Working in Cambodia

[Englishnick]

I'm a therapist/healer - 15 years experience, mainly in India. Anyone have any thoughts on the possibiliy of setting up business in Cambodia - and if so any suggestions on best places? Thanks. Nick

[phuketrichard]

good idea , u would Only need work out of ur house ( get a nice two bedroom)

advertise and spend time with the local expats to pick up business

a good friend of mine here in Phuket is a pscho therapist and thats how he works and does very well.

I think u would need be in Phnom Penh as those that live/hang out in shv are not what one would call wealthy and any monies they have would not go towards what ur offering.

Forget the rest of the country

Make sure u aply for the "Ordinary" visa on arrival $25 , which can be extened in country for up to a year at a time.

[Englishnick]

Thanks again. I'll be there next Monday and will start to check things out.

[Rumpole]

Your market for this is going to be primarily Western expats and possibly the occasional tourist, so about the only places you might be able to earn anything would be Phnom Penh or to a lesser extent, Siem Reap. Foreign residents in the latter include a good number of younger "New Age" types, who are definitely interested in alternative medicine and therapies. There is a Japanese chiropractor (?) / pain management specialist there who seems to do quite well. The only problem is that many of the expats in Siem Reap are either volunteers or earning very low wages in teaching or hospitality - so again, not a lot of money around.

Agree with what Richard said about Sihanoukville (where some of the Western residents balk at paying .75c for a beer) and the rest of the country. I also think Phnom Penh would probably be your best bet.

Edited June 20, 2013 by Rumpole

[Englishnick]

Thanks Rumpole. Sounds like good advice. Do you have any opinion as to which is the nicer place to live, PP or SR?

[Rumpole]

That would depend on your definition of 'nice' and what kind of environment you prefer. They both have their pluses and minuses.

Siem Reap is very touristy, but it has a congenial vibe to it, and certain areas even have a chic, almost Mediterranean feel. It is generally safe and fairly friendly, with much lower crime rates and comparatively more efficient policing. There are nice cafes, restaurants and bars, at reasonable prices, though I personally find that there is a dearth of decent Asian food - for this, Phnom Penh is much better. The central Old Market area is mostly restored French-style villas, and the town is generally kept much cleaner than Phnom Penh. There are three small but fairly well-stocked supermarkets, offering a range of goods including a reasonable selection of Western comforts. You will find Cambodia much better than India, in this respect. However, groceries and tourist-tat apart, shopping in Siem Reap is a bit of a washout and can be seriously overpriced due to tourists paying silly prices for things. Medical services can also be rather hit and miss, although this is also true of Phnom Penh. Cost of living is a bit lower in Siem Reap, due mainly to cheaper rents and transportation costs (the place is very compact and almost anywhere you need to go is no more than a ten minute moto or tuk-tuk ride away). The electricity supply is also generally more stable than in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. There are cuts, but they are less frequent and don't last as long. Depends on the area where you live in Phnom Penh though. Some areas have far more blackouts than others.

Phnom Penh is obviously much bigger and busier than Siem Reap. Less artificial too, of course, in that it is a bustling Asian metropolis, rather than a place catering primarily to tourists. Obviously there are also far more expats, of diverse nationalities and from a variety of backgrounds; together with a burgeoning, educated Cambodian middle class, which doesn't really exist in Siem Reap (where many of the Khmers are from poorer areas performing lower-level service industry jobs). Phnom Penh is therefore probably better for meeting people and making friends.

You could try spending some time in each place, to get a feel for where you would prefer to live. I have been in Siem Reap for just over a year now, but am seriously contemplating relocating back to Phnom Penh.

Edited June 20, 2013 by Rumpole

[Englishnick]

Thanks again, Rumpole - I did wonder how you'd deal with the word 'nice' - but you got it dead right. Siem Reap sounds more my kind of place, never been a big city man. I'll head up there to take a look as soon as I get my Thai visa sorted out, so if you're still there in a week, maybe we'll meet up.

Travel well,

Nick

[Englishnick]

Thanks Andy, I'll try them both over the coming three weeks. Should be interesting.

[phuketrichard]

Siem Reap is one of those towns that basically wouldn't exist if it weren't for one of the world's most incredible tourist attractions in its backyard. It is a bit of a tourist trap but does have some good places to eat & drink with a wide variety. Never lived there.

been there a half dozen times and would never consider living there. No angkor-- SR would be a backwater Cambodian town.

Full of Upper class backpackers "suitcase packers" or Asian tourists that hang out on pub street and eat all kinds of food BUT Cambodian even thou there are a few good ones but there not cheap and u can get some good breakfast deals ( same as PP)

There is a western style supermarkets so that's nice but the city is overrun with Korean, Japanese visitors staying in Japanese and Korean owned hotels but they are 90% package tourists

When i worked for a tourism publication back in 2008 80% of the 3-4 star hotels were in SR

I do have a few close friends that live there and there either Photographers or Travel agents

One has a really nice 3 bedroom 2 story house 2 blocks from the small river near center of town for $600/month so u can get great accomodation deals

Edited June 21, 2013 by phuketrichard

[Eesat]

Thanks again, Rumpole - I did wonder how you'd deal with the word 'nice' - but you got it dead right. Siem Reap sounds more my kind of place, never been a big city man. I'll head up there to take a look as soon as I get my Thai visa sorted out, so if you're still there in a week, maybe we'll meet up.

Travel well,

Nick

I would say that Phnom Penh is a very low rise city and has a lot to do compared to somewhere like Siem Reap,which in truth has only one area of bars and restaurants for Barangs.Phnom Penh isn't really that big a city for the tourist areas but I think you may get very bored of Siem Reap very quickly!

[Eesat]

Does anyone have any information about cost and speeds of decent internet in Phnom Penh?I'm thinking about relocating to there maybe for a year but I do need reasonably fast internet for my work,that's the only real thing that's putting me off at the moment.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Cambodian internet and mobile phone systems are as good or better than Thailand's. Cheaper too. For mobile phone USB modem services, You can choose from Mobitel (Cellcard), Smart or Metfone. Landline services, I don't know. But if you depend on net access, you will want a main and backup service anywhere in Southeast Asia.

[phuketrichard]

Cambodian internet and mobile phone systems are as good or better than Thailand's. Cheaper too. For mobile phone USB modem services, You can choose from Mobitel (Cellcard), Smart or Metfone. Landline services, I don't know. But if you depend on net access, you will want a main and backup service anywhere in Southeast Asia.

HUH:::

internet speeds are half what u will find in Thailand ( Apx $25 for 4 MBs) while i pay $20 for 10 Mbs with triple B in Phuket

http://www.livingincambodiaforums.com/ipb/topic/2748-metfone-internet-adsl-home-connection-installed/

Mobile rates are indeed better and u can get decent 3 g internet service.and use ur smart phone or buy a dongle for connecting. Plenty fast enough for skype calls/video and work unless ur doing stock market stuff

Edited June 22, 2013 by phuketrichard

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

^^^^What I know about internet speeds is based on half a dozen return trips to PP from Thailand last year. Anytime I hooked up to a shop's/bar's wi-fi or used a direct to 3G connection, I could do multiple-email account checks or web site accesses in mere seconds, sometimes in an astounding split second. Whereas anywhere in Bangkok or Pattaya, those attempts would take 10-20 seconds, sometimes losing connections altogether.

In the main, OP, you should be satisfied with Cambodian internet services.