Western-style gym with air conditioning and brand-name equipment, one visit costs 100 baht ($3). In Siem Reap near my house there was a gym for $1 - a shed fenced with netting and homemade barbells. It was located on the bank of a sewage ditch, and in the dry season I stopped going there - the gym started to smell strongly of urine and <deleted>. However, if I wanted to, I could visit an "elite" gym in the center - either $8 or $10 per visit. I don't know what was there - I found out the price at reception and tapped my finger to my temple. And it's like this with everything!

Any place other then Bangkok, Phuket, and mainly Hua Hin, will have a better cost of living with far cheaper prices all over.

 

Worst I would say in overcharging foreigners,  from anything to everything is Hua Hin. 

2 hours ago, Middle Aged Grouch said:

Worst I would say in overcharging foreigners,  from anything to everything is Hua Hin. 

BS ... foreigners are just too stupid or lazy, and seem happy to overpay for what is 'offered'.   Plenty of fair market or bargains about, for the thrifty, common sense shopper.  

 

Not different than any other country.

3 hours ago, blanes2007 said:

I found out the price at reception and tapped my finger to my temple.

 

That showed them.

 

They've no doubt reduced the price now because of it.

 

Another battle won. 🙂 

On 1/20/2025 at 10:47 PM, scubascuba3 said:

Thailand is cheap, probably cheaper than Siem Reap, Isaan maybe cheapest

Forget it as single, Nothing can compare to Pattaya or Chiang Mai as single. 

 

Living as single in Isaan you need to know some basic Thai language 

3 hours ago, Middle Aged Grouch said:

Any place other then Bangkok, Phuket, and mainly Hua Hin, will have a better cost of living with far cheaper prices all over.

 

Worst I would say in overcharging foreigners,  from anything to everything is Hua Hin. 

Hua hin have several cheap appartment buildings on the extended road of soi 94 connecting to soi 88. Also between. We hired a room there to store our things started at 3k and do not think they have become much more expensive the last 5 years

15 minutes ago, Hummin said:

Nothing can compare to Pattaya or Chiang Mai as single. 

Housing in Chiang Rai is a bit cheaper than in Chiang Mai, many locals speak English, and the Immigration Office  is know as hustle-free

10 minutes ago, blanes2007 said:

Housing in Chiang Rai is a bit cheaper than in Chiang Mai, many locals speak English, and the Immigration Office  is know as hustle-free

Like Chiang Rai is a bit more lay back also

On 1/21/2025 at 4:47 AM, scubascuba3 said:

Isaan maybe cheapest

But Isaan women are the most money-focused among Thai women (it's almost always "you give me how much" :), especially compared to northern women (financial assistance is welcome, but only if possible), which significantly increases the cost of living for a single person. This statement is based on many years of personal observation history.

By the way, if you can see the behavior of many (not all) Isaan women as "honest prostitution" - they get that in exchange for material stuff they need to keep me happy, then in Siem Reap I found out that local women just don't get it at all. Actually, the Khmers in general don't connect work with getting paid. They somehow think that barangs should just hand over money to them for nothing - like, what's the big deal? They've got tons of cash, millions and billions each, right?

On 1/21/2025 at 6:25 PM, kingofallasians said:

Where else in Thailand?

i lived in PP in 2008 & Kep 21/22 and was glad to return to Phuket  ( been here since 85) 
the weather is better
the food is better
better value for ur $$$
its CHEAPER

SR is  <deleted> hole to live, nice to visit for a few days and thats it 
 

I'm finding it comfortable to live on $1,000 a month in Siem Reap, but I wouldn't look to be saving on $1,100 just a bit more as a buffer for unforseen items or a trip to Phnom Penh or elsewhere. If I had a higher budget I'm not sure what I would find to spend it on as I don't feel I'm lacking anything.

 

I rent a nice apartment for $225, which includes super fast internet, and my electric is $75. $20 a day for daily living leaves $100 a month spare for miscellaneous. Effortless visa process and banking set up was welcoming and efficient. Great supermarket, affordable wine unlike Thailand and plenty of good well priced restaurants. Most important it's a very pleasant laid back environment to live in with what appears to be very little crime. Quite a pleasant contrast to the saturated, overdeveloped, decaying infrastructure of tourist Thailand. 

I'll add to this topic, because I've just moved to Siem Reap, to use as a 'base' for my charity trips into Myanmar (so I'll also post in the Myanmar forum as well from time to time!)

Basically, I have been teaching in Myanmar for many years, and also running a small educational charity that donates teaching resources to orphanages, government schools etc. My last job was teaching science in Mandalay.

After the bad earthquake, (luckily I was in Chiang Mai at the time), and also because I had started to draw my UK pension, I decided to return to the UK, because there are various pensioner benefits that are not available to me if I remain overseas.

But having lived in Asia for 23 years, the reverse-culture shock of living in the UK was indeed a big shock! So I decided to return back to Asia, and where I could more easily continue my charity work in Myanmar. But I'm not allowed to live in Myanmar unless I'm actually employed, (there being no 'retirement' visa). So I decided to base myself in Siem Reap, with an easy and cheap ER retirement visa, and cheap AirAsia flights to Mandalay and Yangon via Bangkok.

I'm not living in the centre of Siem Reap. I'm a few km away, near Makro. I pay $100 for a very peaceful 60 square metre big studio bungalow, with 7 further bungalows set around a nice swimming pool. I rent a scooter for another $100/month.

For food, I haven't cooked in yonks! I buy fresh salads and fruit, nuts etc. The price of these is cheap in almost any country! I'm spending about $10 max on food/drinks each day. So my monthly expense is $100 rent + $100 scooter + $300 food = $500, and add on another $100 for extras (petrol, shampoo etc etc). So $600 out of my $1,100 UK pension. Plus I also have an online teaching income of about $2,500/month :)

This all looks good for my lifestyle and charity work. The local print shop in Siem Reap is able to print my A3 vocabulary posters at a good discount because it's for charity, funded out of my own income, (each poster costs 2,000 riel/A3 laminated poster on 300g card). So I can get a batch of say 500 posters printed and then hop on a plane to Myanmar on a 28-day tourist visa, and distribute these posters to the schools - the posters provide instructions in Burmese how to download and use my app to listen to good pronunciation of each word!) My bungalow in Siem Reap is quite secure if I'm not there and there is nothing worth stealing anyway!

Why don't I stay in Thailand? Too much hassle for a long-stay visa, too much prying into my private life (eg 90-day reports etc). I prefer to be left completely alone by 'authorities' to get on with my life, (a lifestyle which would not appeal to most people, but for me I love it!)

Since arriving in SR, I've been asked if I can make my posters available for Khmer schools and orphanages etc. So I'm busy changing the Burmese language instructions into Khmer :)

On 1/21/2025 at 6:30 PM, Jingthing said:

Truth in posting here.

I've never been to Siem Reap but I've watched a lot of cost of living, apartment hunting videos about the place.

You need to compare like to like places between Thailand and Cambodia.

Siem Reap is a desirable place to live there.

Perhaps it can be compared somewhat to Chiang Mai in quality of amenities for expats except for the poor health care options there.

So a better question is Siem Reap cheaper for the same level of living than Chiang Mai?

My guestimate is YES, and if you choose cheap accomodations you should be able to save some money. maybe 100 to 400 dollars a month max.

Now if you're willing to living in some bummphuck Isaan backwater, yeah you could go even cheaper.

Living in CM and frequently visiting SR, I believe I can answer.

In SR accomodation is slightly more, alcohol is a lot cheaper.

Although @simon43 has found unbeatable value at a place for $100/month

Maybe the border war has driven prices down.

Both places are great places to live.