Phnom Penh vs Sihanoukville?

[Stramash]

No-one is saying it's a terrible place to live.

Hey, speak for yourself:

7 Reasons Why You Really Shouldn't Move to Cambodia

I see myself more as a spokesman for all the forgotten expats.

[brownexile]

[quote="Phuket2006"]so ur working illegally?
[/quote]
Not a conventional job, nor is my business registered here. I'm a "digital nomad".

[quote="rl66"][quote="brownexile"]
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. [/quote]

No, the weird rule that says that Indian citizens can not apply for any Thai visa (except the elite visa) from anywhere but within India. So that rules out a border run to Penang or elsewhere for me. Combine that with an unscrupulous lawyer who took my money (though I eventually did get a full refund) and held on to my passport for 3+ months. He had promised to get me an education visa (without having to leave Thailand) but by the time he failed to deliver I was already on overstay.

[ken svay]

There is no cricket in Cambodia.

[rl66]

So your unscrupulous lawyer didn't manage to circumvent the system for you, that's a shame.

[brownexile]

So your unscrupulous lawyer didn't manage to circumvent the system for you, that's a shame.

Yes, because it's a discriminatory system and he knew about it before taking me on as a client. Which is why I paid 50,000 baht as opposed to the usual 25-30,000 that westerners pay for the same thing.

[offshoresports]

so ur working illegally?

Not a conventional job, nor is my business registered here. I'm a "digital nomad".

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.

No, the weird rule that says that Indian citizens can not apply for any Thai visa (except the elite visa) from anywhere but within India. So that rules out a border run to Penang or elsewhere for me. Combine that with an unscrupulous lawyer who took my money (though I eventually did get a full refund) and held on to my passport for 3+ months. He had promised to get me an education visa (without having to leave Thailand) but by the time he failed to deliver I was already on overstay.

I'm also a digital nomad. I lived in Bangkok last year and did a lot of traveling due to the Thai immigration being such a pain in the ass. It's almost better to fork over the 15k unless you like to travel every month. You're gonna spend at least 1k per trip x 4 moths x 5 years so 20k anyway. Great for dudes 55 or older. Why not move to Malaysia? Big Indian community there and immigration is much easier. Forget about living in SHV, I went batshit crazy trying to stay online. The only thing that saved me was the fact everyone in the US was asleep. Cambodia's immigration is much better, but services and standards are a little lower. Also, PP is nothing like Chiang Mai in terms of the DN community, but you can connect, and get work done. Good luck with whatever you decide.

[brownexile]

I'm also a digital nomad. I lived in Bangkok last year and did a lot of traveling due to the Thai immigration being such a pain in the ass. It's almost better to fork over the 15k unless you like to travel every month. You're gonna spend at least 1k per trip x 4 moths x 5 years so 20k anyway. Great for dudes 55 or older. Why not move to Malaysia? Big Indian community there and immigration is much easier. Forget about living in SHV, I went batshit crazy trying to stay online. The only thing that saved me was the fact everyone in the US was asleep. Cambodia's immigration is much better, but services and standards are a little lower. Also, PP is nothing like Chiang Mai in terms of the DN community, but you can connect, and get work done. Good luck with whatever you decide.

That's a good point. I had overlooked/ignored Malaysia because I don't feel comfortable living in a Muslim majority country. But I have been for a few days many years ago and it seemed to be fairly modern and developed. Do you know how cheaply/part time one can study there? Basically, just to get a visa. The M2MH program requires $150,000 which I don't have now.

[Don-Pierre de Plume]

Asian people want to move to the west (many).
Western people want to move the east (fewer).

I have an Indian Malaysian friend (very educated English teacher in Malaysia) who let it be known that she "wants to get the fuck out of Malaysia" (her words).

Recently she married a Canadian dude and may well be in Canada by now. Maybe, because this dude is some oppressive Indian who doesn't want her to have any contact with any other dudes.

[Barang_doa_slae]

Back in the early 2000's for some reason I can't recall, I visited a small branch of the immigration police that was near today's GSM and that I believe is now closed.

I remember being treated very politely and having my problem or question answered/solved with no fuss while three guys from the Indian sub-continent were seated but clearly not so comfortable, negotiating their yearly visa. From what I overheard It was very clear that the price they were asked was much higher that what we were quoted as westerners in places like lucky lucky.

I never found out if it was a general rule or a particular instance. If the latter, then maybe the rule have since softened ?

[YaTingPom]

I saw two Indian guys (I know they were Indian because I'd heard them speak Gujarati, I have a basic grasp off, earlier at Sanmodera) stopped at a police check and the police were properly given them a shakedown both verbally and physically, shoving shouting etc.

They get treated the same (badly) as dark skinned Khmer.

[finy]

If you earn a decent amount, I'd Air Asia back to India every 3 months.

Cambodia really can't compare to Thailand if you're staying for the long-term.

I heard Bali is good for visas, you only need to leave every 6 months. Malaysia isn't really a Muslim country like you would expect.

[Lucky Lucan]

I heard Bali is good for visas, you only need to leave every 6 months. Malaysia isn't really a Muslim country like you would expect.

I'd be very wary of listening to hearsay from someone who has such a poor grip on geography. Bali is in Indonesia.

[Starving Pelican]

No, the weird rule that says that Indian citizens can not apply for any Thai visa (except the elite visa) from anywhere but within India. So that rules out a border run to Penang or elsewhere for me.

That's not entirely true, you can get a visa on arrival at the airport for Bht. 1,000, although I believe it's only valid for a month if not 14 days.

[Phuket2006]

VOA's for Indians are limited in the numbers they will give you. Think its around 3 or so.
My Khmer gf can ONLY obtain a thai visa via the thai embassy in Phnom Penh so its a flight back ( Phuket-Bangkok- PP) every 3 months for now.

Why dont u go to school an learn the language?