Cambodia

[lormis789]

Can anyone tell me a bit about Cambodia as in visas,price of things compared to Thai,driving etc,thankyou in advance

[KhunBENQ]

Move to Cambodia subforum?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/183-cambodia-forum/

[phuketrichard]

pick up the lonely planet guide

or go to khmer440 dot com

[shirtless]

Yeah mate been through it its says in lonely planet and other guides 25 e1 type visa commonly known as a business visa first entry 25 to 50 dollars then you can renew for either 3 months at 85 $ 6 months 170 $ 12 285$, its a great place similar to thailand you can get apartment for around 150usd per month rppms are cheaper 100$ per month.

[TheSiemReaper]

For a reasonable standard of life (e.g. not living like a local farm worker in either country) Cambodia is more expensive than Thailand on a like for like basis. However, a visa is easier to obtain in Cambodia (1 year multi-entry guaranteed and a work permit is a doddle to procure). The cost of beer, wine, spirits and cigarettes is much lower in Cambodia than in Thailand (which can offset the cost of living differences if you like to get sloshed or smoke 60 a day). Health services in Cambodia are utter <deleted>.

[Sheryl]

Please see this sub-forum (pinned thread and other threads as well) for detailed information on visas: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/185-cambodia-visas/ Definitely easier than in Thailand.

Prices: some things cost more, somethings cost less, than in Thailand,. Maybe be more specific? Price of what? Depending on a person's life style it might cost more or less than living in Thailand. But in either direction I don't think the difference will be large. Things that are markedly cheaper in Cambodia include used cars and most imported goods. Utilities are markedly more expensive. I don't think there is a clear case to be made solely on basis of cost for one country over the other.

Driving: even more chaotic and dangerous than in Thailand (which is saying a lot).

Medical care is definitely terrible, and that is a major consideration especially for older people and people with chronic health problems.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

I definitely have a soft spot for Cambodia. I have lived there before. But I recently decided, not so much to stay in Thailand, but more accurately not move to Cambodia. For most of the negative reasons above. Hugely substandard medical care, really dangerous driving conditions, almost complete lack of public transit in the capital, poor accommodation vs cost consideration (the latter became dire when my country's currency tanked against the US dollar). But, never say never.

Poster shirtless talks about $100-$150 rooms. OP, have a look at them to see if they fit your standards. Those kinds of (nicer) rooms are far from the core (remember, no public transit, just tuk tuks) or the worst ones right downtown. The latter accessed from the garbage strewn street down a darkened, dirty alley, with entry through a heavy locked steel door, up a narrow unlit staircase, with steep pitch and irregular steps, twisting and turning to the 2nd or 3rd floor where you will unlock another steel gate to enter a room barely big enough for a bed, with no a/c, a ceiling fan and upper wall air vents and washroom with shower spraying your toilet seat and sink. While those might run $50-$100 a month, I'm not exaggerating -- much.

[TheSiemReaper]

I definitely have a soft spot for Cambodia. I have lived there before. But I recently decided, not so much to stay in Thailand, but more accurately not move to Cambodia. For most of the negative reasons above. Hugely substandard medical care, really dangerous driving conditions, almost complete lack of public transit in the capital, poor accommodation vs cost consideration (the latter became dire when my country's currency tanked against the US dollar). But, never say never.

Poster shirtless talks about $100-$150 rooms. OP, have a look at them to see if they fit your standards. Those kinds of (nicer) rooms are far from the core (remember, no public transit, just tuk tuks) or the worst ones right downtown. The latter accessed from the garbage strewn street down a darkened, dirty alley, with entry through a heavy locked steel door, up a narrow unlit staircase, with steep pitch and irregular steps, twisting and turning to the 2nd or 3rd floor where you will unlock another steel gate to enter a room barely big enough for a bed, with no a/c, a ceiling fan and upper wall air vents and washroom with shower spraying your toilet seat and sink. While those might run $50-$100 a month, I'm not exaggerating -- much.

Very much so, my apartment is $700 a month (1 bedroom) which when you put the bills, taxes, etc. on top comes out to be $1,000 a month. It's a nice apartment but I could do much, much better (even in Bangkok) over in Thailand for the same cash.

[phuketrichard]

for $700/month you could have a 2 bedroom house with land in Phuket 1-2 kms from the beach :-)

you can also get a studio apt with wifi, air, cable for under $200

Cambodia is NOT cheap

[Sheryl]

Housing costs vary greatly by location.

A private one bedroom apartment in Phnom Penh will be not less than $350/month and can be easily twice that depending on location. But in my experience, you won't get one for less in Bkk either unless on the outskirts of the city.

It is difficult to compare PP and Bkk housing because the type of accomodation available is so different...it's apples and oranges. The upper end price-wise for accomodation in PP will be a villa, or a villa converted to apartments, whereas in Bkk it will be a modern condominium.

In the provinces (other than Siem Reap town), housing much more affordable but the standard of living in provinces (again except SR town) is well below that of upcountry Thailand.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

for $700/month you could have a 2 bedroom house with land in Phuket 1-2 kms from the beach :-)

you can also get a studio apt with wifi, air, cable for under $200

Cambodia is NOT cheap

This is exactly what I have, only it's in a resort-like setting on a private road, on the "wrong side" of the tracks from Pattaya. Big balcony, big washroom and drying room and 42 sq metre main room. Lovely, tasteful, older Thai wood furniture. Free wi-fi and cable. 7000 baht. Phnom Penh can't touch this. I don't think even Siem Reap can match it.

A friend in Bangkok pays 30,000/month ($850US) for a gorgeous two-bedroom ground-floor condo, with large outdoor patio, modern, all wood floors and furniture, beautiful modern kitchen on Sukhumvit soi 39.

Anyway, we can do this comparison and contrast all day. My budget just can't reach anything like a decent size Khmer-western design with ordinary dimensions and some basic stuff like an OK kitchen. I'm not seeking full western amenities at all. But my needs would require a budget of $500US and up, it seems. My Canadian dollars don't reach that far any more. What I"m saying is, PP is too pricey for a third-world capital city. Just look at all the people on FB PP housing pages seeking shared accommodation. Must be 90% of the listings.

[Sheryl]

One reason for all the shated accomodation is that small quarters are comparatively rare in PP. Still a lot of large villas.

But even shared acvomodation (usually with own bedroom an ensuite bathroom) will normally run to at least 300 USD in Phnom Penh.

[mike2011]

Some guys got good accomodation around the 200 USD mark, give or take USD 20/25 in new neighborhoods a bit to the north of Kampuchea Chrom. I guess one needs a motorbike if living there.

[TheSiemReaper]

for $700/month you could have a 2 bedroom house with land in Phuket 1-2 kms from the beach :-)

you can also get a studio apt with wifi, air, cable for under $200

Cambodia is NOT cheap

Well, I've just signed a lease for a 1 bed serviced apartment with swimming pool and gym in Northern Thailand... will be moving in a month. Fingers crossed - it's at least as good value as what I have now. Rent there is $550 a month.

[phuketrichard]

In Chaing Mai?
thought u loved Cambodia?

IF I didn't love the sea i would move up to the area around Fang

But ......

[TheSiemReaper]

In Chaing Mai?

thought u loved Cambodia?

IF I didn't love the sea i would move up to the area around Fang

But ......

I do love Cambodia but I don't love its banking system. It may be easy to open an account but to get money into that account from overseas... is a total ball-ache and an expensive ball-ache at that. However, I don't love the sea... so I'm going North. :-)

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

In Chaing Mai?

thought u loved Cambodia?

IF I didn't love the sea i would move up to the area around Fang

But ......

I do love Cambodia but I don't love its banking system. It may be easy to open an account but to get money into that account from overseas... is a total ball-ache and an expensive ball-ache at that. However, I don't love the sea... so I'm going North. :-)

What bank were you using? I just couldn't make Canadia work as a receiver of Canada-sourced funds. However, I recently found out ABA is 30% owned by a Canadian big bank. So that might work. (Yeah, I know, it looks like I might move to PP anyway. The last 2 months I have been seriously seesawing on where to live. Just the other day I just couldn't make myself sign a Bangkok apartment lease. My heart just wasn't in it. So . . . Like I said above, Never say never.)

[Sheryl]

I haven't had any problems at all with incoming intetnational transfers using the Foreign Trade Bank (commercial arm of the National Bank)

[TheSiemReaper]

Note: All Cambodian banks require the services of an intermediary bank for direct bank-to-bank transfer (my clients' preferred payment method) - clients don't like this and won't use them (and it's expensive). Their 2nd preferred payment method is PayPal... and that doesn't work in Cambodia. If this was about setting up a single transfer from one overseas bank to another - I could make it work but it's not, it's about setting up dozens of payments a month and Cambodia is no use at all for that.

[zierf1]

The rent is much higher. Or maybe they are good at hiding the cheaper apartments. Can't find anything below $150 a month when I search online and all the people there said the same. But I can easily find thousands of apartments in Thailand for $50-$100 a month. You tell me which is more expensive? Even Philippines is much cheaper than Cambodia. I would not want to live in Cambodia. Too difficult and too expensive. I don't know how the locals surive. Probably all live 10 to a room. Or sleep on the streets.

[fey]

The rent is much higher. Or maybe they are good at hiding the cheaper apartments. Can't find anything below $150 a month when I search online and all the people there said the same. But I can easily find thousands of apartments in Thailand for $50-$100 a month. You tell me which is more expensive? Even Philippines is much cheaper than Cambodia. I would not want to live in Cambodia. Too difficult and too expensive. I don't know how the locals surive. Probably all live 10 to a room. Or sleep on the streets.

I found that the increased food cost cancelled out any savings you would get finding a cheap apartment. So why bother if it's just economics your looking for?

For example, street food was at least double Thai prices, even in Bangkok.

Nice places in PP were about the same cost as Bangkok par on par when I looked. I like to stay in the $500 a month bracket.

Below $150 and your looking at a really bad smelly room around locals that don't have jobs. It can be done of course, but you don't find them online like in Thailand, you would see a sign hung on the window and would just go in and pay cash monthly.

Cambodia PP, Sihanoukville and SR were not an option for me saving money, unless there were other factors involved (like an easier visa or just wanting a change of scene). I went down there specifically for those reasons to look into it, and that's what I found. If I did go back I would choose Siem Reap which has a great mountain bike scene, you can ride around angkor and they rent decent mountain bikes all over.

In Sihanoukville on 'Victory Hill' they did have some places that looked pretty decent for around $150-$200 a month. I stayed at one, it even had a balcony and ocean view. I don't remember the name but on the road to the beach.

I stayed for a couple weeks, but absolutely bored after awhile, nothing around except the same bar street, food place. But quiet beach and ocean was nice for awhile. You really can go nutty is some of these isolated spots with nothing to do. Not worth saving a couple hundred a month for when you could be in a more exciting area, at least for me.

There was also a rat who lived in the vent up above in the bathroom so every time i took a shower i was afraid it would come out and bite me. but i thought, oh well, it's just an ocean rat, not a city rat. also the neighbor in the next room would always smoke weed and i was afraid they would break into my room and steal my stuff as they could hear me coming and going, lock just a joke small luggage lock on the door. turns out he was boning some chick in there but never made any noise, could not figure out what the *** they were doing, just a strange scene, lots of weirdos around.

[Sheryl]

You definitely cannot get anything remotely livable in Phnom Penh for $150 a month, even sharing accomodation. You also won't get anything that cheap (i.e. 5,000 baht) in central Bangkok.

For a decent one bedroom (or private bedroom/bath within a larger villa shared) you are looking at $350 on up. Most people pay more like $500, but $350 - $500 can be had if you look a while and are willing to live in non-expat heavy areas.

[alex88]

Please see this sub-forum (pinned thread and other threads as well) for detailed information on visas: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/185-cambodia-visas/ Definitely easier than in Thailand.

Prices: some things cost more, somethings cost less, than in Thailand,. Maybe be more specific? Price of what? Depending on a person's life style it might cost more or less than living in Thailand. But in either direction I don't think the difference will be large. Things that are markedly cheaper in Cambodia include used cars and most imported goods. Utilities are markedly more expensive. I don't think there is a clear case to be made solely on basis of cost for one country over the other.

Driving: even more chaotic and dangerous than in Thailand (which is saying a lot).

Medical care is definitely terrible, and that is a major consideration especially for older people and people with chronic health problems.

Actually Thailand has the second highest road fatality rate in the world after Libya so that makes Cambodian roads safer than Thai ones.

[alex88]

You definitely cannot get anything remotely livable in Phnom Penh for $150 a month, even sharing accomodation. You also won't get anything that cheap (i.e. 5,000 baht) in central Bangkok.

For a decent one bedroom (or private bedroom/bath within a larger villa shared) you are looking at $350 on up. Most people pay more like $500, but $350 - $500 can be had if you look a while and are willing to live in non-expat heavy areas.

A Cambodian friend of mine lives in an apartment in central Phnom Penh and pays $70 a month. it's actually quite a nice livable place. The only problem is a lack of air conditioning. It must be possible to get something similar but with aircon for less than double that price surely.

[Jip99]

Please see this sub-forum (pinned thread and other threads as well) for detailed information on visas: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/185-cambodia-visas/ Definitely easier than in Thailand.

Prices: some things cost more, somethings cost less, than in Thailand,. Maybe be more specific? Price of what? Depending on a person's life style it might cost more or less than living in Thailand. But in either direction I don't think the difference will be large. Things that are markedly cheaper in Cambodia include used cars and most imported goods. Utilities are markedly more expensive. I don't think there is a clear case to be made solely on basis of cost for one country over the other.

Driving: even more chaotic and dangerous than in Thailand (which is saying a lot).

Medical care is definitely terrible, and that is a major consideration especially for older people and people with chronic health problems.

Actually Thailand has the second highest road fatality rate in the world after Libya so that makes Cambodian roads safer than Thai ones.

Is that a per capita, or per 000's of cars, direct comparison with Cambodia - or a total numeric figure ?

I believe the total number of deaths is more than 10x higher in Thailand, the per capita figure is about double and (the more realistic) per 000's vehicles Cambodia is 30% higher.

[alex88]

Please see this sub-forum (pinned thread and other threads as well) for detailed information on visas: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/185-cambodia-visas/ Definitely easier than in Thailand.

Prices: some things cost more, somethings cost less, than in Thailand,. Maybe be more specific? Price of what? Depending on a person's life style it might cost more or less than living in Thailand. But in either direction I don't think the difference will be large. Things that are markedly cheaper in Cambodia include used cars and most imported goods. Utilities are markedly more expensive. I don't think there is a clear case to be made solely on basis of cost for one country over the other.

Driving: even more chaotic and dangerous than in Thailand (which is saying a lot).

Medical care is definitely terrible, and that is a major consideration especially for older people and people with chronic health problems.

Actually Thailand has the second highest road fatality rate in the world after Libya so that makes Cambodian roads safer than Thai ones.

Is that a per capita, or per 000's of cars, direct comparison with Cambodia - or a total numeric figure ?

I believe the total number of deaths is more than 10x higher in Thailand, the per capita figure is about double and (the more realistic) per 000's vehicles Cambodia is 30% higher.

That is an interesting point regarding a per 000 vehicles figure. You could be right.