Is moving to Cambodia really the end of the line?

[Elvis Presley]

1 hour ago, Yagoda said:

I really enjoy living in Siem Reap. Fabulous little place

I agree.

[Grumpy one]

21 hours ago, Elvis Presley said:

Well it isn't.

 

It's a fictional scenario.

 

I am a very "creative"   SAD guy.

 

regards,

Elvis from Tupelo.

 

[jvs]

22 hours ago, Elvis Presley said:

The guy who fouled up in the west, fouled up in Thailand and is currently holed up in Cambodia addicted to alcohol and prescription drugs.

Oh yes, you mentioned the dr gave you drugs if i recall right.

How is Cambodia?

 

[Woke to Sounds of Horking]

The main attraction of Cambodia vs Thailand is the easy hassle free visa options, esp if you're 55 and older.

 

One downside, having spent nearly 2 mos there, is the near constant air pollution and rubbish everywere at the roadside.

 

Worrying is the surging CCP influence/investment.

 

It is not necessarily a cheaper option overall; however, beer is cheaper than in Thailand.

 

Some expats might be deluding themselves thinking that Cambo is a much cheaper place to live than Thailand?

[Hummin]

4 minutes ago, Woke to Sounds of Horking said:

 

 

It is not necessarily a cheaper option overall; however, beer is cheaper than in Thailand.

 

 

If someones decision is based on beer prices, then I would say they have a serious problem.

 

I should had choosed Spain, based on my appetite for their wine availability and meat sausages fresh vegetables and seafood choices 

[Dan O]

23 hours ago, Dan O said:

What was the point behind this, are you competing against Gamma ?

Read some of his long winded made up stories with no point behind them and you'll see

[Bundooman]

23 hours ago, Elvis Presley said:

Nope.

 

That is 100% all my own.

 

regards,

Elvis from Tupelo.

I wouldn't be so proud of it if I were you .................

 

[spidermike007]

21 hours ago, ChumpChange said:

Well, well, well, Bong-Boy-Bob, now turned armchair novelist, spinning Hemingway yarns like a Soi 6 bar girl with a sick buffalo and a borrowed baby. What a tragic fictional tale we have here, yet so detailed, so heartfelt, almost as if you’ve drawn inspiration from personal experience. But naah, couldn’t be, right? You’re a high-flying PR procurer, a man of wealth, fine taste, and endless mistresses, but not some washed-up, hard-done-by bloke clutching a beer bottle with a sponge-foam condom on it and a crumpled photo in his pocket of his favorite ladyboy gone astray, lamenting about his wasted years in the hub of short-times.

 

Still, let’s unpack this little masterpiece, shall we? Jim, you say? Poor sod failed his O-Levels, fled to Thailand, faked a degree, became an underpaid teacher, drank himself into oblivion, picked up an alcoholic bar girl (shocking, truly), got shaken down by her deadbeat brother, and finally ran off to Cambodia to die in a shoebox flat surrounded by regret and cheap whiskey.

 

A tragic tale indeed. But tell me, Beastly Bob, is this a cautionary tale, or are you testing the waters for your next exit strategy? Because we’ve seen this pattern before, haven’t we? First, you’re Bob Smith, the big London baller flush with US$800K cash in a safe. Then you’re the humble Colin Neville from Dorset, starting fresh as a self-proclaimed bar aficionado. Now, you’re Elvis from Tupelo, philosophizing about the “end of the line” like a washed-up lounge lizard with a sack of broken dreams.

 

But really, mate, if anyone should be worried about their final destination, it’s the bloke who’s gone through more identities than a Nigerian prince on Tinder. If Thailand truly is beneath you now, and Cambodia is the last stop, we can only wonder where you’ll flop to next. South America? Eastern Europe? A tent outside Heathrow begging for change with a sign that says, “Once had a PR in Thailand, now only got PTSD and an STD”?

 

Either way, keep the fanciful fictional fluff flowing, mate. It’s always a pleasure reading your unintentional autobiographies.

Great job, nice to know there are some Hemingway types on this forum. Keep it coming, we need more prose, we need more creativity, and you seem to bring a lot to the table. Thanks for that. 

[DaRoadrunner]

I think your name is Jim.... it sure ain't Elvis Presley.

 

As for Cambodia, I found the people were friendly. However, there are other places to go.

[Hanaguma]

On 2/5/2025 at 2:12 PM, Elvis Presley said:

Nope.

 

That is 100% all my own.

 

regards,

Elvis from Tupelo.

Well, since his baby left him, he had no place to dwell.  Viva Siem Reap!

[marin]

On 2/5/2025 at 12:28 PM, Elvis Presley said:

I'm in Thailand and about to become a Permanent Resident here.

No you are not.. Simples. 

[PomPolo]

On 2/5/2025 at 11:45 AM, Elvis Presley said:

Let's make up a fictional scenario. Let's call our character Jim. Now Jim wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer as a child, in fact he failed all of his O-Levels and ended up working in a food processing plant for the next 10 years. When he was 26, fed up with his life in his working class home town, Jim had an idea to make the move to Thailand. The problem was his family were dead against it and he also had a girlfriend at the time, but Jim was determined, so he booked his flight without telling anyone and left very abruptly.

 

Naturally this caused him to burn his bridges back home, so now he was stuck in Thailand alone. Jim stayed on the Khao San Road and bought himself a fake degree, making him a bachelor of English, then two weeks later got himself a job teaching at one of the local thai schools, earning a measley 30,000 baht a month. But for Jim that was Ok, his apartment was only 3,500 a month and he didn't like going out clubbing much.

 

However, as Jim progressed in his career and his salary remained the same, he started to get depressed and began drinking heavily. Around the same time he found himself an alcoholic Thai girlfriend from one of the bars, and the two became heavy drinking partners. One night the girls brother came around to Jims apartment demanding money, which Jim refused to hand over. Jims girlfriend seemed to be in on the scam, as by this point they had only known each other for about 3 weeks. When he confronted her she denied everything and told Jim that because she was so offended she was going to get her brother to do him in tomorrow.

 

Jim knew he had to leave that night, so he packed his things into a small suitcase and headed for the airport when his girlfriend was down at the bar. There was a flight that night to Phnom Penh. Jim had never been to Cambodia before but he knew how rough it could be, but it was either that or face being murdered by his girlfriends brother. So naturally Jim chose the former and boarded the plane to Cambodia.

 

Knowing that he could never return to Thailand for fear of being killed, nor could he return home due to burning his bridges with his family, Jim now feels like he is at the end of the line. Cambodia seems to be the last stop on Jim's sad journey, where drugs, guns, booze, and sin are all available, night and day. He will likely die alone, in his tiny shoebox apartment from a lethal cocktail of drugs and alcohol.

 

Cambodia, at least to me, seems like the end of the Line for many expats who move to South East Asia. Mostly for those with no better options available to them. That is not to say that one day I wont become like Jim myself, I could think of a lot worse places to be than Cambodia, but once you move there then that's most likely it I reckon.

 

THE END OF THE LINE.

 

regards,

Elvis from Tupelo. 

Do you have the audiobook version of this bob, barboy whatever your name is, I got half way through it but needed to board my flight to Cambodia

[Elvis Presley]

1 hour ago, marin said:

No you are not.. Simples. 

any proof?

[Burma Bill]

On 2/5/2025 at 11:45 AM, Elvis Presley said:

Cambodia, at least to me, seems like the end of the Line for many expats

 

Maybe to you, but not for me.

 

My move from Thailand, after 20 years, to Cambodia was one of the best decisions I made - and just before borders were closed due to Covid.  My decision to move to Siem Reap, where I had friends, was to escape Thai bureaucracy and the exorbitant "rip off" financial requirments regarding an annual retirement visa.  Such a visa in Cambodia is so easy to obtain, go to an agent, simple paperwork and just the visa fee in cash. Fortunately I had no Thai family ties and was able to swiftly move across before borders closed.  After 5 years I am still enjoying my retirement in Siem Reap, a city which has undergone many changes and infra-structure imrovements in recent years.  At 81 years of age, it will probably be the "end of the line" for me - unless I am forced by ill health to return to the UK.

 

 

On 2/5/2025 at 11:45 AM, Elvis Presley said:

Cambodia seems to be the last stop on Jim's sad journey, where drugs, guns, booze, and sin are all available, night and day.

 

Just as in Thailand! 

 

Out of interest, being a permanent foreign resident in Cambodia (at least 2 years) I qualify for an annual free pass to the Angkor Wat Complex, renewable each year. How many of you Thai ex-pats get a free annual pass for a Thai National Park? None of you I'm sure!

 

 

[scottiejohn]

36 minutes ago, PomPolo said:

Do you have the audiobook version of this bob, barboy whatever your name is, I got half way through it but needed to board my flight to Cambodia

My advice is to not worry about it as it is just the usual Bob fairytale with the people and place names changed!

[daveAustin]

7 hours ago, Yagoda said:

I really enjoy living in Siem Reap. Fabulous little place

Great place, esp Pub (and adjacent) Street though not sure could live there, if anywhere in Cam. Seemed a bit rough n ready.

 

Op seems UK orientated; pretty sure yanks don’t/didn’t have O levels. Unless perhaps some geezer from Stoke-on-Trent fetched up in Tupelo of all places. 

[save the frogs]

6 hours ago, Hummin said:

 

If someones decision is based on beer prices, then I would say they have a serious problem.

 

I should had choosed Spain, based on my appetite for their wine availability and meat sausages fresh vegetables and seafood choices 

 

A lot of people who gravitate towards Cambodia and even Thailand are alcoholics and drug addicts. so cheap alcohol will be a factor. And in Cambodia, a lot of expats are overdosing due to easy access to drugs. For many, it is indeed the end of the line.  

 

[tjintx]

4 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

Well, since his baby left him, he had no place to dwell.  Viva Siem Reap!

Well, Jim Bob did a Holiday in Cambodia, of course.

[tjintx]

If Jim Bob wanted the end of the line, he'd relocate to Haiti or the Congo.

[save the frogs]

7 hours ago, Elvis Presley said:

I agree.

so you've lived in Siam Reap, Mr You Ain't Nuthin' But a Hound Dog?

 

[marin]

2 hours ago, Elvis Presley said:

any proof?

Your posting history.  55555

[scottiejohn]

17 minutes ago, marin said:

Your posting history.  55555

Which one?

[GypsyT]

2 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

How many of you Thai ex-pats get a free annual pass for a Thai National Park? None of you I'm sure!

Bill, there ONE place for free;

https://www.exutopia.com/wang-saen-suk-hell-garden-thailand/

 

[Elvis Presley]

1 minute ago, scottiejohn said:

Which one?

John, what is your avatar supposed to be at all?

 

You look like a Scottish Mr. Poo!

[Prubangboy]

Bob– or anyone – recall a very lurid paperback, called off the rails in Phnom Penh: girls, guns, ganja?

 

Was usually popular around the turn of the century and key in establishing Cambodia’s bad reputation

 

I was in Cambodia two years ago and was sad to see the practice of bootlegging. Special interest books has stopped. I bought at least five copies of off the rails for friends, and a lot of books about the crazy Khmer rouge.

 

The year zero, by a French journalist, who was stuck there during the worst of the terror he was the best book on that subject.

I read all the Cambodia books. Anyone else have a good one to list?

 

 

 

 

 

[scottiejohn]

1 hour ago, Elvis Presley said:

John, what is your avatar supposed to be at all?

 

You look like a Scottish Mr. Poo!

Look it all up in a dictionary!

[simon43]

Bob's story is maybe just that - a fictional story.  But a similar true event happened to me some years ago, (but the ending of my true story is different).

 

I was living in Phuket, building small hotels (10 rooms) very close to the airport.  These businesses did reasonably well, although the going-ons of my wife or ex-wife could make a dent in the smooth flow of the business, if you know what I mean.

 

I had built 3 such small businesses over the years, and for my 4th little hotel I decided not to involve my Thai ex's, but to rent the land long-term (as a foreigner is allowed to do), and then build a small hotel/lodgings on the land.  With the help of my Thai families I did just that, and Phuket Airport B & B was opened.  It was usually fully booked every night, and I was relatively happy, albeit tired, because between looking after the business I had my volunteer work to do, acting as a Thai translator and volunteer Tourist police officer at the nearby airport.

 

So I decided to employ a Thai manager to look after the hotel.  I already had a Thai guy driving the hotel car and doing handyman work, so I promoted him to hotel manager.

 

All went well at first, but then this guy got into drugs, boiling up kratom in the hotel kitchen.  Don't tell me that kratom is harmless!  This guy would chase hotel customers through the nearby rubber trees with a loaded gun!  You can read the TripAdvisor reviews at the time 🙂

 

One day, after coming back from Macro, I got to my little hotel and found the entrance locked.  I shouted out for the Thai manager and he came to the door, his gun stuck into his belt.  He curtly explained that the hotel business was now his...

 

Unable to persuade this guy to allow me to enter my own business, I called the local police.  I won't name the region, but suffice to say, about 4 police officers from the local area quickly attended.  After listening to my complaint and briefly speaking with the druggie, the police told me to vacate the business, because it was now owned by the druggie.  Yes, you read that correctly!

 

It turned out that the local police were the best customers of this kratom seller.

 

In desperation, I called upon my senior Thai colleagues in the tourist police to assist.  You know, when they needed my help to deal with previous difficult situations, such as mentally-ill tourists, I was always ready to help.  But asking them to help me fell on deaf ears.

 

So I went back to the house that I rented just down the road from my hotel and thought out my next move.

My thinking was interrupted by panicked phone calls from both of my Thai ex-wives.  Now these 2 women hated each other, and for them to both call me about the same matter meant that it was important! 

 

You remember that I worked for the tourist police?  My work only involved foreign tourists, but having lived for years in north Phuket, I knew who were good Thais and who were bad. But the bad Thai guys were nothing to do with my police work of course.

 

However, apparently the druggie manager at my hotel had contacted these bad Thai guys and told them that I had shopped everything that I knew about them to the main police in Phuket Town.  One of my ex's had just been visited by 4 Thai men, all carrying guns and looking for me.  My ex denied knowing where I was and so the 4 guys moved onto the next ex wife, who also denied knowing where I was (my druggie hotel manager didn't know the address of my rented house).

 

So now there were 4 armed men looking for me, under the mistaken belief that I had shopped them to the police....

 

It was clear that my life (or at least kneecaps) were in danger.  I arranged to meet one of my ex's who smuggled me into the Phuket Airport car park in the seat well of her car.  I was able to catch a flight very rapidly to Bangkok and then onto Cambodia.

 

Over the next few days, the men returned several times to ask my ex's where I was.

 

As to my little hotel, since it was on rented land, and since it clearly was not safe for me to return, I simply stopped paying the land rent.  The land rental contract expired and the kratom druggie was kicked off the land by the Thai owner.  The hotel never reopened and is now a sorry, abandoned and dilapidated eyesore.

 

I lost about $50,000 in that project, and it convinced me not to do any more business in Thailand.  I returned (mostly) to live/teach in Laos and Myanmar.

 

I do return to Thailand from time to time, but never to Phuket.  As for the druggie manager, he is currently languishing in a Thai jail on drugs charges 🙂

 

Oh, no chance of me becoming a broken alcoholic, as Bob wrote in his story.  Every 'bad' event in my life makes me mentally stronger.  Anyway, alcohol makes me fat!!

 

As for Cambodia, I found it an interesting and friendly place.  I used to visit Phnom Penh quite a few times between teaching jobs.  People were friendly, the kind of food that I eat (fresh food, salads, fruit etc) was cheap.  Accommodation was cheap and clean. What's not to like?

 

Consider this:

 

If you think a place to be the end of the road and scraping the barrel, then that's because YOU are at the end of YOUR road and scraping YOUR barrel 🙂

[scottiejohn]

1 hour ago, Prubangboy said:

Bob– or anyone – recall a very lurid paperback, called off the rails in Phnom Penh: girls, guns, ganja?

 

Was usually popular around the turn of the century and key in establishing Cambodia’s bad reputation

Bob wrote it under one of his other names!

[Hanaguma]

3 hours ago, tjintx said:

Well, Jim Bob did a Holiday in Cambodia, of course.

That is a great song, by the Dead Kennedys;