Newbies in Phnom Penh! Advice please!!

Hello Steve and Elle!

Welcome to Expat.com.

Hope that you'll be enlightened soon.

Harmonie.

Hi ,
i have an Account at ANZ , which is good but not that great, the good part about it is that it has a "plastic card " attached to it for the local Atms and  has an internet banking option , but its not  visa neither mastercard so no internet payments.

uyhm.. just ask me about the rest of your concerns cz i dunno where to start from

Anz is good in terms of its wide ATM network, but in terms of setting up business account, they can be quite strict

The first thing to do is to do a thorough research.

Thanks for the bank tips guys.  Much appreciated!!  Aaliyah01... any advice you could give around general day to day life would be great.  Accommodation, where the best areas are to live if we're going to be teaching, average cost, with kitchen or without, how much weekly living expenses might be... we've of course checked out lots of websites, but what better way to find out details than from someone who has already been living out there!  Anything else you think we need to think about or consider would be great to hear about.  Hope you guys are all well!

S&E

uhm.. i live near the russian market  in the Btk area N its a place of villas , clean N neat , arnd here  the prices vary  from 200 a room with minimal furniture ( but there are lots of shops with hand made furniture N u can find a good quality stuff in maximum 100 $) to 350 -400- 500- 600 a two room apartment  with all things included , like in my villa here  an apartment costs 350 N it has fridge, furniture , equipped kitchen ,AC N i dunno what else .. its safe , cozy , and peaceful neighborhood with everything close by , then there is the BBK are , very cool N a bit expensive. but offers are plenty N u can find a good place any time .. jst come here , book in at a hotel for a week or so N  check out the places , this town isnt that large .it has i guess 8-10 km or so from north to south ..
N abt expenses . i guess it all depends on your living style .. the  grocery shopping u can have it done either at Mart  which has basicly pretty much everything western or the local markets which are a bit messy but cheaper  and  there are  places where you can eat  yummy food , with abt 2 dollars for 2 people , like the russian market where other ppl eat to .. so you wont be the only foreigners there no worries .. ..

i personally like it here  cz its easy to get around N it  feels like  everything is accustomed for foreigners .. u can get a driving license easily .. legal or illegal  either way  , khmer classes if u like with 6 $ per hours , i just found a school for that few days back .. jobs are available ALL THE TIME  especially for native english speakers ..

uhm.u can contact me if u like whn u arrive here , i'll show u around or guide u here N there if u need  til u get to know how things go arnd here

there are doctors and pharmacies on every street but fortunately i  havnt yet needed one so cant tell from my own experience but pharmacies/ drug stores do have  french brands , and everything so  medication is not a problem
i personally spend around 100 a week  but i tend to byu things which i dont really need
i cant tel u how much is a bear cz i would nt know but ive heard that the local made beer is prewtty good Anchor  i guess its called or smth like that , if ure interested
milk comes in plastic bottles 800 ml costs around 2 dollars N the 2 litter  pet costs 4 dollars
u can find all type of breads ,  veggies, fruits , western stuff   till u get used with  the rice N fish )

if u dont drive u'll probably need a tuk tuk , to hire one per month it will cost anywhere between 100  to 300 depending on where u  want him to take u N all , 10-15 dollars per day  or jst pay for the trip

a phone number is very easy to get , so is internet with a modem , 20 $ for 12 Gb  at Metfone . and the modem u can find it arnd 15 $ at tle local It shops or 35 at the metfone shop center, i dunno exactly how much  up to 45

anything else  i missed ?..

Aaliyah, wow, what a response!  Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences.  Like I say, reading website after website is one thing, but communicating direct with someone is much better.  You've given us a lot to think about. 

We'd heard a lot already about living by the Russian Market area and how interesting it is.  It sounds like as good a place as any to begin our search for accommodation.  We've got our flights booked for the end of August, and so have plenty of time to get a good idea of what life will be like for us out there.  Your advice has been a massive help.  If we think of anything else we'll be sure to get in touch.  And catching up when we're over there sounds good.  You can show us some good places in the neighbourhood.

Thanks again

always a pleasure

Hello Steve and Elle,

please be care full about the Credit card usage of ABA bank.

Thanks

Hi Newbies!

Gongrats for your big move for a new life!
I'm Andrea, and I live in Phnom Penh since 2006 Jan.
Answer to your question, check out GOODHEALTH Worldwide(Asia Pacific) health insurance.
For banking, I trust only ANZ Royal BAnk, but there are many other choices.
I hope I helped you guys a bit.
If you have any other question, feel free to contact me, I'll be happy to help you if I can.

Good luck to you two!

Cheers,
Andrea

Hi,
I've heard that there are Orthodox services in PP. Is this true? Have you been?I'm a Canadian and hope to be in Cambodia next winter.
Thanks,
Ronnie

Ortodox services as in a church ?.. there are a few christian churches though but am not quite sure of which type ..

Hi,

For myself, I have a bank account with Royal ANZ too. Though its different from the ANZ account I have back home. I believe they are reliable. I don't really go into reading the financial report of the banks. I heard from the local that they open bank account with cambodian public bank and acleda bank etc. The other bigger banks here are Vattanac and canadian bank.

As for insurance, my transport are insured by forte insurance. There are other insurance company such as ASIA insurance, infinity. I believe the insurance company provides other insurance coverage as well.

Hope this helps.

I know aba bank. They have secure internet banking with a credit card so you can use your account even from abroad and they can convert foreign currency to usd automatically.

Do you have to be a resident to set up a bank account there? i'll be in PP late October for a week to have a look around and meetings, would I be able to open an account?

u might need to be employed Emz..

Thanks but I wanted to register a business there and apparently you have to deposit money into an account in Cambodia before you start? Maybe I'll need to wait until we officially move there then?

oohh..  nah it depends on what type of business .. if its a single ownership  u don;t need a deposit   N no account either.. but if its an Ltd, (limited ) u need an account and 5000$ in it , for that is a  different type of account. N u need diff papers , u don;t have to be a resident

Thank you!

Hello!

One thing to consider about bank accounts is that you don't really need one. Most teaching jobs will pay you in cash, and then you can securely use Western Union to send money home (if you need to) once you get paid. This is definitely a cash-based economy, so you shouldn't have to worry too much about ATM usage, etc.

Just a thought! This has been my approach so far, and it's working nicely for me. Very hassle-free

All the best!