Phnom Penh vs Sihanoukville?
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Phnom Penh vs Sihanoukville?
Having lived in a nice part of Phuket for the past 2 years, I've gotten used to a relatively good quality of life. However, I'm moving to Cambodia shortly.
I grew up in India, so I am familiar with lawless, dysfunctional environments and overall dirt/trash/unsanitary conditions and corruption- and none of it interests me in the least. It won't be an adventure for me at all, as it is for many westerners.
So if I had to choose between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville (or any other place in Cambodia), which is a better place to live? Based on what I've read so far I've narrowed it down to either Boeung Keng Kang 1 in Phnom Penh or Otres beach in Sihanoukville. Things that are important for me are reliable electricity, fast internet, relative quiet/not utter chaos (but not necessarily extremely quiet as in a village) and cleanliness, proximity to foreigner oriented restaurants, bars and supermarkets. I would also prefer to live in a house than in an apartment.
I grew up in India, so I am familiar with lawless, dysfunctional environments and overall dirt/trash/unsanitary conditions and corruption- and none of it interests me in the least. It won't be an adventure for me at all, as it is for many westerners.
So if I had to choose between Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville (or any other place in Cambodia), which is a better place to live? Based on what I've read so far I've narrowed it down to either Boeung Keng Kang 1 in Phnom Penh or Otres beach in Sihanoukville. Things that are important for me are reliable electricity, fast internet, relative quiet/not utter chaos (but not necessarily extremely quiet as in a village) and cleanliness, proximity to foreigner oriented restaurants, bars and supermarkets. I would also prefer to live in a house than in an apartment.
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Expat attitude to their Cambodian homes (2015)
PP or Sihanoukville long term (2013)
Sihanoukville Cambodia vs Phnom Penh Cambodia (2013)
Phnom Penh v Sihanoukville (2011)
Sihanoukville vs Phnom Penh...and others (2011)
PP or Sihanoukville long term (2013)
Sihanoukville Cambodia vs Phnom Penh Cambodia (2013)
Phnom Penh v Sihanoukville (2011)
Sihanoukville vs Phnom Penh...and others (2011)
Follow my lame Twitter feed: @gavin_mac
err the power has been reliable for a long time here only really going off for maintenance or when there is some sort of accident such as a truck crashing into a pole that supports power lines.vladimir wrote:Reliable electricity = Sinville FAIL.
You may be better off in Phnom Penh
Good luck finding a house to rent in Otres and living any where in the country side expect breaks in if you leave the place unattended.. they can easily break through the steel tubes that are fitted across most windows.
Siem Reap is way more relaxing than Phnom Penh. Sihanoukville though is usually a bit cooler than there & PP, does not have the dust of Siem Reap and normally avoids the worst of the bad weather... road dont flood during the wet season for one thing.
- Phuket2006
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having lived (and still living) in Phuket for almost 30 years and one year in Cambodia
You can NOT compare
You can NOT compare
"We are turning into a nation of whimpering slaves to Fear—fear of war, fear of poverty, fear of random terrorism, or suddenly getting locked up in a military detention camp on vague charges of being a Terrorist sympathizer." HST
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Yeah, you ought to give Siem Reap a visit. It's dustier, hotter and prone to flooding, but I've found the expats there to very involved and active in the community and very nice to chat with. Good restaurant and bar lineup. Just got a decent modern cinema, too. The town is very walkable. In my recent search for apartments there, there was lots of variety and price ranges. However, I did decide to focus on Phnom Penh because of the livelier lifestyle and somewhat better access to good supermarkets.Baconroll wrote:err the power has been reliable for a long time here only really going off for maintenance or when there is some sort of accident such as a truck crashing into a pole that supports power lines.vladimir wrote:Reliable electricity = Sinville FAIL.
You may be better off in Phnom Penh
Good luck finding a house to rent in Otres and living any where in the country side expect breaks in if you leave the place unattended.. they can easily break through the steel tubes that are fitted across most windows.
Siem Reap is way more relaxing than Phnom Penh. Sihanoukville though is usually a bit cooler than there & PP, does not have the dust of Siem Reap and normally avoids the worst of the bad weather... road dont flood during the wet season for one thing.
I live in Thailand, by the way. But, despite the superior infrastructure, good accommodation and quality food supplies, my heart's just not in Thailand.
"We want our country to develop step by step. But that is such a long way off . . . as far away as the stars."
Jobless father in documentary Cambodia: Country of Scars.
Jobless father in documentary Cambodia: Country of Scars.
I've lived in both for extended periods - found wet season worse in SHV than PP to be honest
SHV:
For;
Access to great beaches (not Occhuteal)
Standard of restaurants gone way up in last 2 years
Big improvement in roads
Weather generally a little cooler with breeze off ocean
Access to islands
Cheap rents/food etc
Against;
Regular and extended power cuts
Lot of break ins (esp if your house is in secluded area)
Bag snatches common
Backpackers
Alcoholics
Drug addicts
Police in your face more than anywhere else in Cambodia
Relatively poor medical services
Backpackers (more of them)
PP:
For;
More services/things to do
Power cuts less frequent and many buildings have a generator
Great variety of bars and restaurants (from Cheap Charlie level right through to 5 star cuisine)
Good variety of shopping/groceries
Good pool of expats (well most of them)
Against;
Bloody awful traffic
Bloody awful flooding in wet season
Air pollution
People in jasmine pants (backpackers)
Alcoholics (but still less so than SHV)
Drug addicts (see above)
Overall it depends what YOU want out of life. If you can find a decent house out Otres way and can afford to improve the security on it (CCTV and big dog) and afford a generator for your house, then I'd say Otres is a great choice. There are some good eateries down that way, both on Otres 1 and 2, and town itself is only 15/20 minutes away. Beaches there are good if you want a sedentary lifestyle but prepare to be bored and/or stranded during chunks of wet season - I was once stranded in a bar till 7am cos the rain was too heavy to travel in (what a hardship that was)
SHV:
For;
Access to great beaches (not Occhuteal)
Standard of restaurants gone way up in last 2 years
Big improvement in roads
Weather generally a little cooler with breeze off ocean
Access to islands
Cheap rents/food etc
Against;
Regular and extended power cuts
Lot of break ins (esp if your house is in secluded area)
Bag snatches common
Backpackers
Alcoholics
Drug addicts
Police in your face more than anywhere else in Cambodia
Relatively poor medical services
Backpackers (more of them)
PP:
For;
More services/things to do
Power cuts less frequent and many buildings have a generator
Great variety of bars and restaurants (from Cheap Charlie level right through to 5 star cuisine)
Good variety of shopping/groceries
Good pool of expats (well most of them)
Against;
Bloody awful traffic
Bloody awful flooding in wet season
Air pollution
People in jasmine pants (backpackers)
Alcoholics (but still less so than SHV)
Drug addicts (see above)
Overall it depends what YOU want out of life. If you can find a decent house out Otres way and can afford to improve the security on it (CCTV and big dog) and afford a generator for your house, then I'd say Otres is a great choice. There are some good eateries down that way, both on Otres 1 and 2, and town itself is only 15/20 minutes away. Beaches there are good if you want a sedentary lifestyle but prepare to be bored and/or stranded during chunks of wet season - I was once stranded in a bar till 7am cos the rain was too heavy to travel in (what a hardship that was)
“The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent.”
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[edit] Stramash summed it up better
Mean Dtuk Mean Trey, Mean Loy Mean Srey
Punchy McShortstacks School of Hard Knocks
Punchy McShortstacks School of Hard Knocks
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Thank you all for responding. My main motivation for moving to Cambodia is the weird rules that Thailand has for Indian passport holders: due to which I've ended up on overstay. Some of you may know about what's coming for overstayers in Thailand after March 18 (blacklisting). The only other option for me (under 50. 25, to be exact) is to get an Elite visa, but I can't afford to pay 500,000 baht upfront at this point for that. I don't want to go to Cambodia with preconceived negative notions but if it really is a terrible place to live I will just hang tight for some months until I can fork over the cash for the elite visa and come back to Thailand.
That being said, break-ins do sound like cause for concern. A security system sounds reasonable enough, but will CCTV really deter them? I am not a dog person, or much of a people person for that matter. I like to live alone. What are the self defense laws/de facto situation in Cambodia? What happens if you shoot an intruder dead?
How much does a generator cost? Are these electric/UPS backups or diesel generators?
Is fiber optic internet or 3G/4G readily available?
What is the cheapest brand new car (hatchback?) in Cambodia? I have terrible memories of public transport in India and have no intentions of riding around in tuk-tuks breathing toxic air or getting drenched in the rain on motorcycle taxis.
That being said, break-ins do sound like cause for concern. A security system sounds reasonable enough, but will CCTV really deter them? I am not a dog person, or much of a people person for that matter. I like to live alone. What are the self defense laws/de facto situation in Cambodia? What happens if you shoot an intruder dead?
How much does a generator cost? Are these electric/UPS backups or diesel generators?
Is fiber optic internet or 3G/4G readily available?
What is the cheapest brand new car (hatchback?) in Cambodia? I have terrible memories of public transport in India and have no intentions of riding around in tuk-tuks breathing toxic air or getting drenched in the rain on motorcycle taxis.
- Phuket2006
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so ur working illegally?
at least you wont have that problem in Cambodia
Ur not allowed to own a gun
I always found internet via smart phone and sim is almost as good as i get here with BBB
you can get a decent CRV or Rav 4 for 8-10,000
and than there's always an older ex taxi Camry or a tico
at least you wont have that problem in Cambodia
Ur not allowed to own a gun
I always found internet via smart phone and sim is almost as good as i get here with BBB
you can get a decent CRV or Rav 4 for 8-10,000
and than there's always an older ex taxi Camry or a tico
"We are turning into a nation of whimpering slaves to Fear—fear of war, fear of poverty, fear of random terrorism, or suddenly getting locked up in a military detention camp on vague charges of being a Terrorist sympathizer." HST
No-one is saying it's a terrible place to live. After all, we all live here and we're all thoroughly respectable and upstanding members of society!! But of course there are negatives that balance out some of the positives.brownexile wrote:Thank you all for responding. My main motivation for moving to Cambodia is the weird rules that Thailand has for Indian passport holders: due to which I've ended up on overstay. Some of you may know about what's coming for overstayers in Thailand after March 18 (blacklisting). The only other option for me (under 50. 25, to be exact) is to get an Elite visa, but I can't afford to pay 500,000 baht upfront at this point for that. I don't want to go to Cambodia with preconceived negative notions but if it really is a terrible place to live I will just hang tight for some months until I can fork over the cash for the elite visa and come back to Thailand.
That being said, break-ins do sound like cause for concern. A security system sounds reasonable enough, but will CCTV really deter them? I am not a dog person, or much of a people person for that matter. I like to live alone. What are the self defense laws/de facto situation in Cambodia? What happens if you shoot an intruder dead?
How much does a generator cost? Are these electric/UPS backups or diesel generators?
Is fiber optic internet or 3G/4G readily available?
What is the cheapest brand new car (hatchback?) in Cambodia? I have terrible memories of public transport in India and have no intentions of riding around in tuk-tuks breathing toxic air or getting drenched in the rain on motorcycle taxis.
A friend in SHV had 4 break ins/attempts in 5 months. Installed CCTV and all the signs and had none in the next 12 months. Really depends how determined/broke they are. It also depends on the area you are in. If you have a secluded property then, naturally, you are more of a target. A dog is a good thing to have in that case.
Fibre optic is expanding rapidly here. Not sure how widespread in SHV but seems to be a prerequisite with new builds in PP.
A generator will cost anything from about $300 (for a small one like an EP700) to about $3000 (for a monster 45kv one).
A brand new car here is bloody expensive. Think normal western price and add about 125% for all the various taxes. duties etc. 2nd hand is definitely the way to go on this.
“The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent.”
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Would that be the weird rule where they stamp in your passport the date you are permitted to stay, like everyone else, and rather bizarrely expect you to leave by that date. The elite visa sounds perfect for you.brownexile wrote:Thank you all for responding. My main motivation for moving to Cambodia is the weird rules that Thailand has for Indian passport holders: due to which I've ended up on overstay. Some of you may know about what's coming for overstayers in Thailand after March 18 (blacklisting).
"Everywhere we go .. people want to know ...who we are... where we come from !"
Tartan Army retired foot soldier
Tartan Army retired foot soldier
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Hey, speak for yourself:Stramash wrote: No-one is saying it's a terrible place to live.
7 Reasons Why You Really Shouldn't Move to Cambodia
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