American looking to move to cambodia

Hi, I'm from america too, Las Vegas, Nv.  I'm living in siem reap but planning to move to SHV in a few months, the humidity is killer here.  Where are you folks from and where do you plan to live in cambodia?  I can tell you that visa requirements may change from what i was told by people here that knows what's going on due to too many undesirable expats from thailand that are getting kicked out.  If both working having business visas and work permits, you will be ok.  I suggest getting your visa's before you leave the states but you will have to renew them after you get here, they only issue a 3 month at that starts the day they approve it so you could lose a month before you leave.  Also, you have to allow time to process your extension, i suggest 1 yr at a time.  The problem that may arise is when you want to go to thailand or elsewhere in giving your reason to enter, i was told visiting friends even though you live there.  why?  because if you are not working or have a permit, it could cause problems entering or paying them off to get back.  This is recent and there's not much posted about it too, but i was advise to wait and see what happens.  I'm retired in which they may do something similar to thailand wanting you to have a large amount of cash or assets in order to stay. 

PP and SR are the 2 major cities that offer services and has american style grocery stores, PP I believe has much more.  SR is a small town that is overgrown so finding things is difficult.  Driving is really dangerous, I'm a pretty good driver but I won't drive anywhere in this country.  It's that bad so transportation could be a problem.  Having a car is better because it rains a lot, so riding a bike/moto can be very dangerous then.  Few street lights here so when it's dark, it's dark.  If you live in PP, it's like all big cities and you have a lot of crime to deal with.  However, you have most of the amenities you are used to and easier to find products from america at really high prices.  Adapting to local foods will save you a lot of money, otherwise it going to cost you as much or more than what you are paying now in the states.  If you don't like beef, you are in luck, local beef sucks and imported beef is expensive.  Turkey is rare here, 7 lb turkey cost about 35 dollars and they don't sell turkey meat at all.  Chicken, Pork and fish and it's not that cheap either.  Produce in general is not as good or taste as good in thailand here in SR, other places I can't say but I know that 80% is imported from thailand so by the time it gets here, it takes a beating from the heat and humidity.  I like to cook and know about food a little so I can tell you the food seems a bit tasteless which means low bric levels.  So it may look good but the taste is not there.  I thought it was getting bad in america but it's worse here.  Just got back from bangkok last week and the food there was great, just like it used to be, first time in cambodia so I was really disappointed in the food quality.  Also the street food here is very unsanitary compared to thailand so be careful buying street food being made from those small carts.  It's cheap and looks good but I already got sick here soon after i got here.  Others may differ but that's my take on that.

Not too many americans wanting to come here which is why I'm replying to your post.  Don't know your experience here but that's a bold move you folks are making and wish you success.  If you can tolerate all the downsides, the upsides are great.  The common people here are really nice and if they like you, youré in and all is well.  Knowing some high ranking officials makes it even better and gives you more protection too.  This is still a 3rd world country where self interest prevails over all else which is why there is so much corruption.  Paying more wouldn't solve the problem because it a way of life that everyone knows and resigns to.  Those who causes too much troubled are silenced.  Unfortunately it's always the common people who ends up paying for it all.

It is worth bringing everything you need and then some.  I suggest joining all the blog sites, mostly on facebook and read what they are saying.  That would give you a better idea of what i mean.  It's the little things we don't think about like toothpicks.  No wooden toothpicks here, just plastic for example and rubber bands, very hard to find.  The blogs is used to find things like this and more.  I get a lot of info from them myself because I'm still learning.  Overall, finding stuff and places is very difficult or overpriced.  If you plan to ship stuff back or have sent to you, it's going to cost a fortune and doesn't guarantee that you or they will get it.  So it's cheaper to pay for extra baggage or have your household shipped because you will still save money in the long run.  I found out the hard way. 

If you need specialized medical help, you may have to go to thailand for it.   You can purchase medical insurance in thailand and maybe for here too.  Not sure about cambodia. 

If you want to know more, here's my email and i can send you links to study.  I spent a year research before I left and still found out how much I didn't know. Hopefully, you can avoid all the mishaps I encounter coming here.   xxx

Welcome to cambodia, it can be a great place to live...lots of exciting places to see and do.  I wish you the best of luck and happiness. 

Hiram Hiramoto

I find your response quite negative and surely not describing Cambodia as a whole.
It seems Siem reap runs behind the rest. Slight example as you mentioned: wooden tooth picks. No problem at all here in SHV to buy them in the supermarket. Rubber bands no problem. And I guess PP is even better organized in selling things like that.

Traffic is bad but not as bad as in Thailand, take a taxi in Bangkok and you feel the driver is a kamikaze. Take a van and praise yourself lucky to arrive alive. Things are much more relaxed in Cambodia.

It is technically a third world country but its economy has been rising spectacularly and the rise is one of the highest in the world. Tourism numbers are up 20x compared to 15 years earlier. Poverty is still high, but sank from 50% to 20%.

Depending on each person's personal expectations about living here it is worth a try, personally I am very happy to live here (SHV) after 8 years in Thailand.

I'm not sure how much you know about siem reap, talked to many of the old timers here, my neighbor next to me has been coming here since the 90's plus i have friends in vegas  that come from cambodia as well. It is not my intent to be negative, i'm stating facts about this area, I did say that it was here and not sure about else where.  But what I stated is true and factual.  The toothpicks and such were just to point out to her that little things we take for granted in the states are not easily obtainable here.  What you are saying is what you see around where you are at, the same as me.  There's a lot of diversities here like anywhere else. 

Like you, I like this area but the humidity is hard adjusting, been living in desert conditions for over 20 years.  I moved to siem reap because at that time, it seem the safest place to move to, originally I plan to go to thailand where i know more people and places.  SHV was my first choice in cambodia but I met a security professional living in PP and he suggested to start in siem reap.  So I took his advice which he was right.  But the humidity inland is tough to get around in.  I know in general that cities on the coastlines is better.  I'm feeling more comfortable now and so I plan to make a visit to see if I'm right.  April-May is the worst time here, even my landlord told me that's a good time to get away for a while. 

Situations up north is still undergoing changes and not as developed here as down south.  Because of the growing popularity of Angkor Wat Temple, siem reap has undergone tremendous growing pains yet still a small town.  Expats living here are much older and the majority of foreigners living here are japanese and koreans who controls a good percentage of tourist coming here and opening many businesses here as well. 

Americans are a real minority here too, I haven't met an american living here yet, only a few volunteers and it's been over 6 mos and met a lot of business owners who confirms that few americans live here.  At the same time, i'm not a drinker so I don't go to bars much, especially at night because I live on the outskirts of town.  So there could be more, just haven't met them yet.  This person who is an american, I'm trying to give her a heads up on what to prepare for coming here so that they can find the peace and happiness they desire.  I don't mind helping out fellow americans because most americans know little about cambodia and are apprehensive about coming here too.  In fact they thought I was crazy to come here, thailand was ok to them but cambodia, they didn't think it was safe for me.  I spent a lot of time checking this country out and it seem OK but cautious about it, my main reason was cambodia is the only country to offer 1 yr visa in SEA.  Philippines is the only other country for americans can go and get a 1 yr visa but the hurricanes and such, the economy is hurting so it's more dangerous there to live even though I have many friends living there because I don't want to get married to secure myself there.  That's another story.

So my intentions is give them facts and info of what I know and if they respond, to send them links to study and make up their own minds if they want to come or not.  I admire them for wanting to come here.  So giving them my assessment, I back it up with facts or realities as I experienced them.  A lot of what is said on these blogs are more opinions than facts and from their own experiences too.  I look at what seems more consistent or factual, like crossing the border in poipet, you have to go thru 2 checkpoint and a possible third if you need a visa.  However, going thru these checkpoints changes as far as what you have to do or happens in each checkpoint.  I made a comment about that saying this where everyone else said  "it's like this there" and that's not true, bits and pieces yes, but overall, no.So my point was, be on alert if things do not go what you were told, be flexible so not to stress out. 

You have the right to make all the criticism you want to me, that's ok because you have your own opinion.  We can all look at the same object and see different things from it.  This was my perceptions but I can back up what I say with facts too on key points.  I'm trained at watching people for specific acts and behaviors, not sizing up women at stores.  I look at common type behaviors as well.  These people come from all over the world too.  I don't claim to be an expert, but I'm pretty good at what I did because I worked at it to learn by some of the best in the business.  Some of the advice I gave them was from my mistakes and miscalculations mostly based on what I read or inquired from these blogs.  I didn't want them to get misled like I did. 

What you say about where you lived, I believe it.  As you go further north, things changes a lot.  If you research the history of cambodia, north of PP region was still considered dangerous and restricted to where you wanted to go.  So my region is still growing that show sharp contrasts of still being a 3rd world country as well as projecting itself as being modern times.  If you never been here, I suggest taking a trip up north and see for yourself.  My other neighbor who is french/khmer told me he as a hard time communicating with some of the locals because they speak a different dialect.  He told me no problem in PP but here,  it's a different story.  I like this area and made friends here but the humidity is tough to adjust.  It's a 4 km walk to town from where I live. I did it once to see what it was like and it's killer in the heat with no place to stop and cool off.  Soon it's going to get really bad from what I'm told thinking how worst can it get?  So I'm starting Plan B in case it gets that bad.  Rain, heat, I can handle, humidity...Not now because I have to get used to it again.  I was here during Nam and went to various places and I liked this region of the world too.  It took me this long to be able to come back but my body can't handle it like before...getting old.  I choose cambodia as my base camp to explore from and to my surprise, the people here are super.  My recollection of cambodia during the war was when we sent a team here and they all died.  I found out because they thought I was on that team too but was on another team and lost 1.  So it pleases me to be here despite how things are overall, just have to make adjustments but would have been easier if I had a better insight and heads up about what to really expect.  So if you think I'm negative about this place, you are wrong in your assumption.

You write nice epistles but again, as you admit yourself, it's about Siem reap. Cambodia cannot be judged by judging Siem reap, so your stories are interesting for people that want to live in SR. But Heather did not state that, so your story is not about Cambodia. Neither would be my story, as I live in SHV, know something about it but not about other places, Never been to SR and hate to be in PP. That's my view. Also because of that I did not reply to the quest for info re Cambodia, as I don't know enough about other places. So it occurred to me that your situation in SR is a bit negative and I wanted to mention that so that Heather does not think the whole of Cambodia is the way you wrote about it. That's all.

I suggest Heather plus husband wanting to teach, that they start searching for jobs in PP, the largest possibility to find a job.

you keep inferring that my negatives is about cambodia as a whole which i already stated that those "negatives" is what i experienced in SR and unsure about other places in which clearly from your statements says otherwise which is good because i didn't really believe all of cambodia was like that.  also to investigate and filter out facts from hear say.  At the same time, I personally wouldn't suggest anywhere in particular to live since I know nothing about them.  They need to determine that themselves what's best for them and their needs.  Mine was more logistical and safety reasons.  Again, the toothpick situation was to show how extreme the contrasts could be from what we americans are accustomed to having available to us anytime.  Don't know where you grew up but I know how it is in America.  Things you don't really think about until you need it not realizing how much of a problem to find it or find out no one has it.  I have yet to read any article about cambodia that is truly factual, all had some minor to major misinformation or misleading on what to assume.  If they do have, the product quality is usually poor selling for a high price.  However, I don't blame the seller, it's really not his fault the product is of poor quality.  But in America, I would take it back and complain to get a better one or refund my money.  Why because we have a 30 day guarantee unless otherwise stated and on large purchase, a buyer's remorse law that make the seller give us a refund.  That doesn't exist here, so why push it?  If i wasn't aware of this, I would have gone back and complained to no avail.  That's my point!! 

Another point, the person mention looking at other sites to learn more so could it be possible that she may find employment in SR?  And if she did, would my comments give heads up to how things operate here?  Giving her my email even when I don't know this person to offer more info if they wanted.  Being Americans is why I extended this hospitality to them.  I try to help people in general but another american I do go out of my way for if they have a genuine need.  I felt they did.  I also extended a welcome to cambodia too.  Like most people, a negative comment weight more heavily than a multiple of positive comments it seems.  Have a great day!!

Hello all

Kindly note that a new thread has been created as from your posts on the Cambodia forum to allow you interact.

The initial thread on which you participated is only for presentation of new members.

Regards
Kenjee
Expat.com