Settling in Cambodia!

[Bornloser 2]

Have been to cambodia (only PP) once for about a week a few years ago. Am now considering relocating there from the US. Would like to ask other BM's to clarify a few points for me.

 

When I flew into PP, I checked "Tourist" in lieu of "Business" on the visa app as I was staying only a short time. If I check "Business" on the visa on arrival form at the airport & pay the $25 fee, does Cambodian Immigration require any other documentaion to grant me the 30-day Business visa on arrival?

 

I have heard that, once in Cambodia, it is no problem to extend the 30-day business visa to a full year in one fail swoop, merely by filling out the app & paying the fee. No other documentation required. IS THIS IN FACT TRUE?

 

I would probably settle in PP as I like city life. I would want to take a hotel room on a long-term basis. Are PP hotels reasonable with long-term rates?

 

I have a half-assed idea about PP's P4P nightlife from my experience there. But, this brings up one further question. What is there to do in PP during the daytime?

 

 

MANY THANX

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[Obsession 571]

You can renew your yearly visa without leaving the country. Its a few hundred dollars.

 

During the day you could drink in bars. ride a motorbike out into the country, monger , take drugs or socialise with any new friends you meet. They have at health and fitness clubs with swimming pools. Or you are allowed to work.

[StefanH 3]

Have been in Cambodia last November/December for 4 weeks, based in Phnom Penh.

Stayed at a nice serviced Apt. near the Central Market.

 

http://www.nokorlucky.com/

 

The city itself is quite nicely located at the river, a lot of bars/cafes along the Sisowath Quay, but is quite dirty, the quality of food is not equal to Thailand.

Besides some places in upscale hotels, no decent Gym is to be found.

Highlights have been the 3-day dragon boat races in November, nice festival with a lot of people.....

 

All in all a nice experience, but I prefer LOS any time

[nidnoyham 30]

You want to live in Cambodia ? Why ?

 

It must have been a bloody good week.

[Rhoel 2]

If I check "Business" on the visa on arrival form at the airport & pay the $25 fee, does Cambodian Immigration require any other documentaion to grant me the 30-day Business visa on arrival?

just 4 passport photos and $25 to get a business visa.

 

The one year visa costs $285 and another 4 photos. This can currently be renewed an infinitum. So no other paperwork involved, bank funds proof or criminal checks (though a criminal record seems compulsory for some residents here).

 

And you can work here too without a work permit or the kind of paperwork Thailand requires.

 

The Tourist visa cannot be upgraded to business: It requires a leave the country and return for the $25 business one: No penalty for a previous visitor stamp.

 

I would probably settle in PP as I like city life. I would want to take a hotel room on a long-term basis. Are PP hotels reasonable with long-term rates?

Apartment rentals here are seriously cheap, especially once you get away from the tourist riverside area: I pay $150 for a three bedroomed place near the Chinese Embassy. With utilities, my monthly bill is around $200-220.

 

Internet connections are not fast or reliable, though its getting better. Plenty of ATM machines here now, and the SBC (Singapore Banking Corporation) ATM can be used on the internet (ANZ cannot and their fees suck).

 

I have a half-assed idea about PP's P4P nightlife from my experience there. But, this brings up one further question. What is there to do in PP during the daytime?

 

Work?

 

The nightlife here has changed a bit over the last month - big crackdown on brothels and sex places - part of a Anti-trafficking Law which does nothing to prevent trafficking. There are currently big protests over this and the witch hunt might be over. The legendary Sophie's Club got closed, a deed which I hope the policy makes rot in hell for.

 

That said, there are plenty of beer bars with hostesses, massage places and other karaoke places to while away the time. Street 136 is becoming a center of entertainment bars, as is Street 104. Street 52 and 63 also have a bunch of places. But tucked around corners around the city are a host of other lo-so entertainment places.

 

If you are into drugs, reconsider living here - they are cheap, illegal and plentiful, have been the death of too many bored junkies. One Crystal Meths guy killed his girlfriend, chopped her up, put her into a suitcase and hid her under the bed. A week later, for reasons unknown, he set fire to his city-centre room and jumped out the 3rd floor window: He broke both legs and now faces life inside. This is not a country to fuck up in, and certainly no place to go to jail, even for a few weeks. A life sentence here is worse than death.

 

For everyone else, side trips to Angkor Wat and Sihanoukville are on the regulars list of diversions, as is buying an off road bike and heading into the back country - and please remember the country is not fully de-mined or free of UXO - blowing your legs off miles from civilization is not big or clever.

 

If you are into history and archeology, then this place will keep you busy for a life time.

 

Photography is also a popular leisure activity, including enthusiasts who enjoy digital night photography (using the moon as light source - photos of Angkor take on a magical appearance): Just take a bottle or 5 of anti-mosquito repellent - malaria in the countryside is still a real problem.

 

Recently, there has been a fad for radio control vehicles amongst some of the long-term expats - seems to be the ideal expat entertainment: Some of the petrol-powered R/C cars can out-run a moped; I mean, we are talking seriously quick, top speeds of 80+ kph. One enterprising gent is alleged to have fitted a wireless camera to his electric helicopter.

 

Don't expect Cambodia to be like Thailand. It's not. It's a third world, stuff like electricity doesn't work. The locals love holding street weddings/funeral/parties, accompanied by industrial deafness LowFI sound systems: The "music" they play falls into a kind of "snake charmer pipes backed by a three year old bashing a drum" style. Worst, this will be outside your house, and in the case of weddings and funerals, will last three days, starting at 0500. Parties stop when they run out of beer.

 

And people love to piss in the streets and chuck litter everywhere. So the city smells.

 

It also has its charms, some great architecture and religious building. It has a somber Khmer ROuge/Killing Fields history to see and understand. The people are generally friendly but if shit does happen, it will be with some serious weaponry - there are an alarming amount of firearms floating around. Your home will resemble a fortress, with all doors and windows metal grilled - never loose your keys and you have bugger-all change of breaking in.

 

I have been here for just over a year now: The language I find hard to learn, much harder than Thai - for reasons I know not. I find I have a love/hate relationship with the place. There are times when it drives me nuts. Then there are the other moments which make up for that and life is great.

 

But the weather is good, even during the monsoon season (which is spectacular - when it rains, it can drown fish and flood a road up to your knees in minutes). But it beats living in the UK or many other "developed" countries. You might not be able to find anything you want, and the local tuk-tuk drivers will cheerful tell you they know the destination you want, then head off it the opposite direction. And if they have a map, they most definitely will get lost as no Asian seems to be able to understand them. There are too many beggars there, and real poverty: And half the population seem to have scars or bits missing - combination of land mines and the near-insanity they call driving here - the traffic is the worst in Asia, bar none - it is spectacularly bad: But it makes for great entertainment - just go stand on a busy intersection and wait for the traffic lights to fail - the resulting chaos is like a Keystone Cops movie.

 

The city is changing and modernizing. That change for some, is not happening fast enough; for others, the modernization is not welcomed - destroying the charm of the place.

 

If you take it as it comes, you'll make it here.

 

Cambodia is just different.

 

 

 

Rhoel.

Edited June 3, 2008 by Rhoel

[nidnoyham 30]

Paradise!

[Rhoel 2]

Paradise!

 

Stop it, made me choke on me tea and Hobnobs.