Khmer Vs Thai! Cambodia Vs Thailand!
Khmer Vs Thai! Cambodia Vs Thailand!
Hi Forum.
As someone who may be looking to move over to Cambodia at some point in the future, I was just wondering how you as expats find the country, the culture, and of course the Khmer people.
I’ve been in Thailand for a little over 5 years now, and I do like it, and I don’t have any major headaches living here despite the cultural differences, but sometimes I think it would be nice to have a change just for the sake of it.
I’ve been over to Cambodia a total of 3 times now over the past 2 years and despite the infrastructure and levels of poverty being pretty grim in comparison to Thailand, there does seem to be something about the place that has me wanting to come back for longer. Just what that something is, is I can’t tell you! In fact, if I think about it, I can’t think of any real benefits to moving over there, yet for some reason, the idea still seems attractive.
Quite a lot of the expats residing in Thailand seem to spend every spare minute they have complaining about the country and its people, but if you dare to ask them why they stay in a country and live among the very people they so despise, then some pretty unhealthy debates are stirred up. Just spend 10 minutes on the Thaivisa forum and you will see the kind of resentment there is in many of the threads, and it seems to be getting worse!
So I was wondering what the expat community is like in Cambodia compared to that of Thailand? Are you happy campers for the best part, or has this place also got a bitter twisted foreign community that also despises the country and its people yet decides to stay and complain as opposed to moving on to pastures new?
Hopefully this post might stir up an interesting debate and I look forward to all responses to it. And if any of you have been fortunate enough to live in both Thailand and Cambodia, your views in particular would be interesting to this post
Thanks in advance
andii
As someone who may be looking to move over to Cambodia at some point in the future, I was just wondering how you as expats find the country, the culture, and of course the Khmer people.
I’ve been in Thailand for a little over 5 years now, and I do like it, and I don’t have any major headaches living here despite the cultural differences, but sometimes I think it would be nice to have a change just for the sake of it.
I’ve been over to Cambodia a total of 3 times now over the past 2 years and despite the infrastructure and levels of poverty being pretty grim in comparison to Thailand, there does seem to be something about the place that has me wanting to come back for longer. Just what that something is, is I can’t tell you! In fact, if I think about it, I can’t think of any real benefits to moving over there, yet for some reason, the idea still seems attractive.
Quite a lot of the expats residing in Thailand seem to spend every spare minute they have complaining about the country and its people, but if you dare to ask them why they stay in a country and live among the very people they so despise, then some pretty unhealthy debates are stirred up. Just spend 10 minutes on the Thaivisa forum and you will see the kind of resentment there is in many of the threads, and it seems to be getting worse!
So I was wondering what the expat community is like in Cambodia compared to that of Thailand? Are you happy campers for the best part, or has this place also got a bitter twisted foreign community that also despises the country and its people yet decides to stay and complain as opposed to moving on to pastures new?
Hopefully this post might stir up an interesting debate and I look forward to all responses to it. And if any of you have been fortunate enough to live in both Thailand and Cambodia, your views in particular would be interesting to this post
Thanks in advance
andii
- hanky
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There are few people like that, but for the most part ex-pats here don't complain about here all the time. Anyone is bound to make the odd disparaging remark now and then, but constant whiners aren't welcome anywhere.Are you happy campers for the best part, or has this place also got a bitter twisted foreign community that also despises the country and its people yet decides to stay and complain as opposed to moving on to pastures new?
- casper_uk
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I'm already surprised that this thread hasn't attracted any of the 'Pattaya trash' comments ...... then again, early daysandii wrote:Hopefully this post might stir up an interesting debate and I look forward to all responses to it. And if any of you have been fortunate enough to live in both Thailand and Cambodia, your views in particular would be interesting to this post
Me, i've lived in Thailand for 2 years but frankly got pretty bored of the bullshit ..... from farangs and girls. I spent the majority of the time in Pattaya, but also lived in Bangkok for around 5 months, chaingmai and phetchabun too.
I now have been living in Sihanoukville since the start of the year.
In reality, I've found the ex-pats in both countries to be very similar, despite the obvious dislike for each other. In both places, people are trying to make the most of their time and money and will do everything in their power to avoid the long haul flight home.
The lifestyle in Cambodia suits me much more than Thailand, it's so laid back and 'easy'. Pattaya and BKK life was just too hectic for me.
Depends on your situation, but the whole visa issue in Thailand simply isn't a problem in Cambodia (at the moment), work opportunities exist for those that want it too ...... as I said, life is just easier.
Last edited by casper_uk on Sun May 18, 2008 8:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Sadly, friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate."
www.charlieharpersbar.com - AirCon Bar & Rooms in Sihanoukville
www.charlieharpersbar.com - AirCon Bar & Rooms in Sihanoukville
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I've never lived in Thailand but I've visited too many times to count and frankly I don't really like it there. Just a little too much hustle and bustle for me. Cambodia is just starting to grow and so far it's really laid back and relaxing. Don't get hassled as much as in Thai. Other than the slow walking and water splashing, I don't have many complaints here
When I was in Phnom Penh last month, I didn’t get to talk with too many foreigners, but the few that I did seemed to be pretty nice blokes on the face of it. A couple of them were just traveling through, and another was involved in some voluntary work in communications or something!
I also got to chat with 2 bar/restaurant owners in Sihanoukville and they couldn’t praise the place or their lifestyle up enough. I found it a little strange that both of these guys made a point of telling me their Khmer wives were not from the bar scene when the question wasn’t even asked! Also, on both occasions, I got a wedding photo thrust in front of my face of their respective wives, but I didn’t get see the ‘actual’ woman in the pic. Hmm! Maybe they’re kept safely behind locked doors for their own safety ha ha lol!
What I did find that was in stark contrast with Thailand was that I didn’t really see any foreigners walking around the streets or shopping areas with local girlfriends/wives. I’m pretty sure a whole bunch of expats are probably in relationships with the Khmer or Vietnamese girls in Cambodia, but it certainly wasn’t evident on my trips. As most of you will know, it’s hard to go anywhere in Thailand without seeing some westerner tightly clutching the hand of his little Siamese Sweetheart as they go about their daily business.
If nothing else, life over there seems to be different from life over here, and I’m sure more will be revealed as this thread grows.
andii
I also got to chat with 2 bar/restaurant owners in Sihanoukville and they couldn’t praise the place or their lifestyle up enough. I found it a little strange that both of these guys made a point of telling me their Khmer wives were not from the bar scene when the question wasn’t even asked! Also, on both occasions, I got a wedding photo thrust in front of my face of their respective wives, but I didn’t get see the ‘actual’ woman in the pic. Hmm! Maybe they’re kept safely behind locked doors for their own safety ha ha lol!
What I did find that was in stark contrast with Thailand was that I didn’t really see any foreigners walking around the streets or shopping areas with local girlfriends/wives. I’m pretty sure a whole bunch of expats are probably in relationships with the Khmer or Vietnamese girls in Cambodia, but it certainly wasn’t evident on my trips. As most of you will know, it’s hard to go anywhere in Thailand without seeing some westerner tightly clutching the hand of his little Siamese Sweetheart as they go about their daily business.
If nothing else, life over there seems to be different from life over here, and I’m sure more will be revealed as this thread grows.
andii
- casper_uk
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Good point .... but also, the 'couples' that were spotted in Thailand were probably tourists on holiday and spending the day out with their "tirac du jour", no doubt on their merry way to the gold shop.hanky wrote:Well, believe me, plenty of guys here have local wives, maybe they are too busy to be walking around shopping with them.I didn’t really see any foreigners walking around the streets or shopping areas with local girlfriends/wives.
Shopping, a very slow and drawn out form of torture and death.
I very much doubt if you saw married couples in Thailand, for the same reasons you didn't see them here. For one, guys generally hate / fear shopping and secondly, they probably are working or at least have found something better to do.
The general age of westerners in Cambodia, to me, seems much younger than what I saw in Thailand. No hard evidence of this, but i'm active on many forums and this would appear to back up what I've seen. So chances are they genuinely do have other interests outside of girls / wives.
Finally, and a major point, if Pattaya is where you visited and reference. There are around 4000 bars with an average of 10 girls per bar, couple that with a correspondingly higher number of single male visitors compared to anywhere in Cambodia and you'll realise why you notice the difference.
"Sadly, friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate."
www.charlieharpersbar.com - AirCon Bar & Rooms in Sihanoukville
www.charlieharpersbar.com - AirCon Bar & Rooms in Sihanoukville
To me the expats in Cambodia seemed a bit more welcoming, open and definitely less cliquish than they are in Thailand. You do have the Anglos and the Francos but they get along amongst themselves (mostly). None of the "this is a German, English, French bar" shit you get in Chiang Mai. Why, the French even speak English here!
Don't look at the 'lies and stealing' thread!
As casper points out, you can't judge Thailand by Pattaya ffs.
For me there are 2 striking differences:
Thailand is much more developed if you like your creature comforts - although Phnom Penh is catching up. Thailand is much more expensive too - although Phnom Penh is catching up.
Secondly, we're thankfully free of the over-regulation of Thailand, from procuring visas to running a business.
As casper points out, you can't judge Thailand by Pattaya ffs.
For me there are 2 striking differences:
Thailand is much more developed if you like your creature comforts - although Phnom Penh is catching up. Thailand is much more expensive too - although Phnom Penh is catching up.
Secondly, we're thankfully free of the over-regulation of Thailand, from procuring visas to running a business.
I'm in a small city in Thailand and find it more relaxed than if I was in Bangkok or Pattaya. Some petty bickering among the expats but usually nothing serious. One of the big challenges is the visa. Even a teaching visa is a massive paper exercise to get. I like tha Cambodian system. Pay a few hundred bucks then do what you want. Work, don't work. Be a derelict if that's your thing. Much more accommodating.
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you only have to flick to one of the state run Thai TV channels to realise what a rigid backward fuck-up of a place it is. There you get grown men high up in the military grovelling daily on their knees to some distant obscure royal (perhaps 50th in line to the throne) - and the Thai locals just lap it up - what a fucking joke.
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you only have to flick to one of the state run Thai TV channels to realise what a rigid backward fuck-up of a place it is. There you get grown men high up in the military grovelling daily on their knees to some distant obscure royal (perhaps 50th in line to the throne) - and the Thai locals just lap it up - what a fucking joke.
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